Category Archives: David Bowie

Rocket Launch

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Did you see the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket today? It’s rare to see such a powerful glimpse of technology and the future while the Sun is in Aquarius. The sign of Aquarius actually rules invention, outer space, genius, science, humanity and the future.

The Falcon is the most powerful rocket in history – equivalent to eighteen 747 airplanes. This picture, however, is the boosters of the rocket landing THEMSELVES perfectly on the landing pad!! I’ve never seen that before and it is amazing footage.

spacex-falcon-heavy-tandem-landing

The launch was thrilling to see, but it was more astonishing to see the boosters come back to Earth and land themselves. So glad Spacex and Elon Musk are pursuing space explorations. Check out this footage:

Here’s an article in The NY Times about it today.

130 Celebrities that Died in 2016

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Such an amazing list of people we lost this year, all of them blazing stars burning brightly. It’s interesting see this list of names:

By: Jon Corrigan 

We said goodbye to – what seemed like – an inordinate number of celebrities in 2016, and from every spectrum of fame.

From David Bowie to Prince, Muhammad Ali to Gordie Howie or Alan Rickman to Gene Wilder, join us in paying them tribute one final time.

__________________________________________________________

JANUARY – 

Jan. 4 – Robert Stigwood, entertainment manager – managed the Bee Gees and Cream – age 81

Jan. 6 – Pat Harrington Jr., actor – Schneider on “One Day at a Time” – age 86

Jan. 7 – Troy Shondell, singer – big hit was “This Time (We’re Really Breaking Up)” – age 76

Jan. 7 – Kitty Kallen, singer – Big Band era, biggest hit was ‘”Little Things Mean a Lot” – age 94

Jan. 8 – David Bowie, musician – two-time Grammy winner and pop culture icon – age 69

David Bowie (Getty Images)

Jan. 11 – David Margulies, actor – played the mayor in Ghost Busters I and II (1984 & 1989)- age – 78

Jan. 14 – Alan Rickman, actor – Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Severus Snape in Harry Potter – age 69

Alan Rickman (Photo by Desiree Navarro/WireImage)

Jan. 14 – René Angélil, singer/manager – husband and manager of Celine Dion – age 73

Jan. 15 – Dan Haggerty, actor – The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams – age 74

Jan. 15 – Noreen Corcoran, actress – Kelly Gregg in Bachelor Father (1957-59) – age 72

Jan. 18 – Glen Frey, singer/songwriter – founded legendary group The Eagles – age 67

Glenn Frey (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Jan. 26 – Abe Vigoda, actor – Detective Fish on Barney Miller (1975-’77) – age 94

Jan. 28 – Paul Kantner, singer/songwriter – co-founder of The Jefferson Airplane – age 74

Jan. 28 – Mike Minor, actor – Steve Eliot on Petticoat Junction – age 75

FEBRUARY – 

Feb. 2 – Bob Elliot, comedian – one-half of the comedy duo of Bob and Ray – age 92

Feb. 3 – Maurice White, musician/songwriter – founding member of Earth, Wind & Fire – age 74

Maurice Whit (Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage)

Feb. 3 – Joe Alaskey, voice actor – Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety – age 63

Feb. 4 – Joe Dowell, singer – #1 hit song “Wooden Heart” (1961) – age 76

Feb. 13 – Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice – appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1986 – age 79

Feb. 15 – George Gaynes, actor – Commandant Eric Lassard on the Police Academy series – age 98

Feb. 19 – Harper Lee, novelist – Pulitzer Prize for fiction for novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” – age 89

Harper Lee (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Feb. 22 – Yolande Fox, singer – Miss America 1951 and sang opera – age 87

Feb. 22 – Sonny James, country music singer/songwriter – the first teenage country crossover #1 single “Young Love” – age 87

Sonny James (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for IEBA)

Feb. 24 – Lennie Baker, musician – 1950s music tribute group and TV show Sha-Na-Na (1969-2000) – age 69

Feb. 25 – Tony Burton, actor – boxing trainer to Apollo Creed and later Rocky in six Rocky films – age 78

Feb. 28 – George Kennedy, actor – Academy Award for  Cool Hand Luke also in all the Airport movies – age 91

Feb. 29 – Gil Hill, police commander/actor – Inspector Todd in three Beverly Hills Cop films – age 84

Gil Hill (Credit: IMDB)

MARCH – 

Mar. 4 – Joey Martin Feek, singer/songwriter – husband and wife country duo “Joey + Rory” – age 40

joey feek 946 130 Celebrities that Died in 2016

Mar. 6 – Nancy Reagan, First Lady of the U.S. (1981-1989) – wife to 40th President Ronald Reagan – age 94

Mar. 8 – Sir George Martin, producer for the “Beatles” albums, known as “The Fifth Beatle” – age 90

Mar. 9 – Robert Horton, actor – Flint McCullough in Wagon Train (1957-1962) – age 91

Mar. 10 – Keith Emerson, musician/keyboardist – created Emerson, Lake & Palmer rock group – age 71

Keith Emerson (Getty Images)

Mar. 13 – Adrienne Corri, actress – Mrs. Alexander in A Clockwork Orange (1971) – age 85

Mar. 16 – Frank Sinatra Jr., singer – singer and son of Frank Sinatra– age 72

Mar. 17 – Larry Drake, actor – Benny Stulwicz on L.A. Law (1987-1994) – age 66

Mar. 18 – Joe Santos, actor – Lieutenant Dennis Becker on The Rockford Files (1974-1980) – age 84

Mar. 21 – Peter Brown, actor – Deputy Johnny McKay in Lawman (1958-62) and Chad Cooper in Laredo (1965-67) – age 80

Mar. 22 – Rob Ford, politician – crack smoking Mayor of Toronto, Canada – age 46

Rob Ford (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images)

Mar. 22 – Richard Bradford, actor – Man in a Suitcase on British ITC (1967) – age 81

Mar. 22 – Phife Dawg, singer – rapper with the group A Tribe Called Quest, also known as “Five Foot Assassin” – age 45

Mar. 23 – Joe Garagiola, baseball player – MLB catcher and announcer and television host – age 90

Mar. 23 – Ken Howard, actor – Coach Reeves on White Shadow & President of SAG-AFTRA – age 71

Mar. 24 – Earl Hamner, Jr., writer/producer – created The Waltons – age 92

Mar. 24 – Garry Shandling, comedian – Garry Shandling Show and The Larry Sanders Show – age 66

Gary Shandling (Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Mar. 27 – Mother Angelica, Franciscan nun – founder of Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) – age 92

Mar. 28 – James Noble, actor – Governor Gatling on Benson (1979-1986) – age 94

Mar. 29 – Patty Duke, actress – played identical cousins in The Patty Duke Show (1963-1966) – age 69

 

Here’s the rest of the article: http://wycd.cbslocal.com/2016/12/21/130-celebrities-that-died-in-2016/

David Bowie and the Occult

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David Bowie tracing the Tree of Life

I don’t know how deeply David Bowie was in to Magick, but it’s clear in the 70’s he was immersed in it. I’ve read he was having drug and alcohol issues at the time, but I find this period of his life in Los Angeles very interesting nonetheless.

Like many people, Bowie had an enormous impact on my life and he’s one of my favorite artists. I was born in 1964 and I grew up listening to him. He has always been there in my life. I can’t remember any point in my life where I wasn’t listening to his music.

As a teenager I studied movement and I wanted to be a ballerina. When “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” came out in the early 80’s I was there at the Lumiere theater off Polk Street, watching the movie 50 times over. In my late 20’s I studied theater, movement, and world religions in San Francisco. Inspired by Bowie’s example, I became a guitarist and singer for my own rock persona – Bettie Black. I wrote and released my own music – always inspired by him.  I find his exploration of magick personal and meaningful. I also study gnosticism and the Tree of Life from Jewish mystical traditions.

I’ve read many observations from various people, and I’ve come across some interesting insights! I thought I’d put them all here to share with interested folks.

http://www.arnemancy.com/articles/david-bowie-was-not-a-closet-occultist/

Source: David Bowie: Closet Occultist!

In 1976 Bowie stated:

“My overriding interest was in Kabbalah and Crowleyism. That whole dark and rather fearsome never-world of the wrong side of the brain.”

From “Bowie on Bowie” by Sean Egan

Bowtree1

 

from Secret Sun Blog: “Apparently David Bowie, despite being heavily interested in the Occult and even referencing Crowley lyrically in the 1971 song Quicksand, was actually of the mind that AC was a fraud (from a 1997 interview in NME):

Q: “So were you involved in actual devil worship?”
A: “Not devil worship, no, it was pure, straightforward, old-fashioned magic.”
Q: “The Aleister Crowley variety?”
A: “No, I always thought Crowley was a charlatan. But there was a guy called [Arthur] Edward Waite who was terribly important to me at the time. And another called Dion Fortune who wrote a book called ‘Psychic Self-Defense‘. You had to run around the room getting bits of string and old crayons and draw funny things on the wall, and I took it all most seriously, ha ha ha ! I drew gateways into different dimensions, and I’m quite sure that, for myself, I really walked into other worlds. I drew things on walls and just walked through them, and saw what was on the other side!”

 

Bowtree2

I really don’t know much about Waite, but in a bit of research (Wikipedia, so you know, take that as you may) came upon the info that Crowley apparently hated Waite and mocked him publically in his writing. Checked, and in Bowie’s list of favorite books, there are none by Crowley. The only Occult book listed is Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual by Elphias Levi.”

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/david-bowies-final-video-contains-7251101

Lazarus

David Bowie, Lazarus video, 2016

 

 

Excellent article by Priscilla Frank, Arts Writer, The Huffington Post:

Never Before Published Photos Reveal Clues Bowie Left Before His Death

How a 1974 image reappeared in Bowie’s final music video.

 

BOOK COVER

Imagine getting the opportunity to hold a private photo session with David Bowie at the height of his stardom. We’re talking post “Ziggy Stardust” and “Aladdin Sane,” with “Pin Ups” and “Diamond Dogs” still on the horizon. Imagine you had an entire evening to play dress up with the iconic shapeshifter and capture the manifold personas he embodied so swiftly yet completely.

And suppose, over 40 years later, after the iconic artist’s death, you return to those photos you took so long ago and notice what seems to be a message. A message that reappears throughout his later works, culminating with the “Lazarus” video off his final album “Blackstar,” that perhaps illuminates the artist’s feelings about death and immortality.

This is what happened to photographer Steve Schapiro, who spent one fateful night in 1974 photographing Bowie in his Los Angeles studio. “From the moment Bowie arrived, we seemed to hit it off. Incredibly intelligent, calm, and filled with ideas,” Schapiro recalled in a statement. “He talked a lot about Aleister Crowley, whose esoteric writings he was heavily into at the time. When David heard that I had photographed Buster Keaton, one of his greatest heroes, we instantly became friends.”

DAVID SEATED DRAWING CIRCLES ON THE BACKGROUND PAPER AND THEN THE KABBALAH TREE OF LIFE DIAGRAM ON THE FLOOR. LOS ANGELES, 1974.

The two collaborated on many striking images, each transforming Bowie into a distinct character, as unique and otherworldly as a mythical creature. Yet a particular ensemble, the one pictured above and featured on Bowie’s 1976 album “Station to Station,” holds special significance.

In the image, Bowie dons a navy blue striped body suit and, crouched on the floor, doodles diagrams of Kabbalah’s Tree of Life, a series of 10 spiritual emanations. Lyrics from the title track “Station to Station” echo the language of Kabbalist symbols and beliefs. “Here are we, one magical movement from Keter to Malkuth,” Bowie sings, with Keter (the Crown) and Malkuth (the Kingdom) being the first and last virtues on the Tree of Life.

In his last music video, “Lazarus,” from album “Blackstar” — regarded by many as a cryptic goodbye letter to his fans — Bowie whips out the exact jumpsuit worn in the 1974 image, visible around the two-minute mark. Just as Bowie doodled obsessively in the ‘70s photo shoot, in 2016 Bowie scribbles feverishly in a notebook, heightening in intensity until finally he appears to come to a conclusion, finishing his notes and talking away. (In Bowie style: backward.)

As Albin Wantier interprets in his introduction to Schapiro’s photography book: “He appears to have found the meaning he has been searching for. The connection between both images, 40 years apart, is stunning … He has resolved his enigma, and the curtain can fall at last.”

A close-up of the writing in Bowie’s notebook reveals a trail of symbols. Wantier analyzed these symbols in conjunction with some appearing on a vinyl edition of “Blackstar,” all of which resembled the doodles from the 1974 shoot. The “Blackstar” images, Wantier determined after checking with a friend, were part of a chemical formula depicting the various stages of the nuclear fusion, which leads to the formation of a sun. Or perhaps, a blackstar.

“In the ‘Lazarus’ video, Bowie resolves the enigma of life, which he had been endeavoring to do since 1976,” Wantier summarizes. “His life, which was indistinguishable from his work, led him to enact various characters of his own devising; his life was in itself a work of art. Now that he has finished, Bowie can close the book. However, the last chapter does not end with the artist’s passing — that would be too simple.”

FROM THE PHOTO SHOOT FOR PEOPLE MAGAZINE. WE TOOK PORTRAITS AGAINST A PUTRID GREEN BACKGROUND WHICH WE BOTH FELT WAS THE WORST POSSIBLE COLOR TO USE AS A BACKGROUND FOR A MAGAZINE COVER. LOS ANGELES, 1974

While Bowie’s physical body is no longer with us, his creative energy has catalyzed to create a cosmic eruption, felt around the world, that can never be undone. “David Bowie is not the kind to just disappear just like that from our world,” Wantier writes. “The chemical symbols that accompany the ‘Blackstar’ release point where he’s going: an artistic nuclear fusion of two elements that creates enough energy to make a sun.”

While many acknowledged the poetry in Bowie’s final album, his requiem, and its tremendous impact as his final work of art on this earth, few pieced together the fact that the roots of “Blackstar” trace back to 1974, when a photographer and the world’s biggest rock star became fast friends and spent a single evening creating, contorting and doodling away. As Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti put it: “His death was not different from his life — a work of Art.”

See the image that started it all, as well as the many other never before published images captured that night, in Bowie. A preview of the book is featured below, with all photographs by Steve Schapiro and published by powerHouse Books.

    • David out of character. One of my favorite photos of David. I particularly like his hands in this shot. Los Angeles 1975. Photographs by Steve Schapiro, from Bowie, published by powerHouse Books

    • David with cigarette on a break from filming MFE in New Mexico 1975. This became a Rolling Stone cover and a popular image.

    • David relaxed at his house in Los Angeles, 1975. I particularly liked his hands in this photo.

    • David with goggles and bike. Los Angeles, 1974

    • Bowie holding a Buster Keaton book near his face, in his dressing room trailer on “The Man Who Fell to Earth: set, New Mexico 1975. Buster Keaton was one of David Bowie’€™s heroes.

    • David took me by surprise when he came out in the red and white striped outfit during the 1974 photo shoot. It was different from what we expected he would be wearing, Los Angeles 1974.

    • David with Cher on TV show, Los Angeles, 1975.

  • In the makeup trailer for “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” Bowie puts in his cat eyes for a scene, New Mexico 1975.

Never waste an Idea

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David Bowie and Iggy Pop, 1977

 

Learning about Bowie’s creative process has been illuminating over the past few weeks since his untimely death. Read Iggy’s perspective below, it’s great:

Iggy Pop has written a new essay immortalizing his late friend and collaborator David Bowie. In the days immediately following his death, Pop paid tribute to the Thin White Duke with a heartfelt reflection. “He resurrected me,” Pop wrote at the time. “He was more of a benefactor than a friend in a way most people think of friendship. He went a bit out of his way to bestow some good karma on me.”

Now, for the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Pop has expanded on his relationship with Bowie, specifically discussing his musical impact.

“I learned a lot from him. I first heard the Ramones, Kraftwerk and Tom Waits from him. He also had a certain rigor. If he saw something in another artist he admired, if they didn’t pick up that ball and run with it, he didn’t have any problem saying, ‘Well, if you’re not going to do it, I will. I’ll do this thing you should have done.’ And that was very valid…

“David was not a person to waste a piece of music: Never waste an idea. I first heard his 1980 song ‘Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)’ when we were in a house on Sunset Boulevard in 1974. It was called ‘Running Scared’ at the time. He was playing it on the guitar and wanted to know if I could do something with it. I couldn’t. He kept it and worked it up.

“That was another big thing I learned: Don’t throw stuff away.”

In 1972, Bowie confronted Pop about his escalating drug addiction, encouraging him to move to London to work on music. There he teamed with James Williamson to pen what would become The Stooges’ crown opus, Raw Power, which was mixed by Bowie himself. Three years later, Bowie and Pop moved to Berlin together with the hope of kicking drugs for good. When not recording his own trilogy of albums, Bowie worked with Pop on his solo debut, The Idiot, and follow-up, Lust For Life.

Read the full tribute at Rolling Stone.

In related news, Pop has teamed up with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme to release a sort-of sequel to Lust For Life called Post Pop Depression, out March 18th.