The Steppenwolf Coincidence

This has nothing to do with "Steppenwolf" as such (I am half way through "taraNtula" by Bob Dylan) , but I had recorded "Batman vs Superman" and "Justice League"  (although I and many still say "taped") and started "Batman vs Superman" and then thought is was not very good (I have a TIVO). I deleted it after ten minutes then realised that "Justice League" was the follow up, so recovered and started watching it.

Batman and Superman are not exactly paragons of virtue but Jeremy Irons as Alfred is worth the price of admission (many of his statements based on "Oh you screwed up again , so I will sort it out") , it turned out that it was more that watchable and I enjoyed it.

So don to the point of the post , in "Justice League" the main baddie is the Golden Steppenwolf , though he didn't look very wolf like and is just a standard devil figure intent on bringing the world to heel and into darkness based on some cod religious mythological configuration , and this reminds me of the text of "The Pentateuch of The Cosmogony" by Patrick Woodroffe  (art and text) and Dave Greenslade (music) . 

I enjoyed "Justice League" even more than "Batman vs Superman" and it comes out that Batman is really past it and the Justice League ends up consisting of Batman , Wonder Woman, The Flash , Cyborg , Aquaman and eventually Superman. Next up is "Aquaman" for me because it is available on Amazon Prime.

One of my favourite lines (and there are lots of those) is when Aquaman asks Batman "What's Your Super Power?", Batman answers "I'm Rich".

Growing up I loved Greek, Norse and Irish mythology as well as moving further afield and these have provided fertile fields for a lot of the DC and Marvel Universes, the most obvious being Thor and Wonder Woman's origins.

I wasn't sure what music to share , but given the Justice League scenario we will go for "End of the World" by Andy Mackay from his debut solo album "In Search of Eddie Riff".

So Much For Ragnarok

I've just finished Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology" and it is an excellent read, not as long or bawdy as Stephen Fry's "Mythos" but no less entertaining.

There's lots of things in it that are mirrored in Game of Thrones (never ending winter and frost giants) and lots of other genres, but the stories are told in the style of a fireside teller whereas Stephen Fry aligned them with contemporary equivalents, both excellent story telling methods, and I was looking forward to the end game of Ragnarok, the end of all things.

One thing this book brought home to me is that Loki is a particularly nasty piece of work, sort of Joffrey with added intelligent malice. Maybe it's that I think Tom Hiddleston's Marvel take can be endearing at times, although I suppose that engenders the nastiness of Loki, he can be nice as pie as he is engineering someone's murder or betrayal while covering his own tracks and framing someone else to take the blame.

So Ragnarok came and it , to me, was just another story, Fenris Wolf and The Midgard Serpent are Godzilla like figures and too big o seriously defeat, although they are defeated which means that the gods but have suddenly increased in size or the creatures decreased in size. Also it was a case of listing who killed who, more like a shopping list than a battle narrative. Still I suppose that's what you would get if you were sitting round fire.

As I am writing this 6Music are playing a lot of Drum and Bass as though it is some kind of revelatory genre. I've always wondered why Drum and Bass never features any Bass, it's just a fast repeated drum sequence and then songs / pieces are built up over that. I have no problem with it, but it does amaze me how so many people say they don't want to be pigeonholed and then decided they are part of some grouping.

So for post 1943, I'm going back to 1943 for "2 O'Clock Jump" by Harry James which is a decent piece of jazz, although I saw something called "Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition" by Kay Kyser and the comments on the Youtube post are frightening (right wing snowflakes taking offence at anything not like them) especially with the song being like a cheery church quire, and almost a justification for Ragnarok. I had originally heard the line on the amazing "Texas Jerusalem Crossroads" by Lift To Experience. I thought the line was blackly funny, and it is until you read those comments.

The Hanged Man Is Not Dead

I was talking with a good friend saying that I'd ordered a set of Tarot Cards , even though I really knew nothing about The Tarot. The set I'd ordered is an absolutely beautiful set called The Psychobilly Tarot . If you search google images you can see them here. My friend then told me the meaning of The Hanged Man in the Tarot which I had always assumed meant death. It doesn't , well not in the way we think of it.

Psychobilly Hanged Man

I may be displaying my total ignorance here but here's what the actual meaning of the Hanged Man is.

The Hanged Man on the World Tree

In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil – the world tree – is the home of the universe.

The Aesir Gods live in the top, with elves, humans and ice giants populating the tree as you descend, until you reach the roots where the Norns live.

The Norns are the Norse fates – three sisters who control the destiny of all the creatures in all the worlds. 

They carve runes – symbols of magic and knowledge – into the bark of Yggdrasil, so that their power is carried through all the branches, affecting all the people. 

 Now, the Aesir gods are a curious pantheon, in that they know of a prophecy that fortells their death. 

Odin, King of the Gods, traded one of his eyes to acquire the prophecy and ever since had been searching for ways for undo their doom.

From the top of the world tree, Odin looked down and saw the sisters with their runes and felt the power of the symbols.

Perhaps, here, he might find the answer that would save himself and his people.

Down Odin descended. He asked the sisters to teach him the runes, but sadly they shook their heads. The runes could not be given, but must be earned. 

A sacrifice was required. So with strong ropes and cunning knots, the Norns hung Odin from a branch of Yggdrasil, 

 Each symbol had its own power – there were runes for protection and runes to curse, runes to inspire love and runes to acquire wealth. Runes to heal, and runes to wound. 

ll these runes Odin was now the master of, and he hoped that it would be enough to arm him and his kin against Ragnarok: the end of the world. 

 So the hanged man is Odin , who made a sacrifice (his life) to earn the power of the runes. So it's not a sign of death but a sign of change.

Admitedly not my usual tyme of post but I love Norse Mythology , and thing the Psychobilly Tarot looks amazing and it's and excuse to include a Psychobilly track. Now what should we have...