Entertainment For Lively Minds
What I did on my summer hols
Posted by Ben Milne on 18 August 2008 - 11:07pm.
What did you listen to on your hols? And what did you read? Did you (like me) take new CDs with you in the same way you take books to read?
I got to grips with the Fleet Foxes CD (excellent), and came to the conclusion, via his new novel, that Hanif Kureishi is a terrible, terrible novelist.
I also - and this is a definition of serendipity - saw Tinariwen by accident, when they played a free gig in a square in a small French seaside town. Which was nice.
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I am taking with me:
To read -
Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons - Matthew Fort
White Heat 1964-70 - Dominic Sandbrook
Henri Cartier-Bresson, a Biography - Pierre Assouline
And to listen to -
Retrospective - Natalie Merchant
Room to Roam re-issue - The Waterboys
The Baseball Project
That should keep me busy if it pours with rain, as is forecast!
Summer hols...
Read "Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough" which was excellent; a reminder of the time when I used to like football. Also, "A Quiet Belief in Angels" by RJ Ellory - five star reviews on Amazon, but I found it depressing with a plot that stretched credibility too far. As for listening, a return to the back catalogue of Stevie Wonder; Fulfillingness' First Finale and Music of My Mind. I'd forgotten what a genius he was -listened to "Superwoman" on the latter album over and over.
Just Being Nosy
but for future reference, which small French seaside town has the likes of Tinariwen busking in La Place?
Tinariwen?
Free gig in town? Bloody hell. You fell on your feet.
Tinariwen
I was at a free gig by them in St Jean de Monts was that the same one? Fantastic - by the way - made a great last night to the hols - family shopped for tat I grooved to the desert blues!
Bookwise not a vintage year either in quantity or quality. Finished Michael Chabon's "Yiddish Policeman's Union" - No "Kavalier & Clay" but excellent nonetheless. Also read "The End of Mr Y" by Scarlett Thomas - good, diverting, intriguing in places but not a classic by any means.
Snap - it was St Jean de
Snap - it was St Jean de Monts. I only found out about it through an advert posted on the bulletin board of the local Intermarche. I dragged a reluctant set of children with me, but they were grooving before the end - my 5-year-old now insists on playing Tinariwen whenever we're in the car. (How middle class are we? Oh well...)
It's hard to imagine the same thing happening here, eg Margate or Bridlington Council laying on a Toumani Diabete gig.
I played Tinariwen
to my 9 yr old daughter & cousin but they were non-plussed. As revenge (I felt) they inflicted HSM 1 & 2 on me on the drive back to Roscoff.
Daughter does like some of my stuff though. Big on Springsteen (Seeger Sessions especially) and David Mead's Indiana - but kids and music is a topic that deserves a thread all of its own.
Exposure to Tinariwen hasn't
Exposure to Tinariwen hasn't stopped 5-year-old demanding HSM (1 and 2) on a regular basis...
Clive and the Wales
Not had a summer holiday as such, seeing as I'm spending it looking for work and therefore at the mercy of The Recruitment Agencies. Strange all-too-real entities who stand in the way of you and people you'd like to work for who don't get your CV in on time and invariably fail to keep you up to date on the progress of your application.
That bitter digression aside I have had a lovely time with my little daughter and have had a good oppotunity to listen to and read some good stuff. Ry Cooder's I, Flathead is as good as reported. Also James Hunter's 'The Hard Way'. Some of you may remember him from the late '80's as Howlin' Wilf. He still sounds much the same but now with more sophistication. His little band is as tight as a crab's arse and their Ray Charles style funk is a joy.
Have recently read and enjoyed Nathaniel Philbrick's 'In The Heart Of The Sea' which tells of the Nantucket whaling ship that was wrecked in the South Pacific by a rogue sperm whale. Formed the basis of Melville's Moby Dick. Quite astonishing how humans underwent mind-boggling levels of physical risk and emotional stress to meet market forces of the day. Also Clive James 'Cultural Amnesia' which is a big interesting bugger of a book. That was possibly it's least useful review but if you're interested in Clive James analysis and critical style then its a motherlode. Check out his website too for some great video interviews with his friends and contemporaries.
Going to Cuba tomorrow for 2 weeks
Have IPOD primed with all things Buena Vista and Cachaito Lopez.
For books I have a George Melly biography and an autobiography by Neil Cross plus The motorcycle diaries just to keep in theme.
Will think of you all while I am sipping my Mojito in Old Havana.
Kirsty MacColl
They say that the Tropical Brainstorm album has a strong Cuban sound to it.
Ok, here goes...
During 2weeks by Lake Garda:
Speech:A Word PodCast (The Martin Fry one) - excellent
A Friday Night Comedy PodCast; The Now Show (Radio4) -very good
A CollingsHerrin PodCast - not great
A Stephen Fry PodCast (Broadcasting) - very good
A Kermode/Mayo Film Review (Radio5) - very good.
Dylan's Chronicles vol.1 audio book (Sean Penn) - excellent
A collection of old Sherlock Holmes radio shows (UK & U.S)
Music: Creative Vision:M 60gB on random/shuffle
Read: Blood Meridian - good but overwritten, i.e. why use one sentence when three paragraphs will do.
And the (previous) day's London Times or Irish Independent.
All interspersed with sunbathing, city tours, walks, drinks, over eating, sleeping.
Ah well, only 48weeks to go !!!