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A Conversation with the Everything Man: Jimmy Castor, 1947-2012

January 17, 2012

Jimmy Castor as The Everything Man, from the sleeve of Supersound (Atlantic, 1975) - artist uncredited; scanned from author's collection

I once interviewed Jimmy Castor, the doo-wop, pop, soul, funk and R&B pioneer who died yesterday. As with two other recent losses - Melvin Bliss and Eugene McDaniels - the interview was done on the phone, and I never got to meet him or even see him perform. But all three made music that has had a big impact on my life, and they all were particularly generous and engaged interviewees, whose work has only meant more to me after having the chance to talk to them. All three seem to have been denied what I would consider their rightful place in history, too, so their deaths seem all the more unjust: in Castor's case, heartbreakingly so, given the efforts he'd been making in recent years to re-establish himself in an entertainment business he enriched and enlivened with the range, breadth, ambition and quality of the records he made.

By way of a memorial, then, here's Castor in full flow, largely unedited, down a crackly transatlantic phone line 12 years ago. I didn't transcribe any of my questions, but in truth, I may not even have asked any: he had a lot to get off his chest. At one point, he said: "I'm telling you this because I believe in you. I don't talk to everybody this long. I know that you are taking it in. Because this time around I have to be successful again to teach these people what's happening." And that just makes his passing seem all the more unbearably sad. Rest in peace, E-Man.... more »

posted: 17/01/2012 | comments »

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Doughnuts on a Rope

January 16, 2012

A "doughnuts-on-a-rope"-type contrail spotted in the sky above north Hertfordshire: January 16, 2012

There are a number of "classic" mysteries in the field of secret aircraft projects, and a number of them coalesce under the guise of a project popularly known as Aurora. This was supposed to be a top-secret American aircraft, reputed to fly at hypersonic speeds, tested at Area 51 in the 1990s, was supposedly responsible for a string of bizarre and inexplicable noises heard across the western US, and left a distinctive series of marks across the sky as the only evidence of its fleeting presence. The problem is, it doesn't seem to have ever existed. ... more »

posted: 16/01/2012 | comments »

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On Holding a Pointless Grudge

January 15, 2012

The Sierra Nevada mountains from near Bodie, California: November 2006

There's this public figure I can't seem to get away from. They're on TV quite a bit and I keep seeing their face in shops, staring out at me - usually with a particularly self-satisfied grin - from adverts. Being alive in the 21st century should make me used to this sort of thing: but I always get a bit narked when I see this particular individual, because I think they owe me money. ... more »

posted: 15/01/2012 | comments »

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The Dataman Project

January 14, 2012

Page 14 of the July/August 2011 edition of Defense Technology International

Geospatial intelligence - the linking of information about events, incidents, people and objects to place and time - is an area of increasing interest to me, and increasing importance to military personnel. Ahead of a number of further explorations in this area, I've been looking back over work I've done on the subject, and realised that a piece written for Defense Technology International last year, about a GEOINT programme run by and for the British military in Afghanistan, isn't available online. So here it is. This version is taken from the copy I submitted, so may differ slightly from the post-edit version that was published in the magazine. ... more »

posted: 14/01/2012 | comments »

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The Day the Film & Music Died

January 13, 2012

Detail from the the September 30, 2011, edition of the Guardian's Film & Music supplement, which carried the most recent of the three cover stories I wrote for the section

Today sees the last edition, in its present format, of the Film & Music supplement of The Guardian. From next Friday, it is being merged with G2, the features section, and will be edited by a differently configured team. I realise this probably isn't earth-shaking news, but it's a source of genuine sadness to me. ... more »

posted: 13/01/2012 | comments »

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A Tornado* in Kandahar

January 12, 2012

Wing Commander Jim Frampton, commanding officer of the RAF's 12 Squadron, talks to Afghan schoolchildren at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan: January 1, 2012. Photo: Sergeant Steve Blake RLC (Phot)/Crown Copyright  

The MoD have today released photographs taken on New Year's Day, when around 500 children, along with teachers and other adults, visited Kandahar Air Field to get a look at the coalition aircraft based there, and meet the people who operate them. I was at KAF for a few days in August and had the chance to interview key members of the RAF teams working on the Tornado, Hercules and Reaper aircraft. The first piece published from my visit was about the Tornado detachment - it ran in the January edition of Combat Aircraft magazine. The people I spoke to in August are now back in the UK, but the job they're doing will remain pretty much the same. The version CA printed had to be edited down to fit the available space, so here's the full-length piece. ... more »

posted: 12/01/2012 | comments »

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Stratfor: the End Game Nears

January 11, 2012

Stratfor CEO George Friedman's letter was posted on the relaunched company website earlier today (though at the time of posting - 20:05 GMT - the site was down again)

The Stratfor hack story is approaching its most pivotal moment. The company finally got back online today, 19 days after hackers operating under the Antisec/Anonymous banner announced their hack and started releasing the intelligence firm's customer account information. In an email to subscribers, also carried on the newly free-to-access site, founder George Friedman admits that the company did not encrypt its customers' credit card details - as I wrote on Monday, this has the potential to turn into a legal nightmare for the company. But it is the second half of Friedman's email which throws down the most important gauntlet in this saga.... more »

posted: 11/01/2012 | comments »