First Days

 

College

 Today I take this little guy to college. 

2028

 I could get behind this programme. 

Knife

This excellent memoir by Salman Rushdie details his struggle to recover from a horrifying knife attack during a public literary event in 2023. I remember this event and was one of those shocked by the brutality of the attack and also the fact that Rushdie somehow survived. In this memoir Rushdie takes a horrifying experience and focuses on the love of his family who supported him and the medical personnel who saved his life. He also unflinchingly addresses the attacker and extremism. It is a work about the importance of the freedom of expression and creativity. It also focuses on the importance of love and optimism during our darkest moments. It is surprisingly uplifting and poignant.

Sing the Truth

 

Taco Tuesday

 Taco Tuesday at Taco Loco!

Sunset

 Nice sunset the other night 

Epic

I first read this in grad school but gave it another go the past few weeks, reading a page or two during breakfast. Another of my long term reads although this is fairly short. One of the oldest recorded stories written by humans but not discovered and translated until the mid to late 19th century. Estimates range that various versions of the story were recorded somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia. It blew my mind back in college days when I discovered the epic had an account of a great flood that seems to pre-date when the Biblical version was written. 

C’yote

Saw this dude in the city park the other day. Looked at me, considered, then dashed off. 

Antarctica

Kim Stanley Robinson never disappoints. Antarctica, where KSR spent some time with the NSF, take place in the near future. Antarctica is used as the setting for the discussion of climate change, eco-terrorism, social theory and more. Plus, it’s a real page turner. 

Schemes

A couple of days ago I watched Wes Anderson’s latest film, The Phoenician Scheme. I enjoyed it although I wouldn’t rank it among his best. Very good, just not necessarily great. Of course, I’ll have to rewatch before coming to final conclusions. So that got me to update my Wes Anderson movie rankings. Wrote them above before realizing I had forgotten The Grand Budapest Hotel. And I hadn’t seen Fantastic Mr. Fox. 

So I watched Fantastic Mr. Fox today. Pretty good but I’m just not into animation. I think I’ll put Hotel in the middle of the pack and Fox right below Phoenician Scheme. I do need to re-watch some of these especially Bottle Rocket. Been a long time since I’ve seen it. 

Some Delta Blues

Went to Good Records in Dallas today and picked up 2021’s Delta Kream by The Black Keys. A great double album of Delta Blues. 

True

 

Moon over Hawaii

 

EEQ

 My last performance with the Earl Enterline Quintet. 1998. 

Fuel City

 

Peaches

Was just bequeathed my Dad's old Peaches Records crate that he bought in the mid-eighties. Our house was literally right around the corner from a Peaches Record Store. It was too close for temptation sake. My Dad and I would walk to Peaches every week to flip through the records. My current record crate has become too small and my Mom gave me my Dad's old crate today. So stoked, not only to have more room for my LPs but to house them where my Dad housed his collection.

Cunning Man

I had been circling Robertson Davies since college but for whatever reason I had never given one of his books a go. Then I picked this up a couple of months back for $2 on the clearance shelf at Half Price Books. This was Davies’ last book before he died. What a way to leave this mortal coil. The Cunning Man is a spectacular legacy. Reminded me of an expanded (and more enjoyable) version of Joyce’s The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. No knock on Joyce but I found TCM deeper and much more moving. I will now have to search out more of Davies’ work. 

Art Show

 

SW

The other day we had the opportunity to tour the HQ of Southwest Airlines with a friend who works there. He took us through the main control room which is huge and no photos allowed. We saw the simulators, hangars and more. Pretty cool.