Culture vulture

Apocalypse redux
Once again Nature has issued cataclysmic notice that she can outdo any human effort to inflict devastation. With thousands of lives lost, millions of lives devastated, hundreds of thousands of families displaced, thousands of businesses and homes destroyed, you would think that every resource our nation is capable of mustering would be focused on bringing aid to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

I would love to know that all of the taxes being levied on my income were going to be used to help rebuild the lives of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. But instead I have a sick feeling that most of the taxes I pay between now and the time I slough off this mortal coil will be used to help pay off the debt our government is accruing with its never ending “war on terror.”

Not to beat a dead horse, or keep harping on the same annoying note, but personally Culture Vulture can think of few things more terror-inducing than a government that places more importance on armed foreign conquest than on the health, education and welfare of its own citizens.

But, since we don’t currently have a government with its citizens’ best interests at the top of its priorities list, I urge everyone with the capability to make a donation to the charity organization of your choice.

The flip side
One of the most fascinating aspects of human nature is our unceasing desire to be entertained. At work we turn on the radio and sporadically enjoy some sonic jewel. (Culture Vulture’s current guilty pleasure is the pop hit “Breathe,” by God-knows-who.) At home we bask in the light of whichever television program suits our fancy or lose ourselves in the complexities of a good novel or zone out to our favorite music. When TV, books and home comforts don’t suffice we may while away an hour or two puttering in the garden or walking the dog before we toddle off to the local pub, or head to the cinema, or take in a play.

And, if we are Hawkwind fans, we wait eons for our favorite band to come out with a new studio album. Which they are on the verge of doing. The 36-year-old band that invented space rock—the psychedelic wedding of audio oscillators, proto-punk rhythm guitar bashing, and socially conscious, science-fiction lyrics—will release Take Me to Your Leader on Sept. 13. A promo CD consisting of snippets of several of the new songs interspersed with an interview of Hawkwind mastermind Dave Brock was recently shipped out to hardcore Hawkfans and Culture Vulture was privileged enough to receive one. Captain Brock sounds like a good-humored craftsman who appreciates the fans who have supported his ongoing pursuit of a singular vision.

If you appreciate science-fiction, progressive social consciousness and the electronic evolution of rock ‘n’ roll to check out Hawkwind. They ain’t always pretty, but they’re always worth hearing.