The thirty-ninth TV Show: #532 Silent Witness There are a bunch of crime shows on this list, and a lot of them on TV. One thing that is already becoming clear when it comes to these, is that they need their own angle to have them stand out. For a lot of them, it's the force of character of one of the leading roles, while others pick a specific area to focus on. The latter is less seen these days - we more tend to see them follow the Sherlock Holmes model - but here it's present. Silent Witness focuses on solving crimes using forensic evidence and while it has a central characters in the first few season, once Amanda Burton leaves it becomes an ensemble piece. This is its weakness - as another part of the story is how it impacts the main character, diluting it makes things a bit less effective. For that reason, we focused on early seasons and the hand over. These have been incredibly engaging, darker and more difficult to watch than most other shows. The reality of this work is messy…
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The sixteenth classical recording: #439 Jules Massenet - Manon The last in my catchup list, here's another opera - a comedic one this time. It's (again) a forbidden love story, but one taking on some different elements from the previous love story. Starting at a bawdy inn rather than a fancy party does that to you. It's all lighter and more open to play and discussion - it sounds more fun, to listen to, to watch and even to perform. The characters are more flawed, and at times hypocritical, which adds more complexity because they don't have to be as dramatic. It works quite well to set them up right. Despite the lighter touches, the quality of the music still comes through. It's not as memorable, perhaps, but supports the setup so well it works throughout, whether it's to encourage chaos or tenderness. It's been a very entertaining listen, even if just because it's not all quite as you'd expect beforehand.
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The two hundred and eighth song: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys While this song may be best known by its refrain, the song switches between several styles - and even mixing them at several points - creating a complex combination of sounds that doesn't quite come across by just lifting out a single aspect. There is undoubtably an exchange here between Brian Wilson and the Beatles, both experimenting with creating bigger sounds, even if this song sounds like the biggest example of it, being bigger than any other song in the amount it works to create. It works as it though, with this being its own magnum opus. Don't just think of the refrain - it's almost the most boring part of the track - listen to everything that surrounds it. The two hundred and ninth song: Dead End Street - The Kinks Coming down to the ground, this is a poppy song about how life isn't great for everyone. It's a lamenting anthem, complete with several shouts, that indicates how much life... well, just sucks for…
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The fifteenth classical recording: #580 Gustav Holst - The Planets A fifty minute piece, rather than the two and a half hours from before? It feels like a cakewalk now. These are seven connected sections, one for each of the astrological planets (so no Earth) and before Pluto was discovered. They are linked in motives and sound different - Mars is bombastic, Venus gentle, Mercury more ethereal. They make for quite pleasing, varying sounds that made me sit up every time a new planet came along as they sounded so different. You can mostly tell which planet is being covered based on the music being played, which feels like a special achievement on its own.
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The twenty-seventh book: #27 Joseph Andrews - Henry Fielding As a book Gutenberg provides in two parts, I thought I'd wait until I had enough time to properly read it. In the end it wasn't as long as the two parts implied (it's no Arabian Nights), but it didn't hold my interest either. As a comic observation of an existing literary style, it doesn't meet Don Quixote's standards of being interesting - it never connected, partially because I don't feel as much of a fan of the morality tales it's influenced by, and partially because the target of the satire mostly passed me by. It's of its time, and while sometimes that interesting, there's nothing much in there that feels timeless enough either. It doesn't feel quite timeless enough to be at the top of it. Worthwhile to get a different view on the genre, but nothing special. The fourteenth classical recording: #407 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake I'm not sure whether listening is the best way to enjoy a ballet, but that is the…
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The thirteenth classical recording: #331 Guiseppe Verdi - La Traviata I think this is my first full length opera, and it's one of the most famous - apparently the most performed in the world. It's familiar - just the fifteen minutes sound incredibly familiar, in a way that sounds epic and evokes the right atmosphere now I know where it's from and when it's played. I occasionally looked up the video - clarifying what was happening - but just listening explains it quite well. It sets up a simple love story, but does so well, as well as putting you in the place of the party that's going on. Even so, often the music and song can carry you away without knowing the details. Story aside, this is an evocative piece to listen to, and performed well in the given version.
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The thirty-eighth TV show: #677 House House is an odd show. Technically, I suppose, it's a drama, set in a hospital, with a bunch of ongoing story elements. However, it's also a medical procedural. The first scene of an episode sets up someone with a disorder (in later seasons making it a mini drama of who actually has the problem and why it goes wrong). Then after the opening credits, the real story unfolds, mixing the doctor's personal lives with solving the case. The titular House is played by Hugh Laurie, who puts in an amazing performance as the brilliant doctor who is, to keep it polite, not a nice person. He's a medical Sherlock Holmes, set up to be brilliant and finding the right things, but not that focused on personal interactions. He's certainly morally ambiguous in several places, getting too up close in his staff's personal lives to gain control or seeing it as something else to investigate. And what makes this all work so well is the sense of humour that comes through…
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The thirty-eighth album: #38 Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Another live album, and the artist's introduction immediately tells me where this will go - time for some more soul. Recorded in 1963 (the year used on the list), it wasn't released until 1985 because of the racuous nature of the music. It means, here that the music flows quite well, seamlessly moving between the tracks and recreating the atmosphere quite nicely. It keeps up the energy quite well - not going as high as others might, but creating and continuing a nice baseline that carries you through quite well. It carries on the soul music quite well - one of the first artists to do so? - and it's been good to hear this genre getting my foot tapping this time. The album being live really adds to it - there's an interchange of energy that comes through in the record far more than if this had been played in isolation. Playing up for the crowd, and to it, means that the energy really needs to be high to reach them.
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The thirty-seventh album: #37 Phil Spector - A Christmas Gift For You Today we have a bit of a coincidence - we were putting up the Christmas tree and happened to put this album on. Two songs in, I realised what it was, and here we are... Phil Spector always goes for big productions, showy, and it shows here even if it tries to pull back a few times. It mostly works, creating some classic interpretations of these songs, but the Silent Night - which has a spoken introduction - sounds weirdly unconfident because of it. It certainly gets you into a Christmas mood. If you ask me, as a Christmas album, it's not the best, but when looking at it from the perspective of the artists and the time, it really works well.
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The thirty-seventh TV show: #808 Archer We've been keeping up with Archer for some time now. Covering it this time is a matter of revisiting the best ofs and enjoying those. It's one of those clever/stupid things, where there are a bunch of dumb repeating gags (like, just now, the mad scientist Krieger shouting 'smoke bomb' and running way) but also jokes that take a while or are smarter. While mostly a spoof on a spy show, there is a lot more character development than expected, both growing new characters (such as Krieger) and expanding existing ones from, say, HR secretary to fellow spy. That doesn't mean it isn't pretty much all comedy episodes with a smattering of good gunfights, but so much of it starts to flow from the characters that it's pretty amazing. The big heroes of the series, aside from the amazing voice acting, are the editors. Although all parts are recorded separately, they are edited together as if they're in a same room, with amazing overlaps - often working best…
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The twelfth classical recording: #985 Steve Reich - Different Trains As we jump forward in time, we come to a piece that still has the classical elements from before, but also has more modern elements - part of the song coming from tape. It shows how classical in this list isn't the opposite of modern, but more refers to the instruments and style used. As a longer piece, this evokes the feeling of being on a train - the string instruments following that beat - also creating the urgency of parts of the journey. The three movements have a distinct feel to them - even if coming from the same base - and evoke these different mindsets. Never leisurely, but the second movement - representing the holocaust - creates a far more anxious environment. The third feels brighter - a sunrise of sorts came to mind listening to the music. The changes in technology really benefit the piece. It adds an interesting layer, partially attempting to integrate the sounds into a melody in a way I wouldn't…
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The thirty-sixth album: #36 Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan While rock is starting, Bob Dylan comes in with his folk music. The album leads off with the famous Blowin' In The Wind, one of his most famous songs. As with all songs on the album, Dylan wrote it himself, showing the power of his writing, which feels miles ahead of contemporaries and creates a potent (in this case pacifist) message. The second song shows this too - while a love song of sorts (or ealing with the loss of it), it is deeper than, say, the Beatles songs from last week dealing with similar subjects. Masters of Wars then changes that again, sounding more aggressive (relatively speaking) and feeling more pointed. The album continues in this vein, folk music that feels more clever than anything else. It might not be at the top musically, but it certainly is when it comes to the lyrics. The former does drag it down a bit - it does little to distinguish later songs on the album from each other, which makes it…
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The one hundred and ninety-seventh song: (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone - Paul Revere & The Raiders It's good to get back to rock after the albums I've been covering - the two are starting to converge. This song feels fairly simple rock, with a simple chorus and no complicated music. It's punk - and the book mentions this band as one of the early big ones - but despite the lyrics and snarls, there are a few too many harmonies to work for me. The one hundred and ninety-eighth song: Mas que nada - Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 This music line suddenly sounded so familiar - used in travel documentaries over the world. It's a basic samba track, but hits all the notes there, keeping your interest and saying swining. The differences in volume - not going all out - help a lot there, making the bursts of sound all the more effective. The one hundred and ninety-ninth song: El muerto vivo - Peret Here's the rumba, in a recording that's not the best quality, but the sound here is somewhat…
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The thirty-fifth album: #35 The Beatles - With The Beatles Here we go - I've been waiting to cover these guys for a while, as this feels like modern music really coming in, especially with the rock/poppy sound I imagine them having early on. The guitars jump in early on It Won't Be Long, but there are some harmonies in there as well. It starts off as you imagine early Beatles, and the message would appeal to teenage girls. It leads to the one downside - loads of love songs, which makes the themes less interesting, but Harrison's Don't Bother Me actually works very well as an antidote to that once it comes up. In sound and vocals, this sounds younger than the later songs of theirs that I'm more used to. Lennon certainly doesn't quite sound how he does earlier, which makes it interesting to work out it's him. Beyond that, the songs always sound interesting, offering more interesting segments and relying so much more on the lyrics and how they are performed than I feel I've heard earlier…
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The thirty-sixth TV show: #469 As Time Goes By When we started this show, I was warned that it would be somewhat... old fashioned. Twee, perhaps. And sure, it is in place - when you make a show about a September romance, you're not going to get flashy, fast scenes or anything too risque. The same opinion, it seems, was also based on later episodes, while we watched this from the start. It both means things are probably fresher and that we have more time to get to know the characters. The humour relies a lot more on learning the characters and what follows from there. From there, parts of the show are very 90s, but as many of the concerns are timeless. How do you make a relationship work after you haven't seen each other for 38 years, which covers a bunch of questions that are universal. Moving in together, for example, is something that they slowly build to, making for endearing, fun viewing. Far better than I expected - and a show we will keep watching, rather than throwing out after…
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The thirty-fourth album: #34 Ray Price - Night Life Getting some country in now, it's already a nice step up from the jazz I've been fairly ambiguous about so far. Ray Price sounds fairly good, although I'm not quite sure these country songs require the biggest vocal workout. The songs cover the standard familiar territory of love and places, and I'm not sure it quite leads me many places. It started off as a good change of pace, but I'm not sure this has the variation you see even in other country albums. The lyrics are much more distinguishing. While there are a bunch of standard songs, others tell more of a story (as it often feels country does), of loneliness and pride, and thos estand out more. They may not quite get everything there, but it's still pretty decent. That's where the album seems to shine, rather than the music as others would.
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The thirty-third album: Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba The start of the bossa nova trend, we're back in gentler, jazzier territory - unfortunately, as I was hoping for more to follow in the rock footsteps from before. It's pleasant, slightly more swing than you otherwise get, but is still somewhat inoffensive jazz. It keeps your attention more than others, but doesn't really stand out in any way for me. The thirty-fifth TV show: #545 King fo the Hill We finished watching this show probably a year before we started the list, so quite a bit of it was still fresh - this watch was mostly down to reminding myself. King of the Hill is an interesting show. A Texan family might be a stereotype in other circumstances - leaning one way or the other - but the show mostly sticks in the middle, showing them up while also showing when they're right. It's a nice balance that shows off rounded characters. It allows you to draw in further, mostly with smaller stories that are far more…
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The twenty-sixth book: #26 A Modest Proposal - Jonathan Swift Here's a short one - more an essay or pamphlet than a full novel - extolling a rather drastic solution to the overpopulation problems in Ireland of the day. It's short, with a simple premise, but incredibly well written and fun in the satire it presents. It's more obvious than Gulliver's Travels, sure, but it works. And on some level, this still feels applicable as a commentary on crazier schemes these days.
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The thirty-second album: #32 Booker T & The MGs - Green Onions We're slowly seeing rock creep into the list. Whie this isn't quite it, the guitar is starting to sound closer to rock. As an instrumental album, this will always have a higher hurdle to clear for me, but the songs hold up better already. The Beatles are a few albums away, and it feels like this is heralding them and a lot of other artists approaching.It's quite exciting - especially as this is already good and, compared to instrumental jazz albums that came before, more varied. I really enjoyed having this on throughout
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The one hundred and eighty-seventh song: Et moi, et moi, et moi - Jacques Dutronc A nice poppy French song - a bit of a departure of most others coming from the country before. I'm not sure if the revolution had finally reached France, or took a while to take notable hold. Still, it means this makes for a nice, swingy pop song that I really fun to bob along to. The one hundred and eighty-eighth song: Stay with Me - Lorraine Ellison A song that came about - at least with this orchestral setting - almost by accident, it's quite powerful from fairly early on, a long, loud shout drawing out the emotion between relatively calmer, more contained verses. It works best when the emotional outbursts comes in, when Ellison goes all in, but the quiet buildups are required to work and make the effect work just as much. The one hundred and eighty-ninth song: Al-atlal - Umm Kulthum A ten minute song in Arabic, apparently recording the vocals from six feet away because of the power of her voice. It…
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The twenty-fifth book: #25 Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift Here is another large work - although I swear most adaptations only do the first part, on Lilliput, while ignoring some of the later (sometimes more esoteric) chapters. It's true that the book goes weirder as time goes on, and gets more philosophical, but there's some more interesting reflection in that as well. There are still more interesting action parts in the last fourth of the book, although there were bits where the philosophical pondering got me a bit. What doesn't help there is that a lot of it covers British politics of the day, something I don't have much of a connection with. Still, read on past the famous bits, as the book stays quite good - and in a way gets better, with more of a message. The thirty-first album: #31 Ray Charles - Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music Again, a nice change from the jazzier albums that have been appearing repeatedly. The country/R&B album comes out swinging, nice and…
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The twenty-fourth book: #24 Moll Flanders - Daniel DeFoe This has been an incredibly interesting story. Based on the stories of a known criminal of the day, Daniel DeFoe met with her several times while she was in prison. I'm sure that the criminal happenings were at least partially taken from real life, with a bunch of personal details (including the redepmption and happy ending) might also have been produced to create a happy ending. And it's true, those tales of criminal proceedings are probably the most interesting parts, the turns and twists to escape and stay safe. Still, it's quite a life story, with some odd twists and turns - she ends up marrying her own brother at some point - that always keep me entertained. At the same time, it also gives an interesting view into life at the time, for multiple social classes. The tenth classical recording: #7 Jean de Ockeghem - Alma Redemptoris Mater Two shorter motets today, the first is this angelic choral song. It sounds good, although…
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The thirty-fourth TV show: #595 Rejseholdet Our first Danish crime show. For some reason, Scandinavian crime shows have gained a good reputation in the past two decades and it seems that this show (Unit One) has helped with that. They, first of all, have interesting weekly (or sometimes two part) crime stories, based on real life cases from a team that gets called in when regular investigators havve trouble figuring out a murder. On top of that, however, some light serialization is applied. No on going cases, as you see more often these days, but there are occasional callbacks to earlier places - especially well done in a second season episode where the defending lawyer in a trial from an earlier season is called in. More notable, and interesting, is that the personal storylines carry on through. Unfortunately a lot of it seems to come down to different marital and relationship problems, but at least it tries to vary them occasionally. The lead's storyline, Inge, is the most…
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The ninth classical recording: #190 Ludwig von Beethoven - Violin Sonata in A major, op. 47, "Kreutzer" The opening here worried me a bit, as I needed (and expected) a more energetic song. It takes a little while to get into the fury of the opening, which sounds aggressive in its speed and ferocity. There are points where it teases a more gentle sound, but it doesn't quite let up from all of this. The second is calmer, making a counterpoint to the first movement, in a way that's calming while still somewhat uplifting - a restful tune. The music plays with that, building on it and varying it where it can. It focuses on the contrasts, which seems to come together at the end, which mixes between the manic early parts and quieter second movement, tying it together quite nicely to create a more uplifting sound.
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The thirtieth album: #30 Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard A live album from apparently one of the best jazz trios, this is still the smooth, at times inconsequential jazz that has plagued me before. There's nothing that bad about it, but it doesn't quite inspire me - and certainly does nothing for me on a gray day, where it can feel like a bit of a downer. I got noticeably bored partway through, never a good thing.
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Time for the second part of 1965! The one hundred and seventy-sixth song: Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan Another big name comes in - and how timely, with the supposed Nobel prize snub. This is, of course, a famous and familiar song, especially as Bob Dylan seems to have his own sound that stands out in the era - part of the singer-songwriter thing, the distinct sound works even with how biting it gets. There's a protest in this, and as the opposite of a love song, it works to capture a mood more than anything else. The one hundred and seventy-seventh song: People Get Ready - The Impressions From there, we smoothly slide into this soul song, a gospel-influenced song with socially concious imagery, religion delivering them from a bad fate (there are slavery images in there). It mostly sounds good and smooth, with nice sounding harmonies and some interesting imagery in the lyrics. The one hundred and seventy-eighth song: Who Do You Love - The Preachers What is a song like this doing on…
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The twenty-third book: #23 Love in Excess - Eliza Fowler Haywood I've been spending the last week reading this. It took some time, mostly because the copy I found (free as it's out of copyright) was quite old, still featuring long s's, which made it a bit more of an ordeal to read. I managed, though, although it probably impacted my enjoyment slightly. What bothered me more is that this was a romance, and one that felt vaguely predictable, and not that interesting - they're love stories that feel like they have been done better. Again, the period setting won't have helped here, but I didn't feel interested in reading the lengthy, flowery letters. A bit of a bore at times, that I felt I had to move through more slowly than I wanted to.
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The twenty-ninth album: #29 Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters at Newport Another live album, a blues album, and Muddy Waters is a single artist, not a band as (for some reason) I first thought. It sounds better than most live albums so far, as techniques obviously developed, It sounds good from the start - jazzy but drawing me in further, at a nice speed. Lyrically, and stylistically, while this is (it says) classified as Chicago blues, it's interesting how there are several references to gypsies and voodoo magic and the like - it's difficult not to try to hear some assocation with New Orleans in this. It's an interesting thing to see in here, showing that at least some of them are linked. Got My Mojo Working for example has these references, while also placing a lot of it in a more normal context. This is also the song where it's clear it's live, in the loud crowd reaction as well as the energy that is present in this performance.
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The one hundred and sixty-fifth song: La paloma - Caterina Valente Most notable here is the song itself, apparently one of the most recorded songs in the world. A classic folk song, this version makes use of a large orchestra, sounded gentle and possibly slightly sultry. It's an attractive, enticing sound here, one that feels massive while still showing the underlying simpler song. The flourishes are nice, but sometimes a bit over the top. The one hundred and sixty-sixth song: Sinnerman - Nina Simone An exciting, enticing gospel song, there's fire in the building crescendo of this song. The loud, almost shouted lyrics feel, on some level, triumphant and even from the mixed call and response in here, you can see how good this would sound in a live setting. As a swooping finale to a set, this would work really well, swept up in the music. There are some different parts of the song it moves through after that, all with the same excitement that would be amazing live and sounds good here…
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The twenty-eighth album: #28 Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack Back to instrumental jazz once more, this time using an electronic organ. I'm not sure this really has the desired effect on me - this list hasn't really made me love jazz. Again, there's nothing drawing me into the music, this is just background music that starts to bore me after a little while. The rhythm gets you in - my foot was tapping at some points - but there's not much that feels special. Competently done, sure, but that feels like it's about it.
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The twenty-seventh album: #27 The Everly Brothers - A Date With The Everly Brothers Despite the image that rock and roll would have conveyed, these brothers sound like sweet guys, singing country love songs that are sounding quite poppy. There are parts that are more like a ballad, some that are more rocky, but it overall works out like a good collection of love songs. And I mean, that's most of it, it's good, inoffensive music, something that's a lot of fun to listen to.
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The twenty-sixth album: #26 Miriam Makeba - Miriam Makeba And so we get to one of the rare non-American albums in the earlier parts of the list - and one that's only partially in English. Miriam Makeba is a South African singer, singing folk songs from around the world. We've heard her in the Click Song for the songs list, and now hear more of her music. It's lovely to listen to, a variety of styles with a lullaby that really was working but also several sweeping, exciting songs. It's all accompanied by the guitar and a male choir, the simplicity adding to this nature of the songs. Overall, there's a lot of happiness in the songs. There's one exception, One More Dance has Charles Colman, her duet partner for this episode, laughing through the entire song. I don't know why it wasn't rerecorded or was included like this, but it's distracting and annoying. Such a shame - and it feels so unnecessary.
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The eighth classical recording: #266 Frederic Chopin - Etudes My frequent lamentation here has been that I don't necessarily have the vocabulary to talk about classical music, and cannot give as indepth a commentary on them - in fact, that's part of the reason we're taking on the list in the first place. I am starting to develop a further understanding, though, and these suit better. Solo piano pieces (which I'm learning is what etudes are) lead to some challenging and complex pieces, with some immediate musicality that sounds good and puts in different moods - some calming, some enticing, but most are really pleasing. The skill in them, the attention to detail, it all comes together really nicely. The twenty-second book: #22 Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Dufoe Reading this book now, rather than one of its numerous adaptations, is putting an interesting spin on the story. The introduction of the novel, before the shipwreck, actually takes up a fairly large section of it, and goes into…
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The twenty-fifth album: #25 Elvis Presley - Elvis is Back! Elvis is back indeed, in this case from his two year military service. His music still sounds like fairly tame rock n roll to me, compared to what we got later, but these songs sounded more sensual and enticing for sure. It's almost a bit more grown up as well, and it's good to see an evolution that seems to be happening here. Musically, it sounds good, nicely varied throughout the album to give several different types of songs - sometimes more of a ballad, others swinging a lot. It also sounds like Elvis was happy to be back in the studio recording songs, there are moments where he seems to be having fun and enjoying the process. It makes the album a delight to listen to.
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The thirty-third TV show: #116 Star Trek It was fun watching this again. The original series is certainly pretty camp in places, with some stars going full at it, still following some crappy politics (women's roles in particular) and other oddities. There is still an interesting mix between light sci fi and hard ideas, not in a way that necessarily satisfies hardcore viewers, but that ends up being really entertaining. One of the big problems I had was, in fact, picking episodes to watch. Going with two per season - I'd watched the run fairly recently, so figured that'd be fair - there were always plenty of options. The start of my viewing happened to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary, so I started with the first episode broadcast, but it was trickier after that and the episode picks mostly come down to which one caught my eye. Still, there's something good about watching the show, even with its flaws, that it all made me happy anyway.
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The twenty-fourth album: #24 Joan Baez - Joan Baez A simple folk album, Joan Baez creates a simple but very listenable album. The lyrics are meaningful and it sounds good, warmth coming through in the often sad-sounding vocals. Most of it is accompanied by guitar alone, which works incredibly well in creating the atmosphere of the album. They are mostly from the standard song book, but adapted to her voice, Joan Baez makes them hers, fititing it to make it sound great. It's amaazing, in a way, how modern it sounds - you can still find singer-songwriters like it these days. I'ts nice, and is probably part of what makes it so easy to listen to these days. The twenty-first book: #21 Oroonoko - Aphra Behn It's interesting reading this not too long after watching Roots. Superficially, the main characters of both are similar - proud warriors stolen from Africa to be sold as slaves, both from time to time with a rebellious streak. The differences make this book weirder to our modern eyes…
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The twentieth book: #20 The Princess of Cleves - Madame de Lafayette This is a French courtly love story, set in the French courts of the day - and indeed written by someone who was there. Published anonymously, Madame de Lafayette became the credited writer, set in the courts she moved in herself. Indeed, apparently the details of court life are fairly accurate. It's an interesting read - somewhat for the love stories, although that doesn't feel quite as accurate - but because of the way court life is described. Not romanticized, as we might do now, writing partially to what we'd expect it to be like - but nothing too ugly either. There are in fact some historical seeming details, concerning political maneuvering of which princes married which and what power they got. It's sort of interesting, but probably less so now as it was at the time. Those get a bit tedious at times, but on the whole it makes for an interesting read, seeming fairly modern in set up and apparently set up the…
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The twenty-seventh comic: #152 Shock and Suspenstories This was an interesting set of stories. Each magazine contains a set of thrillers - set in various environments, although often contemporary US in some way - that led up to a shocking twist at the end. The twist often involves death or violence, sometimes in flashback form explaining how things happened, or challenging assumptions of the reader. Some are also clearly trying to be socially aware, for example challenging the common racism of the day. The art is often fine, good for what you expect of the time, and the stories almost always interesting. Some twists are predictable, but on the whole tend to grab you often enough. Ultimately, 1950s censorship got it shut down. A sad fate, really, as there were enough interesting avenues to explore.
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The twenty-third album: #23 Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out More jazz. It's the music of the era - I think I can understand on some level how the rockier sounds coming up could be a reaction to this. The album sounds good, there is a lot of swing to it straight away, with a liveliness that I felt I was missing from earlier versions of the song. These were all recorded in unusual times - not something I would recognise that well, but an interesting change nonetheless, and it's probably one of the things that make the album sounds different, maybe slightly out there, certainly in a way that kept bringing me back to it. It's an enjoyable album - more so than I expected. I might have the best ear for it, but so far it's been fine.
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The twenty-second album: #22 Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs Time to get into some country - we're overdue again and it feels like this is classic country, influenced by blues and early rock, something that comes across from the first song. It's a bit faster and guitar based and sounds good for it. It's also nice to listen to a singer-songwriter again, making for something more focused on his own voice. There are also nice gems of story telling in here - whether it's about chasing a man sentenced to death or finding religion, the lyrics matter so much more and cover more than the love songs we usually heard. It allows for far more diversions from the standard theme. I'm not sure it'll ever go in my top list, but earlier country songs (I'm not sure they quite were, but predecessors at least) didn't grab my quite as much as this did, making for something I've simply been enjoying a lot more. The seventh classical recording: #6 Antoine Busnoys - Motets The multi-voiced…
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The twenty-first album: #21 Miles Davis - Kind of Blue I've had some mixed experiences with instrumental blues in the past. It's not always quite my kind of music. For this album, it worked a lot better - a better beat and more interesting sounds gave me a more interesting and appealing listening experience. The downside is that it feels like it never quite goes anywhere. There isn't always a big difference between the tracks - I'm sure I could discern So What from Freddie Freeloader without giving it quite a bit more time. That luckily clears up a bit when the ballads come in - Blue In Green is incredibly touching and calming.
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The twentieth album: #20 Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles That title sounds big headed, doesn't it? Then again, listening to the album, I can't say it's undeserved either. The mix of jazz, gospel and big band music works well, creating a swinging, varied combination of songs that is a joy to listen to. It's exciting and fun, getting your foot tapping along. This changes once you get to the ballads of the B-side, but these sound good, softer and calmer, in a way that worked as slowly calming down after the rush from earlier. All of that worked pretty well for me. If anything, I wished they'd turned down the instruments and violins a bit during these, as they sometimes overpowered Ray Charles' performance. That's the one part that, to me, really maatered in these.
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The thirty-second TV show: #854 The Great British Bake-Off A bit of an unexpected pick perhaps, we're taking this one on because of societal pressure. So many colleagues and friends were watching that we didn't want to be left out of the conversation. Several more also started watching with this season, so that worked out, although we also went back a bit. Bake-Off feels incredibly British. Unlike other reality shows, it's not flashy. There are no dramatic storylines. It's all about the bakers and their skills and it shows. Their personalities absolutely come through, and you get your favourite, but it's all positive. There is also a lot of mutual support, which the show likes to make visible. There are plenty of times where they end up helping each other out. It looks really nice that way, even if it's incredibly high pressure. In the end, that also comes down to the presenters. Mel & Sue are a good double act, not just funny but incredibly supportive towards everyone in…
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The nineteenth book: #19 The Adventurous Simplicissimus - Hans von Grimmelhausen I'm not sure where to go with this book. It's another travelogue of sorts, a long meandering story of someone's life and travels, including a bunch of exaggerated happenings. Here, a decent part sounds plausible, but it all doesn't quite ring true. It's fine for fiction, but the minor note that this is partially biographical makes it feel a bit off. For a large part it reads well, but there are sections that can drag a bit, when it gets too technical... or goes into another campaign. Yeah, he travels all over the map, and in a way that makes sense, but sometimes it can be a bit much. It's also a bit self righteous at times. Still, those are relatively minor niggles. For the most part this is a good, fun read.
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The thirty-first TV show: #307 Brideshead Revisited I guess it was about time I did a historical drama - should have done more than one in fact. They're not my favourite genre, as the details can be a bit tedious and for some reason they feel like they have to be made slower - often to show how close they got to history. This show certainly had its moments of that, and we both had times when we figured we could get away with checking something else at the same time. I (of course) haven't read the novel yet, so can't comment on the quality of it, but it doesn't feel like one. Sure, there's some voiceover, but it all flows together well. The adaptation is shot and written well in that sense. It also helps that the actors seem to be in great form. They make it all feel natural - especially where the nobles can be nobles and students are students. It comes across that way. Jeremy Irons, as the lead, does this especially well, playing it slightly detached. He's the narrator and authorial…
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The nineteenth album: #19 Ella Fitzgerald - Sings the Gerswhin Songbook Surely amongst the longer albums on the list, this compilation takes three hours, serving here as a workday companion. The instrumental start also make the album feel more epic, putting you in the right move more generally. It's obviously a lot more restrained than yesterday's Sarah Vaughan album, which help make it feel like a big production. Ella Fitzgerald sounds amazing, very polished and confident. It's a variety of songs, although all jazzy and from a musical tradition, but it goes from very happy and upbeat to sadder and slower, creating a nice mix.
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The eighteenth album: #18 Sarah Vaughan - At Mister Kelly's There's something exciting about this album. As a live jazz album, it has a lot more energy than a studio album, but that's also something that shows through in Sarah Vaughan's performance. It's excited and happy, and infusing something optimistic in more melancholic songs. The looseness of the performance comes through as well (the introduction says that her having lyric sheets is because they're recording the album), especially when she gets ahead of the song on WIllow Weep For Me, improvising some lyrics to fill time. It's different, and adds a more human touch. Beyond that, the songs also sound really good, polished and well rehearsed. It's a relaxing comfortableness, one that doesn't let them sink away like other jazz songs have done, but instead keep you going.
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The thirtieth TV show: #523 The Daily Show Peter asked me why I didn't write this up yet. It's because while we've been watching the last few seasons of Jon Stewart and part of Trevor Noah's run, I have not yet seen a lot of the earlier season yet, or anything of Craig Kilborn's run. The latter is difficult to find - there is just one full episode of his on Youtube, and nothing to be found elsewhere. What makes this such a good show, to me, is the same as (I believe) a large part of my generation (at least that leaning in our direction). A feeling we can't quite trust media and politicians, and laughing at their errors in what's usually a well researched manner. John Oliver's show is the same - obviously, as it's an off shoot of this show - but here it's a bit lighter and it covers more topics per episode. The interview segments - quickly dropped on Last Week Tonight - do usually feel like they're a bit unnecessary, more useful because they eat up a nice chunk of time on a daily show…
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The seventeenth album: #17 Ramblin' Jack Elliott - Jack Takes The Floor Going by the name, I was expecting something moving towards rock. Seeing Jack Elliott's picture, I'm expecting something closer to country...and we certainlu get that folksy sound, accompanied only by guitar. It's very simple in its setup. Folk always needs to do a bit more work to win me over, and I'm certainly feeling that here. Elliott's voice is fine, but gets to me sometimes and I don't feel this necessarily sounds that amazing. He's a fine singer, suited to the music, but there's not much that grabs. It gets a bit too samey and boring, to be honest. And worse, the yodelling just sounds terrible.
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The sixteenth album: #16 Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin After listening to her several times for the songs list, I now get the full 'experience'. This is her in her later years, which shows through in the vocals, sounds deeper and darker. It's the slow, simpler songs that get you. While from the same place of Sinatra, where he goes big and swings, she goes small, the track often relying far more on her voice. It makes her sound sadder and smaller, something that really shows on "I Get Along Without You Very Well", which I've heard on both, but express a different sentiment simply because of the difference in the performers' voices. It becomes maudlin music to immerse yourself in, something the songs really allow you to do. The orchestration makes you feel comfortable in the sadder parts of the songs, which is a great feat on its own. It's good to feel a bit sad sometimes.
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The eighteenth book: #18 The Conquest of New Spain - Bernal Diaz del Castillo Or rather "The True History of the Conquest of New Spain", this book details the expeditions of the conquistadors (including Cortes' famous one) as the memoirs of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of the people who joined in the expedition. Aside from writing the history, he also seems to have wanted to correct another historian's work, which had become more famous but (he said) included several inaccuracies. I don't know whether this is necessarily more accurate, rather than being an alternative point of view, but it does provide an interesting narrative. The book is written from the perspective of the invaders being good people, doing their duty and claiming their right. They're not quite there to civilize the barbarians (although they are converting heathens), but you get the feeling that they assume they should have control very quickly, even though these people had lived there for ages. Some…
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The twenty-ninth TV show: #279 Pennies from Heaven Here we have an at times dark drama mixed with a musical - or rather, one where the character will suddenly lipsync to a 1930s song as they perform more elaborate choreography. The songs reflect the characters' inner life - often as a weird fantasy sequence - lit and set up as if they're on stage. The story is that of a man stuck in a loveless marriage, desperate for affection, who gets caught up in various situations to the point where he gets accused of murder. This gets a lot darker than the musical tone implies - there's some evidence of spousal abuse, for example, and it's odd how well it manages to move between the two. It manages to nicely float between the two, something clearly anchored by Bob Hoskins, who moves between the two quite well. He's not a good man, but digs further than he possibly deserves as well. Not sure what to make of that ending though.
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The fifth classical recording: #4 Francesco Landini - Ballades This is not quite what I expected from a subtitle of "Art of Courtly Love". These ballads sound fine, a lot of sopranos in more complicated melodies, but it all faded into each other, I wouldn't be able to distinguish individual songs in here. All in all it's a fine sound, but not one that I gain more from, just the ethereal, intrusive singing. Still, it sounds good, and i can see this working even better in the intended setting.
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The fifteenth album: #15 Tito Puente & His Orchestra - Dance Mania The definition of dance music has, of course, changed over the years.The latin music here is a bit slower than we might be used to now, but there's still more than enough swinging here. It makes for an interesting companion to Little Richard's album: again moving away from the omnipresent jazz. The Cuban music here still seems to have its links to jazz, including some traditional instruments, but it's so much happier. The better lyrics feel like they help a lot here as well, giving the song more of a 'body'. This is probably a situation where the instruments and melody manage to create a feel good feeling at a time where I could use one.
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The one hundred and fiftieth song: Leader of the Pack - The Shangri-Las Quite a bit of rebellion in this song - while not a rock song, the leader of the pack would be walking around in his leather jacket, listening to rock 'n roll and driving around on a motor cycle - which is heard on the record. It's melancholic and a bit darker than it seems. The vocals - just as much talking and conversational - add to the effect. It's not a happy love song, but sounds a bit more haunting instead. Still avoiding the wall of sound, and good for it. The one hundred and fifty-first song: Les copains d'abord - Geoges Brassens Meanwhile, in France... a chanson about a boat that's not fully translatable, because of the wordplay involved. It's a happy, with just his own guitar to accompany him. I can see this being a song that gets stuck in your head if you can follow the lyrics. The one hundred and fifty-second song: Samba malato - Nicomedes Santa Cruz And then we jump to the latin sound, almost the…
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The twenty-eighth TV show: #409 Roseanne Roseanne has an interesting history. Created in part as a reaction to the upper class nice lives of shows like the Cosby Show, it focuses on a lower class family that constantly has to stretch to make ends meet (something partially abandoned in later seasons, but at least always somewhat of a presence). The leads aren't particularly attractive, and the show relies on the wit involved in the family sparring with each other, combined with touching family moments. The show could work as a dramedy - an average episode feels like it could be a special episode on many other series. What helps is that the joy of them working together carries over. Despite plenty of issues, the actors get along and are often seen nearly breaking at each other's jabs. It shows they care in a way that comes across on screen. There's an amazing secondary cast - Roseanne Barr is good, but Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman especially lift up the material in a way that is…
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The seventeenth book: #17 The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda - Miguel de Cervantes Although de Cervantes considered this his better work, I'm not so sure. One big attraction of Don Quixote was how normal it was - it feels like an early novel about ordinary people, rising above their stations, but really dealing with normal subjects. His Persiles, instead, takes from Greek stories and chivalric romances and tries to be its own version. And, well, that style just doesn't work for me. I was honestly glad when I was done this time... not a good sign.
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The twenty-sixth TV show: #244 The Muppet Show The Muppet Show is an odd species. On one hand, it's fairly structured, a struggling variety show. In its most basic episodes, that's what it does - song and dance numbers, mixed with some sketches. Behind the screens there's usually a running storyline. Both involve the star, who gets a few songs if they're up for it, some sketches or other bits otherwise. These are incredibly well produced, with an eye for style and one that's needed considering the complexities that are involved when you need to use muppets - very few errors occur here. An episode like Rita Moreno's, who won an Emmy for her appearance on the show. Once they got into that flow, however, and especially when they have a guest they can do it with, they love messing with the concept. Steve Martin's episode, for example, is one where the show is cancelled and they are auditioning new acts instead, something they seem to use as an opportunity they make fun of each other's…
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The fourteenth album: #14 Little Richard - Here's Little Richard Enough jazz, time for something new! Little Richard - and the first track Tutti Frutti - has appeared in the songs list earlier, and that made the album one I looked forward to. It's so much more lively than the jazz from the previous few albums, and a lot more engaging. The album feels partially gospel, taking in elements of that and doo wop, but putting it in a rock environment that I believe was still in its early days at this point. It makes music feel a lot faster and more upbeat, a definite plus that I am enjoying a lot.
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The thirteenth album: #13 Machito - Kenya The music style of Machito is described as Latin jazz, which feels like the right moniker. There's the musical excitement of Latin music with the horns and looseness of jazz. They're swinging songs, good to listen to (more so than other jazz albums). Not overly complicated, just pleasant.
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The fourth classical recording: #3 Guillaume de Machaut - Ballades I'm not sure I got the exact right recording for this, but I am not sure it matters. These songs are somewhere between a troubadour style and more sacred hymns, drawing inspiration from both - I suppose where the ballad form starts off. It's very pleasant and relaxing, not as aggresive as some earlier recordings were. As impressive as before is the layering, how a song is built without many instruments and by layering different voices on top of each other instead.
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The 16th book: #16 Don Quixote There's a sad undertone to a lot of this book. While the windmills are the famous part of the story, the story is that of a lesser noble who, after reading loads of knightly novels (#9, Amadis of Gaul is mentioned several times) starts to believe he's one, questing to win the heart of his Dulcinea. He is joined by his squire Sancho Panza, a commoner with a simple wit who has decent insight at times, but follows his master's delusions. As he travels, there are several misunderstandings about this, but for large parts of the book, there are people who are in on the joke and seek to take advantage of Don Quixote, either because he can get them something or, for a large section of the second part, for the amusement of a duke and his household. It's funny - Sancho's turn as governor is inspired and the various adventures are amazing. It's also cruel, something the book doesn't always acknowledge, but it absolutely makes you think. It sounds cliche, but yes…
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The twenty-fifth TV show: #446 It Not so much a mini series as a TV event, It adapts a Stephen King novel in two 90 minute parts. It feels like it had to be this way. A movie would have been a bit too much, too intense. Too many episodes and the arc wouldn't build as well, and possibly invite more speculation and analysis on something that you just need to go along with. I'm not sure the eventual reveal quite worked for me, but the tension leading up to it, the way people interacted, was great. Especially the child actors, who did remarkably well considering the usual reputation child actors have. The special effects are good too, especially considering the TV budget, and are mostly very effective (except for some odd stop motion works that gets a bit odd). Last, Tim Curry as the titular It doesn't have a lot of screen time, but he made the best of it. He overplays it just enough and it sets the tone for the entire series, making it big, evil and scary. It's a shame when he disappears…
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The twelfth album: #12 Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool Another jazz album - they're quite common at this point. While I've complained about how some of these got quite boring at some point - more background music - that isn't as much the case here. Some of the tunes are catchy, and while none are loud, they are pleasant in a way that feels good and is quite relaxing. Hearing vocals suddenly come in with Darn That Dream is quite surprising - it stands out, but it feels like it kills the rhythm a bit. The best parts of the album come from the great instrumentals, and while the vocals are fine, I don't feel they quite live up to that. It's not as experimental as I believe his later works are, but it grabs me more than most other jazz has done.
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The twenty-fourth TV show: #251 Roots I feel awkward commenting on this show - it's not really mine to comment on. It's a dramatic, heavy show, hard to watch and one that makes you feel guilty. The story of slavery in the US (perpetrated by Europeans) is often uncomfortable and sad, unfair and difficult. There are plenty of happy moments, not in acceptance but in small victories for some of the characters (and one major one at the end of the civil war, even if the problems aren't over yet at that point). It's well performed, you feel sympathy with these characters. Quite a bit of nuance in some of the white characters, but never hiding their dark side. The main thing it shows is that there are so many built in biases that don't fade, horrible things that were just accepted. This show will stay with me for a long time.
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The twenty-sixth comic: #748 Promethea Promethea is a comic with two sides. On one hand, it's the story of a superhero who is reincarnated into different bodies by those who create things about her - by making comics, writing books or poetry and similar - and how she makes it through. An interesting premise that plays with art styles to imply different levels of existence. That premise is combined with a treatise on Kabbalah, one that is sort of tied to the Promethea story, but felt, to me, like it didn't quite as much enhance it, but spend more time interrupting it. It got a bit too disjointed, a bit too much trying to be philosophical, without being entertaining or informative. It just felt like an interruption that prevented reading the good bits. And that's a shame, because the art and style were really nice, and felt really innovative for it. It's just that it felt too hammered into the dream world, not something that naturally fit into the narrative. It doesn't feel like it has…
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The one hundred and thirty-ninth song: Cry Baby - Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters From doo wop to soul, here we get something that is heavily influenced by gospel music to sing a love song. There are places were it goes bigger, but never quite hits it. It partially suits the mood of helping this girl when she comes running to the singer after splitting up with her bad boy boy friend. It's just a bit too much between genres to know what to do with itself. The one hundred and fourtieth song: La javanaise - Juliette Greco Being in French, you'd soon expect a song in French to be a chanson. And while it feels like there are elements of that in here, the song is sultrier, sweeter. Not upbeat but happier. It draws you in and gives it something sensual. The one hundred and fourty-first song: Harlem Shuffle - Bob & Earl There are lods of these dance crazes that lift a specific song that they are trying to create. They are normally associated with more energetic songs than these though…
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The eleventh album: #11 Sabu Martinez - Palo Congo This album is listed as 'Latin jazz', and it does have that own sound - it's got a sound distinct from jazz, but doesn't go as big as, say, samba goes. It's still a pleasant and upbeat sound that I've been enjoying a lot. The variety helps too - when a loose call and response section comes in it feels a bit surprising and it's certainly different. As a percussionist himself, Sabu Martinez is obviously focused on the drums. It feels like those are always the throughline in all songs, often being the only instrument being played. It's an interesting focus that adds to the atmosphere and different sound coming from this album.
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The third classical recording: #170 Mozart - Requiem in D Minor This really makes things sound epic - Peter said he felt it while listening to it, everything he was doing felt more important. The music does make everything sound big and impressive, layering many things on top of each other for something that sounds really impressive.
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The twenty-fifth comic: #327 Buddha One of the interesting questions to ask when writing a biography like this is how faithful to stay. Not a true biography, Buddha takes liberties with the stories about the man's life, introducing additional characters and possibly moving some things around. Mostly, this is done to give some more drive to parts of the actions, or I assume to make separate stories feel like a larger part of the narrative (although some chapters still have a clear 'adapt a single story' feel). Others are to provide insight about Buddha and his teachings. I don't know all the stories that well - some are familiar to me, mostly from scraps I've slowly absorbed. As a comic they work well (keeping in mind that the storytelling is a bit limited because of the constraints of history), telling a story of the saint's life while explaining him along the way. He's human, he has to learn, and this is how he, and those around him, attain enlightenment. It's a compelling character…
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The tenth album: #10 Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners Fair enough on the jazz, it seems more interesting than the recent big band songs. It's not a genre that I think I appreciate focusing on a full album for - it's better as background music or when listening to the occasional track. The sound is not quite improvised, it's messy but complex and layered enough that it's more deliberate. It does make for a chaotic sound, where it's not always clear where the music is going - it's mostly just there, and I'm not sure that's in its own best interest. I think what helps is that the music here feels like it has personalities, it expresses the creator and his tastes, of sorts, rather than last time's jazzy album feeling like it watered that down somewhat.
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The second classical recording: #2 Hildegard of Bingen - Antiphons This was eerie at times, devotional, focused on worship. It was also long, and as good as the vocals were, the high pitching of it got to me a few times - perhaps a side effect of feeling stuffy today.
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The twenty-third TV show: #708 Medium Medium isn't a heavy show. It's a crime show that has some blood and effects, but mostly keeps that sight pretty light. In fact, while there are cases of the week, half the time they're solved as a sideline - it's the exploration of what a psychic accomplishes in this setting that's interesting. Initially this just manifests and visions and hints of where to go, with those surrounding being sceptical, but fortunately the show doesn't stick with that. Instead, people start to understand (but still claiming it doesn't work that way, you need due process) and run with it, leading to many succesful cases. Where it gets interesting is the more personal life. Patricia Arquette plays Allison DuBois, the main character, and the relationship with her husband on the show is wonderfully believeable. They're supportive, in love, but in the way that you are after being together for years. Of course there are some episodes where the psychic powers intrude on…
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The ninth album: #9 Count Basie - The Atomic Mr Bassie A lot of big band music, I notice I sometimes find it harder to judge music without vocals. An issue here is (for sure) that I'm not quite sure where songs begin or end, with the songs blending together a bit from time to time. It sounds interesting, uplifting and good to dance to. It does not quite offer the hook that otherwise grabs me. Absolutely a sign of the times and my different interest in music, but still present.
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The eighth album: The Crickets - The Chirping Crickets Early rock n roll, like this, can sound quite friendly (so can later bands, but bear with me). The guitars aren't tuned to sound quite as raw and the vocals are a bit more melodic. This album, in fact, has some vocal stylings that sound almost doo wop-like to my untrained ears. It's happy and poppy, not quite what I was expecting here. It goes sugar sweet sometimes and stays on the tamer end. Rock Me My Baby comes closer, offering a sound that reminded me of Elvis at times, but it's rarer - but good when it does, showing the potential there is here. That still sounds good, a good voice with good backing vocals that make for some amazing tunes. It's well performed. It does what it sets out to do. Sadly, what it sets out to do feels a bit bland, where I was hoping we'd get a bit more than a bunch of sappy love songs.
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The fifteenth book: #15 Thomas of Reading An odd book without a Wikipedia page... Really just a story of merchants in the middle ages. A lot of events, not much characters, and I'm not sure what the point of the story really is. It just bored me, the difficult language not helping, but there didn't seem to be much in it.
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The twenty-fourth comic: #103 Jingle Jangle Comics This comic didn't really do it. It's very much focused on children and the bad jokes match. Even so, children stuff can be good and clever, but that isn't the case here. This is a set of comics that matches exactly what you'd expect from a comic book from the 40s. The redeeming values? Clever use of very dynamic art and a lot of interesting things done with anthropomorphic items surrounding the characters. Even so, there's not much that's engaging in the stories and the jokes are mostly groanworthy to bad. And then there's the offensive bits... This was one we gave up early.
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The first classical recording: #1 Anonymous - Carmina Burana More upbeat than I was expecting to start off with - I believe these are at least partially religious texts, but the music is already not using the instruments I expect. The description of 'minstrel' music I heard does describe it, with drums, lutes and flutes. Starting off on a new list like this, I do have my prejudices, but so far they have not been confirmed. This sounds quite different from what I was expecting, folksier music than what you'd associate with classical music. About ten minutes in we do get something closer to this, but even that is a vocal performance enhanced by drums. It's slower, but works its magic just as well, not letting up. It refuses to sink to the background, without dominating. The performance here is also impressive, with a lot of force behind it. In other places, the vocals do sound odd - almost enforced laughter in places by the way it goes up and down, and it becomes odd to interpret. It…
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The one hundred and thirty-third song: Tous les garcons et les filles - Francoise Hardy When I think French songs, my mind usually goes first to chansons, the heavier songs of an Edith Piaf. More recent music is quite different, but that's where the sixties seem to be for that country. Here it sounds quite different though, still having some of the vocal stylings, but in a faster, upbeat song that combines sadness with something happier. The one hundred and thirty-fourth song: You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me - The Miracles I thought this sort of music was starting to die out. A good R&B vocal performance, it's a slow and sweet love song. At the same time, the music doesn't really get its hooks on me and starting drifting into the background quite soon. The one hundred and thirty-fifth song: Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker Speaking of which, here's some more blues. There's part of me that's waiting for the guitars to really kick in, there's something rocking in this song that never…
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The seventh album: #7 Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swingin' Lovers On this, Frank Sinatra's tenth studio album, he apparently made swingier, faster versions of classic songs of the day. I can see it in there - some songs I can easily see how they'd be slower even if I didn't know the original. For just as many, however, these feel like the classic way. Even through audio, Frank Sinatra comes through as charming and likeable, a certain happiness shows through in his songs. The songs are well executed, great instrumentation combined with the amazing vocals from Frank Sinatra. It sounds good and never sinks into the background as other similar songs might do - he sounds too interesting for that. And with the classics on here - I've Got You Under My Skin especially notable - it's obvious why this is all the case. An aboslutely swinging album. The fourteenth book: #14 Unfortunate Traveller After a good performance two days ago, the next book disappointed a bit. The Unfortunate Traveller is a…
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The thirteenth book: #13 (Monkey) Journey to the West I'm not sure whether I read the officially listed version of this, but if anything, it's because I read the unabridged version of the book known as 'Monkey' in its abridged version. It might be the translation helping here, but this feels like the most modern novel so far. There's a lot of good banter, especially once the main characters are in place and progresses. They tease each other, help and become three dimensional character. Monkey, the real protagonist of the story, is a flawed character trying to do his best - the typical prankster personality. The others are basic archetypes too, but they certainly grow a bit during the 100 chapters. The original bits - the initial chapters after Monkey's origin story and last few chapters of the book set in India - feel like they're written earlier, with a more formal style and less interesting characters. After that more stories seem to have added in between to pad the story, which…
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The sixth album: #6 Duke Ellington - Ellington at Newport Jazz is fine, really. Mildly pleasant to listen to, often livened up with vocals, but not something I get excited about. The enthusiastic shouts with which the performers are jeering each other on with in some of the lengthy, good songs feel a bit out of place for me. Don't get me wrong, they sound good, and the length of play makes htis all the more impressive, but it's still jazz, not rock n roll. It's when it's at its swingiest where the album is most notable. Several areas just feature a slow drone that you associate with slower jazz, and that would work well as background music, but not as an album to actively listen to, nor (I'd imagine) as a great concert piece. It clearly must have been, this having been a great night in music (or at least jazz), but I'm not sure I'm quite as taken by it.
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The fifth album: #5 Fats Domino - This Is Fats I should have knwon this, but I didn't quite realise that Fats Domino was more of a blues singer than something swingier, but the album veered closer to jazz and blues than I expected - not quite as much rock n roll as I was expecting (or hoping for). It's a pleasant swinging album that defines some of what's coming, but I just can't really get into it.
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The one hundred and twenty-third song: Spanish Harlem - Ben E. King This song was recorded soon after Ben E. King had left the Drifters, who we've heard before. There's still some doo wop here (what happened to that in modern times?), but the song focuses more on just his vocals, together with a musical arrangement that brings in strings and trumpets to create a dream-like atmosphere. The song is trying to invoke that as well, talking about a rose that grows in Spanish Harlem, an area of New York. It's mostly esoteric, with some Latin hints from the marimbas. The one hundred and twenty-fourth song: Mad About the Boy - Dinah Washington The most famous version of the song, where the lyrics of the song are good, Dinah Washington turns this song into something special. The dark sound of her voice adds a maturity to the adoration expressed in the song. It's got power and character to it, making it more than a simple love song. Performed incredibly well and distinctive enough to stand out…
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The twenty-second TV show: #339 Blackadder For this write up, we really have to ignore the final episode, and especially the last few minutes of the show. It's such a sad and special moment that works well (and is led up to by plenty of jokes), but isn't quite the same. This show is divided in four series (we're also ignoring the specials) and they really are four different series. They're all set at different periods in times and the main characters, though all called Blackadder and played by the same actor. The first is notably less intelligent and they descend down the ranks and classes as time goes on, from being a prince to a captain stuck in the trenches of the first world war. They're all good - although you could argue some are better than others - for different reasons. For a bunch of backstage reasons, the first season is quite different from the others, with Black Adder feeling like a different character and everything being on film. The second and third are probably most…
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The twenty-first TV show: #910 Les Revenants This book is leading us from one nailbiting 'must see' to the next. After the relative dud of American Family, we watched all of Les Revenants (the Returned) in a week, two episodes a time (as it was originally broadcast), often four a day. As I'm writing this we're watching the final episode, which will answer some of the questions we have, but probably not all of them (there's a call for a third season as well). And that's fine. One of the entertaining parts of the series was that we had questions and things to debate, and that we discussed them constantly after, but also during the show. There are many layers to the mystery, and enough get resolved as others get added that both stay satisfactory - the things you find out and the things you want to find out about. The series is happy to let it be and explain it later when it's ready. There's a few places hwere it feels a bit off - where an earlier explanation might have made some other…
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The fourth album: #4 Louis Prima - The WIldest The difference between this list and the song list comes down, in part, to where it starts. Rock only creeps into the songs list slowly, as so many more recordings appear earlier. Albums only started to become notable later, and so encountering Elvis on the third makes more sense, using a style that has already been established. Louis Prima's jazz was more '"your parents' music" - adeptly played, a lot of fun, but more one of the types of work than it would have been a decade or so earlier. Just listening to the first song makes me happy enough, swinging enough to stay fun. Absolutely enjoyable, as does the band when they get let loose.There's a bunch of jazz, the feel of a big band and some hints of rock and roll. It's positive, not as harsh as rock could sound, but also refuses to sink into the background as other songs with the style can go. A lot of this was recorded in a casino lounge, and it comes through. There are places…
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The twentieth TV show: #748 Dexter At this point I'm just over halfway through the second season of Dexter. Where, I understand, the show really gets good, until it takes a dive after the fourth season. We'd started Dexter before, but never got around to getting too far in it, so this gave me a good reason to catch up and keep watching. And the second season certainly steps it up. There's more depth to the characters and it plays more to their strengths. It's not as much about a murder of the week as it is about the way they make it through their life while focusing more on the cat and mouse game. There's just as much actual risk. And that's where it's interesting. Despite everything he does, you don't want Dexter to be caught. He kills the bad guys, making him more ambiguous. Michael C. Hall brings his best to make the character both charming and frightening, effortlessly blending the two, making you hate and love him at different points. On the other hand, early on some episodes…
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The one hundred and thirteenth song: Wondrous Place - Billy Fury Another British Elvis-inspired singer, Billy Fury sounds good on this, if a bit young. He apparently liked the sparse instrumentation, but it detracts from the music a bit for me, it doesn't really do as much for me. The one hundred and fourteenth song: Save the Last Dance for Me - The Drifters Back to more traditional pop, this song sounds good. It's partially an uplifting song, but with a sad note - especially with the history behind it (referencing to a wedding where one of the writers, the wheelchair bound groom, couldn't join the dancing). It has the right mix of emotions behind it, so much of it coming through in the song's vocals. It summons those emotions slightly, while still remaining upbeat enough. The one hundred and fifteenth song: Chaje shukarije - Esma Redzepova Peter introduced this as 'something completely different' - and it certainly is. It wouldn't quite feel out of place for Eurovision (not good…
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The twenty-third comic: #437 The Incal I'm not really sure where to go when describing the Incal. Sure, it's partially a drama comic, partially a sci-fi action strip, partially something more esoteric. It's a bit unfocused, a storyline that meanders a bit sometimes and that I'm not sure necessarily has a focus. It sounds like a consequence of the writing process, mostly done on the spur of the moment. The writer - film director Alejandro Jodorowsky - wrote by dictating to the artist, who interpreted it, dropped or changed phrases to suit the art. It makes for a very art driven comic, and while the overall story makes sense, there are some sections that clearly go more for creating interesting images instead. The visual storytellng works, drawing you into the alien world where some sort of magic is real and strange things happen. It's an amazing read with some oddities in there.
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The third album: #3 Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley I've listened to a few Elvis singles for the songs list so far, and of course as an artist he has permeated culture to such an extent that I have heard many of his songs. Starting off with Blue Suede Shoes, you immediately hear Elvis, although "I'm Counting on You" doesn't sound as much like a standard Elvis song, being slower and more blues-like than other songs. It's good, and performed better than I would have believed if you'd told me he had performed a song like this. Most of these songs are covers, not all quite Elvis yet, but the best is shown when the music goes for the swing and he can use his trademark effects. Held back he sounds good enough, but there isn't the frenzy you quite expect and want from him - what he does best. In that sense, it's like a first album. A bit shaky when it tries to figure out what it should be, but when it's there, it really hits.
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The nineteenth TV show: #191 An American Family Apologies - this has been a bit of a slog. We'd call this a reality show these days, but back in the day - this was filmed in 1971 - this was a documentary, an overview of the life of this family through nearly a year. It might sound like the Kardashians, but no, as a PBS show this had to be serious. And some interesting things happened - most notably, the parents went through a divorce during this year, which wasn't solely caused by the filming (any references are actually really circumspect), but there's an underlying tension that means the filming might have had an influence. It is, in fact, interesting to see that even in what feels like the first reality show of its kind, people are so aware of the camera and at least some of them are put on their best behaviour. The hour long length of the shows isn't the only thing that's off putting. We're used to a bunch of reality show tricks these days that are missing here, including things…
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The twenty-second comic: #618 Ghost World Ghost World is listed as a 'Teen' comic in the book, and it feels like it's mostly slice of life here. It is the story of a friendship, and how it ends after high school ends and they go their own ways. Most of it is simple, these two semi-outsiders hanging around their home town, interacting with the odder residents and dealing with situations that come up. The teens have a dark outlook on the world, vaguely goth-like and above it all. At the same time, they make mistakes and the comic doesn't shy away from that either. It's a simple, but relatable story for the most part and it's a light enough read for a while.
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The twenty-first comic: #124 Alix The basic description of Alix - an adventure comic set in Roman times - sounds good. Some historic references, a more serious story than something like Asterix, but something interesting and colourful. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work out that way. Alix is set up as a flawless character. Strong, smart, a good fighter, athletic and able to get out of any situation. If he gets captured, it isn't for long, and most problems arise from him being too trusting. There's no flaws, no internal conflicts and nothing stays bad for long. It's boring, with a lot of repetition between album storylines and no real interesting places it goes. What doesn't help is a bit of a "show, don't tell" feeling I got from some of them. A few times too often, we get told what people feel or what happens. Sometimes this is duplicate in images, sometimes it would have felt more effective if given an extra panel to show it - either way, it feels unnecessary and lazy…
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The one hundred and sixth song: Brand New Cadillac- Vince Taylor & His Playboys Rockabilly comes to the UK. Where rock and roll in the country was defined by Cliff Richard early, Vince Taylor brought a more Elvis-like sound in. Strong guitar solos add to a dark, slightly soul-like voice that sounds decidedly non-British - taking off in a brand new cadillac doesn't sound quite right. Sounds good. The one hundred and seventh song: What'd I Say (Parts 1 & 2)- Ray Charles Speaking of soul, here's one of the real originators. Interesting experience aside (the song was improvised when Ray Charles has some time to fill at the end of a concert), there is a progression from a simple instrumental song, but then pulls in vocals and builds on the different elements - it seems like there are even more and more instruments joining in as the song continues. It's certainly the looseness the song seems to have (even though they had played it several times by now) that add to the song, it adds…
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The second album: #2 The Louvin Brothers - Tragic Songs of Life What else do I need to say with a title like that? These are genuinely tragic songs, slow country music with sad lyrics.Even something like 'All Smiles Tonight' is more about being happy for a night than actually feeling good - more putting on a brave face than anything - and "Let Her Go, God Bless Her" may sound jollier, but seems to be about a break up as well. One song was written by the brothers themselves - Alabama - which does feel like a personal tribute to their home state, even if it still has the sense of longing in there. I can certainly appreciate the craftmanship - these are good ballads and the brothers have great voices. Obviously not a lot of production yet, but it works.
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The eighteenth TV show: #326 Cheers Here's a show we fell in love with. We didn't binge our twenty episodes in a day (despite the appearance of publishing dates) - A Warning to the Curious was delayed so we could watch it with others - although we well could have. While we were expecting to like it, we were expecting something a bit more stale. Not so - although the show has its date references, watching the show makes you feel right at home, and the first scenes made us love it. Jumping around a bit, the changes seemed memorable, but we soon said we just had to watch the whole thing. And yeah, we'll continue to do so. The characters are good, with great performances and people you'll take to straight away. But most important, it does feel like a place where everybody knows your name, and where you feel comfortable because of it.
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The seventeenth TV show: #188 A Warning to the Curious A quick intrusion. One of BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas, this tells the story of a man who looks for a crown that, while it's hidden, prevents England from harm. It gets found and spooky things start happening. It's not a story that feels scary now. Vaguely spooky and uncomfortable, but it didn't make us feel that tense or scared. Sure, it's partially because it's a bright but chilly April day outside, but even then I suspect it wouldn't have been the scariest. With that said, the performances are good and carry over the feeling well. I'm just not sure it's as much of an event show as it feels it should have been.
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The first album: #1 In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning - Frank SInatra Starting at the beginning for this list. I want to broaden my musical knowledge, and this is one step in this process. On my lunch break! Frank Sinatra has appeared in the songs list, and indeed this album's title track has been covered before.Just as much a crooner, the song and album feel a bit slower than his later work, something that feels like a notable development in his music. It sounds good, the tragic sounds working well to set the mood. Sadly the recording quality isn't the best on all of these, which did make a bunch of these somewhat distracting to listen too - the fuzz was a bit overpowering at times and the echoes distracting. The jazz/big band style of performing doesn't appeal to me as much, partially perhaps because I haven't been exposed to it as much. The whole album feels a bit slow to me and, while it's performed well (both vocals and music), it doesn't quite have the emotional power that I…
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The twelfth book: #12 The Lusiad The Lusiad didn't work for me - ticking several boxes there. Set up as a poem, the story went lyrical and allegorical - rarely describing much and getting lost on tangents. And not in a good way. The focus is less on telling the story, and more on rhymes, and in this case that just bored me. Then it got set up as a series of monologues. I've mentioned before why that doesn't work for me - see La Celestina - and the 'arguments' (as they're called) may expound on feelings a lot, but they are terrible at actually telling a story (something plays do by being visual instead). It works if it's about a discussion, but not as much when you're talking about something more adventurous like exploring and discovering new countries. Probably the most interesting part for me were the footnotes including in my edition, explaining the historical facts and such behind the story. At least there was something I could get out of it.
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The sixteenth TV show: #801 Childrens Hospital Oh, I'm going to miss this show. Childrens Hospital originally started as five minute long shorts created during the 2008 writer's strike, then was picked up on Adult Swim as fifteen minute shorts. It started off as a hospital show parody, set in a children's hospital (founded by Arthur Children, located in Brazil... it's a long story). It has evolved into a show that is set in a hospital, but can tell any sort of story with it - spoofs of movies, takes on genres and just following weird ideas. Not only do we see Childrens Hospital, but also the supposed behind the scenes aspects invovled in creating it (which is distinct from the actual actors). It all works brilliantly - there's some lesser moments, but the shows are always packed with jokes and references and seems willing to try everything. I struggle to find a favourite, especially once (in the second season) they really find their feet and go beyond Grey's Anatomy's spoofs. There's…
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The fifteenth TV show: #323 Knight Rider When I was young, we watched a lot of Knight Rider. I sort of remembered what to expect from that - although I suppose anyone with the description of the show could. Somewhat trashy, an action show focused on a lot of car chases and other action sequences. For most episodes, this is the case. It's well done, everyone is clearly having fun creating the show, and we get some good moments in there. There are, however, also a few episodes that play with the concept, occasionally try a slightly different concept, and present a series that does something interesting with it. Those episodes are usually the best too. It is made bearable mostly by the performances. David Hasselhoff does fine as Michael Knight (and is clearly in his element as stunt driver - until an accident happened he did some of the car stunt work himself) and the supporting cast really adds to the show, but the clear star is, and remains, KITT (something that, compared to other…
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The ninetieth song: It's Only Make Believe - Conway Titty Although Conway Twitty started his career in part through Elvis Presley, he sticks (in this song at least) to slower country tunes. Not as swinging, more barbershop, the song sounds good but won't get you going wild. Of course, the lyrics aren't conductive to this either, the story of a man in a relationship with a girlfriend who doesn't love him, seeming as painful as it sounds. The ninety-first song: Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry So this song went into space, an indication of how much it got into the USA's concious. This song has the standard rock sound, the guitars and vocals are all there. It sounds good and engaging. Even outside teh socail implications, this song about a boy becoming a famous guitar player feels right. The ninety-second song: Move It! - Cliff Richard & The Drifters I suppose this shows how much more difficult it was for music to travel at the time. In isolation, this song does start off sounding as if…
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The eleventh book: #11 Gargantua and Pantagruel I'm not sure what to say here. The books, describing the life of two giants (mostly Pantagruel, in four of the five books, and his father Gargantua) has several satirical elements, a bunch of fun areas, loads of lists, but also parts that just dragged for me, with monologues that I could never quite get into. It alternated between good parts and bits I couldn't get into. The first book worked best - having to describe Gargantua's life in one book gave it more focus than the later works, which ambled moer. There's a bunch of social satire in there that I'm not sure applies anymore. It's odd, basically, and never quite grabbed me as it should have.
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The fourteenth TV show: #1000 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt When Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was released on Netflix a year ago, we binged it in one weekend - we were going to take it more slowly, but it was that good. This week, the second season was released, and one Saturday later, we've watched all of that. From the people behind 30 Rock, Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, it also has the same odd tangent, pop culture references and weirdness. At the same time, it trades more on the friendships and relationships between the characters, especially that between Kimmy Schmidt and her gay roommate Titus. It's funny, but there's a darkness to Ellie Kemper's character and environments that work for a good season throughline. Although a lot of humour comes from her lack of awareness of how the world has changed, and the difference between living in a small town and living in New York, they are just as often reacting to other people's weirdness, and vice versa. The journeys of these characters are…
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The twentieth comic: #798 Nodame Cantabile It's been a little while, hasn't it? Nodame Cantabile has been a bit tricky to get through. The Japanese romance mangas can be fun, but slow to get through due to serialization and how it needs to be drawn out to cover all the volumes. The other side of the coin then, the musical side, doesn't connect with me that much either. I'm not a great musical person, not knowing much about it, and while I enjoy listening, I'm not a performer, have never played an instrument, and can't connect with that life. Sure, I know education, but the practice required, and the way you have to be into music, isn't quite the same thing. When it moves away from the school, and the characters become more important, the manga becomes more interesting to read. While well done - the way it portrays music in how it looks, through expressions, panels and style is very noteworthy - the story and what it explores doesn't feel as interesting to me. Worth having tried, but…
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The thirteenth TV show: #705 My Lovely Sam-Soon This show is listed as a drama - comedy/drama would be more accurate. The love story between the titular Sam Soon and Hyun Jin-Heon slowly develops and while there's a real emotional core, one that really pays off in the last few episodes, there are plenty of funny scenes in there as well (the lead actress originally made her name acting in comedies). Some of these moments come with their own whimsical music, with (I'm told) a horse neighing included. The music used, in fact, is apt at times, giving a good impression of what's going on... although there are also some oddly loud choices. It's oddly telling, by the way, how we can tell Jin-Heon's attitude by his hairstyle. It seems magical at times. All in all, we went through all 16 episodes in two weeks. Although it was tiring at times - the episodes are long, and all subtitled - it was a great experience that drew us in. The comedy didn't distract, it actually made us empathise with Sam…
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The tenth book: #10 The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes It's quite clear to me now that while the knightly romances were popular in the 1500s, the real accomplishments (at least for me) are the satires and parodies of the genre. Unlike other books that are about virtues and morals and doing the right thing. Lazarillo, instead, is just concerned with stilling his hunger and pulling the wool over his masters' eyes to do so. It's an incredibly entertaining read, with a nice arc through the indivdual tales. The chapters and stories get shorter as time goes on (a few masters are dismissed in three sentences) which actually means themes don't get revisited too much. Snappy and fun that way.
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The twelfth TV show: #652 Venture Bros Having regularly watched Archer (which will come up at some point in the future), the basics of adult animation are familiar to me. Venture Bros seems to be an early one introduced by Cartoon Network, at least of its 'generation'. Taking on the adventure animation stories from the past - Johnny Quest a clear inspiration, but the likes of Scooby Doo also present. It's semi-serialized, individual adventures in a plotline. It quicly creates its own cast that expands beyond the Venture familiy, that gets referenced and returns whenever possible and plausible. What seem like one-joke characters quickly get their own longer storylines, creating a nice but messed up world. One with a surprising amount of cartoon nudity. Somehow.
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The nineteenth comic: #723 Road to Perdition This was amazing. A long story about a boy and his father, a hitman for the mob in the 1920s. It is drawn amazingly, looking impressive in a black and white setting that feels like it fits the time it occurs in. But then it's the story that really impresses. The story of a hitman who loses favour with the boss is impressive, with several different detours that look good. The period detail is nice, but it's the characters that are well drawn and nuanced. A wonderful journey - violent, but somehow contained enough.
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The ninth book: #9 Amadis of Gaul Another knightly romance, Amadis of Gaul just didn't work for me. From the same era that Arthur's stories appeared in, this, too, is about an English knight (though no round table is involved) and there's some thematic similarities. It's a knight who's send out by his king and his wife, the princess, to get purity. He's the perfect knight, defeating those less good. It's a chore to read. The characters didn't seem that interesting and the language is tortuous enough that I struggled trying to stay focused on the work. These romances don't seem to work for me.
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The seventeenth comic: #796 Meanwhile Choose your own adventure stories are interesting. The storyies tend to be shorter, but there's some excitement in knowing you have influenced what will happen. The lack of length - due to the number of entries that needs to be supported - is unfortunate however, either because choices are curtailed early or because they all have to be short. When comics are already short, this feels like it would get even worse. Meanwhile pulls this off quite well, both by doubling back on itself and by densely packing its pages, using pictures in pictures and mixed panels to add reminders to the story. There's even room for a giant squid picture that doesn't link to anything else. The story itself makes use of this too, using time travel to reuse panels and link them together. Even then it creates an interesting story, with possibilities of a perfect future or a grandfather paradox style item that populates the world. Or you just go home and enjoy your ice cream…
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The ninth TV show: #984 Inside No. 9 We enjoyed both the League of Gentlemen (a future entry on the list) and Psychoville (which isn't, but should have been) - and so Inside No 9 has been on our watchlist for a while. It's an anthology series with each episode set at a number 9 - usually a home, but also once, for example, a cubicle. More varied, it probably removes some of the pressure of having to switch between costumes while playing different characters, but the variety must have had its own challenges. And it works well. Each have their shocks or twists, but they allow for just as many experimental options - some are straight up scary stories, but having an episode with only one line of dialogue is just as good and impressive. Few really lean towards the supernatural, while most just hint at it, it's the variety that keeps you on your toes. You can't predict where an episode will go (with even the episode descriptions misleading you at times) but it almost always pays off…
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The sixteenth comic: #70 Mandrake the Magician Mandrake the Magician is possibly the first superhero comic - it's debatable, but it's certainly a candidate. And it's a superhero in the realistic mold - although his command of hypnotism surpasses what's actually possible, and telepathy features in places, there's no super strength, no over the top displays of power, and it tries to make it all seem at least possible. And it sort of shows. As a character, Mandrake is boring - he's the sort of boring 'perfect' man - polite, confident and universally beloved. There's just not much to it. And while other heroes sometimes started out this way too, they evolved, but Mandrake doesn't quite seem to have gotten there in the samples we've read. The sidekicks are there too. Narda is useless and unnecessary in most stories (although more useful in Doctor Congo) and Lothar starts off as a stereotype, becomes more interesting but still is the dumb, strong one. The storylines are also a bit samey in…
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The fifteenth comic: #395 Garfield "Hey, did you know you can find all the Garfield strips online?" An hour later we read the minimum we wanted. And some more. You can too! Garfield is such a mainstay in the comic field that it feels like there's little to say about it. The riffs on it - Garfield minus Garfield, and the unnamed trend that started around the same time that just removed Garfield's speech bubbles showing how expressive the cartoon is. Also, great to hear that Jim Davis is not only willing to let those projects be, but even embraces them and enjoys reading them. Garfield is good, from the early comics to the most recent. It relies heavily on tropes and recurring gags, and while 'fresh' isn't the best word for it, it manages to find enough variation to keep the comics fun. It's all simple and recognisable, both because you recognise the behaviour from cats and because a lot of traits - like hating Mondays - are recognisable in general. This means that what should…
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The eighth book: #8 La Celestina I suppose it was bound to happen. La Celestina was translated to English in the 1600. While it has been updated, the translation still has elements that show its age, having really just been updated for spelling and the like. The language can certainly feel a bit dated. What makes this more noticeable, and the book possibly less penetrable to me, is that the story has been set up as a conversation (similar to, for example, Plato's dialogues) or arguments. It reads as a play, with less stage directions, and makes the writing feel more static. There are long monologues and actions don't stand out as much. It's not what I've been used to reading and I feel I might have missed out on parts of it. Still, it's an interesting story - the basics are there, but the characters are painted effectively and are interesting enough.
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The fourteenth comic: #334 Rose of Versailles That was... different. I've read Japanese manga before for this list, and with the love themes as found in here - the lesbian angles felt similar to, but more serious than Genshiken - but historic works, fictionalized accounts are rarer. I've been there for books a few times now, but not for comics. That historic angle wasn't necessarily the best for the work in all places. It provided me with some detail and facts I didn't know, or had half forgotten before. My history lessons on the subject are fifteen years or longer ago, so it's all a lot hazier than it used to be. But at the same time, it meant that character development was often curtailed. In particular, historical character were shown to learn from scenes, then later discarded that knowledge because the historical figure didn't learn it quite that way. The more interesting characters are the fictional ones - the lead, Oscar, in particular. Originally a supporting character, she…
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The eighth TV show: #129 The Prisoner Now I had seen this before, six or so years ago, out of curiousity about the series, and enjoyed it a lot. As one of those cultural touchstone series, it also felt like something that, if you were serious about tv, you had to have seen. Peter hadn't yet, but wanted to for a while, and this was a good point to show it to him, and to give myself a chance to rewatch it. It was good, for the most part. The series has some weird and dud episodes - the western episode, for example, didn't hold up, and felt like it was a late addition to the schedule to make up the episodes needed for the season. If this had gone beyond the seventeen episodes broadcast it would have made for a worse series. Now, though, the show gave us a bunch of higher concept episodes than what is usual for the era and genre, with the village setting, the titular prisoner and two staff members of the village (one of them mute throughout the series). It focuses on a range of related…
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The thirteenth comic: #277 Iznogoud: The Caliph's Vacation Puntastic is how I described the series to Peter when I picked this, although I must admit I had forgotten how many there were in here (with regular fourth wall breaking to point out how bad some of them were. The concept is simple: our antihero wants to be caliph instead of the caliph. He does so through all sorts of convoluted plans which (as you'd expect) always end up going wrong somewhere. Created by Goscinny and Tabary, the former one of the creators of Asterix, it has a similar sense of humour, but with more subversive storylines. Focusing on an anithero makes that clear, with usccess often a small step away - or as often staying far off - but with just enough bad luck that you want to keep rooting for him to see where else he goes wrong. I loved this comic as a kid, often renting volumes from the library (there were more Dutch translations). I didn't adore it as much this time as I did them, but it's still good enough…
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Double bill today The eleventh comic: #626 Space Dog Space Dog looks quite distinctive: bold, flat colours, angular and sharp. The strong aesthetic creates its own world that fits the story. It starts off quite standard, in a sense, for these stories - unhappy dog on the farm tries city life, escapes there, has adventure, and the very final bit even has it return there to find the simpler life. The middle bit is what sets it apart. The trip to space even feels standard, but the dog gaining intelligence (all of this communicated through symbols and images) through alien interference is... odd, and it makes for an interesting twist towards a more immpactful story that has merit on more than its looks. A delightful story. The twelth comic: #902 The Arrival Another wordless story, there is more of a reason here. The story of an immigrant (mostly for economic reasons, it seems, although there is a hint of more going on in the background that might subvert that), everything is strange, and…
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The seventh TV show: #317 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy H2G2 (as the title is often abbreviated) has so many incarnations, most of them widely beloved. The book will come up at some point in the future, as will the video game on Pong & Beyond proper, while I'm fairly sure the radio show would be listed if it could be. The movie... well, we'll ignore that. You can tell Douglas Adams' voice from anyone else's. Adapted mostly from the radio play, as well as parts of the novels, the TV show remains very wordy (the book's narrator voice maintaining a strong presence). The writing is excellent, as witty as ever and simply fun. What the TV show really adds to the saga, though, are the visuals. The show was made for a relatively cheap amount, with dodgy effects in places, but on the whole, the show gets away with a lot (in a similar way to how future show Doctor Who - the classic version - did at the time). It's effective in the many different ways it uses what it has - the Heart…
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The seventh book: #7 Tirant lo Blanc So I'm not quite sure I completely got this book. It's partially meant to be a satire, which came through but didn't hit as well as it would have, as I have not read as many of the work that are its inspiration (and none are really on the list either). It's a light book about a knight who becomes emperor of Constantinople (an early alternate history novel), and his adventures to get there. It hits all the known tropes - unknown knight appearing, difficult romances with intrigue and so on. It read easily for that reason, easy enough to read and follow along with entertaining stories in there. It's not quite as funny as it should be, but it's as amusing as anything. While it doesn't quite work as a satire, it works as a lighter knight story anyway, probably more entertaining than heavy romances. Worth my time and I hope there'll be more along like this. Don Quixote for one - a book Tirant lo Blanc inspired, and with a similar setup. It should be good…
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The sixth book: #6 The Golden AssWhen ordered by writing date, this book should be listed before anything else I've read so far, but as this is ordered by published date, it comes in later.The Golden Ass, or the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, tells the story about a man who gets turned into a donkey. He gets better at the end (in a somewhat inconsistent final chapter that becomes more of a religious text, teaching of the greatness of these cults. Before that it's quite an amusing tale, showing the follies of human while also showing up the main character, his selfishness and foibles.While an interesting story, what felt just as fascinating were the details of Roman life. You hear about a lot of these things in textbooks, but in this novel they are put far more into a real life context, having a normal life punctuated by these oddities, from slaves to how leaders act. The many references to gods - Hercules a favourite, is quite insightful as well, especially where they reference deities…
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The sixth TV show: #226 Saturday Night LiveI've been trying to keep up with Saturday Night Live before, and trying to go through its backlog, so this was mostly extra good fun. I tried to pick out some episodes from different eras of the show to see how things changes, what happened in the different eras and how good it stays.Is it worth than it ever was? Not really. There are up and down seasons, but it desn't feel like it's some consistent downwards trend. The original cast was incredibly strong, and the supposedly worst episode was dreadful. but for the most part episodes stay funny and it's always worth trying for that show that really hits it home.In a sense, it's the cast rotation that keeps it fresh. When they stay too long, patterns become ingrained and characters become stale. Seeing a new cast member come in may mean they disappear soon, not making an impact, but others stay and bring in their own new ideas. In the time we've watched actively, people like Taran Killam, Kate…
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The eighty-fourth song: Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On - Jerry Lee LewisThe rockabilly sound still seems to define a lot of early rock. The larger reliance on piano over guitars still feels noticeable here and while there's a lot of energy in the song, it isn't quite rocking out yet. Part of the appeal is allegedly in the performance, making this song more popular once it aired on TV, and that comes across in places, but makes it oddly subdued in places here.The eighty-fifth song: That'll Be the Day - Buddy Holly & The CricketsIt's been a while since we got what seems best described as pop rock. The guitars and drums are there, but there's a bit more of a focus in this song on harmonic vocals, more reminiscent of Beatles songs. It sounds good and happy though, decent enough if a bit dated now.The eighty-sixth song: Little Darlin' - The DiamondsBack to doo wop, this feels like a bit of throwback to earlier songs. It sounds incredibly good, though, well produced and performed. It's quite…
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The fifth book: #5 The Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh)That was an interesting read. The book felt more readable than some earlier works, certainly with less formulaic sentence structure as seen in, say, Arabian Nights, or the more historical focus of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.Instead, the 100 chapter epic has some strong characters, at times somewhat stereotypical, but actually quite well developed. They are also, however, involved, in more interesting adventures, with a lot of action elements and stories, and clearly written for entertainment. The novel started getting better as I got further into it. The introduction stories, bringing the characters together, last for the first half, and are mixed quality - depending on how well the character was defined and what uses he had. When the band has gathered and goes out, however, the stories become more fun, and while the battles near the end get more repetitive, there's a great number of more interesting stories in…
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The seventy-fifth song: Honey Hush - The Johnny Burnette TrioThere's something odd about the sound of this song. It's rocky, but almost derivative in that sound, and the rockabilly sound is somehow similar to Elvis, but with a clearer vocal sound. If I heard of it today, I'd feel it was derivative. The fifties lyrics also feel tame for a large part - old fashioned in part, while trying to be edgy in places. It's the muted guitar that stands out though, the first try with a fuzz guitar.The seventy-sixth song: I Walk the Line - Johnny CashOne of the minor interesting things about the song are the key changes - introduced by a hum because Cash needs to get them right - that make each verse sound different, and imbue it with a slightly different atmosphere. It sounds simple, though, no complex lyrics, but something that appeals. There's vulnerability in it, but not overly much.The seventy-seventh song: Knoxville Girl - The Louvin BrothersAnother country song, coming from a murder ballad…
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The fifth TV show: #476 Iron ChefI don't really watch cooking shows that often - they would usually be filler for me, and, well, I have enough to watch anyway. Iron Chef had some work to win me over, though.It did. It did for a large part because it's not about teaching you recipes or showing ordinary people cook. Instead it's the best of the best - the best chefs in Japan as the iron chefs, challenged by other chefs from Japan and around the world. They're having fun creating new recipes and being creative, while still delivering quality. It's masters at work.Then there's the dubbing. Originally a Japanese series, the show was dubbed for American audiences. This is slightly camp - a feature of the show anyway, with the host being rather flamboyant and introductions being appropriately over the top - with the writers not going too far, but the sports commentating style adding to a slightly absurd atmosphere. It's a lot of good fun.
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The tenth comic: #564 SandmanI've been interested in this series for a while, a comic penned by Neil Gaiman (who I normally rate quite high), about Dream, Morpheus, the Sandman, or what other name you want to call him. Set - technically - in the DC universe, although that doesn't seem to matter after the first few volumes.As much as the main character is one of the most powerful beings in its universe, only some of its storylines are big. A lot of them are about things that happens in dreams, where Dream is an observer or interferes only at the end. It allows for interesting character pieces, often involving the supernatural, and exploring small parts of the world. Others are bigger setpieces, still feeling like they're the same scale, but involving things like a takeover of hell.It looks amazing and reads amazing and to be honest, I'll just keep reading.
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The sixty-sixth song: Blue Monday - Fats DominoThis song feels a bit more modern, rock having had its influence on what would be a more bluesy R&B song in the past. It mostly comes through in the instruments, but either way sounds pretty good.The sixty-seventh song: Burundanga - Celia CruzBack to the Caribbean sounds of salsa, part of the thing I am (to be honest) thankful of is that the recording quality is better than we had before - sound issues don't plague us anymore. It brings out the melodic vocals really nicely, a polished dancing sound (even if the lyrics may not suggest it - although apparently even Spanish speakers struggle with them...).The sixty-eighth song: Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love) - Ella FitzgeraldWhat a polished song about sex. The lyrics are good, memorable and funny, with some simple music, but it's the vocals that really do it. Sounding sophisticated, it gives the topic some class, although at the same time there are points where Ella Fitzgerald almost…