| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5218 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Healing of Luther Grove by Barry Gornell. It is excellent, and recommended for anyone interested in Scottish Highland noir. Full disclosure, Barry is a great friend of mine. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5219 Registered: 05-2005 |
An extraordinary story in the New York Times about the growing inequality in US education. I had no idea things were this bad. It is very sad. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/educat ion/poor-students-struggle-as-class-play s-a-greater-role-in-success.html?pagewan ted=1&_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_t h_20121223 | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3114 Registered: 03-2005 |
I'm reading something, can you believe it? Recent Adventures Among the Future Ruins of London on the Even of the Olympics by Iain Sinclair. I haven't been keeping up with modern prose writing fashion so the quick-cut method of narration crossing back and forth over 40 years without warning is discombobulating. But it sure can be funny. On the train station at the big Westfield mall in Stratford (where I actually went last May): "A state-of-the-art station with the same old cattle-car service. Now enhanced by disembodied voices bringing you up to speed on the latest cancellations." Nixon in China: "Two posters met. the American political bagman, liar, serial opportunist, and the doped, moon-faced enigma of Mao, long marcher, swimmer among maidens. Kissinger and Chou En-lai hovered in the wings. Pat Nixon was presented with a glass elephant and invited to check out pig farms (as if auditioning viruses for export)." | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 647 Registered: 05-2005 |
Highland Noir sounds interesting, black and white tartan? | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 649 Registered: 05-2005 |
I ordered a copy of the Barry Gornell book | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 734 Registered: 10-2006 |
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry Like Vikram Seth's marvellous A suitable boy, a panoramic, richly populated epic covering post-war India and the events involving a small group of beautifully drawn characters from various walks of life... enthralling. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 418 Registered: 02-2007 |
Randy, when Tricky Dicky, was taken to the Great Wall, so the story goes, he thought pensively for a moment and drawing on all the powers of oratory he could summon he remarked "It really is a great wall isnt it" | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3118 Registered: 03-2005 |
Nixon could be such a bozo. But I read somewhere that during one of the big anti-war demonstrations in DC, Nixon went all by himself to the Lincoln Memorial where the protest was ongoing and talked to the protesters. He actually thought that he could somehow make them understand his viewpoint and tried to hash it out with them. Assuming that story is true it's kind of impressive. I have to wonder how many modern U.S. presidents would do something like that. It wasn't all that long after all the 60s assassinations. Very complex figure, Nixon. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 419 Registered: 02-2007 |
Just reading Hunter S Thompson's Fear & Loathing on Campaign Trail 1972. Some of his description of Nixon and his henchmen are hilarious. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1711 Registered: 08-2006 |
My best bud Tom Watson just published a terrific book (through Harper Collins) called "Stick Dog." It's out in both the US and UK, and if you have kids of reading age (maybe 5 to 11?), it's a very funny and smart read, and you'll probably enjoy it, too. There are pictures, but it's a longer-form-style book, a la "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Thought I'd be remiss not to mention it for the parentals around these parts. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5261 Registered: 05-2005 |
Rob, I'll check out your friend's book next time I'm sending a birthday present for someone in that age group. Cosmo, did Barry's book arrive? Randy, Nixon was indeed a complex character. About 12 years ago I saw a brilliant play called Nixon's Nixon which was about Nixon and Kissinger talking in the Lincoln Sitting Room on the night before the former's resignation. I also recall an article from George magazine in the 1990s where it said Nixon had very progressive views on welfare. On the other hand, RTE television made a very interesting documentary on Irish Quakers where one of the interviewees said Nixon was the one Irish Quaker descendant they weren't very proud of. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 664 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yes I have the book Padraig, looks good, is in my pending pile for reading soon | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5296 Registered: 05-2005 |
The New York Times. I got a copy in terminal 3 in Heathrow before flying back to Sydney. Joy it is to have a printed copy of the NYT for the first time in almost 12 years. I read parts of it on the internet almost every day, but a newspaper junkie like me needs the hard copy, not least to see everything in context. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5298 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ratlines by Stuart Neville. So far, so great. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1714 Registered: 08-2006 |
Agreed about the Times, Padraig. Getting the Sunday edition delivered to my front door is one of the true perks of a US address. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5306 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm envious Rob. I had hoped that when the NYT bought out The Washington Post to become the sole owner of The International Herald Tribune, that the IHT would become a defacto international edition of the Times. But it wasn't to be. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1715 Registered: 08-2006 |
I wonder why that didn't happen, Padraig. It's not like the Times is heavy on local coverage, at least not in the national edition (we get a little more Chicago news, which is cool). Seems like it'd be easy to version. | ||
| Lewisdhead Member Username: Lewisdhead Post Number: 96 Registered: 01-2007 |
Will Wiles-Care of Wooden Floors. About half way through. This one could be going back on the shelf if it doesn't pick up. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 751 Registered: 10-2006 |
Keef - Life Makes me feel I haven't done nearly enough drugs... Amazing how mysterious the Jagger figure still is so far, after 300 odd pages: just tends to pop in at the end of a longer passage about someone else..."But Mick was different" "Mick never did that" etc. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5309 Registered: 05-2005 |
Slavery was abolished on this day in 1865. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/ onthisday/big/0131.html#article | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1127 Registered: 08-2004 |
http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features /interviews/robyn-hitchcock-117077 Nice little interview with Robyn Hitchcock. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3160 Registered: 03-2005 |
I always marvel at Robyn's hair. Thanks for the link Jerry. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5446 Registered: 05-2005 |
Rob, I think the New York Times must have read my post above - they are going to change The International Herald Tribune into the International New York Times! http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/busine ss/media/herald-tribune-to-be-renamed-th e-international-new-york-times.html?nl=t odaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130226 | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1722 Registered: 08-2006 |
Maybe someone at the Times is trolling the GBs message board, Padraig? That's great news. Not that I get abroad that much, but being able to read the Times when having my morning coffee in Paris certainly appeals. Plus, it's a great paper - one of the last great papers - and an international audience can only expand their reporting palette. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3162 Registered: 03-2005 |
Also their comment palette Rob. I find the comments to the online NYT to be one of its draws. I'm always delighted when folks from other places weigh in, especially on articles that are about other places. It relieves the echo chamber effect a bit. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 785 Registered: 04-2005 |
Joseph O'Connor - Redemption Falls With a link to his excellent 'Star of the Sea' novel, this is an equally compelling read, but very dark, violent and bleak. Set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, the story brings to mind the writings of Cormac McCarthy. Interesting format, using (mock) historical documents and transcribed oral accounts to weave a complex tale. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5454 Registered: 05-2005 |
A truly beautiful, true story on the New York Times website about how a man who found an abandoned baby in a New York subway station came to, along with his gay partner (now husband), adopt the child. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/201 3/02/28/we-found-our-son-in-the-subway/? src=me&ref=general | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5455 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andrew, I interviewed Joseph O'Connor almost 20 years ago. He was a very nice man. I presume you know who his sister is... | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 741 Registered: 05-2005 |
Padraig, I read The Healing of Luther Grove and really enjoyed it (could hardly put it down), I would describe it as more gothic than your noir but nevertheless it is very good and contains some brilliant writing. I very much look forward to Barry Gornell's next book and thanks for the recommendation on this one | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5535 Registered: 05-2005 |
Cosmo, I've let Barry know about your comments. He's delighted. He said the book has already sold more than the publisher expected but that he still should have been a plumber or something. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5582 Registered: 05-2005 |
A fascinating article on turning a picture of an old record into audio. http://mediapreservation.wordpress.com/2 012/06/20/extracting-audio-from-pictures / | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 826 Registered: 10-2006 |
Joe Boyd - White bicycle Watching the 14 hour technicolour dream documentary a few weeks back, I was enjoying Boyd's articulate contributions and wondering if he'd ever written something about his experiences. Then, ten minutes into a visit to a mate's house last week, a book was tossed across the room to me - "Oy, read this?" And it turned out to be White Bicycle. Nice moment. A good read, mainly detailing his talent for letting huge opportunities (Pink Floyd, Abba...) slip through his fingers. Though not a big jazz fan,I'm curious to hear something by Chris McGregor now - anyone heard anything, Brotherhood of Breath etc? | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 542 Registered: 03-2007 |
Stuart, Not familiar with him but I see there are numerous videos on YouTube and a lot of his releases are available from sellers on Discogs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCBDExmB7 Bo | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1129 Registered: 08-2004 |
Brian Eno in New York article: http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magaz ine/brian-eno-in-nyc-feature | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5643 Registered: 05-2005 |
Richard Ford brings back Frank Bascombe http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013 /04/30/richard_ford_s_new_frank_bascombe _story_shows_the_damage_done_by_hurrican e.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content But will our Frank Bascombe (MD) come back? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2524 Registered: 01-2005 |
Neil Young - A Hard Peace | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5755 Registered: 05-2005 |
A very moving and interesting story from nine years ago about Jeremy Oxley of The Sunnyboys. http://www.rockhamptonapartment.com.au/r ockhampton-apartment-articles/2004/9/11/ lost-chord/ | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3212 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks for this Padraig. Between this post and Andrew's video links to documentaries I've been losing all sorts of time! After watching the first three parts of the Ronnie Lane documentary (I could not find the fourth part), I then watched a documentary on the Troggs and after that the Yardbirds. I growled when I read the little aside about marijuana use triggering mental illness but with some googling I find that it is apparently true. (I was a daily pothead in my teens, but back then the weed was much less strong.) I do doubt that either weed or the music biz triggered his schizophrenia. He developed it at the classic age for its appearance. I admire Oxley's decision to try to live without medication. So long as he doesn't harm others or himself it's a perfectly valid choice. It's probably necessary, though, to live some place small like Ipswich or maybe even further from town as the Brisbane area continues to grow. I don't think an unmedicated schizophrenic can deal with an urban environment. By sheer coincidence I reviewed a file at work last week in which a woman with schizophrenia ran her car into a man walking in a parking lot because she thought she'd heard him say something about her. He didn't know her and was walking back to his car with his girlfriend and he hadn't said or thought anything about her at all. I remember a slightly crazy neuroscientist friend of mine looking at some of the Mackintosh-inspired artwork and architecture in Glasgow and saying that it reminded him of the artwork of schizophrenics. I've always believed that the line between creativity and mental illness is very indistinct. My middle brother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 25 years ago. I don't doubt the accuracy of the diagnosis but I don't think it was too severe to handle with cognitive therapy. Instead, they pumped him full of drugs with their constellation of side-effects--because that is much cheaper than cognitive therapy--and now he is grossly overweight, diabetic (where that does not run in my family), sexually impotent and has permanent shakes in his hands so that he must use both hands to pick up a glass of water and even then it shakes like mad. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5760 Registered: 05-2005 |
The link between marijuana use and mental illness is indeed all too real Randy, but I agree with you that Oxley's condition would have happened anyway. Doubtless it was exacerbated by his circumstances though. Here's a link to a review of their Opera House show http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/musi c/sunny-side-up-20130603-2nlaw.html | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5782 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy, here's an article from last weekend showing that things are much improved for Jeremy Oxley, thankfully. http://www.theherald.com.au/story/154237 1/let-the-sunshine-in/?cs=2372 | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5786 Registered: 05-2005 |
The most hated online abbreviations http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblo g/2013/jun/06/sam-leith-hated-online-abb reviations | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3214 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks for that Padraig. I wonder what his more recent music is like. The person who wrote that article didn't know much about music. The Sunnyboys sure as hell weren't doing music like Elvis Costello or the Pretenders. They based their style and approach on 60's American band The Remains aka Barry and the Remains, a Boston band headed by Barry Tashian. The Remains signed to a major label but never managed to break into national success. However, by the mid-to-late 1970s their now-decade old records had become vintage music critics' darlings. The Sunnyboys, of course, just used them as inspiration; they didn't copy them and music from the early 1980s will obviously have a different harder feel than music from 1965. But, for example, "You Need a Friend" really manages to channel the Remains' feel, all of twenty years later. They're very open about their Remains admiration in the notes to their excellent reissue "This is Real." All in all, it's a cool and rather original choice; I can't think of another band who were so specific and obscure in their inspiration. A small point perhaps but I felt the need to correct such an egregious error by the journalist. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5790 Registered: 05-2005 |
Well said Randy! I know very little about The Sunnyboys, but I thought the Elvis Costello comparison was just lazy. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5804 Registered: 05-2005 |
There's a sample of Jeremy Oxley's EP here Randy http://www.pozible.com/project/20890#.Ub L23csayK0 I must check out The Remains. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5805 Registered: 05-2005 |
OK, I just found the Remains' Why Do I Cry on YouTube and can see how they were a big influence on Sunnyboys. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 816 Registered: 04-2005 |
RIP Iain Banks A dreadful loss for the British literary world at just 59 years old, and apparently a genuinely nice guy who always made time for real contact with his readers. Many years ago I went to see him talk in Edinburgh; an excellent raconteur, who informed us that he worked for 6 months a year and dossed around for the rest of the year. I came away envying his lifestyle. When it came to question time no-one appeared to have anything to ask. He was very droll and said “I’ll go into self-interviewing mode soon and that will be very dull”. So I found my arm going up,and in front of maybe 300 people in the Assembly Rooms, asked him whatever had happened to the film project of ‘The Wasp Factory’, mentioning that I had read that REM was supposedly behind the project. “Ah, a very good question !’ he replied and spent 15 minutes explaining how it had gone through 2 contracts (with no film made) and was onto the 3rd and that each time the rights reverted to him and he could resell it again... I had just finished reading 'Complicity' this morning. | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 207 Registered: 05-2005 |
yes very sad about Iain Banks. I've read most of his non-scifi though funnily enough not The Wasp Factory. Really enjoyed Stonemouth recently. RIP | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 210 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes - excellent! Stonemouth - Iain Banks - excellent! Chemistry of Tears - Peter Carey - excellent (and odd)! A Possible Life - Sebastian Faulks - excellent so far half way through! Sweet Tooth - Ian McEwan - excellent so far but only just started! Yes - I got given book tokens for my birthday! |