The first time I encountered the Bricklayer’s Lament was in the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. Todd Menton had just played a set with a backing band consisting of a digeridoo and two tubas1.
At some point after the set–possibly as part of the encore, although the years and the Guinness that night have conspired to make [...]
This post has nothing to do with the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Do you know the BBC Radio show Twenty Minutes?
Do you know the British author Justina Robson, much-mentioned on this blog, and much admired by me? (That’s her picture up there.)
Do you know Doctor Who? Did you know I’m a big old Doctor Who geek1?
All [...]
On my recent drive back to Canada, among the many other good things that happened, I had a chance to be reminded why I love Etta James singing Damn Your Eyes so much.
Here, you have a listen, and it should be obvious why that is:
As I was listening to it, I got to thinking that [...]
Remember back in May 2007 when I mentioned my pal, musical genius Danny Michel was planning to co-host a radio show for the CBC with his pal Emm Gryner? (If you don’t remember, click back and refresh your memory)
Well the pilot for that program aired quite a while ago, but it did get picked up, [...]
I was delighted to find out this week that Emma Bull is writing a sequel to Territory (you might recall I was pretty excited about that one), tentatively titled Claim.
Of course, in the interim, I can always get a hit of Shadow Unit. (I think I might have mentioned that once or twice, possibly.)
I have [...]
This is how things happen: First, author Sarah Monette mentions a LiveJournal that posts a poem every Monday.
I follow this link and make a note to come back later and look for poets I am not familiar with.
And as I start looking over the list the first thing that grabs me is a post of [...]
And now, for a nice long weekend diversion, a selection of songs with a common characteristic: people seem to be surprised that I really like them.
First up we have Dino. This might surprise people who know me a bit, since I’m really not a lounge type of cat. It might surprise people who know me [...]
To help me get through another annoying Monday, I have composed a short playlist of five songs that I like, which bear no relationship to each other whatsoever. Additionally, I am reasonably certain that anyone reading this will most likely not have heard any of these songs, and I can state with some certainty that [...]
A while back I discovered that my wife somehow managed to grow up without seeing any of the Kurt Russell Disney mad-science-at-college movies from the late Sixties and early Seventies.
So, I added the movies to my Zip queue, and while I was in Australia the first one, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, arrived.
So we watched [...]
And here you have:
My favourite Clash song when considering performances by the Clash. (I.e. I’d rather hear the Clash perform this than any other song. But, I’d still rather hear Danny Michel do Lost In A Supermarket.)
Warren Zevon’s Hollywood tragedy. I love a song with a story, especially if there’s enough vagueness to allow me [...]
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Billy Franks.
Boy, those lyrics are sharp.
I only had to be cut once to know how to bleed
I know why we tend to love most those who know
How to leave
and
Take my hand and let me tell you
All but my love will soon be gone
And the exit wound will be quick and clean
So [...]
What does this say about my mood?
For your edification tonight, I present three essays by old Bertie, in audio form. A couple of hours of listening that might expand your mind.
(It’s not him doing the reading–his voice, which I may share with you later–was not nearly as appealing as this reader’s.)
The essays are:
What I Believe: This is the big one–Russell [...]
Seeing the review of Keeping It Real pop up on Strange Horizons yesterday reminded me that I wanted to say something about the book.
Somehow I managed to avoid any notice that this book was forthcoming, despite my relatively recent interest in Robson, and was somewhat shocked to find out that it was already out [...]
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