HAPPY NEW YEAR

Good Morning

Dead Of Night

Watched a movie from 1945 that poliphilo mentioned. It is, as he mentioned, a precursor to the Twilight Zone - - but also, in my opinion, those Hammer Horror movies that are stories contained within one film where all the protagonists are dead reliving their nightmares leading them to be dead, like for example that movie Creepshow from director George A. Romero.

Creepshow is five tales of terror. The first deals with a demented old man returning from the grave to get the Father's Day cake his murdering daughter never gave him. The second is about a not-too-bright farmer discovering a meteor that turns everything into plant-life, and so on.

It is a trope that is well worn now. 

The Friday Five

Here is a silly Friday Five to start the new year -

Would you rather never be able to wear pants or never be able to wear shorts?

Would you rather live the next 10 years of your life in China or Russia?

Would you rather live on the beach or in a cabin in the woods?

Would you rather never be able to use a touchscreen or never be able to use a keyboard and mouse?

Would you rather have unlimited sushi for life or unlimited tacos for life?

Book 1 - Jonathan Franzen "The End of the End of the Earth"

Jonathan Franzen "The End of the End of the Earth" (Picador)

Actually, I finished reading this paperback the day before New Yer's Eve but left it in the word prcessing document and forgot about it until I checked this morning. So it should have ben tacked to last year's challemge. Nonethelss it can start this year's challenge which i will keep to a hundred.

So, enough of that and on to the book itself. Now I have heard that Franzen can to be the most divisive of all living authors and that he is abrasive and highly-opinionated but so are many artists.

I wanted to try his essay work and when I learned that he was such an avid “birder”, I knew I wanted to try this collection. There are birds galore here, so I was not disappointed. Sadly, many of these pieces deal with the destruction of birds and their habitat, (the numbers are truly staggering). Reading these essays are enough to make you weep. That said, his passion and joy watching and discovering birds, helped balance his well-documented rants.

He also loves books, so a few of these essays also deal with authors and literature, which obviously I can also relate to. This collection is not for everyone and it was not perfect but, if any of those topics hold any interest, give it a try.

Doctor Who

Just watched the New Year Day Doctor Who special and it was a good one. One of the best from the recent season with the Daleks resurrected and of course Captain Jack being back. No spoilers.

On Britbox I have been watching some of the old Jon Pertwee Doctor Who seasons. One thing I have noticed is how shoddy the SFX is compared to the reboot with "Rose".

New Sounds Old Sounds

Kicking off 2021 with Sun Ra -

Sun Ra - Disco 2021

Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda – Keshava Murahara

Bill Wells & Maher Shalal Hash Baz - Tipsy Cat

Ingram Marshall – Fog Tropes

Conductor – John Adams
French Horn – Brian McCarty, William Klingelofer
Trombone – Don Kennelly, Marc Kenley
Trumpet – Jim Miller, Tim Wilson

ENJOY

Good Night