Althouse: Look up here/I'm in heaven...

January 11, 2016

Look up here/I'm in heaven...

"Lazarus," published January 7th, 3 days before his death. Still capture:

12 comments:

ALP said...: Just found out. He is one of my favorites; a death of a cultural icon that really meant something to me. Fuckin' A.

Flying with Major Tom.; 1/11/16, 8:03 AM
Oso Negro said...: And so we bid the Thin White Duke farewell. Oh, how I loved his songs.; 1/11/16, 8:24 AM
Michael said...: Where are we now, where are we now?
The moment you know, you know, you know; 1/11/16, 8:44 AM
David said...: The press release said he died peacefully.

Not in his conscious mind perhaps, based on that video.; 1/11/16, 8:54 AM
MayBee said...: A creative way to face his death. Of course. But we didn't realize it, even 3 days ago.; 1/11/16, 8:56 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: "Freddie? Freddie Mercury, is that you?"

"Welcome, David."

"Where are we?"

"Heaven, of course."

"Really?"

"I know: I was surprised I was let in, honey. Turns out Jesus really liked our song "Under Pressure."

"So did Vanilla Ice, but... I must say I am glad to be here."

"Most of us are."

"Most of us?"

"Well, you know: John Lennon is never happy about anything, really. He keeps bitching about how his being here totally negates the most important song he ever wrote. I think Jesus let him in, just for the schadenfreude."

"John was always a bit of a prick, wasn't he? But there is schadenfreude in Heaven?"

"Oh, my boy: wait until you see Pat Boone sing "Imagine' in front of John: it never gets old."

"So: what do we do here?"

"We remember. We meet new souls. We wait on others. It is very relaxing, really. Like a posh Manhattan Hotel. With no check-out."

"You know, I took some of the best drugs the World had to offer, but this... this feels Nice."

"Doesn't it, though? All the old junkies say that."

"Even Lou Reed?"

"Even Lou. He just keeps griping that he wishes Heaven was grittier."

"Of course he does."

"It really is a lot of laughter, really. Everyone meets everyone, eventually."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, David: you'll never laugh so hard as when Jim Morrrison keeps trying to explain his lyrics to T.S. Eliot. Things like that happen all the time."

"Be prepared, though: "Space "Oddity" gets played a LOT, here."

"I suppose that's flattering."

"It truly is. I can say that because the only thing they play more up here is "Bohemian Rhapsody"...

I am Laslo.; 1/11/16, 9:21 AM
CWJ said...: Great work right to the end!

Lazio, you forgot to add Warhol to that mix. Different media, but both were managed personas. Perhaps the lesser artist was in hiding.; 1/11/16, 10:29 AM
ALP said...: I hope he's saving a seat for Bryan Ferry...; 1/11/16, 10:33 AM
Etienne said...: That bed and tiles reminds me of the mental hospital in the game "Redneck Rampage" and I can still hear the music in my mind from that game. It was quite evil.

If you look at all of Bowie's close-ups you can see his freaky eye. You can also tell when they flipped the picture, because his left eye was poked as a teen and permanently dilated. If it looked good in a picture, you usually couldn't see the right eye. Probably some scheme to hide...; 1/11/16, 10:38 AM
glam1931 said...: Laslo, that was so good I shared it on my FB page. With credit.; 1/11/16, 3:31 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: @Archie Waugh:

A sincere thank you.

I am Laslo.; 1/11/16, 7:09 PM
Mick said...: But I won't REEAALLYY be old until Mick dies.; 1/12/16, 4:45 AM