Sooo, I went shopping today. I hadn't planned an Amazon run until I officially am back on the payroll, but LMB had to put out a new Penric story...
E-books: LMB, "The Orphans of Raspay"; Michael Collins, "Carrying the Fire (50th Anniversary Edition)"; Ben Aaronovitch, "Broken Homes"; Genevieve Cogman, "The Invisible Library"; Elizabeth Peters, "Crocodile on the Sandbank" (yes, I'm finally starting on the Amelia Peabody series); James A. Corey, "Abaddon's Gate".
Dead trees: Alice R. Gaby, "A Grammar of Kuuk Thaayorre" (my semi-annual dose of linguistics); Brian Vaughan, "Saga, Vol. 3"; Bill Willingham, "Rose Red (Fables Vol. 15)".
Music: Neil Diamond, "The Bang Years 1966-1968", Londonbeat, "Greatest Hits"
Should be fun.
E-books: LMB, "The Orphans of Raspay"; Michael Collins, "Carrying the Fire (50th Anniversary Edition)"; Ben Aaronovitch, "Broken Homes"; Genevieve Cogman, "The Invisible Library"; Elizabeth Peters, "Crocodile on the Sandbank" (yes, I'm finally starting on the Amelia Peabody series); James A. Corey, "Abaddon's Gate".
Dead trees: Alice R. Gaby, "A Grammar of Kuuk Thaayorre" (my semi-annual dose of linguistics); Brian Vaughan, "Saga, Vol. 3"; Bill Willingham, "Rose Red (Fables Vol. 15)".
Music: Neil Diamond, "The Bang Years 1966-1968", Londonbeat, "Greatest Hits"
Should be fun.
Raw Courage
Jun. 29th, 2019 08:09 pmI posted a link to this a few years ago, but tonight I had the urge to listen to it again.
This is Heart, playing at the Kennedy Center Honors at which Led Zeppelin was one of the honorees: a cover of "Stairway to Heaven". To dare to play this, at such an event, in the presence of the surviving members of the Zep - and to knock it out of the park...
Take a listen, if the song or either of the groups ever appealed to you.
This is Heart, playing at the Kennedy Center Honors at which Led Zeppelin was one of the honorees: a cover of "Stairway to Heaven". To dare to play this, at such an event, in the presence of the surviving members of the Zep - and to knock it out of the park...
Take a listen, if the song or either of the groups ever appealed to you.
Currently, I've got Groove Music running at random through my entire collection of popular music. At any given time, thirteen songs are on display. Just for the heck of it:
"Love or Something Like It", Kenny Rogers
"Neverending Love", Roxette*
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", Beatles*
"Open Arms", Journey
"Swimmy Swim", Woody Guthrie
"Holly Holy", Neil Diamond*
"Out in the Cold", Carole King
"Sad Mood", Sam Cooke*
"I'll Be Alright Without You", Journey
"Beyond You", Crystal Gayle*
"All I Really Want to Do", Cher
"Your Loving Eyes Are Blind", Merrilee Rush
"Archangel", Walker Brothers
The asterisks indicate songs that I particularly like. Take it for what you will.
"Love or Something Like It", Kenny Rogers
"Neverending Love", Roxette*
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", Beatles*
"Open Arms", Journey
"Swimmy Swim", Woody Guthrie
"Holly Holy", Neil Diamond*
"Out in the Cold", Carole King
"Sad Mood", Sam Cooke*
"I'll Be Alright Without You", Journey
"Beyond You", Crystal Gayle*
"All I Really Want to Do", Cher
"Your Loving Eyes Are Blind", Merrilee Rush
"Archangel", Walker Brothers
The asterisks indicate songs that I particularly like. Take it for what you will.
Up the River
May. 21st, 2019 01:48 pmWell, the item I wanted to buy for my brother seems only to be available used. I have reason to suspect a new edition will come out next year; if so, I'll grab a couple of copies then.
In the meantime, I bought: 1637: The Polish Maelstrom, the latest Ring of Fire volume; Exhalation: Stories, the new collection of Ted Chiang stories; From Fabletown with Love, another entry in the Fables sequence; Saga, Vol. 2; a hardcover edition of the first four years of Pogo; and albums by Reba McEntire ("Stronger Than The Truth"), Willie Nelson ("Legend"), and Brandy Clark ("Big Day in a Small Town"). The first two I downloaded to Kindle; the rest will arrive in a week or so.
As if I needed more excuses to goof off...
In the meantime, I bought: 1637: The Polish Maelstrom, the latest Ring of Fire volume; Exhalation: Stories, the new collection of Ted Chiang stories; From Fabletown with Love, another entry in the Fables sequence; Saga, Vol. 2; a hardcover edition of the first four years of Pogo; and albums by Reba McEntire ("Stronger Than The Truth"), Willie Nelson ("Legend"), and Brandy Clark ("Big Day in a Small Town"). The first two I downloaded to Kindle; the rest will arrive in a week or so.
As if I needed more excuses to goof off...
There's a meme going around, which asks participants to name five singers or groups that they have seen in concert and one that they have not, and to challenge their readers to identify the phony.
I can only come up with four: Carpenters, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers, and Roberta Flack. [OK, that's five *names*, but Dolly and Kenny were the same concert.)
Now, if we count filkers, I could add quite a few more: Roberta Rogow, Blind Lemming Chiffon, Uffington Horse, Wild Mercy, Tom Smith, Mary Crowell, Kathleen Sloan, Kathy Mar, Tricky Pixie, and probably others that I'm forgetting. But it probably wouldn't be fair to include them.
I can only come up with four: Carpenters, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers, and Roberta Flack. [OK, that's five *names*, but Dolly and Kenny were the same concert.)
Now, if we count filkers, I could add quite a few more: Roberta Rogow, Blind Lemming Chiffon, Uffington Horse, Wild Mercy, Tom Smith, Mary Crowell, Kathleen Sloan, Kathy Mar, Tricky Pixie, and probably others that I'm forgetting. But it probably wouldn't be fair to include them.
"House of the Rising Sun"
May. 3rd, 2019 06:36 pmI'm sitting here listening to Woody Guthrie's version of "House of the Rising Sun". The now-famous version, by the Animals, is put in a male voice, and speaks of the singer's father as a gambler, but Guthrie sings the original version (at least, it's the one that appears in Lomax), presented as by a woman, who complains of her boyfriend as a drunkard. It's suggested that the singer is a worker at the famous brothel, not a customer.
The song is on a five-disk collection of Guthrie, and it - the collection - is pretty interesting. I may put up a general discussion of the collection sometime.
The song is on a five-disk collection of Guthrie, and it - the collection - is pretty interesting. I may put up a general discussion of the collection sometime.
"Open the door and come on in"
Mar. 12th, 2019 08:43 pmJust FYI: Judy Collins' "Song for Judith" is one of the best friendship songs I've ever heard. That song by itself almost puts her at the top of the Collins/Ian/Mitchell/Nyro/Snow clade. (Janis Ian still holds the top spot, but oh, my, I love that song!)
Quick Trip
Feb. 9th, 2019 11:40 amI just made a small set of purchases at Amazon: Bujold's new "Knife Children" story, a sequel to the Wide Green World tetralogy; Pat Wrede's Lyra Novels, which are on sale; and another try at Joan Jett, this time the "I Love Rock'n'Roll" album. I've got a dozen spoiler messages sitting in my Bujold folder, and I need to read "Knife Children" so I can catch up. The inimitable ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
filkferengi broadcast the Wrede sale. Both of those were e-books, and should already be sitting in my Kindle PC folder; I'll have to wait for the JJ album. (I have the right to auto-rip it, but it can wait.)
filkferengi broadcast the Wrede sale. Both of those were e-books, and should already be sitting in my Kindle PC folder; I'll have to wait for the JJ album. (I have the right to auto-rip it, but it can wait.)You Can't Quit Me, I'm Fired
Jan. 14th, 2019 10:18 amAmazon did not wait for me to cancel my order for that Joan Jett album; they just e-mailed me that they didn't actually have a copy, and cancelled.
I still want a JJ album. I guess I'll try again, and go for a different CD. [In my mind, Jett is in a cluster with Pat Benatar, Heart, Roxette, and Blondie. I have and like albums by the first three, and want to complete the set.]
I still want a JJ album. I guess I'll try again, and go for a different CD. [In my mind, Jett is in a cluster with Pat Benatar, Heart, Roxette, and Blondie. I have and like albums by the first three, and want to complete the set.]
I'm sitting here listening to Sara Bareilles' "Cassiopeia". I said before that I love her music, and this song is an example of why.
When she was writing the songs for the "Blessed Unrest" album, she was reading a pop-sci book on astronomy, and was struck by a chapter on supernovas, which mentioned the Cassiopeia A supernova. That supernova resulted from the interaction of two companion stars. Bareilles was inspired to write this song, casting the interaction as a love story. It's audacious, it's clever, it's even funny, and it's the kind of side-angle stuff that she excels at. (She also writes more conventional songs, like "Little Black Dress" and "I Choose You", which I also love for completely different reasons.)
Toujours l'audace!
When she was writing the songs for the "Blessed Unrest" album, she was reading a pop-sci book on astronomy, and was struck by a chapter on supernovas, which mentioned the Cassiopeia A supernova. That supernova resulted from the interaction of two companion stars. Bareilles was inspired to write this song, casting the interaction as a love story. It's audacious, it's clever, it's even funny, and it's the kind of side-angle stuff that she excels at. (She also writes more conventional songs, like "Little Black Dress" and "I Choose You", which I also love for completely different reasons.)
Toujours l'audace!
Arrivals and Non-arrivals
Jan. 8th, 2019 12:29 pmAll of the books/CDs/DVDs I ordered on New Year's Eve have arrived. The Joan Jett album I ordered on Oct. 12 not only hasn't arrived, it's been delayed again. I'll give them one more shot before I cancel the order. I'm willing to bet that the agent who offered the album didn't actually have it in stock, and is scrambling to obtain one. I am a patient man - a world-class procrastinator like me is morally obligated to be patient - but there are limits.
Shopping Spree
Dec. 31st, 2018 03:30 pmI just went on an end-of-year shopping spree, for books, music, and movies.
E-books: Ted Chiang, "Stories of Your Life and Others"; Molly Brooks, "Sanity and Tallulah"; Nnedi Okorafor, "Binti"; James Alan Gardner, "They Promised Me the Gun Wasn't Loaded"; Nalo Hopkinson, "Brown Girl in the Ring"; Lionel Casson, "Libraries in the Ancient World"; Tom Gjelten, "A Nation of Nations".
Dead Trees: Bill Willingham, "The Dark Ages"; Nicholas Riasanovsky, "A History of Russia"
CDs: Gerry Rafferty, "City to City"; Jimmy Buffett, "Songs You Know By Heart"; Sara Bareilles, "Kaleidoscope Heart"; Kinks, "The Essential Kinks"; Adele, "25"
DVDs: "Thor", "Iron Man 2"
I've only read one story by Chiang, "The Life Cycle of Software Objects", which I believe won a Hugo. The movie "Arrival" was based on another of his stories, and he seems to be considered one of the current masters of the SF short story. Molly Brooks is the author of the now-complete webcomic "Power Ballad", which I recommended a while back. The Gardner is the sequel to "All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault". I've been meaning to read some Hopkinson and Okorafor for a while, and these are their most famous books. "The Dark Ages" is the next installment of "Fables". The nonfiction - Casson, Gjelten, Riasanovsky - have been recommended to me in various places.
No comment on the music, except that I love Sara Bareilles' music, and the others have been on my to-get list for a while. As for the DVDs, I'm still working on collecting the MCU movies.
Some of them are already here; the rest should arrive in the next week, week and a half. (I'm still waiting for that Joan Jett album; they're telling me it will arrive in the same time frame as today's purchases.)
E-books: Ted Chiang, "Stories of Your Life and Others"; Molly Brooks, "Sanity and Tallulah"; Nnedi Okorafor, "Binti"; James Alan Gardner, "They Promised Me the Gun Wasn't Loaded"; Nalo Hopkinson, "Brown Girl in the Ring"; Lionel Casson, "Libraries in the Ancient World"; Tom Gjelten, "A Nation of Nations".
Dead Trees: Bill Willingham, "The Dark Ages"; Nicholas Riasanovsky, "A History of Russia"
CDs: Gerry Rafferty, "City to City"; Jimmy Buffett, "Songs You Know By Heart"; Sara Bareilles, "Kaleidoscope Heart"; Kinks, "The Essential Kinks"; Adele, "25"
DVDs: "Thor", "Iron Man 2"
I've only read one story by Chiang, "The Life Cycle of Software Objects", which I believe won a Hugo. The movie "Arrival" was based on another of his stories, and he seems to be considered one of the current masters of the SF short story. Molly Brooks is the author of the now-complete webcomic "Power Ballad", which I recommended a while back. The Gardner is the sequel to "All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault". I've been meaning to read some Hopkinson and Okorafor for a while, and these are their most famous books. "The Dark Ages" is the next installment of "Fables". The nonfiction - Casson, Gjelten, Riasanovsky - have been recommended to me in various places.
No comment on the music, except that I love Sara Bareilles' music, and the others have been on my to-get list for a while. As for the DVDs, I'm still working on collecting the MCU movies.
Some of them are already here; the rest should arrive in the next week, week and a half. (I'm still waiting for that Joan Jett album; they're telling me it will arrive in the same time frame as today's purchases.)
Music Again
Dec. 28th, 2018 07:46 pmI like Bruce Springsteen. I've liked him ever since I saw the video of "Dancing in the Dark" (and cried, "Is that who I think it is?" when Courteney Cox jumped up on stage). I have four of his albums on my hard drive. (I didn't put "The Rising" on; I can't listen to more than a couple of songs from that album without breaking down. 9/11 left a lot of scars.)
I think my favorite album of his (of those that I have) is "Wrecking Ball". The grim determination of "We Take Care of Our Own", the controlled fury of "Death to My Hometown", the sombre "Rocky Ground", "We Are Alive"... I don't think there's a song on the album I don't like.
There are singers who can do politically-flavored songs, and singers who can't. Most of Gordon Lightfoot's songs of that type do nothing for me (with the exceptions of "Pride of Man" and "Don Quixote"). The Turtles managed it once with "Earth Anthem", but their other forays into politics were pretty bad IMO. I used to like the songs on "Four Way Street" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, but most of them feel dated or facile to me nowadays.
On this front, The Boss is The Best.
I think my favorite album of his (of those that I have) is "Wrecking Ball". The grim determination of "We Take Care of Our Own", the controlled fury of "Death to My Hometown", the sombre "Rocky Ground", "We Are Alive"... I don't think there's a song on the album I don't like.
There are singers who can do politically-flavored songs, and singers who can't. Most of Gordon Lightfoot's songs of that type do nothing for me (with the exceptions of "Pride of Man" and "Don Quixote"). The Turtles managed it once with "Earth Anthem", but their other forays into politics were pretty bad IMO. I used to like the songs on "Four Way Street" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, but most of them feel dated or facile to me nowadays.
On this front, The Boss is The Best.
This morning, when I sat down for my morning websurf, my computer was... unresponsive. Moving the mouse woke up the monitors, but clicking yielded no results. I finally went for a manual reboot. When it came back up, mouse and keyboard were fine, but I found that Windows Media Player couldn't find most of my music. (It displayed the first twenty-four, alphabetically by artist.) I verified that the music was still there, and I could play it by clicking on individual songs, but... this was unsatisfactory. I've shifted over to Groove, which recognizes all of my music, but I have been reminded of the reasons I prefer WMP.
Anyone know of a fix?
Anyone know of a fix?
Killing Me Softly
Dec. 1st, 2018 05:33 pmThis I did not know: the song "Killing Me Softly", so memorably sung by Roberta Flack, was inspired by a performance of "Empty Chairs" by Don McLean. After listening, for the nth time, to the McLean song, I can say that I can see it. Beautiful, mournful song...
McLean is remembered mostly for "American Pie" and "Vincent", but he deserves much more.
McLean is remembered mostly for "American Pie" and "Vincent", but he deserves much more.
Books! Music! Movie!
Oct. 12th, 2018 08:10 pmWell, as promised, I paid a visit to Amazon today. The haul:
E-books: Larry Sabato's A More Perfect Constitution; David Reich's Who We Are and How We Got Here (about DNA studies and prehistory); Amor Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow; Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet; James Alan Gardner's All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault; and the second, third, and second books in the Expanse (James Corey), Kitty Norville (Carrie Vaughn), and The Great Way (Harry Connolly) series respectively.
Dead tree books: Sarah Murray, The Semantics of Evidentials (linguistics); Bill Willingham, War and Pieces (continuing the Fables series); Edward Luttwak, The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire (I have his books on the Roman Empire and the Soviet Union).
Music: Joan Jett, "Greatest Hits"; Woody Guthrie, "100th Anniversary Collection"; Chad & Jeremy, "Yesterday's Gone"
DVD: "The Incredible Hulk (2008)". I'm gathering as much of the MCU as I can. Maybe a marathon Thanksgiving week.
E-books: Larry Sabato's A More Perfect Constitution; David Reich's Who We Are and How We Got Here (about DNA studies and prehistory); Amor Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow; Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet; James Alan Gardner's All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault; and the second, third, and second books in the Expanse (James Corey), Kitty Norville (Carrie Vaughn), and The Great Way (Harry Connolly) series respectively.
Dead tree books: Sarah Murray, The Semantics of Evidentials (linguistics); Bill Willingham, War and Pieces (continuing the Fables series); Edward Luttwak, The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire (I have his books on the Roman Empire and the Soviet Union).
Music: Joan Jett, "Greatest Hits"; Woody Guthrie, "100th Anniversary Collection"; Chad & Jeremy, "Yesterday's Gone"
DVD: "The Incredible Hulk (2008)". I'm gathering as much of the MCU as I can. Maybe a marathon Thanksgiving week.
