“At some point in his studies the student of military history begins to perceive great events as climaxes to a series of ironies.” — W.J. Wood
What’s cooking? I’m smack dab in the middle of a 4 1/2-day break and the coffee drip is working overtime. I’ve been back in the US for more than a year and mostly repatriated (mostly). This was a fairly grueling travel year workwise so my lethargy on these down days is a bit depressing.
I bought an odd “book” from the Bermuda Book Store whilst I was on Somers Isles called Bermuda Picture Album. It was pricey, hand cranked, and assembled in a plastic binder. It’s mostly postcards, photographs, and advertisements before 1915 from private collections. One of the collections is from the Zuill family and they are as close to Bermuda royalty as you can get. It was compiled by Frank Kusk, and it looks like, very sadly, he passed away in 2020. He seemed like an interesting chap.
Do you have any passion projects you want to complete before your earthly pilgrimage is over?
Related
Weekend 565.0 – Limestone Roof (Karl Struss)
(1) The Royal Book – instructions for looking like you should be on the throne (The History Jar)
(2) Dire Straits – Ride Across The River (YouTube)
Oh nothing gonna stop them as the day follows the night
Right become a wrong, the left become the right
And they sing as they march with their flags unfurled
Today in the mountains, tomorrow the world
(3) Cemetary Junction Trailer (YouTube)
Category Archives: Music
Weekend 588.0
(1) Friday night vinyl is The Wall – Live in Berlin by Roger Waters.
(2) Address to the Inhabitants of Bermuda, 6 September 1775 (National Archives)
(3) The Secret Tube Map That’s Only Meant For TfL Employees (Londonist)
Weekend 560.1
(1) Suzanne Ciani Creates The Soundtrack For A Pinball Machine (YouTube)
(2) Video Music from Art of Atari. Design by Fred Thompson
Weekend 560.0 (Music-Drama Vinyl Saturday)
Pelléas and Mélisande
“Phonographic editions of this masterpiece are going to help make perceptible to a greatly broadened public those elementary truths that even many naïve and badly informed music-lovers do not yet suspect. Bu making this work of the theatre penetrate into the intimacy of the home, the long-playing record is once again going to fulfill its noble mission, which consists of dissipating misunderstandings, enlightening consciousness, and even sometimes correcting miscarriages of justice…”
This is absolutely beautiful prose.
“…the shades of the lime-tree and the rose in the darkness—these were living forces which made all nature participate in the action. This magic fusion of the visible and the invisible created an irresistible fascination that tyrannically seized on sensibilities tuned to this pitch.”
“Not very sociable, but dreamy and meditative, he had always surprised his companions—who had nicknamed him the Prince of Darkness—by his flashing harmonic discoveries and his obstinate non-conformism.”
Source: Émile Vuillermoz
Related
After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art | Exhibitions | National Gallery, London
Debussy plays Debussy | Clair de Lune (1913) (YouTube)
Frog-shaped memento which belonged to Claude Debussy (1862-1918) (Bridgeman Art Library)
Claude Debussy composed only in the company of his childhood porcelain frog (CSM)
Weekend 557.0
(1) Pelléas et Mélisande (The Metropolitan Opera)
(2) 40×15/1 (185 VR 15) for the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL are back in stock!
Weekend 552.0 (I am following the river…)
…down the highway through the cradle of the Civil War.
Weekend 547.0 (…and all English affaire)
“All my possessions for one moment of time.”
— Elizabeth I
Prom 21: Gaming Prom – From 8-Bit to Infinity
:25 The Legend of Zelda | :57 Kingdom Hearts | 1:03 (1:16) Traveller | 1:36 I Have Begun My Ascent; The Leaving
a-ha
I saw the documentary last night at Curzon Bloomsbury. It was wonderfully done and if you are a child of the 80s it’s almost in the don’t miss category. What I loved about the documentary is that it was completely apolitical. There WAS no commentary on Thatcher or Reagan or the Cold War or AIDS. It didn’t focus on any of the other worn-out and overdone BS about musicians and artists as self-righteous change agents who use their platforms to launch movements. There was nothing in the documentary about addiction or other bizarre behavior as the pinnacle of fame fades. Did the band somehow manage to escape those pitfalls or did the director / producer just choose to ignore those chapters? It doesn’t necessarily matter in the end because this film was about friends in a very complicated long-term relationship who are connected by their LOVE (all CAPS) of music. I’m OK not knowing the true-story and actually hope their lives were as “normal” as those portrayed on the big screen.
Weekend 535.2 (A sound of the future…)
I’m still listening to the soundtrack from BELLE and discovering tracks like this.