And I've been listening to Goth nonstop. It shows, doesn't it, my pretties? Oh yes, indeed it does.
In fact, I feel a theme week coming on.
Well, perhaps not a week. I might become bored with it by Wednesday. We goths are fickle creatures, you see (though sometimes it's just memory loss from drinking absinthe.)
Regardless, as a precursor to Goth week -- which I have chosen to call My Lurking Sound (and probably only one of you will get that joke) -- I hereby present to you the wit and wisdom of Andrew Eldritch, singer/songwriter/frontman of The Sisters of Mercy:
"I think the great lesson of the 20th century is that you have to separate the ethics from the aesthetics. The Nazis did have the best uniforms, there's no denying it. The great lesson there is that you don't have to agree with what the Nazis did, but, yes, be honest about it, they did have the best uniforms. A lot of people can't come to terms with something as banal as that. They can't admit it, because somehow they feel like they're approving of what the Nazis did."
"This war looks great", he smacks, an Iraqi military installation suddenly a mass of black smoke. "America is going to win not because it can kill more people or because it has more men - that's not important. It's the simple fact that all the high-tech shit looks so great. I want some of it. Where can I get a laser-guided missile? I know just what I'm buying with my next royalty check.
"I love the bomb", Eldritch snarls. "It's brilliant. The point is that I can't stop it from going off. It's the biggest thing that's going to happen in my lifetime. I will not be caught standing there, going, 'Oh dear!' That's a given. The way to make the best of this world, even in that last split second, is to say 'F?!k yeah! Great, isn't it?'"
-- from RIP Magazine, July 1991
The man is brilliant and a wanker at the same time. But don't take my word for it... you'll get to see for yourself, soon enough.
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You don't know how many times I've quoted the "uniforms" bit. Always gets a funny look, right before I call someone a philistine.
ReplyDeleteOne I'd like to offer up to Sirrah Eldritch actually is those sirens on the Stukka bombers. Brilliance! I want a siren on my car that does that!
Also, if you have not already, which I'm sure you of all people have, read the Wikipedia articles regarding SOM vs. The Mission and The Sisterhood, you should do so. Hilarious stuff.
Also, to anyone who wants a laugh, and I mean that in the good UK "good times" meaning, not the pejorative US meaning, should read as much as possible from:
http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/home.html#index
Also, Erin, have you ever heard of a band called Chiasm / artist named Emileigh Rohn? She comes highly recommended for those rather sulky moods.
Although I love the Sisters, Eldritch is relatively easy to sum up for me - and I am +ve I won't be popular for this - pre-Stadium Rock Sisters:brilliant, post-Stadium Rock Sisters:Wanker. He seems to have foregone the wisdom and serenity that should come with age for acting like a horse's arse in the hope it will keep him relevant. Unfortunately I have trouble thinking of anybody more 'rent-a-quote' irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteSalem: It's so true, which is why I enjoyed Starship Troopers, despite it being a steaming pile of horse shit: any film that puts Doogie Howser in a leather Gestapo coat is all right by me. Also, the exacting reproductions of Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will tickled me -- though I suspect no one else in the theater got the joke.
ReplyDeleteHighlander: Can't we agree he can be brilliant AND and wanker at the same time? I mean, he's always been a wanker; there's a reason TSOM always break up after an album.
Still, I have to admire anyone who can say what he says to the British press and get away with it...
I GET IT!
ReplyDeleteHA!! I thought I was the only one who truly appreciated the brilliance of Starship Troopers! Simply by the name alone you can't expect the movie to be a serious sci-fi opus, I mean it puts The Living Jaw into a heroic role, has some scenes with Dina Meyer (future love-of-my-comic-life Oracle) that stretch my open-minded and enlightened male maturity to the breaking point, the aforementioned Doogie Howser in gestapo-gear(totally badass), and BUGS. Lots and lots of Bugs. Wow at the bugs. I'm rendered speechless at the bugs. Big bugs, little bugs, violent bugs, scaredy-bugs.
ReplyDeleteThis movie is meant to be taken about as seriously as those bicycle helmets the soldiers wear in combat. It's a farcical and satirical Full Metal Jacket for the sci-fi crowd, right down to the hard-as-nails one-handed uber-sergeant that's also a teacher. It's a beautiful movie, if you watch it with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Your verification system now wants me to type "exret." That's beyond dirty.
Bicycle helmets in Starship troopers?
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you didn't confuse Starship Troopers with Space Above and Beyond?
Starship Troopers is a true classic. I love that movie.
ReplyDeleteTurbo
Alright, maybe I'm overexaggerating, but those helmets in Starship Troopers are FAR too little protection against bullets or massive insect talons..
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