Signal Wave
What I'm listening to...
And if I may give a shout-out to those who hold the space--4AD was a hell of a label back in the day.
GenXers, feel free to join me in nostalgia. 
What I'm reading:
I must be feeling in an 80s mood; in fact, in a mid-80s mood, because both the music and the book come from 1986.
I didn't know it, but Seanan Maguire (a writer whom I respect immensely) thinks Bull's novel is the first work of urban fantasy. Urban fantasy juxtaposes faerie and magic with an urban, industrial or post-industrial world, realistically rendered. Last week's offering, Charles De Lint's Memory and Dream is from this genre.
Emma Bull sets her story in Minneapolis, where Edie McCandry, an aspiring rock n roll musician, gets embroiled in the conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie courts of the fey. Which will end up claiming Minneapolis? Brought into the struggle so that her mortality will temporarily make those on the battlefield mortal as well, Edie ends up changing the terms of the argument. A good book.
Something definitely NOT from the eighties:
In the eighties that would have been a real vote, not a procedural gesture. But then, in the 80s, Congress still had something to do with whether we went to war or not.
How are you all today?
Comments
Good morning.
"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 afternoon / Guten Tag / Goede middag / Bonjour
What latitude is everybody else at? Dresden is at 51° N and so the sun is already going to set in 3/4 of an hour at 4:01 pm.
So even though it’s only mid-afternoon, I look around at the dim sky and failing light and it already feels more like it would be proper to say “Good evening.”
Gainesville, FL: 29.6516° N
"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
Castro Valley, CA (unincorporated, East Bay)
37.71N That's South of Palermo but North of Tunis
122.08W Starting just South of us that's all ocean
397' elevation
sun is just coming up
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 --
Vancouver, Washington
45° 36' 41" N. old school, the way ancient mariners did it.
Dusk at 4:35 today.
California talkin 'bout going off DST.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Good morning, CTMS, a brief dry spell between two storms
but I am taking it easy to nurse my body. We're even running off to Glen Ellen (Sonoma County) for a couple of days just because we can, relax, walk, go birding, drink great wines and eat great cheeses and maybe some food too. It actually makes me feel guilty at times, but then I remember that I destroyed my body getting here and just kick back and enjoy it.
Hope you have a great day down there (and back there, I guess). If your time is ahead, then your direction must be back, as in history already, no?
Ah well hope your weather is good and your day relaxing.
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 --
That sounds wonderful.
I've noticed that if I don't watch it, the percentage of fun to responsibility and fun to difficulty gets untenable. Maintaining a good amount of fun is essential to right living.
I wish I could join you. It would be great to be able to take a break. Also great to actually meet you.
"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 all
Thanks for the open thread and sharing your music selection. I have to admit my musical tastes are not typically very dexterous. While I can be eclectic in my selection across genres, the songs I gravitate towards are considered main stream. That's why I appreciate hearing something I've never heard before. Your music made me think and feel.
Speaking of which, here's what I'm reading:
Aimee Bender works her magic on you subtly and quietly. Her story begins with a nine year old girl who has the magical gift of being able to taste the emotions in her mothers cooking. The prose is quirky and witty, yet Bender draws you in with an intimacy that is sharply observant. Her protagonists ability to taste the emotions in her food is a bit like the magical realism in "Like Water for Chocolate" but Bender's story has a mystery built within and a para-normal quality to it that sneaks up on you in a powerfully surprising way. Admittedly not for everyone. But for those in the mood to read something poignantly reflective and definitely unpredictable, this story is compellingly unforgettable.
My music selection is influenced by a co-worker who recently performed at an open mic and sang this little song. I include it because it's sweet mood fit my need to find something good in this very bad world.
[video:[video:https://youtu.be/ps6aN4sWX68]
Have a great day everyone!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
@Anja Geitz Thank you so much, Zoe!
Thank you so much, Zoe! You may have given me the new book I need. It must be obvious that I've been rereading twenty to thirty-year-old favorites lately.
"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
You're Welcome!
If you do read it, I'd love to hear your impressions
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
80's authors
Neuromancer, Gibson. The book that started cyberpunk, and coined the word cyberspace, and is still a massive influence. Ironically written on a typewriter. Evolution isn't pretty.
Kim Stanley Robinson got started in the 80's. In the 90's. he wrote the Mars trilogy, Red Mars, Green mars, Blue Mars. I've never read another work that tied together science, culture, religion, ethics, ecology, feminism, society, politics, and revolution so well, with characters developing and changing through very long extended lives. The closest I've read to anything that ambitious in scope and synthesis is Dune. I would add LeGuin's Dispossessed and Lathe Of Heaven, but these books don't focus on the hard science. There is exciting-to-nerds science and discovery, hard ethical questions, spiritual development (with Sufis), and bloody action, though he doesn't do violenceporn. I thought Blue Mars petered out a bit, but it was hard to maintain the excitement of the first two books.
The Name Of The Rose, Eco. Made into Sean Connery's best movie.
Carl Hiaasen started his long run of somewhat interconnected Florida novels, where the seedy side of Florida encounters the beauty of Florida - violently and crazily. As a Miami journalist, he swears it's no weirder than daily events in Florida. He lost his brother Rob in the assassination of journalists in Annapolis.
Just stopping by to say hello because I have not "seen"
CStMS in a while.
Thanks for your post, as always, CStMS.
I am buried in backlogged chores and must handle them somehow. I got me some cleaning help from a very pleasant young 'un until I feel healthy enough to do it all myself, which I actually prefer. When she's here, we clean together--no, not together, but simultaneously.
Friday, I asked her age (23), consulted wikipedia and then youtubed for us to clean by the music to which her mother's generation listened while her mother was pregnant with her. Next, I did the same with music that was popular when my helper was 13, the age she said she was when she really got into the music of her own generation. I had so much fun, as I puttered. I think she did as well, but she may have only been humoring me. Either way, I'll take it.
Maybe next time, I'll try for the music that was charting when she was happiest (so far).
Have a beautiful Sunday everyone.
The young'uns
Can be fun. I work with a lot of young people and very often enjoy their company. The other night we had a group outing at a neighborhood micro-brewery that to my surprise served up some very tasty beers. After we closed that place down, a smaller group of us went to an after hours place that had dancing. We had a good time and I think the younger ones were surprised that a 50 something year old still had some moves.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Hello! I was just thinking that I hadn't "seen" you in a while.
What you did with the music was very cool. Most people wouldn't think of that.
"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
For Fans of The Simpsons: Introducing Dr. Colossus
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEMtX7xRdH4]
I came across this one while watching random Simpsons clips. Surprisingly good stuff.
Here's another one: Okilly Dokilly, with an entire band dressed like Ned Flanders.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8RgxxRzZVs]
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.