One Life, One Bullet, Lets Rock 'n' Roll, Another Modern Moron Book Review

We fill the Earth with soulless cities and pollute ourselves with mindless music, and the erosion of our personalities feeds into the abyss of modern materialism. (Grady Hendrix / myself) 

Suicide, sex, mass murder, drugs and alcohol are just some of the baleful elements ejaculating from the fame starved heart of Terry Hunt, the former singer of the heavy metal band, Durt Wurk. 

"We Sold Our Souls," written by Grady Hendrix in 2018 was a book bequeathed to me from my sister Linda, and it didn't disappoint. Hendrix has a catchy writing style with solid story telling. It was like watching a movie as I read. 

In my dark place where blood churns, pain burns, iron rain falling on the bodies of the slain trapped inside a coffin of my pain. (Grady Hendrix, 2018)  

The band Durt Wurk got its name from their lead singer, Terry Hunt's weird uncle Mark who is a grave digger. and yes, uncle Mark is referred to as "weird uncle Mark" in "We Sold Our Souls," which still summons laughter to myself. 

The story is gripping, and not just some predicable tale of young musicians who start out as a basement band, and then sell their infinite souls to the Dark Lord of the universe for fame and fortune. Tinges of Devil worship exists in "We Sold Our Souls," but it's very brief.  

Kris Pulaski, while still in high school is the driving force of Durt Wurk, she sings, plays guitar and writes the bulk of their music. Terry is the one who sells his soul, and rids himself of all the other band members, including Kris, and seizes credit for all of the music and lyrics she wrote via vicious loopholes in the legal system and powers without form. Terry thus becomes the lead singer for Blind King, and later, Koffin, which rockets to fame, while Kris and her other band mates get caught in the ticking time clocks of works gilded cage. 

Without giving away too much, supernatural powers are granted to Terry, and he's able to get into the head of Scottie, a former Durt Wurk band mate. Scottie kills his wife and their two children and then himself because of nefarious forces Terry is able to awaken and insert into the core of Scotties mind.

JD Davis, former Drummer for Durt Wurk and Kris decide to combat Terry, and head to Las Vegas, where Terry's band, Koffin is the head lining act, even over the mighty real band, Slayer. JD and Kris rid themselves of their cell phones and are forced to take back roads to Vegas as they travel in JD's van in order to avoid invisible evil forces Terry is in tune with. 

Before teaming up with JD, Kris is forced to trek through a heinous cave in the heart of Black Iron Mountain, and the globalist elite mind control assassins. To save tens of thousands of lives, if not billions, Kris must make her way through a cave in which the ground is a seething surface of black bugs, jagged rocks and she's knee deep in bat feces. 

Tens of thousands of concert goers at the Vegas Koffin show are willingly attending their own slaughter without even knowing, and it's up to Kris and JD to save their souls. Yes, this seems cheesy to me as I'm writing the plot summary, but Hendrix has many surprises, and a very unpredictable outcome with some tense moments. 

Four stars easy for the book, "We Sold Our Souls."

Mark Izzy Schurr

         

 

Another Modern Moron Book Review

The music is in your mind, the mind is what we share, like sunshine and water. ("Who are the Plastic Ono Band? John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band") 

This gem of a picture book was acquired from the downtown Santa Rosa library and radiates wisdom from both John Lennon and Yoko Ono, among others. 

"As we look back on the 20th century, I think the legend of John and Yoko will stand out as something great. I think millions of people are going to benefit from what they did," Timothy Leary said. 

The Beatles were only together for ten years, and their music has embedded itself into the very heart of time. All four Beatles did it all in the realms of music, each member sang, wrote and played multiple instruments. 

Above picture is Paul and John in the Beatles last stadium concert at Candlestick Park, August 1966.

Some blame the breakup of the Beatles on John Lennon's lover Yoko Ono, and that she brain washed him, which is utter nonsense. Listen to his music, both from the Beatles and his solo works, and read about him to get the facts.

"Yoko taught me a lot about women, I was used to being served, like Elvis and a lot of the stars were. Yoko didn't buy that. What the fuck are the Beatles? I'm Yoko Ono, treat me as me...from the day I met her, she demanded equal time, equal space, equal rights. What do you want, a contract? I said. Don't impede my space. You can have anything you want, but don't expect anything from me, or change in anyway... She tells me the truth and its still painful," Lennon said. We simply thought the same way about things, love won, Yoko Ono said. People attacked her all the time, just for being with me, Lennon said.   

Above, John and Yoko in Bed-In for peace at Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, May, 1969. 

The Beatles gave the world everything they had (music) for ten years, what more do the people want from the f*****g Beatles, Lennon said in this book. 

"Performing as a Beatle is much harder than performing as John Lennon and Yoko Ono Plastic Band. My life with the Beatles had become a trap. If I hadn't said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas," Lennon said.

The two pictures above are John and Yoko performing as the Plastic Ono band, December, 1969 in London. 

To this very day, two of the surviving former Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Star are still doing live shows and putting out new music. John Lennon and George Harrison were also doing incredibly well before their lives were cut much too short. 

"John loved the Beatles. They were all such close friends and they all had strong individual personalities, that's why they made it so big, but by 1970, their egos and lives were all pointing in different directions," bassist and friend of the Fab Four, Klaus Voormann said. 

Both Lennon and Ono were strong advocates for peace, and their words in this book resonated extremely well to me in this book. You have to have peace, just give it a chance, Lennon said. Short, simple and true. 

Above photos, John and Yoko in their home in 1968. 

Everybody's talking about revolution, evolution, mass inflation, flagellation, regulations, integration, meditation, United Nations, congratulations! All we are saying is give peace a chance. ("Give Peace a Chance," 1969, John Lennon) 

There are ones who don't follow their instincts and went to Vietnam and got crippled or deformed and only woke up afterwards. They are the responsibility of the people who sent them there under an illusion, Lennon said in "Who are the Plastic Ono Band?" 

The establishment irritates you, pulls your beard, flicks your face to make you want to fight, because once they've got you violent, they know how to handle you. The only thing they don't know how to handle is nonviolence and humor, Lennon said. 

"No power outside can destroy you. You can destroy you by agreeing with them...nobody can destroy yourself, but you," Yoko Ono said.

 

Above, Yoko Ono. 

I merely scratched the edges of this captivating book and it's revealing words and cool pictures of John and Yoko from the 1960s and late 1970s, if not the very early 1980s, before John was slain by a sub-moronic sadistic idiot fuck. 

According to my math, John Lennon has done approximately 889 more hits of acid then myself, but some would claim we're both legally insane because we've dropped LSD more than seven times on seven different occasions. John was very candid about his drug use in this book, and it's clear, he was not a drug addict, but a drug user.

Lennon's humanity really shines in this book, he was not perfect, nor did he claim to be so in this book, and he was very open about his feelings of depression. 

"The so-called pain of the artist was always paid for by the freedom of the artist, John Lennon said. 

Four and a half stars easy for "Who are the Plastic Ono Band? John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band." 

Mark Izzy Schurr  

   

 

Bizarre & Beautiful

Exhibitionism, kinkiness, alcoholism and sexual frivolity with both men and women were just some of the things written about Clara Bow in the 1920s and early 1930s newspapers. 

"Clara Bow Running Wild," 1988s biography of Bow was a journey into literal insanity, and how even the young, sexy and wealthy experience the bitter side of life. 

When she was 21-years-old, every studio was in violent competition for her services. She was the real thing, someone to stir every pulse in the nation. She had a heart shaped face, an hour glass figure, and thick auburn hair dyed a flaming orange-red. She was the most desirable attribute of the 1920s, she had "It," F. Scott Fitzgerald said. 

 Above, Bow when she was 16-years-old, and she won 1921s Fame and Fortune Contest, thus igniting her career in the movies. She was the Marilyn Monroe of the roaring 20s, book reviewer Dominck Dunne said. 

Bow's mom was committed to an insane asylum before she was 4-years-old, and when she was 9-years-old, her best friend Johnny burned to death in the apartment he was living in below her. Bow tried saving the him by wrapping a carpet around his burning body. Her father was an abusive drunk who raped her when she was 16, and her mother who had been released from an asylum was recommitted when she tried killing bow with a butcher knife when she was still 16-years-old. 

Bow's grandfather was very loving and caring, and he also had sole custody of her. He died of a heart attack when she was 4-years-old.

"Wings" was the first movie to win the Academy Award for best picture of the year in 1927 in which Clara Bow starred in. This movie is still available to the masses, and surprisingly to me, a lot of Bow's movies from the 20s are lost. 

Gary Cooper, also in "Wings" was no stranger to life in the fast lane. Bows homemade den of iniquity included a made to order bed with a mirror on its canopy, facing you as you layed on it, Cooper said. Both Cooper and Bow had a very active sex life, both together and apart from one another.  

"He (Cooper) had the biggest cock in Hollywood and no ass to push it with," Bow said.

Bow was an avid fan of the USC NCAA football team and attended many of their games on a regular basis, and some said she did the dance with no under pants with the entire team. Newspaper journalist frequently wrote about her wild parties thrown at her Los Angeles home and accused her of incest, bestiality, and abusing drugs and alcohol.

In the 1950s, Bow was a diagnosed sycophantic and committed to the Southern California Sanitarium and prior to that, she spent 10 months in the Institute of Living in Harford, Connecticut. By the mid 50s, she was released from the Southern California Sanitarium and found peace with herself from swimming and books. She was known to read 12 books a week in the late 50s and 1960s.  

"A sex symbol is a heavy load to carry when one is tired, hurt and bewildered," Bow said.  

Writer Elinor Glyn labeled Bow the "It," girl, because she had the looks to lure men and even some women into delicious desires, she had It! 

Bow's hit 1927 movie, "It" was a romantic comedy based on Gyn's 1926 novella with the same title. 

The writer of this biography, David Stenn said 80 percent of all the silent films were lost, and many of them were Bow movies. "It" is still available to the masses. Unfortunately, "Grit," is among one of the lost films, released in 1924. "Grit" had to be edited for showings in New York because it was said to have scenes of disgusting immorality and sordid crime.  

"Flaming Youth," a lost 1923 film was based on the book with the same title which featured women who smoked, drank and partook in free love. Bow did not star in the film, but she was in the movie. 

"Rough House Rosie" is a 1927 film starring Bow that has been lost and was said to have lots of "It" with little clothing. 

Since reading "Clara Bow Running Wild," I learned some sad facts about child abuse and why some women normalize abuse in several different forms. On a positive note, I learned many racy or risqué films made in the 1920s and early 1930s were based upon books written by women. 

Writers Elinor Glyn, Anita Loos and Dora Mack are three writers from the early 20th century, and I want to read their books now. The books "Ex  Mistress" and "Vile Bodies" by Dora Mack are two of those novels I learned about from reading "Clara Bow Running Wild."

Three and half stars is my rating for this 1988 book, another gem acquired from the local library. 

Mark Izzy Schurr     

 

 

 

Too Little Too Late, or Too Much Too Soon?

At peace with myself at home, I was bathed in a nourishing glow of affection, father with unfailing jolly, both brothers were protective, and above all mother was a constant source of love ladled out in equal measures of encouragement and restraint, Shirley Temple Black said. 

"Child Star Shirley Temple Black An Autobiography" was released in 1988, and I was extremely impressed with all the details. Temple Black not only details her child star years, but also her high school romances and so much more. Born in 1928, the same year as Mickey Mouse, the ubiquitous Mickey Mouse, Temple Black said. 

Before she was 3-years-old, Temple was being formally trained in dancing at a famous dance studio for children in Los Angeles, and surprise, by the time she was 6-years-old, the dance studio enrollment sky rocketed. 

When Temple was 3-years-old, she starred in the Baby Burlesks one-reelers, depicting children in adult themes, and in 1934, she starred in three feature films, and from 1935-1938 she was the number one box office draw. 

Pictured above with her father, sighing a movie contract in 1934. In December of 1935, she was making $2,500. a week, two percent of what the studio was making off her movies at the time, Temple Black said. Some women offered themselves to Shirley's father to stud them, in hopes they would give birth to another Shirley Temple, she said. 

Temple Black really details her finances in this book, and I was very surprised at how much money she had when she was no longer making movies and married her second husband, Charles Alden Black when she was 22-years-old. 

The above picture is from 1935s "The Little Colonel," in which Temple and Bill Bojangles Robinson dance up the stairs. Temple and Robinson were Hollywood's first interracial dance team and this scene in which the two were holding hands was cut from the original theatrical release, because of simple minded idiots, and lame Hollywood politics. 

Even in her adult years, Shirley Temple always referred to Bill Robinson as Uncle Billy. 

Above picture, Temple with Uncle Billy in her treasured red and white racer from her treasured uncle Temple said. 

Above, Shirley Temple in 1945 when she was 17-years-old and engaged to be married to Air Cadet Andrew D. Hotchkiss jr. She married Hotchkiss that same year, and had her first child with him, Linda Susan in 1948. 

When she first married Hotchkiss, uncle Billy said if you ever hurt her, I'll cut you Temple said. Hotchkiss boozed and committed adultery and the two divorced and Temple got full custody of their daughter Susan. Uncle Billy did not cut him. 

Above photo, Temple with actual Blackfoot Indians from a Montana tribe. Twelve Blackfoot tribe members were in 1939s "Susannah of the Mounties." Chief Yellow Kidney, the tribes shaman officially made Temple a Blood Sister of the Blackfoot tribe. He cut his finger with a pen knife, then grasped Temple's hand and cut her finger and pressed their two bloody fingers together. It was quick if not totally painless Temple said, and her Blackfoot name became Bright Shinning Star. 

By the time Temple was 22-years-old, she was done with show business and never made another movie, and at least two different major studios offered her a large weekly sum of money to make one movie a year, and she declined the offers.

She was still in the movies while married to her first husband Hotchkiss, but she wasn't into the nightclub life like he was. When Temple was 18-years-old, actor Kirk Douglas met her in a night club and flat out said what he wanted to do to her sexually. She declined his offer, and in this more than 500 page book, there is not a single profanity. 

Above, Temple Black in 1954 with her husband, Charles Black. She had a boy and a girl with Black, and the child in the middle is her first, Susan, who she had with her first husband in 1948. When this book was released in 1988, the two were still married. 

The library is a great source, I highly recommend using it, and "Child Star Shirley Temple An Autobiography" was a fantastic read. My second five star rating. The non-alcoholic drink, the "Shirley Temple" was indeed named after her and she didn't like it. The drink looks like diluted blood, and tastes even worse, she said. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

   

  

Vintage Hollywood, An Incipient Brothel Tainting Virgin Eyes

Sex, vice and violence along with malevolent morals were just some of the things that assailed the senses and souls upon those who ventured into the darkened movie theaters laden throughout the universe.  

The above picture is Jean Harlow as Lil Andrews seducing her married boss, William, Chester Morris in 1932s "Red-Headed Woman."  Jean Harlow was integral in derailing the critique of commercial Christianity during the Pre-Code Hollywood era. 

In "Red-Headed Woman," Lil (Harlow) uses her natural allure to advance herself financially. Adultery and excessive boozing outraged many far-right Republicans and their insane counterparts, the crazed Christians who had the insane idea, they could dictate morals. By 1935, these Wack jobs won, and even the cartoon character of Betty Boop's skirt was drawn closer to her knees, and her garter belt was never shown to mainstream audiences after 1934. 

Lured subject matter was still allowed after 1934, but the wicked had to be punished in some form or another, via jail, an untimely death, or other forms of ill will toward these characters who partook in enthusiastic indulgences of sin and vice. 

If you want to watch 1932s "Red-Headed Woman," you may not want to read the next sentence and skip to the next paragraph, because I am going to give away the ending to this move. In "Red-Headed Woman," Lil fornicates with at least four different men, and with each of these rich men, she aims for an even a wealthier man, and in the end of the movie she marries a much older and very wealthy man. As Lil and her new hubby are in the back seat of their very nice, chauffeured car, the young handsome chauffer driver looks in the rear-view mirror at Lil and winks, and she winks back at him. Earlier in the film, Lil was married to another rich old man who had the same chauffer driver, and he divorced Lil, because she was seeing him while the two were married, hence, Lil's sins were rewarded in the end, which was a big no-no come 1935. 

By 1935, as I learned from reading 1999s "Pre-Code Hollywood Sex, Vice and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934," far righties and Christians with way too much power inflicted their laws biblically into Hollywood contracts; 'Thou shall not take or cause to be taken any photography in which girls are shown in underwear, fancy lingerie, teddies, scanties or drawers.' This is just one of the 12, yes 12 commandments in the actual Hollywood contract written in 1935, and it wasn't until the 1950s, these insane commandments for moviemakers started to cease, and not until 1968, did Hollywood implement the movie rating system.

The above picture is a publicity shot of Joan Blondell from her 1933 sex comedy, "Convention City." Blondell was another integral babe who combated the far righties and Christians with her sexiness and films that were an opiate for delicious deceits. 

Cruel Christians and their poisoned Republicans pals nearly ruined the movie industry, but these fools did their damage. In 1934, the original print of "Convention City" was destroyed along with hundreds of other copies of the 35mm film print, which makes it impossible to own a high-quality print of this lost classic, which, incidentally, is on my bucket-list to acquire. In the 1960s, Blondell owned a 16mm print of "Convention City" and showed this movie to various friends and family, and its been said by some, "Convention City" was soft core porn for its day. ("Joan Blondell A Life Between Takes," 2007) 

The above picture is a publicity still of 1932s "Virgins of Bali, a picture featured in the 1999 book, "Forbidden Hollywood..." by Thomas Doherty.  

The symbolic journey into the forbidden zone was ventured upon in "Virgins of Bali." The women bathed shamelessly in their nude bronze bodies. The girls were firmly and harmoniously developed and walked with a swinging and easy rhythmic movement. (Doherty)   

It's a no brainer today's movies are much more graphic and risqué than the four-year Pre-Code era, but that four-year period in cinematic Sin-Sation pioneered the way for today's sexy men and women to flaunt their stuff, and for the writers and directors to delve into the indulgences of wild youth, devious daughters, straying wife's and the elliptical allusions embracing visions of picturesque violence. 

Doherty's book, "Pre-Code Hollywood" is very detailed in documenting the Pre-Code movies exposing political fraud, hard drug use, and the heinous crimes of Al Capone and John Dillinger, among others. Sex just happened to be my favorite subject among these nearly 100-year-old movies, and because of my father and the local library, my quest to own and view these movies has essentially just begun. 

Dorothy Mackaill, pictured above from 1931s, Safe in Hell" is a tale of sex trafficking, hard boozing and murder, and yes, I own this gem of a flick. The people who love me the most don't even know me, yet they remaster movies made more than 90 years ago and distribute them just for me. Indeed, there is love for me. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

  

Sound on film was not mainstream until 1930, and the labyrinth of pleasure-seeking vice movies between 1930 and 1934 were truly entertaining and intriguing to me. 

The Q

Trumpism, insanity, lies and a kaleidoscope of catastrophe fueling the Republican party and its lunatic cult, the QAnon seep into my anger receptors. 

The Q said Democrats eat babies and par-take in satanic child porn, via using the code, Cheese Pizza, meaning Child Porn They also said President Joe Biden is a reptile guised in human skin and these claims are just the tip of the iceberg fueled by Fox News and two other far right facsist networks too many Americans adhere to as they numb their minds to the likes of Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity and republican congress woman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a member of the QuAnon.  

The Republicans crave more guns and have stupid or no solutions to the nefarious slaughter of school children. 

The Q said many of these mass shootings are not happening, it's a ploy for the Democrats to take away our guns, including the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas in which 19 children, 10-years-old or younger were gunned down with an assault rifle by an 18-year-old who legally purchased this military style assault weapon on that same day, and had a documented mental illness. Two teachers were also slain in Uvalde,  Texas. Everything is fine, America has more guns than people and an insane rate of mass shooting, so thoughts and prayers to all the victims and their families is our government's only solution thus far.   

Mark Izzy Schurr

Hoover is my Shepard I shall not want...He arouseth doute in the Republican party. He leadeth me in the path of destruction. For his party's sake, I fear evil, thou art with me. 

Anonymous, early 1930s.  

Sex, Vice, Violence & Malevolent Morals in Vintage Cinema

Darkened theaters across the globe radiated picturesque violence, rewarding vices and free love mixed with alcohol and hallucinogenic spirits in early 1930s cinema. 

Mark A. Vieira's 2019 book, "Forbidden Hollywood the Pre-Code Era (1930-1934) When Sin Ruled the Movies" was a solid three-star read. A lot of pictures from Hollywood yesteryear made this 271 page book a quick and easy read. 

Vieira said the U.S. population was a 122.7 million people in 1929, and 90 million American's went to the movies that year. Vieira's writing was not nearly as gripping as Thomas Doherty, who wrote 1999s book, "Pre-Code Hollywood Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934," yet both writers fueled my fascination to watch and collect many of these Pre-Code film gems. 

Both writers detailed the code of ethics as to what the public ears and eyes could be exposed to amidst movie houses across the globe. 

Tales of devious daughters, straying wife's, wild youth and unmistakable references to drunkenness, crime and coitus were just some of the elliptical allusions venturing into the frontiers of unabashed expressions.

Pictured from left to right are actress's, Barbara Rodgers and Lynn Browning. Below, left to right is Toby Wing and Renee Whitney promoting their Pre-Code flicks. By 1935, ads with this much skin was prohibited, and not until the 1950s did Hollywood begin to wake up again. In 1968, Hollywood implemented its rating system.  

 

Extreme politicians and religious zealots were even shocked by some of the Pre-Code movie titles; "The Devil is Driving" (1932), "Laughter in Hell" (1933), "Safe in Hell" (1931) and "Merrily We Go to Hell." (1932)

Ladies were not left out either, as leading men also exposed lots of skin. 

Top picture is Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O' Sullivan in 1934s "Tarzan and His Mate." Below is Larry Buster Crabbe in a scene from 1934s "Search for Beauty." 

"Forbidden Hollywood When Sin Ruled the Movies" was a library acquisition, and I have barely scathed the tip of the iceberg in movies I want to revisit, and see for the first time. 

Above picture is Dorothy Mackaill in 1931s "Safe in Hell," which was among many movies of the Pre-Code era featuring a consortium of stories of scantly clad women, complete with crime and seduction. 

Sin in soft focus is captured brilliantly in this book. 

Mark Izzy Schurr