The Explanation
(for those who require one)
And, of course, that is what all of this is -- all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow from and to and for that which is ineffable within us and without us, that is both prayer and deliverance, folly and wisdom, that inspires us to dance or smile or simply to go on, senselessly, incomprehensibly, beatifically, in the face of mortality and the truth that our lives are more ill-writ, ill-rhymed and fleeting than any song, except perhaps those songs -- that song, endlesly reincarnated -- born of that truth, be it the moon and June of that truth, or the wordless blue moan, or the rotgut or the elegant poetry of it. That nameless black-hulled ship of Ulysses, that long black train, that Terraplane, that mystery train, that Rocket '88', that Buick 6 -- same journey, same miracle, same end and endlessness."
-- Nick Tosches, Where Dead Voices Gather
12 comments:
Jack snarfed down the Fatimas and Chesterfields, and his share of booze, too. But he left his mark (IIV).
The dance of death. Jesus, these things were pervasive.
The Continental Op's preferred brand - I wonder if Hammett smoked 'em? I was reading one of his short stories last Friday while waiting for a lady, and Fatimas figured in.
I think it's just the ultimate cigarette name, particularly for the '20s thru '40s -- mysterious, exotic, forbidden.
9 out a 10 Doctors agree!...smooooth..and easy on your throat..
http://www.archive.org/details/Dragnet_OTR
Amazing. The motherlode for shows like The Wire.
I'm currently listening to the top episode at the link, Homicide. Either that same script was reshot for one of the tv shows or they borrowed some elements from it. I clearly remember parts from a rerun Nick at Night played.
There was a fair bit of discussion about Dragnet here last week.
No doubt, one of the best radio shows ever
[a step behind Gunsmoke in a pack with Jack Benny, Our Miss Brooks, Texas Rangers, Box 13, Burns & Allen].
At at the end of that very good show,
Mr Webb would come on and exhort his many fans to
Enjoy the Quality.
Its funny when you listen to it today.
It's that previous discussion that whet my appetite and made me follow Alex's link. Thanks to Alex for posting that.
Jack Webb may not have invented toe police procedural, but he certainly honed and refined the form. And those "Dragnet" radio shows still hold up today, even though they reflect a Los Angeles that is long gone (Council Bluffs with a beach) before blacks, Latinos, Asians, etc., began arriving in droves to join all those Protestant transplants from the Midwest.
Wow... How young Jack Webb looks. I love this site. I recall he endorsed Chesterfields later on.
It's a little odd to see people smoking in these old ad's.
Thanks for a great pic.
Mikel J
The Man.
Post a Comment