Good Morning

Four Morning Pop Tarts

Wakey wakey - its boogie-woogie to rock n' roll.

Albert Ammons - Shout For Joy

Jelly Roll Morton - Black Bottom Stomp

Louis Jordan - Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens (1956)

Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven (1956)

Bloody 'eck. Last two are in the year i was born.
ENJOY

Book 15 - Joseph Brodsky "Watermark"

Joseph Brodsky "Watermark: An Essay on Venice" (Penguin Classics)




This is my first book written by Joseph Brodsky - a gift from my brother - but it was not my first book on Venice that I had read – Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities is one of my favourite books along with Ruskin's Stones of Venice on the city's architecture, and of course Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. All these others I recommend as well.

Brodsky's essay is very different to Calvino's fictional homage, in that it is made up of his own impressions from the 17 or so winters he spent there during his lifetime love affair with the city. Though it is billed as an essay, it actually takes the form of many small sections, mostly self-contained, a paragraph to a few pages in length. Each of these covers a train of thought on something particular, or in most cases not that particular, relating to the city. It is a very good book to dip in and out of. The general tone is reflective, poetic, wandering – like the canals themselves, musing, and revealing very much the spirit of the city. Brodsky is frequently amusing, and occasionally quite clever, but never authoritative in the way that Ruskin is, nor quite as poetic as Calvino. However, he does write with a particular type of knowing wit that is his own, and his philosophising though often given to sentimentality is not lacking in the insight of a kind.

However, he is vaguely homophobic in his description of giggling queens at a party. And yet draws on seemingly vastly cultivated friends to lend some heft to his moody wandering around this city that fascinates him. His favourite word in the book seems to be "chordate."

So, apart from that caveat, I did enjoy this book, and that I could read it in a couple of days, and feel satisfied. So dear reader, it is worth a look.

Nat King Cole Sings, George Shearing Plays (Remastered 2015)

One of the finest albums to be released in the 60s (1962 to be exact) and remastered in 2015.

Batchelor Pad Music Sunday

Time for some exotica and easy listening grooves -

Nat King Cole - The Game Of Love

Tak Shindo - The Song Of Delilah

Arthur Lyman - Voodoo Dreams

Jack "Bongo" Burger & Orchestra - Mambo Burger

Bob Lin Wu & His Orchestra - China Boy

ENJOY

Music For The Night People

Time for some more music -

Hildegard von Bingen - Instrumental Piece 1

Par Bostrom - Library music #2

David Wenngren - Water Sky

Nils Frahm - A Shine

ENJOY

Yep ...

Good Night