Friday, September 10, 2010

Layer 349 . . . An Animal, A Journey, Getting On Board, Landmarks, Bennett, Jones and Jarre

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Animal Instinct?

"On that night I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength. I was an animal following my instinct."

Blair's book has been soundly panned for its content and also for Blair's appalling writing style. The very thought of him devouring Cherie's . . . love? It's horrible, on all counts.

It's a fact that animals innocently follow their instincts. What Blair's referring to, speaking as an obvious, devious, manipulative and very calculating psychopath, is the slightly shocking fact that on this one occasion, when he was completely exhausted, he did something - i.e. fuck Cherie - without pre-planning and entirely spontaneously. Amazing. No wonder he felt the need to write about it.

Ugh! "Give me strength".

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Stop the World - They Want to Get On

The greatest difficulty faced by the post-WW2 generation when we were young was that the world was travelling at 4mph and we all wanted to go a little, or a lot, faster.

These days the world goes at 50mph and there's no way that most young people can even climb on board. In any case, the doors are closed and the bus only stops at every 12th stop.

At least that's the way it must feel these days if you went to a crap school, have less than a full house of exam passes (all A's and A stars), no money, unsupportive parents, no personal computer, no immediate access to the Internet, no prospect of an interesting and rewarding job, no decent salary, and no prospect of a decent place of your own at an affordable rent.

A son of a friend of mine, for instance, is living in a rented room - not even a proper flat - and is paying £1,000 a month in a not particularly brilliant suburb of London. His income just about covers the rent, but leaves pitifully little for everything else he needs to pay for in order to stay alive and live reasonably well. He's at least fortunate to still have a job, for the time being.

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I've come to the conclusion that most people driving around in Devon are either geriatrics or they're sedated. Or both.

Devon roads are a total delight if there's no traffic around and if you're driving a car that has a certain amount of va va voom and good roadholding. Unfortunately the empty road scenario is rarely the case. Most of the time you find yourself on the end of a crawling caterpillar of vehicles on a road where it's impossible to overtake - and at the head of the caterpillar is someone who's doddering along at 25-30mph on a road that's built for 50-60.

These people are in the majority and they rule the roads. Maybe they're eco-friendly fruitcakes trying to save the planet by ekeing out 50mpg on every trip. Maybe they're just not very keen to get to wherever they're going. Maybe they're just poor sods for whom joie de vivre is a totally unknown concept.

I've even seen a guy towing a caravan trying to overtake one of these sedated types.

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The current LRB contains 10 pages of an Alan Bennett short story. This man really is a national treasure.

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Spotify Favourites

Another ageless national treasure - I'm still listening to Tom Jones (!) and his 'Mr Jones' album. All of the tracks, with the exception of Black Betty (Leadbelly -  Huddie Ledbetter ) and I Who Have Nothing (Lieber & Stoller) were written by Jerry Wonder Duplessis, Wyclef Jean and Tom Jones.

On August 5, 2010, Jean filed for candidacy in the 2010 Haitian presidential election, although the Electoral Commission subsequently ruled him ineligible to stand as he had not met the requirement to have been resident in Haiti for five years.   -   Wikipedia

Wyclef was name checked in the latest episode of "Grandma's House". Simon Amstel very cleverly deconstructs the whole Landmark Forum schtick, which has to be one of the slickest and grubbiest ways of making money ever devised, and is another clever little pyramid scheme.

The Landmark Forum is specifically designed to bring about positive and permanent shifts in the quality of your life. These shifts are the direct cause for a new and unique kind of freedom and power - the freedom to be absolutely at ease no matter what the circumstance, the power to be in action effectively in those areas that are important to you.

Ghastly.

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Today's suggested (anti-proms) musical treat is Jean Michel Jarre's 'Tout Est Bleu'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIlCEcdfbOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BuecotPV3c

This is how to use violins and cellos - not waste them on dross like Elgar. Also great bass lines and keyboards.

I used to own the album Metamorphoses - till some bastard took it and never returned it. This track is wonderful - vocals by Laurie Anderson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmo8bglHbLU  - awe-inspiring images. Sun, Earth, Moon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpQ39ygZP3k&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt82NrHrfa8&feature=related   -    Revolution, and fantastic dervishes. Also brilliant lighting and editing on this vid. Watch it full screen with plenty of volume.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt82NrHrfa8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVzYAVxcvos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yEwF9v_hL8&feature=related - more strings, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek5u5jl7Ads&feature=related



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Michel_Jarre
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