RIF Thursday

    Reading Is Fun.  One learns from every book one reads.

Antisocial Support Groups

    That is an inherent weakness of Antisocial Support groups.

Philosophy Tuesday

    Words to live by.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “So what?”

    “So this,” Leopard’s finger stabbed out again.  “These legends were created by a group of ex-Nazis right after World War Two.  They were brought over by the OSS and given the job of creating legends for agents who were then inserted inside the USSR.  They called themselves the Norns, the weavers of fate from Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera.”

    “How do you know all that?”

    “The Internet, dude.  How else?”

    (from Father Night by Eric Van Lustbader)

    6½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Dylan Sunday

Saturday Zen

RIF Friday

    And I for one appreciate that information.

Why do we call it Finland?

    Germany calls itself Deutschland.  Spain calls itself Espana.  And Finland calls itself Suomi.  So why don't we call these countries what they call themselves?

    This question was posed to me a couple days ago, and I still don't have an answer for it.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “This is a terrible idea,” Carveth said.  “I mean, haven’t you noticed that we’re actually going towards the enemy?  Four people can’t defeat six divisions, especially if a quarter of them are hiding.  It’s like mooning people at light speed: it just won’t work.  At a guess.”

    (from God Emperor of Didcot by Toby Frost)

    8½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Frasier

    Is it just me, or did Frasier have the best scriptwriters in Hollywood?

Today's Drabble

   I can empathize with Ralph.  I've had this nightmare as well.

Squirrel Jam

  I always love a well-constructed pun.

Cursive

    Ah, Cursive.  You gave me so many bad "Handwriting Grades" in elementary school.  Cute girls got assigned to try and help me, but in those days they had Cooties.  I was very happy when I made it to Junior High and my sloppy handwriting no longer got graded.

    Now of course, we "write" everything with a computer, tablet, cell phone, or e-mail carrier.  And even my signature is usually digitally affixed.

    So up yours, Cursive! I outlasted you.

Irregardless

    We post far too few SMBC cartoons here.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “You are an … interesting man, Elend Venture,” Yomen finally said.

    “I’m a bastard,” Elend said.

    Yomen raised an eyebrow.

    “In composition, not in temperament or by birth,” Elend said with a smile.  “I’m an amalgamation of what I’ve needed to be.  Part scholar, part rebel, part nobleman, part Mistborn, and part soldier.  Sometimes, I don’t even know myself.  I had a devil of a time getting all those pieces to work together.  And, just when I’m starting to get it figured out, the world up and ends on me.”

    (from The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson)

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

Great Men of Music - Franz Joseph Haydn

Title  :  Great Men of Music - Franz Joseph Haydn

Artists  :  Various.  (it's the composer that counts)

Description  :  4-LP Box Set

Year Released  :  1976 (and a revised version in 1978)

    Okay, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky are in a class by themselves when it comes to Classical Music.  But composers like Franz Joseph Haydn and Antonio Vivaldi aren't far behind.  So it was a treat to convert this Time-Life boxed-set to MP3 files.

- Tracks - (favorites in pink)

Side 01
    Symphony No. 60 in C Major ("Il Distratto")
Side 02
    Piano Sonata No. 33 in C Minor
    Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Minor
Side 03
    String Quartet No. 34 in D Major; Opus 20, No. 4
Side 04
    Symphony No. 88 in G Major
Side 05
    Piano Sonata No. 50 in D Major
Side 06
    String Quartet No. 76 in D Minor; Opus 76, No. 2
Side 07
    "The Creation"
    Mass No. 12 in B Flat Major ("Harmoniemesse")
Side 08
    (The rest of) Mass No. 12 in B Flat Major

    I picked this up for $3-$5 at Half-Price Books a while back.  Someone had unloaded a whole bunch from this series there, and I scarfed up 5 of the boxed-sets.  I converted the Vivaldi edition last year; it is shown here.  Bartok, Strauss, and Dvorak still await digitalizing.

    Once again, the LP's themselves were in very good shape.  There were some scratches, but few enough to where I opted to remove (most of) them manually.  There were no skips.

    The format was the same as was used in the Vivaldi set:  three of the LP's were instrumental; the fourth was vocal/opera.  Also included was an excellent booklet about Haydn's life.  The copyright therein cited 1976, but with a proviso that an amended edition was issued in 1978.  I presume they discovered that they had some biographical facts incorrect.

    I'm a huge fan of Haydn's symphonies, so Side 01 and 04 were a real treat.  But all of the first 6 sides are good.  I really don't care for opera, so didn't enjoy the final LP as much.  But if you're going to mix in vocals with my classical music, this is probably as good as it gets.

    ISTR there were about 18-19 sets issued in this Time-Life series.  It was somewhat picked-over by the time I came upon them at Half-Price books, and I didn't buy the remainder all at once.  But I'll be keeping my eyes open for any of these sets that might find their way back to the bookstore.

My New Year's Eve Resolution

Belle and Sebastian

    Belle and Sebastian is an absolutely fine Indie Pop group, whose music I've come to appreciate.  Yet when I hear their name, this is what I inevitably think of :

   I think this means I'm older than dirt.

Back To Work

    After two weeks of vacation, it is time to go back to work tomorrow.  But it's only for one day. and then I'm off until Friday.

    I am soooooooo not looking forward to the advent of 5-day workweeks starting the following Monday.

On hiatus

    We are on hiatus until Sunday, 28 December, at which time we will return to our usual rambling, aimless, and unfocused postings.  In the meantime, why not enjoy some of the historical blather we've posted?

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “I’m coming with you.”  Father Mateo stepped from the shadows at the edge of the road.

    “What are you doing here?” Hiro asked.

    “I know a thing or two about mending dams,” the Jesuit said.  “I followed you – by a different route – in case my help was required.”

    Kazu looked at Hiro.  “What is he talking about?”

    “He doesn’t trust me to apologize properly,” Hiro said.

    Kazu gave the priest an appraising glance.  “He knows you well.”

    (from Blade Of The Samurai by Susan Spann)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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The Obsolete Alphabet

    I don't mean to quibble, but "S" is not an obsolete item.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Ah, I see!” Horhotep said, walking up behind them.  “Ten men are posted here at all times, not out of necessity but so you’ll always be entertained.”

    The sergeant, his face flushed with fury, balled his hands into fists.  With a mighty effort, he restrained himself.

    Sennefer leaned close to Bak and murmured, “If Horhotep survives this journey, the gods have blundered exceedingly.”

    “I’d be pleased to serve as the instrument of their wrath.”

    (from A Curse of Silence,  by Lauren Haney)

  

    9*/10.  The full review is here.

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Christmas Punnery

    Well, this seems timely, for several reasons.

Aretha Franklin - Sweet Passion

Artist  :  Aretha Franklin

Album Title  :  Sweet Passion  (1977)

Genre  :  Soul

- TRACKS -  (favorites in pink)

01. Break It To Me Gently

02. When I Think About You

03. What I Did For Love

04. No One Could Ever Love You More

05. A Tender Touch

06. Touch Me Up

07. Sunshine Will Never Be The Same

08. Meadows Of Springtime

09. Mumbles

10. Sweet Passion

    I'm not much of a Soul Music fan. but thanks to my wife and son, I am slowly developing a taste for it.  Which is easy to do when the singer has the pipes like Aretha does.

    I found this LP in the clearance bin at my local Half Price Books store, for the modest price of $1.  The album has no major scratches, but lots of small ones.  And no skips.  Conversion was easy, but I tried to take the scratches out manually, and it is iffy whether I caught enough of the minor scratches to justify skipping the De-Popper Software Program.  I'm beta-listening to it as I write this; so far only two tracks need significant cleansing.

    For some reason, Sweet Passion has never been released in the US on CD.  To boot, neither Amazon nor iTunes offers it in digital form.

    Aretha's voice is impeccable here, and the backing musicians are up to the task of complementing her singing.  Other than the "I got the music in me" intro to Track 9, none of the songs are familiar to me, but that's probably a function of my not listening much to Soul.

   For the life of me, I cannot fathom why this hasn't been released as a CD yet.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Studley, as we have told you about ten times already, your chickens have eaten patented seeds.  Since you have not paid the patent license fee to Gonsanto, the company that owns the patents, you are in violation of the law.  We don’t care if the seeds blew in from the neighbouring farm.  You should have taken more precautions, like locking your chickens in an airproof chamber.”

    “But sirs, they would die without air, wouldn’t they?”

    “Excuses, Studley, excuses.”

    (from Who Framed Santa Claus?, by Shantnu Tiwari)

     7½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Christmas Shopping

    Okay.  Time to get serious about Christmas shopping.

Swingle Singers - Anyone for Mozart?

Artist  :  The Swingle Singers

Title  :  Anyone for Mozart?  (1965)

Genre  :  Classical, a cappella

  - Tracks  (favorites in pink) -

01. Sonata No. 15

02. Ah! vous Dirais Je Maman

03. Allegro from Sonata No. 14

04. Fugue 

05. Eine Kleine Nacht Music

    The Swingle Singers had a brief heyday way back in the late 1960's.  They were (and still are, for that matter) a mostly a cappella group, with only a modicum of bass fiddle and drum accompaniment.  ISTR their most popular album featured Bach tunes.

    I found  Anyone For Mozart?, the stereo version no less, at the local Goodwill store, and snagged it for $0.99.  Released in 1965, this means this is a 49-year-old LP, so it had a fair amount of scratches, but no skips.  The scratch-removal program had its normal efficiency, removing about 95% of the scratches, without noticeably compromising the highs and lows of the music.

    The main problem with this LP is its brevity, even by 1965 standards.  Each side was only about 12-13 minutes in length, which is unforgivable, given the copious amount of Mozart music available.  Was this a "rush to release" issue, or did the record company just decide the public would buy it without checking out the times on the back of the album?

   That being said, I like the album.  I doubt it will ever be released as a CD, although I wouldn't be surprised to see it packaged with several other Swingle Singers albums.  There are a couple YouTube videos featuring the group singing some of these Mozart offerings, although ISTR they were all "live" concert videos.

    If you like classical music, especially lively take-offs of it (see : Apollo 100), then you should enjoy this LP.

Demon Toilet Paper Holder

    What to get for the Goth who has everything.

Where's your hairpiece?

    It took me an embarrassingly long time to 'get' this joke.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Life is a kaleidoscope of pains and pleasures, despairs and hopes, family and friends, careers and games, loves and luck, learning and failures, and health and illnesses; not mere itches and scratches.  But do not all these things come down to itching and scratching?  Are not itching and scratching representative of what goes on in life?  All the things mentioned in our list are, ultimately, matters involving some discontent (itches) to overcome and (if we are lucky?) the overcoming (scratching) which provides relief.  What is the value in that?

    (from Can A Robot Be Human?, by Peter Cave)

  7½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Darth the Halls

    Liz has already decorated our two Christmas trees this year.  But I'm thinking that the motif in 2015 should be...

Slaughterhouse 5

    I can call it Slaughterhouse 5 because, well, there are five carcasses hanging there.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “That fabric must be something she loomed herself, in between peanut-butter sandwiches.  It would have been smarter without the metallic threads.”

    “What would an architect call that color?” he asked.

    “I’d call it a yellow-pink of low saturation and medium brilliance.”

    “A decorator would call it Cream of Carrot<” he said, “or Sweet Potato Soufflé.”

    (from The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, by Lilian Jackson Braun)

     6½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Roman Numerals

    Sometimes, the Roman numeral system works better than ours.

Friday Night Philosophy

   True dat.

RIP Huxley

    RIP, Huxley.  You weren't the smartest dog ever, and maybe not even the prettiest.  But you were the bestest dog we ever had, and you're going to leave a hole in my heart for a long, long time.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    That probably sounds strange to you, if you have thought of all the duties a King has – weighty matters such as putting taxes on some things or ending them on others, whether or not to declare war, whether to pardon or condemn.  What, you might say, was a decision over whether or not to allow a little boy to play with a dollhouse next to those other things?

    Maybe nothing, maybe much.  I will let you make up your mind on that.  I will tell you the Roland was not the smartest King who had ever ruled in Delain.

    (from The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King)

     8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Injustice

    Really, St. Louis Police Department?!?!  You're offended that some of the St. Louis Rams players  showed their solidarity with the Ferguson black community by giving the "Hands Up! Don't Shoot!" gesture??

    Well, I'm offended that you think shooting an unarmed black teenager for walking down the middle of a street is okay.  F*cking racist cops.

E-Card Monday

    This is to celebrate one of our dogs, Bella, getting to come home tonight after 2½ days at the Emergency Animal Clinic.  She cheated Death for the third time in her brief lifetime.

    We got to learn all sorts of new words and acronyms during this ordeal.  Such as HGE : Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis and Pancreatitis.  But all that matters is that Bella's home!