Signal Wave
Well, I finally found a new detective series I really like. Well, I like the Family Skeleton series, of course, but there's a certain lightness to those detective novels. This novel is a lot meatier, and I still haven't figured out whodunnit, or even what was actually done!
It helps that the series is set in London in the twenties, since I'm fascinated with England from about 1880 to the end of the Second World War. Comes of having focused on modernist literature at school, I guess. 1880-1940 gives you everything from Yeats to Auden and Louis MacNeice, from Virginia Woolf to Joseph Conrad (who had terrible politics, but was an interesting writer for all that)to E.M. Forster and Joyce, from Arthur Conan Doyle to Dorothy Sayers and Josephine Tey. What happens to Britain during those years is often terrible, but fascinating both as a social study and as a precursor to amazing art. It's only high-art music that seems to stumble somewhere in that time period.
I'm not saying As If By Magic lights my world on fire, but the characters are engaging enough that I don't want to stop reading, and the plot baffles me (in a good way). I recommend it!
My neighbor happens to love jazz and knows a lot about it. This is a blessing for me, because I've been interested in finding out more about jazz for a while. He loaned me a whole bag of CDs, and I've listened to one Count Basie album and one by John Coltrane. And I've learned something, all right: I've learned that I don't like Count Basie as much as I thought I did! Turns out, I love a few of his songs, particularly the ones that feature his virtuosity on the piano, like "One O'Clock Jump:"
And then there's this one. Holy cats, that's some awesome piano!
But I don't so much love the songs where the piano is a mere muted background. I like them, but they don't knock my socks off. That's weird, given that I think the horns in "One O'Clock Jump" are sizzling hot. What's weirder is that if I type "Basie Boogie" into YouTube and let it run, I get about four songs in a row I really like. But when I listened to a CD of Count Basie, I actually didn't find it all that interesting, and actually found John Coltrane's album more to my taste:
Of course, Basie and his band were performing for a long time, so I may change my mind again on further exposure.
I started watching this Egyptian show, Hidden Worlds, but I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to stick with it.
An actress dates a mobster. After she breaks up with him, she writes information about him and his associates in her diary. A hit gets taken out on her, but before dying, she successfully hides the diary by putting it into a different cover and throwing it out her apartment window. Years later, an intrepid truth-telling journalist finds the book and begins investigating her death.
You'd think I'd love it, but it plays a little too much like a soap opera for my taste. That in itself wouldn't stop me (after all, I watched Subat from beginning to end, and it was basically a magical realist Turkish soap opera), but I don't really like the way the material is being handled. If I were the director, I'd let little bits of the diary out at a time, interspersed with the journalist's investigation; I wouldn't try to make one scene where the journalist reads the whole thing and we know time is passing because we keep getting shots of a sped-up clock. It's a little thing, but the result is that the series hasn't hooked me. OK, it might also be because the actress lost my sympathy post-mortem. The mobster tells her she has to get an abortion (which she absolutely doesn't want) and threatens to murder her and her unborn child if she doesn't. She then hangs around until finding out about a scandal involving the mobster selling fake insulin.
Don't get me wrong. One of my partners is a type-1 diabetic, so I don't take fake insulin lightly. But, uh, she needed more reasons to leave AFTER THE GUY THREATENED TO MURDER HER AND HER UNBORN CHILD?
For God's sakes.
By the way, I put no stock in the Oscars, but two of my favorite actors are up for an Oscar: Viggo Mortensen (of Aragorn fame), and Mahershala Ali, whom I've been watching since he played Richard in The 4400. I was happy to see him in John Cage, and I'm doubly happy to see him make the leap to the silver screen to some acclaim. I hope both these gentlemen have many successes in their future.
How are you all today?
I'm feeling better, by the way.
Comments
Good morning, everybody!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Why did Bernie abandon Tim Canova and election integrity?
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6A452H6wA4]
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Well, same reason
he abandoned election integrity for himself.
Either because he was always lying about his values or because he was intimidated into backing down.
You all know what I think.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Minor pain, but up and about.
Thank Dionysus for Marijuana though... Been reading "two Years Before The Mast" And am glad to see that the bit I was able to write before the break was pretty good. Daughter still wants my crew to call the ship's cat "Mr. Smee" which would be fun.
Also have been dying to get some poetic ideas down. some great and terrible images, but they're not quite congealing yet.
Stay safe, Stay Sane.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSSqc1qG238]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Shit, what did I miss?
What did you break? Your leg?
The last 20 days have been nuts around here, as my mom put her husband (who has Alzheimer's) into an institution after caring for him for ten years. Also preparing for my partner's upcoming dialysis, so I've been even less on top of things than usual!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Collarbone.
tripped and fell in Judo. Right arm in a sling, so can't really type well.
SO and I are going to counseling as well. Separately, but it's really helping. Course, there's still stuff to work out, which will take a long time, but I have hope.
Overall, trying to get out every day at least for a walk. April 1st is the Tentative return to Judo and exercise.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Ow!
Well, shit.
About the only cheering thing I can say is that at least it happened while you were doing something you love.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Good time to get research done
Plus, Learning to do a lot with my left hand is good for me.
Actually easier to use chopsticks for me left handed.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLQeb5NGt3E]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
I second the comment about the kind herb.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Good morning, CSTMS. It's been raining most days since
January, every day for the last week and often heavy. It ha stopped for the moment, but it comes in waves. Not too much doing outside, of course, but sort of not doing much period. That would make it a good day to clean and organize, but I don't forsee doing so.
Not currently reading any fiction, too much of a backlog of other.
Glad you got a bag of jazz. Enjoy it.
Have a great one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Hey, e.l.!
Sounds like y'all are about to get washed away. As a Floridian, I do tend to think that too much rain is preferable to too little, but of course either presents its problems.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I'm doing ok.
It has finally stopped raining, temporarily. I am thankful for that. Maybe my poor dog will finally get a walk.
I don't remember who told us about Archive.org, the internet site with hundreds of thousands of free books, movies, old news programs, and more. But I've been reading old books from there. I was surprised to find my library system did not have copies of old classics. When I asked librarian why, she said the books had worn out from being read so many times over the years. It was a delightful surprise to find lots of them available from the Archive. I just finished reading a book made available by a library in India. If you haven't explored the Archive yet, I highly recommend it.
OMG, how wonderful!
Thank you. What a treasure!
Proof that I'm not a Luddite, I guess.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Don't forget to kick in to their annual fund-raiser when it
comes around.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good Morning All
Glad to hear everyone is either doing well, or hanging in there. I'm kinda doing both. The weather here in Southern California has been very wet and moody. Kitties are going bonkers trapped inside the house and so am I. It was so bad here a few days ago our entire area was blanketed in a thick fog, contributing to poor visibility on the road that was barely a car length ahead, the like of which I can't ever remember seeing here before. Along with the extreme precipitation comes the sinus problems that trigger headaches and inner ear pressure. My only remedy for that is steam treatments and ice packs on the forehead.
Can't wait for Spring. I think I'll plant some pink azaleas in the garden.
Haven't been reading anything new but I have been watching videos about music. This one was particularly fun to watch, and I leaned something new about a band that defined my teenage years.
It's all about the rhythm and the beats, which seems to be a nice metaphor about life as well
[video:https://youtu.be/UvOm2oZRQIk]
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Hey, zoe!
I have a similar problem with sinus headaches. Hope you feel better soon.
Your story about the fog reminds me of my childhood on the Gulf. Didn't happen often, but when it did, whoa Nelly!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I love Zeppelin too.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
That's a good one
I remember how amused Mark from Queens was when I mentioned I had "Misty Mountian Hop" as my ring tone on my phone. Lol.
They've held up over the years. Musically inspired, everyone of them.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Interesting to note that when he reaches for a comparison
he goes to Charlie Watts, also jazz influenced, and a member on the side of a jazz group.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I think it's interesting how influenced
These very young guys from in the UK were by American Blues and Jazz. Perhaps the comparison was more about that particular song, rather than a commentary on Charlie Watts as a drummer. Still, when comparing drummers behind a drum kit, Bonham was pretty freaking amazing.
This is one of my favorite drum riffs...love the reverb they got on the opening.
[video:https://youtu.be/uwiTs60VoTM]
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Neil Pert,
from Rush.
One of The best. And still going strong.
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
He's wonderful. Amazing.
He makes me run out of adjectives.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Check out their
first concert tour in Rio D, tickets sold out in Minutes, over three hundred Thousand! They had to add extra dates and sold Those out almost as quickly.
I've seen them five, maybe six times now. Yeah, I'm old.
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
Basie and Trane
Basie could play, to be sure. But his genius was minimalist style of putting just the right note in just the right place. That and making all those guys sound like one mind was working through them all. Check the 30s and 40s recordings, you will not find a harder swinging band. Basie was all about feel and they have a groove that just makes you feel great.
Blue Trane is a great place to start for Coltrane. As you may know, he was a restless explorer and changed a lot through his career. Blue Trane is as perfect an example of 50s hard bop as you could find and a good look at Trane in a period he’d quickly leave behind. If you haven’t heard Giant Steps, you might dig that too.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
I did consider that maybe it's an era thing?
I notice that in most of the videos I like, Basie looks quite young. Maybe what I'm loving is his early stuff.
Can't wait to see what else Coltrane has up his sleeve.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver