In which I miss Joe Strummer

To the EMP to see a couple of documentaries by Dick Rude. Packed house (free admission). First up was a (way too) short film about LA punk: Xerox-Babies. It is apparently included as an extra on the Punk : Attitude DVD, as a corrective to that movie's East Coast bias. Packed with great interviews, all shot in luminous black-and-white. Paul Simon is so wrong about everything looking worse in b'n'w. These guys have never looked better. John Doe has always been beautiful, but the cinematography makes him look beatific. Mike Watt seems to radiate sweetness (which I understand he doesn't do in real life). The lines of age in their faces, even their jowls, give them gravity and wisdom. The only woman interviewed, a scene photographer, is also given an elegance that she probably didn't have in her youth--although I can't say for sure, not being familiar with her and her work. No music included, except some ersatz punk instrumentals for the opening and closing credits. Rude claims he is planning to expand this, and I hope he does. Followed by the feature, Let's Rock Again, which follows Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros on Joe's last tour. Joe could have used some black and white, as in color he just seemed to be a perfectly nice, but ordinary, middle-aged man. I would have loved to see him shot by the same camera that graced Mike Watt. Joe also was far less eloquent than the majority of the West Coast punks--there's virtually nothing in the movie he says that isn't a cliche in some way, even his self-deprecation. But he seems an altogether decent sort, signing autographs for three hours after a show, to give everyone an opportunity to tell their stories. And he's a good sport, showing up unannounced at a NJ radio station and basically begging to be let in to plug his show. All his eloquence is in his performing, and he makes the songs come alive, including the Stooges' "1969", and his own "Johnny Appleseed"--particularly during this last song he reminded me, both in the way he aged and his style of clothing, of Bruce Springsteen, if Bruce had a more interesting voice. The funny thing is, it seems like he's been gone longer than just four years. I remember him coming to town at the EMP not long after Sept.11. I should go see him, I thought, but then, no, he'll be back.
Final shot: Freeze frame on Joe, birth and death dates superimposed.