Alien Soda Pop

Aliens…what can you say about them? There are definitely some things which can’t be logically explained in this world.

My question is this…If a little green (or gray) dude (or chick) beams down from outer space in a saucer or what have you, what do you offer them to drink? It’s a ridiculous question, but it’s an interesting one. When I used to work out regularly, I kept Gatorade on hand — but not the traditional lemon-lime flavor — I preferred one of the blue colored flavors. I think light blue Glacier Freeze was the one for me. One of my friends trash- talked me for having basically nothing in the fridge, but my retort was, “Well when the aliens land, I’m gonna offer them some of these and I’ll be sitting pretty.”

I mean if it really DID happen, you’d obviously want to be as hospitable as possible. Wouldn’t you? (Sub question: Do you definitely put it in a glass? Sub-sub question: With ice or room temperature? The ice cube is a nice way to discuss solid, liquid, and gas matter in case they slept through third grade science) .

This question of what you offer an alien to drink re-entered my mind when I was in a Kansas City area supermarket. I still think Glacier Freeze Gatorade has that futuristic vibe to it, but I came across a beverage which may be even better: Atomic Fizz. Is the name too obvious for space alien consumption? I’ll say this. Not only is it tasty, but it has a unique flavor. http://atomicfizz.com/flavor/. I mean you could try to go “all-American” and offer a burger, fries, and some kind of cola. Cub Koda from the rock band Brownsville Station would likely approve.

There are other options. You’ve got your traditional dark colas and your white sodas. Think of a color and there’s some type of soda pop associated with it. In my humble opinion, Big Red is a pretty fantastic cream soda which is colored red. There’s also Sunkist Orange. Welch’s Grape soda is my go to beverage when it’s hot and humid. If you want another musical tie-in, CCR’s “Green River” was inspired by a soft drink of the same name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_River_(soft_drink) .

Of course you could always try to impress an alien with the Diet Coke and Mentos trick. (I’ve always thought about putting together a show for the 4th of July with red, white, and blue food coloring. I think it’s marketable.)

Here’s another way of looking at it. Soda pop is basically the devil’s brew nowadays. We want to tax it, ban it, keep it away from the kids, etc. It’s probably a good litmus test for an alien. If you don’t have the stomach for it, you probably won’t survive in the good ole U-S-of-A.

Say it loud, “I drink soda pop and I’m proud!”

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Dirty Toes ‘n Nova Scotia

It was the early 1990s in Lawrence, KS. My uncle told me about a band called “Uncle Dirty Toes”, but what’s in a name? Before I went to hear them and see them perform, my uncle told me they did a rendition of “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane. My ears definitely perked up when they caught wind of that. Al Gore had yet to invent the internet (sorry I couldn’t resist) so I found out via the local music newspaper about their next show.

At the time, there was a well-known sub shop called Yellow Sub near the University of Kansas campus. It was on the ground floor with a bar called The Crossing upstairs. That’s where the band “Uncle Dirty Toes” blew me away. I guess you could call them “folk rock” if you had to categorize them. They covered some amazing sixties rock songs, but they used to open their set with a traditional tune called “Farewell to Nova Scotia”. h

https://youtu.be/sPq2M9zOrm8?t=345

The song has been recorded a lot over the years by the likes of The Irish Rovers, Gordon Lightfoot, and many more, but the Uncle Dirty Toes version has always been my favorite. (One time on St. Patrick’s Day, I requested this song and the acoustic player knew it!) Throughout the UDT show, I remember their lead singer saying something like “This is another Richard Thompson song” a few times. I’d never heard of him then, but came to find out he’s quite a songwriter and played in folk-rock mega band Fairport Convention. “Meet on the Ledge” is one of my faves.

I purchased the Uncle Dirty Toes album “Foot to the Path” and highly recommend it. I’ve never met any of the band members or anything like that, but I just think their music is fantastic. My favorite original UDT tunes include” Mother England”, “Make Them Come Alive”, and “Boys of Bedlam” (I believe “dirty toes” is a line from this particular song.) If you have any appreciation for traditional folk, folk-rock, or just good music in general, I urge you to check them out. www.uncledirtytoes.com/

I haven’t seen Uncle Dirty Toes play live in many years, but just to put an exclamation point on them, they even performed a cut from The Beatles’ Revolver album: “Tomorrow Never Knows”” — I’ve never heard anyone else attempt this song live — not even The Beatles themselves. In conclusion, I’m thankful to my uncle and Uncle Dirty Toes for turning me on to some great music.

Till next time keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

The Good, The Bad, & The Dystopian

Before I talk about the 2016 film “The Bad Batch”, I have to first give credit to the film “Mad Max”. It’s probably the film which made me familiar with the term “dystopian” (the opposite of Utopian). Wikipedia defines a dystopia as “a society which is undesirable or frightening”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia . Dystopian films aren’t a new thing. They come and go with different generations — The Mad Max franchise is a good example of that. Having said that, that’s where the similarities of these films end.

Most people might describe “The Bad Batch” (directed by Ana Lily Amirpour) as “weird” — but, in my humble opinion, it’s a “good weird.” Suki Waterhouse stars as protagonist Arlen – a young woman who’s sentenced to a life of survival of the fittest in a desert prison fraught with not only wind, sand, and weather, but cannibals as well. I don’t think viewers ever really find out what offense has led her to this fate, but she’s stuck there all the same. Waterhouse, a pretty young blonde, brings LOTS of attitude and grit to the character she plays. Along the way she encounters the mysterious mountain of muscles known as “Miami Man” (played by Jason Momoa) and rock star/cult leader “The Dream” (played by Keanu Reeves). Like a lot of movie trailers, the ones I saw for this film didn’t do much for me so I’m including Federale’s “All the Colours of the Dark” from the soundtrack.

“The Bad Batch” is not a film for the mainstream. It’s pace is slow and the dialogue is sparse. With that said, I absolutely loved this film. To me, it just sucked me in and took me into a world I’d never seen. There is a bit of violence, “gore”, and drug use, but I don’t think it’s too over the top.
In its defense, how pleasant is a dystopia supposed to be? In my mind the main themes explored in the film are justice, being an outcast, and just plain survival. While the stars (actors) in this film shine, it’s real beauty is its uniqueness. There’s a strong chance you’ve never seen any film like this one.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Dead Men Tell No Jarmusch Tales

It’s quite possible you’ve never seen ANYTHING like the 1995 Jim Jarmusch film “Dead Man”, starring Johnny Depp. While the film’s director Jim Jarmusch is known for his weird black and white films, to me, this one is different because I actually enjoyed it.

The story follows main character William Blake (played by Depp) who involuntarily travels to the Wild West from Cleveland. Once he gets there, the bookish-looking Blake goes down a rabbit hole of experiences: humiliation from his potential boss and co-workers, a brief love affair, gunshots, injury and escape — and that’s only the first few minutes of it. Before too long he encounters a Native American/Indian named Nobody (brilliantly played by Gary Farmer) and the two set off for even more adventures.

I’ve read several reviews and interpretations of “Dead Man”. One called it an “Acid Western”. That’s not far from the truth, but there are a few other important considerations that pop to my mind if you’re going to watch it. First and foremost, it is a strange experience. Second, it’s a slow paced film – not necessarily a bad thing, but good to know. Third, Neil Young contributed the primarily electric guitar score to the film. (I’m a fan of Neil’s, but not everybody will dig this soundtrack and not everybody will dig the film itself. )

The other cast members of “Dead Man” are a pretty wild assortment of actors like Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, and too many more to name them all. For my money, Michael Wincott steals the show as a motor mouthed gun for hire. Sound interesting? It’s hard to encapsulate what “Dead Man” really is. I purposefully didn’t re-read any of the reviews/interpretations of it, prior to writing my take on it. I don’t think “Dead Man” is a “shock value” sort of film where that’s it’s sole purpose, but there is a bit of violence, cannibalism, and a transvestite cowboy. On the flip side, there is also an amazing re-creation of a Makah village, which has some really amazing artwork (http://makah.com/makah-tribal-info/).

In conclusion, you could describe “Dead Man” like throwing your favorite western into a blender with “Alice in Wonderland” and it coming out black and white.

Till next time, keep your black and white Mojo on the Horizon.

Chasing the Sun

I can remember exactly where I was when I stumbled across the 1996 film called The Sunchaser . (I was working as the overnight guy in radio at the time and found it channel surfing late one night while staying at a relative’s house.) It had an impact on me. “Offbeat” is the first word that pops to mind when trying to describe this unique film. It was directed by Michael Cimino, perhaps best known as the writer/director of The Deer Hunter, and stars Woody Harrelson as mega-yuppie physician Dr. Michael Reynolds along with Jon Seda as teenage inmate/patient Brandon “Blue” Monroe.

If I had to pick one central theme to The Sunchaser, it’s healing. While the two main characters are very different, they both are in need of it. Dr. Reynolds leads an extremely materialistic/country club type of lifestyle while “Blue” is a desperately sick teen from the wrong side of the tracks. Seda is very believable as a streetwise, angry young man who’s determined to live despite any number of cards being stacked against him. The two characters wind up on a purpose-driven road trip through the Southwest. The film also explores Native American and New Age spirituality as part of the overall “vibe” of healing.

This film never was going to be a blockbuster and it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s definitely offbeat, and might be described as disjointed in parts. Some will even say it’s predictable. However, the beauty of The Sunchaser may be its ability to show the common ground between the two main characters. They’re both flawed, but still have their likable qualities.

Who’s the bigger weirdo… The guy who believes in magic mountains or the guy who doesn’t? This affirmation is my favorite quote from The Sunchaser:

May beauty be before me.

May beauty be behind me.

May beauty be above me.

May beauty be below me.

May beauty be all around me.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon.

Offbeat Desert Films and Phone Booths

Every generation has its own discoveries, fads, and events – some of them are spontaneous or even accidental. I remember reading the ice cream cone was invented during the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair out of necessity. A guy selling ice cream ran out of cups or bowls or whatever, and used waffles to wrap his product. Pretty clever. Whether you’re into ice cream or not, there are specific events which can impact people of certain generations. Major concerts like Woodstock and Live Aid come to mind. Or where were you when whatever happened: JFK/Ronald Reagan was shot, 9/11, etc.

The happening I want to first mention sprang from the sands of the Mojave Desert — well, sort of. I’d never heard of this happening until I stumbled across the fantastic short film “Mojave Mirage” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0838183/) . It’s a half-hour documentary about a lone desert phone booth which became a pilgrimage site around 1997-2000. Call it an internet phenomenon. How it all started may be part of the mystery, but it’s a truly offbeat film worth seeking out.

I guess the mystery of calling a phone booth in the middle of the desert is part of the appeal. Who would call there? What would they have to say? Who would answer the call? If you think it sounds boring, you’re wrong. If you think it sounds interesting, you are absolutely right. I just love the offbeat nature of the whole thing.

For whatever reason, the desert captures a certain romance on film. It’s desolate, isolated, and probably not like where you live at all. There are so many movies or movie scenes which feature the open road and the desert. One of my other favorite films in this category is “White Sands” (released in 1992, directed by Roger Donaldson). The film takes place in New Mexico, with some scenes at White Sands National Monument. It’s a murder mystery of sorts, but the film’s cast alone makes it worth checking out: Willem Dafoe, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Maura Tierney. I think I still own a copy of this film on VHS. It’s not exactly a mainstream pic, but that’s the beauty of it. Experience the offbeat. You’ll thank me for it.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!