The Beatles - Anthology

I had the good fortune to read the book The Beatles Anthology when it came out in  October 2000. It's not the sort of thing I was into buying at that time but as I was living with a friend (who saw them play at Shea Stadium) I read his copy and learned all the sorts of details that really only come out with a lively and well produced authorised version. This is a rare combination as the temptation to varnish over the past is too overwhelming for most music legends. I'd read Albert Goldman's Lives of John Lennon many years before that and I reckon I'd be interested in reading more about George Harrison as I found him the most interesting Beatle so any book recommendations appreciated.

I downloaded the 8 Anthology DVD's off the net earlier this year, and a few weeks back watched the entire collection over a couple of days. It was most enjoyable. If you're ever feeling a bit gloomy (and not allergic to the fab four) even the weakest fan should find this DVD set a rich and satisfying (sound like gravy advert don't I?) way to spend some time. I'm massively aware that some of the early tunes must have permeated my mother's womb and that even earlier hits by them were probably playing an awful lot during her pregnancy. They're part of my very fabric and it was most satisfying for a person who really doesn't get that sentimental about much British stuff per se. One of those little nuggets I discovered in the DVD's was that Magical Mystery Tour was well appreciated on a Filmic Expression course taken by George Lucas at film school. It nose dived when it came out with the British public, as it was broadcast in black and white and I guess needs to be appreciated in colour, so I'm looking forward to checking out their films too, which to date I'd always filed under fun but no more important than say pop merchandise.


While searching a clip for this post I uncovered the special features Anthology DVD is on Youtube so there's another hour of Beatles rarity lined up for me. Result.

Faster Than The Speed Of Light Neutrinos? What A Yawn

The recent news that neutrinos may travel faster than the speed of light smacks of science propaganda softening up the gullible public for free energy solutions that have been suppressed for at least decades. The same people who think this can't be true still drool over century old combustion engines, 1940's fossil fuel rocket technology and 19th century technology for electromagnetic frequency iPhones. 

It's a farce. 

The interview above with Dr. Steven Greer is about as authoritive a contemporary interview one can find on the topic though there are whistle blower from interviews available too. Naturally these wont be appearing or pursued on corporate media apertures any time soon so here's Stan Deyo on the facts of life.

The recent revelation that more planets than ever are likely to be inhabitable supports my assertion that we're being softened up for the news compounding each week that we have never been alone, and that inter stellar travel is the technological hygiene of a universe which is abundant with free energy.

Those oil wars are all the evidence the critically thinking person needs. There's no excuse for skipping on scrutiny.

Australia - The Movie

If I had a read a simple synopsis of Australia I'd probably never have watched it. Boy meets girl, pick up an orphan child along the way set to the Australian outback at the onset of the WWII. My memory is saying Thorn Birds revisited and that's so far off the charts of movie making I have time for I'm grateful I caught a one liner that it was the best movie of 2008. I'd never heard of it before as I was in Beijing at the time I guess.

Some people have a real aversion to Nicole Kidman but she's never let me down in a movie yet and to my mind is easily one of the most accomplished female actors on the planet, if we forgive her playing drunk instead of stoned in Eyes wide shut. Some people find her cold but I guess that's part of the appeal and without question her partnering up with Hugh Jackson in this movie is about as memorable (and humorous) a sexual match on the big screen as is possible. I don't usually like the themes of love and romance on the big screen outside of foreign language screenplays, so if I enjoyed it I can't imagine anyone else finding it overbearing.

The boy character of Nullah (Creamy) is exceptionally well played. Adding children to the mix is always high risk but there isn't a scene he detracts from. It's not just that he acts well, he nails/is the character of a half aboriginal half white boy under constant persecution from the authorities who it has to be highlighted only stopped the practice of separating children from their mothers in 1973 and belatedly received a useless apology in 2008. That apology is insufficient given the growing testimony of systematic child abuse that the Church exploits and rears their victims.

The aboriginal themes of magic and harmony with the land are well integrated in the movie and if that fails to overcome stereotypical expectations, I think the weaving of the second world war narrative is informative and taught me a few things that I hadn't really thought of before with respect to Australia, Japan and the British Empire during the war. I didn't know about the bombing of Darwin for example.

Directed by Baz Luhrman I think Australia is beautifully produced with very few over the top sentimental indulgences, or so few they don't matter.