Tag: Dennis Hopper

Two Lives in a Small Town

The following, in Shonnie Brown’s “Neighbors” column, appeared in The Healdsburg Tribune, our local weekly, on February 9, 2012. [Most of the images were not in the original.]

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Ann, born and raised in Casper, Wyoming, has the dubious distinction of attending high school with both Dick and Lynne Cheney and participating in student government with Dick. Dick, who Ann recalls as being “good looking” back then, wrote “I’ll be your friend forever” in Ann’s yearbook.

Ann attended a Catholic college in Denver and then got married — resulting in a breakup and three kids. She returned to college, putting herself through law school, and then became a New Jersey prosecutor. She moved to the Bay Area in 1984 and Continue reading “Two Lives in a Small Town”

Draw Your Brakes–A Jamaican Creole Shout

The Harder They ComeSome art, like the 1969 Hopper/Fonda film, Easy Rider, flashes boldly in its moment and ages to insignificance or embarrassment. Some, like the soundtrack of the 1972 reggae film, The Harder They Come, are timeless.

I owned the soundtrack early and played the cassette until it was lost. Almost 35 years later, I bought the CD as a present for my wife. She played the entire CD five times in succession, dancing through the house.

There isn’t a bad song on the album. The second cut, “Draw Your Brakes” by Scotty (Jamaican David Scott), begins with a shout-out in Jamaican Patwa (patois). Continue reading “Draw Your Brakes–A Jamaican Creole Shout”