I downloaded it and giving it a spin as I write this post.

Wanted to share the music..  Download mixtape here.

I am cheering you on from the Bay Area.  Okay from behind my computer while I’m at work in the Bay Area.  Sucky, I know.  Tis is life.  Let’s go Bruins!!

Interesting observations.  Particularly his comments on the demographic of the hip hop artists in Iran certainly adds a piece to the puzzle.  Cuz, uh, Persian hip-hop is a bit puzzle-ing…wouldn’t you agree?  Not hating on it or anything but it’s always a tad rough on my ears.   Every now and then I’ll post something and try to keep an open mind to a nascent art form in my home country.  Afterall, hiphop is the voice of rebellion and that is precisely what Iranian youth need right about now:  a voice.

Directed and written by Richard Curtis and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pirate Radio opens with Carl (played by Tom Sturridge), a teenage boy, being sent off by his mother to stay with his God Father on Radio Rock, a pirate radio stationed on a ship in the middle of the North Atlantic. Ostensibly, the boy was sent here by his mother as a disciplinary measure for getting caught with drugs in high school. Although that was the opening plot line and one which was skillfully weaved throughout the rest of the movie, it was not really what the movie was about.

The movie was, at the end of the day, about rebellion, rock and roll, and unrighteous living. The 1960′s, at least in my mind, conjures up images of Vietnam protests, bus boycotts, the civil rights movement, The Black Panthers, hippies in Haight Ashbury, academics in Berkeley and the like. This movie gave me a glimpse into what was going on on the other side of the Atlantic. Rock n Roll was a rogue musical form that broke all the existing social boundaries, and the British government passionately hated it (at least publicly). Which was yet another dominant storyline throughout the movie; an official in the British government hellbent on taking down Radio Rock.

The 8 or so Disk Jockeys that occupied the ship rotated broadcast responsibilities, each putting their own unique stamp on the illegal radio transmission by playing their favorite records and narrating the debauchery that transpired in the lives of the DJ’s: sex-scandals, lesbian chefs, life-threatening machismo competitive skirmishes, soul searching, cherries of young boys being popped, father and sons being reunited, etc. The listeners, the loyal lovers of music craving for their daily dosage of Radio Rock on the mainland ooo’ed and aww’ed, screamed and salivated, sang and danced to their favorite music being aired only on Radio Rock. From old couples with their beach radios to young teeny boppers under their covers secretely tuning in, Radio Rock had clearly tapped into the hearts and imaginations of a new era. Ultimately, it was these faithful listeners who rescued Radio Rock. Watch the movie to see what I mean.

The movie is full of laugh out loud moments, coming of age delicacies and if you squint your eyes you can glean some deeper longer-lasting messages out of this delightful, inspiring flick. Messages of resistance and the power that music has over the souls of a generation are elusive but certainly present. A movie about changing tides giving testament to the significance of doing, and listening, to what you love.

Tagged: cinema, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pirate Radio, Radio Rock, Richard Curtis ]]> http://saucysep.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/pirate-radio-was-helka-neat/feed/ 1 SV pirateradio pirateradiopic7 http://saucysep.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/my-brain-is-crowded-like-sunset-on-a-saturday/ http://saucysep.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/my-brain-is-crowded-like-sunset-on-a-saturday/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:15:37 +0000 SV http://saucysep.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/my-brain-is-crowded-like-sunset-on-a-saturday/ ]]> So much to do, so little time.

Working on my site now.

Don Reed’s one man show doubles as a theatrical biography detailing his own experience growing up in 1970′s Oakland as well as a subtle yet poignant social commentary on the impact of growing up in the ghetto.

Hope you enjoy my musings, perspectives and ramblings that I will try to present here in some kind of coherent fashion. Feel free to comment and add to any discussion. Everybody’s perspectives are welcome.

Peace!