Friday Arts

Once again we put the wonderful world of forensics aside to talk about other things.

First, something worth passing along. If you listen to audiobooks and like science fiction, and you haven’t listened to any of the Wil Wheaton performances of John Scalzi’s books, you are missing a treat. They’re a perfect fit of writer and narrator. And the books are, in general, a hoot. If you’re unfamiliar with them, give one a try. And if you’re thinking I’m off my proverbial rocker recommending young Crusher, who never exactly, shall we say, challenged Jean-Luc for the acting skills award, put all that aside. This is good stuff. I am now in the middle of The Collapsing Empire.

I love audiobooks. Having a 45-minute commute each way provides the perfect listening opportunity. Right before the Scalzi I listened to Dandelion Wine and confirmed my belief that Bradbury is just too precious for my tastes. I stuck with it, and I remember loving it when I read it as a kid, but the writing has a certain appeal for kids that might not last till adulthood. Maybe the word I’m looking for is fey? I felt the same way recently about The Martian Chronicles. Then again, if there’s a better book to listen to as summer winds down than DW, I don’t know what it is.

Speaking of Bradbury, three tidbits. He was a great proponent of the Oz books, he worked on the original script for Spaceship Earth at Epcot, and he wrote the screenplay for Moby Dick (no hyphen) with John Huston.

On the music front, 3 adds this week to Menick's Tab Room playlist:
Suffragette City, David Bowie, The Rise and Fall etc. — I recently started listening to Bowie from his first album, playing catch-up if you will, and how he maintained a career in music is beyond me. SC is the first song I've added to the playlist, from what I gather is his fifth album. So far otherwise it's been forgettable Britrock dreck. Feel free to disagree, but only if those albums are in heavy rotation on your home jukebox. He does have some songs I like from later in his career, and I know he has fans who will stand in line forever to see the museum exhibition, but early Bowie? Na'ah.
Race with the Devil, Stray Cats, Rock Therapy — When Stray Cats first came on the scene, I couldn't get past the performance art aspect. I took one look and couldn't take them seriously. But the years proved that Setzer was serious about a certain kind of music, and he has more than won me over. Stray Cats material remains a little on the thin side, but they are a fun group.
Highway 61 Revisited, Johnny Winter, The Essential JW — I went with a Winter retrospective, which has proven what I already thought going in. I would love to stumble into a bar and find that Johnny Winter was playing that night, but that's about as far as it goes. Some of his playing is downright amazing. But does its musicality ever rise above its limited blues-rock genre? Not much. So, a little goes a long way. R&R Hoochie Koo, also on this album, was already in the playlist, and there's a reason it's his biggest it. It doesn't sound like a) all his other songs, and B) everybody else's songs. He's good, but he's genre-bound. NOTE: The words to the song in this version are a hell of a lot clearer than the Dylan original. But about what Dylan cover isn't that true?