‘The are things unknown, and there are things known, and in between
are
THE DOORS’
By
Organised Confusion
The
Doors were exactly that, the perfect fusion of rock into the world
of poetry and theatrical art. They are a class apart, the most realistic
performers of their art, in a way so much so that if you truly listen
to their music, you can see the world they create, a communication
to involve many people into the private world of thought.
The Doors was
not about fame. It was not about money. It was about projecting what
they believed, a kind of philosophy, by doing what they did best,
creating music. But The Doors did become famous and rich, and is often
compared to the shooting star, which appears in the sky albeit for
a short while but is the brightest among all the others.
The Doors is probably
one of the GREATEST bands ever to form. They can be compared to any
form of genius, intellectual, philosophical, theatrical, musical,
anything.
Ray Manzarek,
a classically trained pianist, raised in Chicago with a deep love
for the blues, wrote the themes for many of the songs and played not
only the keyboard parts but simultaneously (with his left hand) propelled
the band with melodic driving bass lines. John Densmore, a jazz drummer
with an unbeatable knack for shamanic rhythm and theatrical timing.
Robby Krieger, a song-writing secret weapon who could play any guitar,
from classic flamenco to bottle-neck blues, to creating styles and
sounds previously unheard on this planet. And Jim Morrison, the vocal
whose hypnotic voice can literally transport you in the world of unknown,
the poet to whom a performance was a matter of life and death.
Jim
Morrison's first encounter with Ray Manzarek was in UCLA from where
they had majored in films. In the year 1965, in a beach in Venice,
Ray was idling around, when Jim came walking towards him. They ended
up reminiscing the old times when Ray asked Jim what he had been doing
all summer. Jim replied that he had been writing some songs. And Ray
asked him to sing. Jim sang a few lines of Moonlight Drive, and Ray,
being very impressed with his lyrics, suggested they form a band.
Jim replied that was his idea all along.
John Densmore
and Robby Krieger joined the band later, replacing Ray's brothers
(Rick and Jim Manzarek). John and Robby along with Jim and Ray were
the disciples of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which is how they came to
know each other. And of course that is how The Doors formed, and that
is how you came to hear some of the greatest songs ever written on
this world.
The
Doors' Number One hit, which stayed at the top of chart for three
weeks, was obviously, Light My Fire. The same song also stayed
in the National top 40 for a total fourteen weeks. Although there
are some who would claim L.A.Woman as their best selling
album, it's not exactly true. The Doors has attained such greatness
in several other albums.
Some of their
amazingly amazing songs would have to include, the journeys of 'Roadhouse
Blues', 'Hello, I love you', 'Riders on the Storm', 'The Ghost Song',
the Oedipal nightmare of "The End," the breathless gallop
of "Not to Touch the Earth," the doom of "Hyacinth
House," the ecstasy of "Light My Fire," the dark uneasy
undertones of "Can't See Your Face in My Mind," and the
alluring loss of Consciousness in "Crystal Ship.
The
lyrics to their songs can be found at www.mojorisin.net which also
brings us to who is Mr. Mojo? If you've heard L.A. Woman, you could
hear the almost chant like verses of Mr. Mojo Risin'. You could (if
you had the mental capacity of Jim Morrison) that Mr Mojo Risin is
a perfect anagram. If you rearrange the letters, it gives you Jim
Morrison! What that actually means has a lot to do with the dark side
of life.
The Doors last public performance was at the Warehouse in New Orleans,
Louisiana
on December 12, 1970. A movie was created, The Doors starring Val
Kilmers as Jim Morrison, after that, although, most Doors fans would
tell you that it is inaccurate.
When Jim Morrison died in July 3, 1971, the band tried several times
to keep going. However, they disbanded. The Doors, on the contrary,
continued its journey through their albums in the minds and the stereo
sets of the fans.
Review
by Gokhra
Pixar has rolled
out ''The Incredibles" and it is the first of the company's films
to come with a PG rating, and it features not bugs, toys, monsters,
or fish, but superheroes who fight dastardly villains and toss huge
chunks of masonry around.
With "The
Incredibles," writer/director Brad Bird delivers the perfect
vivid, sublime parody.
It's a superhero
spoof that alternates breakneck action with satire of suburban sitcom
life.
At its center,
Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) who is basically like any
other superheroes with weaknesses. He is a cool dude with wheels like
batman's that is until her grabs Elastigirl's (Holly Hunter) flexible
hand in marriage. He loses the car just like in real life. But there's
more. It seems that for all their derring-do, caped crusaders attracted
lawsuits and the clean-up expenses were costing the government a bundle.
Mr. Incredible is a superhero in the traditional 1950s mold, dashing
about town fighting crime and saving the lives of endangered civilians.
Alas, the populace is not unanimously grateful, and he's faced with
so many lawsuits for unlawful rescue and inadvertent side effects
that he's forced to retire. So lousy bureaucrats made them pretty
much illegal.
So now we have
a dehorned superhero serving life in the suburbs. Under the government's
Superhero Relocation Program, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl move to
the quiet life with their children Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dashiell
(Spencer Fox) and little Jack Jack (Eli Fucile, Maeve Andrews).
Bob Parr, Mr Incredibles
alter ego is an insurance adjuster and father with thinning hair and
a bulging waistline. Bob feels powerless, perhaps the worst fate for
a superhero.
Helen raises the
kids, and there's a lot of raising to do: The world is occasionally
too much for the teenager Violet, whose superpowers allow her to turn
invisible and create force fields. Dashiell, called Dash, can run
at the speed of light, but has to slow down considerably when he's
finally allowed to compete in school track meets. Baby Jack's powers
are still limited to that of soiling his nappies at will. Hey, that
makes all babies superheroes.
Bob Parr hates
the insurance business. Joining him in the suburb is another relocated
superhero, Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), who can freeze stuff. Claiming
they belong to a bowling league, they sneak out nights to remember
the good old days and do a little low-profile superheroing. Incredible
finds himself leading another double life this one hidden from his
wife and children.
One day or rather
night the old life beckons, in the form of a challenge from Mirage
(Elizabeth Pena), who lures him to a secret island where Mr. Incredible
battles a robot named Monitored 7.
This
robot, we learn, is one of a race of fearsome new machines created
by the evil mastermind Syndrome (Jason Lee), who admired Mr. Incredible
as a kid but became bitter when Incredible refused to let him become
his boy wonder. He now wants to set up as a superpower by unleashing
his robots on an unsuspecting world.
Anyone who has
seen a Bond movie will make the connection between Syndrome's island
hideout and the headquarters of various Bond villains. "The Incredibles"
also has a character inspired by Q, Bond's gadget-master. This is
Edna Mode, known as E and voiced by Brad Bird, who also wrote and
directed. She's a horn-rimmed little genius who delivers a hilarious
lecture on the reasons why Mr. Incredible does not want a cape on
his new uniform as these can be treacherously dangerous. Someone shold
warn Batman and Superman.
It's got great
visuals. The details are just mesmerizing. No wonder there's a credit
in the end for special hair and clothing animation. It's that detailed.
The
plot great but not mind bogging. You are left to generally related
to the boredoms of life and the wishes to be a superhero.
C-3PO among Robot
Hall of Fame inductees
Honda's
ASIMO and C-3PO from "Star Wars" have been inducted into
Pittsburgh's Robot Hall of Fame. In ceremonies Monday night at the
Carnegie Science Center, ASIMO and C-3PO, the latter represented by
actor Anthony Daniels who played the robot on the screen, were among
five machines -- real and imagined -- inducted. ASIMO was honoured
for its ability to move gracefully. Also in the science category was
Shakey, referred in a news release to as "a pioneer in mobility
and artificial intelligence." Other science fiction entries,
along with C-3PO, were Astro Boy, the animated star of Japanese films
from the early 1950s; and Robby the Robot, who made his first appearance
in 1956's "Forbidden Planet." Monday's ceremonies marked
the second hall of fame class. Last year, C-3PO's "Star Wars"
sidekick R2-D2 and the conflicted HAL 9000 from "2001: A Space
Odyssey" were honoured from the world of fiction while the Mars
Pathfinder Sojourner Rover and Unimate, the first industrial robot
arm used on an assembly line, were inducted for the science aspect.
The Robot Hall of Fame was established by the School of Computer Science
at Carnegie Mellon University to "honour landmark achievements
in robotics technology an in the increasing contributions of robots
to human endeavours."
Pictures
of the year
http://www.poy.org/58/
The Missouri School of Journalism and the National Press Photographers
Association present this highly eclectic, addictive gallery of images.
While the navigation is a little clunky, the photographs are sublime.
Almost 2,000 magazine and newspaper photographers submitted over 32,000
slides for consideration, and the winners are organized by theme:
issue reporting, sports/action, portrait/celebrity, pictorial, etc.
You're also invited to browse highlights from last year's Olympics
and presidential election.
America
at 10 mph
http://www.10mph.com/
The U.S. has a long tradition of daring adventurers and historic firsts.
From Lewis and Clark's opening of the West to Neil Armstrong's famous
step on the moon, Americans seek the excitement of exploration. Today
marks another milestone in that endeavour. It's day one of a unique
journey -- the first solo attempt to cross America on a Segway Scooter.
Yes, one man will ride the human transporters at a gruelling 10 mph
for the entire transcontinental journey. He and a crew depart Seattle
for Boston in a courageous effort to capture "a sense of America
and today's American dream." Along the 4,700 miles, they'll document
their travels with daily video and audio updates.
The
house of the future
http://www.housesofthefuture.com.au/
Using straw, sticks, and bricks, the Three Little Pigs fashioned environmentally
sensitive homes, although only one proved to be wolf proof. Nowadays,
more and more consumers are demanding homes that are modern and high-quality,
as well as eco-friendly. Addressing those concerns are the folks behind
the Year of the Built Environment and their showcase of six houses
of the future. Each home is capable of being erected in less than
4 days. The "open, free-form plan" of the concrete house
is intriguing, although mowing the roof may be problematic. Other
domiciles are constructed of steel, timber, glass, or clay. The cardboard
house can be assembled by two people in six hours. And if you get
tired of its slanting walls, you can just toss it in the recycle bin.
Is
your desktop this messy?
http://bash.org/mess/
There's one in every office: A colleague who keeps his desk in such
an unbelievable state of disarray that it screams out for yellow caution
tape and a condemnation notice. Makes us want to ask him, "How
do you get any work done?" right after we ask, "What's that
smell?" The fine folks at Bash.org have dedicated an entire site
to celebrating the art of the workplace disaster area. Click on the
slideshow to view a series of the best -- or is it worst? -- Submissions
that have met the contest's guidelines. But let's not get too judgmental.
These people have some severe roadblocks to keeping a neat workspace
that need to be taken into account. Like a cat that seriously impedes
the filing process or an apparent drinking problem. We need to have
a little understanding here. And a can of Lysol.
Rock
balancing: weird for a hobby
http://rock-on-rock-on.com/
To those of us who find it impossible to balance a teaspoon on a saucer,
Bill Dan is a man of awe-inspiring skill. Somehow and for some reason,
he balances rock upon rock upon rock in a gravity-defying display
of virtuosity. Watch as he carefully places the tiniest point of one
rock on the roundest surface of another. Bill works on the shores
of San Francisco, where an occasional seagull threatens the equilibrium
of his creations. But balancing rocks isn't restricted to the water's
edge of northern California -- it's a worldwide phenomenon, with new
practitioners joining the ranks every day. If you're inspired to try
a little stone stacking yourself, Bill offers this helpful advice,
"Try to place a bigger
rock at the bottom.”
niloy.me@gmail.com
