that's entertainment - from homer may 09

May 09 blog pt 6 time for an easter break



April has come. and she's looking relaxed.
So i stopped by the library one day.
I will be travelling interstate this month. Just for a bit of a holiday to the southern states of victoria and new south wayus.
The airline has only allowed me 20kg luggage so my reading items will have to be pared down a lot.
I’m not sure why i borrowed the ‘new scientist’ and ‘american scientist’ mags. They are quite light though. And there’s some interesting articles in them. If i could only remember what i read.Dawkins' tales of our ancestors are quite engrossing. But the book is quite heavy.
Rachel Carson’s ‘silent spring’ should be a required reading for every politician and climate change denier or skeptic. and that includes policy makers everywhere including the cordillera. if only to rid our farms of ddt and cyanide and thiodan and all those toxic chemicals that we pour on to our vegetable and rice fields.
'The secret agent' was a backup read which i didn’t get to open. Maybe someday i will get to read it.
So i put on my earphones and put on some easy listening.
This blog’s not going according to script, and anyway it’s been overtaken by previous posts, so see the travel notes in:
http://anigorotodyssey.blogspot.com/
And check back here in a couple of weeks.


May 09 blog pt 5 april comes she will



who comes?
Avril.
avril who?
avril la vignette, my short description of a particular person, which i'll expand on in time
First, a bit more variety of leisurely reading as we approach the end of march.
I always enjoy Umberto Eco’s books and i recommend him.
David Suzuki reminds us about the fragility of the environment. If you haven’t read or seen him before on tv or elsewhere, his books are always very sobering.
Brockman’s compilations of thoughts by leading writers around the world are similarly worth the dog ears – but do lend your ears to the voices within, but with a grain of asin.
Dawkins, who i only discovered recently, has the wit of Carl Sagan and the credentials of Stephen Hawking. A good place to start with him is the book on modern science writing.
There’s other items on the list that may be or may not be worth one’s time.
Oh and i could do with a bottle of bourbon. That would be a fine companion whilst reading a good book under a gum tree on a warm day...
while waiting for april...
or dreaming of april-


May 09 blog pt 4 the ides of march







I have unearthed (not plucked from the air) some books worth reading. This set includes some books by well known atheists and scientists among others.

Some of these books are a must not just for freethinkers but also for ordinary blokes and dummies like me. Openminded religious people be they Christians, Muslims, Buddhists etc will also find it worth their while to go through these books. This might lead to a basic understanding (the fundamentals if you like) of the scourge of religious fundamentalism.

There’s also the Australian version of a review of climate change, superannuation etc.

Those finding common themed literature may email me references by the end of eclipse. Patterson’s plots are too far-fetched actually. Better off revisiting Mark Twain’s miracle of a real eclipse in king arthur’s court.


May 09 blog pt 3 the nones of march



March continues the tone of the year so far – quietitude (this a word?) and inactivity. Yet time marches on... time hurries on i think is the lyrics in song.

So, more time to indulge in other pursuits such as musical entertainment.

Am still waiting on Neil Young’s archives. Hopefully in ten years' time, they’ll see the light of day.

People who went to see the old lion Mr. Cohen in concert gave glowing reviews about him. He’s in my must see list.

Nick Cave i have also yet to see, but he’s still got a long way to go to be in my must see list.

The old ‘song and dance man’ mr zimmerman is again showing the younger ones with his latest album offering. Books about him are too numerous to all read. However a respectful and friendly book by an old flame offers another perspective on his early life and times as a troubadour. The other book about Dylan’s most popular song is more of the usual grist.

May 09 blog pt 2
that's entertainment vol. 902b



What else is in store for this month?
say again:
What? Elsie's instore? where?
(thought she was offshore? lame i know. very.)
Anyway let’s check out what the stars say shall we?
Consult your astrologers and your fortune-tellers if you like.
Me I much prefer what the stars do say. So let’s check out what Sobel writes (i liked his book on Galileo), and probe the new solar system too.
In an early book, Sagan writes about a place called Eden. I really must visit there. Someday maybe - sounds like a song title - yea 'someday baby'.
The books by Jared Diamond are full of thought-provoking ideas and assertions that affect current beliefs. Guns, Germs, and Steel is a Pulitzer Prize winning book by him. Part 4 of this book has most relevance to Philippine pre-history. Here Diamond claims that archaeological and linguistic evidence show that expansion went from the South China coast to Taiwan, and thence to the Philippines and Indonesia (This contention is opposed to that proposed by others that expansion proceeded from the malay peninsula, to Sumatra, the rest of Indonesia and finally to the Philippines).
In Collapse Diamond subscribes to the adage that 'prevention is better than cure' especially with environmental problems that lead to societies’ collapse.
That Davies fellow can get a bit too deep. So I’ll just listen instead to the wichita lineman’s version of ‘these days’, or perhaps relive the music of Woodstock and listen to Hendrix and country joe & the fish give it to the wankers (that’s Aussie French for ‘master baiters’).
Now what’s at the bottom of my pile, ahh finally a book with pictures – thanks queensland.


May 09 blog pt 1 entertainment monthly vol 902
I am on the lookout for a good camera. Can someone direct me to the right angle?

Those photography magazines seem to cater for the 'can afford' mob only.

Paul Simon suggests a brand of camera in kodachrome but am not sure that’s necessarily a good guide.
Old len cohen’s got a good pose and smug look on his dial, but am no ladies man, though maybe i should ask his photographer for advice.

Now there’s a dylan track on some country singer’s latest album which i think’s got a blues feel or beat to it. It’s alright if i don’t think twice about liking it.


And if only my housemates' mags stop blocking my angles, i might not get off tangent too often.