In The New York Times, Mikhail Zygar describes Vladimir Putin’s world. As I read, I kept thinking of another president.
Let’s see: hedonism, seclusion, an obsession with the past, an obsession with restoring “greatness,” an attachment to conspiracy theories, a belief that only he can save his country, a retinue of ideologues and sycophants. It all sounds too familiar.
Thursday, March 10, 2022
Two presidents
Matthew Snelgrove
Of the firm Snelgrove, Martin and Fitzalan.
Leaven of Malice is the second novel of Davies’s Salterton Trilogy.
Related reading
All OCA Robertson Davies posts (Pinboard)
[Is this passage Dickensian, or what?]
Charles E. Entenmann (1929–2022)
“The two-millionth piece of cake must not only be good — it must be as good as the first”: Charles E. Entenmann, quoted in a New York Times obituary.
Cross my heart: I almost typed Entenmann’s when I typed his name.
Cough drops
I stepped into Walgreens to buy some cough drops. I was surprised to see the store looking old-timey, with wall displays of candy and perfume behind sliding glass doors. I realized — too late — that I had forgotten to put on a mask. And then I saw — yikes — that no one else in the store was wearing a mask. Well, I thought, I’ll just have to hurry up and get the cough drops.
But I couldn’t find them. I went up and down the aisles, which were crowded, as in a supermarket. No luck. Finally, I saw some cough drops — Luden’s Wild Cherry, in the old familiar box, on a shelf behind a sliding glass door. I asked the cashier if I could have a box. She said yes, but the store was being sold in three minutes, so I’d have to hurry.
Related reading
All OCA dream posts (Pinboard)
[Possible sources: the pandemic, supply-chain problems, and thoughts of candy stores past.]
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
“Qua”
[“Qua,” xkcd, March 9, 2022.]
I can’t decide if it’s a joke on Waiting for Godot. It might just be someone being witty about qua.
Related reading
Two more posts about qua
[But shouldn’t the punchline read “Nice use of ‘ “qua” qua “qua” ’ qua ‘ “qua” qua “qua” ’ ”?]
Mystery actor
Do you recognize her? I didn’t. Leave your best guess in a comment. I’ll add hints if necessary.
*
9:15 a.m.: That didn’t take long. The answer is now in the comments.
More mystery actors
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?
[Garner’s Modern English Usage notes that “support for actress seems to be eroding.” I use actor.]
Stricken mountaineers
Hector Mackilwraith is in difficulty:
Elaine and I both wonder if John Kennedy Toole might have been familiar with this bit of gastric comedy.
Tempest-Tost is the first novel of Davies’s Salterton Trilogy.
Related reading
All OCA Robertson Davies posts (Pinboard)
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
“More clear”
A local NPR affiliate tonight reported a call for “more clear guidance” on COVID-19 vaccinations for children. The context made clear that the call is for clearer guidance. A call for guidance to supplement already available clear guidance could be described as a call for “additional guidance.” Guidance by definition should be clear, no?
Sometimes I want NPR to be more better.
Related reading
All OCA NPR, sheesh posts (Pinboard)
[Garner’s Modern English Usage on comparative adjectives: “if a word ordinarily takes either the -er or the -est suffix — and that formation sounds more natural — it’s poor style to use the two-word form with more or most.”]
T.S. Eliot = J.D. Salinger?
Last month, at Swann Galleries, New York, a first edition of Prufrock and Other Observations (1917) and a first edition of The Catcher in the Rye (1951) each sold for $16,250.
Related reading
All OCA Eliot and Salinger posts (Pinboard)
The Left Banke’s third album
The Left Banke, Strangers on a Train. Omnivore Recordings, 2022.
Strangers on a Train : Heartbreaker : Lorraine : Yesterday’s Love : Hold On Tight : And One Day : You Say : I Can Fly : Only My Opinion : Queen of Paradise
Bonus tracks: Airborne : I Don’t Know : Until the End : My Buddy Steve (Long Lost Friend) : Meet Me in the Moonlight : High Flyer
The Left Banke are best known for two 1966 hits, one major (“Walk Away Renée”), one minor (“Pretty Ballerina”). The group’s brief time in the spotlight was a tragic mess: brilliant songwriting (Michael Brown), unusual instrumentation (“baroque pop”), great lead vocals (from the Lennon-influenced Steve Martin Caro), Beatlesque harmonies (from Caro, George Cameron, and Tom Finn), competing singles by two groups claiming the Left Banke name, legal complications about airplay, and over it all, a toxic cloud of parental interference in the form of Michael Brown’s father, violinist Harry Lookofsky, aka Hash Brown. A musician who played with members of the Left Banke after the group broke up once told me matter-of-factly that Lookofsky had ruined his son’s life. Any resemblance to the relationship between Murry Wilson and Brian Wilson is coincidental and telling.
The Left Banke’s two LPs, Walk Away Renée / Pretty Ballerina (1967) and The Left Banke Too (1968) were followed — if that’s the word — by Strangers on a Train (or Voices Calling in the UK), recorded in 1978 and not released as an LP until 1986. In recent years, there were sporadic reunion efforts (Caro not participating, Brown making occasional brief appearances) and talk of a fourth album. It never happened, and none of the principals are here to see this CD release, which supplements the ten tracks of Strangers on a Train with recordings from 2001 and 2002.
The ten LP tracks are a decidedly mixed bag, the work of a group trying on a variety of styles. Nine of the ten songs are by Cameron, Caro, and Finn, with one ill-conceived contribution from Shade Smith. Brown, who contributed no songs, may be playing keyboards on some. There are Beatlesque harmonies (“Heartbreaker,” “Yesterday’s Love”), lovely ballads (“Lorraine,” marred by synthesized strings, and “And One Day”), and a song that eerily anticipates “Free as a Bird” (“I Can Fly”). Those last two songs are the most Left-ish on the album. An effort at guitar-driven rock (“Hold On Tight”) is hardly distinctive. The spirit of Billy Joel seems to hover over the ballads; “Only My Opinion” and “Strangers on a Train” suggest to me Paul McCartney and Wings. “Queen of Paradise,” a disco effort (Shade Smith), is best forgotten. It’s unfortunate that this song should end the LP, which follows the UK track sequence. The US release ended much more fittingly with “Yesterday’s Love,” mixing memory and desire.
The bonus tracks (also available as a digital EP) are no mixed bag. They’re worth the price of admission. Brown is the writer or co-writer of all six, all demos, more or less duets, Caro singing and Brown playing keyboards (with minimal contributions from additional musicians here and there). It’s clear that even when Brown was far from public view, he was writing brilliant songs. And Caro, long after he gave up performing, was still in great voice. “Airborne,” for voice, piano, and a string quartet, shows an “Eleanor Rigby” influence. “I Don’t Know,” “Meet Me in the Moonlight,” and “Until the End” sound like postmodern parlor pieces. The strangest song here, “Buddy Steve (Long Lost Friend),” is the story of an ocean voyage to look up a friend. It’s a surreal variation on “September of My Years” (Jimmy Van Heusen–Sammy Cahn):
When I was twenty-fiveMost poignant is “High Flyer,” a song of melancholy longing, a grown-up “Walk Away Renée”:
I wondered if he still was alive
So I went off to Milan to find my long-lost friend
High flyer, the bells are ringingThe clouds are moving; nothing stays. Now that’s a fitting end to a Left Banke album.
High flyer, the sky is singing
High flyer, the clouds are moving low
Related reading
A handful of Left Banke posts
[Details: Yvonne Vitale, Michael Brown’s wife, co-wrote “Until the End.” Ian Loyd, who with Brown founded the group Stories, co-wrote “Meet Me in the Moonlight.” A factoid: Brown traveled to Florida to record with Caro. I have read (somewhere) that Caro’s non-participation in Left Banke reunions was at least in part a matter of his refusal to fly.]
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