some of the albums l've been listening to today, and my favourite tracks from them.

Bob Dylan - Another Self portrait box set.  When the album 'Self Portrait' first came out, it was famously reviewed by Greil Marcus, who started with 'What is this shit?', as it was indeed crap compared to what Dylan had produced before. However, the album has grown on me over the years, and the box set (part of the bootleg series) has some decent out-takes, plus the Isle of man concert, but it's nowhere near as good as some of the earlier bootleg series releases. Not a release l will listen to all of the way through on a regular basis, but it helps keep me out of mischief.

Jesse Winchester's album suffers because it is dominated by Black Dog, the last song on the album, which is unlike the previous tracks on the record, but a magnificent piece of work (later covered by Babe Ruth amongst others). Otherwise it's a slightly better than usual country lp.

'No Such Place' is also a country type album, but a lot more modern sounding, and with better songs overall. Jim White's singing puts across a tale in a believable and emotive way, and the standout track for me is the first one, 'Handcuffed to a fence in Mississippi'.

Old Crow Medicine Show sound like an updated old country band, but once again, there is one standout track, the much covered 'Wagon Wheel', which has become a standard in a short amount of time.  I know Bob Dylan wrote the bare bones of the song (naturally l've got the unreleased version), but the way it has been added to by OCMS (and then performed) makes it into something special.

Dion is a long way from his hits such as 'Runaround Sue' on this record, and 'Born To Be With You' has a big Phil Spector production, coupled with a moody atmosphere and vocal performance.  Sometimes sounding a bit like John lennon's 'Rock and Roll' album from the same period, which is no great surprise, as Phil Spector produced that as well. It gets better with repeated plays, and like most of the music above, is probably best listened to late at night in a darkened room.



I've realised these albums make me look like a sad old git, so here's something noisy l revisited as well (I watched some of my DVD of it).  Nine Inch Nails at Woodstock, performing 'Wish' in the mud, the blood, and the beer.  One of my favourite shows, even if Trent Reznor was apparently not that keen on their performance (idiot).



Right - time for Match of the Day!

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the stones - a tribute to the rolling stones

Damn!  I was thinking about going to see The Stones tonight, but after watching the football and prating about, it started pissing down with rain and thundering, so l couldn't be bothered, and stayed in instead, reading, listening to music and watching films (the usual stuff).
Ah well, better luck next time.  I'm off out tomorrow though, no matter what the weather is like.  I have to - l've run out of wine!

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a shell shocked soldier from 1916

A shell shocked soldier from 1916.
He looks as happy as me on a good night out.

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everybody loves a pirate

Who's this little scamp dressed up as a pirate?  Non other than the current president of the good old US of A (that's America to non  Americans) , who has just faced down the Republicans and the Tea Party. Yessireeee ladies and gentleman, it's non other than Barack Obama himself.  Because everybody loves a pirate.

On a related note, l used to be a bootlegger, rogue and rodgerer, and here's my new parrot talking back.   Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me shipmates, a man and his parrot, what on Gods green earth could be more satisfying? (or could send them both insane).  Man or feathered beast - it's a battle of will and intellect (I think l am in trouble)

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marilyn monroe touched up

The past is a foreign country, and who's to say what is true and what is not.  I have seen loads of tinted photographs over the many years l have been striding this puny Godforsaken Earth like a colossus amongst the little people, but the four tinted pictures of Marilyn Monroe above really emphasise how images / events can be manipulated by the artists / manipulators. All are obviously identical photographs, but the alterations made make you question what is real (or as The Beatles would say - 'Nothing is real').
Whatever the colours (or lack of them) Marilyn still looks pretty damn foxy, and l wouldn't have minded touching her up myself (so to speak).
Images courtesy of Shrorpy.

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harry houdini in scotland, 1920 (and kraftwerk)

Although it's not Sky breaking minute by minute rolling news material, I saw this for the first time the other day, and it's news to me (for whatever that is worth). It's a photograph of Harry Houdini in 1920, performing in Scotland, and it has only just been unearthed (last year) and displayed after 92 years, by The Scotland Herald. Prints are available to buy from their website, and although the photograph is trimmed, it's magnificent.  The assistants look like members of Kraftwerk, and it is (as far as l know) the first photograph of the Chinese Water Torture Cell that shows the straps on the front.  I always think of Houdini as an American performer from donkey years ago, but he performed in Scotland many times, and 1920 is not that long ago in the great scheme of things.

Here's Houdini being lowered into the Cell (but not in Scotland)

Just the sort of magic and escapology l'd loved to have been around to witness, as it was all new at the time. Sometimes l wish l was older than l am, so l could have witnessed more monumental events (but not that old).

And here's Kraftwerk (mit Autobahn)



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the spastic society advert / poster

A great advert / poster from The Spastic Society (now known as Scope).  Very simple (no that's not meant as a joke), but it gets the message across in a direct way.

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football, bloody hell (the biography of alex fergusun) - patrick barclay

'Football, Bloody Hell' was the famous line uttered by Alex Ferguson (now Sir Alex) after the 1999 Champions League final (European Cup final in old money) after Manchester United had come back from 1-0 down in the dying moments to win the game 2-1 in injury time.  Football doesn't get much more emotionally draining, as that was also the culmination of a treble, and as a Manchester United fan, watching the game at Nevada Smiths in New York, following United could only go downhill afterwards.
However, l still persevere, there's always a new season (with or without Alex Ferguson), and always more football to watch, and football books to read.
This biography didn't tell me a lot that l didn't already know, but Patrick Barclay is a reporter from the old school, who goes way back with his knowledge of players, managers, events and games, so it was still highly entertaining for the likes of me.  Like Ferguson himself, Barclay can be a stubborn old coot with strong opinions (catch him on Sunday Supplement), but l am all for that (being one myself).
Now l'm eagerly awaiting Ferguson's autobiography - out before Christmas!.
I'll admit it, I'm an addict.

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the construction of the hoover dam

Whenever l go to great structures, l am usually astounded at the time, effort, and skill that had been used to build them, and how impressive they are.  I wouldn't know where to start on such large projects (apart from delegating all of the work).
The Hoover Dam, between Arizona and Nevada, is a fine example. The construction of it, even more so. When there, standing at (or on) the edge, it is mightily impressive, and well worth the trip out to see it it if you are in Las Vegas (hire a car).
It was built in the mid 1930's and previously known as The Boulder Dam, drawing it's water from The Colorado river, forming Lake Mead, and like anything high up, it draws you to the edge, or at least it does to me (as did The Grand Canyon).
About 100 people lost their lives working on the dam, and l wouldn't be taking a wild guess that they would have been the poor old labourers, working for peanuts (whether they were allergic to them or not),  who, during the depression (when it was built), Health and Safety regulations would have been pretty slack, or non existent as far as they were concerned.
Still mightily impressive, and an excuse to feature this song.

Sugar - Hoover Dam.



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ben leshchinsky photographs of easter island

What fantastic photographs these are. They are by Ben Leshchinsky and have the Easter Island statues (Moai) set against The Milky Way in the background.  The top one would look great in a large frame.
If only the house was bigger.

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felix dennis in leeds

Off to Leeds with Rocker yesterday to see Felix Dennis reading his poetry, accompanied with all the free wine you can drink.  I thought there might be a catch (apart from the train tickets costing £22.70), but the waiters kept coming to our table and dropping off new bottles whenever there was the slightest hint that we (or the others on the table) were running out.  The reading of the poetry was a lot better than l expected, and Felix also told some brief tales about people he has had dealings with, such as John Lennon and Germaine Greer. We hit The Stone Roses bar afterwards, then a taxi to my brothers to crash out there.  He couldn't come and meet us as he was working till 11pm, but we managed to entertain ourselves, especially talking to people from Batley in The Ship pub on Briggate beforehand (cheap, noisy, rough and cheerful - and that was just us). Rocker had earlier driven to Northallerton, as we thought we would get a return train ticket each so we could hit the centre of Leeds straight away when we got there. A wise (but expensive) move. I have since had a soak in the bath to rid myself of the Leeds grime, and am especially pleased l decided to take today off work, so l could lounge around and chill out.  Stone me - what a life.




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everton fans in london for the 1906 fa cup final

Football is not the same as it used to be, everybody understands that, but that goes for the fans as well. Here are some Everton supporters in London for the 1906 FA Cup final against Newcastle United. I wonder if my grandad was amongst them?

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the etymologicon (mark forsyth) and l am the secret footballer (dave kitson?)

Two of the books that l got for my birthday from Louise and Dazzer (and Lolly).  I read 'The Secret Footballer' in one sitting, and found it pretty interesting, as it enlightened me with the odd detail l wasn't aware of beforehand, such as top players having their boots broken in for them before they wear them. However, l actually preferred Mark Forsyth's 'The Etymologicon', as it was full of the sort of useless information that l thrive on, even if l do tend to forget most of the stuff afterwards (that will be the old age and drugs). It is also handy for picking up and reading the odd page here and there (especially on the loo). I am appeased!

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the scale of the planets

After the earlier post about the planets close to Earth, here's the scale of them.  The one that shows the Earth in relation to our Sun emphasis just how tiny and insignificant we are in the great scheme of things.

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penguin horror books re-imagined

These Penguin books are a collaboration between art director Paul Buckley, and the film director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth amongst others). They look so good that they make me want to go and buy them again (which l suppose is the point).

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the planets close to earth - ron miller

 Jupiter

 Mars

 Mercury

 The Moon itself

 Neptune

 Saturn

 Uranus

Venus

Ever wondered what the planets would look like if they were the same distance away from us as the Moon? Wonder no more, as artist Ron Miller has produced all of the above. Uranus and Jupiter look the best to me, as Jupiter looks amazing, but Uranus is downright spooky.

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