Douglas E. Berry

OK, I've seen three people quoting Weird Al's "Amish Paradise" lyrics in response to Coolio's untimely death. Here is my message to these people.

Go fuck yourselves. With a narwhal horn coated in Ghost Pepper salsa.

"Gangster's Paradise" is an excellent, powerful, piece of musical writing and performance. It earned a Grammy and several other awards and was shut out of the Academy Awards race due to the rampant racism of the AMPAS at the time. Coolio scared them.

Good, they needed to be scared.

Look, back in 1985 I was the only white guy in a squad that was Black, one Apache, and a Puerto Rican who had a Haitian mother. We would go to Atlanta on weekends and go to clubs where my buddies had to surround me because I was literally the only white guy in the building. Rap in 1985 was an education for this white kid from the suburbs. It was political, it was angry, and it was still outlaw music; unpolished, raw, and unapologetically Black.

"Gangster's Paradise" was that kind of work. Listen to it. read the fucking lyrics. Understand why Coolio didn't want it to get the Weird Al treatment. Listen to his other music. The man was a genius that scared complacent white people in the suburbs.

He was doing good work, and he died way too young. Show some fucking respect.

FUCK. We just lost one of the greatest storytellers I've ever known. Rafael Jimenez was 97. He was born on a lemon ranch in SoCal to parents who had fled the Mexican Revolution. The first of his family to graduate from High School, he was taking community college courses in accounting in 1943 when he was drafted by the Marine Corps.

After learning that Rafael could not only type, but had some college, his fate was sealed. He spent the rest of WWII on Midway. Which set the stage for a twenty-year career in the USMC where not only did he never hear a shot fired in anger, he rarely bothered to load his weapon.

I think my favorite thing he ever said was about his brief assignment to a Marine airbase in Vietnam. He was issued an M1911A1 .45 Caliber pistol and told where he could draw ammo.

"Why would I do that?" Gunnery Sergeant Jimenez asked.

"Well, what are you going to do if the Viet Cong come pouring over that fence line?" (pointing one way.)

"Run that way." (pointing in the opposite direction.)

He wasn't a coward, he just understood that he was not a combat Marine.

After retiring, he spent the rest of his working life inside the city and county governments. Nothing glamorous, he was very much a "do the dirty job because it has to be done." He was the sole Latino on the Parole Board for a time. After retiring from that, he ran a tax service.

I met him in the Creative Writing workshop I used to attend. Rafael used an electric typewriter and his stories were filled with memories, humor, sadness, and everything his amazing memory dredged up.

He was also an incorrigible flirt and never looked like a man in his nineties.

And he called me a friend. Possibly the greatest title I've ever be given.

I'm not much for belief in the afterlife, but a part of me hopes that Rafael is now reunited with his lovely wife. . .

. . .and is busy reorganizing St. Peter's office.

Former President George H.W. Bush has died. While I disagreed with him on many things, I respected him. I even met him once, while in the Army. The looks on the faces of my chain of command as the Republican Vice-President of the United States stopped to chat with the unabashed Marx-quoting liberal were pretty amazing.

For the record, we just chatted about hometowns, how I like being stationed in Hawaii (I lied) and the like for about a minute.

OK, I must rant.

Yes, George H.W. Bush was not the greatest president in our history, but he was far from the worst. So could people manage to be human and hold their complaints for one fucking day? We have the rest of our lives to discuss the failings of our 41st Chief Executive. For the moment, just sit on your hands if all you have to contribute is bile.

Secondly, I'm seeing a lot of whiners crying about Desert Shield/Desert Storm. For those too young, or too old for that matter, to remember, Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. As Kuwait was a friendly nation, we told Iraq to leave. Saddam Hussein said no.

President Bush then organized a 30-nation coalition (including a Czechoslovakian chemical defense battalion!), a UN Resolution calling for an Iraq pullback and authorizing force to remove Iraqi forces, and moved close to 500,000 US personnel to the Saudi Desert.

This all took about four months, and during that time diplomatic efforts never ceased. We gave the Iraqis a clear deadline. For whatever reason, they ignored it. So we began a month-long air campaign, followed by the now legendary "left hook" ground assault and the 100-hour war.

Then we stopped. All mission goals had been met. Bush resisted calls to roll VIIth Corps north to Bagdad and topple Hussein because he knew that wasn't our mandate. Instead, the US packed up and returned home.

Let us all remember that as a young Naval aviator, Lt. George H.W. Bush saw two friends killed and ended up floating in the water not knowing if he would live another day. He gave Iraq every chance to back down. He practically shouted, "I am building this huge juggernaut which I will unleash on you unless I see you start making moves out of Kuwait."

George H.W. Bush, for all his flaws, had seen war's gruesome face close up. He knew the terrible cost that could be paid by both sides, and that his actions were going to create widows and orphans.

This was not warmongering. This was the very last resort.

Well, this is the very definition of mixed feelings. Dave Holland has died. He was Judas Priest's drummer from 1979-89, the glory years. He played on the band's most iconic works, like British Steel (1980), Point of Entry (1981), Screaming for Vengeance (1982), Defenders of the Faith (1984), and Turbo (1986). Those are the albums that made Priest into the Metal Gods, and a big part of their sound was Holland's amazing drumming.

However, he was pushed out of the band for "personal reasons" in 1989, and in 2004 he was sent to prison for trying to rape the mentally retarded teenager who was coming to him for drum lessons. He moved to a remote village in Spain after being released from prison. He became a recluse and rarely spoke to the media but maintained that he was falsely convicted.Actually died last week, we're just hearing about it now.

Which brings up an awkward question: when does a public person's private life outweigh your enjoyment of what they produce as artists? The past year has seen a sea change in how we deal with sexual harassment and the harassers. Careers have ended, criminal convictions for sexual assault are rising, and more women and men are coming forward and exposing the pervasive norms that tolerate or even encourage predatory acts.

This is a good thing. I support it. But what happens when an idol falls and leaves behind a mountain of incredible work? Woody Allen is one of the greatest talents film has ever seen. But he's a world-class creep. Do I never watch "Take The Money and Run" again? Is it okay to laugh at his funny movies?

How about Kevin Spacey, my favorite actor. After a single accusation, the backlash was so severe that he was removed from a finished film and all his scenes reshot with
Christopher Plummer (who was the director's first choice for the role, and who is now an Oscar nominee.) A bit extreme, in my opinion. But there's that question again. Can I watch "The Usual Suspects", one of greatest films ever made, and the one that got Spacey his Oscar, without supporting him?

Let's bring up a real monster. Marion Zimmer Bradley was a legend in science-fiction and fantasy. Over a career that spanned forty years she produced dozens of novels and short stories. Her Darkover series is as deep and complex as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and has a fan base just as fanatical. "Mists of Avalon", a retelling of the Arthurian mythos through the eyes of Morgana le Fey and Guinevere was a masterpiece of feminist writing while still being true to the source material and creating a gripping narrative.

Her books fill many bookcases around the world. She is taught in modern literature classes. MZB, as we liked to call her, was a staple at conventions right up to her death in 1999. We bought her books, role-played in Avalon and Darkover, and it wasn't until 2014 that we knew the truth.

Marion Zimmer Bradley was a child molester. She sexually abused at least two of her children, and possibly others. Her ex-husband was jailed for child molestation. These horrible acts were going on while we were praising her to the skies for bringing a strong woman's voice into a male-dominated field.

What do we do now? The books are still awesome, but are the works tainted by the author? H.P. Lovecraft redefined horror in the 1920s. He was also extremely racist. Which wasn't that odd in those days, do we judge a man who died 80 years ago by today's standards, or do read and watch works in the context of the time they were created.

I usually go with the later. I try to judge works on their content and value, not on who created them. Some of my favorite movies were made by Sergei Eisenstein, a man who had to please Stalin to stay alive. You tell me, "Alexander Nevsky" is a masterpiece. But it's also Soviet propaganda designed to raise anger against Germany while praising communism. Joseph Stalin, one of the most brutal dictators in history, personally approved the film. Does knowing the context of the film improve it, or do you believe that because of the association with Stalin, this film and Eisenstein's other works should be avoided?

It's a very difficult question. Maybe time will blur the crimes of the makers. Nobody talks about Erroyl Flynn's politics while watching "The Adventures of Robin Hood" or "Captain Blood." Well, I do, but I love old movies and read a lot about them. In the end, each of us has to judge how we approach artists who have been touched by controversy.

To absent friends.

kshandra here, bearing sad tidings: Ronnie Montrose has passed away at the age of 64. He had been battling prostate cancer for several years.

After getting his break playing on Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey in 1971, Montrose went on to session work with Herbie Hancock, Boz Scaggs, and the Edgar Winter Group (including performing on that band's seminal rock instrumental "Frankenstein") before forming his own band in 1973 with a then-unknown Sammy Hagar. Montrose the band released two albums before Hagar's departure; they would work together again, with Ronnie and original band members Bill Church and Denny Carmassi playing on Hagar's 1997 solo album Marching to Mars, and appearing as special guests on his 2004 and 2005 solo tours.

Montrose remained busy throughout his career, releasing albums interchangeably as a solo artist and with both Montrose and his second band, Gamma (formed in 1979), along with continued session work for artists as diverse as Gary Wright, Nicolette Larson, and the Neville Brothers. He still performed live on a regular basis, as well; he was scheduled for a show here in Santa Clara at the Avalon at the end of March. (As heavily involved as he was with SF Bay Area charities, I find myself hoping that they'll turn the event into a memorial fundraiser.)

But none of y'all are here to listen to me ramble - you're here for the music, and I don't blame you. From his 1978 solo album Open Fire, here is Ronnie Montrose, recorded live in New York City, with his version of the Academy Award-nominated song "Town Without Pity."

Václav Havel, hero of anti-communist revolution, has died.

One of the great heroes of Eastern Europe's transition from communism to liberty. No bombastic speeches, no image consultants, just a man dedicated to an idea and willing to make it happen. Ethical, honorable, humble and brilliant. A combination too rarely seen these days. Odpočívej v pokoji, Václav.

So much for my dream of having a beer with him in Prague.

Former First Lady Betty Ford Dead at 93

She was one of the great ones. She broke barriers by openly talking about both breast cancer and substance abuse; taboo subjects at the time. She appeared as herself on a memorable episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. One of the good ones.

Goodbye, Sarah Jane

Very sad to see that founding Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr was found dead last week. Man had a troubled life, dealing with multiple addictions that derailed what could have been a truly great career.

To celebrate his life, we present Would? off 1992's Dirt



Rest in Peace, man.