Sweet Thing
It seems the done thing for people to hate on David Live, but the record deserves a place in your collection for this track alone (and possibly Aladdin Sane - that piano). I get physical manifestations from this shit. The sax gets under my skin like it plans on electrocuting me, Bowie’s disaffected croon when he slides into Candidate makes my back muscles pull tight, the screechy, tangled guitar makes my fingers twitch in sympathy. Bowie’s vocals are rusty, grating things, but they’re perfectly suited to dredging up images of sleazy, dark, violent city backstreets before soaring into clear cut notes that drag you up and down the register with him. And points for the sheer cool of his delivery, you can just see him prowling round a stage, flinging this piece into all those faces fixated up at him. This song has jagged edges, it’s strikingly beautiful, but you wouldn’t want to touch it.
Yes, many renditions on the record sound like they’ve really been forced through the wringer (Ziggy’s in his grave, throwing a fit) but the instances of vocal acrobatics still leave my brain ringing. And I can appreciate the raw, weary, detached attitude that goes along with the execution. Coke, what coke? Point being, I love this track.
Knees.
Home, 31.05.12
Kashi the cat.
Home, 31.05.12
- Orpheus, shambling & drunk on shadows, sees sunlight & emerges into what he thinks is the world; into what with a blinking look around he decides with only a shade of uncertainty is not merely widening in the passage itself, a kind of rough natural vestibule, but must surely count as the…
I would that each of these played separately across a man’s face so that I may see the words.
PES is an animator/director of short films, many of which feature things played by other, very talented, things.
Camera Obscure with Abelardo Morell: He covered all his windows with black plastic in order to achieve total darkness, he then cut a small hole in the same black plastic material, an image of the outside scenery was reflected directly on the opposite wall, but it was upside-down.
This feeds directly into my substantial trompe-l’oeil penchant. My walls are so achingly bereft in comparison - seems a crime to leave all that open space untouched.
Stunning.
Devil: Listen up, big guy. I got three good reasons why you should just walk away. Number one. Look at that guy! He’s got that sissy stringy music thing.
Angel: We’ve been through this. It’s a harp, and you know it.
Devil: Oh, right. That’s a harp. And that’s a dress.
Angel: Robe!
I adore this movie.
The Cold Commands is resting to the left of my elbow, face down and finished. It was fucking amazing. The opening chapters tested my self-restraint, but by the time ol’ Angel Eyes made his appearance I was gone. That man is perfectly flawed. No one else could be so entertainingly, charmingly, magnetically fucked up. Talk about drawing the eye…
For those not familiar with Lord Eskiath, not only did Morgan give us a little tête-à-tête between His Imperial Shininess and Gil, he also passed on this endearing little summary of his leading man:
“I like you Ringil Eskiath, Prophet take me up the arse if I don’t. You’re an arrogant little northern thug, you’re trading on not much more than old war stories, a belly for violence and a few family connections. And from what I hear, your bedroom practices wouldn’t bear much scrutiny either. But there it is - I like you. What am I to do?”
There’s nothing to be done, for you will be undone by the lethal, aristo, world-weary hero whether you like it or not.
Another little authorial indulgence that caught my eye in The Steel Remains, but in this book just flaunted itself cheekily, was the Takovach/Dakovash = Takeshi Kovacs cameo. Which was lovely. The idea that Tak’s future self is a badass immortal ticks all my boxes. (And Quelcrist = Kwelgris?) I don’t think Ringil’s world being a hugely distance future incarnation of Tak’s/ours is really going to play a big part plot-wise, but it’s a very nice touch. Ringil getting whipped back into line by Tak was also thoroughly enjoyable.
I like how this second instalment has left us with a bit more cud to chew over for the interim. Very nice pickings.
Now to process it all.
~
And if you haven’t read it, do yourself a favour and get into town, buy The Steel Remains, get comfy in your favourite fireside armchair, and let the printed word do the rest.
Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “The Pledge”. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “The Prestige.”
Still in the Thrall cast by this episode. It will be with me for some time to come. My brain is striking a perfect balance between comfortably lounging about, full and satisfied with new information and happenings, and then jumping up and running about like a headless chook, demanding to know What happens next? and How?
© Chander Devgun.
Our Moon turned red last week. The reason was that during December 10, a total lunar eclipse occurred. The above digitally superimposed image mosaic captured the Moon many times during the eclipse, from before the Moon entered Earth’s shadow until after the Moon exited. The image sequence was recorded over a Shanti Stupa Peace Pagota near the centre of New Delhi, India. The red tint of the eclipsed Moon was created by sunlight first passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, which preferentially scatters blue light (making the sky blue) but passes and refracts red light, before reflecting back off the Moon. Differing amounts of clouds and volcanic dust in the Earth’s atmosphere make each lunar eclipse appear differently. The next total lunar eclipse will occur only in 2014.
- NASA
Infinite Christmas Sounds to make your December jolly and fair all the way through to the New Year!
