That Professor's Poems Got Musicalized, and Other Scandals

This little squib from the February 1968 English Journal covers the release of The Road Goes Ever On, a song cycle of Tolkien's poems set to music by Donald Swann.  I've heard it aplenty. Some songs are jolly, some ruminative, all fairly direct as you assume Hobbit songs might be.

These two images are from the Letters page of the same issue, concerning an article called "Frodo Lives!" by William Taylor. You can read that article here.  Decide for yourself if Taylor was irreverent to the cult of Tolkien.

See you Monday!

  

I Miss Her, Too

This is from the July 1, 1985 Amazing Heroes.

Fun scholarship like this was pretty much ruined by the 1700 versions of DC continuity we've seen since 1985.

Do you miss Kara, too?

  

Still Haven't Seen It

The film Deliverance came out in 1972, based on James Dickey's 1970 novel of the same name.  In junior high I bought a paperback copy and read it several times.

As you can see, it's a tie in to the film.

Well, I decided to make my own cover, using watercolors and art paper from my art class.

If you can't figure out this image, you need to read the book again.  See you Monday!

  

WATCHPANELS, Part 10

WATCHPANELS

One compulsive reader’s observations ...

after gazing into Watchmen for the umpteenth time

 

PART THE TENTH

 

All right, I’ve got photons in my teeth and my wrist brace on ...

 

CHAPTER 10

            On page 3, we’re told that the US is at DEFCON 2.  According to Wikipedia, this is the “next step to nuclear war.”  The Armed Forces are supposed to be ready to deploy and engage in less than 6 hours.

            In our world, DEFCON 2 has been achieved:

·       by the Strategic Air Command during the Cuban Missile Crisis, October 24-November 15, 1962.  The rest of the armed services remained at DEFCON 3

·       by US forces on January 15, 1991, at the beginning of Desert Storm

            Dan knows where Rorschach’s neighborhood is because it was in the news reports.

            It makes fine background noise, but I cannot imagine a world in which somebody would take the time to walk down this blind alley to paste “SOLD OUT” notices over the posters for the Pale Horse concert.

            Here’s a glimpse of Walter Kovacs experiencing (and expressing) compassion.

            What is “the delivery”?  It must be the delivery to Karnak of the Space Squid, as mentioned in Chapter 8 by Max Shea.  Veidt’s servants supervised “the reception” unaided.

             Surely it is not an accident that the tape reels on the shelf of Veidt’s cart look like radiation symbols!

            Another step in the transformation of Rorschach back into Walter Kovacs:  an apology.

            It’s a cute touch by Moore, having Bernard say “Book of Revolutions” instead of “Revelations,” the last book of the New Testament.  A lot of people don’t know that the book is “The Revelation to John,” not plural “revelations.”  The title is from the first word of the book, apokalypsis, which means “the unveiling.”

            I absolutely love Dreiberg’s line about how the upward curve must be Veidt’s IQ or his income!

            Has there ever been any computer on Earth that PROMPTED you to hack it, as Veidt’s does here?

            The epigraph has quotation marks in original.

            The quotation marks aren’t there in the bound editions.

             Well, now we know why Veidt’s computer is so user-friendly.  No matter the nameplate on the computer, this dot-matrix font closely resembles Apple’s Chicago Font.  This had to have been on purpose!

            Well, we’ll see you soon for the final two chapters in Watchmen.

  

Don't Join This Crowd

Well, this is the latest in an ongoing series of pop songs inspired by or relating to nukes, atomic power, and the fears and expectations surrounding such.

01 - Early Warning - Standing Waves - 1979  (3:18)

02 - London Calling - The Clash - 1979  (3:20)

03 - Radioactivity - The Aircuts - 1980  (2:58)

04 - Kill the Poor - Dead Kennedys - 1980  (3:04)

05 - Hiroshima - Utopia - 1977  (7:16)

06 - Goodbye Blue Sky - Pink Floyd - 1979  (2:48)

07 - Neutron Bomb - Controllers - 1978  (2:05)

08 - Atomic Love - Thelma Farmer and Hal McKinney Orchestra - 1962  (2:31)

09 - Four Minute Warning - Chaos UK - 1982  (2:22)

10 - All I Want for Xmas Is a Neutron Bomb - The Razor Gang - 1982  (2:09)

11 - Eve of Destruction - Bonnie Parker - 1982  (3:23)

12 - Microwave Radiation - Xterminators - 1980  (3:16)

13 - The Survivor - St Vitus Dancers - 1982  (3:12)

14 - Seconds - U2 - 1983  (3:12)

15 - Electric Funeral - Black Sabbath - 1970  (4:53)

16 - Euroshima - PVC - 1984  (3:01)

17 - Bombs and Rockets Go on Bye - Carl Ruth and His Harmony Boys - 1959  (2:39)

18 - Gimme That Neutron Taste - Bleach Boys - 1982  (2:01)

19 - 1945 (Posh Boy version) - Social Distortion - 1981  (1:51)

20 - Chernobyl Song - Battery Farley - 1986  (2:40)

21 - The Russians Are Coming! - AD 1984 - 1979  (2:37)

22 - My Girl's Radioactive - Pink Steel - 1981  (3:21)

23 - The Great Atomic Power - The Louvin Brothers - 1958  (2:39)

24 - Radio Activate (demo) - Still a House - 1986  (2:02)

25 - Radiation - Excellent Accident - 1987  (3:49)

26 - I'm in Love With a Mutant - Sonny Adams - 1961  (1:46)

Only you fine folks can tell me if my labors are in vain.

  

https://www.filefactory.com/file/2llgq0ryfewe/MA-194.rar

Well, that's the end of this year's MUSICAL MONTH OF MAY.  See you on Monday!