Indistinguishable from Magic

So, farewell then, Arthur C. Clarke.

I grew up reading a lot of his inspirational books and short stories, many of which made a great impact on me. The sheer breadth and scope of imagination was awe-inspiring.

My favourites among the dozens:

Songs of Distant Earth,
The City and the Stars,
A Fall of Moondust,
Rendez-Vous With Rama,
Childhood's End,
2001 and sequels,
and many many short stories.

"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion."

So Hop on the Train, 'Cause it Kills the Pain

A prog-biased, and very welcome, 'Not Classical or Spoken' mix to accompany the start of another tedious week in Central London. I have been offered a lifeline, which will become clearer over the next month or so and put an end to the misery, I hope.

Fireside Song - Genesis,
Opening Move - Gryphon. Oh for a time when bands such as Gentle Giant, Egg, National Health, Gryphon etc. could exist and be a commercial success again,
The Loved Ones - The Enid,
Stormy Clouds - The Verve,
Lesson In Survival - Joni Mitchell,
Endless Sacrifice - Dream Theater,

and finally, the Count Arthur Strong episode from last Friday, with the Antiques Roadshow theme; bit of a weak ending, but some great moments (especially the two for one offer on tea)

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

I've Got My Guitar And My Music Too

The count of adult reading Harry Potter was surprisingly low - only 2. For the sake of the nation, this is probably a Good Thing.

A radical overhaul of my iPod this weekend resulted in only 3000 tracks being re-loaded: all recent acquisitions, all Prog Rock and all Reggae.

The first album was by a band I'd heard a lot of in relation to Van der Graaf Generator and Gentle Giant - Gnidrolog.

From Lady Lake:

I Could Never Be A Soldier - driven by vocals, but quite sparse with only bass and drums and the occasional flute/sax intrusion. Very subdued guitar.
Ship - excellent,
A Dog With No Collar,
Lady Lake,
Same Dreams,
Social Embarrassment.

A very nice album, redolent of VdGG and GG, but also Soft Machine (Robert Wyatt) and pastoral King Crimson.

To finish things off, early Elton John, from Madman Across the Water:

Levon,
Razor Face.

T- 4; M - 4; D - 3; Potterwatch - 2

A is for Apple

Well, no commute today, with it being Saturday.

I'm looking forward to the journey on Monday, though, surrounded by adults reading a children's book. The most comical sight is the "adults' edition", or whatever it's called, with the same 12-year reading age stuff inside but with a different 'grown up' cover.

Buy loads of this book. And the action figures. And see the films and buy the burgers.

I have shares in Bloomsbury...

Kiss My Yarbles

Just finished Burgess' 'A Clockwork Orange', from the 'Independent' Banned Books series. I was surprised how short it was. Compare it to today's lumpen works, which must be seen to give value for money at 300 pages plus...

Great book, although the language takes some getting used to. I actually picked most of it up before I realised there was a glossary in the back. The ultraviolence depicted is shocking, particularly the encounter in the record shop with the two girls, but the narrative is great and the cycle of anarchy and redemption under the gaze of a Big Brother-type system is just about credible, and becoming more so, I fear.

Next book will be Ian Rankin - I've read a couple of the Rebus novels, but would like to start from No.1 in the series to get the full effect.

I See Red

Back to my GP to have my knee sorted out. Apparently the nurse who removed my stitches didn't dress the wound properly. Great.

I've just discovered Danny Baker's All Day Breakfast podcast. Nor dissimilar from his BBC London show, therefore just to my taste... If this gets to be a daily thing, then my future commutes will mostly be spent listening to this, which might change the character of this blog.

Songs on my 'Colours' playlist today. Not an exact science, as words ending in -red (see flowered) also show up. What the hell, it's just an intersting way to do this...

Goodbye Blue Sky - Pink Floyd,
Outside Woman Blues - Cream,
Songs in Red and Gray - Suzanne Vega,
Blue Melody - Tim Buckley,
Fourteen Black Paintings - Peter Gabriel,
Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight - Rick Wakeman,
Flowered Knife Shadows - Harold Budd,
Red Lenses - Rush,
Answered Prayers - David Sylvian,
Black Market Blood - Placebo,
Red Stuff Writhe - Roger Waters and Ron Geesin,
White Russian - Marillion

Almost finished 'Cloud Atlas'. I had very high expectations of this book, which haven't quite been met. The structure of the book(s) is novel, although the overlap between them is minimal and really just superficial. Also, by the time I get to the second half of the first story, I'll have forgotten what's going on. The common theme of man's inhumanity to man, and the dry humour used, is very good though.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Average

After a full weekend, including a trip to Crystal Palace to see 'Peter Pan On Ice' with my wife and son, it was time to relax on this morning's commute. A Shuffle of 'folk and guitarists' produced Sandy Denny, John Martyn, Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Suzanne Vega, Tom McRae, Boo Hewerdine amongst others, which suited my mood perfectly on this sunny morning.

My thoughts turned to my travelling companions: If you're new to London and buy a house near, say, East Finchley, expecting a pleasant ride into the City or wherever on the basis of the Tube map, it must be so bloody annoying to NEVER get a seat on the train. You pay, what, £1000 a year and cram into a full train every day.

Anyway, bollocks to them; I had a seat all the way and had a very average commute. I actually arrived on time to work.

Apparently the Waterloo & City line has been closed due to 'dust'. Well done, everybody.

While I'm here, I must mention a book I read while commuting earlier in the year - Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It's awful. To make matters worse, it's about 1000 pages long and is awful throughout. I expected (why, I don't know) some sort of Holmes/Watson interaction between the two main characters, perhaps in some light-hearted, but strangely intriguing, romp through Victorian London or similar. What I got was a dry, badly-edited, meandering tale of nothing in particular, filled with nonsense about magic and fairies. When I was about 80% through it, a chap on the Tube asked me if it was any good. He'd started it and stopped half-way through - since I'd almost finished it, I must know whether it improved. It hadn't. I was waiting for a fast-paced, exciting ending, in which everything was revealed and loose ends were tied up. It wasn't and they weren't.

Avoid this book. It weighs too much for a commute, and is a complete waste of time.