Sliding through August, hot hot August
Having allowed the various books and tapes to accumulate in unruly stacks
without notice here, I have decided to serve up some delicious copy pasta,
namely to write this on another machine not connected to the intarwebz so that
I can better think about what I'm setting down, and not worry about having my
dialup connection drop while I'm pondering the inward meaning of whatever I have
on hand. Or whatever.
Books:
The Voyage of the Cap Pilar, by Adrian Seligman (1947) - I first read
this as a little kid and was enchanted by the story, a three-masted barkentine
crewed by a miscellaneous lot of amateurs around the world on the eve of WWII.
Many years later I purchased this copy via an online bookstore and have found
my original impression recomfirmed. Interestingly enough, a point I had missed
the foirst time around: the Cap Pilar was sold in Jan 1939 to the Nautical
College of Haifa in then British-controlled Palestine. It would be intriguing
to know the subsequent fate of this ship.
Popul Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, trans by Dennis Tedlock
(1985) - soccer was definitely an important sport in Classic Mayan times,
Pre-Calculus Mathematics: A Programmed Text - Book 1, Algebra, by
Vernon E Howes (1967) - Barbie was right. #sigh#
Tom O'Bedlam, by Robert Silverberg (1985) - crazy people in a post-
diaster America - no bombs, the middle of the country is taken out with
radioactive dust.
DiY Survival: There Is No Subculture Only Subversion, by "C9: the
Original Artwankers" (2009) - I got this thinking it would be about making
things; imagine my surprise... way too serious to stop being funny lol.
Typee, by Herman Melville (orig 1846; reprt 1996) - an account of his
time among the Typee, regarded by neighboring tribes as the Hell's Angels of
the South Pacific.
A Subtreasury of American Humor, ed by EB White and Katherine S White
(1941) - a semi-dud, being mainly New Yorker humor when it isn't entirely
humorless. The account, perfectly straight, of Edgar Burroughs and his creation
of Tarzan is the high point.
Anatomy of Wonder: Science Fiction, by Neil Barron (1976) - slightly
academic in tone, it gives a good overview of SF from earlier times to the mid-
1970s, including extensive bibliographies with brief reviews.
The Pixel Eye, by Paul Levinson (2003) - Skwerls with video cams!
Skwerls with BOMBS! and it's all the fault of those naughty libruls! says the
author who apparently never heard of the Reichstag Fire.
No Time For Sergeants, by Mac Hyman (1954) - we had a copy when I was a
kid but it vanished at some point. Picking up this copy, I don't quite know
what to say about the characters, none of whom I can manage to care about
about. The best part is halfway through, the infamous AWOL party where Sgt.
King, attempting to get rid of the narrator by means of a Drunk & Disorderly
discharge, gets hammered himself and winds up destroying his beloved
automobile. OK, I felt sorry for Sgt. King anyhow, having his career wrecked by
a Georgia 'tard boy. This book started Jim Nabors' career as Gomer Pyle; he's
actually a better singer, though.
The Empire of the Steppes: a History of Central Asia, by Rene Grousset
(orig 1939 as L'Empire des Steppes; trans/reprt 1970) - reading this put me
into such a state of stress and horror... This is the reason the 'Stans of
central and south Asia are the festering cesspools that they are.
Modelling and Sculpture: A Guide to Traditional Methods, by Albert Toft
(orig 1924; reprt 2004) - more of interest from a historical point of view than
for practical hints for the modern arteest.
New England: Indian Summer, 1865-1915, by Van Wyck Brooks (1940) -
covering that part of the history of New England when it had gone into an
eclipse, culminating in the Banned in Boston madness of the early 20th century.
Mostly centered around William Dean Howells, Henry Adams and the James
brotehrs, William and Henry, we get to see where HP Lovecraft's New England
creepshow came from.
Monty Python Live!, edited by Eric Idle (2009) - interviews and
transcripts connected with the MP's live appearances in Britain, Canada and the
Hollywood Bowl. Hopefully the Last Monty Python Book.
Thrilling Stories of the Russian-Japanese War, by J Martin Miller
(1904) - an example of those instant books that are thrown up in the immediate
aftermath of every novel event. A very slight piece of work, the first half is
taken up with histories of the various protagonists and the rest being a series
of baldly rewritten official military bulletins. Reading this, I have no idea
why the war came to happen, except that the Czar of Russia was a man of peace,
or so it says here.
Tape music cassettes:
Symphony No. 9 "Choral", by Ludwig van Beethoven - a drawback to using
cassette tapes lies in the length of said tape: here, the third movement had to
be split into two parts.
Mystic Island, by Cusco.
Dire Wolf, by the Grateful Dead - no date but Jerry Garcia is referred
to in the liner notes as "Jerome."
Heart - the first track is OK but after that it starts to become shrill
due to some peculiar defect in the tape - examining it, I see a streak down the
middle of the affected area. Turned out I already have a copy.
Piano Rhythm 2 A.M., by the Irving Fields Trio - ragtime and jazz.
Wynton Marsalis Plays Handel, Purcell, Torelli, Fasch and Molter.
Mystical Adventures, by Jean-Luc Ponty.
Favorites From The Classics: Johann Strauss Jr.
Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor.
Magic Fire Music: Ride of the Valkyries, by Richard Wagner.
Winter Into Spring, by George Winston, and
Summer, by George Winston.
Yay, now I can start stuffing all the above into the various shelves, assuming
any room remains.
The next time I stop by Half Fast Books, I'm considering making a sweep of the
C&W tapes.
without notice here, I have decided to serve up some delicious copy pasta,
namely to write this on another machine not connected to the intarwebz so that
I can better think about what I'm setting down, and not worry about having my
dialup connection drop while I'm pondering the inward meaning of whatever I have
on hand. Or whatever.
Books:
The Voyage of the Cap Pilar, by Adrian Seligman (1947) - I first read
this as a little kid and was enchanted by the story, a three-masted barkentine
crewed by a miscellaneous lot of amateurs around the world on the eve of WWII.
Many years later I purchased this copy via an online bookstore and have found
my original impression recomfirmed. Interestingly enough, a point I had missed
the foirst time around: the Cap Pilar was sold in Jan 1939 to the Nautical
College of Haifa in then British-controlled Palestine. It would be intriguing
to know the subsequent fate of this ship.
Popul Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, trans by Dennis Tedlock
(1985) - soccer was definitely an important sport in Classic Mayan times,
Pre-Calculus Mathematics: A Programmed Text - Book 1, Algebra, by
Vernon E Howes (1967) - Barbie was right. #sigh#
Tom O'Bedlam, by Robert Silverberg (1985) - crazy people in a post-
diaster America - no bombs, the middle of the country is taken out with
radioactive dust.
DiY Survival: There Is No Subculture Only Subversion, by "C9: the
Original Artwankers" (2009) - I got this thinking it would be about making
things; imagine my surprise... way too serious to stop being funny lol.
Typee, by Herman Melville (orig 1846; reprt 1996) - an account of his
time among the Typee, regarded by neighboring tribes as the Hell's Angels of
the South Pacific.
A Subtreasury of American Humor, ed by EB White and Katherine S White
(1941) - a semi-dud, being mainly New Yorker humor when it isn't entirely
humorless. The account, perfectly straight, of Edgar Burroughs and his creation
of Tarzan is the high point.
Anatomy of Wonder: Science Fiction, by Neil Barron (1976) - slightly
academic in tone, it gives a good overview of SF from earlier times to the mid-
1970s, including extensive bibliographies with brief reviews.
The Pixel Eye, by Paul Levinson (2003) - Skwerls with video cams!
Skwerls with BOMBS! and it's all the fault of those naughty libruls! says the
author who apparently never heard of the Reichstag Fire.
No Time For Sergeants, by Mac Hyman (1954) - we had a copy when I was a
kid but it vanished at some point. Picking up this copy, I don't quite know
what to say about the characters, none of whom I can manage to care about
about. The best part is halfway through, the infamous AWOL party where Sgt.
King, attempting to get rid of the narrator by means of a Drunk & Disorderly
discharge, gets hammered himself and winds up destroying his beloved
automobile. OK, I felt sorry for Sgt. King anyhow, having his career wrecked by
a Georgia 'tard boy. This book started Jim Nabors' career as Gomer Pyle; he's
actually a better singer, though.
The Empire of the Steppes: a History of Central Asia, by Rene Grousset
(orig 1939 as L'Empire des Steppes; trans/reprt 1970) - reading this put me
into such a state of stress and horror... This is the reason the 'Stans of
central and south Asia are the festering cesspools that they are.
Modelling and Sculpture: A Guide to Traditional Methods, by Albert Toft
(orig 1924; reprt 2004) - more of interest from a historical point of view than
for practical hints for the modern arteest.
New England: Indian Summer, 1865-1915, by Van Wyck Brooks (1940) -
covering that part of the history of New England when it had gone into an
eclipse, culminating in the Banned in Boston madness of the early 20th century.
Mostly centered around William Dean Howells, Henry Adams and the James
brotehrs, William and Henry, we get to see where HP Lovecraft's New England
creepshow came from.
Monty Python Live!, edited by Eric Idle (2009) - interviews and
transcripts connected with the MP's live appearances in Britain, Canada and the
Hollywood Bowl. Hopefully the Last Monty Python Book.
Thrilling Stories of the Russian-Japanese War, by J Martin Miller
(1904) - an example of those instant books that are thrown up in the immediate
aftermath of every novel event. A very slight piece of work, the first half is
taken up with histories of the various protagonists and the rest being a series
of baldly rewritten official military bulletins. Reading this, I have no idea
why the war came to happen, except that the Czar of Russia was a man of peace,
or so it says here.
Tape music cassettes:
Symphony No. 9 "Choral", by Ludwig van Beethoven - a drawback to using
cassette tapes lies in the length of said tape: here, the third movement had to
be split into two parts.
Mystic Island, by Cusco.
Dire Wolf, by the Grateful Dead - no date but Jerry Garcia is referred
to in the liner notes as "Jerome."
Heart - the first track is OK but after that it starts to become shrill
due to some peculiar defect in the tape - examining it, I see a streak down the
middle of the affected area. Turned out I already have a copy.
Piano Rhythm 2 A.M., by the Irving Fields Trio - ragtime and jazz.
Wynton Marsalis Plays Handel, Purcell, Torelli, Fasch and Molter.
Mystical Adventures, by Jean-Luc Ponty.
Favorites From The Classics: Johann Strauss Jr.
Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor.
Magic Fire Music: Ride of the Valkyries, by Richard Wagner.
Winter Into Spring, by George Winston, and
Summer, by George Winston.
Yay, now I can start stuffing all the above into the various shelves, assuming
any room remains.
The next time I stop by Half Fast Books, I'm considering making a sweep of the
C&W tapes.