Saturday, February 14, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
From my library: Ammon Shea - Reading the OED
I've always been fascinated of the Oxford English Dictionary; I'd love to have it, but simply can't afford it (and Ursula would say we don't have the room). Here's a man telling the entertaining story of how he read the whole thing.
Rarely Heard: Actress - Purple Splazsh
"The alias of Wolverhampton, England-based producer Darren Cunningham, Actress was credited with some of the least predictable, categorization-defying electronic dance music of the 2000s. Since debuting in 2004 with the No Tricks 12" on his own Werk Discs label, Cunningham juggled a diverse array of inspirations -- including early-'80s funk and electro, art rock, raw and classicist house, and noise -- while putting a fresh, challenging spin on them." (Allmusic.com)
His album Splazsh was declared best album of the year 2010 by the music magazine The Wire.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
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On the Russian front in 1944 a German Private receives a leave and visits his family in Germany but Germany isn't the same country he left behind.
Well-produced and tasteful adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque (who even plays a bit part) is unfortunately turned into a romantic melodrama.
Halliwell*: "Interesting but preachy and generally misguided attempt, by the studio which made All Quiet on the Western Front and The Road Back, to repeat the dose in colour and wide screen."
Maltin***: "Intensely dramatic love story...Well-directed version of Erich Maria Remarque novel..."
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
First Lines: Walter Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz
Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim with girded loins who appeared during that young novice's Lenten fast in the desert.
From my library: Robert Crumb - Sketchbooks
In the 1980s the German publisher Zweitausendeins released four thick volumes of sketchbooks that contained a multitude of Robert Crumb's drawings. A friend told me that a little old comics' store was selling them for a few Marks, so I got them all, a great addition to my library.
