The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Ennio Morricone

Uploaded by DaneTheConquerer on Jul 11, 2010

music of the soundtrack of the movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly composed by Ennio Morricone 1966

starring Clint Eastwood the living Legend, Lee van Cleef and Eli Wallach

directed by Sergio Leone

As I pause to attempt a sorting out as to what to write about…

And simultaneously try to keep from going barking mad while doing this ‘life’ thing…

(I did find my eyeglasses! Whee!)

Here’s a very nice musical interlude for ya… don’t hear this too often, heck, didn’t hear it often even back in the 60s when this movie was hot stuff.

I loved these movies back then… and to this day I still do.

They called them “Spaghetti Westerns.” Never liked that term, hated it really, for more reason than it’s offense to my half-Italian blood, as these films, all of them, seemed to me then… and now… to be a hell of a lot more real  than mainstream Hollywood’s stylized, sanitized fare — and Mr. Eastwood, well, folks, Mr. Eastwood is a personal hero to me – on many  levels.

Brilliant stuff.

Peace.

RIP, Dear Moebius.

Hunter, by Jean Giraud, aka Moebius.

Much influence upon my formative years was wielded by this man.

Much.

Every new issue of Metal Hurlant, or Heavy Metal as it was known here, was eagerly awaited, poured over and savored over and over and over again… and I could never get enough.

Never.

Jean Giraud helped make me what I am today. And for that I thank him.

May you travel safely through all the incredible journeys you so well imagined with new ones every day, good Sir.

To learn more, visit this very nice obituary.

Peace.

RIP Frank Frazetta

Oh dear, another childhood hero has taken to soaring amongst the stars… yes, the genius of Frank Frazetta has passed on.

This man’s art was, from the very second I first saw it… and remaining so to this day –  a very powerful influence on yours truly. He helped shape and amplify my sense of wonder, my quest for truth.

He ripped the blinders from my mind in a way that still stops me dead in my tracks whenever a Frazetta appears within eyeshot…

I will miss you Sir.

Richard Metzger, a friend of WATT, who lives over at Dangerous Minds, has posted an excellent quote that I will repeat here, because, well, it’s true…

Jason Louv says, “Deep down, all that (even nominally straight) men really want to do is kill everything that moves and then fly away on a badass wyvern with all of the naked barbarian maidens in sight, likely while “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin plays in the background. This was the great revelation that drove Frank Frazetta, god rest his soul, to the top of the world of fantasy art. His style has been imitated by every fantasy book cover artist and prison punk trying to draw some art to trade for cigarettes since. For his work perfectly captured the pure essence of the teenage male libido in as unvarnished of a form as “Dirty Dancing” did for the teenage female libido. Jah bless.”

Mr. Frazetta’s obituary in the LA Times.

Mike Prysner – A True Patriot

“Our real enemy is not the ones living in a distant land whose names or policies we don’t understand; The real enemy is a system that wages war when it’s profitable, the CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it’s profitable, the Insurance Companies who deny us Health care when it’s profitable, the Banks who take away our homes when it’s profitable. Our enemies are not several hundred thousands away. They are right here in front of us” – Mike Prysner

This bodes well for our future…

Rest In Peace, John Keel.

I am sad to say that  Mr. John Keel passed on July 3, 2009.

I met John Keel at a FortFest way back when. He had long been a major influence on me through his wonderful books, books that caused controversy in Forteana due to the fact that Keel was a thinker, a true visionary, a man who had a strong grasp on the world and used that common sense in concert with his remarkable intellect to posit solutions that only other thinkers could wrap their minds around.

I was a bit starstruck during dinner, but still managed a good time. He told me he’d not be doing our kind of stuff anymore in favor of going back to making money (writing comedy), which devastated me at the time but I now fully grasp it. We didn’t speak to any Fortean concerns.

If you’ve not read this man’s works, and are into Forteana to any extent, you really should become familiar with Mr. Keel’s thoughts. The world will benefit from the produce of his mind for many years to come, and I do believe that you should avail yourself of that bountiful yield. It will sharpen your senses and protect you by providing a foil against some of the rather tinny thoughts that slither through Forteana’s nooks and crannies, trying to infest young minds and old with their varied ludicrosities. Yes, do join with many of today’s great thinkers and read up. Seriously.

I am sad that my friends and I shall not share good times with him again, but I rest easier knowing that perhaps now he knows the truth.

Here are some videos by Dave Singer that will give you a glimpse as to what John Alva Keel was all about.

John Keel discussing “Mothman” from the 1994 and 1999 FortFests. Keel has been a frequent speaker at the International Fortean Organization (INFO) conferences.

From the 1992 FortFest, Keel discusses important years with respect to world events and UFO sightings.

From the 2002 FortFest, Skinner discusses the background of John Keel and his involvement in the “Mothman” incident.

In 2003, Andy Colvin, Mothman expert and Washington Bureau Chief for L.O.W.F.I, the League of Western Fortean Intermediatists, interviewed John Keel on all things Mothy, from conspiracies to interdimensional theories. Do watch the interview… here, and then this one.

UPDATE: There are so many wonderful tributes appearing on the web. It’s very heartening. There is a very beautiful one at Tangible Materiality entitled A Winter’s Tale. Please read it. Long-time friend Loren Coleman also has much to relate on John at Cryptomundo. My best friend is devastated, as Keel was like a grandfather to her… and I feel awful. It’ll be all right.