FInAL

NB: INTERT VIBZ IS GOING TO SLOWLY COME BACK TO LIFE AS MY BRAIN REGENERATS.
Thanks to Steve for doing some detective work and finding 3 ghost-shoe pixx!


The pic above is my favorite. That kid is just chilling in the back but he's about to take off on an intergalactic voyage or something.


Internet Vibes is now the world's largest archive of ghost-shoe pixx! Everyone should follow Steve's example and help the collection grow. Maybe even try making your own pixx if you have NB's.

VIBES SCIENCE:
I just watched Quadrophenia, the 1979 film loosely based on a Who concept album about Mods. Mod culture is a vibe so near yet so far.


yes, that is sting

I think I have a decent understanding of the Mod phenomenon but it's hard to fully grasp it as an American since there was no parallel movement in the good old USA (thus I cannot subconsciously receive latent vibe transmissions from my immediate environment). In fact, a lot of Mod culture has to do with British perceptions and interpretations of American culture. How can I look at myself as "The Other"? Again, I need to decolonize my mind, will try to do it over winter break.

Recently, the idea of "Mod" has been semi-transformed into a sort of cosmopolitan hippie vibe (ie Austin Powers). In fact, there's a bar called Mod in the 80's on Amsterdam that's all hippie-dippie, psych-chic. As far as I can tell this is all wrong.

OG Mods were late 50's/60's, R&B-obsessed, sharp-dressers. In fact, Quadrophenia takes place in 1964 way before any of that Swingin' London stuff.



The central event of Quadrophenia is the infamous Mods vs. Rockers Riot in Brighton. The rockers are a group "primarily defined in opposition to Mods." They are seen as a British version of "greasers."

I have a hard time completely wrapping my brain around the whole Mods vs. Rockers conflict. Aesthetically, their differences are clear: Mods wear suits and keep it clean, Rockers wear leather and keep it dirty. The philosophical and cultural differences are harder to grasp. Both groups seem working-class, anti-authoritarian, prone to violence, into partying and being crazy.

There's a scene where a Mod and a Rocker are taking baths in adjacent stalls at some sort of public bathroom. The Rocker starts singing Gene Vincent and the Mod gets really pissed off. The Rocker won't shut up, so the Mod starts singing "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks. This is the conflict??? Early 60's Kinks vs. late 50's rock n' roll??

Don't get me wrong, I can see the difference between Ray Davies and Gene Vincent. It just doesn't seem like a big difference. I think this may be an instance of post-vibe conflation in which the trivial differences so important to one generation fade away in the next generation's historical perception.

If I met a dude today who was really into early Kinks, I'd probably assume he also liked Gene Vincent. The same would not hold true for a Village Green Preservation Society kind of dude.

Anyway, I love Fred Perry.



RAY WINSTONE:



Quadrophenia features a young Ray Winstone as a Rocker. Winstone would go on to be known for his roles as bad-ass British gangsters (see "Sexy Beast"). Anyway, I imdb'd him and was amazed to see his upcoming roles:

He's going to play BEOWULF in a big-budget version of BEOWULF directed by Robert Zemeckis. Crispin Glover is playing Grendel. WTFF????? THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME.

As if that wasn't enough, Winstone is signed up to play WILLIAM BLAKE in "JERUSALEM."

English majors are gonna SOOTE their SHOURES when they hear about this.