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Photo Blurt #39, Book Pile #3

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:04:09 +0000

This is an interesting pile because I haven’t read any of them. I sometimes wonder what the percentage is of books owned vs. books read. Maybe I don’t want to know.The “mystery book” at the top is called Scriptural Rosary, subtitled “A Modern Version of the Way the Rosary was Once Prayed Throughout Western Europe in the Late Middle Ages.” Funny that it’s sitting on top of Valley of The Dolls, which now that I think of it, I might have scanned for the dirty parts.

…which reminds me (though it shouldn’t) of when I actually prayed the rosary. The thought process of a 9-yr old Catholic boy went something like this: “Hail Mary, Full of Grace….gee, I wonder if Jeff wants to play baseball after lunch…?”

Photo Blurt #38, Book Pile #2

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:26:02 +0000

OK, so not really a pile (for an official pile, please rotate viewing device 90 degrees), but I just couldn’t pass up the cool unintentional placement of Bukowski, Colette, and Women.

Photo Blurt #37, Book Pile #1

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:34:24 +0000

A new series. Yay!

OK, so me and TheWife™ have always coveted shots in movies where there’s a beautiful wall of books. There’s nothing on the floor of the room (maybe it’s somebody’s personal library or study), everything is in its place.

We covet it because it’ll never happen to us. Well, maybe…but smart money is not on us. Trust me.

But just because our books are arranged “differently” (probably should have quoted “arranged” too), that doesn’t make them any less artful.

The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - No Better Than This

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:29:13 +0000

Have you ever been completely side-tracked while working on something? Sure you have. I started out this piece fully intending to go over the history of my transformation from Cougar-hatin’ Jazz Snob to full-on fanboy.

But then I learned of the death of an old high school classmate. Suddenly, the changes in my attitude no longer seemed particularly interesting.

Read the full Friday Morning Listen at SomethingElse! Reviews.

Music Review: Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up - Actionspeak

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:24:42 +0000

Oh, I just love music that flows out and reshapes itself in odd ways. Drummer/composer Tomas Fujiwara’s music does exactly that, with some help from a group of fantastic cohorts.

Read the full review of Actionspeak at SomethingElse! Reviews.

Why Do I Like That? - They Never Gave Me A Rulebook

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:19:30 +0000

This is a theme I need to explore in more detail. There’s a long essay that needs to come out of it. It might be a form of therapy. It might be a big mistake. We shall see.

Read “They Never Gave Me A Rulebook” at Open Salon

Why Do I Like That? - Shocking sounds….shock value only?

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:17:03 +0000

When I’m listening to something really out there, my internal devil’s advocate will often wonder if I’m enjoying the music just because it full of random squonks and ker-bloozies. More often than not, I don’t agree with Mr. Advocate.

There’s much more to it than that. Read “Shocking sounds…shock value only?” at Open Salon.

The Friday Morning Listen: Pat Metheny & Charlie Haden- Beyond The Missouri Sky

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:10:59 +0000

There’s a story to be told, and it’s not pretty. Some time has fit itself in between the events and the now, but not enough to obscure anything. I was worried that it was too late to make the right effort, but a random thought popped into my to remind me…

Read the full Friday Morning Listen at SomethingElse! Reviews.

Why Do I Like That? - Writing about Music Writing

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:52:21 +0000

I have begun a new series of essays at Open Salon. They will be about my thoughts about writing. Meta-writing? Sounds kinda high-falutin if you ask me. That’s not the case at all. I swear, I am not high-falutin’. Heck, I don’t even own a sport jacket with elbow patches. Come to think of it, I don’t even own a sport jacket.

Anyhoo, the series is called Why Do I Like That?

One Track Mind: Sun Ra, “It’s After The End Of The World”

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:47:19 +0000

Sometimes a mind wanders a big. Other times, it wakes up and goes, “Huh?” Sure, those two things sound like different sides of the same record album. Maybe so.

In any event, I woke this morning with a hankering for Sun Ra, and stragely enough, Space Is The Place did the trick.

Read the full Sun Ra-drenched One Track Mind over at SomethingElse! Reviews.