The Twilight Zone #1

Time for some music for the night folk or insomniacs of the world -

Hildur Guðnadóttir - Meeting Bruce Wayne

Melba Liston - You Don’t Say

Marquis Hill - Ego vs. Spirit

Sweet Honey In The Rock - Tomorrow

ENJOY

The Twilight Zone #2

More cool groves for the night owls -

Salami Rose Joe Louis - Peculiar Machine (Georgia Anne Muldrow Remix)

Annea Lockwood - Buoyant

Stine Janvin - Like Last Night

Meril Wubslin - Alors marche

Cerys Matthews, Hidden Orchestra - Flame Lily

ENJOY

Good Morning

Series Series

I was listening to the radio this morning and learned more about International Women's Day due tomorrow. BBC Radio 3 is devoted to women composers and artists on Monday for the whole day.

I slept in for a while this morning after having a mid-period of nighttime watching. I caught up with Alien Resident and Episode 9 of WandaVision. This is the last episode of the mini-series and I enjoyed it thoroughly. For those who have not seen this series, it is set three weeks after the events of Avengers: Endgame, and with her powers, she sets up a whole family with Vision alive again in this town that has been captured in a kind of bubble universe she has created. But that is all I will say about it. No spoilers. However, just two things to note at the end of the series - Skrulls (that race was first seen in the Captian Marvel film) and Darkhold (that book of dark magic first seen in Agents of SHIELD).

Also, The Flash is back. The first episode of the new season was watched during the week. Quite a few of these series had to be curtailed due to COVID of course. So next to wait for is the next season of Supergirl.

Disney has now taken all Phase 4 of the MCU but I will not be using Disney as long as I can watch on OnionPlay. I look forward to the Loki TV series. I am not certain if it is the same actor that played him in the Marvel films.

Anyway, I have reading to catch up now.

On The CD Deck

Well, another cool day with some sunshine. Still too cold, so I had a spicy hot chilli dish with rice, and overdid the ghost chillis a bit. However, it did warm me up no end!

I was listening to Schubert lieder in the morning and then some knotty Elliott Carter string quartets. Then on a different tack, I listened to the new Paul McCartney CD .. eh what you say .. yep, Paul. It came out in December 20202 during the lockdown and all the instruments on the CD are played by him and got a review in Wire magazine in the February issue.







I love the album. Just 44 mins. long but already high in rotation on my system. Comes in a cardboard sleeve which CD has no inner sleeve. Why do they not include an inner sleeve these days as CD is liable to get scratched if not carefully inserted etc?

On to some classic Van Morrison albums in my collection. Well, actually just three at the moment and I know he did some great albums and some less so. The Wire did a best of the Van article back in the early nineties. Checking - Yes, October 1991.

Book 21 - Daphne du Maurier "Rebecca"

Daphne du Maurier "Rebecca" (Mandarin Books)

This book is for someone who loves suspense, mystery, and a little bit of romance. Rebecca is for many the quintessential Gothic novel: a drafty old house, a damsel in distress, heroes and villains, and mysterious twists.

It is about a young woman who isn't quite sure of her place in the world. She gets married to Maxim de Winter. She knew that he had a previous wife- the mysterious Rebecca-, and recognizes that he dislikes talking about her. Their lives are put in jeopardy when a diver finds Rebecca's body at the bottom of the bay and the new Mrs. de Winter finds out Rebbeca's, and Maxim's horrible past. Will Rebecca win in the end?



Du Maurier knows well how to spin an enthralling mystery. She builds the suspense slowly and steadily and creates an atmosphere that for me is rarely found elsewhere. Rebecca and Manderley are both palpable characters even though neither of them is actually alive. The narrator is eminently sympathetic, and even though she is a bit wimpy, it’s easy to understand why and how. She&rsquo's out of her league for the most part, and she copes the best she can. Each character feels like they could exist, except perhaps Rebecca, but that could just be because she is so different from me - even the cruel Mrs. Danvers has two sides and her cruelty is to some extent understood and explained to the reader. They all have motives for their actions. Everything is tight and well done.

Also, the first-person narration is excellent - we really do see through the current Mrs de Winter's eyes and she acts as a filter for our understanding.

The dead Rebecca's presence is felt throughout the book, both when she is regarded as a flawless saint and later after her degradations are revealed (though the nature of her sins is coyly not properly described). Aside from the main plot and atmosphere of the house, one other attractive feature is the descriptions of food and the endless lavish meals that keep being served and (sometimes) eaten.

In my estimation, this is a very good read and I would heartily recommend it as it has all the tropes of the classic victorian Gothic novel without being a Victorian novel.
 

Good Night