Disco History Lessons
Previously I've complained about historical inaccuracies in pop songs[1] to a generally uncaring internet. Anyway, to be fair I should point out good history in pop culture[2] when I find it:
Boney M, Rasputin.
I note in passing that the exact circumstances of Grigori Rasputin's death are disputed but the latest findings (2004) suggest that it was a bullet that killed him. Much of the theological and political background has been simply ignored, but I can excuse that in a disco track, especially after seeing the finance director Cossack dancing to it one Christmas office party. Ra ra!
[1] In one case a Finnish Biochemist turned up to tell me that humans and dinosaurs (or dragons) did co-exist, as was proved by the fact that people have been drawing them for thousands of years. My preferred theory is that legends of dragons come from a combination of cautionary tales of pre-historic giant snakes and giant birds of prey with surface fossils of dinosaurs, all brewed together in the oral tales of a hundred cultures, giving wildly different versions with a few points of congruence, but his collection of pictures was fantastic, even if not what I'd call proof.
[2] If Hollywood ever makes a historically accurate film I'll be sure to blog about it mere weeks after I've seen it[3].
[3] Oh, all right, Alexander; good, but if you don't already know far too much about Alexander the Great, disjointed and confusing.
Boney M, Rasputin.
I note in passing that the exact circumstances of Grigori Rasputin's death are disputed but the latest findings (2004) suggest that it was a bullet that killed him. Much of the theological and political background has been simply ignored, but I can excuse that in a disco track, especially after seeing the finance director Cossack dancing to it one Christmas office party. Ra ra!
[1] In one case a Finnish Biochemist turned up to tell me that humans and dinosaurs (or dragons) did co-exist, as was proved by the fact that people have been drawing them for thousands of years. My preferred theory is that legends of dragons come from a combination of cautionary tales of pre-historic giant snakes and giant birds of prey with surface fossils of dinosaurs, all brewed together in the oral tales of a hundred cultures, giving wildly different versions with a few points of congruence, but his collection of pictures was fantastic, even if not what I'd call proof.
[2] If Hollywood ever makes a historically accurate film I'll be sure to blog about it mere weeks after I've seen it[3].
[3] Oh, all right, Alexander; good, but if you don't already know far too much about Alexander the Great, disjointed and confusing.
Comments
Once upon a time, there were Rasputin and the three Communist cheerleaders with little hammer-and-sickle logos at a CostumeCon...
- Serge