First a frivolous post

The Fringe Festival starts today, and my first volunteer shift with it. There goes most of my spare time. :) July is never the month to try to get together with people unless they do Folk or Fringe or both.

________________________________________

I've been a bit bad about indulging myself and splurging on stuff lately, for a few reasons. One is that I really didn't get a lot for my birthday, and even as I understand why and what this wedding is, I still end up feeling droopy about it. Hey, you don't turn 30 every day, and while I didn't consider it the great big marker others have (I made all my recent life-changing decisions at 28 or 29, including those only coming to fruition now I am 30, so what's left?). Besides, the wedding gifts (for which i still ahve to write most of the thank-you notes, eek!) are all practical.

Besides that, all my spare money, if such a thing exists, will soon be going to textbooks, and tuition. So part of me wanted to have one last go at it before i buckle down to restraint.

It doesn't help that all these books I really want are coming out in June, July and August.

So far it's almost all music:
Richard Thompson:
RT - the Life and times of... (The 5 CD set I already squeed about.) Which is very squee worthy, as it happens, in spite of the fact that it also reveals his occasional misses (Dear Janet Jackson, about a certain wardrobe malfunction, just didn't seem funny to me.)
Live in Austin DVD - A very good performance, though the set list is very obviously just post Mock Tudor. What's there is done supremely well, though.
Live in Providence DVD - Not as good - the sound quality seems weaker, though the set list is better. I think he does better alone wor with only bss& drums than he did with a full band, though it's fun to watch the guy rocking out with the mandolin. The bonus tracks, can't all be played together, and the sound quality on some of them is outright dreadful.

Oysterband 25th Anniversary DVD Squee. Much with the Squee. Plus there's June Tabor on there and Uillean pipes. More Squeee.

Oh Susanna Johnstown - I heard her do the second track on this CD live at the folk festival, and it alone was enough to make me pick up the album. I wasn't wrong, either. New material based on the Appalachian branches of ballad tradition.

Neko Case Blacklisted Opted for this one rather than her new release because I particularly noticed and wanted "I wish I were the Moon". She's in a weird ground somewhere ebtween Tori Amos and Emmylou Harris. My brother thought I didn't like her because I left during the later part of her mainstage set that night, though it had more to do with falling asleep on the spot, and the fact that you canhear the mainstage a surprisingly long way away as long as you don't run into the campground drummers.

Karen & Helene Solen Two Danish girls doing lovely trad stuff and some new stuff, occasionally a capella (And they did a lot of that during the festival) and sometimes accompanied. Very very pretty voices, and they had good charisma on stage. The album almost lives up to the live performance.

Lennie Gallant When We get there Maritime folk/pop/rock, without a Celtic twist as most Maritime has. He's yummy music and voice-wise, but weirdly optimistic for my listening tastes. I actually got this pre-festival when I noticed he had a new one. It's good, but needs more fast bits.

Naomi Novik Throne of Jade I also got Black Powder War out from the library, the only book of the new releases I've been hunting that I actually found there. But I've managed to resist soem of the book indulgence by actually remembering I have a shelf of same. I also managed to sell a complete stranger on Her Majesty's Dragon when she pounced on me in the store with "You look like you're probably a fantasy fan..."

I do also know that some additional stuff is coming from Mom and Jeff in the near future. But I confess, if it doesn't include (As it probably won't) matociquala's Blood & Iron or truepenny's Melusine, my book restraint will break. I've stopped off twice at McNally to pet B&I. (Realistically, to make sure it was still there, but it is a nice book to hold in the hand, too. Melusine is face-out, but on a top shelf, so not so easy to unobtrusively pet. besides, the B&I trade paperback's design looks & feels pretty good, Melusine "merely" has a nice cover and a concept that interests me).

First a frivolous post

The Fringe Festival starts today, and my first volunteer shift with it. There goes most of my spare time. :) July is never the month to try to get together with people unless they do Folk or Fringe or both.

________________________________________

I've been a bit bad about indulging myself and splurging on stuff lately, for a few reasons. One is that I really didn't get a lot for my birthday, and even as I understand why and what this wedding is, I still end up feeling droopy about it. Hey, you don't turn 30 every day, and while I didn't consider it the great big marker others have (I made all my recent life-changing decisions at 28 or 29, including those only coming to fruition now I am 30, so what's left?). Besides, the wedding gifts (for which i still ahve to write most of the thank-you notes, eek!) are all practical.

Besides that, all my spare money, if such a thing exists, will soon be going to textbooks, and tuition. So part of me wanted to have one last go at it before i buckle down to restraint.

It doesn't help that all these books I really want are coming out in June, July and August.

So far it's almost all music:
Richard Thompson:
RT - the Life and times of... (The 5 CD set I already squeed about.) Which is very squee worthy, as it happens, in spite of the fact that it also reveals his occasional misses (Dear Janet Jackson, about a certain wardrobe malfunction, just didn't seem funny to me.)
Live in Austin DVD - A very good performance, though the set list is very obviously just post Mock Tudor. What's there is done supremely well, though.
Live in Providence DVD - Not as good - the sound quality seems weaker, though the set list is better. I think he does better alone wor with only bss& drums than he did with a full band, though it's fun to watch the guy rocking out with the mandolin. The bonus tracks, can't all be played together, and the sound quality on some of them is outright dreadful.

Oysterband 25th Anniversary DVD Squee. Much with the Squee. Plus there's June Tabor on there and Uillean pipes. More Squeee.

Oh Susanna Johnstown - I heard her do the second track on this CD live at the folk festival, and it alone was enough to make me pick up the album. I wasn't wrong, either. New material based on the Appalachian branches of ballad tradition.

Neko Case Blacklisted Opted for this one rather than her new release because I particularly noticed and wanted "I wish I were the Moon". She's in a weird ground somewhere ebtween Tori Amos and Emmylou Harris. My brother thought I didn't like her because I left during the later part of her mainstage set that night, though it had more to do with falling asleep on the spot, and the fact that you canhear the mainstage a surprisingly long way away as long as you don't run into the campground drummers.

Karen & Helene Solen Two Danish girls doing lovely trad stuff and some new stuff, occasionally a capella (And they did a lot of that during the festival) and sometimes accompanied. Very very pretty voices, and they had good charisma on stage. The album almost lives up to the live performance.

Lennie Gallant When We get there Maritime folk/pop/rock, without a Celtic twist as most Maritime has. He's yummy music and voice-wise, but weirdly optimistic for my listening tastes. I actually got this pre-festival when I noticed he had a new one. It's good, but needs more fast bits.

Naomi Novik Throne of Jade I also got Black Powder War out from the library, the only book of the new releases I've been hunting that I actually found there. But I've managed to resist soem of the book indulgence by actually remembering I have a shelf of same. I also managed to sell a complete stranger on Her Majesty's Dragon when she pounced on me in the store with "You look like you're probably a fantasy fan..."

I do also know that some additional stuff is coming from Mom and Jeff in the near future. But I confess, if it doesn't include (As it probably won't) matociquala's Blood & Iron or truepenny's Melusine, my book restraint will break. I've stopped off twice at McNally to pet B&I. (Realistically, to make sure it was still there, but it is a nice book to hold in the hand, too. Melusine is face-out, but on a top shelf, so not so easy to unobtrusively pet. besides, the B&I trade paperback's design looks & feels pretty good, Melusine "merely" has a nice cover and a concept that interests me).

On a more serious note

No time currently to add my thoughts to the discussion, but to start the thinking process, here's a collection of links.

I tried to add a second post to Nalo's blog pointing out my guilty not-so-secret, which all two of you who read me know -- that while I observed the racist elements in the Cannibal sequence in Pirates, and wish that scene would roll over and die, I also like the rest of the movie, voodoo woman and all. But it acted weird on posting and hasn't shown up.

But I wonder if being able to like something with such elements, that isn't made in a time when that was part of the context, makes me less than I should be.

Anyway, the harvest of links:
How to shut down discussion of racism.

About Pirates of the Caribbean in particular.

Casting in Hollywood and TV, part one.
Casting in Hollywood and TV, part two.

Othering is a Luxury

But of course I'm not colorblind. I can't pretend to be. I don't wish to be.

On a more serious note

No time currently to add my thoughts to the discussion, but to start the thinking process, here's a collection of links.

I tried to add a second post to Nalo's blog pointing out my guilty not-so-secret, which all two of you who read me know -- that while I observed the racist elements in the Cannibal sequence in Pirates, and wish that scene would roll over and die, I also like the rest of the movie, voodoo woman and all. But it acted weird on posting and hasn't shown up.

But I wonder if being able to like something with such elements, that isn't made in a time when that was part of the context, makes me less than I should be.

Anyway, the harvest of links:
How to shut down discussion of racism.

About Pirates of the Caribbean in particular.

Casting in Hollywood and TV, part one.
Casting in Hollywood and TV, part two.

Othering is a Luxury

But of course I'm not colorblind. I can't pretend to be. I don't wish to be.