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frnck blck
-= The Man =-
312 Posts |
 Posted - 04/29/2005 : 20:21:42
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Please pardon the tooting of my own horn, but this one was special.
http://www.laalternativepress.com
A Locally-Owned and Independent Voice in the City
Volume 4 Number 2 – April 29 - May 12, 2005
I is for Interview
Indie-rock hero Frank Black goes one-on-one with his literary hero, the indomitable Ray Bradbury.
BY FRANK BLACK
I got an email from the editor at the L.A. Alternative Press asking me to call up the one and only Ray Bradbury to ask him some questions for a casual Q&A. I avoided responding. When my high school English teacher said I could write short stories instead of doing homework, Ray Bradbury was my main source of inspiration. Years later I would absorb what Ray had to say at personal appearances he made at libraries and gymnasiums. I named a record after him [1996’s “The Cult of Ray”] and squeezed as much of him as I could into my own work. Once I got an autograph and mumbled garbled, humbled praise. I was totally intimidated to speak with the beyond-famous and beloved writer, and yet I thought myself a fool to pass on the experience.
I called Katherine at the Press back right before the deadline and was given Ray’s home telephone number. She told me he would pick up the telephone when I called. The first two times I called I was very satisfied to hear the ancient sound of the busy signal. I was not surprised that Mr. Bradbury had no use for call waiting. Then, on my third attempt, he answered after one ring...
RAY BRADBURY: Good morning.
FRANK BLACK: Good morning Mr. Bradbury, this is Frank Black representing the LA Alternative Press publication. I was hoping I could speak to you today, perhaps...or whenever it’s convenient.
RB: Um, let’s see what time it is here...Could you do it right now?
FB: Absolutely.
RB: Put on your tape recorder...
FB: It’s going! [Laughs.]
RB: Let’s do it right now.
FB: Wonderful! [Clears throat.] Thank you for your time, by the way...
RB: Sure.
FB: ...and I won’t take too much of it. Over the years I have imagined, in my own mind, filling the Los Angeles storm drain and aqueducts with water to accommodate boats to ferry people around town. If you could be mayor, or king, of Los Angeles for a day, what great works could you imagine?
RB: I would turn the river bottom into a freeway. You don’t need water, just clear out the rocks and you could have a freeway all the way out to the Valley away from the other freeways. There’s a lot of rocks there. There’s a drain in the middle that channels what little water’s there.
FB: The Los Angeles river?
RB: It goes all the way to the Valley. You’d have a freeway, which would give you extra ways of traveling from the Valley into downtown.
FB: Some of us in the world are excited about colonizing Mars. Why do you suppose that some people have such a negative, or sometimes even hostile attitude about this?
RB: It’s always been true that the average person has very little imagination. We can’t expect them to anticipate the things that we anticipate. It’s inevitable that we go back to the moon, its inevitable that we go to Mars, and its inevitable we go on out into the universe. We’re just not gonna stay here. The people that don’t think about these things, they think only of the practical things of getting up in the morning, and going to bed at night. But if that sort of thinking had occurred five hundred years ago, there’d be no America. Three Italian voyagers discovered America. Columbus never touched ground until the third expedition. Then Giovanni Caboto was sent by Henry VII, and finally Jacques Cartier was sent by Francois I of France. Each of them didn’t realize that what they were doing was creating a country with 300 million people. Now, if the thinking had gone on in those days the way it is today, they would have never have left Italy and France and England, and there would be no United States. So think of that. Come on! We’ve gotta do these things, in spite of the people who don’t care.
FB: Amen. On that note, it seems inevitable that one day many locales on Mars will be named after you, Mr. Bradbury.
Does that give you a little thrill?
RB: Right now it’s enough that I have a crater on the moon named after one of my books. The Dandelion Crater. That’s good enough for me.
FB: OK. You attended the first world science fiction convention, Worldcon, in 1939.
RB: When I was 19 years old.
FB: You’ve attended comic book conventions throughout your life.
RB: I’ve been going the last three years to the one in San Diego. It’s great fun, its just jolly.
FB: Are you a believer in human gathering? As humans, are we meant to gather?
RB: It seems that we need it, doesn’t it? If we’re all crazy together...You can go to the comic conventions in July and you can see how crazy we are. Because we all get together and say, “Well, we’re pretty nuts, aren’t we?” But we love each other. So that’s why we do it.
FB: Some Angelenos are secessionists and think the city would run better if it shrank some. Do you think Los Angeles’ problems might be helped by making it smaller, or do you think it should stay big?
RB: We don’t need to make it smaller. What we need is the monorail. We were offered the chance by Helwig Monorail 40 years ago at the meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Helwig Monorail offered to build eight or 12 systems for free and give them to us, if we allowed them to run them. That seemed fair enough to me. So that would solve the traffic problem, because it’s above traffic, it’s off the street, and can be built away from the street then brought in and put up without any trouble or hurting anyone. We’re not going to make LA smaller, it’s too late. But we have to have a decent monorail system to help us move around.
FB: I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve read that before my time — I’m 40 years old — that movie theatres were everywhere, and that Los Angeles even used to have several Japanese-language movie theatres.
RB: Oh, I used to go to them all the time, I took all my children to the one near Wilshire and La Brea. I took them to see all of [Akira] Kurosawa’s films there.
FB: I guess it was a really wonderful time in America when movie theatres were so much more plentiful then they are now.
RB: Well, now we have multiple theatres. Most of them are too small. I don’t like to go to the multiple theatres. But there’s still a few big ones and thank God for that.
FB: Would you be in favor of making sections of Los Angeles pedestrian zones, free of cars, or do you think that car culture is too important to the city?
RB: I helped Santa Monica rebuild their pedestrian section which starts at Wilshire and goes all the way down for about six or eight blocks, and throughout Fifth Street in Santa Monica. I’m responsible for nagging them to rebuild that, ‘cause it works. At Century City you have a car-free zone, and I helped rebuild that. I told them that they needed 30 restaurants, because people go out to eat, they don’t go out to shop. They go out to eat, and when they feel good, they buy things they don’t want. So I am in favor of more of these, I think Westwood could do with closing a few streets and turning them into pedestrian malls, and it will be done. It will be done.
FB: In modern cinema, do you think that its become too violent or graphic, leaving less to the imagination, or is this an old fashioned kind of attitude?
RB: Mostly crap, isn’t it? Every five minutes they explode ten thousand gallons of gasoline. So that is moronic. And indeed they’re too violent. So many of them are tests between macho males trying to prove they have biceps and balls. I like the old fashioned movies and there are still a lot of movies around that are excellent. During the last year or so there was a wonderful western that is a bit violent with Robert Duvall, called “Open Range.” There’s a film with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, “Secondhand Lions,” a beautiful film about Africa. And then during the Academy Award time, there was Annette Benning in.“Being Julia” was the name of it. Very nice film. So there are some good films around. But we have to pay attention to them.
FB: The one filmmaker who has been able to make me cry is Jaques Tati.
RB: Well, I knew him very well, he was a good friend. “Mr. Hulot’s Holiday” is one of the funniest films, and one of the saddest films ever made. It’s very funny, but it has a touch of melancholy. Beautiful.
FB: Is there a filmmaker that can make you cry?
RB: Well, I did a film at Disney, “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” it has its moments that make you cry because it’s very human, the relationship of the boy with his father. And Jack Clayton directed that. Very nice.
FB: Speaking of directors, I feel emotionally scarred to this day by a guy who almost punched me out in a barroom where my girlfriend worked. This was someone I did not know. You were almost punched out by John Huston, who you admired. Can you laugh about that now, or do you still feel hurt by that?
RB: No, no, ‘cause it’s a long time ago, and he gave me a job to write [the screenplay for] “Moby Dick” and I’m very grateful. He’s the only one that paid attention to me 55 years ago. So I’m very grateful.
FB: I’m a rock musician; I’ve done a lot of flying in the world, and I’ve gone through phases in my life where I’ve been afraid of flying. But once, I was upgraded to a flight on the Concorde. I know you’ve flown the Concorde—were you sad to see it go, finally?
RB: That was a terrible mistake that was based on a piece of metal that was on the runway. And the tire of the Concorde hit the piece of metal and it went up through the plane and destroyed it, but it had nothing to do with the Concorde. But they were cowards to give up because this had nothing to do with the plane. It was a piece of metal on the tarmac. It should never have caused the destruction of the Concorde.
FB: I only got to fly the Concorde once, but I loved that moment when the aircraft reached the speed of sound and the sound of the engines disappeared behind you. Do you have any favorite recollections of that supersonic flight?
RB: It’s wonderful, but more important is this: I discovered when I flew for the first time that I wasn’t afraid of flying, I was afraid of me. Once I discovered that I was afraid of me, the fear went away, because I’m a good guy. So I’ve been flying ever since. A lot of people think they’re afraid of flying, and they’re just afraid of themselves, that’s all.
FB: Maybe I should pass that along to my grandmother, who’s exactly your age; she still won’t fly. I think she’s traveled around the world on boats but she still won’t get on a plane.
RB: She’s afraid of herself. Tell her to just relax and take a drink of gin and get on the plane.
FB: I’ll tell her you said so. One time I got to travel on the Queen Elizabeth II. I imagine you probably traveled that boat once or twice in your lifetime.
RB: I’ve taken all my daughters on it.
FB: Were you sad to see that ship go?
RB: Well, they’ve got other new ships. In fact, its still around, it’s making trips. It hasn’t been retired completely.
FB: They say that the first ship to Mars will be a bit of a slow boat. Some say six to nine months. With that kind of travel time involved, do you think some colonists will be saying goodbye to Earth forever?
RB: Oh, I can’t answer that, it’s too far in the future. I couldn’t answer that at all.
FB: OK. Well, as colonists in the future, that distant future, do you think we should alter the atmosphere of Mars to make it more hospitable, or should we take a more ‘green’ approach and learn to live within its limitations?
RB: At the start, we’ll have to live within its limitations. But as we begin to plant Mars, then the oxygen will come out of the plants, won’t it? That will take a lot of planting and a lot of doing.
FB: As a writer, I’m sure you’ve had many meetings over the years with people in restaurants. What is your favorite restaurant in Paris, if it’s even still there?
RB: Oh God Almighty, there are so many. First of all, there are 20,000 restaurants in Paris. And I’ve been in most of them. Fouquet’s is on the Champs d’Elysees, it’s a very nice restaurant, and it’s pretty social, and you have the fun of eating good food and watching the Parisian public walk by.
FB: In Los Angeles, my personal favorite is the Pacific Dining Car downtown.
RB: Oh, you just named mine. I go to both, I go to the one on Wilshire out in Santa Monica. It’s just as good.
FB: Yeah, I like the one in Santa Monica as well. I really like the fact that there isn’t any music being piped in and it’s so quiet and sound-absorbent...
RB: You can talk to one another...
FB: Is that the mark of the restaurant of yesteryear, or is that just a fantasy of mine that back in the day a lot of restaurants were like that?
RB: Nowadays people don’t want to talk to each other, so they go to a restaurant where there’s a lot of talk, a lot of sound, and a lot of music, and they don’t have to say anything. It’s a real bore.
FB: When I was 16 years old I took the GED high school equivalency test because I was anxious to begin my career in music, and my mother made me finish high school. Would you have different advice for a teenager who’s in a rush?
RB: Well, it depends what you’re going to do. Now if you want be a writer, you don’t need education. You can do it yourself. So when I graduated from high school, I went to the library and I stayed there, I went to the library two or three days a week for 20 years. I graduated from the library when I was about 28 years old. Through writing, you educate yourself. You write every day and you read every day. And at the end of 10 years or so you’ve become a writer. That’s the way you rush it, by doing it.
FB: The sound and the vibrations of the typewriter are virtually gone now, and I realize that since your stroke you may be writing a different way now, but up until that time, was the feel and the sound of the typewriter machine an important part of the writing experience for you?
RB: I think it is, but I suppose if you’re used to the computer, it doesn’t make any difference. After all, the pencil and paper, or a pen and paper, are quiet too, so you can write just as well. It doesn’t matter how you write, just as long as you write. So you don’t need the sound, but it’s very nice.
FB: Last year, 63-year-old Mike Melvill flew the first privately built craft into space. Do you think that it’s individuals, or groups of individuals, rather than governments, who will finally colonize space?
RB: First of all, it’s too expensive. It’s hard to guess if there will be enough crazy people in the future to do it. I think you require the government to do it, because the government needs to do it. Crazy people are not that frequently to be met. So I think it will be a government thing as far as I can see.
Ray Bradbury appears at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena at 6 p.m. on April 29.
The Pixies tour begins May 26 and comes to L.A’s Wiltern on June 2.
©2005 by Los Angeles Alternative Press
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 20:26:36
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| Oh wow, Frank, your online! Just in case you check the responses to this, just let me come over like a nerdy fanboy and say your music changed my life, you are a genius(I know that sounds a bit over the top, but it's true) and you've had a huge influence on me and a great inspiration as a guitarist. Thank you, sir! That's great that you got to interview Bradbury, I've never read any of his stuff, I saw the film version of Farenheit 451 ages ago, very good. Thanks and good luck with the tour! |
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OldManInaCoffeeCan
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1467 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 20:33:44
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Fucking Aye, Boss, this one is special, and stop by anytime to blow your horn...Wow, lot of info in this one...a few things that I enjoyed was the reference to mass transit, monorail, reminded me of the "El" [elevated, but you knew that} in the Bronx and Brooklyn...and pretty weird coincidence,...I had just finished my Brown Album, Brown Liquor experiment [it was a success btw], and began listening to DITS, "Blast Off" when I checked back at FB.net and saw your thread...Not a bad way to spend a Friday night, huh!
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OldManInaCoffeeCan
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1467 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 20:37:21
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Oh yeah, with all due respect, what the hell are you doing in that picture, using your cell phone in a public phone booth? Very ironic...I guess that's just one of the many reasons why we know you as The Man...
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Edited by - OldManInaCoffeeCan on 04/29/2005 20:39:05 |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 20:43:26
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I remember an interview that mentioned FB was ungraded to club class on a plane because they accidentally put him in smoking, and he complained! I think he took the QEII after the solo shows around the time of Bossanova, I just remember that from a Record Collector article. Some interesting subjects touched upon, the development of civilisation, Jaques Tati, writing etc. The mention of the monorail immediatelly made me think of that Simpsons episode!
Oh yeah, at first I thought this was an interview with the music magazine Altenative Press. Which I don't read, by the way. |
Edited by - Carl on 04/29/2005 20:55:01 |
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OldManInaCoffeeCan
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1467 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 21:12:15
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Something else this article brought to mind...the wisdom in the cliche' "The more things change the more things stay the same"...As pointed out by Mr. Bradbury, not much difference in Columbus, Caboto, Cartier and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Alderin...same end-game, explore unexplored territory...
And, hey Boss, anytime we go bar hopping together, you can bet I'll always have your back...and next time you get in a jam, make sure you get the first punch in, preferably in the nose, it hurts like hell and bleeds a lot...
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Edited by - OldManInaCoffeeCan on 04/29/2005 21:12:47 |
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KimStanleyRobinson
* Dog in the Sand *
1972 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 21:35:44
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dream come true, man.
Congratulations and thanks for posting it.
I chose my fb.net forum name to get you to notice me i think.
Terraforming.
Some day they'll drill big holes in it.
Thank you for making songs that have taken me to the Red Planet and back. I consider Trompe to be a scifi concept album, but I'm not very smart, so what do I know?
Thanks again. |
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Levitated
= Cult of Ray =
Chile
652 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 21:51:21
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What a great interview sir, and what a great moment to read it. I was just starting my blog and I couldn't write any coherent phrase but what Mr. Ray said :" That’s the way you rush it, by doing it." made my day!!
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Oh, and please try to bring The Pixies to Southamerica.
Nos vemos amigo!! |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 00:51:26
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Thanks Frank - I enjoyed that very much.
 I'm like a lost snail in the night. |
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n/a
deleted
4109 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 01:43:49
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Thank you so much for stoping here again, and for the interview.
What else could we want from our favourite musician?
When you free yourself from the chance of a lifetime
You can be anyone they told you to
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Edited by - n/a on 04/30/2005 01:56:38 |
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whoreatthedoor
> Teenager of the Year <
Spain
2873 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 03:20:52
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You won't make a career as a journalist, but you're still my hero
Ayúdate a ti mismo, y entonces te ayudarán también los demás. Principio de amor al prójimo. |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 03:42:15
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| That's a real compliment! ;) |
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frank_black_francis
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
895 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 04:31:28
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I really liked the interview....especially the Urban Planning. Yea....I'm an Urban Planner by the way....but it should be noted that, for the most part, monorails actually encourage more suburbs. Making an Urban Growth Boundary (like in Portland) wouldn't be inconceivable in L.A.
I was also very excited about the prospect of colonizing Mars, but wouldnt "going green" actually be "going red" on Mars? There's no atmosphere there, of course, and altering it to suit humans by growing algae (as one of the plans suggest) strikes me as kinda weird. The notion of relying on individuals to do it also strikes me with concern.
It was an individual who, in Los Angeles 80 years ago, bought up the "BIG RED CAR" streetcars, extended them into vacant areas that had properties he owned, sparked a major portion of LA's initial sprawl and then abandoned the RED CARS, developed the land and made a big pile of money. Now we talk about pedestrianization of parts of LA. I wonder what we'd be proposing for the problems in MARS that will arise from 'individual' ventures.
Hall, Peter. "The City as Freeway", in Cities in Civilization, 1998. |
Edited by - frank_black_francis on 04/30/2005 04:52:10 |
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mun chien andalusia
= Quote Accumulator =
Italy
2139 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 05:30:31
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glad to see that the cult of ray is not abbandoned. i love that record. and ray bradbury's books.
 i bash newbies for a living |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 05:34:23
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What a way to end the week!
Thank you, Frank.
Stop by any time.
Lots of love to little Jack.
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
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starmekitten
-= Forum Pistolera =-
United Kingdom
6370 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 06:04:59
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Thank you for sharing, that is brilliant! I'd just dragged out my battered copy of 'the illustrated man' last night for some bedtime reading.
Also, if you can't toot your own on here, where can you!
many, many thanks.
 when there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth |
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Thomas
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1615 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 06:37:08
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If the music doesn't pan out looks like you can do 20/20.
"Our Love is Rice and Beans and Horses Lard" |
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fumanbru
* Dog in the Sand *
Canada
1462 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 06:56:41
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great questions frank! thanks for posting the interview.
i really have to read more bradbury. i've read martian chronicles that i really enjoyed. what would you say are your favorite bradbury books? i saw you on a much music interview way back where you recommended the mars trilogy by ksr. i took your advice and found red mars really interesting. haven't made it to green and blue yet.
i really liked this part of the interview.
FB: Are you a believer in human gathering? As humans, are we meant to gather?
RB: It seems that we need it, doesn’t it? If we’re all crazy together...You can go to the comic conventions in July and you can see how crazy we are. Because we all get together and say, “Well, we’re pretty nuts, aren’t we?” But we love each other. So that’s why we do it.
the fbnetters need to gather for some bruski's one day!
"I joined the Cult of Frank/ cause I'm a real go-getter!" |
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Thomas
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1615 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 07:10:46
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Floop will be doing a meet and greet at the Pacific Dining Car soon.
"Our Love is Rice and Beans and Horses Lard" |
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OldManInaCoffeeCan
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1467 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 08:04:11
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quote:
Originally posted by frnck blck
FB: Speaking of directors, I feel emotionally scarred to this day by a guy who almost punched me out in a barroom where my girlfriend worked. This was someone I did not know. You were almost punched out by John Huston, who you admired. Can you laugh about that now, or do you still feel hurt by that?
RB: No, no, ‘cause it’s a long time ago, and he gave me a job to write [the screenplay for] “Moby Dick” and I’m very grateful. He’s the only one that paid attention to me 55 years ago. So I’m very grateful.
Frank "Scoop" Black, Journalist Extraordinaire, asking the tough questions.... |
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floop
= Wannabe Volunteer =
Mexico
15297 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 08:52:45
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awesome. thanks Frank!
excellent questions there. and excellent answers.
i especially enjoyed the LA transportation discussion. i live in LA and think about the public transportation problem quite a bit (especially when i'm stuck on the freeway).. i believe that if this city had viable public transportation, it would be the best city in the world. i've always figured the reason we don't have it is because car manufacturers have control. but we need something so desparately.
it seems like with the technology we have today, some savvy designers could come up with something. i've always imagined a kind of monorail system that uses the existing freeways. we'll still have freeways, but there will be monorails built onto them..
i like your vision of having boats on the river though.. would gambling be allowed on the boats?
anyway, excellent interview. thanks so much for posting it. |
Edited by - floop on 04/30/2005 10:16:57 |
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floop
= Wannabe Volunteer =
Mexico
15297 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 08:53:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Thomas
Floop will be doing a meet and greet at the Pacific Dining Car soon.
Pacific Dining Car ain't cheap. can we meet at Togo's instead? |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 10:07:13
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Very cool, thanks for the interview. I really enjoyed Ray's perspective on some of that, and as someone with a keen interest in urban planning and development as well as terraforming and space exploration, that interview was fantastic. I like the picture I get in my head of a big city with waterways and boats plodding along while a lady with a parasol and a white summer dress chats casually with a gentleman in a fedora on the deck of one boat. I doubt that in a city like LA the boats would plod, but I like that vision.
Also, as a pilot and aviation enthusiast, I must say that I was REALLY sad to see the concorde go. The A380 is interesting from an engineering concept, and I like the idea of going back and taking some ideas from the era of trains, that is, having part of the plane as a lounge/dining room/etc. Cramming 800 people isn't quite as exciting, though it's still pretty cool. I just think that the Concorde really could've inspired some further growth in supersonic mass transit which would've brought down costs and made it more popular. I'm going to London in a week or so and it's pretty much going to take me 24 hours (with time changes) from when I start. That almost seems archaic.
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks again for posting. I'm sure the interview was a thrill for you.
"Joined the Cult of Frank / And you'll be enlightened" |
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 12:10:04
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Thanks Frank! Wow, what a great interview. Thanks so much.
Wow, I really liked the questions you asked. Very original and well thought out. It was great because I could tell you knew your subject well enough to get creative and interesting responses.
This was a very cool interview. Ray Bradbury is an amazing writer. I think he has so much to offer, but I would say my favorite story of his is All Summer in a Day. But I need to re-read some of his stuff as it's been a decade or more since I've read some of his stuff.
It was really neat reading his responses. I had forgotten about the Movie Version of Something Wicked this Way comes, that was a great flick.
I didn't know he was friends with Jaque Tati, either. In a way I can see why becasue they were both sci fi people in a way. (Tati with Playtime and Ray with pretty much everything Ray)
Just from the looks of everything, it seemd as though your interivew could have gone on much longer. Hopefully you can meet up at Pacific Dining Car and continue the conversation.
So are there other parts of the interview that didn't make it in the article that you can share with us??
Anyway, thanks again!! Like IMINACC said, please feel free to come and toot your on horn anytime. We'll eat it up! 
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martha_promise
= Cult of Ray =
USA
398 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 12:25:12
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Very nice!
Thanks for sharing.
~~Come inside, or...Go Away.~~ |
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misterwoe
= Cult of Ray =
Greece
675 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 12:50:51
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Thank you, FB. It really meant a lot for me to read this, my favorite musician interviewing my favorite writer. Bradbury is the man that got me into reading, period (martian chronicles!). Reading got me into writing, and here I am...
Frank, what are some of your favorite Bradbury stories? How often do you read him these days? What else do you read?
Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole. |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 18:43:19
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quote:
It was an individual who, in Los Angeles 80 years ago, bought up the "BIG RED CAR" streetcars, extended them into vacant areas that had properties he owned, sparked a major portion of LA's initial sprawl and then abandoned the RED CARS, developed the land and made a big pile of money.
Yeah, I've seen "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", too. :P
Great interview, by the way.
I was all out of luck, like a duck that died. I was all out of juice, like a moose denied. |
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Little Black Francis
> Teenager of the Year <
3648 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 19:23:10
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Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a rip off of Bugs Bunny.
Elmer Fudd Rules!
 ... guitar god potion |
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frank_black_francis
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
895 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 19:26:10
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quote:
Originally posted by VoVat
quote:
It was an individual who, in Los Angeles 80 years ago, bought up the "BIG RED CAR" streetcars, extended them into vacant areas that had properties he owned, sparked a major portion of LA's initial sprawl and then abandoned the RED CARS, developed the land and made a big pile of money.
Yeah, I've seen "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", too. :P
Well you would think it was a good thing i left the actual reference to that comment below my statement...that got past you did it? |
Edited by - frank_black_francis on 04/30/2005 19:27:55 |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2005 : 14:53:46
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No, I saw it, and I knew the Red Car thing was based on something real, anyway. My comment was called a "joke." Look it up sometime. :P
I was all out of luck, like a duck that died. I was all out of juice, like a moose denied. |
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frank_black_francis
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
895 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2005 : 02:37:06
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quote:
Originally posted by VoVat
No, I saw it, and I knew the Red Car thing was based on something real, anyway. My comment was called a "joke." Look it up sometime. :P
so was mine...sarcasm doesnt really come thru as well in type huh? |
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fumanbru
* Dog in the Sand *
Canada
1462 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2005 : 05:49:03
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last night i was looking for something to read so i went to the bookshelf and found bradbury's "quicker than the eye". a collection of short stories. i opened the front cover and in hand written print it said "merry christmas. yippy-yih-yae. frank black." that made me chuckle. my bro usually signs santa.
"I joined the Cult of Frank/ cause I'm a real go-getter!" |
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BrendanT
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
907 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2005 : 10:43:45
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I can assume that Mr. Bradbury did not know of Frank as he mentioned that he is a rock star and has travelled the world. What I would like to know is; Was Mr. Bradbury aware that there was an album of music loosely titled after him? Did frank mention this fact to him?
I watched Mr. Bradbury on the Late Late show with Tom Snyder. Tom was calm and cool with each and every guest he had on his show the only guest to make him stumble over his words was Mr. Ray Bradbury. He (Ray) was mentioning his experience/meeting with a circus performer by the name of Mr. Electrode (I think?) and the fascinating story behind this chance meeting. If anyone else watched this interview you know what I am talking about.
Anyways, I just wanted to say that Frank's interview was superb.
Just wondering if Frank caught a little of the Snyder fumbles while speaking with Mr. Bradbury or did everything go as cooly as the interview made it appear?
Driving Blind!!!!!
Strummer-man
I had me a vision!
All of a sudden my water broke!
"There was a man Who made a boat To sail away And it sank.". |
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darwin
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
5454 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2005 : 10:58:12
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quote:
Originally posted by BrendanT
I can assume that Mr. Bradbury did not know of Frank as he mentioned that he is a rock star and has travelled the world. What I would like to know is; Was Mr. Bradbury aware that there was an album of music loosely titled after him? Did frank mention this fact to him?
After Mr. Bradbury made noise about suing Michael Moore for using the title Fahrenheit 911, Frank Black might be better off if Mr. Bradbury didn't know about Cult of Ray.
_____________________________
 Join the Cult of Mr. Black |
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floop
= Wannabe Volunteer =
Mexico
15297 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2005 : 10:59:42
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i "saw Raymond speak one time" too, at a library in my hometown. it was open to the public, but a lot of high school English classes were there. so when it got to the question and answer session, it was entertaining at times.
one girl asked him what he thought of "modern science fiction, like Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and he was just like, "i don't know what that is". that was funny.
and another kid. after Ray's long, elaborate 1-hour speach telling his story about how he got into writing etc.. asked him, "how did you get into writing?".
he seemed like an extremely peaceful man and a cool guy period. the coolest thing (i thought) was how he urged these kids not to watch broadcast news, and went off on how evil they (networks) are. |
Edited by - floop on 05/02/2005 11:12:21 |
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BrendanT
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
907 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2005 : 13:09:50
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Interesting, I didn't know that about Ray Bradbury and Michael Moore. Was he successful?
I guess it is tough to sue the Moore Corporation!
Strummer-man
I had me a vision!
All of a sudden my water broke!
"There was a man Who made a boat To sail away And it sank.". |
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Frank Black interviews Ray Bradbury
