Old Dog; New Tricks
There might be something to that saying about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks. Hell, it’s hard enough teaching a new dog new tricks (although Lester is quite adorable when he rolls over on command).
First, last October after enduring years of teasing (thank you comrade S. and I really mean that), I signed up for French classes. The group to which I belong is bi-lingual and produces a review in both English and French, and I go to Montreal several times a year including for the Anarchist bookfair in May. French is good. I struggled a little in the first session, but I’m persisting. The second session started a week or two back and so far it’s pretty good.
According to received wisdom, it takes seven years to become fluent in a second language. Acquiring a native accent in a second language after puberty is much harder. I’m resigned to the fact that I will never speak French sounding as a native speaker, but I do have aspirations to be able to carry on a conversation.
Second, my eight-year-old son is taking skating lessons. Every kid in Canada should be able to skate, but like many of the kids in the class, it’s not easy. In a good parent moment, I foolishly said, I’ll take lessons too, and so there I was.
As I stood waiting to step onto the ice with my brand new skates and helmet, I wondered: Do I really need to be able to slide around on two thin pieces of metal on ice? Really? I hugged the guard rail pretty hard for the first half of the class, but by the end of the first session I was walking across the ice. By the end of the second, I was almost skating. Needless to say, I was very pleased by my progress.
On the third night, I had my Icarus moment. I took two nasty falls on exactly the same spot. Point of impact: right elbow and right hip. When I got into bed a few hours later, I accidentally lay on my right side. It felt as if I had bene kicked by a mule. (Not having ever been kicked by a mule I can only imagine what it might feel like, but I’m pretty sure it hurts.. a lot. Four days after the lesson, my hip is a fine burgundy. And yes, it still hurts.
Still, learning French and skating, could I get anymore Canadian?
A friend informed me that I could, but I’d have to be drinking a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee and carrying a beaver while skating to do it.
Yeah, and speaking French too, right?
Occupy Wall Street and Anti-Capitalism
Meeting announcement. This Sunday in New York.
Do you believe another world is possible? That humankind would be better off with a system other than capitalism (or the other class societies that came before it)? Are you inspired by OWS and the explosion of the occupy movement, but also find the need for a network of similar minded activists to work or share ideas with?
Revolutionary and non-sectarian anarchists, socialists, and communists are coming together to report on their activity in OWS, share insights and discuss next steps, support each other, and hopefully work
together productively in the future.
Our first meeting, initiated by a small group of anti-capitalist activists, took place on January 8th. About forty-five people attended and, after a productive discussion, agreed to continue meeting.
We are not looking to ‘take over’ OWS, or build a separate alternative to it, but to form a network for anti-capitalist activists already active in the movement. No decisions have been made about what we might do!
Next Meeting
Sunday January 29th 6:00 PM
The Commons 388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
(three blocks from the Atlantic Avenue Subway Stop)
Agenda
6:15 – 6:45 One-to-One Introductions and Small Group Conversations
6:45 – 7:45 Discussion on what is happening in New York City
7:45 – 8:15 Small Group Discussions on Common Work
Come join the conversation and contribute to an explicitly anti-capitalist current within the occupy movement.
For more information, write to: againstprofitnyc@gmail.com.
Life is Work, but Work isn’t Life
In the second half of last year, I was underemployed. Well, basically unemployed with short bursts of employment. As anyone whose has negotiated between the two states of existence knows, both are filled with strong emotions.
When I’m working, I’m more accurately working for the weekend, Friday night and its magic of possibilities, only to ber crushed by the misery of Sunday knowing that you will be back at work on Monday. Like most workers I dream of free time, holidays etc. And I actually aspects of my job, as there are many moments of personal freedom combined with a wage that’s not as bad as some. But there have been many many moments in my working life when the job sucked, the bosses were, well, bosses and the pay was unspeakably low.
To be quit of that state is often welcome. Forty extra hours a week to do….well anything. Not waking up at 4:30 and being unable to go back to sleep because work is coming. One of my concerns when I went back to work was when would I have time to do all the stuff that just needs to get done?
But then, the reality sinks in. I’m not independently wealthy. The only thing I can sell in this market economy is my ability to labour. No work means no money. The miserable pittance the government hands out is just that miserable . In Canada, employment insurance benefits are 55% of salary to a maximum of just over $400 a week (so if you had a semi-decent paying job, you benefit is actually much less than 55% ). That’s quite a drop, and given that most people are a paycheque of two away from poverty, that’s quite terrifying.
I’m not a big spender. I don’t have debts apart from my mortgage, but inexorably, the bank account declines. As English singer-songwriter TV Smith observed in a song I posted last week, it’s expensive being poor.
So on we tread. Caught between a rock and a hard place, between employment and unemployment. And we wonder, is this all there is? For most of my life, I’ve believed in a negative answer to that question. There is better, possible world. And it’s coming.
Expensive Being Poor
I refer to this song in an as yet unpublished piece, and it’s so good, I thought why not post it here. From TV Smith’s Generation Y record.
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And the car is off the road but I never had a car.
And I pay more for my food ’cause the supermarket’s too far.
It’s expensive being poor because everything costs more,
Knocking on a closing door, it’s expensive being poor,
Someone throw me down some crumbs I will eat them off the floor,
It’s expensive being poor but I look good when I get desperate.
And the box is on the fritz, it’s a black and white, or was,
I tried taking it to bits now the picture’s just a grey fuzz.
It’s expensive being poor because everything costs more
someone pick me off the floor, it’s expensive being poor,
How can I live with what I did when the cinema’s six quid?
It’s expensive being poor but I look good when I get desperate.
Let the good times roll Into a bottomless hole with job,
Friends and future my ideal home furniture,
Let the trumpets sound as my house falls down.
And the dust begins to clear and I’m lying on the ground,
And I’m standing on a path in an unknown part of town,
And the path leads me away over hills and out of sight,
In the blazing sun by day and the hanging moon by night,
And I wind up in a place where I never have to count,
And I never see the waves as I push my leaking boat out.
It’s expensive being poor because everything hurts more,
Knocking on a bolted door It’s expensive being poor.
Someone throw me down some crumbs I will eat them off the floor,
It’s expensive being poor, but I look good when I get desperate.
2012: OWS at a Crossroads
The meeting takes place this Sunday. If you’re in the New York area, consider attending.
As the year is ending, the Occupy movement can look back with pride. A lot was accomplished in just a few months time. Our protest has broken the silence on the pain that the system we live under inflicts on the vast majority of the population. It has shifted the debate. It has spread throughout the country and beyond. It has created a space in which all voices can express themselves, in which people talk to each other about their lives and relate it to what’s happening to society. It has protected and expanded this space with creative direct democracy-methods. It has seen itself in continuation of, and in solidarity with, the protest movements in Egypt, Greece, Spain and everywhere against a global system of injustice. And its essential slogan : “Occupy !” gives a sense of direction to our movement : Let’s occupy our world, make it work for the needs of the 99% !
To occupy our world, we must expropriate its current owners, dubbed the 1% but more appropriately described as “capital.” But not everyone in the Occupy movement agrees with this conclusion. So now that the movement enters a new phase, and everyone is talking about what the next step will be, it finds itself at a crossroads. We are all bound together by our outrage over the injustice this system inflicts but we draw different conclusions. Some think our aim must be to reform the system, to change the laws to protect politicians from the corrupting influence of money. Others like us think that, as long as the capitalist core of the system survives, it won’t matter how democratically politicians are elected, they will always be bound by higher laws, the laws of capital. Congress, the Democratic party and its trade union allies, the cops, the mayors, governors etc, are all integral parts of the soulless machine that structures society in the interests of capital. They can never represent the interests of the 99%.
In 2012, the spectacle of the electoral circus will suck up a lot of media-attention and it threatens to suck up part of the Occupy movement as well. The challenge to those who refuse to be co-opted by the very forces against whose policies the movement has risen, who don’t want to become foot soldiers for progessive Democrats or the unions, is to pose an alternative perspective to the movement.
How to concretize the battle cry “Occupy!” ? How to resist the forces of co-optation ? How to reach out to the ‘99%’ in the workplaces, whose involvement is vital to our movement ? How will the deepening of capitalism’s crisis in the coming year increase the pressure and affect the spread of the Occupy movement ?
These and other questions, the anti-capitalists in the Occupy movement need to discuss. We invite them to do so at an open meeting, on January 8th.
January 8, 2012
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
The Commons
388 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn
(three blocks from the Atlantic Avenue Subway Stop)
Issued by : a group of anti-capitalist activists
For more information, write to : Against Profit NYC
Top Ten Lists – A cautionary Tale
I’m not really sure why people think the holidays are a time to kick back and catch up. Holidays, especially the Christmas ones, seem the busiest time in life. Anyway, it’s Monday and I’m now reading the Sunday New York Times magazine.
Wanted to pass on though, a terrific article about top ten lists. “The Top 210 Reasons to Make (and Love) Top Ten Lists.”
Here also are the lists mentioned in the article.
Enjoy.
Goodbye 2011
And as the last few hours of 2011 slip away, it’s time to look back and see some of the things that made life a little better this year (as opposed to, say, the Sheepdogs)
1. Lester the Dog
Regular readers will remember I got a dog in June. A friend of mine told me it’s like having a toddler for 15 years. Not entirely wrong, but it’s going to be a good 15 years. Like having children, not everyone should have a dog, but if you can make it work… Lester has brightened things. Never a dull moment, and you know what, I actually enjoy the walks.
2. Zeppele
Mmm, creamy Italian dessert produced around Easter time. Say no more.
3. Justified
Ironically, I heard about this US series in a British magazine. In a nutshell, US Marshall Raylen Givens (Timothy Olyphant) kills a gangster in Florida under fairly dubious circumstances and is exiled to his hometown in Lexington, Kentucky. Sounds unremarkable, but Olyphant is irresistible and the stories crackle with excitement. (Walton Goggins, formerly of The Shield is marvellous as a former white supremacist turned Christian fundamentalist). Do I need to say it’s based on an Elmore Leonard story? Season 2 is out on DVD next week. (Sorry, have to add this – apparently Leonard was on a panel discussion, ands after a young man came up to sell hello. According to Leonard the man’s name was Raylen something. Leonard snapped, how would you like to be in my next novel. The name was too good not to use)
4. Romeo and Juliet
I had to do a study of this play recently. It was never my favourite of Shakespeare’s plays (and still isn’t), but I do have a greater appreciation for it now, and the brilliance of the Bard. (OK, now I understand the Prince of Cats line). It’s a testimony to the power of Shakespeare’s art that we still root for Romeo and Juliet even though they are doomed.
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9
Like many people, I was thrilled with the announcement of the continuation of Buffy in comic form after the ending of the TV series. Like many people, I was also disappointed with season 8. It got off to a good start, but the Twilight saga, Buffy with super-powers etc lost me. In the final two books however, a gleam. The death of Giles, as painful as it was, was brilliant. And the final book had that Whedon feel to it. Season 9 is much better. To begin with, it’s about vampires again, and the dialogue and story feels much more like the series. Worth that trip down to the comic shop.
6. Anna Calvi
Yeah yeah, critical buzz, but ignore that; she really is that good. I saw her twice this year, at the El Mocambo and at Lee’s Palace. She basically played the same set, but it was sooooo good, I didn’t care. I don’t remember the last time I was this excited about an artist (maybe I should read over my blog). New album next year? Let’s hope.
7. Island Foods
OK, it’s a small franchise with three stores in Toronto, but the roti there is fabulous. We live near the one in Don Mills, and eat there probably twice a month. Get the spinach and chick-pea roti with hot sauce. To die for.
8. Banana Republic Topcoat
Ok, let’s be superficial for a moment here. I bought a brown moleskin coat at Banana Republic this year. I know I’m long past the age where I might be considered cool, but I love this coat.
9. True Blood
Haven’t seen season 4 yet, but I did watch the first three seasons this year. . When I watched the Sopranos, I found it easy to root for Tony and his friends. But just as you did, they would commit some horrific act of violence, and I would remember these were amoral monsters. True Blood has that same effect, only with more sex and blood and rock and roll.
10. Downton Abbey
I’m not a monarchist by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m a sucker for these British period pieces. Downton Abbey is the story of a titled family whose male heirs die on the Titanic. Because of the curious inheritance laws in the UK an estate with three daughters presents a problem. Like Upstairs Downstairs, Downton Abbey tells three stories: the wealthy, the servants and the interaction between the two. For a show where people just talk, its essential drama.
11. Arkham Asylum – The Game
OK, I know Arkham City is out now, but I’m a little behind. I’m not much of a gamer, but I do enjoy the Bat as he battles the Joker, Harley Quinn, Bane, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy (met her yesterday) and more. I’m reduced to playing the “easy” version, but it’s kinda cool. Check with me in three years when I’m playing the next version (The Assassins Creed series looks interesting too!)
12. French
I took French as a kid, and I wasn’t very good. I tried again in university, and the results weren’t much better. In September, I registered for French classes with the city. Oh, it was hard, but I signed up for part 2 starting in a few weeks. Notwithstanding the numerous typos that litter this blog, I think my sense of grammar is quite good, but my French is quite poor. It’s an interesting puzzle to try to understand and become comfortable in another language. My accent will never be confused for a native French speaker, but who knows, maybe my writing will be…one day. (Thanks to Sander for pushing me!)
13. Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan – The Strain
My favourite pop novel this year. A very-readable vampire series with all the familiar clichés, but in an original way. Watch out for that stinger! Dark Horse are publishing an 11-issue adaptation. And you can be sure there’s a plan for a movie somewhere along the road.
14. Canada’s Worst Driver
As a rule, I don’t watch reality TV, but last year on New Year’s Day, my daughter and I happened across a CWD marathon. Now it’s our show. I’m not a great driver, but I think generally I’m a safe driver, so a part of the thrill of watching the show is, “hey I could do that” or “Oh my god, stop doing that” On the season finale, you could see the rising fear in host Andrew Young-Husband as he rode in a car where the driver was on the wrong side of the road approaching a blind hill. like parents or pet owners, some people shouldn’t drive.
15. Bowling
In the words of Homer Simpson, “if horse racing is the sport of kings, then surely bowling is a …very good sport as well. “ Indeed. I started a new job in November, and a few weeks in, people went bowling. What the hell I thought. In for a penny… And a lot of fun it was (it didn’t hurt, I ended up bowling better than most of the people there). Next time, ten pin!
16. New York
I’m really surprised how many people I know in Toronto who tell me, Oh I’ve never been to New York. But it’s so close, and it’s so cool. I rarely seem to get out of Manhattan, but I feel as if I barely scratch the surface there. Still, Toronto always seems so small whenever I go there. Always something to see; always something to do. Last year was exploration, this year, it was shopping (including a visit to the American Girl store). The watch I got from MOMA always gets compliments.
17. Soundscapes
Like New York, Soundscapes always seems to end up on this list. It’s a record shop for people who love music. No, not like HMV which is for something else, Soundscapes has that record you want, and the one you didn’t know you needed. Along with books, magazines, DVDs and tickets. Rarely do I leave empty-handed, and quite often with more than I planned to get. Whenever I read MP3ers prophecies about the death of the CD/vinyl etc, I’m glad stores like Soundscapes are still around. Rock on!
18. Matt Smith as Dr. Who
Now David Tennant was very good as the Doctor. Many people even placed him ahead of Tom Baker. Matt Smith, whom I’d only seen in the Sally Lockhart Mysteries (with ex-Dr Who alum Billie Piper), had big shoes to fill. And he’s great. There’s a moment in an episode this season where Smith dons an astronaut’s helmet and exclaims ”Look how cool this stuff is!” Nerds everywhere rejoice. (Oh and he wears a bow tie – see last year’s list, point 19)
19. Fan Expo
This past summer, I went to Fan Expo down at the Convention Centre. Fan Expo isn’t the biggest sci-fi/comic/fantasy/horror convention in North America, but with over 80,000 people attending this year, it’s pretty big. I went on a whim. A whim that turned out to ber overwhelming. After queuing to get in, I was startled by the size of the thing. But after I adjusted to the scale, it was pretty interesting – I wish I’d done my homework a little and actually prepared some things I wanted to do (I did fist-bump Larry Hagman – not on my to-do list). Sad puppy that I am, I’ve already bought next year’s ticket.
20. Hope for the Future: Class Struggle
Who would have thought it? At the end of 2010, we saw the fall of Tunisia, then the struggle moved to Egypt, and beyond in a movement which came to be called the Arab Spring. What the outcome will be is still uncertain, but a little over a year ago, they would have been deemed impossible. Then the Occupy Movement. Thousands upon thousands moved into opposition. words like socialism and communism were still dirty words to some, but they could be heard every day. In a leaflet published by Internationalist Perspective, the organization to which I belong, we wrote:
In 2011, ten years after the attacks on New York that launched a decade of fear and demoralization, a breach has been opened. From Tunis to Cairo to Athens to Madrid to Santiago to New York, a fever is spreading. After taking it on the chin for so long, the working class, employed or unemployed, is beginning to rise up. We’re not gonna take it anymore! Something has changed. True, the Occupy Wall Street movement will not last forever. At some point, it will end, without a clear victory. But it’s just the beginning. This dynamic will continue and gather strength. Be a part of it!
Shroud of Turin…Still Fake
A heartwarming Christmas story from Skeptic Magazine.
Shroud of Turin: Redux by Daniel Loxton
Skeptics sometimes express impatience with discussion of seemingly quaint paranormal claims. (“What, Bigfoot—again?”) But the great lesson of paranormal history is that it is a wheel: no matter how passé or fringe a claim may sound, it is almost guaranteed to come ‘round again, in the same form or in some novel mutation.
In the last few days, global headlines have resurrected a nostalgic case from my childhood, just in time for Christmas: “The Shroud of Turin Wasn’t Faked, Italian Experts Say.” The cutting edge of yesterday—today! Even in my youth, this mystery was centuries old.
The Shroud of Turin is a 14-foot length of linen cloth that bears a stylized picture of a bearded man. Legend holds the Shroud to be a burial cloth wrapped around the Biblical Jesus following his execution. This linen was allegedly flash-imprinted with an image of Jesus during his miraculous resurrection, presumably by an intense burst of energy released under such circumstances.
The case for fraud has been strong since the 14th century, but enthusiasts insist on rolling that wheel ‘round again’. According to news reports this week, Italian scientists used an infrared CO2 laser to scorch images onto cloth and ”conducted dozens of hours of tests with X-rays and ultraviolet lights” in an effort to prove that the image could be created by a burst of electromagnetic energy. (Here’s a PDF of their Italian-language report.) What is the wavelength of a resurrection miracle? If there is one, the scientists were unable to discover what it might be. They learned (in ABC News’s paraphrase) that “no laser existed to date that could replicate the singular nature of markings on the shroud.”
Full-length photograph of the Shroud of Turin which is said to have been the cloth placed on Jesus at the time of his burial. All this business with lasers is neither here nor there. I’m reminded of magician James Randi’s line from Flim-Flam! about the pseudoscience technique of the Provocative Fact.
The same technique was used by the Gellerites when they assured us that at no time did Uri Geller use laser beams, magnets, or chemicals to bend spoons. This was quite true. It is also quite true that he had no eggbeaters, asbestos insulation, or powdered aspirin in his pockets either. So what?1
Turns out it’s hard to make a Shroud copy using lasers. That’s hardly surprising, but neither is it relevant.
There was never a good reason to think the Shroud was created by anything but the tools and artistry of a painter. Failed attempts to replicate the Shroud image using lasers only underline the argument skeptics have made for decades: the object is a medieval fake.
The bottom line on the Shroud remains the same: the Shroud continues to fail several key practical tests, as discussed by skeptical investigator Joe Nickell in his classic work on the subject, Looking for a Miracle:2
Provenance: there is no sign that this object existed before the 14th century;
Art history: the Shroud fits into art history as part of a genre of artistic depictions and recreations of burial cloths of Christ;
Style: the image upon the shroud looks like a manufactured illustration consistent with 14th century religious iconography, not like a real human being;
Circumstance: a 14th century Catholic bishop determined that the Shroud was a “cunningly painted” fraud—and discovered the artist who confessed to creating it;
Chemistry: the Shroud contains red ochre and other paint pigments;
Radiometric dating: carbon-14 dating tests showed in 1988 that the Shroud was likely created between 1260 and 1390 CE. In 2008, the hypothesis that this date was distorted by carbon monoxide contamination was tested—and results of the original tests confirmed.
Overturning the robustly supported conclusion that the Shroud was manufactured by a medieval artist would take extraordinary levels of evidence in favor of some alternate explanation. The current media hype carries no such breakthrough news. The opposite is true, in fact: the Italian researchers concede (as quoted by Vatican Insider) that their “inability to repeat (and therefore falsify) the image on the Shroud makes it impossible to formulate a reliable hypothesis on how the impression was made.”
After decades of controversy, the real shame is not merely the miasma of pseudoscience surrounding the relic (that’s a fog skeptics are happy enough to cut through) but the blurring of the lines between science and metaphysics—or if you like, between science and faith. The Shroud’s popularity seems to stem from the hope that it could deliver tangible evidence for the divine, but that hope is misplaced. Even if Shroud researchers were to prove their (exceptionally unlikely) speculation that the Shroud image was imprinted by “a short and intense burst of VUV directional radiation,” this would in no way confirm the existence of God, only of a unique printing process—a process enthusiasts have thus far been unable to demonstrate. The truth is that the tools and methods of empirical science would remain powerless to confirm the existence of a transcendent metaphysical God even in the event that such a being existed. It’s just not the sort of question science can answer.
Pressing science into the service of metaphysics may do harm to religion—I’ll leave it to the religious to say if that is so—but it cuts out the heart of the scientific enterprise. And that is a Christmas present that none of us should want.
References
Randi, James. Flim-Flam! (Prometheus Books: Amherst, New York, 1982.) p. 129
Nickell, Joe. Looking for a Miracle. (Prometheus Books: Amherst, New York, 1998.) pp. 22–29
Music Notes December 2011
Snow’s on the ground. Sun is shining. It must be time for the December Music notes. Maybe some of these found their way into your stocking. If not, that’s what sales are for.
1. She and Him – A Very She and Him Christmas
Christmas records, like tributes, are often difficult to get right: Sometimes too faithful, sometimes not faithful enough. At times, this one seems a little too gentle. Nevertheless, if you’re a fan of the duo, this 12-track record of Christmas covers will nestle nicely in your collection for eleven months of the year, only to be brought out each December. not essential, but a nice addition.
2. The Rolling Stones – Some Girls
Ok, some people will make a case for Emotional Rescue, fewer for Tattoo You, but for me this is the last great Stones record. It’s a sprawling mass of sounds from the disco thump of “Miss You” to the hick country of “Far Away Eyes” and even the Chuck Berry punk of ”Respectable” (I have a 7 inch of that one somewhere). On this, the Stones react to the forces of punk and disco and try to prove they not the cultural dinosaurs everyone assumed they were. Leaving that aside, the remastered album is worth a look for the dozen unreleased tracks which come on a second disc. The songs have a bluesier more traditionally Stones sound than Some Girls. The songs have a jam session feel, as if they got together just to play for the fun of it. It’s a rare treat especially since the Stones are now just a business. This is a better time.
3. Oxford American -
Every year Oxford magazine devotes an issue to music, and includes a CD. this year, the focus is on Mississippi, nad in my opinion, one of their better issues. (Which is praise indeed, since they are always worth having). In most collections, some parts are unlistenable, some are so-so and some are magic, but Oxford always seems to find something that makes me go wow. A great CD and a great read.
4. Don Pyle – Trouble in the Camera Club
Don Pyle used to be the drummer in Shadowy Men, but before that he was an amateur photographer. His photos document the punk revolution in Toronto and are perfect for any music fan. This book collects dozens of Don’s amazing photos. You owe it to yourself to own this collection. Have a look at some of them here
5. Ren Harvieu
I read about this new artist on the Mojo blog, a couple of months back then lost the link. Fortunately, her name came up again. Ooh, she;s going to be big. A voice that is frighteningly good. You didn’t hear it here first, but you did hear it. Say it again: Ren Harveau
6. Galaxie 500 – Don’t Let Our Youth go to Waste
I was late to catch Galaxie 500, but when I fell, I fell hard. This two DVD set includes all of their videos, plus live stuff, TV appearances and bootlegs. Not all of it is pristine quality, but when you consider just how little of this stuff there is, it’s a gold mine.
7. Hearless Bastards – “Parted Ways”
I think I first heard the Heartless Bastards on Carl Wilson’s Zoilus Blog (no longer updated it seems). Saw them supporting the Decemberists. And I’ve waited long for the follow-up to The Mountain, but there’s a new HB record out in February, and a tour (they play Toronto too). Here’s a lovely taster for the record. Yours for the price of your email.
8. Dorian Lynskey – 33 Revolutions per Minute
Music and…poliitcs, OK, I’m interested. Lynskey’s marvellously entertaining book hits all the right notes, spanning decades and genres. Very impressive, very readable. Have a look at the blog.
9. Black Keys – El Camino
My favourite record of late. It’s in non-stop rotation. It’s short. A little under 40 minutes, but from the opening drumbeat to the dying riff, it’s a thrill. Play loud the label instructs. Disobey at your peril.
10. Lykke Li – The Lost Sessions Volume 1.
It’s Lykke Li and it’s free. What more do you want? Get it at her site
And Lo, there came a Glow over Mount Paektu
Well, well. Nothing really surprises about those murderously loopy North Korean Stalinists. Wait for something equally loopy in Workers Vampire.
—————————————————————————————
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea says a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky began glowing red above sacred Mount Paektu just minutes before leader Kim Jong Il’s death.
State media say the ice on volcanic Lake Chon at the mountain in the far north cracked with a load roar.
And in the city of Hamhung, a Manchurian crane circled a statue of Kim’s father, late President Kim Il Sung, before alighting on a tree, its head drooping before it took off toward Pyongyang.
State media say Kim died Saturday morning at age 69. His death was announced two days later.
Similar myths and legends also surround Kim Jong Il’s birth on Mount Paektu. Official biographies say he was born on Paektu and that a double rainbow filled the skies when he was born.
