And if that wasn’t enough:

Absolutely brutal – Makes you think twice before crossing the George Washington Bridge (something you should probably think twice about anyway seeing as it goes to New Jersey . . . ) That said, this story has a lot to say about the inherent dangers of debating infrastructure repair solely as a “jobs issue.” Whether you’re a Paul Ryan devotee of Ayn Rand or a Paul Krugman lover of Keynes, I think it’s time we all agreed that NO economic theory can function if we (literally) allow America to fall apart before our eyes. Whether government stimulus spending or expansionary monetary policy actually create jobs are subjects up for debate. The fundamental need for functional bridges, highways, airports and schools most certainly is not. This isn’t just common sense, folks - it’s patriotism.

It’s probably an understatement to say that the The Doors played an enormous role in forming the soundtrack to my adolescence. So in honor of Ray Manzarek’s recent passing (Check out this excellent profile from NPR) . . .

Here are my 10 favorite Doors songs (in no particular order):

Soul Kitchen: This one was covered at the first concert I ever attended by Echo and The Bunnymen at Radio City Music Hall and was my first true introduction to the Morrison’s weirdly poetic lyrics. I had no idea what he was talking about (or why you would sleep in a “soul kitchen”), but the organ hit me immediately and I loved the way that Morrison flipped words around in ways that literally made them snap.  The choppy rhythm of the song could never be described as danceable, yet it absolutely makes you tap your foot . . . HARD.

20th Century Fox: This really worked for me in terms of wordplay the first time I heard it and still does today.  It uses 60′s phrases that fell out of favor by the 80′s but still made perfect sense at the time. Manzarek and Krieger work off each other perfectly here. It almost connotes Roxy Music to me and would feel at home in a glam setting or sound-tracking a fashion runway. In my own personal deranged mind-of-Frazer music video, it was like I could see tall angular brunettes with massive attitude “swaning” down lower 5th Avenue.

The End: It’s no accident this was the only possible choice for the conclusion of Apocalypse Now.

Peace Frog: Hippie protest?  Not so much – This is the band as CNN reporters (well, if CNN produced accurate news, that is…) However, its jumpy upbeat rhythm simultaneously makes it a classic and exceedingly fun drinking song that hippies, yuppies, rednecks and frontline combat grunts seem to all enjoy equally.

Riders on the Storm: Even darker than “The End” with the hero being a serial killer and its bone-chilling soundtrack.  This one is a “loungey” groove fest filled with dread. One of my favorite things about this track is that I actually sang it at a Karaoke night at the Flora-Bama Lounge after graduating from law school. Let’s just say BAD IDEA (I was physically forced off the stage). Still, only made me love (and respect) the Doors’ genius all the more.

People Are Strange:  I think this song feels completely in place nowadays exuding a sort of surreal saloon vibe.  I know Echo and the Bunnymen covered it for their Lost Boys soundtrack, but the original feels almost like something by Depeche Mode or Garbage and its messages of disaffectedness resonate well with TV and Unternet saturated young people grasping for ideologies in a frequently nihilistic age.

Road House Blues: Simply the ultimate party song. This is just a bunch of guys getting ready to go out, have dangerous fun and causing unfathomable trouble. Indeed, it reminds me fondly of high school (or rather, the pretend version of my high school self), raucous college parties and masculine bluster generally. Plus, who doesn’t want to wake up in the morning and get themselves a beer?

Not to Touch the Earth: Here we a treated to a REALLY bad acid trip populated by shot presidents and a Dante-esque musical descent into disorder that was 100% courtesy of Manzarek. The song almost turns into pure noise, but then Mansarek pulls the plane back up mere seconds before the crash. It swirls and yearns – but what makes it work is how the band builds in so much brooding and dark intensity. Morrison, far from drifting off into sleep, takes in all of this energy and transforms himself into the Lizard King . . . A mantle he’d wear straight into immortality.

Back Door Man: This song is almost as subtle as a punch in the face. Dirty, grimy, and straight from the Delta, this Doors baby doesn’t make any sense until . . . BANG! It doesn’t want . . . It takes. And it takes whatever it wants.

Moonlight Drive: An ethereal trip – some sort of black and white road movie, set in the desert, featuring a young man attempting to win over the female object of his desire. . . There’s nothing nefarious here. It’s all quirky fun and, dare I say, a rare dose of innocence.

LA Woman:  Hands down, this is the best story they tell. Kreiger is the real emphasis here as it’s his guitar “tell” that shoves you into that unforgettable car with a presumably heart-stopping woman hell bent on a mission to conquer LA. The band doesn’t remotely give a damn whether you’d have had the balls to open that car door yourself . . . And therein lies the greatness. It’s all fun and games until “Mr. Mojo Rising” slows things down, and brutally begins to reveal the unbearable darkness that characterizes LA’s half-fantasy, half-nightmare dichotomy. In movie terms, it’s sort of a like Jack Nicholson’s Chinatown – on A LOT of high-grade Bolivian Marching Powder. Surely, this is one song that should NEVER have had a music video made. Whatever images permeate your head as you listen ought to be be considered personal gifts from the band – and respected accordingly.

Born out of the ashes of Sex Pistols and the Clash, John Lydon underwent a profound transformation from earthshaking punk supernova, to actual musician, to ultimately becoming one of Britain’s genuine elder statesmen in the worlds of music and culture. The man is fiercely smart, both artistically and visually. When the Pistols burnt out (e.g., when he recognized it was time to go), Lydon formed the group, PiL, a driving undercurrent in the shift from punk to alternative. Put simply, there’d be no Smiths, Primal Scream or Nirvana without PiL’s long-enduring legacy. The lineage to punk is still obvious due to Lydon’s frequently explosive presence but this underrated band proved that Lydon could do much more than just flail around or be profane. He was (and is) willing to experiment, especially in recent years by delving into complex electronica. While always imbuing his music with a sense of irony (often stepping up right up to the brink of acidic sarcasm), he may outwardly resemble a grouchy curmudgeon but, in reality, is an embodiment of curiosity and exuberance.  As a result, not only has Lydon stayed relevant far beyond his initially stunning contributions to punk, he has become one of the most fascinating and important faces in the pantheon of British alt-rockers.

My Top Picks (especially for the uninitiated)

“Rise”
“Poptones”
“The Order of Death”
“This is Not a Love Song”
“Open Up (Leftfield, feat. John Lydon)”

All the more reason to have both a matrimonial attorney and an estate planning attorney coordinated and on the same page when advising one’s personal affairs:

“Most wealth advisors and lawyers repeat what is already well known: A prenup is the best way to protect the assets you have coming into a marriage. But what if it’s difficult for you to ask the love of your life to sign the dreaded document? Several trust options, not as good as a prenup, can still help you hold on to assets during a divorce. These trusts can protect assets from unintended beneficiaries, facilitate distribution of not-easily-divided assets, and protect postdivorce assets from lawsuits and creditors, says Anthony Fittizzi, wealth-strategies director for U.S. Trust.”

“The announcement Tuesday that, beginning in 2016, anchoring a putter against the body would be banned ought to be the start of a thorough spring cleaning by the sport. If the United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient needed only 174 days of debate before officially outlawing a stroke that has been in play for at least five decades and is used by roughly 15 percent of PGA Tour members, it should have no problem acting swiftly to address more pressing issues. Among them: performance-enhancing equipment used by 100 percent of touring pros; caddies lining up their players on putts; the slow pace of play; the viewer call-ins that are threatening to turn tournament golf into a good walk spoiled by armchair rules officials; and an antidoping program that is not up to the Olympic model.”

With Anthony Weiner making his improbable return to politics today (and getting off to a great start by mistakenly launching his campaign at 3:00 AM…), my only real fear – that the New York Post’s writers might have already exhausted every conceivable Weiner joke – has already been disproven (see headline below). Regardless I personally promise to deliver the readers of FrazerRice.com constantly penetrating updates and as many long hard thrusts as it takes to ensure that every last revealing detail about this former Member (of Congress) eventually comes out.

The Motion Picture Association of America has launched a highly informative website (link below) providing extensive state-by-state data on the film industry. Among other interesting observations, the folks over at MPA point out that “The industry  is a nationwide network of tens of thousands of small businesses, located in every state in the country, the majority of which employ ten people or less.” (emphasis added)  I’ll have more thoughts on this in future posts, but one thing the numbers here demonstrate is the clear risk of misunderstanding any industry that happens to be closely associated with a particular geographic location – equally true whether you’re talking “Hollywood,” “Silicon Valley” or even “Detroit.” Creating nationwide jobs and spurring technological innovation always requires a deeper dive into the statistics and a more nuanced examination of the role (positive or negative) played by various state and local incentive programs, tax-breaks, etc. Cheers to the MPA for getting these numbers out in the open and lets hope other industry groups create similarly accessible websites.

Motion Picture Association of America: State-by-State Statistics