The Doctor, attempting to locate his missing episodes.

THE SECOND DOCTOR: PATRICK TROUGHTON

Tenure:  Seasons 4-6 (1966-1969)

Something really weird happened on the 29th of October 1966. Dr. Who, the elderly time-traveling gentleman, returns to his TARDIS and promptly collapses on the floor. His battle with the Cybermen has proven too much for him, this time and he...dies. By the time his companions Ben and Polly get back to the Ship, they see his face morphing into somebody else. Minutes later, this new fella would take them all to planet Vulcan and battle Daleks once again. Dr. Who has died and yet the show would go on. How could that be?

By 1966, William Hartnell (aka Dr. Who) had become increasingly and relentlessly difficult to work with. His battles with producers John Wiles and Innes Lloyd resulted in a tense working atmosphere and, clearly, something had to give. This turned out to be Hartnell himself. In June 1966, it was agreed that he would leave the show at the beginning of its fourth season. His replacement was character actor Patrick Troughton, a choice Hartnell was apparently happy with. Troughton was very reluctant at first, but he eventually came around.

The production team spent most of the fourth season to find their feet, until a serial called The Moonbase pointed to the future. In this, an international moonbase (no, really!!! By the title alone I would never have guessed) is being attacked by the returning Cybermen. The base-under-siege format was born and systematically used for the next season.

One of the selling points for Troughton was that he wouldn't have to mimic Hartnell's portrayal of Dr. Who. Instead, he would craft his own persona out of the deceased Time Lord. And that he did. The new Doctor would behave sometimes foolishly, sometimes idiotically and even, dare I say, sometimes crazily yet most of it was a smokescreen. This Doctor would often stand on the sidelines, mentally playing chess with his adversaries until the very last moment when he would jump right in and defeat the baddies with a last-minute, improvised feat of derring-do. By his own admission, the Doctor's technique was "keeping my eyes open and my mouth shut".

In his final season, the new Doctor would face more varied settings in time and space. Most importantly he would meet with two important components of later eras of the programme: In The Invasion the Doctor team up with the Brigadier and UNIT for the first time, while The War Games has him put on trial by his own people, the Time Lords, revealed once and for all. At this point, the new boy made his mark and his return in The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors cemented his reputation among fans.

ASSESSMENT: Unfortunately, the Troughton era remains decimated by the Missing Episodes debacle. Meaning that many of his stories are incomplete or entirely absent from the roll-call. Nevertheless what is there offers a tantalising glimpse of psychedelic Who at its best with Troughton having the time of his life as the mischievous, impish and incorrigible Time Lord. True, the base-under-siege format got old pretty fast, however note that they only used it extensively during the fifth season.

FAVOURITE STORIES:

• The Tomb of the Cybermen (It's like this old Mummy movie set in outer-space with Cybermen instead of mummies. Notable for its serious body-count and for the fact that, hadn't the Doctor been there, none of this would have happened.)
• The Seeds of Death (What's with the Moon, people? After Cybermen, the Ice Warriors have a go at it as they intend on using the teleportation relay to send poisonous fungus to destroy Earth's atmosphere. Famous for the Doctor frolicking in deadly foam.)
• The War Games (The second longest Doctor Who serial and probably one of the most important. Aliens are using Earth soldiers to "participate" in deadly war games and the Doctor has to call in the Time Lords to sort it all out, something he is clearly not happy with.)

LEAST FAVOURITE STORIES:

• The Dominators (If you like to watch gay couples arguing over their pet toy robots, this is the one for you. Otherwise, you're liable to see old men in ridiculous togas getting tortured and killed by said gay couple. Be warned.)
• The Underwater Menace (It's been said before, but I'll say it again: it really looks like an Ed Wood movie with the Doctor in it. As hilarious as it might seem.)
• The Abominable Snowmen (It's tough judging this from a single episode, however the Yetis are too cute to be really threatening. And they got fat asses too.)

PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST #9

Surrealistic Pillow
Jefferson Airplace
1967 

White Rabbit
(Grace Slick)

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall
And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call to
Call Alice
When she was just small

When the men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving
low
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know

When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the doormouse said;
"Feed YOUR HEAD...
Feed your head"

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

1954

Remember Nigel Kneale and Rudolph Cartier? They were the ones responsible for The Quatermass Experiment a year before, and so they teamed up again to bring forth this version of George Orwell's seminal post-war novel.

The novel itself was quite recent when this was filmed, and the 1950s saw a no less than three productions adapting the work. This one, an American adaptation for CBS' Westinghouse Studio One done a year before and another American film adaptation in 1956.

Peter Cushing (now, do I really need to introduce him?) plays Winston Smith, the Party member who sees behind the huge Party propaganda machine and eventually enters an illegal love affair with fellow Party member Julia (played by Yvonne Mitchell). It also features André Morell as O'Brien (Winston's friendly torturer) and Donald Pleasence as Smith's friend Syme. Incidentally, Morell would go on to play the lead  in the third Quatermass serial Quatermass and the Pit (which we will examine later on).

The fact that this is live television is most remarkable, and Rudolph Cartier was already a BBC wonderboy for his ability to present a live, televised play to the masses (or is that Party Members?). Even more remarkable is that they did it twice. Once on December 12, 1954 and another time on December 16. Both were live, so they literally did it again with the same sets, costumes, cast and so on. Only the second performance exists in the BBC archives.

Of course, it all looks so "stagey" today, but that's mainly because it was, for all intents and purposes, a filmed play. This sort of BBC way of doing things will loom large in years to come. For my parts, the starkness (and somewhat futuristic) aspects of it fits very well with Orwell's initial vision. The pristine yet functional aspects of the Ministry of Truth (where Winston Smith works) is contrasted with the run-down almost post-apocalyptic feel of London. The teleplay overtly states that the revolutions were brought down by widespread nuclear war in the aftermath of WWII (a detail hinted at but not specifically stated in the novel).

Back in the day, this would have hit right at home with the very real run-down aspects of post-war Britain, who won the war but lost just about everything else. Even more so when Orwell wrote it. One of the major themes of the novel is the culture of deprivation brought on by Party ruler-ship. In Oceania, everything is either on shortage or entirely absent. One of the avowed goals of the Party is to keep everyone in abject poverty. The culture of abundance manifested in post-war America is not only completely absent here, but the Party makes sure that the very notion of abundance has been abolished. There is a definite collusion with rationing post-war Britain, and the rationing of Oceania. The Party is able to exploit the anger and resentment of the people into war-frenzy (the very war which is responsible for the rationing in the first place).

The whole thing seemed to have sent Britain into some kind of a turmoil. According to Cushing's  memoirs, this was the first time someone was seen to be tortured on TV, no doubt bringing the general public unpleasant memories of their Boys being similarly treated in Japanese and German prisoners' camps. Even the government took notice, as there were motions proposed in Parliament to cull down the more sensationalistic aspects of television productions. In fact, Parliament actually voted if they would allow a second performance (the vote was very narrowly won in favour, fortunate since the first performance was not filmed. Therefore we should thank the UK government for our sheer ability to watch this nearly sixty years later).

This was Peter Cushing's first major part. Later in the decade his career would take off with him playing two very different kinds of medical practitioners.

The Doctor calmly ponders which is worse:  
The Monster of Peladon or The Time Monster?

THE THIRD DOCTOR: JON PERTWEE

Tenure: Seasons 7-11 (1970-1974)

I must admit, rewriting the Doctor as an action-adventure hero was a ballsy move. Thank God Pertwee was more than up to the task. Why shoudn't he? after all the whole schtick was his idea. 

The Third Doctor era is sandwiched between the last gasp of black and white Who, and the ever-so-popular Tom Baker. In that respect its surprising Pertwee's time as the Doctor is remembered at all. And yet, his time broke new grounds for the show, and very important ones as well. First of all, it was done in colour for the first time. Secondly, the Doctor was now making house calls with UNIT. Thirdly, the Master rounded up the team of technicolor misfits making the programme, infusing it with sometimes inelegant, sometimes silly-as-hell and yet heartfelt social comments.

As Robert Sloman once said, the idea that big business is evil and wants to pollute/destroy the environment with an unhealthy dose of corruption is old hat now, yet in the early seventies that type of story was only coming to the fore. Beforehand, Doctor Who tackled this big issues in layers and layers of allegory. All it took was an aristcratic Venusian-karate expert dandy, his stiff-upper-lip military loony friend and his ditzy hot-pants clad assistant to make the point as plain as the nose of your face.

The years from 1970 to 1974 were gaudy, as only early seventies TV can be gaudy. And we love 'em for it. If you're watching something from, say, 1972, then by Jove it better looks, talks and acts like it's from 1972. The Third Doctor was fun, even if he did overstay his welcome a bit (...a bit).

Yes, some of it was embarrassing, some of it was a tad overlong (oh, those long-forgotten six parters) and some of it was just plain crazy. Yet if you were young in 1971, there's a good chance you were somewhat embarrassing, overlong and crazy too (time to look back at those old photo albums).

ASSESSMENT:  If you like the idea of the Doctor insulting everyone within a mile, you're going to love this. Overall the Third Doctor made his mark, and his style is as peculiar, personal and unique as his predecessors and successors. Some of it has indeed dated badly, but so has other stuff before and after. Plus, his main title sequence is the most exciting yet and has not been improved ever since. And no missing episodes this time around.

FAVOURITE STORIES:

• Doctor Who and the Silurians  (Shows everyone why bringing the Doctor back to Earth was a good idea. A complex script with complex issues making no excuses and taking no prisoners. From the people who brought to you Season Seven)
• The Claws of Axos  (Yeah, Doctor Who goes psychedelic in this acid-drenched tale of Greeks bearing gifts, complete with phallic and vaginal metaphors, bureaucratic hassles for the Doctor and the Master for good measure)
• Inferno (Ever wondered what would happen if your friends turned against you overnight. The Doctor finds out in the most brutal way possible all the while trying to prevent the end of the world. He doesn't, by the way)

LEAST FAVOURITE STORIES
  

• Invasion of the Dinosaurs  (Imagine if Steven Spielberg directed Jurassic Park as a home movie with his kids. My god, Mr. Letts, if you can't afford dinosaurs on Doctor Who, then please please please don't put dinosaurs in it. Think of the neighbours)
• The Daemons  (In music, it sometimes happen that your favorite album by someone is their least favorite work. This is the reverse, as everyone who worked on it found it smashing, but then they didn't have to watch it, did they. A case of a very good ideas falling flat on their backs)
• Day of the Daleks  (Yes, the Daleks return after a six-years absence. The premise is oversimplistic, and the supposedly "clever" twist is actually the first time travel cliché in the book. Fair, but disappointing)

THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT

1953


"Seminal" and "highly influencial" are two terms that are often associated with this grandaddy of all British sci-fi serials. Written by Nigel Kneale and directed by Rudolph Cartier, The Quatermass Experiment sets the tone of pretty much everything the BBC will dish out to unsuspecting viewers for the next ten years or so.

I have heard about it for years, regularly mentioned in sci-fi magazines the world over and yet I never got down to watch it until a few days ago. However, only the first and second episodes of this six-part serials still exist and so we are deprived of the grand finale when the unfortunate Victor Carroon, turned into an alien vegetable during an ill-fated space mission, is tracked down and killed in Westminster Abbey.

The first episode mainly consists of Pr. Quatermass and his team sitting in a room, talking over the phone and wondering exactly where the hell is their space capsule gone. Due to technical and budgetary restraints (as was the custom, the whole thing was broadcast live) The Quatermass Experiment tells a lot without showing. The second episode adds a cold-war plot as astronaut Carroon is kidnapped by foreign agents.

I really don't know what to make of all this. The problem about these oh-so influential programs from the past is the sense of expectation that develops over the years. I half-expected to watch a forgotten masterpiece of terror and alien invasion, and what I saw was dated production values, a snail-paced plot and the fact that we never see anything remotely exiting.

Still, it was fun to finally see for myself what others have been talking about for years. However, I really shouldn't dismiss this right away. The public at the time seems to have caught on, and Quatermass would return twice before the decade was over. Oh, and Hammer films did a movie version which I intend to track down and watch, so more about that later. 

PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST #8

 Space Ritual Live
Hawkwind
1973

Master of the Universe
(Nik Turner, Dave Brock) 

 I am the centre of this universe
The wind of time is blowing through me
And it's all moving relative to me,
It's all a figment of my mind
In a world that I've designed
I'm charged with cosmic energy
Has the world gone mad or is it me?

I am the creator of this universe
And all that it was meant to be
So that we might learn to see
This foolishness that lives in us
And stupidity that we must suss
How to banish from our minds
If you call this living I must be blind.

Lyrics taken from http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/h/hawkwind/master_of_the_universe.html

The Doctor, wondering why I don't
like him as much as everyone else does

THE FOURTH DOCTOR : TOM BAKER

Tenure : Seasons 12 to 18 (1974-1981)

Before the advent of the new series, Tom Baker's position as the most popular, most iconic and most everything Doctor was unassailable. Yet, saying that is like saying the Beatles are the best rock band ever. And more to the point, people got tired of listening to the Beatles (even though they still respected the band's achievements). So, when David Tennant came along he became the current "iconic Doctor" mostly for people who had never watched the original series, or hadn't in quite some time.

Remember, Baker was the Doctor who sold Doctor Who in America. Jon Pertwee (Baker's immediate predecessor) was given a chance, but he didn't break the market, Baker did. When American fans embraced the show, Tom Baker became the Once and Future Doctor. As many others have said, he quickly made you forget his predecessors and made his successors irrelevant. That is why having the Fourth Doctor in a multiple Doctors story wouldn't work. I mean, there were frictions between Pertwee and Patrick Troughton when they did The Three Doctors, can you imagine what would've happened if Baker had done The Five Doctors? His ego alone would have blasted anybody else in the fourth dimension or something.

In the greater scheme of Doctor Who, this is a bad thing. The show always thrived on change, and once it was accepted that the lead actor could be replaced, then any incoming Doctor knew that his time on the show was counted. Even by design (Pat Troughton said from the get-go he wouldn't be doing this forever when he replaced William Hartnell, Peter Davison also stated he wasn't going to break any records and so on and so forth...). But not Baker. First of all he stayed for seven seasons, a record that is still not beaten to this day and is unlikely to be in the future. Secondly, his Doctor being a success, the incentive to leave was less and less apparent as time went by. Finally, unlike Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee, Baker's career prior to winning the part wasn't anything to write home about. Hell, he was working as part of a construction crew when he landed the part. Surely his career wasn't going on too well at the time. So, almost overnight, Baker went from "Tom who?" to "Doctor Who!!!" beloved by children everywhere. In that sort of set up, would you have left? And Baker left only reluctantly, due to conflicts with new-Who producer John Nathan-Turner.

On the other hand, waddyagonnado? Tom Baker was here, is here and will be here. He is unavoidable and inescapable. You can avoid his seasons if you wish, but you can't pretend it never happened as it has consequences for the rest of the programme's history.

ASSESSMENT: I only said I was tired of people calling him the best of everything, not that I didn't like him. It's just that, overall, he's a bit like the Rolling Stones : he's gone on for far too long, and the quality of his stories suffered as a result. Had he left after Season 14, he would have become the undisputed King of the Universe. And he isn't the only good Doctor around, as we shall see.

FAVORITE STORIES:

• Pyramids of Mars (The Doctor vs. Suthek the Destroyer, perhaps the only time during Baker's run that his Doctor looks a bit worried. An absolute classic)
• Genesis of the Daleks (Another well-written classic by Dalek creator Terry Nation. The Doctor tries to erase twelve years of Dalek continuity to no avail, and creates a new one in the process)
• Terror of the Zygons (The Zygons, who will be returning very soon, are the most perverse alien beings ever created for the show, and it's time for the Doctor to say goodbye to UNIT)

LEAST FAVORITE:

• The Android Invasion (Terry Nation decides to waste everybody's time for four episode. A very good argument for anyone who thinks Doctor Who is boring old shit)
• The Masque of Mandragora (Although respected in some quarters, this story never did anything for me. Sorry, but I must prefer to watch paint dry, thank you very much)
• The Robots of Death (Explain to me, Mr. Doctor sir, why I should like this story if I never liked Agatha flippin' Christie? Can you? Not bad, per se, but no great shakes either)

THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

In this bit, I'll feature stuff on my (very long and impossible-to-get-through) reading list. 

For any serious fan of a particular TV show, finding a comprehensive guidebook can be a difficult task. Doctor Who has generated quite a lot of these over the years. And that's not counting the incalculable number of websites devoted to cataloging anything Who related. Yet, who has time to read all of those?

Thankfully, two very respected authors within the Doctor Who community, Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood have put their heads together and produced About Time, perhaps the final word on Doctor Who guidebooks. It's certainly the final word for me, since I don't expect somebody else putting out another with that level of quality.

About Time is published by Mad Norwegian Press in several separate volumes each concerning itself with a particular era of the program. Vol. 1 is about the Hartnell years (1963-1966), Vol. 2 covers the Troughton era (1966-1969), Vol. 3 is about the Pertwee yeas (1970-1974) while Vol. 4 deals with Tom Baker's first six season (1974-1980), Vol. 5 discusses Baker's last season and the Davison years (1980-1984), Vol. VI encompasses both the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy eras (1985-1989) + the 1996 TV Movie. Recently, a further seventh volume was published covering the first two series of the revived program.

How good is it? Well, not only do you get detailed analysis of every DW story betwen 1963 to 2006, listing how the Doctor and his companion behaves compared to past and future stories, as well as detailed description of any alien species and planets encountered by the Doctor and friends, you also get the always entertaining Things That Don't Make Sense a veritable list of "what went wrong" with a particular story. What's more, Miles & Wood also takes pain to put Doctor Who within the context of British society/cultural medias comparing it with what else was on telly at the time, not only that but you also get precise analyses of a particular story's foundation in the greater cultural scheme of the UK in the sixties, seventies, eighties and so on. The Lore section is a virtual "making of" segment where each story's origins and anecdotes are discussed. Of course, no such guide would be complete with a critique of that story. And even that goes beyond saying "it's fantastic" or "it's rubbish" as the authors attempt to provide a balanced view. Finally, each volumes are accompanied by stand-alone essays examining real-world or doctor who-world issues (such as the dating of the UNIT stories, the extremely complicated Dalek timeline, or defense and prosecution arguments of the John Nathan-Turner years).

Essential reading.

Just so we're clear, I am not a fan of Oliver Stone's work. I find most of his films over-hyped, overrated liberal claptrap of the worst kind based mostly on cinematic gimmicks at the detriment of story and characters. Frankly, his paranoid worldview conflicts directly with my paranoid worldview. I stopped watching after Nixon.

Given that, I found his miniseries The Untold History of the United States gripping, informative and often time depressing. Stone has presented us with an unvarnished vision of the Cold War, where, in his opinion, the Americans were mostly responsible for keeping that war going. The the US lists of crimes against other nations (not to mention against its own citizens) are indeed staggering, and a matter of public record.

This is the companion volume to the miniseries, expanding on what's show on the screen.

This is not, far and wide, the first and certainly not the last book on the subject. Books criticizing US involvement in world affairs are almost an industry by themselves. In the introduction Stone and Kuznick are insistent that it focuses on what the US has done wrong, as opposed to what they've done right, so the bias is said honestly right there and then. The book and the min-series certainly shows us the dark side of the 20th century (a century already filled to the brim with Dark Sides, and wait'll until they get a load of the 21st...no one will be spared...NO ONE!!!)

While most the arguments are convincing, and relies on official documentation, most of the arguments presented therein should be seen with healthy skepticism, just as books praising the US to no end should also be seen in a critical eye. To be honest, I mostly agree with what's being written here (except, perhaps when we get to the JFK assassination, yes Oliver, yes I know what you believe about that particular issue, everyone does, but do not get me started on the Kennedy assassination. If you want to know more, check Vincent Bugliosi's book about it).

No, I'm not going anti-american here. The US has indeed done great things, but, for the last seventy years or so, we have seen a succession of presidential administrations getting in bed with the worst sort of friends possible, at the detriment of truly progressive policies that would have made the US truly the great superpower it desperately wants to be. So, for me, the US is a case of "close but no cookie".

PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST #7

Directions to See a Ghost
The Black Angels
2008

Dee-Ree-Shee
(The Black Angels)

Rain, rain look up in sky,
All you see is yourself
Black cloud painted with trouble,
hanging over our nation, and you

All dry, are the crop around
We will be forced to steal
Like Grey Hawk perched up in tree,
waiting for the right kind of thrill (kill),
from you

I didn't know this was a game to you
I should have known by the silver
look in your eye

Bang, bang your magic is here,
white men and God are one
Make us feel like foreigners,
devils under our own sun

Wait, wait a few are blind,
let's trade secrets and get along fine
Which part of ours is entitled to us
You can't cross our imaginary lines

Trail of Fear and tears to come,
not a dry eye in our tribe
All worn down by the power of New,
Let's get together and drink until noon
Let's get together and dream
Let's get together and drink until noon

How could we stop this force
that grew on us
We should have drawn our own lines

FANTASY PROPAGANDA

PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST #6

The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
The 13th Floor Elevators
1966

Reverberation
(Tommy Hall, Stacy Sutherland, Roky Erickson)

Well, you finally find you're helpless mind
Is trapped inside your skin
You want to leave
But you believe you won't get back again
You only know you have to go
But still you can't get out
You try and try
You die and die
You're stopped by your own doubt

Reverberation
Reverberation

You find no peace
It doesn't cease
It's deadly irritation
It keeps you blind
It's there behind
You're every hesitation
It holds your thought.
Your mind is caught
You're fixed with fascination
You think you'll die
It's just a lie
It's backward elevation

Reverberation
Reverberation

You see reverberation
In your latest incarnation
You think its a sensation
But it's just reverberation

You star to serve
The downward curve
That catches up your fears
Each thing you do
Comes home for you
And pound inside your ears
You star to fight against the night
That screams inside your mind
When something black it answers back
And grab you from behind

Reverberation
Echoing through your brain
Reverberation
Driving your mind insane
Reverberation
Causing your blood to drain
Leaving just charred remains

DANNY'S GONE AWAY, MRS. TORRANCE

Allow me to reiterate my point: it is my opinion that Danny isn't in any real danger at the Overlook. Well, the hotel is indeed a dangerous place, but the child, protected by his mother (whom the hotel deems more resourceful than expected), his "imaginary friend" Tony and his mentor Hallorann, has got everything covered.

First of all, Hallorann seems quite clear that the ghostly apparitions cannot physically harm him, the exception being the woman in Room 237 (we'll get to her soon).

Secondly, Danny is playing a game of chess with the Overlook spirits, with his father Jack as the main pawn. Danny/Tony wants to get rid of Jack because he is a bad husband, father and provider for his family. The Hotel wants Jack back because he is for ever and ever and ever the hotel's caretaker. So, the easiest course of action would be to drop Jack off at the Overlook with Wendy and Danny going off on their merry way. Yet things are not that simple. Danny is a six years old kid, so he has no real choice but to go and live there with his parents for five months. Same with Wendy (we assume she's a stay-at-home mom with no source of income of her own). The other problem is that the Overlook is an evil place, and since when do Evil play fair? So the Overlook's endgame is twofold: get Jack back and get rid of Danny.

Yet Danny/Tony is quite aware of this. For most of the film, Danny isn't really scared at all. Certainly not the way Wendy gets scared as things go along. Unsettled, yes, but not scared. The only time he is truly scared shitless is when he meets the Grady twins. And yet Tony is prompt to remind him what he already knows: none of this is real. And when things get too hairy, Tony takes over completely while Danny is busy communicating with Hallorann. Finally, when Jack's mind finally snaps, Danny keeps cool enough under the circumstances to always stay one step ahead of his father, allowing him not only to avoid being chopped up into little bits, but to "guide" Jack into the hedge maze. The hedge maze, if you recall, that Danny spent some time exploring while Jack has never stepped foot in it. The trap has been laid, all it needs now is for someone to spring it.

As for Wendy, since she is not psychic like her husband and son, she has escaped the more horrifying aspects of the Overlook, until near the end when it decides to show her its real face. And yet Wendy, though completely scared out of her mind, still manage to keep it together to find Danny and escape with Hallorann's snowcat.

Ah, yes, what about Room 237?

Since the Overlook spirits can appear just about anywhere in the Hotel, what's so special about Room 237? More specifically, why is Danny in any more danger in that particular room than anywhere else?

Because Room 237 houses the only ghost capable of hurting living people (i.e. the "crazy woman in the bathtub" to quote Wendy). None of the other evil spirits can. If the Overlook spooks could hurt anyone they want, why take the pain of turning Jack against his own son? They would've just killed Danny as soon as he stepped foot in the hotel. Yet they can't, or more to the point, only one of them can: the Woman of Room 237. This is why Hallorann insists Danny steer clear of the room, and this is why the room attempts to lure Danny in.

(Note, however, that the woman do not actually kill Danny. How Danny manages to escape is left pretty much unsaid. And yet, while the Woman fails to kill the son, she is rather more effective frightening his father out of his tiny little mind.)

Oops!

I originally believed I could get away writing about a Kubrick film in a single (or two-part) post. How wrong I was. Thank's to Mr, Kubrick for making a complex movie full of twists and turns making it absolutely impossible to start talking about it without being engulfed in its labyrinthine structure. The trap has certainly being sprung.

Next Kubrick on the menu?....why not Dr. Strangelove (in a little while).

PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST #5

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles

1967

I Am The Walrus

(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. 
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly. 
I'm crying. 

Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come. 
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody tuesday. 
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long. 
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen. 
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob. 

Mister city policeman sitting 
Pretty little policemen in a row. 
See how they fly like Lucy in the Sky, see how they run. 
I'm crying, I'm crying. 
I'm crying, I'm crying. 

Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye. 
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess, 
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down. 
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen. 
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob. 

Sitting in an english garden waiting for the sun. 
If the sun don't come, you get a tan 
From standing in the english rain. 
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen. 
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob. 

Expert textpert choking smokers, 
Don't you think the joker laughs at you? 
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, 
See how they snied. 
I'm crying. 

Semolina pilchard, climbing up the eiffel tower. 
Elementary penguin singing Hari Krishna. 
Man, you should have seen them kicking edgar allan poe. 
I am the eggman, They are the eggmen. 
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob. 
Goo goo g'joob goo

PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST #3

The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Byrds
1968















Wasn't Born to Follow
(Carole King, Gerry Goffin)

Oh I'd rather go and journey where the diamond crest is flowing and
Run across the valley beneath the sacred mountain and
Wander through the forest
Where the trees have leaves of prisms and break the light in colors
That no one knows the names of

And when it's time I'll go and wait beside a legendary fountain
Till I see your form reflected in it's clear and jewelled waters
And if you think I'm ready
You may lead me to the chasm where the rivers of our vision
Flow into one another

I will want to die beneath the white cascading waters
She may beg, she may plead, she may argue with her logic
And then she'll know the things I learned
That really have no value in the end she will surely know
I wasn't born to follow

PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST #4

Are You Experienced
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1967

Are You Experienced
(Jimi Hendrix)

If you can just get your mind together
Then come on across to me
We'll hold hands and then we'll watch the sunrise
From the bottom of the sea

But first, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have

I know, I know you probably scream and cry
That your little world won't let you go
But who in your measly little world
Are you trying to prove that
You're made out of gold and, eh, can't be sold

So, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have

Let me prove you...

Trumpets and violins I can hear in distance
I think they're calling our names
Maybe now you can't hear them, but you will
If you just take hold of my hand

Oh, but are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful...

 YOU'RE MONEY'S NO GOOD HERE, MR. TORRANCE

Time for a recap, don't you think?

1. Danny Torrance is a six years-old boy living with his mother Wendy and his father Jack. Unfortunately the Torrances are a dysfunctional family: Jack is a violent alcoholic who just can't keep a job, and his career as a writer is going nowhere fast.
2. However, Danny is not an ordinary boy. He has an innate psychic ability called "the shining". The "shining" allows Danny to see the past, the future, and establish telepathic contact with other "shiners" (like, for instance, Hallorann and his father). 
3. Danny is much too young and immature to deal with this ability, so his subconscious has created Tony, a little boy who lives in his mouth. It's Tony who apparently decides when and how Danny "shines". King's novel establishes that Tony is not a little boy at all, but a manifestation of Danny's future, grown up, self. 
4. Tony understands that Jack will, one day, hurt Wendy and Danny for good. Jack has grown resentful of his family over the years, and believe they have fucked up his life. Divorce is out of the question. While Wendy is a good mother who tries very hard to take care of her son, she is too weak-willed to leave Jack once and for all. 
5. So, Jack has to go. Fortunately, fate provides Tony with the perfect opportunity. 
6. Jack is about to land a job as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, perched on top of the Colorado Rockies. For Jack and Wendy this is a godsend. Jack thinks he may finally complete a writing project, and Wendy welcomes her husband's new job as a stabilizing effect on his mood. 
7. However, the Overlook is haunted. Several people have died already within its walls, and the whole place reeks of malevolence. Sending Danny up there with a half-crazy Dad and mousy Mother is a perfect storm in the making. On the other hand...
8. It may also be the perfect way to get rid of Jack. Tony surmises that the Overlook will use Jack to hurt Wendy and Danny. Logical, since Jack already hates his wife and son. Furthermore Tony understands one crucial element: Jack also has the "shining", however he does not know it, nor does he understand the implication of such a gift.  While up there, Tony can protect Danny psychically, while his mother will care for him physically. Adding Danny's natural calm and unflappability, Tony figures that Danny will not be in any real danger at the Overlook. Hallorann, the Overlook's chef, is an unexpected yet welcomed ally: Hallorann can "shine" as well and knows about the evil of the Overlook. It's risky, but the risks are well within the bound of acceptability, 
9. So there we are, Danny subconsciously sets a trap for his unworthy father. All he has to do is keep out of the way when the shit hits the fan, stay calm and remain one step ahead of the Overlook ghosts.

All very well, but can I prove any of this? as Wendy would say "let's just wait and see, we're all going to have a real good time...."