Tim Jackson Web - Blog

Tim Jackson Web

MARX WAS RIGHT

11/21/2020

A response to Marx Rises Again in the Times 4/19/14
It comes down to Karl Marx's true magnum opus, which was never the
Communist Manifesto but Das Capital:
1. Marx describes a banking system in which periodic collapses such as the one that occurred in 2008 were not only possible, but inevitable. That is certainly attractive, since non-Marxist economists were very much caught by surprise, while the Marxists were not.
2. Marx described a labor system in which the owners of capital would pay workers only barely enough to keep enough workers capable of doing their jobs - in a world without trade unions the vast majority of life experience of Millenials is precisely that.
3. Marx described the capitalists gaining complete control of government. There is serious research, not just a gut instinct, demonstrating that this has indeed happened.
4. Marx described a system in which increasing automation and technology benefits solely the capitalist class, and leaves workers more desperate. This has indeed happened, particularly as a result of the major advances in computing technology since 1980.

DRUMMER MEMOIRS

11/21/2020

The Doors: Unhinged by John Densmore
This Wheel’s on Fire by Levon Helm
Prisoner of Woodstock by Dallas Taylor
Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina by Chris Frantz
Ginger Baker: Hellraiser: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Drummer by Ginger Baker
The Beat of My Own Drum: A Memoir by Sheila E
Hit So Hard: A Memoir by Patty Schemel
Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of Kiss by Peter Criss
Not Dead Yet: The Memoir by Phil Collin
Life, Billy, and the Pursuit of Happiness by Liberty DeVitto
So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True
Tales from a Drummer’s Life by Jason Slichter (SemiSonic)
Street Player: My Chicago Story by Danny Seraphine
The Boy Is Gonna Rock: A Drummer’s Journey from Houston to Hollywood in Search of Hair Metal Heaven by Bobby Rock
Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes--A Memoir by Steve Gorman

Biographies

It's About Time: Jeff Porcaro - The Man and His Music by Robyn Flans
Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Seth Starr
Buddy Rich: One of a Kind - The Making of the World's Greatest Drummer
Traps, the Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich by Mel Tormé
Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend by Tony Fletcher
Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon Tony Fletcher
Full Moon: The Amazing Rock and Roll Life of the Late Keith Moon by Douglas Butler
Gene Krupa: His Life & Times: Life and Times (Jazz life & times) by Bruce Crowther
Levon: From Down in the Delta to the Birth of The Band and Beyond
Tales Of A Rock Star's Daughter by Nettie Baker
Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters - Mike Edison
John Bonham: The Powerhouse Behind Led Zeppelin by Mick Bonham

BILLY WILDER'S SCREENWRITING TIPS

11/19/2020

1. The audience is fickle.
2. Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go.
3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
4. Know where you’re going.
5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
7. A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.
8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.
9. The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then—that’s it. Don’t hang around.
Billy Wilder Speaks (a great link)

CALIFORNIA SYNCHRONICITY

2/1/2020

Sky Saxon, Bettie Page, eden abenez,
the Nature Boys, Father Yod, and Nat King Cole
There's a bigger history to be written

Sky Saxon and Bettie Page
They died with a year of one another.
Liberated 50’s pin-up icon Bettie Page on Dec. 11, 2008 at 85. Sunlight Saxon of The Seeds on June 25, 2009 at 71.
The Seed's big hit was Pushin' Too Hard.
CLIP 1
Bettie Page Dances to the Seeds
CLIP 2
Sky Saxon was also a member of The Source family led by
Ya Ho Wha or Father Yod.
Upon his death Sky Sunlight Saxon “passed over to be with YaHoWha”.
The Source was funded by a successful Veggie restaurant which was started by Father Yod who had been an ex-marine and became a member of the Nature Boys.
CLIP 3
eden abenez and Nature Boys
eden abenez was an early hippie with followers that as "Nature Boys". These included Robert "Gypsy Boots" Bootzin. They wore long hair and beards and ate only raw fruits and vegetables. He chose to spell his pseudonym with lower-case letters, claiming that only the words God and infinity were worthy of capitalization. He is also said to have desired the A and Z , the beginning and the end, in his surname. abenez wrote the song Nature Boy and sold it to Nat King Cole. It was a huge hit.
BOTTOM CLIP

Secrets of a Long Marriage

2/1/2020

At the risk of being presumptuous, and because we're often asked for our questionable wisdom on our 50 years, here are 15 observations.
Disclaimer:  These opinions are highly subjective but nevertheless also "‘based on a true story.’

Humor:  A marriage without laughter is big trouble. The world can be oppressive, but it is also amazing and outlandish. People are ridiculous. Everybody wants your money. If you’re both still alive and are able to provoke a regular chortle or guffaw, that’s sheer good fortune. Misbehave regularly.
Love: Of course chemistry, admiration, need, respect, communication, and such things are key. But in truth, love is born out of chemistry and shaped through time. Two other opinions: overpriced engagement rings shouldn't be imperative and a little jealousy in marriage can be invigorating.
Sex: I say lust is the core of a good marriage. It’s handy for procreation, but evolves into comic opera. Adultery is a word forced on us by the church. Work it out for yourself.
Friendship:  Your partner is often the person who sees you the way you want to see yourself, and is nice when they are your best audience. That’s a lot to be thankful for because you may not be as interesting as you think.
Autonomy: You want that partner to be like you. It doesn’t happen.
Patience: If you’re going to stay together for 350,000 hours, then that one hour where you’re really pissed off is pretty insignificant.
Reinvention: If you are lucky, you will both become at least three other people over four decades.
Variety: Predictability is numbing
Curiosity: From a vacation in Rome to talking to the guy who collects bottles from your trash, it’s all fascinating. You are lucky, and you have someone to ask why and how about everything.
The Arts: It generates conversation that isn’t about whether you cleaned the grill, walked the dog, or saw the game. If you don’t read, life is harder. All the better if you see the inside of a theater or museum a lot.
Physical Activity:  It helps to regularly, or even occasionally, do anything together until you are feeble: hike, bike, tennis, or yoga until the body rebels.
Vanity:  Take care of yourself, and try to look good without surgery. We all eventually end up with, as Phillip Roth calls it, “the external body that time has bestowed,” not to mention that we will “get the faces we deserve.’
Friends:  It’s great that so many long-term friendships survive. Others revive, are rediscovered, or revisited. New friends don’t threaten anything. Have your own pals and maybe another best friend because you don’t really tell your spouse everything – I hope.
Family:  You marry into one, but it’s not the be-all, end-all. It takes too many forms and, let’s face it, you won’t like everyone. Family happens whether with kids or not, but for us, kids are the best, funniest, most interesting and challenging thing that ever happened.
Compassion:  This is the bottom line.
THINGS TO AVOID
Ceremony:  To each his own. but I never wore a ring, and we always forget our anniversaries. Wedding parties are nice, but bridesmaids and bachelor parties weren’t part of getting started. Baptism? My kids were not born in sin. Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. Oh, OK. But a bris? Though I hear the tips are good. (rim shot)
Religion: Whatever works for you is dandy because for an atheist this is irrelevant, but pious self-righteousness is unforgivable in god’s eyes.
Wealth: What is it? You’ll never get there anyway, unless you need spout clichés about real wealth not being about money.
Boredom:  Never be bored
Competition: Education and jobs needn’t be a competition. Be a lifelong learner.
Platitudes:  Affirmations, aphorisms and sayings and such sound good and mean well, and are helpful once in a while, but they require nothing but hot air. Action speaks louder. Get off Facebook and do something that actually embodies that latest Dalai Lama quote or Move On imperative.

Concert History

1/2/2020

Before I actually forget - I found this list from years ago of acts I have opened for, or have seen live..

Bands I opened for while playing in various open acts and sundry tours:
1.     Young Rascals (Hartford and Westport 1966)
2.     The Wildweeds (Bushnell Auditorium Hartford)
4.     Iggy and the Stooges (The Jail in Providence 1969)
5.     Jay Giels Band
6.     Manfred Mann
7.     The Chambers Brothers
8. B.B. King (Providence 1968)
9.     Bruce Springsteen (in a high school auditorium in R.I. 1972!)
10. The Youngbloods (Central Park)
11. BB King (Montreaux Jazz fest)
12. Frankie Valle
13. The Guess Who
14. Edgar Winter (Cheektowaga NY)
15. Buddy Miles
16. Seals and Crofts
17. The Turtles (City Hall Plaza)
18. Herman's Hermits
19. NRBQ (at Max's Kansas City)
20. Go Gos (Los Angeles)
21. Mahavishnu Orchestra (Bushnell Auditorium Hartford)
22. Split Enz (tour)
23. The Undertones (tour)
24. Ramones
25. Irma Thomas (touring with LaVern Baker)
26. Jimmy Buffet (touring with Tom Rush)
27. Peter Paul and Mary
28. Joe Jackson
29. The Wailers (for a week at a Paul's Mall in Boston)
30. Little Feat (for a week at a Paul's Mall in Boston)
31. Bonnie Raitt
32. The Cars (Wang Center)
33. The Kinks (Providence Civic Center)
34. Squeeze (Chicago)
35. Hall and Oates (Orpheum)

Early Concerts in the audience for:
1.     The Beatles (in the audience at the premier)
2.     Dave Brubeck 1964
3.     Bob Dylan (at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival)
4.     The Yardbirds (1967 w/ Jeff Beck AND Jimmy Page AND they used my high school bands PA system!)
5.     James Brown (1967 at the Apollo Theater with my all white High School band)
6.     Jefferson Airplane (at the Café a GoGo)
7.     The Mothers of Invention (at their Garrick Theater in the Village)
8.     Jeff Back Group (with Rod Stewart Fillmore East)
9.     Janis Joplin (with Big Brother and the Holding Company)
10. Mississippi Jon Hurt (1965 Newport)
11. Butterfield Blues Band (1965 Newport)
12. Sonny Terry and Brownie Magee (1966 Newport)
13. Taj Mahal (1966 Newport)
14. The Blues Magoos (played my Senior Prom!)
15. Blood Sweat and Tears (played my Junior Prom!)
16. Grateful Dead (1968)
17. Cream (Fillmore East)
18. Miles Davis with Kieth Jarrett (Jazz Workshop)
19. Buddy Rich
20. Gene Krupa (at the Metropol in Time Square)
21. The Tubes (at the Whisky a GoGo on Sunset)
22. Jimi Hendrix (Hartford)
23. Sly and the Family Stone (in the cafeteria of the high school!)
24. Soul Survivors (Filmore NYC)
25. The Remains
26. Stray Cats
27. Orleans (Larry Hoppen and I had a college band)
28. Talking Heads
29. Elvis Costello
30. Prince
31. Genesis
32. Chuck Berry
33. The Police
34. The B-52s
35. Patty Smith
36. Rolling Stones

Six Degrees of Kerri Russell to Don Knotts and Back

1/1/2020

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes AND Don Knotts are BOTH screening
at the Somerville Theater in Somerville MA.
To show much time can be wasted any given morning on Facebook:

Here is Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon From the Dawn of the Apes movie Through Don Knotts and Kevin Bacon and
BACK AGAIN to DON KNOTTS!!

(some excellent movie choices along the way!!)

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes with Kerri Russell
2. Russell with Andy Griffith (Waitress)
3. Griffith with Don Knotts (Barnie Fife)
4. Knotts with Jane Kaczmarek (Pleasantville)
5. Kaczmarek with Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle)
6. Muiz with Kevin Bacon (My Dog Skip)
1. Bacon with Campbell Scott (Loverboy)
2. Scott with Troy Donahue (Sexpot)
3. Donahue and Robert Stack (Tarnished Angels)
4. Stack with Nigel Bruce (Bwana Devil)
5. Nigel Bruce with David Niven (The Charge of the Light Brigade)
6. David Niven with DON KNOTTS (No Deposit, No Return)

December 15th, 2019

12/15/2019

George Kuchar at BU

10/2/2019

Remembering George Kuchar
Here is his Obituary from the NY Times two years ago.
Here is the movie about him and his brother, their retro aesthetic and unique teaching style:
It Came From KucharBelow is a clip I shot of him speaking a BU.

George Kuchar at Boston University from tim jackson on Vimeo.

August 15th, 2019

8/15/2019