December 28 - Pictures Of Matchstick Men

This Christmas was rough. I've talked about George Michael, and two days later, my very first movie crush also died, following a massive heart attack on December 23. Princess Leia Organa was the first female movie character I remember any interest in beyond just watching, and although Ross and Rachel in Friends really took any childhood dream I might have had well into a more mature version, there is a reason so many of us boys who grew up watching Star Wars during our formative years nodded and laughed more of embarrassment than anything else during that episode of Friends. When I realized that Carrie Fisher also played the crazy ex-girlfriend of "Joliet" Jake Blues in another of my favorite movies, The Blues Brothers, the movie crush was complete.

However, lost between the news of Carrie Fisher and George Michael's death was the news that Rick Parfitt of Status Quo died on Christmas Eve. I remember Rockin' All Over The World and Whatever You Want from the seventies and a cover version of Bolland's In The Army Now from the eighties, but it wasn't until fairly recently that I realized that they started in the sixties playing some heavy duty psychedelia. My favorite Status Quo song is bar none Pictures Of Matchstick Men from the album Picturesque Matchstickable Messages From The Status Quo (1968), which I gladly will share in memory of Rick Parfitt.