The Secret History of Rock and Roll.

I am currenty reading an amazing book called 'The Secret History of Rock and Roll.' The author, Christopher Knowles, presents the argument that rock music has existed further back than post war...that it may have existed in the mystery cults of the ancient world.
Rock music is an incredible driving force for creating great things and I feel great gratitude towards it. Knowles says that the book is dedicated to me,

"This book is dedicated to everyone whose life was saved by rock and roll"

Amen Brother.

Here is a quote in the introduction that I liked,


"I'm also writing in hopes that people will rediscover a culture and an art form too often taken for granted. The old stigma against rock and roll never really went away. Middlebrow cultural critics in the Eighties and early Nineties were always looking for something to replace it, which may speak to an unconscious loathing instilled by their parents and teachers...And somehow rock and roll has survived. I hope to convince you that it continues to survive, for the very powerful, compelling, and deep- seated reasons. It survives because in one form or another, it's always been with us and always will be."

Everyone should read it...and don't say that rock and roll isn't really your thing because that would be a lie says I. You know that you like it in one form or another.

Praise be.
Over and Out.
ED.

The last year before the apocalypse.

It is one year until 2012. The end of the world...nooooooooo!!!

New years was good...that is all.

I will gain things, lose things, be happy, be sad, be bored, be annoyed...all of these things I will experience in 2011.

Bring it on!

I have done exactly fifty blog post this year and I will match that in 2011 and even surpass it.


Happy New Year
Over and Out
ED.

Christmas (with pictures from my sister.)

Christmas eh. Ah yes Crimbo. Well after not going to bed until about three in the morning on Xmas Eve I was awoken by one of my sisters coming in to my room to say that we were going to open the presents...about nine o'clock. Exhaust-a-mundo. After being taken away from slumber I had to wait to open the presents until my Nan got to the house...and after a half hour my brother and my Nan came through the front door and the tearing could begin.
Here is one of my presents...

This is chutney with a load of garlic thrown in to it. I had a little and it wasn't half hot (I ate it with some cheese and biscuits at the end of the meal and it tasted divine dude or darling.)
The presents that I interacted throughout the day most with was my new attire, my two new books (M.R James short stories and an early American writer who lived in the late 1700's whose life intrigued me) and chocolate which I only touched with my mouth in order to consume it.
Here is my clothes and top hat that I was given...

Also do you remember in a previous blog that I went home in about early December (a few posts ago) to see my dad play someone in a small little musical from my two sisters old dance group...and that my dad wore a fake beard.........well here is that beard!

We also ate a tasty meal...

...and gave each other head locks in pictures.

Here are some more pictures that some people of my family won't frown about me putting on my blog.

What the tree?

Seasons greeting to all.
Over and Out.
ED

P.S---This is my 50th blog post. Woo hoo yup yup!

Lights.

When I saw this BBC session of Interpol performing their song Lights I couldn't not share it. I am absolutely dedicated to their cause.
Oh yeah and happy Christmas Eve to all.



Over and Out.
ED.

True Blood.

I think by now everybody knows my view on what vampires should be like if you have been reading my blogs or have been (putting up with) listening to my ramblings.
There are many shows depicting vampires nowdays such as; Moonlight, The Vampire Diaries, Being Human (which is probably the best of the lot...and not just because it is a British production) and True Blood. I have only ever watched one episode of Moonlight and that was it with the American shows. I have the first season of Being Human on DVD and I have watched the second series of that show... edgy but sometimes a bit too serious by the way.
I began to feel that I should watch one of the American shows and put my views to the test so to speak. I began with watching a few clips on youtube of True Blood. The humour is good, everyone has nice Mississippi southern accents (everyone knows that they are the best yank accents) and by the looks of it it seemed decent and entertaining enough to intrigue me.
The next thing I did was to go on wikipedia and find out about what is going on with the storyline.

For season one it said;
--- "The main mystery of the first season concerns the murders of women connected to Sookie's brother."
Wow, a death or two is involved, it's the first time in ages that I have heard modern vampires doing what they should be doing and actually killing someone every once in a while.

For season two it said;
---"Season two focuses on two main plots – in the first, the disappearance of the 2,000-year old vampire Sheriff of Area 9, Godric, causes Eric to enlist Sookie and Bill's aid in finding the ancient vampire in Dallas. Their paths cross Jason's as he seeks to discover meaning in his life with the Fellowship of the Sun, a church dedicated to anti-vampire activities."
Wow I thought...this is intriging me. I shall read about the third season forthwith.

This was the pivitol point in my making up my mind of whether I should give this show a try. I began to read about season three. It said about the introduction of lycanthropes into the show...which is fair enough. I was just excited enough to think that this might be a show for me until I read this;
"and Sookie's fairy godmother, Claudine. Sookie's heritage as part fairy is also revealed later in the season, a major plot element from the eighth novel, From Dead to Worse."
Fairies. I mean...fairies. Why do I have to put up with living in a society in which flipping fairies are being continuously associated with vampires. Vampires and fairies do not mix!!! I threw the laptop across the room and swore to the vampires gods to buck their ideas up.

I had such high hopes as well...I still might check it out though if the humour that I saw in the clips carries on throughout the season. I just can't get over fairies...what the hell!

I like the picture below though...sinister yet appealing.

Down to wussy vampires who go completely against their natures (and the point of their existence) by not drinking blood....and sparkle.

Over and Out.
ED

Joyous part 2.

I am currently reading the official sequal to Dracula, written by a direct descendant of Bram Stoker himself, Dacre Stoker. I wish to make a quote of Chapter 23 which sums up my entire view on bloodsuckers,

"For centuries, Bathory had been confused by the notion that God had created man in his own image. If it were so, then God was weak....Bathory had discovered the truth that even the lowly beasts had known for millennia: Man was easy prey, and his blood was like a fine vintage. She had wondered if the beasts that had tasted man's flesh felt the same satisfaction she did. The only human for whom Bathory held any respect was Charles Darwin. Survival of the fittest. Bathory was humanity perfected. Her powers of sight, hearing, smell and taste were tenfold those of a human, as was her strength. She was blessed with an even more powerful sixth sense, that of the mind. For centuries, man had marvelled at magicians who could manipulate objects, read and control minds. For Bathory, it involved no trick or illusion: She could enter a human's consciousness and force their mind's eye to see her as a wolf, gargoyle, rat or mist. Her powers had grown to the point that which she could enter a person's mind even from hundreds of miles away and have them see what she wished. She had the ability to move at incredible speeds. She could even levitate and move through the skies, soaring on the winds. Man needed a machine to fly. Bathory was indeed the fittest, the next level of human evolution."

UBERMENSCH.

Two posts in a day!

Over and Out.
ED.

Gothic Literature is Dead...Like Rock and Roll.

Look at the title. These are two things that I love but where the hell have they gone in this modern age? They say that rock and roll died and we are only seeing parodies of the golden age of rock. I believe (sadly) that this is true for gothic literature also.
I typed in 'Modern Gothic Literature' into google and came across a thread for people that were arguing whether the pure gothic existed nowdays. I agreed with what they all said...it was gone, we are only seeing copies of true gothic literature. Here is a comment.

Person: "No, there really is no real modern Gothic literature in the true sense; although I have written in that genre, I've also discovered there is no market for writing Gothic fiction in the tradition of say, Poe, or Ambrose Bierce. No one wants that anymore, they want Poppy Z. Brite or Anne Rice (who isn't really "Gothic" per se)."

Instead of the pure gothic a lot of writers that enjoy the genre have to adapt to the demands of the public. Creatures that have been used in gothic literature have been adopted by other people and have even crossed genres. The so called dark side has expanded and can now be explored not only in books and the theatre but in music and film.
But even though the pure gothic is gone, it still holds it's undying influence on popular culture and will never go away. Small blog post but this is what I'm up to at the moment.

Over and Out.
ED.