Whatcha reading?

Sweet action for kids 'n' cretins. Marjoram and capers.
Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115975
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Image
I'm typing up my notes for this. I remember hearing about it years ago but forgot to find a copy, but recently came upon a cite so I bought a copy and read it with the thought of using it in my punk class. Which I will, as a bit of an intro text. There are some clumsy parts to it and a few typos (notably Black Sabbath's "Paranoia"), but I like that he treats the original LA punk scene (Weirdos, X, Screamers) and early 80s hardcore scene as connected, even as they were distinct in approach and membership. I also liked a great deal his emphasis on context—the importance of SoCal's insane suburban sprawl and rootlessness, and the emergence of a cynical post-Boomer youth who rejected both liberalism and conservatism in favour of an apolitical therapeutic anger. Nice and short book, too. I think most of y'all here would find it stimulating stuff.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Silent Majority
Singer-Songwriter Nancy
Posts: 18702
Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

64) Life, the Universe & Everything - Douglas Adams. 1982. Audiobook, read by Martin Freeman (who really does an excellent job with these and gives characters interesting, regional accents, moving away from the Islington Dinner Party tone that you can get on the TV and radio). A bit miserable, but still great even with its massive flaws. You can see that it's been stitched together from other ideas and the characters have no real place in the plot. Once I learnt that it was an abandoned Dr Who script, everything made sense. As much of a laugh as it was in certain sections, you really get the feeling of a depressed man writing a book about people he doesn't give a shit about with a story he can't be bothered to wrap up. It slumps against the conclusion happily, like a long distance runner breaking the finish line. Definitely won't be reading the other two books for a number of years.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


www.pexlives.libsyn.com/

Silent Majority
Singer-Songwriter Nancy
Posts: 18702
Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

65) Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years - Michael Palin. Audiobook, read by the author. 2006. Definitely sternly abridged, but I don't feel like I miss anything interesting for that. It's good to get the unvarnished perspective from the most outwardly normal of the team, you get a sense of what it's like to be in the group in a way I never have before. I like how uncompromising he is. Harry Nilsson, for example, comes off as a dickhead whereas George Harrison a bit of a saint. I would have liked this to take me up to the Meaning of Life, but it stops in 1979 so I will probably read the next volume. But that'll do.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


www.pexlives.libsyn.com/

Kory
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 17319
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 1:42pm
Location: In the Discosphere

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Kory »

Silent Majority wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 11:31am
65) Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years - Michael Palin. Audiobook, read by the author. 2006. Definitely sternly abridged, but I don't feel like I miss anything interesting for that. It's good to get the unvarnished perspective from the most outwardly normal of the team, you get a sense of what it's like to be in the group in a way I never have before. I like how uncompromising he is. Harry Nilsson, for example, comes off as a dickhead whereas George Harrison a bit of a saint. I would have liked this to take me up to the Meaning of Life, but it stops in 1979 so I will probably read the next volume. But that'll do.
I've read all three, and they're all great and worthwhile. But I'm a huge Palin fan.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Silent Majority
Singer-Songwriter Nancy
Posts: 18702
Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

Kory wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 5:31pm
Silent Majority wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 11:31am
65) Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years - Michael Palin. Audiobook, read by the author. 2006. Definitely sternly abridged, but I don't feel like I miss anything interesting for that. It's good to get the unvarnished perspective from the most outwardly normal of the team, you get a sense of what it's like to be in the group in a way I never have before. I like how uncompromising he is. Harry Nilsson, for example, comes off as a dickhead whereas George Harrison a bit of a saint. I would have liked this to take me up to the Meaning of Life, but it stops in 1979 so I will probably read the next volume. But that'll do.
I've read all three, and they're all great and worthwhile. But I'm a huge Palin fan.
You know me by now, man. If I read two books in a series, I'll end up completing the chain.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


www.pexlives.libsyn.com/

Kory
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 17319
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 1:42pm
Location: In the Discosphere

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Kory »

Silent Majority wrote:
10 Sep 2020, 9:48am
Kory wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 5:31pm
Silent Majority wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 11:31am
65) Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years - Michael Palin. Audiobook, read by the author. 2006. Definitely sternly abridged, but I don't feel like I miss anything interesting for that. It's good to get the unvarnished perspective from the most outwardly normal of the team, you get a sense of what it's like to be in the group in a way I never have before. I like how uncompromising he is. Harry Nilsson, for example, comes off as a dickhead whereas George Harrison a bit of a saint. I would have liked this to take me up to the Meaning of Life, but it stops in 1979 so I will probably read the next volume. But that'll do.
I've read all three, and they're all great and worthwhile. But I'm a huge Palin fan.
You know me by now, man. If I read two books in a series, I'll end up completing the chain.
Well you did say you were going to put off the last two Hitchhiker's books by quite a bit!

The third Palin diary has had a delayed payoff for us because I finally got the Palin travels box set, so I get to see all the stuff he was talking about. I'm kind of surprised a fourth hasn't been published.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Silent Majority
Singer-Songwriter Nancy
Posts: 18702
Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

Kory wrote:
10 Sep 2020, 2:26pm
Silent Majority wrote:
10 Sep 2020, 9:48am
Kory wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 5:31pm
Silent Majority wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 11:31am
65) Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years - Michael Palin. Audiobook, read by the author. 2006. Definitely sternly abridged, but I don't feel like I miss anything interesting for that. It's good to get the unvarnished perspective from the most outwardly normal of the team, you get a sense of what it's like to be in the group in a way I never have before. I like how uncompromising he is. Harry Nilsson, for example, comes off as a dickhead whereas George Harrison a bit of a saint. I would have liked this to take me up to the Meaning of Life, but it stops in 1979 so I will probably read the next volume. But that'll do.
I've read all three, and they're all great and worthwhile. But I'm a huge Palin fan.
You know me by now, man. If I read two books in a series, I'll end up completing the chain.
Well you did say you were going to put off the last two Hitchhiker's books by quite a bit!
Yeah, but I've read 'em at least four times, though.
The third Palin diary has had a delayed payoff for us because I finally got the Palin travels box set, so I get to see all the stuff he was talking about. I'm kind of surprised a fourth hasn't been published.
Did you enjoy his travelling? I haven't given those shows a go for a while, but they're pleasant to have on in the background.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


www.pexlives.libsyn.com/

Silent Majority
Singer-Songwriter Nancy
Posts: 18702
Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

66) Mandarin's Jade and Other Stories by Raymond Chandler. 1964. Audiobook, read by Elliot Gould. Not surly, sexy Robert Altman Long Goodbye, but very much Ross & Monica's Dad from Friends Elliot Gould. My problem with these stories come from my expecting to get some stuff that's new to me, but all of the incidents, observations here were re-baked with much higher quality into a great Marlowe book. The main characters here are forgettable cyphers, proto-Marlowes. I enjoyed his similes, his dialogue, the hardboiled attitudes, but I was looking for a new album, not looking for interesting demos of songs I knew. Only shame of jacking in the job I've hated is that I'm not gonna be able to listen to audiobooks all day.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


www.pexlives.libsyn.com/

Kory
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 17319
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 1:42pm
Location: In the Discosphere

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Kory »

Silent Majority wrote:
11 Sep 2020, 4:57am
The third Palin diary has had a delayed payoff for us because I finally got the Palin travels box set, so I get to see all the stuff he was talking about. I'm kind of surprised a fourth hasn't been published.
Did you enjoy his travelling? I haven't given those shows a go for a while, but they're pleasant to have on in the background.
Yes, it's very pleasant Sunday evening watching. Infrequently, there's just the slightest whiff of post-imperialist commentary, but that's to be expected from a British travel show in the 80s. It's not enough to be bothersome, you can tell it's just a function of the times rather than a real comment from the nicest man on TV.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Silent Majority
Singer-Songwriter Nancy
Posts: 18702
Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

67) The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy & The Lash by Jeffrey T. Roesgen. A 33/3rd audiobook. 2008. An absolute chore. The bulk of the book is adequately written fan fiction where the band (minus Jem Finer, who is replaced with the narrator) are on the French frigate Medusa in 1816 along with ahistoric versions of Eric Bogle and Frank Ryan. There are quick little bursts of writing about the songs on the album breaking up the narrative, and those are pleasant and good, but much of the book reads like "Andrew staggered onto the deck, as Philip supped a glass of wine as offered by one of the navigators. Shane and James Dean were cackling over the puking Captain." The songs, quickly raced over as they are here, are rich in history, myth and contemporary context and it's kind of mad that this was the choice made for a book on the album.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


www.pexlives.libsyn.com/

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115975
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Silent Majority wrote:
14 Sep 2020, 6:02am
67) The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy & The Lash by Jeffrey T. Roesgen. A 33/3rd audiobook. 2008. An absolute chore. The bulk of the book is adequately written fan fiction where the band (minus Jem Finer, who is replaced with the narrator) are on the French frigate Medusa in 1816 along with ahistoric versions of Eric Bogle and Frank Ryan. There are quick little bursts of writing about the songs on the album breaking up the narrative, and those are pleasant and good, but much of the book reads like "Andrew staggered onto the deck, as Philip supped a glass of wine as offered by one of the navigators. Shane and James Dean were cackling over the puking Captain." The songs, quickly raced over as they are here, are rich in history, myth and contemporary context and it's kind of mad that this was the choice made for a book on the album.
It's the series' virtue in spirit that the approaches are so varied, but the results are not infrequently a complete mess for all but a few readers.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Silent Majority
Singer-Songwriter Nancy
Posts: 18702
Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Sep 2020, 6:30am
Silent Majority wrote:
14 Sep 2020, 6:02am
67) The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy & The Lash by Jeffrey T. Roesgen. A 33/3rd audiobook. 2008. An absolute chore. The bulk of the book is adequately written fan fiction where the band (minus Jem Finer, who is replaced with the narrator) are on the French frigate Medusa in 1816 along with ahistoric versions of Eric Bogle and Frank Ryan. There are quick little bursts of writing about the songs on the album breaking up the narrative, and those are pleasant and good, but much of the book reads like "Andrew staggered onto the deck, as Philip supped a glass of wine as offered by one of the navigators. Shane and James Dean were cackling over the puking Captain." The songs, quickly raced over as they are here, are rich in history, myth and contemporary context and it's kind of mad that this was the choice made for a book on the album.
It's the series' virtue in spirit that the approaches are so varied, but the results are not infrequently a complete mess for all but a few readers.
Tempted to pitch one that's a detective novel where the main character is Richard Hell.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


www.pexlives.libsyn.com/

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115975
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Silent Majority wrote:
14 Sep 2020, 6:55am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Sep 2020, 6:30am
Silent Majority wrote:
14 Sep 2020, 6:02am
67) The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy & The Lash by Jeffrey T. Roesgen. A 33/3rd audiobook. 2008. An absolute chore. The bulk of the book is adequately written fan fiction where the band (minus Jem Finer, who is replaced with the narrator) are on the French frigate Medusa in 1816 along with ahistoric versions of Eric Bogle and Frank Ryan. There are quick little bursts of writing about the songs on the album breaking up the narrative, and those are pleasant and good, but much of the book reads like "Andrew staggered onto the deck, as Philip supped a glass of wine as offered by one of the navigators. Shane and James Dean were cackling over the puking Captain." The songs, quickly raced over as they are here, are rich in history, myth and contemporary context and it's kind of mad that this was the choice made for a book on the album.
It's the series' virtue in spirit that the approaches are so varied, but the results are not infrequently a complete mess for all but a few readers.
Tempted to pitch one that's a detective novel where the main character is Richard Hell.
Just hear me out, but the Captain and Tenille's Love Will Keep Us Together as an episode of Mad About You. Except it'd be funny and the music wouldn't suck.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Inder
User avatar
corecore vanguard
Posts: 10679
Joined: 14 Jun 2008, 3:28pm

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Inder »

Silent Majority wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 11:31am
Harry Nilsson, for example, comes off as a dickhead
brb, flying to London to deck a Python.

Silent Majority
Singer-Songwriter Nancy
Posts: 18702
Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.

Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

Inder wrote:
14 Sep 2020, 10:43am
Silent Majority wrote:
09 Sep 2020, 11:31am
Harry Nilsson, for example, comes off as a dickhead
brb, flying to London to deck a Python.
Depending on the immigration official you give that as a reason for your visit, that could either slow or expedite your trip through customs.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


www.pexlives.libsyn.com/

Post Reply