Although it is almost forty years old now, the Steve McQueen cops-and-bad-guys thriller  Bullitt, featuring its famous San Francisco car-chase scene, is still a true classic, one that I could re-watch a hundred times. The 1968 film, directed by Peter Yates (avail on DVD so look for it at Amoeba) in which McQueen plays tough SF police lieutenant Frank Bullitt,  has not only great car-chase cinematography, that makes you really feel like you are riding in the car, but if you are familiar with the city of San Francisco - it is just so much fun to watch and try to figure out exactly which part of the city the cars are racing through (and they cover a lot of territory) or to note the changes in some parts of SF since they shot the film in '68. Check the nine and a half minute  car chase below but to see the whole movie on the big screen there is an opportunity to do so tonight  at 8PM (Sunday August 5th) when it screens at The Cannery in San Francisco at Del Monte Square, 2801 Leavenworth Street and the best part: the tickets are FREE for the showing in the outdoor courtyard by the Fisherman's Wharf. To get further details either call first (415-771-3112) or go online (www.thecannery.com). The screening of Bullitt will mark the kickoff of the month long
Movie Nights At the Cannery series.

Yesterday evening (Friday August 3rd) I attended both the Amoeba Music, San Francisco instore with super skilled turntablists DJs Platurn and Golden Chyld (pictured left) and also the San Francisco Bay Guardian's 'Best of the Bay" soiree at the de Young Museum, in nearby Golden Gate Park.

I hadn't been at the de Young Museum since it moved locations to its impressive new state-of-the-art facility in October 2005.  Come think of it, I hadn't been in Golden Gate Park, for about as long. And after seeing on local TV news and reading all the recent newspaper reports  about the "homeless problem" in the park, which made it sound like there were homeless people camped out under every bush in the park's confines with dirty syringes poking out of everywhere,  I was anticipating stumbling upon a sort of New Jack  (tent) City  which I didn't.  Instead I only witnessed a small gathering of poor unfortunate homeless down by the Stanyan end of the park (not far from Amoeba).   


But anyway, regarding the homeless situation in SF - I really see both sides.  I feel bad for residents (especially  those with little kids) who have to endure such things as street people pissing in their doorsteps or leaving dirty needles in their front yards or near playgrounds in the park.  But I also feel bad for individuals who have substance abuse problems or who are mentally ill and who have no option but living on the streets (dating back to Reagan as Governor of Cali).  And never do I forget the fact that most of us are just one paycheck away from joining them.

After posting the Tom Snyder vs John Lydon 1980 television appearance on yesterday's AMOEBLOG I got off list emails from three people about it (wish they would have posted their feedback in COMMENTS box but no matter). But one AMOEBLOG reader linked me to the video clip that I never knew about. It was from 1997 when tour/session drummer Robert Williams took John Lydon to court TV - specifically the Judge Judy Show -to sue the former Sex Pistol. And all I can say is God I love YouTube since thanks to it we get to see all these classic TV moments that we missed first time around or saw but want to watch again - including this one from ten years ago when John Lydon (in classic form) appeared on Judge Judy. Surreal TV for sure! In case you don't have the time or patience to check out the seven minute clip below the result was that Judge Judy sided with Lydon and not the bozo (or so he appeared to be) who filed suit against Johnny Rotten. 

So the other morning as I am sipping a latte, watching TV, reading Emails, listening to Bowie's "Hunky Dory" at the wrong speed and pitch:   - 8 on 45RPM, and typing up an AMOEBLOG: multi-tasking, I guess you could say - who should stop by my mountainside cottage but my dear friend Zsa Zsa who (as usual) makes herself way too comfortable at my place - pouring herself a large glass of  my fresh squeezed orange juice and munching on my very last fresh croissant - as she reminded me that David Bowie was one of pop music's early cutNpaste, deconstruction, post-modern type, lyric sampling artists. . "Huh.  Say what?" I asked confused - stopping typing for a second.  As she explained (and a little bit patronizingly in her know-it-all-music-fact way) how Bowie back in da day (the day being the early seventies)  would reportedly just flip through books and magazines and literally cut out sentences randomly here and there, and literally paste them all together in any which order - and viola -he had "Panic In Detrot"  "Queen Bitch" or "Life on Mars" etc

 "Wow" I said - not about Bowie's lazy songwriting techniques but the bright shiny blue pageboy wig I just now noticed she was wearing. I quickly pointed out that M.I.A., who was just at Amoeba Music Berkeley last Saturday to a packed house, also wears a blue wig...just like that but that MIA has been wearing hers for longer - at least for as long ago as she took that single publicity shot that shows up in every story on her these days.  .And, somewhat smugly I admit, I noted that so does that Aussie woman chef/baker in the East Bay (Bettie I think her name is) who does a great baked chicken, I hear, and who was featured in the front page of the Food Section of this past Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle.  But that the stylish baker woman's blue hair was not a wig at all but her own real hair - dyed blue of course. All of this I rattled out as I continued to type that day's AMOEBLOG with my back turned to Zsa Zsa.  And when I finally swung around in my suede swivel chair expecting to see a look of some kind on her face I realized that I had been talking to myself (again) because she had already split...gone for who knows how long . But I noticed that she had left a magazine on the purple sofa in the hallway. It was one of mine that she had borrowed and on its cover had a picture of a former friend of Madonna's.

In all of the tributes written about skilled American television host Tom Snyder,  who passed  this week  at age 71 - a victim of leukemia,  one common accolade was how the TV host with the personal yet tough interview style, really knew how to listen to his subjects - something very rare in most television talk show hosts, especially today.  Additionally, unlike most commercial television interviews which never seem to ow to delve deep, his interviews were conducted with enough time for the able host to really allow him, and us, to get to know his guests.

But of all of the interviews he conducted on his NBC program The Tomorrow Show the clip below (in my opinion) is one of the most compelling to watch.  It is Snyder's 1980 interview with both John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten) and his Public Image Limited  (PIL) band-mate Keith Levene. Bear in mind that by this stage that Rotten as main spokesman of the Sex Pistols had earned a justified reputation as one of the most difficult and unpredictable interviewees for any  radio or  television host.  But watch it and witness how brilliantly Snyder handles his tough subject and how Lydon, used to knocking over - especially older generation - interviewers seems to have finally met his match and has to struggle a bit to keep in character and try to maintain an upper hand. 

The end result is a perfect sparring match, with both Snyder and Lydon puffing away on cigarettes, that makes for the most engaging type of TV.  Do me a favor: watch it and in the COMMENTS box below rate (on a scale of 1 to 5)  both Snyder's and Lydon's performances. EG:   Tom = 3,  John = 3.