As Hard as Chinese Algebra

Listening to Spooky by Lush

There is an excellent article on Tom Waits in Word this month. Now I don't actually have any Tom Waits albums; I maybe have a few tracks on compilations or SoundTracks (Dead Man Walking - of which more another day) but over the years many people have raved about him to me. Some very unlikely fans he has. A mate of mine (who may or may not be a high-up in Mean Fiddler) who didn't look like he would be into any music beyond Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen, suddenly came out as a fan or smoky bar stuff and went into a monologue about the various personality traits of each of the band members. Weird in the extreme. I did once lend him Drumming by Steve Reich but I think that was to impress someone at a Job Interview.

Anyway, the Word article has reminded me that Tom Waits was on the soundtrack to One From the Heart which I saw some years ago though only from about half-way through. It was like watching one of your own dreams. It reminded me a bit of Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach (Yes I read Jonathan Livingstone Seagull as well).

Enough of your early-eighties noodling. What goes on in this century? Loud post-punk from half-girl, half-boy band, a realisation (sparked by reading Walden) that age does not always mean wisdom - wish I'd found that out before I got old, annoyance at being interrupted a lot which makes me feel like important points I just have to make are being ignored for the sake of putting a tick in a box. Good Byshe.