today
8:30 a.m. Audubon Society Field Trip See Event Description
read >9 a.m. Arcata Farmers' Market Arcata Plaza
read >9:30 a.m. Discovery Walk: Unknown Waterfront See Event Description
read >9:30 a.m. Manila Dunes Restoration Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Manila Dunes Guided Walk Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Library Book Sale Humboldt County Library
read >10 a.m. Dia de los Muertos and Mexican Folk Art Sale Private Eureka home
read >10 a.m. Final Arcata Farmer's Market Arcata Farmers' Market (off the plaza)
read >11 a.m. Donlin Foreman Dance Workshop Dell'Arte
read >2 p.m. Humboldt Coastal Nature Center Draft Trails Plan Walk Stamps House
read >5 p.m. Bati Zado and Show Redwood Raks World Dance Studio
read >6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds Chapala Cafe
read >6 p.m. Ali Chaudhary (jazz duo) Libation
read >6:30 p.m. Not Evil, Just Wrong Humboldt Area Foundation
read >7 p.m. Guitar Stan (country) Old Town Coffee & Chocolates
read >8 p.m. Guitar Orchestra of Barcelona Arkley Center for the Performing Arts
read >8 p.m. Stones in His Pockets Arcata Playhouse
read >8 p.m. A Christmas Carol North Coast Repertory Theater
read >8 p.m. Donna Landry Swing Dance Moose Lodge
read >8 p.m. North Coast Wind Ensemble Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU
read >8:30 p.m. The Last Minute Men (international) Cafe Mokka
read >9 p.m. Ian McFeron Band (folk rock) Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. The Michael Paul Band WAVE @ blue lake casino
read >9 p.m. The Generatorz (classic rock) Central Station Cocktail Lounge
read >9 p.m. Taxi Bear River Casino
read >9 p.m. VJ Itchie Fingaz Pearl Lounge
read >9 p.m. Jack Ruby Presents + Blue Street + Acufunkture (DIY rock) Jambalaya
read >9 p.m. 2nd Annual Scorpio Bash The Red Fox Tavern
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge
read >10 p.m. Jemimah Puddleduck (rock) Humboldt Brews
read >10 p.m. White Manna + Midday Veil + The King Salmon Duo (rock) Jambalaya
read >11 p.m. Radio Moscow (psychadelic blues) + Mosquito Bandito (one-man surf/garage) The Alibi Lounge and Restaurant
read >previous columns
July 17, 2008
My Favorite Waste of Time
Album by Freedy Johnston Singing Magnet Records Singer/songwriter Freedy Johnston ...
read >July 10, 2008
What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann
Director/Producer: Steve Cantor Stick Figure Productions/Zeitgeist Films/HBO Documentary Films “It’s ...
read >July 3, 2008
Helvetica
Directed by Gary Hustwit Plexifilm A documentary where a bunch ...
read >Photos
The Future Is Unwritten
By Mark Shikuma
Directed by Julien Temple. Parallel Films/Sony Legacy.
Joe Strummer was a son of a British diplomat, boarding school bully, bohemian, busker, scoundrel, field general, passionate soul, survivor, obsessive lyricist, cheerleader, wandering beatnik, father and punk warlord. Director Julien Temple excellently weaves the complex and often contradictory lines about the former frontman and mouthpiece for the seminal UK punk band The Clash for his documentary, The Future Is Unwritten, recently released on DVD.
Temple uses a deep archive of film footage (much credit to Don Letts), animation, present-day interviews (set around a campfire), radio broadcasts and an extensive series of interviews with people close to the band, as well as Clash band members, namely drummer Topper Headon and guitarist/songwriter Mick Jones. Strummer died of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect in December 2002. He was 50 years old. Temple, who also directed The Filth and The Fury, the documentary on the Sex Pistols, steers clear in presenting Strummer as a one-dimensional punk rock icon. He is presented as a forceful musician, songwriter and bandleader whose meteoric rise with the Clash, a band who released five records in five years, from 1977 until 1982. London Calling, released in 1979 as a double record set, was hailed by many, critics and fans alike, as one of the great rock albums of the 20th century, and Sandinista!, released only one year later, was a three-record set (which prudent editing would have better served this disc). Temple prefaces this stardom with Strummer’s bohemian, On the Road-like beginnings, along with his forming of first band, The 101’ers. And, as his fame with the Clash rose, we learn of his equally rising discomfort of the hard-fought success he and the band received.
And then, there’s “the Wilderness Years,” to coin a phrase from Strummer himself. We see his struggle with his post-Clash identity as he acted in films, composed film soundtracks and produced the Pogues’ album, Hell’s Ditch; Strummer had filled in for the “sick” lead singer, Shane McGowen, for a Pogue tour in 1992. With candid interviews with ex-wives/girlfriends -- including Palmolive (Paloma Romera), drummer for the Slits and the Raincoats -- and intimate friends, such as Pearl E. Gates (formerly of the SF band Pearl Harbor and the Explosions), longtime wife of bassist Paul Simonon, director Jim Jarmusch (Strummer was featured in his film, Mystery Train), Don Letts and Sex Pistol guitarist Steve Jones, we get a portrait of a complicated artist and human being.
Fortunately, Strummer was able to achieve his musical “comeback” with the Mescaleros. The film also shows how he was able to attain retribution with his old mates, mostly through campfire hootenannies he held during the annual Glastonbury Festival in the UK. Strummer had come full circle.
Temple provides a good flow to the film, which is edited with precision that provides an unsentimental look at a true musical artist, especially of his time. Strummer, a son of a leftist British diplomat who took his family to live in different countries -- India and Mexico, to name a few -- had influenced Strummer’s political leanings into his music and lyrics, with a poet’s eye and turn-of-phrase. This is probably what marks his distinction above most of his contemporaries (with Johnny Lydon as an exception). The Future is Unwritten is as near a complete portrait of Joe Strummer as one could possibly capture. It serves as a poignant tribute to an important musical artist.



















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