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READIN
READIN started out as a place for me
to keep track of what I am reading, and to learn (slowly, slowly)
how to design a web site.
There has been some mission drift
here and there, but in general that's still what it is. Some of
the main things I write about here are
reading books,
listening to (and playing) music, and
watching the movies. Also I write about the
work I do with my hands and with my head; and of course about bringing up Sylvia.
The site is a bit of a work in progress. New features will come on-line now and then; and you will occasionally get error messages in place of the blog, for the forseeable future. Cut me some slack, I'm just doing it for fun! And if you see an error message you think I should know about, please drop me a line. READIN source code is PHP and CSS, and available on request, in case you want to see how it works.
See my reading list for what I'm interested in this year.
READIN has been visited approximately 236,737 times since October, 2007.
"Oceanside", Robyn Hitchcock, Live at the Cambridge Folk Festival. Not produced as well as the version on Perspex Island and I think they are playing at a faster tempo.
"Keep on the Sunny Side", Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle be Unbroken. Can't say much about this. It is totally unironic and is Maybelle Carter's signature piece; I love it but it brings back unpleasant childhood sing-along memories.
"Penny Lane", Robyn Hitchcock. Lousy. I ought to take this concert off my iPod, there is no reason to keep it. The banter following the song -- "One of the things that really distinguished the '60s from the present was that they didn't have these things that say 'if you like that, try this!'" -- struck me as kind of humorous but not really up to RH banter standards.
"Rukus Juice Blues", Big Bill Broonzy. Awesome. Broonzy says "rookus", not "ruckus"; at first I thought he was talking about "ruby juice".
"Birds in Perspex", Robyn Hitchcock LCFF. Maybe my favorite RH song ever. But again, not up to the level of the album version -- this record could probably come off the iPod as well. It is impossible not to sing along with "come alive" even though I'm in public, sitting on a bench on the street.
"Pretty Little Dog", Critton Hollow String Band. Instrumental. Just right after #5. (from the "String Theory" compilation)
"This is the Last Time I'll Say Goodbye", The Sirens -- from the Apostropher's Don't Bogart That Groove compilation. I hadn't noticed before what a remarkable song this instrumental piece is. The music has a really structural feeling to it like it's building a walled passageway that you travel through -- the notes are textural elements in the structure. This has to maybe have something to do with percussion -- I've gotten the same feeling from some tracks on Perspex Island that have really strong drums.
"Johnny B. Goode", The Dead 2/27/77 -- this random set is trending toward songs that are totally characteristic of their performers.
"Mambo Dominica", David Murray Latin Big Band, from Don't Bogart That Groove. "Cute but corny" is my initial reaction. As I listen to it for a while (it is a very long song), I start to hear the horns more individually, less as part of a mass of sound, which is pleasant. This would be good music for walking.
"Each of her Silver Wands", Robyn Hitchcock 3/14/97 Knitting Factory. I don't know this song. It sounds like it could be pretty good but like he hasn't really written it yet at this performance. Very short.
The combination of numbers 1, 5, and 7 inspired me to listen to Perspex Island, which I had not in a while. It sure gets to me -- this is my favorite record of the year. When "Birds in Perspex" came on I had to run outside to avoid embarrassing myself by singing "come alive" in the Avery Fischer Hall lobby.
...Can I analyse the structure of "Birds in Perspex"? That is sort of what I wanted to do during my Song by Song project but I don't think it really came across. Every line of that song just really touches my heart -- the lyrics to be sure and the way they fall across the canvas of music. When Andy Metcalfe came in at the end singing "birds in perspex, come alive" it actually startled me that the person singing on the recording was not myself.
posted evening of December 28th, 2007: Respond ➳ More posts about Music
So it seems like people using Macintosh computers will not be able to play the streaming audio in my Songs posts, but will instead get a "This playlist format is not recognized" error. I'm trying to figure out why; in the meantime I will put links to download the mp3 files next to the streaming objects.
Update: If you can't play the songs embedded in my site, could you try the two players I posted here and let me know if either of them works for you? Thanks.
posted morning of December 28th, 2007: 5 responses ➳ More posts about The site
Our set tonight was pretty excellent all things (such as that we had only played together on three occasions prior to the performance, with actual serious practicing going on on only one of those occasions) considered. The weakest of the three songs was "Hard Times", principally because (a) I don't know the part well enough and (b) I can't play vibrato, which was pretty strongly called for. The fast songs were great, both of us were really tuned in to each other and to the songs.
Later we played two songs I did not know, "Cocaine Habit" (vaguely anti-drug song from the '30s) and "Bed on Your Floor" (similar in theme to "Palette on Your Floor" but totally different music). The set was extremely rough but fun -- I thought "Bed on Your Floor" has real possibilities if we practice it a bit.
"Vinny Video" was filming the evening's performances and promised to send me a DVD. Who knows, maybe we will put it on YouTube!
posted evening of December 27th, 2007: Respond ➳ More posts about Fiddling
Rehearsal tonight with Jerry went really well -- we played three songs and a meandering improvisation and we're going to do the three songs at the open mic tomorrow:
"Weary Day", with Jerry singing -- this is going to be awesome.
"Hard Times Come Again No More", with Jerry singing -- potentially great, if I can get the viola part straight. I think it will work.
"Louisville Burglar", with me singing -- this song works much better if I'm not trying to play during the vocal. Really fun to jam with Jerry on solos.
So friends and neighbors: here's your chance to hear us at our first appearance, before we get famous. It'll be at (the not long for this world) Here's to the Arts, 97 Baker St. in Maplewood; we'll probably play around 9:30.
Turns out "(not long for this world)" is not quite accurate. Art had been having some trouble negotiating a new lease and it looked like he might be evicted; but he has secured a month-to-month lease, so he's still there at least for the time being.
I'm hearing reports from a couple of people that when they click "Play" on the little MediaPlayer objects I am using for streaming my songs, they don't get any sound. If that is true for you, could you make a note of it here, along with what browser and operating system you are using? Here is a MediaPlayer for you to test with:
Here is another one to try:
OK, and one more:
posted evening of December 26th, 2007: 2 responses ➳ More posts about Songs
I sort of think this might be a Childe Ballad, not sure though. Janis introduced me to it, we've been playing it together for a couple of years. Came out pretty well, though I'm not too confident with the lyric. Janis usually sings it.
Sylvia played "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" on her new ocarina today! That was quick. Not quite right yet -- it sounds to me like the ocarina must be tonic, maybe in C, and Sylvia is trying to play in D (not in A, because "there isn't a E-1" -- she is referring to all the notes as string + finger). So a couple of notes are off -- I need to look more closely at it and show her what the key is. Still, quick progress!
Update: no, I'm wrong -- the instrument is diatonic. But Sylvia doesn't really get sharps and flats yet, she is probably playing all naturals, diagrams for which are grouped together at the top of the page. If she's interested I will explain that to her; but I expect she is going to want to figure it out on her own.
posted afternoon of December 26th, 2007: Respond ➳ More posts about Sylvia
Still not perfect -- there are some missed entrances, the fiddle solo lags in places, I still don't have any decent recording equipment -- but this is totally on track for what I want to sound like. Something I am really happy about is the variation in meter from verse to verse -- I was able to work out occasionally inserting an extra measure in key places and I think it came out really well. The drones are a little annoying without a fiddle on top of them but I just didn't want to try that right now. Maybe another day.
The rather silly Pied Piper of Hamelin video, with rhyming dialogue, was made worthwhile by the lovely actors and by Sylvia's observation that "If this were a play, Emma [the stage rat from Moominsummer Madness] would say 'It's all wrong.'"
I'm loving Saramago's style of writing dialogue without yet totally getting it -- it draws me in and hypnotizes me, but I sometimes find myself struggling in mid-paragraph to track who is saying what. The characters are always threatening to sound like automata, I think in part because of this clipped, almost dismissive rendering of their speech; but in small ways their humanity comes through.
