# Darkness Falls on Colonel Light ?



## Who is John Galt? (Sep 28, 2016)

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We all know that the lay out of the city of Adelaide and environs was principally due to the foresight and efforts of one man, Colonel William Light.

Colonel Light, was an English military officer and the first Surveyor-General of the Colony of South Australia. He is famous for choosing the site of the colony's capital, Adelaide, and for designing the layout of its streets and parks - in the Adelaide city centre and the Adelaide Park lands.

The brilliance of the design is apparent to us lucky Adelaidians every day, as we travis (sic) in our Übermobiles along the broad scenic boulevards (of fabulous dreams). What really impresses me, as I travel from one situation of unrestrained outpouring of pax adulation to the next, is the sheer mastery in the delivery of such a simple but beautiful planned form.

Starting with a blank canvas, he set out the plan for city and encircled it with the acclaimed and celebrated Parklands; the lungs of the city to surround and beautify, and to provide a respite and natural playground for the residents of what he believed would become a thriving metropolis.










The grid formation with alternating wide and narrow streets, the 'square mile' city containment, the five very beautiful public squares, and many other not so apparent design features has set fair Adelaide apart from her many counterparts, both nationally and internationally, as one of the pre-eminent planned cities.

And so, for those poor souls who have not savoured the many and varied delights of snuggling in the ample and beautifully formed bosom of Adelaide, I have a little tale to tell.

Our hero, Colonel Light, was a visionary. I believe his ability to foresee and cater for the future residents of the city, was and will always be, his crowning glory. There was a very, very simple, but clever design feature which Col included in his design for the city, which was; bordering the principal square mile of the CBD with four terraces.

Yes, you guessed it - North, South, East and West Terrace. And so, as youngsters grow up with Adelaide as 'their fair city' or foreigners or tourists visit the beautiful metropolis, they immediately grasp the simple but clever concept of always knowing what direction they are facing or heading to, by aligning or synching with the four bordering terraces.

I have found this to be particularly beneficial for females. This is by no means a disparaging remark towards our wonderful ladies. In fact; quite the contrary. However, I know from experience that directions and mapping, and basic navigation and women just don't mix.

This is nothing new. It is just the way it is. I was going to give a counter point and outline the deficiencies of males, but after filling 5 pages, I started getting a little discouraged. Anyhow, there it is. Girls are hopeless with navigation and directions and guys are hopeless with everything else.

And so; just before getting to the point of this introduction, please permit me a previously unknown but related piece of trivia&#8230;&#8230;

A lot of people are unaware of the connection between myself, the city of Adelaide, Jim Morrison and L.A. Woman - the Door's last studio album before Jim tragically died. The awesome title track - LA Woman, which comes in just shy of 8 minutes is often thought to refer to Los Angeles. When you know the back story, this is obviously incorrect.

In August 1970, Jim made a secret visit to see me in Adelaide. This was just before he was to be convicted for the Miami 'incident' of the previous year. With the legal proceedings hanging over his head and with all the negative PR that had been generated, both Jim and the band were on tenterhooks. They were preparing to record the monumental L.A. Woman album at the end of 1971, but there was some incomplete material and Jim was here to source some input from me.

I had met Jim in L.A.in late 1969, after having spent a good part of that year involved in Diana Rigg, or rather, being involved with Diana Rigg in the Bond movie - 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'. This was a rather tortuous affair as I have previously outlined *here*. At the end of the shoot, Diana and I had just needed to catch our breath and had decided to catch the bright lights of L.A. for a week or so. And so another chapter opened.

Jim spent a week with me in the splendour of Adelaide and most of that time was cruising around sightseeing and just talking and bouncing. A very good friend, Danielle, was with me at the time and right from their introduction; Jim was charmed by and then became besotted with fair Danielle. This was one of those rare occasions, where, you could actually stand with two people and feel the positive tension between them. The sparks, if you like, were not visible, but they could certainly be felt.

I just knew that this connection, this meeting of the souls, was going to lead to some very creative energy and I was excited to be a part of it, and help guide it. Danielle was leading, and Jim was a willing follower. Over the first couple of days, as the bond between the two developed, Jim started to affectionately call her 'L'il Adelaide'. This nickname was to have far-reaching implications as our work progressed.

At the time Danielle and I were living in a Californian bungalow in the inner suburb of Malvern, and Jim was amazed at the similarity with the Hollywood bungalows of his home. We had a studio attached to the house and as the week advanced we seemed to attract more and more of the city's musos for various jam sessions.

At this particular point of his tragically short life, Jim was a mess. A mess; but still, a very creative mess. The alcohol abuse was a big negative and the use of mescaline had been suggested as a crutch, a way out of the alcohol dependency. This had not solved any problems but rather added another layer or dimension, and this was something to which Jim readily and happily introduced me to. With our peyote use that long week, it was obvious that synaesthesia was to help us both in wrapping up any difficulties with L.A. Woman and turn it into a full blown triumph.

The use of mescaline was ironic as Aldous Huxley had described his experience with mescaline in the essay 'The Doors of Perception' and The Doors had sourced their name from Huxley's book - so Full Circle - which Ray, Robby and John had used as I advised, as the title for the eighth studio album.

Well, I just got into town about an hour ago

Took a look around, see which way the wind blow

Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows

Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light

'L'il Adelaide'Woman, 'L'il Adelaide'Woman'

L.A. Woman, L.A. Woman

And so, the words were coming together. The song had developed a real and natural grounding from Jim being in Adelaide. Looking back it is easy to see how the messages in our lyrics may have become conflicted, particularly from an American outlook, how the massive title track may have referred to Los Angeles, but now, to those who know the story, it seems so obvious it refers to L'il Adelaide Woman.










There are so many other aspects to this monumental piece, in both lyrics and music which I would like to discuss. I feel it is better to release it, to let it go and to simply acknowledge, that yes, I was a part of its creation, but now it has grown, matured and left home to find its own way.

There have always been the suggestions of my being the 'fifth Door' - the 'troubadour', which is quite humorous given the French connections. But, with all the truly wonderful creations we are all involved in on our life's journey, sometimes, or perhaps more correctly, nearly always; it is better to relinquish our desire to control, and let free for all to enjoy.

Anyway, we have deviated at little from our principal direction in this short narrative. Before I get distracted with anything else, I will get to the point.

There is a huge building in the west end of Adelaide called the 'Jeffrey Smart Building', which, I understand is part of a UNISA campus. I should say at this point that there are so many University campuses in Adelaide that I don't think anyone knows the true number. It seems every time you turn around there is another campus, either in the city or outside the city.


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## Who is John Galt? (Sep 28, 2016)

....continued

Back, to the Jeffrey Smart Building. Apparently; "this active learning centre engages with a diversity of educational modes and resources. This building acknowledges and extends the &#8230;..".

I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds impressive.

This building actually traverses Hindley St at the front and Phillip St at the rear, both of which have entrances and exits. To the side, the building is bordered by Clarendon Street as is shown above.

Colonel Light in the early 1830's, had the vision and foresight to know that the early part of the twenty first century would bring an influx of well paying, Asian students to this fair city. He also had the vision to recognise that they may be intelligent and educated, but they would also lack fundamental common sense.

Many Millennials (sic) ago, we learnt the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Colonel Light recognised that this; this, very fundamental law of nature would, over time, be forgotten. He therefore laid out the city of Adelaide with the four directional terraces.

When these fundamental lessons of the past are forgotten, what, or who should be relied upon to fill the 'common sense gap'? Well obviously&#8230;&#8230;.&#8230;the Uber driver!

Timed 6:21 through 6:28. I actually drove around the block to offer a second chance. I had no issue with this trip, I had no issue with this rider. What I did have issue with, was the complete disregard for rudimentary and basic knowledge. How on earth can anyone be taken seriously if they do not understand the four winds. And yet, I'm sure my prospective rider will one day be a doctor, lawyer or most probably both and then 'graduate' to be a politician.



















And so, as I cancelled, and drove off, I thought of Colonel Light, I thought of Jim Morrison and I thought of Danielle, the L'il Adelaide Woman.

Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light
Or just another lost angel...City of Night
City of Night, City of Night, City of Night, woo, see'mon

edit: small corrections


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## Uber Doobie (Mar 21, 2017)

_Cool man . . . . . There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors. . . . . . these were Jim's words_


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## Drive Me Crazy (Jun 10, 2017)

Who is John Galt? said:


> the design is apparent to us lucky Adelaidians every day, as we travis (sic) in our Übermobiles






Who is John Galt? said:


> what he believed would become a thriving metropolis.


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## george manousaridis (Jan 27, 2017)

Who is John Galt? said:


> ....continued
> 
> Back, to the Jeffrey Smart Building. Apparently; "this active learning centre engages with a diversity of educational modes and resources. This building acknowledges and extends the &#8230;..".
> 
> ...


Once again Mr J W, extraordinary and brilliant master of threads.!!!


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## george manousaridis (Jan 27, 2017)

Who is John Galt? said:


> ....continued
> 
> Back, to the Jeffrey Smart Building. Apparently; "this active learning centre engages with a diversity of educational modes and resources. This building acknowledges and extends the &#8230;..".
> 
> ...


TheGalt has spoken!


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## A Name in the Making (May 2, 2017)

Who is John Galt? said:


> We all know that the lay out of the city of Adelaide and environs was principally due to the foresight and efforts of one man, Colonel William Light.
> 
> ....continued
> 
> ...


 This is very good.


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