FLOTSAM

All Hail The Mighty 'Stache

2011-11-10T17:11:00.001-05:00

A single-concept tumblr blog done right.

I defy you to look away.

Smile

2011-11-02T16:38:00.000-05:00

The greatest unreleased rock album just had its official release. (Link to the Guardian). I heard one track this afternoon and had to crank it up: the bass guitar line sounded eerily like something Paul McCartney would have played on the "Revolver" sessions. (I keep mixing up the chain of events. Is it Rubber Soul influenced Pet Sounds influenced Revolver influenced Smile influenced Sgt. Pepper?)

Marty On George

2011-09-30T21:00:00.004-05:00

Yay!

Martin Scorsese's documentary on George Harrison, "Living in the material world", will air on HBO next week. The trailer is on YT.

There is, however, no truth to the story that Ingmar Bergman will be directing the definitive Ringo Starr bio-pic.

"ALL RIGHT!"

2011-09-05T11:11:00.001-05:00

I was "there" for Live Aid. In front of the television, anyway. And yes, kids - Freddie Mercury was just as larger-than-life then as he seems today. In fact, when he and the band performed "Hammer to Fall" that day in July, I was convinced he was 40-feet tall. Just fire up that YouTube video to see what I am talking about.

After that crazy, exuberant singalong/intro, Freddie exclaims "ALL RIGHT!" and the crowd echoes his exclamation so very faithfully. Freddie looks elated at the crowd's response. It's as if he is congratulating the crowd on their joint performance. This is what they mean when they talk about great performers erasing boundaries between themselves and the audience.

But I am not in the stadium. Not even close. I am fifteen years old, watching this thrilling moment unfold on live TV and I just lose my fucking mind. It's the kind of a moment that makes you want to run to everyone and tell them about this thing you just saw.

Now here I am. I just saw the YouTube video again and I want to tell *everyone* about it. So here they are: Queen, playing Hammer to Fall, at Live Aid. I hope you lose your fucking mind.

I'm Floating In A Most Peculiar Way

2011-08-27T12:18:00.002-05:00

Early psychedelic rock was influenced by children's literature. So it's fun to see "Space Oddity" rendered as a children's book. Lovely stuff, whether or not you are a fan of Bowie or of children's books. (Via MeFi)

Now where's my "Atom Heart Mother" coloring book? (Just sell it with LSD-soaked crayons...)

Jerry Lieber

2011-08-22T20:39:00.002-05:00

"She said 'I'm gonna mix it up right here in the sink'"

"You ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine"

"You're gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion"
***

Jerry Lieber, R.I.P. Like the greatest of artists, Lieber practiced alchemy: his songwriting transformed the utterly American idiom of rock lyric into a universal language. Only Lieber also invented the rock lyric. ("The warden threw a party in the county jail" - that is terrible law enforcement but what an opening.)

I get the chills just thinking of his discography: Hound Dog, Love Potion #9, Yakety Yak, Stand by me, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Kansas City, Jailhouse Rock...(and browsing around, I learned today that he also wrote "Jackson" and - I couldn't have guessed this one - "Stuck in the middle with you".)

Some obituaries: NYT, Village Voice (page has lots of song videos).

The Dalai Lama: The Rolling Stone Interview

2011-08-01T21:20:00.002-05:00

On India's democracy:

"And here, too, I had the opportunity to visit Indian Parliament. I found big contrast. In Indian Parliament, lots of noise. No discipline. This was a clear sign of complete freedom of expression. Indian parliamentarians, they love to criticize their government. So I realized, this is the meaning of democracy — freedom of speech. I was so impressed with the democratic system."

On dialogue:

"Peace will not come from thought or from Buddha. Peace must be built by humans, through action. So that means, whenever we face problem — dialogue. That's the only way."

Finally, His Holiness in full on comedy mode upon being asked whether he will be buried in Potala:

"Most probably, if change comes and it is time to return to Tibet, my body will be preserved there. But it doesn't matter. If the airplane I'm on crashes, then finished! Follow bin Laden!"

The full interview

Stereotypical Teenagers Are Stereotypical

2011-07-03T12:46:00.005-05:00

A cousin's fifteen year-old daughter tells me, with a straight face and intensity that only fifteen year-olds possess, "American music is so overrated. I am into South Korean and French Emo-pop these days".

I rolled my eyes, of course, but I also wanted to pat her on the back and say, "Atta girl! You keep that attitude up for another two decades and you will turn into an old hipster like your uncle!"

Later in the evening, I found a bunch of kids, Ms. French Emo-Pop included, sitting at a computer and intently watching Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" on YouTube.

There's nothing funnier than watching a teenager trying on different identities.

Once You Go Black...

2011-06-30T09:19:00.004-05:00

Image from a photoshop contest.

Dear Spammer, Always Remember to Use The Active Voice

2011-06-11T10:16:00.006-05:00

You know your inner Grammar Nazi has reached its full potential when receiving spam email bothers you less than receiving spam email riddled with typos and grammatical errors (and you seriously consider writing back with corrections).

Which is why I applaud that Nigerian prince in exile who emails me every week - such impeccable language! That, and his convincing business proposition make his emails so much more credible.

Holy, Crap

2011-06-02T18:25:00.001-05:00

A most unfortunate juxtaposition seen while driving through a small Southern town:

Arrow-shaped sign nailed to the trunk of a tree: "Church - all are welcome".
Sign planted in the ground at the base of the tree: "Free manure".

Go Man Go

2011-05-26T19:14:00.004-05:00

One the one hand, it's starting to smell funky and the flesh is turning a disturbingly deep shade of black. On the other hand, it is a mango.

Oh, the decisions.

We're Not Dead Yet. That's All.

2011-05-21T07:26:00.005-05:00

If I hear one more painfully obvious* Rapture/Judgement Day joke on the radio, TV or the Internet today (or ever), I swear I will go postal.

* Making a reference to that REM song title is just as serious a crime.

No Need To Imagine. There Is No Heaven.

2011-05-16T20:13:00.003-05:00

"In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time."

Well, the good news is that Hawking did not dismiss the existence of the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus.

But why didn't Hawking explicitly dismiss the existence of Hell? What if there's no Heaven but only a Hell? What if everyone goes to Hell? No, wait, that will make Hell just like earth, except with better heating and more interesting roommates.

The Girl In The Picture

2011-05-07T18:38:00.002-05:00

Remember this picture?

NYT has a front-page feature on Samar Hassan, the blood-splattered girl in the photograph. She's now twelve, a school dropout and is still traumatized by the death of her parents.

The story just breaks your heart.

We voted for a change. We voted so that fucking sham of a war would come to an end. But it's 2011 and we are still merrily creating more Samar Hassans. How is that acceptable?

The Desert Island Beat

2011-05-03T16:53:00.010-05:00

The BBC has made available its entire archive of "Desert Island Discs", spanning some 60 years. (Very nicely done site, but would it have killed them to include a Grooveshark playlist for each castaway? It's the web, make it work!)

As a concept, Desert Island Discs is so early-20th century. Now, one could simply ask for a Wifi connection (as a luxury item) and just ruin the fun.

Blues For A Good Friday

2011-04-21T16:50:00.003-05:00

The crucifixion of Christ has inspired so much art: great paintings, literature and, of course, music. But I want to talk about one song - a song that clocks in a little over thee minutes - Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark was the night, cold was the ground".

This very stark, dark piece features just one acoustic guitar (allegedly a knife was used as a slide) and a few moaned notes. With that sparse setup, Johnson sings about the great tragedy of that night when "His sweat like drops of blood ran down /In agony he prayed".

Now, those words don't actually appear in the song. In fact, Johnson's song does not contain any words at all. Those words (and the song's title) come from an old English hymn called Gethsemane, which served as the inspiration for "Dark was the night". (Wiki has more details).

The song reminds me a little of Hindustani music in its rejection of lyrics. Words can distract us from experiencing the emotion that arises from listening to a pure note or a great melody. In another way, this blues song could also be thought of as a continuation of the same line of thinking that runs through Impressionistic (or Abstract) art. By moving away from forms and shapes - the "words" of a painting - it is still possible to communicate. Besides, what words can truly express the sadness felt at the passing of that kind, decent man?

And so Johnson sings.

Dark was the night, cold was the ground. This is American blues at its finest.

New Paul Simon

2011-04-20T15:30:00.000-05:00

I'm quite enjoying the new Paul Simon song "The Afterlife" from his "So Beautiful or So What" album. An excerpt:

"Buddha and Moses and all the noses from narrow to flat, had to stand in the line, just to glimpse the divine, what you think about that?
Well it seems like our fate to suffer and wait for the knowledge we seek.
It’s all his design, no one cuts in the line, no one here likes a sneak"

With a line like "and all the noses from narrow to flat", how can I *not* buy this album? (Though I am just as impressed by the sound of the guitars on this track.)

Coitus Humorous

2011-04-19T18:14:00.001-05:00

"Christian’s manroot jumped against her thigh and she imagined it a velvet-tipped iron spear. He would render her vulnerable, she would yield, then he would conquer her with his formidable weapon!" - “Desire” - Virginia Henley

There's a tumblr blog dedicated to collecting excerpts from bad romance novels and it's called, wait for it, Bad Romance Novels. (SFW)

Let it also be known that as a English Grammar and Style Nazi, I find the use of the "!" at the end of the second sentence in the excerpted passage more objectionable than the word "manroot". Just kidding. "Manroot" is easily the worst thing in that passage, followed by "velvet-tipped iron spear".

Yeah, I'm really classing up this place.

First Sign Of Madness

2011-04-17T08:15:00.003-05:00

I can hear the "Skype incoming call" sound everywhere. (Coincidentally, I haven't heard the phantom cellphone ring in a few months now.)

Someone's pinging me again.

Any Day Now

2011-04-15T09:26:00.002-05:00

"Standing next to me in this lonely crowd
Is a man who swears he’s not to blame
All day long I hear him shout so loud
Crying out that he was framed
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released"

Tarkovsky, With A Polaroid Camera

2011-04-05T14:50:00.001-05:00

Back in the 1970s, Michelangelo Antonioni gave Andrei Tarkovsky a Polaroid camera. Tarkovksy, being Tarkovsky, took some beautiful pictures. Don't at least a couple of images look like they belong in a...Tarkovsky film?

(And so kids, the moral of the story here is don't be lusting for camera gear. That won't necessarily make you a better photographer.)

(Via -->via one of Roger Ebert's tweets)

Damn, Nature, You So Strange

2011-04-01T04:40:00.001-05:00

"Because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water has taken so long to recede, many trees have become cocooned in spiders webs. People in this part of Sindh have never seen this phenonemon before - but they also report that there are now less mosquitos than they would expect, given the amoungt of stagnant, standing water that is around."

This is some serious cotton candy.

OK, so which natural disasters are likely to give us cellophane flowers of yellow and green? (Never mind. I don't want to know. Ma Nature has a peculiar way of answering these questions.)

Lost Pix

2011-03-29T17:55:00.001-05:00

A picture of two musicians warming up before a gig. (Also, a portrait of one of those men, captured in what can only be described as a bizarre mood.)

Some background.

Clash

2011-03-27T08:40:00.002-05:00

Tut tut. NYT chooses to frame the problem of rapes in the New Delhi region as "a clash between old and new India". Sure, that makes the narrative easy to understand (Sarson ke khet! Software! Cow dung! Oh, Timeless India, you!) but what does the story really tell us?

Not much, really.

For example, the writer does not ask why Bombay and Kolkata, two cities that are also home to "new India" (city people) and "old India" (villagers, people from small towns and suburbs) have less (reported) crime than New Delhi? Or how New Delhi compares to Bangalore and Hyderabad, two cities that have also witnessed significant Old India/New India transition in the last two decades. Or what the crime rates are like in "Old India"?

So, yeah, it's still all the news that fits the convenient story arc.

Pictory

2011-03-19T19:38:00.003-05:00

Pictory: one user-submitted (and captioned) photograph on a topic. Simple idea, terrific execution.

Some favorites: this photograph in "Infrastructure" is a stunner.
A portrait in a feature titled "Platonic love stories". A really trippy shot of swimmers underwater. Or this picture of a passenger on a train.

Via Metafilter.

Blinded By His Light

2011-03-05T16:00:00.002-05:00

"..I felt as if I had stared into the sun's eye" - Max Kaminsky, upon hearing Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" (The song; just don't stare at the sun too long.)

"Quotes"

2011-03-01T14:26:00.007-05:00

"Excellence in dining"

I'm not sure if I saw the above words on a sign outside a restaurant or on the side of a truck, but after spending a day in the Metropolitan museum looking at Medieval art, in which things are exactly what they seem, the carelessly applied quotation marks seemed layered and full of meaning. It was really more MoMA than the Met, "if you ask me". I wish more advertisers would dare to shatter context and expectations with improper punctuation.

Tele@60 - \m/

2011-02-28T21:41:00.003-05:00

The Telecaster turned 60.

Sweet mother of God, it's such a great-looking guitar. How could Leo Fender have got it right so many times?

I'm always amazed at how much the look of the guitar influences the way you hear the music. Telecasters were and are popular with musicians playing country-rock, roots-rock, blues, "Americana" and that will always be the sound of "authentic" and "true" American music to me. Conversely, whenever I think of earthy, raw, organic, honest, serious rock music, something un-gimmicky and un-trendy, I can't help but picture the musician playing a Telecaster.

I'm trying hard to remember the first artist I ever completely identified with a Telecaster. Most of my guitar idols played Stratocasters or Les Pauls (or Rickenbackers), so I'm guessing it was Bruce Springsteen. (Imagine if he played a Flying V?)

(Also see this auction site that sold one of George Harrison's Telecasters from the Let it Be session. Mama. That's one beautiful Telecaster.)

This Is How America Will Regain Its Technology Mojo

2011-02-26T16:46:00.007-05:00

Spotted this trivia question on a packet of oatmeal: "What does the acronym CPU stand for?"

I applaud you, Mr. Manufacturer, for avoiding pop trivia questions. But I'm now afraid to go near that box of granola lest it spring a surprise test on microprocessor design on me.

"Two More Chairs"

2011-02-13T09:36:00.003-05:00

This is what late-night TV used to be. (Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal duking it out on air. Dick Cavett and Janet Flanner join in. Everybody wins.)

What do we have on TV now? Jay Leno.

(I know, shitting on Leno is way past its expiration date.)

Things We Said Today

2011-02-02T17:19:00.003-05:00

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, snow, ice, frozen rain, sleet, snow, whiteout, black ice, snow.

Tutankhevara?

2011-01-30T11:48:00.003-05:00

A cartoon by Mr. Fish of Harper's magazine.

Guess Who's At The Top Of The Pyramid?

2011-01-27T21:04:00.003-05:00

The Egyptian government has reportedly cut off all access to the Net and SMS for its citizens.

So now we know - when the shit really starts to go down, this is how governments will take control. This is the future.

(And what is the Internet equivalent of the "rebels oust a government and take control of radio and TV stations" scenario? They tweet? They start a Facebook page? Everyone gets a text message?)

Much More Than Mere Anarchy

2011-01-22T10:13:00.003-05:00

Hayao Miyazaki is one expert observer of children's behavior. Here's a a little scene from "My neighbor Totoro":

A family of three - a father and his 2 daughters - have just moved from the city into an old house in the country. This is the country house of everyone's imagination (and apparently beloved in Japan): a beautiful dilapidated structure standing amidst unruly grass, wildflowers and big trees, dark woods at the edge of the backyard and brooks and ponds with tadpoles and fishes.

Upon arriving at the place, the little girls race to the porch and with uncontainable excitement at having arrived at such a magical place, run and swing around a wooden column. But the old column, probably softened by rains and age, is unable to take even a child's weight and shows signs of collapse. The girls are shocked but not for long. Using a crazy, defiant logic that only children understand, the older girl pushes even harder against the column. It buckles even more under the force. The girls look at one another, scared, thrilled and delighted by this discovery.

"It's crumbling!" shouts the older girl. The younger sister, always repeating words and phrases uttered by her sister, echoes those exact words. The girls then run away from the porch, laughing loudly. They are so giddy at this new-found freedom, they break into cartwheels and a merry dance.

The scene is funny and touching. But it's also a little frightening. It brings back images from those well-known lines from Yeats' "The Second Coming". The kids are spinning out of control, they are pushing old structures down and they seem not to care about things falling apart. There is pleasure in construction and sometimes there is as much joy to be found in destruction. (Why was guitar-smashing popular with certain musicians in the 1960s? This is why.)

Now think of an adult's reaction to a crumbling column on the porch: what if it were to fall on the children? What about repair costs? Know a good contractor? Timber is so expensive this year! That paint job sucks!

But that is probably how the scene would have been written if the film were to be made by anyone else: the entire sequence viewed through the eyes of an adult, told with a cute-funny-mock exasperated tone. Instead, Miyazaki completely does away with adult presence in this scene. He lets the children be completely themselves in their environment.

So with one shot containing almost no dialog, Miyazaki sets up the contrast between the world of adults and the world of children. Adults have fears, anxieties and visits to the sanitarium. The kids too have those things (as we learn later in the film), but their lives seem to possess a different quality.

The Summer Swells Anon

2011-01-18T19:41:00.004-05:00

"See this ancient riverbed", "the pretty little patter of a seaport town" and of course, "the summer swells anon*" - three of my favorite bits from a song playing non-stop here - the Decemberists' "Down by the water". Such a great song.

I'm not sure if it's the harmonies on the song (co-sung by Gillian Welch) or the REM-esque** tune and arrangement that's got me hooked. Either way, this beautiful, bright, summery (is it really swelling anon?) tune is making the nasty winter enjoyable.

* Leave it to the Decemberists to work "anon" into a song.

**I dare you not to scream "FIIIIIIIRE!" during the song.

Needs More Donald Richie Commentary

2011-01-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

A tumblr blog devoted to the fine art of fake Criterion titles. Holy crap, some of those posters actually make me want to watch the movie.

(And what, may I ask, is so funny about mocking "Air Bud"? It was a heart-warming movie. Besides, that Golden Retriever was just so...fetching.)

Sgt. Frodo's Lonely Hearts Club Ring

2011-01-09T09:12:00.004-05:00

Two of my favorite images from a poster contest on Super Punch celebrating what might have been one awesomely bizarre collaboration - Kubrick, Tolkien and the Beatles. (Apparently Tolkien killed the project. Thanks, JRR, for depriving the world of a Beatles film and a Kubrick film. And who knows, maybe even a great soundtrack?)

But what if the Beatles had done LoTR? Would it have spurred the Rolling Stones to do something crazier? I don't know, like maybe make a film based on Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita"? (The connection) Who would be the ideal director for that film? Goddard? Bunuel? Fellini? (Now I'm getting giddy about an imaginary film.)

Newyearotic

2010-12-31T07:39:00.003-05:00

It just feels wrong to close out a year without a post on the last day.

And Then He Was Like We Gotta Legalize It, Man

2010-12-23T20:06:00.003-05:00

What on earth has Marion Gordon Robertson been smoking (and can I please have some)?

Matter Of Fact, It's All Dark

2010-12-20T07:54:00.002-05:00

Easy for us humans to get excited about the total lunar eclipse tonight. But won't someone think of the werewolves?

There you are, all excited about the transformation. You let out a full-throated howl or two and feel the wolf spirit surging through your veins. You start growing fur and maybe half-decent claws when you find yourself stuck in that awkward stage in which you are 98% man, 2% wolf. At this stage, you're not evil at all. You're just a man with bad breath and very poor grooming habits.

WWJD? Induce Epileptic Seizures In Self

2010-12-19T06:54:00.003-05:00

Someone set up Christmas lights synchronized with, of all songs, "Raining Blood" by Slayer.

Play it extra loud and pulverize your brain.

For those unfamiliar with the song, please stick around till the 3:00 mark on the video when the guitar solo begins. That's when everything goes to hell.

Suit Punk

2010-12-18T10:01:00.002-05:00

(Pic, story here.)

The only way to top this would be to make a third Tron movie with music by Daft Punk and Kraftwerk.
****

In 1981, computers were still this strange, alien thing and Tron literally took people inside that world. Not many people watched that film. But in 2010, we have The Social Network and almost everyone has watched it. That's some change, don't you think?

In Case You Weren't Paying Attention

2010-12-17T13:13:00.001-05:00

Christmas is only a week away and the year-end - THE END OF THE YEAR - is just two weeks away.

How did this happen? Where did the time go? Can we be absolutely, positively certain we didn't enter one of those worm-holes - like in "Time Bandits" - in January and come out at this end? (And if so, who's got the map?)

Dry Your Eyes

2010-12-16T08:00:00.004-05:00

Irony is snarking on Neil Diamond's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after a post titled "Cherry Cherry". But the truth is, much as we all detest, loathe, execrate, hate, despise, abhor "Sweet Caroline", he was invited to perform with the Band on Last Waltz**, wasn't he?

** That and "Hot August Night". It is a very good live album. Sure, it's not the freaking "Dark Side of the Moon" - nothing is - but the album has its moments.

Cherry Cherry

2010-12-10T17:47:00.002-05:00

I don't know about life but that box of dark chocolate-covered cherries sure was transitory. And as empty, meaningless transitory experiences go, it was one of the best.

In Soviet Russia...

2010-12-08T17:40:00.001-05:00

...the Buddha doesn't become one with everything. Everything becomes one with the Buddha.

Wait. What?

\m/ \m/

2010-12-04T15:30:00.002-05:00

If you recognize bands like "Sunn O))))" or "Mournful Congregation", you will enjoy this interactive Map of Metal. Click on the icons next to each genre on the map to launch the playlist associated with the genre.

Now playing one of my personal favorites from "Traditional Doom Metal", Black Sabbath's classic "Into the Void".

Drop tunings and slow tempos rule!

(Via MeFi)

Andy Kaufman Must Be ROFLing In Heaven

2010-12-02T07:31:00.004-05:00

This is hilarious. Or not. I'm not sure:

“We acknowledge that last night’s event with Steve Martin did not meet the standard of excellence that you have come to expect from 92nd St. Y,” he wrote in an e-mail to ticket holders. “We planned for a more comprehensive discussion and we, too, were disappointed with the evening. We will be mailing you a $50 certificate for each ticket you purchased to last night’s event. The gift certificate can be used toward future 92Y events, pending availability.”

TL;DR: Actor-comedian-musician-writer-Oscar host Steve Martin talked too much about art and literature and did not give the masses enough jokes or stories about hosting the Oscars.

While Steve Martin disappointed his audience with literary conversation without setting out to do so, Andy Kaufman was far more deliberate with his Great Gatsby prank.

Of course, these same people who are receiving a refund would probably spend a hundred dollars to see Andy Kaufman perform that act again.

The URL Gets Political

2010-12-01T08:29:00.007-05:00

Have you seen the Wikileaks' donation page URL?

http://wikileaks.org/media/support.html?fuckyeah

Tell me that's not the greatest URL you've ever seen.

Electric Fury

2010-11-27T11:22:00.004-05:00

"We’ll hold hands and then we’ll watch the sunrise
From the bottom of the sea"

"Be water, my friend"

One sang about a room full of mirrors. The other one fought in a room full of mirrors. They were both born on November 27. Pretty cool, right?

Black Friday

2010-11-26T22:15:00.003-05:00

What should have been a gentle, relaxing (if hungover) Post-Thanksgiving Friday turned dark and depressing: I watched "L'Age D'Or" followed by "Waltz with Bashir". Both are great films, but today was clearly the wrong day to subject the aching brain to ruminations on morality, politics, wars, massacres and that rather strange lesson on scorpions.

The other films sitting in the queue wouldn't have worked either: Bresson's "Au hasard Balthazar", Fincher's "Zodiac" and Samuel Fuller's "Shock Corridor". Though "a helpless donkey, a serial killer and a patient in a psychiatry ward" is just crying to be spun into a joke or an epic poem or something.

What happened to watching cartoons on weekends?

From The Ministry of Insults

2010-11-25T08:34:00.004-05:00

"Perhaps it’s just a matter of economy, but it’s jarring when the screen says, “You idiot,” and the actress says, in English, “You sexy son of a bitch!”

(From a NYT review of a Bollywood movie)

"Deep Greens And Blues Are The Colors I Choose"

2010-11-24T18:31:00.002-05:00

"If patients are disinclined to take a tablet they consider bitter or sour or because they simply do not like the color, then a change of aesthetics might be needed."

There's a reason the "little yellow pill" (Mother's little helper) is yellow in color and not, say, blue or brown: colors affect the efficacy of the drug.

My lack of faith in cherry-red cough syrup now makes sense.

It Does, Occasionally

2010-11-21T08:14:00.005-05:00

I finally got to watching "It Might Get Loud". (A.O. Scott's review)

While I was not blown away by it as I was expecting, some scenes certainly elevated the rest of the documentary: Jimmy Page plugging in his Les Paul, hammering out the intro riff to "Whole lotta love" as U2's The Edge* (twenty four years later, I'm still not sure if it is "The Edge" or "the Edge"?) and Jack White look on with an expression conveying glee, envy and holy-shit-is-this-real. Apparently, you could be a big rock star with a billion dollars in your bank account but all that is reduced to nothing in front of Jimmy Page's riff. (I've always wondered if Beethoven walks around heaven giving all other musicians a terrible complex?)

But interestingly, in the second scene that caught my attention, Page picks out a record** - Link Wray's "Rumble" - and this time we see him dissolve into smiles and air guitar (even James Patrick Page plays air guitar!) listening to Link Wray and goes crazy over that killer vibrato.

Even the Gods have their Gods.

* The Edge's question to Jimmy Page about his work as a sessions musician in the mid-1960s could be spun into an entire film. In a most matter-of-fact tone, Page answered the question saying he did play for the Kinks. Too bad The Edge didn't follow up with "did you also play on The Who's "I can't explain"?

** Assuming it was a shot of his house in the film, the man has a mean collection of 45s and LPs.

The Act You've Known For All These Years...

2010-11-16T07:05:00.005-05:00

...will soon on be iTunes.

I'm going to play my age card here: so does this mean a whole generation of kids will listen to songs from, say, "With the Beatles" without holding that classic b-w picture in their hands? Don't they lose something important in the bargain?

Would you want to listen to Side-B of Abbey Road out of sequence? Is it even possible to explore White Album without downloading "Wild Honey Pie" or "Revolution 9"?

Next week, I'm going to talk about how telegraphy and Morse code are corrupting our youngsters.

UPDATE: A great bit of insight via a post in Techcrunch about why this news matters:

"So why do we care? Because this is one of the last times you’re going to see the recording industry in a position of power. It’s like seeing a majestic Dodo in action for one last time. The obstinacy that has led to doing things the same way since the 50s (there are likely LPs that have been in print that long, being sold the same way, like produce) at last is running out of steam."

I like that phrase, "majestic Dodo". It gives this news item a proper place in a narrative that started some 50 years ago.

21 Years

2010-11-14T05:15:00.000-05:00

(Ah, the ego. News of her release got me thinking about my own life and how I've aged 21 years since she went to prison.)

Image from the BBC's website.

The Failchemist

2010-11-11T15:00:00.001-05:00

"I am not saying that W.Allen,Bergman,Antonioni,Goddard are bad directors. I am saying that they make #boringmovies" - a tweet by writer Paulo Coelho.

That opinion is coming from a very distinguished author and philosopher and therefore must be true.

Macaron, Woody, Bagel

2010-11-03T14:05:00.003-05:00

Macaron or cupcakes? Godard or Woody? Baguette or bagel?

Paris Vs NYC is a blog that compares, graphically, some of the best-known features of the two great cities. The concept and artwork are simply delightful.

(Via MeFi)

Sanity

2010-11-01T12:02:00.002-05:00

"If we amplify everything, we hear nothing"

In This Corner...

2010-10-29T06:30:00.000-05:00

I am sure you have figured out who would win the "Batman Vs. Bruce Lee" fight.

But how about "Sarkastodon Vs. Black Rhinoceros" or "Columbian Mammoth Vs. Spinosaurus" or "Gorgonops Vs. Short-faced Hyena"? A message-board dedicated to "Interspecific Conflict" tackles such face-offs. (The main site covers carnivores in general. I ended up on that site while looking up "Dhole", the Indian wild dog, but as you can imagine, that search got hijacked by the conflict board...)

(What is an interspecific conflict, you ask?)

And A Good Boo! To You, Sir

2010-10-25T15:00:00.001-05:00

"Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." (Dracula, 1931)

Hair, back of the neck, etc.

Batteries Not Included

2010-10-24T06:30:00.001-05:00

Sony will no longer manufacture the Walkman.

Here's to that portable, shiny, anodized-metal battery-devouring monster and to the summer of 1983; a summer spent hiding from adults instructing me not to play it "so loud". (Pretty sure that a bigger part of the summer was spent begging for money or stealing loose change lying around the house to buy batteries and cassettes. Can music save my mortal soul?)

My Daily Bread

2010-10-21T18:38:00.006-05:00

October 21, 2010

7:30PM: Ate two slices of moldy bread. Waiting for X-ray vision or some such super power to kick in.

7:45PM: Walls continue to be stubbornly opaque. Damn.

Doodle Bop

2010-10-21T06:54:00.004-05:00

Did trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie get the BEST Google logo ever?

(Though, according to Google Trends, his "hotness" is still "mild". Uh huh.)

"Suspicious Man Was Whistling In The Street"

2010-10-14T17:54:00.009-05:00

Twitter in all it's time-wastey goodness.

The Greater Manchester Police has four - count 'em, gmp24_0, gmp24_1, gmp24_2, gmp24_3 - twitter feeds in which they post incidents round the clock.

A few random tweets (and they're all good, trust me):

"Call 2841 A suspicious man was whistling in the street last night in Chorlton"

"Call 2840 Youths causing annoyance, kicking a football against the wall in Stockport."

"Call 2761 Hoax 999 to police and fire - three fire engines and four police vehicles turn up. Caller taken to hospital" (WTF? Someone made a hoax call and got admitted to a hospital??)

"Call 2737 Man refuses to leave the gym in Hazel Grove - patrol attends and leaves on request"

"Call 2701 Abandoned call in Kearsley - mobile activated in owner's pocket - apology received"

Lather, rinse, refresh. This is a treasure trove.

(Via Metafilter)

Underground Music

2010-10-13T16:44:00.005-05:00

"Noting that the 12th rescued miner, Edison Peña, was the Presley fan, the anchor announced, “Edison Peña, this is for you!” and proceeded to play “Jailhouse Rock.”

Woah, CNN, epic fail once again.

The most appropriate Elvis song for the occasion would have been - wait for it - Way Down. (Playing Elvis's "Mine" would have been *too* on the nose).

Got You Covered

2010-10-08T18:31:00.004-05:00

Bastard. Ozzy made me cry with his cover of John Lennon's "How". If the old waterworks need a good workout, there's also Johnny Cash, covering "In my life".

A little change in tempo, maybe?

Here's a grooovy cover of "Tomorrow never knows" by Sheila Chandra (and Monsoon). 801, a Seventies supergroup also covered TNK and it just rocks, which is only to be expected given the level of talent in the band.

Speaking of fusion, why oh why didn't Ananda Shankar, a man whose uncle had direct connections to the Beatles, try interpreting a Beatles' song? He did such a beautiful job taking on the Doors and the Stones. Can you imagine Ananda Shankar interpreting "Because"? Just thinking of the possibilities gives me the chills.

Spinner published a list of 20 "best Beatles covers". It's a good list. What you want to listen to on that list is Elliot Smith's cover of Because.

Finally, Peter Sellers, playing Richard III, ~~singing~~ performing "A hard day's night". If I had a time machine, I would definitely go back to a time when Peter Sellers and the Beatles occupied the same stage, thankyouverymuch.

The Dream Weaver

2010-10-08T16:43:00.003-05:00

"You were the one who made it so clear, all those years ago"

Yes sir, he did.

The Tears On His Cheeks Are From Laughter

2010-09-30T13:48:00.002-05:00

The Swiss finance minister explains customs tariff on spiced meat. Or tries to, anyway.

Ever noticed politicians don't have laughing fits?

A Bound Pair

2010-09-26T08:29:00.000-05:00

Slate has been running a series on "creative collaborations" and in that series is a 3-parter about Lennon and McCartney. I am not entirely convinced the subject of artistic collaboration lends itself very well to pop analysis (or even serious analysis) but that does not mean such explorations are not fun and Slate's writer does make a couple of very interesting points:

"It's supremely odd how history would play the collaboration between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The result of one of the most intertwined partnerships in music history, their work would consistently be reduced to static roles. It's almost as if, faced with the bound pair, a culture obsessed with individualism found a way to cleave them in two."

Individualism maybe, but figuring out who wrote what is also a fun musical parlor-game when you are fifteen or sixteen and first listen to "Nowhere Man" and "Yesterday" (or "Revolution" and "Michelle"). But many times, those guesses are plain wrong. For example, most of us think of John's music as being more edgy, but "Sgt. Pepper" was Paul's project - for the most part. Though many would argue that the edginess of that album came equally from the two Georges. Without George Martin's expert arrangements, production and editing, "Sgt. Pepper" would be a bunch of good songs and nothing more. (And this is why analyzing artistic collaboration sometimes strikes me as an exercise in futility. How can we ever know how these things really work?)

The third act in the Beatles' narrative is usually about the band's breakup and how John and Paul just stopped writing together; "White Album" being the key evidence. But is that really true?

"But even in the hardest times, it's hardly true that John and Paul stopped working together. In what was, ostensibly, the nadir of their partnership in January 1969, their concert on the Apple rooftop shows the two men in profound sympathy. At one point, John forgot a verse to "Don't Let Me Down." He and Paul proceeded in perfect sync as John sang nonsense lyrics, then returned to the top of the verse as if nothing had happened. You can see on the film how John shoots Paul a look of pure boyish glee. Several months later, when John wrote "The Ballad of John and Yoko," he rushed to Paul's doorstep. With George and Ringo out of town, he insisted they go straight to the studio. They cut the song in one long day, John taking the guitars and lead vocal, Paul on bass, drums, piano, maracas—and coming in with breathtaking harmonies."

That, perhaps, is one way to explain their post-breakup output. It is not as if their musical chops were in decline. They just weren't in "profound sympathy" with a collaborator.

The Piper's Calling You To Join Him

2010-09-22T17:20:00.003-05:00

"What initially looks like a classic ‘Overcoming the Monster’ plot turns into a nightmarish tale of disproportionate revenge. The Piper’s retribution oversteps the boundaries, suggesting society’s ultimate taboo: child murder."

What happened in Hamelin on June 26, 1284? It's a fun read if you enjoy reading about death, plague and lost children. (And who doesn't?)

Dug? Dock?

2010-09-17T08:45:00.007-05:00

The Internet, it makes you see familiar things differently.

(I'm pretty sure I saw this first on Reddit last week. But if ever there was an idea crying - no, quacking - for a website, it is this.)

"Cave Of Forgotten Dreams"

2010-09-15T09:07:00.003-05:00

A couple of years ago, an essay in the New Yorker got me completely hooked to the subject of cave art. In my opinion, there are few topics as mesmerizing and as mysterious as cave art. The subject raises endlessly engaging questions: what were the impulses behind those paintings? Why didn't all early communities produce cave art? How did the concept of art travel from continent to continent? Does the existence of cave art prove that art is just as essential as food, air and water? And just how the hell did cavemen stand for hours and hours in dark, dank dangerous places and paint without proper tools and equipment?

So while I was hungrily scouring the library for books and articles on cave art, I came across this fantastically produced book by Mr. Cave Art himself, Jean Clottes. I found it much, much better than your typical coffee-table art fare. The book covers not just cave art in France and Europe but also in other parts of the world, including India. (That last link is to the Bradshaw Foundation's website, an excellent source of information if you are interested in the subject. (BTW, anyone know of a well-produced book exclusively about Indian cave art?)

All of the above is just an excuse to say Werner Herzog has a new film out on this very subject. Even if Herzog did nothing more than focus his camera on a little dark spot on a dirty cave wall and just spoke about art, caves, early man and civilization for 90 minutes, I would still be there to watch it. (Herzog's buddy loved the film. Cinematical describes the film as "nothing short of mind-boggling".)

Blurry

2010-09-14T09:34:00.003-05:00

"Bokeh" irritates me. I don't know why.

YMMV, but it also seems that this word does not bow down to semantic satiation. (Or maybe I didn't say it for long enough?)

Sacred Harpist

2010-09-12T09:02:00.003-05:00

Bill Marx has a website about his father, that beloved "plug-hatted ragamuffin", Harpo. Thank you, Bill Marx.

Isn't it funny that while Harpo was the silent one, it is his presence in a scene that just completely shatters even that tiniest bit of sense and order? Harpo walks in and suddenly all bets are off. The character he played was, as his son rightly puts it, "a lunatic...a wild man capable of the craziest things imaginable".

Take the immortal lemonade stand scene. No dangerous undercurrents in that one - the currents are all up on the surface. Harpo's rebelliousness, the childlike pleasure he seems to take in destroying things of value (dipping one's feet into a vat of lemonade is just genius) and the funny, absurd, systematic take-down of a man who has done nothing to deserve that troubles that befall him. In other words, the purest comedy: someone else's troubles, viewed from a safe, comfortable distance.

Subversion through comedy is a wonderful thing to watch and who can believe that there once lived a comedian who achieved subversion through silence, scissors, candles and all these other things?

Never Metabisulfite I Liked

2010-09-02T16:26:00.004-05:00

Coconut water containing Sodium Metabisulfite: Fail. Epic Fail.

I need something pure and natural.

Rum and Coke, maybe.

90 Days

2010-08-28T08:46:00.003-05:00

A short and powerful PSA video about AIDS treatment. Stick around for the ending. It *will* get you, I promise.

(Related: The Topsy Foundation)

Wailing Banshees

2010-08-26T19:31:00.004-05:00

From MeFi: a voice teacher analyzes five metal vocalists.

A fun little read if, like me, you admire the howlings of Dickinson, Osbourne, Halford et al. I only wish they had included AC/DC's Brian Johnson and Deep Purple's Ian Gillian in the list.

Hari Prasad -Update

2010-08-24T18:57:00.004-05:00

"For most of you concerned about the plight of Hari Prasad, let me give you the good news. He is doing fine."

An update from Indian EVM website.

Meanwhile, India's Election Commission has denied involvement in Hari Prasad's arrest. Yeah, right.
***

In related news, security researchers in the US successfully hacked a voting machine and modified it to run a piece of software that can ROCK democracies everywhere: Pac-Man.

The hack seems ridiculously simple. So why do governments expect citizens to trust this technology?

Hari Prasad

2010-08-22T12:34:00.004-05:00

Hari Prasad was arrested by Indian police on August 21 on charges of stealing an electronic voting machine. (Last link goes to an interview with Mr. Prasad.)

Here's an audio-only interview with him as he was being driven by the police from Hyderabad to Mumbai.

Now that the "sleuths" have solved the Mystery of The Missing Electronic Voting Machine, Indians can breathe easy.

Fucktards.

"Crowded Sidewalk"

2010-08-22T07:46:00.002-05:00

In 1959, a man, now regarded by Americans as one of their greatest cultural icons, was ordered by a policeman to move from a crowded sidewalk.

We immigrants owe more to the Civil Rights movement than we understand.

(Via Reddit)

Herzog Will Take Questions

2010-08-21T07:23:00.002-05:00

David Lynch tweets:

"Twitter Friends, here's a chance to ask the great Werner Herzog any question. Tweet your question to @1stlookstudios by Mon morning Aug 23!"

Could you ever, in your craziest, wildest dreams, have imagined DAVID LYNCH telling you to ask WERNER HERZOG "any question"?

Next time you feel jaded about technology and the Net, remember this: right now, you can ask Werner Herzog any question. And you heard it from David Lynch.

Roger That, Roger

2010-08-14T10:06:00.001-05:00

Ebert on Hitchens.

"I was asked at lunch today who or what I worshipped. The question was asked sincerely, and in the same spirit I responded that I worshipped whatever there might be outside knowledge. I worship the void. The mystery. And the ability of our human minds to perceive an unanswerable mystery."

(Uh, a little playlist synchronicity here: Flaming Lips' "Do you realize" just came on. "Everyone you know someday will die". Delightful way to start a sunny Saturday afternoon.)

More than any argument, that little cartoon in Ebert's post sums up my feeling about this will-he-or-won't-he-turn-to-God business: believe or don't believe, does it eventually matter?

A few years ago, a cancer-stricken Warren Zevon famously said this to David Letterman: "enjoy every sandwich".

And really, what more is there to know?

I WON'T

2010-08-13T14:41:00.003-05:00

In just about every high school, every year, one ultra-serious kid discovers Ayn Rand and decides it is much too important to keep that "philosophy" to himself. And so he proceeds to share it with the rest of the class.

I can bet this man must have been one of those kids:

"One man drove 12,238 miles and across 30 states in the U.S. to scrawl a message that could only be viewed using Google Earth. His big shoutout: "Read Ayn Rand."

(From Gizmodo)

Assuming a mileage of about 30 mpg, he spent more than a thousand dollars (~$3/gallon) to tell the world to read Ayn Rand?

I'm sure the idea of donating a thousand dollars to a library in need would have appeared totally incompatible with his favorite writer's philosophy.

There Are Processes I'll Remember All My Life

2010-08-12T15:55:00.004-05:00

"Sufficient, perhaps, just to stop and think how strange it is that the inner core, imperviously locked away since the creation of the world, may yet be added to the long list of other solid-looking things, such as the Himalayas and the Atlantic Ocean and the planet itself, that are in some ways better understood not as places, but as processes."

The Economist's commentary on a paper that was recently published in Nature, the title of which sounds like a Syd-era Pink Floyd song: "Melting-induced stratification above the Earth’s inner core due to convective translation".

I'm going to get me a cold beer and decide, one sip at a time, if that story makes me depressed or elated or both or neither. Alvy Singer *was* right - the universe *is* expanding and I am not doing my homework.

(Via)

"Sunny"

2010-08-06T18:38:00.003-05:00

My introduction to Bobby Hebb's classic song was not through jazz (Pat Martino, tearing it up), Motown or R&B but bad old disco (out-of-sync audio/video; oh the lulz).

Bobby Hebb died earlier this week.

I am not too familiar with his music but I will say this: "Sunny" ruined my tape recorder's head and made eighth grade tolerable.

Roosevelt

2010-07-25T08:49:00.003-05:00

Mortimer Brewster: The name Brewster is code for Roosevelt.

Teddy Brewster: Code for Roosevelt?

Mortimer Brewster: Yes. Don't you see? Take the name Brewster, take away the B, and what have you got?

Teddy Brewster: Rooster!

Mortimer Brewster: Uh-huh. And what does a rooster do?

Teddy Brewster: Crows.

Mortimer Brewster: It crows. And where do you hunt in Africa?

Teddy Brewster: On the veldt!

Mortimer Brewster: There you are: crows - veldt!

Teddy Brewster: Ingenious! My compliments to the boys in the code department.

One of the many funny scenes from Capra's "Arsenic and Old Lace".

Husbands And Wives

2010-07-24T09:49:00.004-05:00

From the "tragedy in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot" department:

"On one occasion, he mixed hair-removal cream in her hair conditioner so that she would go bald. On another, he added dish-washing powder to atta, and forced her to eat rotis made from the dough. And on yet another, he simply poured water on the bed while she was sleeping."

Mr. Nice Guy (link to ToI; hell yeah.)

Why does that newspaper reporter sound almost disappointed when she notes that such "elaborate schemes" are "often seen in children's cartoons but rarely in real life"?

Soundtrack of Our Drives

2010-07-17T17:01:00.004-05:00

I was driving past this man's home earlier this afternoon when the Department of Cosmic Coincidences conspired with my CD player to play Pink Floyd's Time.

"The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older".

All right then. I can dig that. But had this classic disco album magically appeared in my CD player just then, it would have been a little too on the nose.

Shortly afterward, "Money" came on but Ben Bernanke was nowhere in sight.

7/4/post

2010-07-04T00:34:00.000-05:00

What better time to discuss identity than during the Fourth of July weekend?
***

The bus driver at the airport asks me if I am Indian or Pakistani. I think about the question for a second and tell him I'm from India. "I am Baghdadi", he says and I can see ripples of pride, caution and sheepishness sweep across his face. He then asks me if I am Hindu. Again, I think about it for a second and tell him, yes, I am one. What can I say, airport parking lots are hardly the best place to launch into a "just what is *your* definition of a Hindu?" debate.

"That's very good", he says, sounding relieved. I ask him how my religion mattered. He says he doesn't like how *some* religions force people to think and act in a certain way and that Hinduism was not one of those religions.

That brief exchange made me a little sad - here he was, an old Iraqi man, living in heartland of America, sounding a bit eager to disassociate himself from an identity he was born into and probably doing his best to pass himself off as someone who is comfortable making a living in a country that has, well, shall we say, re-arranged his native land beyond recognition.

There's a price we all pay for leaving home and coming home.

***

The other day while at lunch with some co-workers, I referred to Fourth of July as "my country's Independence Day". That phrase, coming from someone who's obviously not "originally from here", makes some people uneasy. Makes for some great trolling. Try it sometime.

Sure enough, my words rattled at least one person in the group who lost no time in pointing out that my citizenship was merely the end result of filling out an application form. I was tempted to remind him that his Indian citizenship was merely the end result of nine months of gestation, a biological process in which he had no choice. But just then a burger materialized on my end of the table, so I pushed aside all thoughts about identity and like the good Hindu I am, bit into some of that medium-rare magic.

Damn You, Lao Tzu

2010-06-26T15:18:00.004-05:00

It's the single step which leads to a journey of a thousand miles. And what do we get at the end of the thousand miles? Exhaustion, listlessness and frequent-flyer miles. Also, unread books, unplayed music, unwatched films, unvisited blogs and unfinished thoughts.

So do everything you can to resist that single step. Or there will be that journey of thousand miles.

Now They Know How Many Autographed Manuscripts It Takes To Fill The Albert Hall

2010-06-18T15:36:00.004-05:00

I read the news today, oh boy.

And the Obvious Fairy bites an auctioneer on his ass:

"The outstanding price achieved for these handwritten lyrics is testament to the iconic status of the Beatles, John Lennon and especially this song," said David Redden, Sotheby's Books and Manuscripts Department international chairman.

Clarity Of Writing

2010-06-17T19:02:00.005-05:00

"I think the point is that lucid writing is a byproduct of a process of careful thought. The more deeply you think about an issue, the more word choices start to matter, the clearer the purpose of each phrase and each sentence becomes, and the more the sentences themselves fall into a natural order. Clarity of thought produces clarity of writing."

Careful, Falstaff, or soon the Internet will be asking you for a writing manual.

What Happened To Desipundit?

2010-06-16T12:36:00.006-05:00

Desipundit is quoting Frost.

What's with the "Thank you for reading"? Lekhni, Patrix, anyone?

Edit: I posted before checking the blogs. Lekhni blogged this yesterday.

"Land Scrapes"

2010-06-15T09:11:00.002-05:00

From photographer Kalyan Varma's blog, a photo-essay on the Deccan Plateau.

An aerial shot of a village panchayat meeting? How about that.

CUT TO: Face Of A Buyer Filled With Remorse

2010-06-13T17:19:00.005-05:00

A buyer's review (on Amazon) of Bergman's "Wild Strawberries":

"It's in Swedish, with English subtitles. That's fine if you understand Swedish, which I don't. It was a total waste of money for me."

Those strawberries, they can be sour, I tell ya.

What Do You

2010-06-08T17:26:00.002-05:00

Poetry geeks, help me out. Here's a verse from Pearl Jam's "Elderly woman behind the counter in a small town":

"I swear I recognize your breath
Memories like fingerprints are slowly raising
Me, you wouldn't recall, for I'm not my former
It's hard when, you're stuck upon the shelf"

The lyric is not "I'm not my former SELF" but the word "shelf" in the fourth line - and the song's theme - makes me mentally supply the word "self" in the third.

So my question is this - is there a name for this technique of not completing the line and letting the reader/listener fill in the blank?

White House Album

2010-06-03T16:33:00.002-05:00

Some questions to think about:

Would John have played the White House? And if he did, would he have sung "Michelle"? (Oh dear God.)

Why are "Hey Jude" singalongs encouraged? How many na-na-na-nas must be sung before they are forever banned?

Instead of singing "Michelle" (oh dear God), couldn't Sir Paul have played something unexpected, like, "Why don't we do it in the road"?

What happens during a drum solo at a White House gig? Policy discussions? Oil spill debates?

Key Of The Grave

2010-06-02T08:49:00.004-05:00

Melancholy womanliness, quaint creature, wild passions: these are descriptions of musical keys, made by an 18th century German poet named Christian Schubart. ("...student of theology" and "he led a dissolute life"? Rock on, Herr Schubart!)

My favorite description is for "F# minor"

"A gloomy key: it tugs at passion as a dog biting a dress. Resentment and discontent are its language."

A lot of blues music is in the key of E Major. So how does Schubart, who lived in an era and culture far removed from the blues, describe that key? Quite accurately, actually:

"Noisy shouts of joy, laughing pleasure and not yet complete, full delight lies in E Major."

It makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Real blues music is not about despair and hopelessness. When you wake up one morning and find your money gone, you may cry for a few hours or even a few days but then, let out "noisy shouts of joy" you must. (Wonder if that's my accountant on the phone?)