SORRY ABOUT THAT CHIEF!

No, this isn't going to be about the Kansas City loss to Denver last night. I fell asleep around halftime anyway. Rather this is about the late great Don Adams, who just recently died. His claim to fame is his role as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 for Control. Definitely this was one of the greatest television shows ever to be on the airwaves. Written by Buck Henry and Mel Brooks, this show gave you action, adventure, and great humor. You don't see a lot of that offered anymore. Don Adams was great in the role of Max and I think he was definitely one of the funniest characters ever. This show is without a doubt, a TV classic, and we should be seeing more of this, rather than reruns of "Roseanne" and "Cheers". These two shows, as well as many more that are in syndication, do not really hold up that well as time passes on. "Get Smart" on the other hand is a true classic, meaning it set a standard that other television should try to live up to, rather than shooting for the lowest common denominator, which it does way too much of in these sad and desolate days of boob tube programming.

I hadn't really realized how long it's been since I've posted, but it has been a stretch of time, even for a lazy bum such as myself. So for the four of ya out there that read this here blog, and the one of you that actually cares enough to comment, I'll try to be a bit more current with these here posts that even though a lot of ya won't admit it, ya probably can't live without.

I did come across a couple of things that you all may or may not be interested in. First off is a book by Michael Luckman called ALIEN ROCK:THE ROCK 'N' ROLL EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONNECTION. I heard about this book through an interview with the author that he did on the Coast To Coast AM radio program. A program I find to be pretty snat most of the time. Anyway, after hearing the show I decided to get the book. I found the book for around five bucks and figured I probably couldn't go wrong at that price. I've got to say that I llike the chapter on Elvis. I didn't know that he was very interested in the subject of UFO's and the Paranormal. (Much to the chagrin of fat bastard Col. Parker.)
There are also some more interesting stories about other famous rockers UFO experiences, but as the book goes on, the stories seem to lag and become pretty much just people seeing unexplained lights in the sky. There is some good stuff here but all in all, it seems to come up rather short and not even getting in depth in regards to some of the cases. Such as John Lennon receiving a strange object from people that came into his apartment that he thought were maybe aliens. Another story that he doesn't go into that I would love to know more about, is the one of Jerry Garcia. It has to do with a two day ordeal involving being trapped on a spaceship and insectiod creatures. That's all the info you get from the book. Maybe the story is mainstream in Dead Head circles so he didn't feel the need to go into it.

The thing about this book that I find really irritating ,(info omissions aside)is the fact that this guy pretty much seems to think since Jimi Hendryx wrote songs that contain sci fi imagery, then he was obviously in tune with aliens, and therefore, they must exist. He of course doesn't say it in those words, but that does kind of seem to be his point. Even Garcia says that the experience with the Insectiods could possibly be explained by drugs, but the Luckman doesn't seem to want any of that.
I don't have a problem with the author believing in his subject, and I am not a total disbeliever when it comes to the paranormal, but just because David Bowie believes in men from space, doesn't exactly clinch the deal for me. I might be wrong in my assessment of Luckman's ideas about proof, but it seems to me that he takes pretty superficial things and then passes them of as evidence.
Overall, There are some interesting things in this book. The Elvis stuff is cool, as well as a lot of other stuff, but I don't think you're gonna want to pay full price for this thing. Check the internet for used copies, or better yet, try and get this thing at the library. Rock On.

SUN RA ! MUSICIAN, YES - ACTOR, NO

I just watched this movie the other night. It was SPACE IS THE PLACE and it starred the great Sun Ra. Now when I say great, I'm referring to the man's music. I am in no way referring to the man's acting ability of which there seems to be none. At least if this movie is the standard.
The movie does not really have a totally coherent plot except for the fact that Sun Ra is going to save the Black race through his music and take them to space where they can start over again without any oppression from the White man.
I'm not even sure that Sun Ra was going for any real plot, but maybe he was going for the concept instead.
Scenes jump from Sun Ra playing a card game with some other black guy who is in opposition with Ra's plan. Sun Ra destroys a nightclub in the 1940's with his piano playing which is the second scene of this film. The rest is Sun Ra going around trying to preach the message to the Blacks, and the enemy following around trying to thwart his mission.
There are also some rocket scientists who try to get Ra to tell them how his technology works and then try and kill him at a concert. This movie does have some concert footage but it is not prime Sun Ra stuff.
As for the acting,Sun Ra seems like he's reading everything off of cue cards and maybe he is. He has a sly smile on his face through most of the movie, either he's thinking that maybe this movie was a bad idea and he's just taking it all in stride, or maybe he's just stoned out of his gourd.
All the words I'm spewing out here should not lead one to think that I didn't like this movie, I actually did enjoy watching this.
The costumes are pretty way out and the special effects look like they were done by the guys who did the TOHO Godzilla movies. (Undeniably the best ones were made by the Japanese studio, and anyone who thinks that the Hollywood Godzilla movie that came out in the 90's is better, really is mentally lost).
I can't maybe put my finger on it, but I have a soft spot for this film. It's like a lot of those experimental films that came out in the late 60', early 70's. They don't all make sense but there is something about them that allows me to enjoy them on some level.

That being said I come to the next movie I shall review for all of you who truly need more of this trash in your life. It's called THE HORROR OF SPIDER ISLAND and this ting is really by all of the standards that you would learn in critic school a stinker. The plot is basic, and this isn't really a bad thing in itself, but it is executed oh so badly.
A group of dancers and there new manager are stranded on an island. They find a cabin of a professor who has been working on the island. The professor is dead and we soon learn that it is due to some alien and/or mutated spider like creature. The creature attacks the manager as he is taking a late night stroll and the guy although kills the thing, has been bitten, and is soon turning into some hideous monster, chasing after the girls who have to strip down to their underwear a lot because it's so hot on the island.
Two guys who work for the professor arrive and after a bikini party in honor of them being saved the mutated manager attacks.
As far as the acting ability of the cast, it couldn't be any worse. The directing is bad, the fight scenes are so bad they're laughable.
And yet this movie has a certain 3:00 AM ambiance to it that makes it somewhat enjoyable. This would be listed in that category of "so bad it's good" I guess.
The main thing is that if you watch this movie, please, and I say this with the utmost sincerity, do not do it while you are sober.