Need a safe space to chill for a while? Enjoy some tunes and shoot the breeze. Peace.
About The Author
Don Durito
Left of center and lover of photography, music, pop culture, and life. Favorite quote - "There are no innocents. There are, however, different degrees of responsibility" (Lisbeth Salander, from Stieg Larsson's original Millennium Trilogy).
41 Comments
Recent Posts
- Day 14: Louisiana Senator Approvingly Compares Trump to Stalin
- Day 13: Elon Musk Flexes His Muscles
- Day 12: While Elon Musk Takes Over, We Podcast With Driftglass and Blue Gal
- Day 11: Harm of Fascist Regime’s Foreign Aid Freeze Comes Into View
- Day 10: The Fascist Regime Blames a Plane Crash on Nonwhite People
Pull up a chair, pour yourself a drink, and your host will be right with you.
To ‘chill’.
Not always so easy for me temperamentally.
But now I am reading, which is my favorite way to chill.
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Reading is a good way to chill. Been trying to work in a bit of recreational reading back into my life the last few months.
I used to chill by participating at the pond … memories of Welcome Wagon diaries … I suppose we’re all settled now, become part of the BT establishment.
Nowadays I chill by not reading BT or participating in political discourse. 😉
A yes, the welcome wagons. Those were nice. Good times. Good times.
Please, when visiting Germany … don’t report a stolen wallet!
I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m in Europe.
My wife is amused and amazed by this story:
http://www.vox.com/2016/8/9/12417804/rio-olympics-2016-pool-green
From the reporting:
“…”FINA can confirm that the reason for the unusual water color observed during the Rio diving competitions is that the water tanks ran out of some of the chemicals used in the water treatment process.
As a result, the pH level of the water was outside the usual range, causing the discoloration…”
Did you catch that? Apparently, not enough pool chemicals were stocked for the Olympics…“
Saw something about it this morning I think before heading to work. If I were a swimmer, I would not be reassured. Someone was clearly asleep at the wheel when stocking supplies.
Appropriate soundtrack for the current moment in our nation:
Nice to see someone else appreciate Carl Stalling’s work.
Hadn’t been following what Jah Wobble was up to; thanks for sharing this interesting composition, Don.
Here’s a thrillingly well-developed pure pop song:
Got a deep crush on this band.
Nice. I love learning about a new band or artist. The stuff that in my increasingly advanced age (physiologically) keeps me young. 🙂
I loved Jah Wobble’s bass playing the moment I put PiL’s “Second Edition” on the turntable. He sort of fell off the face of the earth and then resurfaced in the 1990s. He’s veered away from alt rock to much more experimental fare – some of it veering into jazz territory – very obviously so with Evan Parker, but also with occasional collaborations with Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders, and his Deep Space band that he had about a decade ago.
One more, for now:
Happy Wednesday!
Ever hear of the Hartford Circus fire? Happened in July 1944, when the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey six-pole big top (waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin and white gasoline!) caught fire and burned. In a matter of minutes the flames swept over, devoured, and collapsed the great tent, raining hell upon the thousands attending as they struggled to escape. At least 167 men, women and children died; hundreds more were injured.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartford_circus_fire
A horrifying tragedy… and the occasion for a book: “The Circus Fire” by Stewart O’Nan, a superbly researched and a grippingly told tale. I’m reading it now. I was hooked from the very first chapter. Warning: Not for the squeamish, as the author doesn’t sugarcoat what happened (the deaths weren’t from asphyxiation, e.g.). Lots of B&W grainy photos interspersed throughout (no, no gruesome body shots) so it’s better read in hardcover than on a Kindle.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/351219.The_Circus_Fire
It sure isn’t a casual beach book; but it sure is a compulsive read.
Thanks for this recommendation. It’s like government regulations are meaningful to protect the public or something.
One sign of the effectiveness of regulations is that just about every hospital in the U.S. used to have burn units, which specialized in caring for patients critically burned at work, while using their cars and other consumer goods, while at a public or private building, etc.
Almost no hospitals have specialized burn units in 2016. That is because workplace, consumer and building regulations have successfully reduced the number of Americans who are severely burned.
A few months ago, I discovered this incredibly deadly set of calculated actions committed by an anti-tax radical in 1927:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster
Astonishing.
Wow, yeh, I recall reading about the Bath bomber some time ago. Chilling, how much he sounds like so many of the crazies loose in this land these days. Both those who’ve already unleashed their own personal Armageddons and those just (for now) spouting the rhetoric).
Finally finished reading “The Worst Hard Time” not too long ago. Had it on my bookshelf forever, but couldn’t get to it til this summer. It is a history of the Dust Bowl. Lest we forget – the Dust Bowl was not a natural disaster but one that was caused by human greed. Dust pneumonia was one of the tragic consequences, as was the near destruction of a whole ecosystem. The national grasslands that still exist are one of the legacies of the FDR New Deal era. Regrettably, folks in that part of the world are drawing down the Ogallala Aquifer at an alarming rate. Won’t lead to a second Dust Bowl necessarily, but will make the region eventually uninhabitable.
Ever heard of the great molasses flood of 1919 in Boston’s North End?
I’ve read more than one book about this, and the best by far is “Dark Tide” by Stephen Puleo:
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Tide-Great-Boston-Molasses/dp/0807050210
He puts the incredible story into its historical context, and every quote, every retelling of what people were thinking, comes from the thousands of pages generated by the court battle to decide responsibility.
Read some summary of it in a book dedicated to disasters when I was very young (yeah, someone should have been monitoring my reading habits back then). Looks like an interesting book to put on my wishlist. Thanks for the tip.
Rather than the sudden disasters, I’ve more been fascinated by the slow moving killers like infectious diseases.
Another interest is pasteurization, and why government regulation on raw milk was required at the turn of the century.
Once you educate yourself you realize libertarians are idiots when the talk deregulation.
Disclaimer: both my wife and I grew up on raw milk. Her on a dairy farm, me mainly on goats milk.
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I love the factoid I learned recently that among the extraordinarily dangerous uses of lead in world history was as a preservative for wine. From a BBC report:
“”The lead slowly dissolves out into the wine itself. The intriguing thing is that you get a compound that used to be known as ‘the sugar of lead’.”
This compound, lead acetate, not only looks like sugar, it also has an intensely sweet flavour, Prof Sella explains.
“One of the curious things is that the drink that you would put into your decanter would over time gradually become sweeter.”
Of course, this was astoundingly destructive to people’s health.
Diseases, eh? Then have I got an author for you: David Quammen. I recently read his book “SPillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic” — not a comforting read, but very well written. He’s got several more I’m planning to get and read.
http://www.davidquammen.com/spillover
A note of warning, though: the books listed on Ebola and AIDS (“The Chimp…”) are basically chapters from “Spillover”, reprinted as stand-alone books with little or no amplification. The others listed are their own books.
I’ve been working my way through The Brothers Reuther, but have to stop and read something light every now and then. Its just emotionally wrenching for me to be reminded of just how hard the struggles were, all that was won and then lost again in just a few decades.
I hear you. When I’m not reading stuff like what I’ve been recommending, I turn to sci fi and fantasy, like Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga, or Guy Gavriel Kay’s amazing fantasy novels. Not lightweight fluff by any means, but worlds away from the grim realities of recent history.
And when I really need a lighthearted break there’s always Georgette Heyer’s Regency novels.
NOW we are talking! These days fantasy is my main obsession.
Kay’s stuff stands out, I particularly liked Under Heaven. The Sarantine Mosaic is also very good.
I’ll read them all. I’ve read all of Robin Hobbs stuff. Even the grim stuff I like. Best Served Cold. Even all the Honor Harrington and Safehold stuff by David Weber.
Nnedi Okorafor is a new discovery. Binti is a good quick read, and her Lagoon.
A personal favorite is The Goblin Emperor.
Silly or light, heavy or grim. Any and all.
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Yes! Yes! OMG yes!
Have you discovered N.K. Jemisin yet? If not, run right out and get “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms”!
Robin Hobbs’ trilogy of trilogies was simply amazing. I haven’t read the fourth set of books in that world yet, though.
I used to enjoy John Sandford’s “Prey” series but it got too grim and graphic for me and I quit reading them.
So many books, so little time — and that’s not even counting all the stuff that I want to reread.
Oh, and Steven Brust. I am impatiently waiting for his next Vlad Taltos book.
Yes, I read ‘The Hundread Thousand Kingdoms’, but not the follow ups….yet.
I’m up to date on the latest Hobbs trilogy, the third book comes out in January.
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James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon) is quite interesting to read, and she led rather a mysterious private life herself. I just finished The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey and was delighted to find SyFy had aired a series based on the books. I got the first season on DVD from Netflix and loved it – pure space opera! Also enjoy just about anything by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
And on an unrelated note — or perhaps not — the last song from Mark Knopfler’s “Get Lucky” album, for me the best album of his later work:
Huh. Just read this comment under that video:
And if I had to pick out one song from “Get Lucky” as best, it would be this. First time I heard it, driving along, I had to pull over, let it wash over and through me, clear the blurring of my vision before I could go on.
Beautiful. Thank you for posting.
If you haven’t heard Knopfler’s whole “Get Lucky” album, get it get it get it! It encompasses the arc of a man’s life, from brashly cocky confidence, through life’s vicissitudes, to serene acceptance of its end, savoring the life that was. He’s done a lot of excellent work since his Dire Straits days, but I consider this among, if not the, best.
Just checking in. Loving the responses here. I may turn this into a regular thing. Cafe is still open. A little shelter from the storm is needed from time to time.
Sure thing … shelter needed more often with climate thing and all … even Insurance premies rising as deflation kicks in.
Troubling times, and not just in political season of elections and a guy with a teflon skin. 😉
More Jah Wobble – this time from the mid 1990s:
Seems like perfect night music.
Some contemporary ambient music – this one a collaboration between Finnish recording artist Augustus Bro and Japanese artist Gallery Six:
I’ve loved ambient music since I first heard Eno’s “Music for Airports.”
This is a terrific documentary:
http://artvod.com/music/david-bowie-five-years-documentary/
Among the things included are interviews with Eno and others in Bowie’s band who participated in the Low sessions. Brian says here that Bowie had liked “Discreet Music” and approached Eno with that sort of production in mind.
It’s also a hoot to listen to Carlos Alomar talk about the difficulty in getting Eno to provide comprehensible guidance to the musicians.
Hell, the whole thing is fine- highly recommended.
I have that DVR’d. At some point I plan on watching it. We’ll say it’s been a crazy last few months for me.