Sunday 3/7/21
* "Change my mind." People need to stop saying that. It makes one sound like a lazy, passive aggressive slob.
* I downloaded Mosaic's T-Bone Walker box set. That was quite the find.
* Were I already in my house and had the room, I would buy any and all photography books depicting New England barn in winter. There would not be an amount that would count as "too many." There is something beautiful about a New England barn in winter.
* Also autumn.
* On a similar note: same goes for New England Churches of the nineteenth century and earlier.
* I think it is crazy that the Yardbirds played "Hey Gyp" in 1968. And the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man." They had some of the best setlists that year. In a similar vein: the Who at Madison Square Garden in 1974, the Stone Roses at the Manchester International in 1987.
* Last night I lay in bed and worked on a new horror story.
* Spoke to Auteur today about the cover art for Scrooge. I know what I wish the image to be, and now it's about finding the best version, and the legally available version.
* Soon I will turn back to Musings with Franklin: A Novel in Conversation that You Can Drink To. What I have decided is thus: let it fly. Go as far as I wish to go. Not once think, "Is this too much for delicate flowers?" Don't just push the envelope--explode it. Turn it to atoms. Then explode the atoms. I have a lot of books. I have a lot of books to come, a lot of books to compose. I'm not going to worry who I offend with this one. I am not going to worry about who is hidebound. I am not going to let joyless, po-faced people get in the way of this book's vision.
* I watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Rewatched. I come back. Sometimes it is touted as the scariest film there is. It's not particularly scary at all. Doesn't mean it's not interesting.
* Came up with an op-ed idea pertaining to YouTube. It would be very easy for me to deliver two op-ed columns a week for someone if they would take me on full-time in the role.
* I read Melville's "I and My Chimney." A good story to read later in Rockport in a house of Melvillean vintage.
* Today marks 1722 days, or 246 weeks, without a drink.
* Downloaded a portion of a Byrds show from December 1967 at the Fillmore West, where they performed as a trio. The gig marked drummer Michael Clarke's last with the band. Sublime bootleg.
* I tweaked a Christmas op-ed idea. Or, rather, split it into two. I can go this way, or I can go that way.
*What a world this is where a no-talent idiot like Skip Bayless gets paid eight million dollars a year to talk about sports, and to talk as only a moron can talk.
* Often I look something up on Google pertaining to art in various forms, and right at the top of that search is some page of this journal/blog.
* It takes ten minutes' of listening time to realize what the formula is of the highest rated sports radio show in Boston. You can see how they design it. Find the most negative subject. Obsess on that subject. Often, that negative subject will be invented. But that's always the thrust, the focus. Use toilet language. Refer often to feces. I'm not making this up. They do it deliberately, too. You can see how planned it is. Exaggerate. Not for effect. But be as over the top as possible in every statement. Very little of it is believed by the person making the statement. That's beside the point. Say "you know" twice a sentence. This part is not be design--it's because people can barely speak and cannot execute a clean sentence. The program is the Felger and Mazz show. It's so simple and so insincere. When someone is just saying something to say it, can you find that honestly interesting? Felger is not an idiot. He drives that show. Most of this is by design. They're not trying to create anything interesting or entertaining. They're trying to hammer away at what they think is a simple-minded demographic. What is the end of the world on a Wednesday will never be referenced again come Thursday. I used to think that Felger kind of knew about hockey, but he doesn't. And that is his strongest sport, from a knowledge standpoint.
* What would happen if someone who was actually good had an opportunity? A show, a platform, a gig? What then?
* Listened to the Strokes' second album. "Reptilia" is one of the best straight-up rock and roll songs of this century. They have it going on in that one.
* Also listened to a quite rare version of Ascension that Coltrane played in Paris in 1965, arranged for his Quartet. It will be discussed in this big feature I am writing. I would really like to do that book of my collected jazz writings. It would occupy an important place on the shelf of jazz literature.
* My first team of all-time best teams in the four major North American sports: 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers. 1927 New York Yankees. 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. 2004 New England Patriots.
* Second team: 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens. 1929 Philadelphia A's. 1985-86 Boston Celtics. 1985 Chicago Bears.
* Third team: 1981-82 New York Islanders. 1933 Pittsburgh Crawfords. 1984-85 LA Lakers. 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers.
* Most overrated team in the history of the four major North American sports: 2007 New England Patriots.
* This is an interview with Robert Bresson. What he says about automatism is useful for writers.
* This is Frog and Toad in an animated 1985 film, because I like Frog and Toad. The latter is one strange fellow, in a cool way. He has and follows his own spirit. And that is one reason his friend loves him. I also like that.
* Read the correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy.
* Chary and fain are interesting words.
* Watching some of this Bruins v. Canadiens playoff game from 1988. Ray Bourque is the finest outlet passer I've seen. Paul Coffey just behind. During the Bruins' recent Tahoe game, an analyst on the broadcast called Charlie McAvoy the ultimate complete hockey player. When I hear that, I wonder, is that person really that obtuse, or do they struggle that much in expressing themselves? But it is one or the other, and given that it is one or the other, why do they have a job talking about hockey as a so-called expert? Imagine saying that about Charlie McAvoy? He's it, huh? He's the ultimate all-around hockey player. That's who it is? The answer is obviously Bourque. Which does not make him the best hockey player or anything. But he did everything well and even elite. Except fighting, if you want to count that. Bourque was excellent at the tight radial turn. He shook many forecheckers that way. The Bulls with Jordan beat the Celtics on that night, I see, courtesy of the update. No Larry Bird or Kevin McHale for the C's. Jordan dropped 46, Charles Oakley with 21 boards. Oakley had a cool way of grabbing rebounds--he'd collecting the ball with one hand, slam it into his other hand, and the sound was enormous.
* Pitched an op-ed about helicopters.
* Sent the Joy Division book proposal to someone.
* Listened to an episode of Quiet, Please, from February 16, 1948, called "Whence You Came" in excellent sound. A different take on the mummy tale. Quiet, Please brings the art.
* The Doors in Stockholm in 1968 represent the Doors at their peak. Sinister, bluesy, mysterious, menacing, towering.
* Change my mind.
* Fozzie.