What I watched: Oscar Peterson: Black + White which was a great documentary on Hulu about the jazz piano legend. This guy influenced a ton of people, and not just in the jazz world. He was a virtuoso at the piano…but not so much with his relationships. Anyway, this was engaging and of course had some great music.
What I read: Beowulf’s Children by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes. This is book 2 of the Heorot series and was just as engaging as the first book. This book is more ecological murder mystery than straight action like the first book, but I still had problems putting it down each day. Very much looking forward to the 3rd book.
What I listened to: Our latest stop on the best engineered albums of all time brings us to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. This was engineered by David Hentschel, who is also known for his work with Genesis. This was John’s first double-album, and was not intended to be that way, but they clearly couldn’t drop another 8 songs and we’re all the better for it. It was supposed to be recorded in Jamaica, but logistical problems forced them to go back to the French studio where Honkey Chateau (a previous stop on our tour) was recorded. This album has a little more reverb than I would normally consider a masterpiece of sonic quality, but the performance and the rest of the sound is simply undeniable.
After three days in the 50’s and 60’s we got a fucking foot of snow and are smack dab in the middle of the 30’s again. I can’t wait until our trip to NM at the end of March.
What have you been watching/reading/listening? What’s your plan this weekend? Tell us all about it.
I watched The Cocoanuts as my Marx Brothers movie last night. It was a nice diversion and since I know it well was able to chat and comment while watching. I think I’m going to watch a couple more of their Paramount movies over the weekend.
I’m reading The Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge. It’s a collection of stories about humanlike beasts in the fictional city of Yong’an, where a novelist, researching the beasts, meets and some cases, builds relationships with them. I think it has lost something in translation, but it’s still very sad and lovely and manages to convey loss and disconnection.
I’m listening to the new Robin Guthrie ambient EP Springtime. It’s very soothing, something I need right now.
The Faraway
I watched: Jolt. I thought it was a fun movie, lots of action and some fun twists.
I listened to: New Nazareth. I didn’t know they were still around, apparently only the bass player is an original member.
My day will be mostly a honey-do list of things I have been avoiding doing at the clinic, fun!
…someone here (forgive me for not remembering the attribution with enough certainty to name that worthy) recommended jolt a while ago & I really enjoyed it…so I’m with you on that part…& thanks to I’m-sure-you-know-who-you-are for the suggestion
You’re welcome! I believe I mistakenly called it Volt.
…you did…which vindicates the part of my brain that was adamant it was you but apparently not enough to get me to say so when it would have been believable
…either way, thanks
Nothing to recommend this week which is unusual for me. I tried that new show called End Game which people are likening to Black List but with a female antagonist…. after enduring Inventing Anna’s “Russian German” accent for a week, it was hard to sit through more of that even though End Game’s actor does a better job of it.
Ghosts is a happy and funny show for those in need of a silly distraction.
…didn’t realize there was a US variant, as it were…but I’m pretty sure that’s…whaddyacallit…a “reboot” (or possibly a translation) of a thing that was on the BBC a few years back?
ghosts (bbc)
i watched reacher
well…i actually binged the whole thing in a day…which is pretty rare for me… its a good watch
tho…you’d really have to make an effort to make something thats more of a male hero fantasy
…I once whiled away a chunk of an evening arguing that the cowboy books of people like louis l’amour/j.t. edson/zane grey were broadly analogous to mills & boone but with a male target audience…& I think the reacher books’ success has a lot to do with that still being a thing
…to be fair it’s probably only j.t. edson who really deserves the mills & boone comparison…louis l’amour rises to at least a georgette heyer level…& my grandmother was pretty fond of zane grey’s stuff so I guess I wouldn’t necessarily know how to peg an “equivalent”…du maurier, maybe?
…either way the other two had their formula & they stuck to it very much the same way lee child does?
My father loved L’amour and Grey. He had read everything by both authors twice.
…what with the week that was the amount of news I probably would have absorbed at inadvisable times of day without some sort of distraction had me watch a good bit of what I’d have to guess was drivel on the basis that I know I sat in front of a bunch of stuff but can’t for the life of me remember what the bulk of it might have been
…the bulk of the titles, anyway…in terms of time spent with I think there’s really only a couple & I do remember both of those…I finally got around to picking up the ninth (& final) book in the expanse series…& I more or less burned through something called dead to me on netflix that it turns out is two seasons into what would have been three if not for the covid thing…& is broadly impossible to talk about in any detail without spoiling something…& consequently not altogether easy to describe without failing to do it justice or have the description seem accurate should you watch it…but if nothing else I’d recommend the fairly acerbic throughline of dark comedy that seems to be one of the things about it that remains the good kind of predictable throughout?
Someone here recommended McDonald & Dodd, which is on Britbox. I’ve been enjoying it! The boss is a Black woman and the underling is a nerdy white guy that the big boss wants to put into forced retirement. They make a clever team.
dalziel and pascoe is a good one too
i figure its probably on britbox
We adopted Lilly today, a 6 year old puppy mill breeder rescue. She joins siblings Emma, Bruce, and Bill.
cute!
what did you do keitel?
Ha, you beat me to it, @farscythe. I figure @keitelblacksmith made one too many remarks about heart-healthy cooking….
That is an adorable little fur face. I look forward to hearing all about her.
That is so exciting! Welcome Lily. 🥰
She is a very good girl…all 8 pounds of her.
I’m sure she is. And I’m so happy that her life will now be full of the love and kindness she deserves. <3
Say Yes Dog, A Friend
The only answer ever to we should get another dog- YES!
Currently watching Midnight Mass on Netflix. Holy shit what a slog. The biblical monologues, these people just go on and on. I don’t even know why I’m still watching, it’s 99.8% white people on some island and i can’t tell most of em apart.