Reading - April 2015

The Illustrated Eric by Terry Pratchett and Josh Kirby(1990)

The usual - very funny in places, some satire, particularly of religion in this case. Rincewind isn't one of my favourite characters but this is at the usual standard.

The Week (4 April 2015 / Issue 1016)

The Week (11 April 2015 / Issue 1017)

Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre (2013)

Just as enjoyable the second time round. Shades of The Matrix aside, there's some good ideas in here and an interesting side-line in the ethics surrounding what he calls "digital consciousness". And any Christopher Brookmyre is all right with me.

Which Lie Did I Tell? by William Goldman (2000)

Another read of the sequel to the wonderful Adventures In The Screen Trade (although bear in mind that Goldman himself says that, in the movies, sequels are whore's films - because they are always about the money). More about the craft of screen writing this time. Entertaining but could have been a little shorter.

Wood & Steel (Winter 2014 / Volume 81)

The most comprehensive advert I have ever seen. Taylor Guitars' in-house magazine - interesting but only designed to make you want to buy more guitars (and in this it has succeeded. I would love another Taylor.)

The Week (18 April 2015 / Issue 1018)

Le Freak by Nile Rodgers (2011)

I'm not normally a fan of biographies. However this was recommended and in this case the story is so unusual that it is quite an amazing read. And if Nile appears to be a little full of himself at times ... well, he's probably got good reason to be.

The Week (25 April 2015 / Issue 1019)

Reading - March 2015

What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell (2009)

Despite knowing about Malcolm Gladwell, this is the first book of his I've read. I can see why he is popular: the articles (all originally from The New Yorker magazine) manage to condense some complex subjects into very readable, entertaining and thought-provoking pieces. In style, he reminds me of Tom Wolfe. There's a couple of pieces about Enron and their problems - their "star" culture and dodgy financial engineering - that come a little close to home for comfort.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (~1599)

An old favourite and the only Shakespeare play I have ever read. Mainly because of the 1993 film, which we watched load and loads, 20 (gulp) years ago.

The Week (28 February 2015 / Issue 1011)

The Week (7 March 2015 / Issue 1012)

Guitarist (April 2015 / Issue 392)

One-Hit Wonder by Lisa Jewell (2001)

A lovely, warm novel, that I (re)read at almost one sitting. One of my favourites. Great characters and a good story. Why hasn't this been made into a film?

The Week (14 March 2015 / Issue 1013)

Adventures In The Screen Trade by William Goldman (1982)

An absolute classic and a must for anyone with a passing interest in film, or in fact anyone who has ever watched a film. One of the kind of books you find yourself quoting at people whenever the subject comes up. I've re-read it many times.

The Week (21 March 2015 / Issue 1014)

The Week (28 March 2015 / Issue 1015)

Behind The Scenes At The Baked Bean Museum by Hunter Davies (2010)

Hunter Davies is probably best known as the author of the only authorised Beatles biography (a title he is likely to retain forever now), but I first came across him in the pages of Punch magazine in the 70s. This book is sub-titled "My Search For Britain's Maddest Museums" but my guess is that was imposed by the publisher, since the only really eccentric museum is the one in the title. The rest seem perfectly understandable - unusual maybe, but no more than others. He only visits eighteen, out of what I am sure are many more, and at least three of those are proper, legit businesses (or owned by one), like the National Football Museum in Preston (now in Manchester), or the money museum in Edinburgh. So really it's just a wander through a miscellany of museums. Entertaining enough though.

We get the politicians we deserve

"Every nation gets the government it deserves"

Joseph de Maistre (1753 – 1821)

When you consider the hatchet jobs, launched by a media desperate to fill yawning caverns of space, and consumed by a complacent public uncaring about the collateral damage it causes to real people and real lives, you have to wonder who would willingly place themselves in that position. Perhaps people who are sufficiently thick-skinned or arrogant enough to not care about other people - at all?

When you consider the dredging up of personal information, the assumption by everyone that anything about a politician's life is fair game because they are in the public eye, and knowledge of which is regarded as a right by the general public rather than the invasion of privacy it is, you have to wonder what would motivate someone to put themselves there. Perhaps someone whose main aim is to further their own interests rather than to help people?

When you consider the pathetic small-mindedness of the political game-playing that rejoices in scoring the most trivial of points off the opposition rather than debating genuine issues and the demonising of people based on a slight difference of opinion, all a result of attempting to appeal to a public that refuses to understand or engage with the real issues, you have to wonder what kind of person suits that role. Perhaps someone sufficiently small minded and trivial to play the game well or think it worth playing?

We get the politicians we deserve.

Organized

Morgan
2000

As I have mentioned before, my last great single buying period (er, OK, the only one) threw up a surprising number of good tracks. One of my favourites is a perky, organ-led groove called "Miss Parker" by the mysterious "Morgan". I knew nothing about it at the time and despite occasional searches, nothing more for some time.

I finally got round to buying it ten years later and, even later than that, some information emerged. "Morgan" is Morgan Nicholls, originally the bass player with Senseless Things, minor-league indie faves from the early 90s. This is a whole lot more prosaic than I expected from the single, to be honest.

Still, it shouldn't and doesn't detract from the album. Despite showing obvious influences - from acid jazz days (and JTQ in particular), most obviously on something like "When I Close My Eyes", plus a bit of Lemon Jelly (the Tom Jones sampling "At The Flamingo Hotel") - Organized (great title) stands up by itself. Stand out tracks: "Miss Parker" of course (although I prefer the Dust Brothers remix) and the laid back, hazy, Hammond-drenched "Soul Searching Part 1". "Something He Said" is also nice in a groovy, late-90s way. Well worth investigating.

Reading - February 2015

Guitarist (March 2015 / Issue 391)

Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield (2009)

Cute but nowhere near as funny as the YouTube cartoons. K is enjoying it.

The Week (7 February 2015 / Issue 1008)

The Week (14 February 2015 / Issue 1009)

Quirkology by Richard Wiseman (2007)

A compendium of studies into the way people think and act. Mostly fairly trivial things (the kind that make you think, "people get paid for researching this?"), but some that have serious consequences, like what unconsciously affects who people vote for (clue: nothing to do with policies). Very anecdotal but well footnoted, but a few too many occurrences of phrases like "although later studies have called this into question" - which makes me think that perhaps the initial study, however interesting, shouldn't be quoted.

The Second Book Of General Ignorance by John Lloyd & John Mitchinson (2010)

More amazing facts etc. Mostly very interesting (and with an occasional overlap with Quirkology, above), but sometimes a little too little varied in tone - "here's another thing everyone is wrong about". More for dipping into than anything else.

Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos by Simon Tofield (2011)

Actually rather wearing after a while. Didn't finish it, despite the fact that doing so would only have taken about 10 minutes.

The Big Issue (16-22 February 2015 / Issue 1141)

The Week (21 February 2015 / Issue 1010)

How To Bake by Paul Hollywood (2012)

A good introduction to a number of types of baking, including bread. Feels a bit like a short book about bread that got expanded with other baking so that they could charge more for it, but decent amounts of info on bread-making techniques and equipment, and including some approaches and recipes I haven't come across before. Good illustrations. Suffers from a common issue with recipe books, which is that it is nicely bound but won't stay open at the page you want while you try actually make the recipe!

Lunarbaboon Vol 1 by Chris Grady (2014)

Lunarbaboon is my favourite web comic and so last year I put some cash down for my first Kickstarter project to get a copy of the first book. It contains comics from the first year, so I've mostly read them, but I think they're good enough to preserve. The book is now more generally available - buy a copy!

Reading - January 2015

The Week (3 January 2015 / Issue 1003)

The Book Of General Ignorance by John Lloyd & the QI Elves (2006)

aka "The Stephen Fry Lectures", or the scripts of facts he reads out after the "contestants" on QI have finished making jokes. Its possible origin as prompt cards on the TV programme may account for the slightly irritating written style, using a sentence per paragraph in the manner of a Daily Wail article. Still, choc-full of interesting tidbits to be quoted at people (although no citations for verification).

Guitarist (February 2015 / Issue 390)

The Week (10 January 2015 / Issue 1004)

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson (2013)

Endlessly entertaining but also just a bit endless. Bryson seems to be finally suffering from an ailment common to other very successful authors (notably J.K. Rowling); an over-indulgent editor. A lesser-known author would be more robustly curtailed, one feels. Bryson's trademark asides and fascinating details are all here, but perhaps a little more than necessary. Still, a very interesting book about a time in history that feels close, yet so far away.

The Auto-Biography by Mark Wallington (2013)

A very amusing "life in cars", in which the author recalls the various cars of his life and how they have been interwoven into his own life story, from his parents' first car to his own current car. This is not an enthusiast's nerdy, dull recital but an average man's story. Good fun.

The Week (17 January 2015 / Issue 1005)

The Week (24 January 2015 / Issue 1006)

Inside Out: A Personal History Of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason (2011)

Originally published in 2004 but reissued and updated with additional material about what looks likely to be the definitively last proper Floyd reunion, the 2005 Live 8 concert (although you never know I guess). Gently amusing and gently interesting, but didn't really capture me much. Whether this is because I've never been a massive Floyd fan, or because (auto) biographies don't really interest me, or because of the sense of detached irony that Mason brings to his commentary, I don't know. Took me a long time to finish.

Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan (2014)

A sweet, warm book about a woman who escapes to an outpost of south England and ends up opening a bakery. A nice mix of a little drama and a little love; possibly could have done with being a touch shorter (we all know how it's going to end, stop spinning it out!) but very pleasant nonetheless.

The Week (31 January 2015 / Issue 1007)

The Art Of Doing Nothing

Mark Owen
2013

Not really nothing at all

I've been going through a Take That phase for some reason. Take That have achieved something no other band I can think of have: their reunion/comeback has been more of an artistic success than the original incarnation. Much of the original Take That material sounds callow, while the second time round the hit songs are pinnacles of pure pop: tracks like "Patience", "Shine", "Rule The World", "Greatest Day" and "The Flood".

The latter track comes from Progress, the big reconciliation album with Robbie Williams. Perhaps inevitably there was an accompanying documentary, and one thing struck me while watching it, which was this clip of Mark Owen recording a vocal - headphones on, so all we can hear is his voice and not the track. Until then I hadn't realised how noticeable his rhotacism is - he can't pronounce his "R"s. It doesn't stick out in the context of a track but, once you start listening for it, you can hear it - and I personally find it rather endearing.

Obviously Gary Barlow and Robbie have had their solo careers but less well known is that Mark Owen has also released four albums. They haven't been particularly successful - he's quoted as saying that he doesn't have Ferraris, he has his solo albums. I decided to have a listen (what a wonder Spotify is) and chose, for no particular reason that I can remember, this one, which is the most recent.

I wasn't expecting much, but have been pleasantly surprised. There are a good number of very listenable tracks. The first to grab me was the first track, "Giveaway", an unexpectedly moody and atmospheric start to an album, with a nicely echo-ey, electronic feel. "Stars", which was the lead single, has more of a beat and a great chorus. My current favourite is "Heaven's Falling", which builds nicely and even has a kind of rap section (which I quite like).

All are pretty electronic in feel, mostly based around initial synth chord sequences (which, if videos of the tour are to be believed, Mark played himself), and all build in a similar, but effective, way. He's clearly learned a thing or two over the twenty years of working with the best writers and producers, and I guess he can call on a few people too. Some tracks are a little derivative ("Raven" is a dead ringer for Coldplay) but overall, great pop.