| Paul ( @ 2007-11-07 08:40:00 |
What, me worry?
I've had another CD turn up in the mail. This time its one I bought second hand from an Amazon listing - the seller was some little old lady in Pasadena. The title is Strangelove: Music from the films of Stanley Kubrick. It was being compiled as a tribute to his cinematic prowess, but he carked it before the project was completed. The disk is not available over the counter in Australia.
Kubrick made plenty of films during his life - there are many I haven't seen. For example Lolita, Barry Lyndon, Fear and Desire, Full Metal Jacket, Paths of Glory and The Shining.
But I have seen Dr Strangelove, 2001 - the Spiceless Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and you guessed it, Spartacus. Music from all these movies and the others is represented on the disk. I amazed that a couple of months ago I was agonising over ever finding the Spartacus theme. Now I'm almost knee deep in them.
You can visit the CD and see its cool B52 cover, plus hear samples of any of the tracks by clicking here.
Dr Srangelove is one of those films which confused a lot of people when it was released in 1964. It cast doubt upon the wisdom of the philosophy of mutually assure destruction (MAD) being pursued by the Americans against the Soviet Union. I suspect most people believed the plot was so absurd that it was dismissed in their minds. Since those times we've discovered that some of the loonies depicted in the film are actually not a lot different to some real-life individuals and scenarios in the US military.
Only a few weeks ago I read a USAF News report available about how nuclear weapon equipped cruise missiles were treated with minimal security at a US air base and then accidentally fitted up on a bomber in the belief they were not what they really were, then the aircraft crossed over a major portion of the US continent. No one was aware of the mistakes until days later. To read the report click here.
Meanwhile in Pakistan where the natives have assembled another arsenal of nuclear weapons, matters are going from bad to worse. The country is apparently on the brink of civil war and there are more than a few itchy trigger fingers which would like a nuke to play with. Further west the Iranians are preparing for their own version of Armageddon, and a little further on the Turks and Iraqi Kurds are going at it hammer and tongs with good old fashioned bullets.
Back here in civilised Perth this week the Maoris and Aborigines have been having their own little war. Lots of "chuckem rocks" and one person killed. Possibly a lot more angst to come.
Here's another picture from the mutually assured destruction era to cheer us all up.
© MMVII Paul R. Weaver.
About the writer
Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write a couple of million words.

I've had another CD turn up in the mail. This time its one I bought second hand from an Amazon listing - the seller was some little old lady in Pasadena. The title is Strangelove: Music from the films of Stanley Kubrick. It was being compiled as a tribute to his cinematic prowess, but he carked it before the project was completed. The disk is not available over the counter in Australia.
Kubrick made plenty of films during his life - there are many I haven't seen. For example Lolita, Barry Lyndon, Fear and Desire, Full Metal Jacket, Paths of Glory and The Shining.
But I have seen Dr Strangelove, 2001 - the Spiceless Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and you guessed it, Spartacus. Music from all these movies and the others is represented on the disk. I amazed that a couple of months ago I was agonising over ever finding the Spartacus theme. Now I'm almost knee deep in them.
You can visit the CD and see its cool B52 cover, plus hear samples of any of the tracks by clicking here.
Dr Srangelove is one of those films which confused a lot of people when it was released in 1964. It cast doubt upon the wisdom of the philosophy of mutually assure destruction (MAD) being pursued by the Americans against the Soviet Union. I suspect most people believed the plot was so absurd that it was dismissed in their minds. Since those times we've discovered that some of the loonies depicted in the film are actually not a lot different to some real-life individuals and scenarios in the US military.
Only a few weeks ago I read a USAF News report available about how nuclear weapon equipped cruise missiles were treated with minimal security at a US air base and then accidentally fitted up on a bomber in the belief they were not what they really were, then the aircraft crossed over a major portion of the US continent. No one was aware of the mistakes until days later. To read the report click here.
Meanwhile in Pakistan where the natives have assembled another arsenal of nuclear weapons, matters are going from bad to worse. The country is apparently on the brink of civil war and there are more than a few itchy trigger fingers which would like a nuke to play with. Further west the Iranians are preparing for their own version of Armageddon, and a little further on the Turks and Iraqi Kurds are going at it hammer and tongs with good old fashioned bullets.
Back here in civilised Perth this week the Maoris and Aborigines have been having their own little war. Lots of "chuckem rocks" and one person killed. Possibly a lot more angst to come.
Here's another picture from the mutually assured destruction era to cheer us all up.
© MMVII Paul R. Weaver.
About the writer
Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write a couple of million words.