An extremely unauthorized bio of Tom Waits, this book leads us from Waits' beginnings at the Troubador up until the Glitter and Doom tour this past year.
Honestly, I mostly never really want to know the person behind my favorite music and Waits has become one of my top favorites. I don't know, I guess I always figure that I'll be really disappointed if the person turns out to be a jackass and kicks puppies or something. I'm still a huge fan of Waits, probably even more so now.
This took forever to read because I didn't realize (or pay attention to the fact that) I missed almost everything in Waits' early career. I pretty much was introduced around Swordfishtrombone and went from there. The Waits I always liked was the gruff, hoarse, eccentric who pounded on chest of drawers to get percussion (Mule Variations being one of my absolute favorites). Who knew?
I ended up downloading virtually everything in the Waits discography and listening to it as I read the book, which accounts for why it took so damn long to finish. Closing Time is a Waits I never knew existed and one that I really like, although it doesn't eclipse the post-swordfish era.
Although I disagreed with the author....often...I still think this had a lot of great insight into the making of everything in the Waits vault and is fairly well rounded. Clearly there are issues with Brennan being a songwriting partner that I don't have, but to each their own
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
Chodron is an American Buddhist nun and is apparently a prolific writer. Going through some difficult times now, this book called to me from the Border's book shelf.
I'm going to admit that I started off reading this book thinking "What the hell are you talking about?" Leaning into the sharp points, facing your demons, embracing suffering - all sounds well and good but HOW do you do it? Buddhism is all abut guidelines and rarely ever says "Here is how you do this"
The more I read, though, the more I got it. I need to be kinder to myself. Less critical, less admonishment. The underlying factor here is if you can't have compassion for yourself, it's going to be difficult to be compassionate towards others. There is no right or wrong, no good or evil. Things just ARE. We're all here for a short time, so why not give yourself a break and lighten up a little?
I'm a classic case of escapism. When things are difficult, I do my best but I always retreat; into books, classes, knitting, what have you. Chodron encourages us to not reach for comfort when things go rotten. That's going to be mighty hard to do.
There's a really good chapter about not harming others. While you may not deliberately harm people, chances are you are doing harm when you're upset, embarrassed, angry, etc. Words, actions, emotions all mean the world and you have to be aware of what you say, do and feel. Being aware of how you react to things is even applauded as a great first step.
I'm going to try to put these things into practice. We'll see how it goes :)
I'm going to admit that I started off reading this book thinking "What the hell are you talking about?" Leaning into the sharp points, facing your demons, embracing suffering - all sounds well and good but HOW do you do it? Buddhism is all abut guidelines and rarely ever says "Here is how you do this"
The more I read, though, the more I got it. I need to be kinder to myself. Less critical, less admonishment. The underlying factor here is if you can't have compassion for yourself, it's going to be difficult to be compassionate towards others. There is no right or wrong, no good or evil. Things just ARE. We're all here for a short time, so why not give yourself a break and lighten up a little?
I'm a classic case of escapism. When things are difficult, I do my best but I always retreat; into books, classes, knitting, what have you. Chodron encourages us to not reach for comfort when things go rotten. That's going to be mighty hard to do.
There's a really good chapter about not harming others. While you may not deliberately harm people, chances are you are doing harm when you're upset, embarrassed, angry, etc. Words, actions, emotions all mean the world and you have to be aware of what you say, do and feel. Being aware of how you react to things is even applauded as a great first step.
I'm going to try to put these things into practice. We'll see how it goes :)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Dissecting Death by Frederick Zugibe MD
This book coins itself as secrets of a medical examiner. If you like CSI (and you can read) you'll probably really like this book. It's not flashy with lots of weird angles like CSI but it's well written and plain spoken about the life of a medical examiner.
Looking up the good doctor, I see he is very well known for his research on crucifixion. That explains why the last section of the book explains why Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ (or whatever) was medically incorrect.
Zugibe goes over 10 cases that show various points of the forensic field. One case involves a woman found slashed and stabbed in the woods and they must determine time of death; apparently a very tricky thing to do despite what the tv shows say. Another case provides them with a few bones found in a grave, along with pieces of material, and they must determine if it could be a missing reporter.
Zugibe explains in plain English DNA testing, bone testing, insect forensics, etc. All very interesting and, dare I say, educational.
Looking up the good doctor, I see he is very well known for his research on crucifixion. That explains why the last section of the book explains why Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ (or whatever) was medically incorrect.
Zugibe goes over 10 cases that show various points of the forensic field. One case involves a woman found slashed and stabbed in the woods and they must determine time of death; apparently a very tricky thing to do despite what the tv shows say. Another case provides them with a few bones found in a grave, along with pieces of material, and they must determine if it could be a missing reporter.
Zugibe explains in plain English DNA testing, bone testing, insect forensics, etc. All very interesting and, dare I say, educational.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Blankets by Craig Thompson
Blankets is an autobiographical graphic novel and came pretty highly recommended. I can honestly see why. This is a beautifully drawn, painfully honest, sweet novel of growing up and falling in love for the first time.
Growing up in an Evangelical Christian family, Thompson depicts his childhood as somewhat scary (at least the dad was a little scary to me) and troubled. Constantly picked on and forced to share a bed with his little brother, Thompson turned to Christianity early on.
At church camp, he meets Riana and they soon fall in love. We witness their 2 weeks together at Riana's and see how heartbreaking first loves can be.
Thompson moves on to the city after finding out first loves don't last forever.
This is an incredibly sweet book and well worth reading.
Growing up in an Evangelical Christian family, Thompson depicts his childhood as somewhat scary (at least the dad was a little scary to me) and troubled. Constantly picked on and forced to share a bed with his little brother, Thompson turned to Christianity early on.
At church camp, he meets Riana and they soon fall in love. We witness their 2 weeks together at Riana's and see how heartbreaking first loves can be.
Thompson moves on to the city after finding out first loves don't last forever.
This is an incredibly sweet book and well worth reading.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Stupid American History by Leland Gregory
I'm assuming Mr. Gregory has his facts straight about the myths and stupidity of America. This little book is full of trivia that you just never knew. Such as when JFK was assassinated, it wasn't a federal felony to kill a president. You have to wonder why?!?!
When the Titanic hit the iceberg the night of April 14th, most of the travelers were watching....The Poseiden Adventure...about a ship capsizing. Irony, no?
This book covers the beginning of America to fairly current political history (even has some snarkiness towards Dubya). Very entertaining and full of tidbits to shock and awe your dinner guests.
When the Titanic hit the iceberg the night of April 14th, most of the travelers were watching....The Poseiden Adventure...about a ship capsizing. Irony, no?
This book covers the beginning of America to fairly current political history (even has some snarkiness towards Dubya). Very entertaining and full of tidbits to shock and awe your dinner guests.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose
I had a trip to New Orleans planned so I decided to go to the library and get some history books. I saw 1 Dead In Attic and remembered seeing Chris Rose on No Reservations talking to Anthony Bourdain. He was a slight mess and pretty emotional about Katrina and the aftermath, even years later. I got the book anyways.
This is basically a series of Rose's newspaper articles that he wrote, editorials pretty much. Very emotional, very raw and, sometimes, very upsetting. He left his wife and kids with family in Maryland and went back to their New Orleans home to report on the aftermath of Katrina. His home was relatively undamaged but Rose completely immersed himself in the misery that other people were living. He described everyone there as living with post traumatic stress disorder and he couldn't have been more right.
Rose completely opened himself up and became an "embedded journalist", as he called himself, and the war he saw took a huge toll on him, which is evident in his writing.
This is truly a good book to read to try and understand what was happening down there that the news didn't report to you. Made me cry more than once.
This is basically a series of Rose's newspaper articles that he wrote, editorials pretty much. Very emotional, very raw and, sometimes, very upsetting. He left his wife and kids with family in Maryland and went back to their New Orleans home to report on the aftermath of Katrina. His home was relatively undamaged but Rose completely immersed himself in the misery that other people were living. He described everyone there as living with post traumatic stress disorder and he couldn't have been more right.
Rose completely opened himself up and became an "embedded journalist", as he called himself, and the war he saw took a huge toll on him, which is evident in his writing.
This is truly a good book to read to try and understand what was happening down there that the news didn't report to you. Made me cry more than once.
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Another Librivox recording and seriously, what a great recording. This one was well worth downloading.
I think everyone knows the premise of Dorian Gray. Some have even accused Johnny Depp of having his own Dorian Gray type painting stashed away somewhere. The basic plot is that Dorian Gray is painted by an artist named Basil Hallward. When Gray meets Lord Henry, Basil's friend, he becomes convinced that his youth and beauty are the only things that matter in this world and feverently wishes that the painting take his age and sins while he remains young and beautiful.
As Dorian goes about his life, falling in love with an actress Sybil Vane and later cruelly and horribly dumping her, he discovers that the painting is taking on all of his sins and the sin of aging. He's not worried enough to live a good life but is worried enough to hide the painting away in his attic so no one else can see it.
In the end, albeit too late, Dorian realizes that the painting must go and he must become good. Although I suspected what would happen when the painting was "destroyed" it was still a good ending because Dorian himself was a truly despicable character. I found both Dorian and Lord Henry to be so utterly self-absorbed and shallow that it was almost impossible to finish the book.
The moral plotline, of course, is the warning against such vanity. Unfortunately, I've seen many people in this day and age who are just as vain and shallow as those two.
I checked out a few tidbits on this book after I read it and really enjoyed the following:
In a letter, Wilde said the main characters are reflections of himself: "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps"
Interesting.
I think everyone knows the premise of Dorian Gray. Some have even accused Johnny Depp of having his own Dorian Gray type painting stashed away somewhere. The basic plot is that Dorian Gray is painted by an artist named Basil Hallward. When Gray meets Lord Henry, Basil's friend, he becomes convinced that his youth and beauty are the only things that matter in this world and feverently wishes that the painting take his age and sins while he remains young and beautiful.
As Dorian goes about his life, falling in love with an actress Sybil Vane and later cruelly and horribly dumping her, he discovers that the painting is taking on all of his sins and the sin of aging. He's not worried enough to live a good life but is worried enough to hide the painting away in his attic so no one else can see it.
In the end, albeit too late, Dorian realizes that the painting must go and he must become good. Although I suspected what would happen when the painting was "destroyed" it was still a good ending because Dorian himself was a truly despicable character. I found both Dorian and Lord Henry to be so utterly self-absorbed and shallow that it was almost impossible to finish the book.
The moral plotline, of course, is the warning against such vanity. Unfortunately, I've seen many people in this day and age who are just as vain and shallow as those two.
I checked out a few tidbits on this book after I read it and really enjoyed the following:
In a letter, Wilde said the main characters are reflections of himself: "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps"
Interesting.
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