HiWire

Debussy - Deux Arabesques (Harpe) – Héloïse de Jenlis

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes One of the most intense war novels I've ever read. It's a gigantically thick-looking hardcover, but easily devoured regardless.

Sophie Milman (2006) In retrospect, I think her first album was the best one.

Happy Birthday!

Very nice – this is the first time I've heard of Ruike and the design and materials are impressive. What do you use to sharpen the knife and how long have you owned it?

When the Phone Stops Ringing – Eighth Wonder Too pretty for music. Patsy Kensit was in the '50s period film Absolute Beginners (David Bowie wrote a song for the movie with the same title), but apparently it wasn't very good. She left music to go into film and she seems to have had a good career there. The comments mention that Mike Chapman was also the producer for Blondie, thus the similar keyboard tune... Eighth Wonder was most famous for their singles I'm Not Scared and Cross My Heart. This song was co-written by Holly Knight (Obsession, Love Is a Battlefield) and Bernie Taupin.

I wonder if anybody has set up a Tesla Powerwall for an A/V system ("My other Tesla is my stereo") – given the price for most audiophile equipment, it's actually not that bad: https://news.energysage.com/tesla-powerwall-battery-complete-review/

What a babe. 🥰 This was before the hairspray incident (mom rock, ahoy!)... only 10 years after Dreamboat Annie, but it's taking over 30 years for the ozone layer to recover

Dreamboat Annie – Heart

Massage Detective Joe (Amazon Prime and possibly Apple TV)... couldn't find English subtitled trailers anywhere

Happy Birthday!

2019 Hyogo Hachi Highland Hillclimb (pre-event testing) with Keiichi Tsuchiya (Drift King) driving the Maou (Demon King) Honda S2000 from J's Racing (turn on English subtitles) Some tech details on the car: https://www.s2ki.com/2019/02/14/js-racing-touge-devil-king-s2000/ 2016 Kyoto Arashiyama Hillclimb (Takao Parkway)

I could blame the Marc Rebillet browsing or Firebird research...

If Moebius Made Anime | The Beautiful art of Dragon's Heaven [1988] This is awesome

Peep Show (2003)

Love Tattoo – Imelda May

The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski Really great – the final novel in the 5-part series. Oddly, I have a feeling Michael Moorcock would love reading these books... there was talk of a lawsuit years ago re: the Witcher vs. Elric, but I think Moorcock dropped it. Sapkowski uses a variety of literary devices (moving the story out of chronological order, shifting the perspective to different characters, etc.) to excellent effect and he is able to maintain a lot of the humor and charm of the series while the characters pursue their epic quest. There is also a bit of the medieval brutality and eye for detail that you read in George R.R. Martin's books. I'm not sure if Sapkowski had read them in the 90s while he was writing these books in Polish.

Sometimes you have to learn to love something less expensive... I had the same reaction to a Swatch Royal Blue Rebel (SUOS702) while on vacation. I've learned that sometimes you find something (or someone) perfect and you'll regret not acting for the rest of your life. The relationship was consummated immediately. 😍

Jean-Claude Van Damme, personal trainer I think the stay-at-home is actually helping some people.

Much better. Also, I found this on Rumours (probably old news) while looking for the Fleetwood Mac / Eagles / punk quote: "There were some production problems, the most harrowing of which was tape decay. Because they took so much time to record (they even cancelled a sell-out tour), they were constantly overdubbing on the master tapes. Tape is a physical medium consisting of iron oxide and this flakes off when tapes are rewound and played over and over. The tapes began to decay and nothing sounded like it had when it was recorded. It all would have been lost if as a fluke they had not run another 24 track machine when recording the basic tracks. Luckily, they had this back-up. Then they had to match up all the new parts with the old parts with no time code or midi. They had to do it like a DJ matching the snare and kick on one side of the headphones with the old parts on the other side." Always back up your data.

I came across that line this afternoon, too. Can't find it for the life of me – searched my history and came up with zilch.

This is a sweet set! They've still got the funk. This is one hell of a good recording, too. On the other hand, that Dixie Chicks rendition of Landslide was painful to experience 😧 (No wonder they took 14 years to release another album)

I didn't even know some of the songs were Fleetwood Mac. For example, Say You Love Me – I didn't know the name of the singer (I kind of thought she was a man, baby – sorry, Christine McVie! – it was the 70s) or the name of the song (it's not called "Falling, Falling, Falling"?), and it came on infrequently so radio stations didn't always identify the song right away. Obviously, everyone else knew, because everyone had listened to those albums. A great example of mainstream success where everyone can agree on a brilliant album. Also, unlike modern pop music, Fleetwood Mac's music had a soul.

It turns out those globes hanging from Mick Fleetwood's belt were toilet chain balls. What a weird dude! 🧔

Fleetwood Mac (1975) Rumours deservedly gets the most attention, but I really love this album. This is one of those rare incidences where an album measures up even after decades of anticipation (I remember looking at this album cover on the old Columbia House booklets... cassette version, of course!). This CD also came with the singles versions of Say You Love Me, Rhiannon, Over My Head, and Blue Letter, which turned out to be a nice addition as I was most familiar with the radio versions, of course. I'm not sure why my Rumours CD doesn't have the singles. "The White Album" is a bit softer, sweeter, and more introspective while Rumours has a harder edge. I was relieved the remasters hadn't messed up the sound in a way I could hear. I'm going to dive into their earlier albums as well. Specifically, Then Play On, Future Games, Bare Trees, and Tusk again, to start. Also, I love Herbert Worthington's photo covers for Fleetwood Mac and Rumours. A great combination of photography, fashion, typography, and magic. Again, one of those rare times where the music is as great as the album art. The subjects must have felt silly posing for the covers, but the results are timeless.