#the return of leonard oates

[duranduratulsa]

Now showing on DuranDuranTulsa's Television Showcase 📺...Mama's Family: The Return Of Leonard Oates (1983) on classic DVD 📀! #tv #television #comedy #sitcom #mamasfamily #thereturnofleonardoates #vickilawrence #kenberry #ripkenberry #DorothyLyman #ericbrown #karinargoud #RueMcClanahan #RIPRueMcClanahan #harveykorman #ripharveykorman #jerryreed #DVD #80s #durandurantulsa #durandurantulsastelevisionshowcase

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Gitta, strangely enough, has become an unlikely friend.

“I just cannot get Jenna Feinman to agree to any of my matches,” the older woman complains. “They’re too tall, they’re too short, they’re too dull, they’re too handsome-” 

“Too handsome?” Rose asks, bewildered as she sips her tea. 

“Can you believe it? These modern girls.” 

“Well, with that chin, Jenna can’t afford to be so choosy,” Rose assures Gitta. “She’ll come around eventually.” 

“From your lips, Rose. How’s the Miller/Fidel match going?” Gitta asks. 

Rose blows out a slow breath. “Oh, it will be fine. Ida adores him, but Jack isn’t totally sold. I think he was still waiting for that gentile dancer to agree to settle down.” 

Gitta tuts. “They never do.” 

Rose chuckles softly, and glances at her watch. “Oh, I hate to dash, but my daughter is coming home from her tour this evening, which means I need to get home and make certain dinner is on track before she gets there, otherwise she’ll take over all the cooking and then drop from exhaustion.” 

“Your girl does too much. Full career, marriage and four children.” 

Rose chuckles lightly. “She refuses to give up working, she loves the husband too much and if I gave away one of the children she’d notice.” 

Gitta laughs at that. “You are funny, Rose.” 

“I do my best,” Rose smiles as she slips her coat on. “Have a nice evening, Gitta. We’ll talk more later.” 

On her way home, she stops at the florist, picking up a nice arrangement for the front hall, and when she gets back to her daughter’s apartment, she can hear giggling from the bathroom. 

Rose slips off her coat and stops in the kitchen and greets Zelda. “Is everything on track to be ready for when Miriam comes home?” she asks. 

“Yes, Mrs. Weissman,” Zelda nods. “Mr. Lenny asked me to make a cherry pie for Miss Miriam’s return.” 

“Oh, that’s good thinking,” Rose agrees. “She does enjoy pie. Thank you, Zelda.” 

Rose heads down the hallway and peeks into the girls’ room, finding Kitty and Esther doing their homework. 

“Hi, Rose,” Kitty smiles. 

“Hello, girls. Excited for your mother to come home?” Rose asks. 

“Then maybe Lenny will stop trying to cook,” Esther jokes with a giggle. 

Rose grins to herself, and then steps back out and down the hall, leaning into the open bathroom door, finding Lenny leaning over their youngest in the tub. “What happened?” 

“I took her to the park, she sat in animal shit,” Lenny shrugs sheepishly. “Duck. Goose. Something avian, probably. So we’re having a bath before Mama gets home from her very long tour.” 

Rose can’t help a little laugh. 

“Hi, Safta!” Lily chirps as her father dumps some water over the little girl’s head. 

“Hello, dear, did you have a nice time at the park?” Rose asks. ‘Safta’ being Hebrew for ‘grandma.’ It feels much more natural than ‘bubbe’ ever did. 

“I sat in poop,” Lily announces. “But the ducks ate the oats from my hand!” She holds out her hand, as if demonstrating.  

“That’s very nice,” Rose nods before turning back to Lenny. “I’m going to go across the hall and change. If Miriam comes home early -” 

“Don’t let her take over the kitchen,” Lenny finishes, grinning. “Got it.” 

“And if Joel gets here early, please make an effort with him,” Rose adds. “He does try.” 

“To drive me insane?” Lenny offers. ‘Why, yes, yes he does.” 

“Leonard...” 

“I will not throw him out a window or bury him alive in the park, I swear,” Lenny promises. 

“Thank you,” Rose nods, before slipping out again and heading out the front door and into the apartment across the hall.

One of the benefits of Miriam’s success truly has been the money. She was able to afford a second apartment when their neighbors had moved. Certainly, it’s not quite as large as Miriam’s place, but with only Rose and Abe living there, they don’t need that much space, especially when Miriam’s place is much more suited to entertaining. 

So here she and Abe live comfortably. They both work, and Rose helps Miriam with the children. Ethan is twelve now and doesn’t truly need that much looking after, but Rose worries sometimes. He is Joel’s son after all, and she tries to keep a lookout for any of Joel’s more unbearable habits. 

“Abe, are you home?” she calls as she heads for their bedroom to change for dinner.

“In a moment!” Abe calls from the dining room-turned study. 

She grins to herself and changes quickly and then heads back to Abe’s study, finding him changed for dinner, but still working away at his typewriter. “Abe, we should be going over.” 

“It’s across the hall, Rose, we have plenty of time,” Abe mutters. 

“If we’re not there, and Lenny is busy with the children, Miriam will take over the kitchen,” Rose chides. 

“She’ll be too tired,” Abe argues. 

“I’m sorry, are you talking about our daughter, or her sleepy doppelganger?” Rose asks with a lifted eyebrow. 

Abe sighs heavily. “Fine. I’ll...finish this later, I suppose.” 

Rose nods. “Thank you, Abe.” 

They head over together, finding Lenny finished bathing and changing Lily, and now picking some toys up off the living room floor. 

“You should let Zelda do that,” Abe tells him.

“Zelda’s cooking,” Lenny reminds him. “I’m on do-not-break-your-guests’-necks duty.” 

The door opens and closes and Ethan comes bounding through.

“Late!” Lenny calls.

“Sorry!”

“You smell like a baseball field?” Lenny calls.

“No!” Ethan calls back. “Maybe.” 

“Change!” 

“Yep!” 

Lenny sighs and sets the toys into a little chest in the corner of the living room. “At least that’s all four kids account for. Right?” He stops and thinks, looking panicked suddenly. “Right?” 

“Lily is playing in her room, the girls are doing their homework in there’s and Ethan just walked in,” Rose assures him. “They’re all here.” 

The man deflates and nods. “Good. Good. That’s good.” 

“You seem nervous,” Abe observes. “Is something wrong?” 

“I’m fine,” Lenny tells him. “I’m- It’s just - this is the longest Midge and I have been apart since we got married. It was just- a lot.” 

Rose watches her son-in-law carefully. It’s funny to her that Lenny thinks he’s such a mystery. She can read him easily. She can tell that he’s concerned that Miriam didn’t miss him as much as he missed her. That he’s worried that perhaps the life of a road comic was too much fun for her. That this, here, with him, while he writes and works on his court appeal, isn’t as...well...appealing. For lack of a better term. 

“Miriam told me yesterday she’s so looking forward to being home,” Rose tells him, leading him to sit down. “Abe, will you please pour us some drinks?” she turns back to Lenny, sitting next to him. “She’s missed you terribly.” 

Lenny glances at her suspiciously, lifting an eyebrow. 

It’s easy when it’s not a lie. “She kept asking me how you were. She thinks about you all the time.” 

Abe brings over the drinks, and Rose takes a sip of hers, just as there’s a knock on the door, and the night starts. 

*****��

Miriam is the last to arrive, stepping into the apartment with Susie on her heels, chatting about the journey home. 

The children are the first to get to their mother, Lily squeaking and rushing to her first on her three-year-old little legs, then Ethan, and then Kitty and Esther, and Midge is swarmed, trying to listen to everyone at once as she lifts Lily into her arms. 

“Oh, good you had a bath,” Miriam says, taking rapid-fire stock of the four of them. “Ethan, why do you smell like a baseball field? Esther, we need to schedule you a hair appointment, Sweetie, your bangs are getting a little long. Kitty- I think you go taller again, we’ll have to do some shopping.” 

Eventually the children turn their attentions to Susie, and Miriam gets hugs and kisses from Noah and Astrid. Greetings from Moishe and Shirley and that odd, awkward moment of seeing Joel and Mei again. She kisses both Rose and Abe, and then takes a breath as her eyes land on Lenny, hanging back a little. 

“I will be back in two shakes,” she promises as she settles Lily into Rose’s arms and then snatches her husband’s hand. “I need to change, and then we can eat!” 

“You need Lenny to help you change?” Joel calls, purposefully making things uncomfortable. 

“He’s in charge of my zippers!” Miriam shouts back, making her ex look vaguely uncomfortable. 

Rose sighs softly, half exasperated, half amused, and lets her youngest granddaughter cuddle in against her. 

[ocandpersona-information-by-jtd]

RDR2/RDO OC's:

- Irma "Sly" Braithwaite: [26] a young and rebellious woman who took over the Braithwaite property after the mansion is burned down by Van der Linde gang, and stopped the selling of moonshine and started producing crops [tobacco, wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn, vegetables] and raised livestock [chicken, cows, pigs, ducks, geese]. She has a horse named Bucky, an Andalusian war horse. Irma can be seen drinking whiskey, chewing and spiting out tobacco, or smoking a cigar. She is currently taking care of Gertrude Braithwaite, her younger sister. (Weapons of choice: twin pistols and shotgun)

- Peggy Stansfield: [23] A carefree and kind hillbilly that is a skinner for a living. She lives in the swamps of Lemoyne, near Bayou Nwa, in a wooden hut. She owns a bronze coated pony named Lucy, and a bloodhound named "Old Boy" Tucker. The Legendary Bull Gator (or known as "Lacartis" by the people of Lagras) often comes by to get meat from Peggy after skinning an animal. (Weapons of choice: Hunting shotgun, rope and bear traps)

- Leonard Chapman: [30] Used to be known as a freed slave, is now a trusting lawyer. Chapman lives in Saint Denis, helping with charity and supporting women's suffrage. He owns a grey and white cat named Ashes. (Weapons of choice: charisma and intelligence)

- Clara Cawthorn: [26] A woman of opportunity that wishes for adventure instead of her dull job as a store manager for her brother's general store, Clara smuggles food and medicine to the poor and sick. (Weapons of choice: revolver and dagger)

- Madame Francis Winchester: [29] A wealthy elite that has the heart of gold. She owns a large sum of land for growing cotton and a nearby mine for harvesting coal. She owns multiple horses, dogs, livestock and two donkeys. Her main horse is an white Arabian named Queenie. Lives in a white mansion with her fiancee Austin Maverick. Both show interest in Irma. (Weapons of choice: Winchester repeater and a golden Bowie knife)

- Austin Maverick: [30] An American ex-soldier that was sent home due to almost dying of Pneumonia, but lived and returned to full health. He met Francis when they were younger, and stayed with her ever since. Austin invested in selling fruit to futher increase Francis' profits. He owns Iron Grey Roan Ardennes named King, who Austin often uses to transport goods in his cart, and a Border Collie named Millie. (Weapons of choice: tomahawk, Midnight's Pistol, and rifle.)

- Julia 'Sanguine' Dawson: [36] a sultry and voluptuous saloon girl and prostitute that works in the Bastille Saloon, who supports women's suffrage and often accompanies riots when she isn't working. She can be found gossiping or smoking in her freetime, or drinking beer or wine at the bar. Julia killed the "vampire" in self defense after he tried to kill her. She is also interested in Leonard, although he doesn't "deal with prostitutes". (Weapons of choice: Ornate Dagger, throwing knives and a customized pistol.)

- Rosario "La Rosita" Alcazar: [20] The daughter of Ricardo Alcazar and his wife, Barbarella. She is adventurous and carefree attitude, and isn't afraid to mouth someone off. She takes care of the horses and animals for the Del Lobo gang. Rosario also owns a Splashed White American paint horse named Pancho. If she isn't on errands, Rosario is either drinking coffee and eating sweet bread, or hanging out with Yolanda. (Weapons of choice: Machete and Granger's revolver)

- Yolanda Montez: [21] Sole daughter of Carmela "La Muñeca" Montez. Her father was killed during a shoot out when she was a baby. Yola is quick to anger, and like Rosario, isn't afraid to insult a sheriff or a smug lawman. She often helps her mother run the Del Lobo hideout or is traveling with Rosario with her horse Dante, a Dark Bay Turkoman. She owns two chihuahuas named Milo and Beans. (Weapons of choice: Flaco's revolver, Lowry’s Revolver and lasso)

[queenofangrymoths]

Book Log of 2019

I kept a record of how many books I read in 2019. I liked most of them so I would recommend you give any of them or read.

So on with the list! If it has an X next to it then it means I didn’t finish reading it. 

#1: Warcross by Marie Lu.

#2: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.

#3: Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao.

#4: Bruja Born by Zoraida Córdova.

#5: A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Roshani Chokshi, Alyssa Wong, Lori M. Lee, Sona Charaipotra, Aliette De Bodard, E. C. Myres, Aisha Saeed, Preeti Chhibber, Renée Ahdieh, Rahul Kanakia, Melissa De La Cruz, Elsie Chapman, Shveta Thakrar, Cindy Pon, and Julie Kagawa.

#6: The 57 Bus by Daska Slater

#7: The Dark Descent Of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kristen White.

#8: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

9#: Broken Things by Lauren Oliver.

10# The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

11# A Study In Charlotte by Arthur Doyle

12# Simon Vs The Homo sapiens agenda by Becky Albertalli

13# The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

14# Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

15# The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

16# Carry On by Rainbow Rowel

17# Teen Trailblazers, 30 fearless girls who changed the world before they were 20 by Jennifer Calvert

18# Evermore by Sara Holland

19# The White Stag by Kara Barbieri

20# One Dark Throne by Kendra’s Blake

21# Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

22# A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

23# King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo X

24# Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

25# The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

26# Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

27# Mythology by Edith Hamilton

28# Percy Jackson Greek Gods by Rick Riordan 

29# Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M McManus

30# The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

31# Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

32# Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt De La Peña

33# The Phantom of The Opera by Gaston Leroux

34# Roseblood by A.G Howard X

35# Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J Maas

36# Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

37# Velvet Undercover by Teri Brown

38# Through The Woods by Emily Caroll

39# The Wicked Deep by Shes Ernshaw

40# Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

41# Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

42# Where She Fell by Kaitlin Ward

43# Modern Herstory: Stories Of Women and non binary people rewriting history by Blair Imani

44# White Rabbits by Caleb Roehrig

45# To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Adapted by Fred Fordham

46# Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

47# Ever The Hunted by Erin Summeril

48# Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

49# Lost Souls, Be At Peace by Maggie Thrash

50# Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash

51# The Giver by Lois Lowry adapted by P.Craig Russell

52# My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand. Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

53# What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera X

54# An Assassin’s Guide to Love & Treason by Virginia Boecker

55# The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas adapted by Nokman Poon and Crystal S. Chan

56# The Fellowship Of The Ring by J.R.R Tolkien

57# What is someone I know is gay? By Eric Marcus X

58# Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig

59# The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien

60# The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien X

61# The Return of The King by J.R.R Tolkien

62# Lafayette by Nathan Hale

63# Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

64# We should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

65# The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson

66# Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

67# Norton Volume Of English Literature

68# Beowulf by Unknown

69# The General Prologue by Chaucer

70# 20/20 by Linda Brewer

71# Always in Spanish by Agosim

72# The First Day by Edward P. Jones

73# Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff

74# Writing Fiction by Burroway

75# Murderers by Leonard Michaels

76# Greatness Strikes Where It Pleases by Lars Gustaffson

77# Cathedral by Raymond Carver

78# A Conversation with My Father by Grace Paley

79# Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov

80# The Lives of the Dead by Tim O’Brien

81# Head, Heart by Lydia Davis

82# Richard Cody by Edwin Arlington Robinson

83# “Out- Out-“ by Robert Frost

84# The Ruined Maid by Thomas Hardy

85# I wandered lonely as a cloud by William Wordsworth

86# Poem by Frank O’Hara

87# On being brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley

88# On her loving two equally by Aphra Behn

89# Because you asked about the line between Prose and Poetry by Howard Nemerov

90# Ars Poetica by Archibald MacLeish

91# Ars Poetica? By Czeslaw Milosz

92# Ars Poetica #100: I believe by Elizabeth Alexander

93# Poetry by Marianne Moode

94# “Poetry makes nothing happen”? By Julia Alvarez

95# Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins

96# In Memory Of W.B. Yates by W. H. Auden

97# The kind of man I am at the DMV by Stacey Waite

98# The Changeling by Judith Oritez Carer

99# Going to war by Richard Lovelace

100# To the Ladies by Mary, Lady Chudleigh

101# Exchanging Hats by Elizabeth Bishop

102# History Of Ireland Volume 1 by Lecky X

103# A Modern History of Ireland by E. Norman X

104# The Tempest by William Shakespeare

105# Gender by Lisa Wade & Myra Marx Ferree

106# Trifles by Susan Glaspell

107# The Shroud by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

108# King of the Bingo Game by Ralph Ellison

109# Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin

110# Fences by August Wilson

111# Where are you going, where have you been? By Joyce Carol Oates

112# Daddy by Sylvia Plath

113# What is our life? By Walter Raleigh

114# May I compare thee to a midsummer day? By William Shakespeare

115# The love song of J. Alfred Prufruock by T. S. Eliot

116# À unr passante by Charles Baudelaire

117# In a station of the metro by Ezra Pound

118# The Fog by Carl Sandburg

119# The Yellow Fog by T.S. Eliot

120# On first looking into Chapman’s Homer by John Keats

121# the Road Not Taken by Robert Frisr

122# Paradise Lost  Book 1 & 10 by John Milton X

123# The Victory Lap by George Saunders

124# The Tempest by William Shakespeare

125# The Vanity Of Human Wishes by Samuel Johnson

126# Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

127# When to Her Lute Corinna Sings by Thomas Campion

128# Sir Patrick Spens by Anonymous

129# Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall

130# A Prayer, Living and Dying by Augustus Montague Toplady

131# Homage to the Empress of the Blues by Robert Hayden

132# The Times They Are A-Changin’ *

133# Listening to Bob Dylan, 2005!by Linda Pastan

134# Hip Hop by Mos Deff

135# Elvis in the Inner City by Jose B. Gonzalez

136# Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost*

137# Terza Roma by Richard Wilbur

138# Stanza from The Eve of St. Agnes by John Keats

139# Stanza from His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

140# Stanza from Sound and Sense by Alexander’s Pope

141# Stanza from The Word Plum by Helen Chasin

142# Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

143# Myth by Natasha Trethewey

144# Sestina by Elizabeth Bishop

145# Sestina: Like by A.E. Stallings

146# l)a by E.E Cummings

147# Buffalo Bill by E.E Cummings

148# Easter Wings by George Herbert

149# Women by May Swenson

150# Upon the breeze she spread her golden hair by Franceso Petrarch

151# My lady’s presence makes the roses red by Henry Constance

152# My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun by William Shakespeare

153# Not marble, nor the gilded monuments by William Shakespeare

154# Let me no to the marriage of true minds by William Shakespeare

155# When I consider how my light is spent by John Milton

156# Nuns Fret Not by William Wordsworth

157# The world is too much with us by William Wordsworth

158# Do I love thee? By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

159# In an Artist’s Studio by Christina Rossetti

160# What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why by Edna St. Vincent Millay

161# Women have loved before as I love now by Edna St. Vincent Millay

162# I, being born a woman and distressed by Edna St. Vincent Millay

163# I will put Chaos in fourteen lines by Edna St. Vincent Millay

164# First Fight. Then Fiddle by Gwendolyn Brooks

165# In the Park by Gwen Harwood

166# Something Like a Sonnet for Phillis Miracle Wheatley by June Jordan

167# Sonnet by Billy Collins

168# Dim Lights by Harryette Mullen

169# Redefininy Realmess by Janet Mock

170# Lusus Naturae by Margaret Atwood

171# The House Of Asterion by Jorge Luis Borges

172# Death Fuge by Michael Hamburger

173# Clifford’s Place by Jamel Bickerly

174# We are seven by William Wordsworth

175# Lines written in early spring by William Wordsworth

176# Expostulation and Reply by William Wordsworth

177# The Tables Turned by William Wordsworth

178# Lines by William Wordsworth

179# Recitatif by Toni Morrison

180# Volar by Judith Ortiz Cofer

181# The Management Of Grief by Bharati Mukherjee

182# Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

183# Jesus Saves by David Sedaris

184# Disabled by Wilfred Owen

185# My Father’s Garden by David Wagoner

186# Practicing by Marie Howe

187# O my pa-pa by Bob Hicok

189# Mr. T- by Terrance Hayes

190# Late Aubade by James Richardson

191# Carp Poem by Terrance Hayes

192# Pilgrimage by Natasha Trethewey

193# Tu Do Street by Yuaef Lomunyakaa

194# Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich

195# Elena by Pat Mora

196# Gentle Communion by Pat Mora

197# Mothers & Daughters by Pat Mora

198# La Migra by Pat Mora

199# Ode to Adobe by Pat Mora

200# Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy

201# The Silken Tent by Robert Frost

202# Metaphors by Sylvia Plath

203# The Vine by James Thomsen

204# Questions by May Swenson

205# A Just Man by Attila József

206# the norton anthology of world literature

207# Pan’s Labyrinth by Gullernio de Toro and Cornelia Funke Xw

208# The prince and the dressmaker by Jen Wang

209# Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath

210# The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

[dreamingofmonday]

The Halloween vinyl post had me inspired to do more. This one is called “No Talking, Just Heads”

If I’m missing a really good one, let me know. (note this is 12″ vinyl only)

Top row, left to right:

Shiva Burlesque - Mercury Blues; The Roots - Phrenology; The Smiths - Rank

2nd row:

Fela Kuti - Army Arrangement; PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love; Various - No Alternative; Tift Merritt - Tambourine; Peter Gabriel - So; Funkadelic - Maggot Brain; Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde

3rd row:

Sonic Youth - Dirty; R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (12″); Stevie Wonder - Music of My Mind; The Waterboys - A Pagan Place; Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Wainwright; Beck - Sea Change; Jorge Ben - Fôrça Bruta

4th row: 

U2 - War; Ray La Montagne - Gossip in the Grain; Unrest - Cath Carroll; Archers of Loaf - Curse of the Loaf; Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies; Björk - Telegram; Brian Eno - Before and After Science

5th row:

Janis Joplin - In Concert; Jeff Buckley - Grace; Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends; Madonna - Madonna; Father John Misty - God’s Favorite Customer; David Bowie - Hunky Dory; Adele - 21

6th row:

Bob Marley - Kaya; Sondre Lerche - Sondre Lerche; Erkyah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh; Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not; Van Morrison - His Band and the Street Choir; Nas - Illmatic; Dinosaur Jr - Whatever’s Cool with Me

7th row: 

Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair; Spiritualized - Let It Come Down; Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison; Suckers - Wild Smile; Frank Zappa - Apostrophe; Daryl Hall & John Oates - H2O; Solange - A Seat at the Table

8th row:

Iggy Pop - Lust for Life; Hole - Live Through This; Swans - The Seer; Tyler, the Creator - Igor; Sharon Van Etten - Tramp; Townes Van Zandt - Our Mother the Mountain; Various - Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack

9th row:

Ibeyi - Ibeyi; Nick Cave - From Her to Eternity; The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland; Angel Olsen - All Mirrors; Aretha Franklin - Aretha Now; Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread; King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

10th row:

Happy Mondays - Live; Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville; Radiohead - The Bends; Otis Redding - The Soul Album; Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel; Dr. John - The Lost Broadcast: Ultrasonic Studios; Fiona Apple - Tidal

11th row:

Elvis Costello - King of America; Phil Collins - Face Value; Joni Mitchell - Blue; Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen; Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On; De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising

[spilledparchment]

10 Songs I’m Currently Obsessed With

I was tagged by @fantasticalnonsense18 to do this tag so here goes, in no particular order. I have excluded Taylor Swift’s Lover from consideration because that would have been boring for you. But I’m obsessed with the album. I’ve also limited it to english songs.

The Highwomen by The Highwomen:

We are The Highwomen / Singing stories still untold /We carry the sons you can only hold /We are the daughters of the silent generations / You sent our hearts to die alone in foreign nations / It may return to us as tiny drops of rain /But we will still remain / And we'll come back again and again and again / And again and again

For Elise by Saint Motel:

The muses of the Greeks and Romans / Steal the immortal beloved of Beethoven /They all lit a spark and you know that they got it going / Shout out to the girl, over there, in my chair: /Whoa Elise, Norma Jean / Pattie Boyd and Carole King / Holly Woodlawn, Linda Eastman, Candy Darling got it started with a song / This one's for Elise

I Did What I Did For Maria by Tony Christie:

Take an eye for an eye / And a life for a life / And somebody must die / For the death of my wife / Yes I did what I did for Maria / I did what I did for Maria

Then What by Illy:

Oh my god, I need a minute, can we pick the speed up with it? / You don't need to be specific, fingers pressing the ignition, vroom / Race you to your point, last to get there get ignored /Hate to disappoint, yeah, but hate being here more / So uh, tell me more, nah, I'm kidding / I'm struggling to listen and keep the indifference hidden, oh man / I knew this a bad idea from the start / So I'ma let you finish or, actually, maybe nah

Rainbow Connections by Garfunkel and Oates:

Just after the storm breaks, with the perfect amount of light, / You can catch a glimpse of magic, if the timing is right. / Rainbows are improbable, beautiful, and rare, / But so are you, and so is this, the love that we share. / Too vast to hold, and too small to name, it's no wonder why / You have to stand between the rain and the sun to see a rainbow in the sky.

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen:

Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving / Alexandra leaving with her Lord / Even though she sleeps upon your satin/ Even though she wakes you with a kiss / Do not say the moment was imagined/ Do not stoop to strategies like this

Those Were the Days by Vera Lynn

Those were the days my friend / We thought they'd never end / We'd sing and dance forever and a day / We'd live the life we choose / We'd fight and never lose / For we were young and sure to have our way.

To Be Human by Marina:

All the people living in, living in the world today / Reunited by our love, reunited by our pain / (ooh) / All the things that I've done and I've seen / Still I don't know, don't know what it means / To be human

Down With The Trumpets by Rizzle Kicks:

We don't wanna be lowsy, or shameless, / But we're running round like we're brainless, / Now I've got grass stains on my brand new white trainers / (On my brand new white trainers)

Great Night (feat. Shovels & Rope) by NEEDTOBREATHE

Oh, all the rules need breaking / And I need time for wasting / Before I lose my mind / Oh, tonight, we'll all be outlaws / Take what we want and then ride off / Tonight, we'll feel alive, oh

I tag @the-essence-of-awesomeness and @scarletstarletandthewanderthirst

[brn1029]

On this one and only date, well,there is one every 365 days, I guess…but on this date in music history….

November 7th

2016 - Leonard Cohen

Canadian singer, songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen died at the age of 82 at his home in Los Angeles. Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s, and did not launch a music career until 1967, at the age of 33. His first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967), was followed by three more albums of folk music: Songs from a Room (1969), Songs of Love and Hate (1971) and New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974). "Hallelujah" is a song written by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions (1984). His song 'Hallelujah' found greater popular acclaim through a recording by John Cale, which inspired a recording by Jeff Buckley.

2014 - Bruce Springsteen

Two wealthy fans paid $300,000 to eat lasagne with Bruce Springsteen at his house. Springsteen started off the annual Stand Up For Heroes event by playing an acoustic set, then offering the instrument to the highest bidder. When bidding reached $60,000, he threw in a guitar lesson, which someone offered $250,000 for. At this point, he offered up a lasagne dinner at his house, a ride around the block in the sidecar of his motorbike and the shirt off of his back. All the money went to the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which helps injured servicemen and their families when they return home.

2014 - AC/DC

Australian drummer of AC/DC, Phil Rudd, had a charge of attempting to arrange a murder dropped in New Zealand, but he will still facing charges of drugs possession and making threats to kill. The U-turn by authorities, announced less than 24 hours after Mr Rudd appeared in court, was because of a lack of evidence, his lawyer said.

2002 - Guns N' Roses

12 Guns N' Roses fans were arrested during a riot after a gig in Vancouver was cancelled. Promoters pulled the gig after Axl Rose's flight from Los Angeles was delayed.

1987 - Tiffany

Tiffany became the youngest act to score a US No.1 since Michael Jackson ('Ben', in 1972) with 'I Think we're Alone Now'. The song written by Ritchie Cordell was initially a 1967 hit for Tommy James & the Shondells.

1981 - Hall and Oates

Hall and Oates started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Private Eyes', the duo's third US No.1, a No.32 hit in the UK.

1975 - Steve Anderson

A new world record was set for continuous guitar string plucking by Steve Anderson who played for 114 hours 17 minutes.

1975 - Elton John

Elton John started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Rock Of The Westies', the singers tenth studio album and seventh US No.1 contained the US No.1 and No.14 UK single, 'Island Girl', which was released prior to the album.

1974 - Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent won a National Squirrel-shooting contest after picking off a squirrel at 150 yards. The heavy metal guitarist also shot dead 27 other mammals during the three day event.

1969 - The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones kicked off their 6th North American tour at Fort Collins state University, Colorado. Also on the bill was Ike and Tina Turner, Chuck Berry and B.B. King.

1967 - Elton John

Reg Dwight (Elton John) and his song writing partner Bernie Taupin signed to DJM publishing, their signatures had to be witnessed by their parents because they were both under 21 years of age. Taupin answered an advertisement for a lyric writer placed in the New Musical Express, the pair have since collaborated on over 30 albums.

1967 - The Beatles

The Beatles finished recording ‘Blue Jay Way’, ‘Flying’ and ‘Magical Mystery Tour.’ The Beatles have only six songs, not enough for an album so decided to issue a double-EP. Capitol Records didn’t think the double-EP format would be acceptable for the US market, so they decide to put out an album instead. The six "Magical Mystery Tour" songs with five of the six songs from The Beatles' 1967 singles went on side two.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Blackmail Notes Lead To Detention Of Son Of Barn Fire Victim,” Toronto Star. September 29, 1931. Page 01. ---- Notepaper Believed Clue to Arrest of ‘Gloved Firebug’ Who Terrorized Neighbors --- THREATENED WIFE --- One Letter Said Writer Would ‘Get After Her Next’ --- Special to The Star Picton, Sept. 29. - While farmers in this vicinity went to bed last night in fear of the gloved firebug who, in an anonymous blackmailing letter, had warned Alex. Van Horne, 60-year-old farmer, and his son, Leonard 23 years old, of what would happen if the police were notified two weeks before flames consumed their barn on Friday night. Leonard, summoned by telephone, sat chatting with County Constable J. Lovelace in the provincial police office. During the talk Provincial Constable W. M. Durnford talked over an outside telephone to Inspector Lougheed of Belleville. He then visited the magistrate and when he returned at 10.30 p.m., he carried a  warrant in his pocket. It was made out against Leonard Van Horne, and charged him with arson.

Three barns have been burned down here within the past two months.

Sent Hired Man Home By the curb in front of door that leads upstairs to the police office was young Van Horne’s large automobile truck, for he does trucking as well as help his father work the combined 120 acres of their adjacent farms seven miles northeast from here. Van Horne’s youthful hired man sat at the wheel.

‘Better take that truck home,’ said Constable Durnford as he arrived from the magistrate. The hired man seemed to guess what was about to happen. He pulled away before the constable went up the steps to inform Van Horne that he was under arrested on a charge of arson and would spend the night in Picton jail.

Half an hour later the young man came down the steps followed by the two constables. Slightly over medium height, dark, with prominent black eyebrows and glasses, stooped a little as if from hard work, Van Horne seemed dazed at the sudden turn of events. His heavy boots seemed leaden and he stumbled slightly. He wore a sweater covered by a brown khaki smock. He inquired for his truck. A garage mechanic told him that the hired man had taken it home.

At 10 a.m. to-day Van Horne was arraigned in police court before Magistrate A. E. Calnan on a charge of arson adn was remanded for a week at request of counsel.

Three Barn Fires The Van Horne drama comes after the third of three barn fires within a mile or two of the Van Horne farms in the space of two months. Two months ago, the night was illuminated by the burning of Levi Cole’s barn. Only two weeks ago Led Henry’s barn was burned. Friday night about 9:30 o’clock the Van Horne barn pyramided into fire with the loss of four horses, a thoroughbred Holstein bull, two sets of harness, a fanning mill, 40 tons of hay and 600 bushels of barley and oats. Even to-day the grain and charred beams are still smouldering in the cement basement.

Anonymous threatening letters added to the mystery. The first, which came to the Van Horne farmhouse a week ago last Thursday, demanded that $260 be put in a specified place and the warning was added that if the police were notified the barn would be burned.

‘I called the police at once,’ Alex. Van Horne, the father, stated last night, as he stood smoking his pip on the veranda of the old frame farmhouse in the darkness. Still sturdy at 60, he wore a flannel working shirt, without a coat. His trouble and anxiety could be readily sensed.

A trap, not disclosed by the police, was set for the suspect. In a second letter whose phraseology made the Van Horne family fearful that an insane marauder was at large and had marked down their home for his irrational vengeance, the anonymous writer again boasted of his cunning. He had even watched, he said, the police endeavoring to trap him. But their traps to secure his finger prints were futile. He informed them that he wore glves, and therefore, left no mark of identity. He added the further warning that he had once entered the Van Horne home and had stolen money. Only recently he had even looked through the windor like Frankenstein and had seen the wife of the young Van Horse lying sick in bed and that he was planning ‘to get after her next.’

The burning of the barn followed last Friday night. Then, on Saturday came to the last letter viewing further and speedy vengeance on the arrested man’s wife. ‘I don’t recall the details,’ said the elder Van Horne last night. ‘The boy read it. I told him I didn’t want to hear it and I didn’t listen.’ He could not even remember he insisted whether the writing was in ink or pencil. It was not printed or patently disguised. Not big, but a man’s writing he believed. The letters had been sent through the mail and had been posted at Picton with the Picton post-office stamp on the envelope.

[spamzineglasgow]

SPAM Festive Special: tom leonard, 1944 – 2018, i.m.

In this special piece to move us towards the close of the year, Rhian Williams remembers the Glaswegian poet, writer and critic Tom Leonard, who passed away on the 21st December 2018. 

       lower case posits in-the-presence-of        lower case is presence        lower case is company[1]

> my friend, jane, records how, when leading seminars in modern poetry, tom leonard would ‘light a candle at the start in recognition of “the universal human as inclusive and absolute”’.[2] it is that flame – its quality of intensity and of fade, the darkness around the wick, the gold that haloes it, the soft white at its very edges; a trinity of light – that i think of, and that i write by, now, this day in december, as i remember this man of letters.

light, dense, warm, yellow. light, thin, white, attenuated. light, time, presence.

> it was a still, muffled day in december last year, as i was shopping for groceries, in the shop where tom shopped for groceries, when i checked my phone, and read an email from another friend, nicky, who let me know that tom had died the day before. the shortest day of the year. which had not been one of those when the light is bright and intense – the glorious winter sunshine – but one when a lead-like, restrained, grey light had leaked only blankly in the air. a quiet day. a brief interlude, a space between darknesses.  so tom had moved with it, solsequium,[3] a burnished ‘pot marigold’, a mothering light turning with the sun into the darkest space of the year – the edges of a diurnal pausing, according to shetland tradition, when one should set down one’s work for the holiest day, anticipating the miracles and translations of the holy labour, of the returning sun.

       stepping into that space        out of the past        surrounding        this place, become        an accompanying darkness;[4]

leonard’s work – radical, political, fiercely intelligent, sharply, sharply engaged by (and always advancing of) the ideological work of language, of its plasticity, of arrangement on the page ­(‘poetry is the subliminal history of linguistic shape | ahem’)[5] – was profoundly welded into presence. the ‘being here-ness’ of human experience: the light in which it stands (‘seductive bright light | of the evening narrative’)[6] and the breath – the spiritus – that marks its paces (‘poetry is the heart and brain divided by the lungs’).[7] his work was experimental in the most serious way, and i see its legacies in scottish poetry today, its sidelong glances at language, at its mendacities, the tell tales of public life. but also its vitality, its telling of stories, its bloodflow. (tom, a true intellectual, but never bloodless.) leonard’s legacy is clear and important: it is evident in a generation of poets (jenny lindsay, nick-e melville, iain morrison, kathrine sowerby, harry josephine giles, as well as jane goldman, come to mind) who regard poetry and poetics as actions, as interventions, as means of revelation.

> at this time of year – at the marking of the winter solstice, the miraculously burning oil in the temple, and the birthing of a messiah – i find myself thinking about the domestic space ­– the hearth – that fuels that birthing (‘the sacred heart | above the winterdykes | set roon the fire’).[8] of the shifts around presence, being, light and time that i see in leonard’s body of work as comparable to parenting through reciprocity (‘i wish you would touch me more | it makes me feel happy | and secure’).[9] of the vestal work of home-making that i find infusing leonard’s writing: what we might call radical mothering, where mothering is a verb for attentive nurture, for the act of nourishing, for advocacy, for the defence and advance of storytelling. labours which may be (and are) taken up by carers regardless of gender and whose object need not be a child as such. i am talking specifically about the passion contained when leonard remembers his shame at his father’s vocalising during private reading and is encouraged by an audience member to find the use of phonetic urban dialect, ‘rather constrictive’: ‘The poetry reading is over | I will go home to my children’.[10] i am talking about his remarkable feel for the rhythms of daily domestic duty, peeling spuds, going on messages, controlling one’s breath as one walks to the shops. over and again, leonard’s poems mark the habits of a particular class of daily life, intimating the textures and fabric of a life of cooking, laundry, ‘sitting in the garden | behind the toolshed | reading Thomas Mann’,[11] listening to the wireless. fiercely attentive, and alive. now, of course, leonard’s poetics were exquisitely sophisticated – i’m not even remotely saying that his work is ever uncomplicated reportage of private domesticity – but it didn’t surprise me to learn from his sons at his funeral of tom’s presence in the home, of his habit of taking a breather in the day to listen to radio 3, sat on the sofa with tea and a biscuit. or to be gifted his recipe for lentil soup.

       the roar of a lawnmower        pause        the roar of a lawnmower        pause        the roar of a lawnmower[12]

for what i learn from leonard’s poems, and from leonard’s writing about poems and poetry (verse, from vers – to turn – as in ploughing a field, or mowing a lawn), is that there is a selfhood in poetry that is its animus, its means, its occasion, and its strength of expression. that poems come about from there being a story to be told (‘I was really relaxed talking to the young man I know the story of this place | I grew up in it I have eyes and ears’),[13] and the process of that telling may be quite unselfconscious as it drives towards enunciation, or even be ‘mechanical’ in the sense of algorithmic experimentation. but that self – or ‘a’ self – then becomes conscious as it manifests. that the lyric self – by which i mean the sign of presence in poetry – is not absorbed utterly by private experience, but rather it enters the rhythm of the poem and its shape on the page (all poems have rhythm as all living things breathe, and everything takes shape), and thereby intersects with time, with history, and with material records (‘in our own being | but never wholly separate, only a part | of the time we live in, and with others occupy’).[14] it comes into the world (is birthed?) and so it becomes an agential position: the expressive, poetic subject is an action, a vortex, a meeting point.

       But then he began to accept that he was a writer.        It was a matter of language and consciousness. The link between the                                                                                                               two.[15]

even as this process hints at abstraction (‘as he grew older he stood in separate relationship to himself’), it is actually a return to the flesh, in leonard’s beautiful, active verb: ‘he was able to body himself conceptually as a totality’.[16] … so i learn from leonard that poems are things that are done with and for bodies (‘Gin a body meet a body’),[17] and are caught in the dialectic of giving and of standing back, like mothering.

> jane also told me that tom loved the work of psychoanalyst, donald winnicott – i hadn’t remembered that consciously; it was just a feeling of correlation i had when reading leonard’s work and when reading winnicott’s work on physical touch and play, on the parenting labour that is simply, exhaustingly, that of helping our children to find their own pace and breath. but today my copy of leonard’s Reports from the Present: Selected Work, 1982-94 actually falls open here:

Breath, breath, breath, breath, breath. If only Winnicott had gone further with that aside about the baby’s first perception of breath, median between inner and outer, its role as the point at which the defences are down. Maybe he did, I just haven’t seen it. So much of his stuff is great, so exciting to read. All that stuff about the sucking-blankets (his ‘guggie’, mine used to call it) ‘transitional objects’ and their elation to culture, the first experience of symbols in time. That ‘potential space’ where play occurs … ‘It is play that is the universal, and that belongs to health.’ Good on you, Mr Winnicott. A very healthy man.[18]

in Winnicott, in leonard, in breath (that which brings together time with flesh), and in play, then, we find the scene of reciprocity:

        this time         breath

        held         between us

        each time         familiar

        each time         new[19]

so often violated – as leonard’s work distils in startling realisation – by institutionalised aggression and belittling, by militarism, by capitalist ideation (‘jesus christ that cunt was a cop!’),[20] in leonard’s poetics, reciprocity is staged through timely proximity, and is a route towards settling into the ‘now’. ‘we lightly hold hands as we sometimes do | until the first to be falling asleep begins to twitch and tonight it’s Sonya’:

        I am aged 51 years and nine months and nine to ten days[21]

reading of one of the longest days of the year from the dim of one of the shortest, i find the milky light of glasgow at 3am in june (‘the sky in the north is translucent like a lake’) illuminating the ‘now’ as a quiet scene of resistance, outwitting interpellation; an experience of the self, of the body, and of time that has evaded capitalist value. ‘from within he came to realise himself as an instance of the universal human’.[22]

> the calendar turns, light thins out and attenuates, darkness creeps (‘The three wise kings, who have travelled | All the way from Burns & Oates in Buchanan Street, | Peer at the infant under a torch-bulb’),[23] but rhythms and habits persist:

       the future, knitting the future        the present peaceful, quiet        as if

       the same woman knitting        for a thousand years

tom, i miss your voice, i miss your wisdom, i miss your knowledge. i miss your compassion, i miss your understanding. your not here-ness is painful.

> and the world keeps turning, the sun keeps rising. the marigold blooms.

                                                                               glasgow, 16 december 2019

~

Text and Image: Rhian Williams

Published: 23/12/19

[1] Tom Leonard, ‘the case for lower case’, Outside the Narrative (Exbourne & Edinburgh: etruscan books & Word Power Books, 2009), p. 178.

[2] See Jane Goldman’s contribution in Tributes to Tom Leonard, ed. Larry Butler (Glasgow, PlaySpace Publications: 2019).

[3] ‘To follow the sun’ and the term for the marigold in Middle English. It is used in a conceit by Ayrshire poet, Alexander Montgomerie (1550-1598) that is used as an epigram to Leonard’s ‘The Present Tense: a semi-epistolary romance’, Outside, p.110.

[4] ‘respite in the reading’, Outside, p. 107.

[5] ‘100 Differences Between Poetry and Prose’, Outside, p. 63.

[6] ‘Plasma Nights’, Outside, p. 196.

[7] ‘100 Differences Between Poetry and Prose’, Outside, p. 63.

[8] ‘An Ayrshire Mother’, Outside, p. 209.

[9] ‘Nora’s Place (14)’, Outside, p. 156

[10] ‘Fathers and Sons’, Outside, p. 54

[11] ‘Pollok Poster 1’, Outside, p. 13

[12] ibid.

[13] ‘The Fair Cop’, Outside, p. 189

[14] ‘proem’, Outside, p. 65

[15] ‘A life’, Outside, p. 214.

[16] ibid.

[17] Robert Burns, ‘Comin thro’ the Rye’

[18] ‘The Present Tense’, Outside, p. 113.

[19] ‘touching your face’, Outside, p. 182.

[20] ‘The Fair Cop’, Outside, p. 189.

[21] ‘June the Second’, Outside, p. 181.

[22] ‘Three Types of Envoi: A humanist (2)’, Outside, p. 213.

[23] ‘My Parents’ Living-Room at Christmas’, Outside, p. 53.

[mrjeremydylan]

My Favorite Album #217 - Julian Velard on Billy Joel ‘Turnstiles’ (1976)

Quintessentially New York singer-songwriter Julian Velard joins me for a celebration/defense of fellow piano man Billy Joel, and his classic 1976 album 'Turnstiles'.

We tell the story of how Turnstiles was Joel's return to New York, the building of his classic band, and his celebration of the city - from modern day standard 'New York State of Mind' to album closer, the apocalyptic 'Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)'. Julian compares the perceptions of Joel in the UK to the US, how he has become like a NYC sports franchise, whether it's a good or bad thing that he hasn't released in a new album in decades and how understanding Billy Joel as a great mimic helps you appreciate his music.

Listen in the player above or download the episode by clicking here.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts here or in other podcasting apps by searching ‘My Favorite Album’ or copying/pasting our RSS feed -http://myfavoritealbum.libsyn.com/rss

My Favorite Album is a podcast on the impact great music has on our lives. Each episode features a guest on their favorite album of all time - why they love it, their history with the album and how it’s influenced them. Jeremy Dylan is a filmmaker, journalist and photographer from Sydney, Australia who has worked in the music industry since 2007. He directed the the feature music documentary Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts (out now!) and the feature film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins, in addition to many commercials and music videos.

If you’ve got any feedback or suggestions, drop us a line at myfavoritealbumpodcast@gmail.com.

LINKS

- Julian Velard on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and iTunes.

- Buy 'Turnstiles’ here.

- Jeremy Dylan’s website, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook page.

- Like the podcast on Facebook here.

- If you dig the show, please leave a rating or review of the show on iTunes here.

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Julia Jacklin on Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple (2005) 155. Japanese Wallpaper on Currents by Tame Impala (2015) 154. Montaigne on her album Glorious Heights (2016) and its inspirations 153. Alex Lahey on Hot Fuss by the Killers (2004) 152. Jack Moffitt (The Preatures) on Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin (1975) 151. Mike Bloom on Axis Bold As Love by Jimi Hendrix (1968) 150. Hey Geronimo on Drowning in the Fountain of Youth by Dan Kelly (2006) 149. Mickey Raphael on Teatro by Willie Nelson (1998) 148. Jack Ladder on Suicide by Suicide 147. Rusty Anderson on Hot Rats by Frank Zappa 146. Kenny Aronoff on The Beatles 145. Bob Evans on A Grand Don’t Come for Free by The Streets 144. Chris Hewitt (Empire) on New Adventues in Hi-Fi by REM 143. Dr Warren Zanes on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 142. Dr Mark Kermode (Wittertainment) on Sleep No More by the Comsat Angels 141. Van Dyke Parks on Randy Newman by Randy Newman 140. Imogen Clark on Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams 139. Jesse Thorn on Fresh by Sly and the Family Stone 138. Stephen Tobolowsky on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie 137. Ben Blacker on Blood and Chocolate on Elvis Costello & the Attractions 136. Jonny Fritz on West by Lucinda Williams 135. Adam Busch on A River Ain’t Too Much to Love by Smog 134. Kelsea Ballerini on Blue Neighbourhood by Troye Sivan 133. Natalie Prass on Presenting Dionne Warwick 132. Josh Pyke on Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden 131. Kip Moore on Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen 130. Koi Child on Voodoo by D’Angelo 129. The Cadillac Three on Wildflowers by Tom Petty 128. Julian McCullough on Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses 127. Danny Clinch on Greetings from Ashbury Park NJ by Bruce Springsteen 126. Sam Palladio (Nashville) on October Road by James Taylor 125. Steve Mandel on Blood and Chocolate by Elvis Costello 124. Brian Koppelman on The History of the Eagles 123. Benmont Tench on Beggars Banquet by the Rolling Stones 122. Jimmy Vivino (Basic Cable Band) on Super Session by Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills 121. Holiday Sidewinder on Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid by Bob Dylan 120. Ben Blacker on Aladdin Sane by David Bowie 119. EZTV on The Toms by The Toms 118. Jess Ribeiro on Transformer by Lou Reed 117. Whitney Rose on Keith Whitley Greatest Hits 116. Best Albums of 2015 with Danny Yau ft. Jason Isbell, Dan Kelly, Shane Nicholson, Tim Rogers, Will Hoge and Julien Barbagallo (Tame Impala) 115. Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You with Jaime Lewis 114. Xmas Music ft. Kristian Bush, Lee Brice, Corb Lund and Tim Byron 113. Sam Outlaw on Pieces of the Sky by Emmylou Harris 112. Jason Isbell on Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones 111. Ash Naylor (Even) on Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin 110. Burke Reid (Gerling) on Dirty by Sonic Youth 109. Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos) on Kind of Blue by Miles Davis 108. Lindsay ‘The Doctor’ McDougall (Frenzal Rhomb) on Curses! by Future of the Left 107. Julien Barbagallo (Tame Impala) on Chrominance Decoder by April March 106. Melody Pool on Blue by Joni Mitchell 105. Rusty Hopkinson (You Am I) on ‘Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era’ 104. Jeff Greenstein on A Quick One (Happy Jack) by The Who 103. Dave Cobb on Revolver by the Beatles 102. Justin Melkmann (World War IX) on Coney Island Baby by Lou Reed 101. Kacey Musgraves on John Prine by John Prine 100. Does the album have a future? 99. Corb Lund on Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs by Marty Robbins 98. Bad Dreems on Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division 97. Davey Lane (You Am I) on Abbey Road by the Beatles 96. Dan Kelly on There’s A Riot Goin’ On by Sly and the Family Stone 95. Ash Grunwald on Mule Variations by Tom Waits 94. Stella Angelico on The Shangrilas 93. Eves the Behavior on Blue by Joni Mitchell 92. Troy Cassar-Daley on Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits 91. Lydia Loveless on Pleased to Meet Me by the Replacements 90. Gena Rose Bruce on The Boatman’s Call by Nick Cave 89. Kitty Daisy and Lewis on A Swingin’ Safari by Bert Kaempfert 88. Will Hoge on Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music by Ray Charles 87. Shane Nicholson on 52nd St by Billy Joel 86 - Tired Lion on Takk… by Sigur Ros 85 - Whispering Bob Harris on Forever Changes by Love 84 - Jake Stone (Bluejuice) on Ben Folds Five by Ben Folds Five 83 - Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello and the Imposters) on Are You Experienced? by the Jimi Hendrix Experience 82 - Dom Alessio on OK Computer by Radiohead 81 - Anthony Albanese MP on The Good Son by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 80 - John Waters on Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience 79 - Jim DeRogatis (Sound Opinions) on Clouds Taste Metallic by The Flaming Lips 78 - Montaigne on The Haunted Man by Bat for Lashes 77 - Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd) on Quadrophenia by The Who 76 - Homer Steinweiss (Dap Kings) on Inspiration Information by Shuggie Otis 75 - Best of 2015 (So Far) ft. Danny Yau, Montaigne, Harts, Joelistics, Rose Elinor Dougall and Burke Reid 74 - Matt Farley (Motern Media) on RAM by Paul McCartney BONUS - Neil Finn on The Beatles, Neil Young, David Bowie and Radiohead 73 - Grace Farriss (Burn Antares) on All Things Must Pass by George Harrison 72 - Katie Noonan on Blue by Joni Mitchell 71 - Harts on Band of Gypsys by Jimi Hendrix 70 - Tim Rogers (You Am I) on Bring the Family by John Hiatt 69 - Mark Seymour (Hunters and Collectors) on The Ghost of Tom Joad by Bruce Springsteen 68 - Jeremy Neale on Graceland by Paul Simon 67 - Joelistics on Graceland by Paul Simon 66 - Brian Nankervis (RocKwiz) on Astral Weeks by Van Morrison 65 - ILUKA on Pastel Blues by Nina Simone 64 - Rose Elinor Dougall on Tender Buttons by Broadcast 63 - Sarah McLeod (The Superjesus) on Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins 62 - Keyone Starr on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 61 - Chase Bryant on Defying Gravity by Keith Urban 60 - Brian Koppelman on Southeastern by Jason Isbell 59 - Michael Carpenter on The Beatles White Album Side 4 58 - Pete Kilroy (Hey Geronimo) on The Beatles White Album Side 3 57 - Mark Wells on The Beatles White Album Side 2 56 - Jeff Greenstein on Colossal Youth by Young Marble Giants 55 - Laura Bell Bundy on Shania Twain, Otis Redding and Bright Eyes 54 - Jake Clemons on Surfacing by Sarah McLachlan 53 - Kristian Bush (Sugarland) on The Joshua Tree by U2 52 - Kevin Bennett (The Flood) on Willis Alan Ramsey by Willis Alan Ramsey 51 - Lee Brice on Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars 50 - Davey Lane (You Am I) on the White Album (Side 1) by The Beatles 49 - Joe Camilleri on The Rolling Stones by The Rolling Stones 48 - Russell Morris on The Rolling Stones by The Rolling Stones 47 - Mike Rudd (Spectrum) on England’s Newest Hitmakers by The Rolling Stones 46 - Henry Wagons on Harvest by Neil Young 45 - Megan Washington on Poses by Rufus Wainwright 44 - Andrew Hansen (The Chaser) on Armchair Theatre by Jeff Lynne 43 - She Rex on BlakRoc by The Black Keys 42 - Catherine Britt on Living with Ghosts by Patty Griffin 41 - Robyn Hitchcock on Plastic Ono Band by John Lennon 40 - Gideon Bensen (The Preatures) on Transformer by Lou Reed 39 - Harry Hookey on Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan 38 - Rob Draper on Faith by George Michael 37 - Best of 2014 ft. Danny Yau, Andrew Hansen, Gideon Bensen (The Preatures) and Mike Carr 36 - Doug Pettibone on Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris 35 - Ross Ryan on Late for the Sky by Jackson Browne 34 - Michael Carpenter on Hard Promises by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers 33 - Davey Lane (You Am I) on Jesus of Cool by Nick Lowe 32 - Zane Carney on Smokin’ at the Half Note by Wes Montgomery 31 - Tony Buchen on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles 30 - Simon Relf (The Tambourine Girls) on On the Beach by Neil Young 29 - Peter Cooper on In Search of a Song by Tom T Hall 28 - Thelma Plum on Stolen Apples by Paul Kelly 27 - James House on Rubber Soul by the Beatles 26 - Ella Hooper on Let England Shake by PJ Harvey 25 - Abbey Road Special 24 - Alyssa Bonagura on Room for Squares by John Mayer 23 - Luke Davison (The Preatures) on Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs 22 - Neil Finn on Hunky Dory by David Bowie and In Rainbows by Radiohead 21 - Neil Finn on Beatles for Sale by the Beatles and After the Goldrush by Neil Young 20 - Morgan Evans on Diorama by Silverchair 19 - Emma Swift on Car Wheels On A Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams 18 - Danny Yau on Hourly Daily by You Am I 17 - J Robert Youngtown and Jon Auer (The Posies) on Hi Fi Way by You Am I 16 - Lester the Fierce on Hounds of Love by Kate Bush 15 - Luke Davison on Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs 14 - Jeff Cripps on Wheels of Fire by Cream 13 - Mark Holden on Blue by Joni Mitchell (Part 2) 12 - Mark Holden on Blue by Joni Mitchell (Part 1) 11 - Gossling on O by Damien Rice 10 - Matt Fell on Temple of Low Men by Crowded House 9 - Pete Thomas on Are You Experienced? by Jimi Hendrix (Part 2) 8 - Pete Thomas on Are You Experienced? by Jimi Hendrix (Part 1) 7 - Sam Hawksley on A Few Small Repairs by Shawn Colvin 6 - Jim Lauderdale on Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons 5 - Mark Moffatt on Blues Breakers by John Mayall and Eric Clapton 4 - Darren Carr on Ten Easy Pieces by Jimmy Webb 3 - Mark Wells on Revolver by The Beatles 2 - Mike Carr on Arrival by ABBA 1 - Rob Draper on Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan

[justforbooks]

A Writer to the Very End: Remembering the Great “Gatz”

By Maryanne Vollers

William “Gatz” Hjortsberg had everything going for him except time. Days before the diagnosis in early March—pancreatic cancer, stage IV—Gatz had finished the long-awaited sequel to his groundbreaking novel, Falling Angel. He’d hoped to have enough time to edit it. But the end came faster than anyone expected. He was in hospice care at home in Livingston, MT, and feeling strong enough to entertain visitors, including his old friend, Tom McGuane, who told him how much he liked the new book. Gatz was so encouraged that he decided to try a round of chemo to see if it could give him an extra month or so to get the book to a publisher. That was Thursday, April 20th.

I live around the corner from Gatz and his wife, the artist Janie Camp, so on Saturday morning I knocked on their door with a plate of fresh banana bread, thinking he might be able to eat a bite or two. He smiled when he saw me, but he was done with food or drink.

Gatz—a childhood nickname that evolved from his unpronounceable last name—had a genius for storytelling that he translated into a large and diverse body of work, including essays, novels, screenplays, and a captivating, encyclopedic biography of Richard Brautigan, a former friend and neighbor. Hjortsberg and Brautigan were part of a cohort of writers and actors who adopted Montana as home in the late 1960s and 70s, including McGuane, Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Jeff Bridges, Tim Cahill, Russell Chatham, and, at least part-time, Jim Harrison. A lot of the ones who survived the gunfire and divorce lawyers stuck around, including Gatz.

William Hjortsberg was born in New York City on February 23, 1941, the only child of a Swedish restaurateur and his Swiss wife. He lived the high life until his father died when he was ten, leaving no money. His mother worked as a hotel maid to put him through private school while they lived in a transient hotel on Amsterdam Avenue. Gatz worked his way through Dartmouth College, attended the Yale School of Drama—where he met McGuane—and spent two years at Stanford as a Stegner Fellow. During the 1960s Gatz and his first wife, Marian, bounced between the United States and various exotic locales, teaching, homesteading, and doing what hippies tend to do while bringing up their young daughter, Lorca. During the 70s they settled in the Paradise Valley, south of Livingston, where a son, Max, was born (and where the marriage eventually ended).

Gatz was an exceedingly original writer, with a passion for history, mystery, and the occult—and a flair for twisting it all into elegant plots with a sense of wicked fun. As John Leonard wrote in a New York Times review of Gatz’s first novel, Alp, in 1969, he was “a satanic S.J. Perelman… by way of Disney and de Sade.”

It was sometimes hard to reconcile Gatz’s gruesome subject matter with his sunny, ebullient personality. He was a mischievous presence, a fascinating conversationalist, and the kindest, most generous of friends. The writer who detailed demonic orgies with the glee of an ax murderer was also a doting father and grandfather who patiently taught children to fish for trout. He kept an extensive collection of antique toys. He loved art. His totem, he said, was the penguin, the most cheerful bon vivant of the animal kingdom. And yet, there was the dark well from which he drew inspiration: “The door to my lower consciousness is always open,” he once said. “And the little lizard people who live down in there are always wriggling out and whispering nasty things.” In 1978 one of those nasty ideas grew into the best-selling Falling Angel, a supernatural detective novel. In 1987 it was adapted into the film, Angel Heart, starring Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet, and Robert DeNiro.

Gatz’s focus drifted to Hollywood, where he wrote Ridley Scott’s cult classic, Legend, and countless other scripts, some of which were even made into films. He made a good living from his screenplays, but he returned to letters, pursuing the definitive Brautigan biography with the demented zeal of an Ahab stalking his whale. Happily, Gatz’s obsession had a better ending. Jubilee Hitchhiker, which he labored over for two decades, was well received when it was published in 2012.

His accomplishments were often eclipsed by those of his famous buddies (even at his peak, reviewers described him as “underappreciated”), but Gatz had recently been experiencing late-career revival. He published a new novel, Mañana, in 2015, and was working on some other projects when he had a revelation. The sequel to Falling Angel had been percolating in his mind for years, but he didn’t know how it ended. Suddenly he did. Gatz started writing immediately.

I met Gatz when my husband Bill Campbell and I moved to Livingston 20 years ago. It was easy to be his friend; he was irresistible. And when he fell in love with Janie Camp, who lived practically next door, Gatz became a neighbor, too.

The last time we spoke he joked that we should have installed tracks or, better yet, a zip-line between our yards to make cocktail hour more efficient.

Maybe Gatz was so adept at fantasy and fairytales because he was childlike himself. A friend who grew up around him told me that children loved Gatz because he never patronized them. “He always listened, took you completely seriously. Once you were human you were part of the game,” she said. Gatz embraced his stepsons, Michel Leroy and Jake Camp, as his own. He was close to his daughter, Lorca, who works for a toy company based in Los Angeles, and Max, a poet and conservationist, who lives in Livingston with his wife, Anna (the younger daughter of Jim Harrison) and their son Silas.

After Gatz was diagnosed with cancer, he and his son Max made plans to prepare the Falling Angel sequel for submission to publishers. A few weeks ago, at a memorial for Jim Harrison, Max slipped his old pal Tom McGuane a thumb drive of the manuscript.

On Monday, April 17, Tom popped by to visit Gatz and stayed for a couple of hours. When he left, Gatz was elated. I sent McGuane an email to ask him what he thought of the sequel. He wrote: “It is extraordinarily imaginative and detailed and I think might remind any reader why The Los Angeles Times said that its predecessor, Falling Angel, was an absolute game changer.” He added what he told Gatz: “I intend to help the new book find its way however I can.“

When I walked through the door the next Saturday morning, it was obvious that Gatz wasn’t going to get the time he’d hoped for. The book was his only unfinished business. He had no other regrets, he told his doctor, who had visited him the night before and then placed a call to hospice. He was hoping to have a more festive death, he said, one with music and friends gathered around. But there was no time for it.

I know he would like you to hear this: His last hours on this planet were peaceful. The drugs worked and there was no pain. He was never afraid. Max arrived, and a few friends and relatives came by to help with what was needed. Gatz smiled at everyone. His grip was strong and he knew us all. The last thing I saw him do was put his arm around Janie to comfort her. Courtly to the end. Gatz died at 9:15pm Saturday.

Because this is a very small town we knew that the undertaker, Colin, was asleep, because he lives with his young family right next door to me and Bill and we saw their lights were out. But when Janie was ready to let the hospice nurse call, Colin answered the phone and came by a few minutes later. It was a neighborly affair.

The sad news spread through Livingston before it got out into the world. Glenn Godward opened up the Park Place Tavern on a Sunday afternoon for an impromptu wake. Glenn’s place is a favorite watering hole for local novelists, journalists, artists, ranchers and poets—Jim Harrison used to position himself at the patio entrance like Cerberus with a taste for cabernet. The whole damn town must have been there that day. All that was missing was Gatz’s roaring chainsaw of a laugh, a sound that could cut through any level of pandemonium. Gatz, who never missed a good party, would have enjoyed it. God, I’ll miss hearing that voice. We all will.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[duranduratulsa]

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[chriskarrtravelblog]

10 Best hotel discoveries

The latest edition of The Good Hotel Guide includes some exciting new entries, from great gastropubs and smart B&Bs to old favourites in new guises. Here is the editor’s pick of the best hotel discoveries for 2020.

23 Mayfield, Edinburgh

Credit: Angus Behm – © Squarefootmedia

Home-made fudge, 1830s Punch cartoons, a carved mahogany bed, rainfall shower and Noble Isle toiletries were among the delights that won approval this year for Ross Birnie’s B&B. The Victorian house is replete with original features. Guests can breakfast on porridge with malt whisky and flambéed fruit, tattie scone, haggis, peat-smoked haddock, then curl up with a vintage book or play chess at a Georgian chess table, relax in the front garden, stroll or hop on a bus to the city centre.

B&B (single, double, family room) £120-£250. 0131 667 580623, mayfield.co.uk

The Duncombe Arms Ellastone, Staffordshire

Credit: © Jake Eastham

This village pub on the edge of the Peak District was boarded up and decaying when Johnny and Laura Greenall brought it back to life. They opened for business in 2012, and this year added ten smart bedrooms in the Walnut House annexe, each with artisan wallpaper, home-baked biscuits, a coffee machine, Bamford toiletries, artworks for sale. A fire blazes in the cosy bar. Menus run from pub classics to such dishes as Derbyshire lamb rump, caramelised onion, ewe’s curd, baby turnip and oats, with good veggie choices.

B&B £160–£190. À la carte £40, market menu (Mon–Thurs) £18.50–£22.50. 01335 324 275, duncombearms.co.uk

The Pig at Bridge Place, Bridge, Kent

Credit: © Jake Eastham

The latest addition to Robin Hutson’s porcine collection occupies a Jacobean manor house and former music venue near Canterbury. Expect the signature shabby-chic style. Bedrooms range from very snug to hideaway suites, to ‘hop-pickers’ huts’ on stilts in a water meadow. In the restaurant, food is home grown or sourced as locally as possible. Maybe chargrilled Brogdale pork tomahawk, garden greens, cider, brandy and mustard sauce; Rye-landed fillet of plaice, capers and brown butter sauce. On fine days guests can pig out on flat breads from the outdoor oven, with fire-pit meats in the walled kitchen garden.

£99-£455. Breakfast buffet £12, cooked breakfast £16, à la carte. 0345 2259494, thepighotel.com/at-bridge-place

The Devonshire Arms, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire

Paintings from the Chatsworth art collection adorn the walls of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire’s luxury hotel and spa on the Bolton Abbey estate. The most characterful bedrooms are in the old wing, but those in the new wing have panoramic views through large windows. All are individually styled, with a coffee machine and mini fridge. You can take afternoon tea– as the Brontë sisters did here– but do save room for dinner in the brasserie, or for Paul Leonard’s imaginative cooking in the restaurant. Typical dishes, loin of North Sea cod, nasturtium, mussels, girolles; Yorkshire hogget, garden courgette, sheep’s curd.

B&B £149–£379. À la carte £35 (brasserie), £75 (restaurant) tasting menu £85. 01756 718100, thedevonshirearms.co.uk

The Lord Poulett Arms, Hinton St George, Somerset

Credit: © Jake Eastham

Snapped up last year by the winning team behind The Talbot in Mells and The Beckford Arms, Tisbury, this 17th-century thatched village pub is brimming with quirky character. Rustic-chic bedrooms – some with in-room slipper bath – have a king-size or super-king bed, and are supplied with Bramley toiletries. Food choices range from a pub platter and fish and chips to such inventive dishes as pan-seared sea bream, hummus, roast Romanesco, tomato and olive dressing. As pubs-with-rooms go, say Guide inspectors, this one is “as good as it gets”.

B&B per room single £75–£110. À la carte £35. 01460 731 49, lordpoulettarms.com

St Tudy Inn, St Tudy, Cornwall

In a pretty village close to Bodmin Moor, this 17th-century inn is owned by Bordeaux winemaker Mark Hellyar with talented young chef-patron Emily Scott. Interiors have a stripped-back style, with garden flowers, beer-key stools, restful Farrow & Ball grey ‘whites’, books in crates, and prints by Ms Scott’s illustrator sister-in-law Nicole Heidaripour. Four bedrooms, in a converted barn, are supplied with a coffee machine, home-made treats, Bramley toiletries. Menus are big on seasonality and sustainability. Maybe Cadgwith Bay ray wing, brown shrimp, caper butter; pan-roasted chicken thighs, Puy lentils, smoked pimento, serrano ham, parsley – or good old cod and chips.

B&B £150–£165, D,B&B £210–£225. 2-nights minimum stay at weekends. 01298 850 656, sttudyinn.com

The Old Manor House, Halford, Warwickshire

Credit: Simon Foster Photography Ltd

Tea and home-baked biscuits await new arrivals at Jane and William Pusey’s Tudor manor house in landscaped grounds. Interiors are filled with handsome antiques. The three bedrooms are comfortable and well appointed, with views variously of the gardens and River Stour. Jane cooks breakfast with local bacon, home-baked organic bread, organic yoghurts, muesli and granola. She will also prepare a light supper, and guests can order a picnic before making the seven-mile pilgrimage to Shakespeare’s Stratford. The two retrievers-in-residence welcome guests’ dogs by prior arrangement (£15).

Children aged six upwards welcomed. B&B single £65–£85, double £110–£120. 01789 740264, oldmanor-halford.co.uk

The Great House, Lavenham, Suffolk

This medieval timber-framed house behind a Georgian façade  was long run as a restaurant-with-rooms by a popular French family. It changed hands last year, and returns to the Guide under Dominique Tropeano, owner of Colchester Zoo. The five bedrooms retain a quirky ambience. Far from durance vile, Bastille proved a delight, with a separate sitting area, minibar and a decanter of sherry. Versailles, overlooking the marketplace, has a Jacobean four-poster, a sitting room with fireplace. Chef Guillaume Dericq cooks traditional dishes with a twist. Maybe halibut steamed with courgette and lemon grass puree, sautéed patty pans, lemon grass foam.

B&B £164–£184 (continental breakfast; cooked breakfast £6). Set dinner £37.50, à la carte £46. 01787 247 431, greathouse.co.uk

The Coach House, Brecon, Powys

Whether you come for the October Baroque Music Festival, or to explore the Brecon Beacons National Park, you’ll receive a warm welcome at Kayt and Hugh Cooper’s Georgian town house B&B. Bedrooms are contemporary in style, decorated in restful shades, and range from a ‘classic’ with king-size bed, to a suite with a large sitting area, a fridge with fresh milk, a bath and separate shower. At breakfast there are local sausages and bacon, local preserves, free-range eggs, Welsh rarebit, pikelets, laver bread. Brecon offers a good choice of local eating places, while the Felin Fach Griffin dining pub, a Guide favourite, is a short drive away.

B&B single £74–£155, double £79–£160. Children 15 and over welcome. 01874 620 043, coachhousebrecon.com

Ship Inn, Elie, Fife

Catch of the day might mean the freshest haddock or a bravura act of fielding at the only pub in Britain with its own beach cricket team. Overlooking the Firth of Forth, it has been transformed in the past five years by Rachel and Graham Bucknall, who also own the excellent Bridge at Ratho, and, like Cley Windmill, gains promotion from the Guide Shortlist this year. Pub classics are served in the bar, more adventurous fare in the restaurant. Admiral Room, at the top, has great beach views. All bedrooms have an espresso machine, Siabann toiletries and a good tea selection of teas. “A belter”, our inspectors declare.

B&B per person £110–£185, child’s bed £30. À la carte £35 (vegetarian/vegan £27). 01333 330 246, shipinn.scot

The new 2020 edition of the Good Hotel Guide is available now.

The post 10 Best hotel discoveries appeared first on Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture.

Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture https://www.britain-magazine.com/features/10-best-hotel-discoveries/

source https://coragemonik.wordpress.com/2019/10/10/10-best-hotel-discoveries/

[limejuicer1862]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Tricia Marcella Cimera

is a Midwestern poet with a worldview. Look for her work in these diverse places: Anti-Heroin Chic, Buddhist Poetry Review, The Ekphrastic Review, Foliate Oak, Failed Haiku, I Am Not A Silent Poet, Mad Swirl, Silver Birch Press, Wild Plum and elsewhere.  She has two micro collections, THE SEA AND A RIVER and BOXBOROUGH POEMS, on the Origami Poems Project website.  Tricia believes there’s no place like her own backyard and has traveled the world.  She lives with her husband and family of animals in Illinois, in a town called St. Charles, near a river named Fox, with a Poetry Box is in her front yard.

Link to THE FOX POETRY BOX, my public art installation:

https://www.facebook.com/FoxPoetryBox

The Interview

1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

Before writing, there was reading.  When I learned how to read (my mother told me that I was convinced it would be too hard to learn; I was a tiny defeatist), another life began for me.  A life of imagination.  I fell madly in love with reading.  And through reading I found poetry.  It entered into the portal of my child mind in various forms such as the great Dr. Seuss.  When I was nine I wrote my first poem that came whooshing out spontaneously after a dinner with my parents and some business associates of my father.  One of the wives told us about her grown daughter being killed in a car accident.  This hit me so hard; after dinner, I sat down and wrote this little poem about grief.  Everyone seemed kind of astounded; the woman who had lost her daughter just wept.  My mother kept that poem for years but it was lost somewhere in time as we moved around.  Poetry then lay dormant in me for a while but returned when I was in high school where I wrote and submitted things to the school literary journal.  It went away yet again but returned full force when I was in my 30s and discovered a local writer’s class at the college.  Along with the class came a professor who encouraged me in a way that every poet should be in their life.  And that meant all the world to me – and my poems.

2. How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older poets traditional and contemporary?

Aware and intimidated at first.  But with poetry, there are many masters and many forms.  I try and learn from older poets but it’s imperative I listen to my own voice. 

2.1. Who were you intimidated by?

I would say that initially every great poet intimidated me.  People like Ezra Pound, for example.  What did it all mean?  Poets like Emily Dickinson, Jane Kenyon, Leonard Cohen showed me that simple language coupled with deep ideas was something to strive for.  That was poetry too! Again, there are many forms to choose from – that was freeing to me.  MY voice is a form in and of itself.  

3. What is your daily writing routine?

I have no daily routine of actual writing.  Poems are always showing up and percolating throughout the day in my head, I let them gain form, which can take days.  Once I begin putting a poem to paper (computer screen), it generally goes quickly.  I’m a fast reviser.  I’m a big proponent of revising; I think it’s necessary to advocate for the poem, not the ego.  I know there’s a school of thought when it comes to organic outpouring of words to create a poem.  I think a poem deserves to be worked on and lived with.  It makes it no less gritty or tough if that’s what you’re going for.  

4. What motivates you to write?

My imagination, my specific experiences, the world, every art form there is, history, living and dead human beings and animals, the act of remembering – all of it motivates my writing.  Anything and everything can be a poem.  Once I understood this, a door opened.  You really can’t close that particular door once it flies open.  

5. What is your work ethic?

I don’t make a living through my writing so my ‘work ethic’ is fluid and not terribly militant.  Once a poem is begun, however, I feel committed to it and will revise/polish/finish quickly or revisit it as much as necessary until it feels right.  There are those poems, however, that just don’t work.  I don’t entirely abandon them but they are left to. . .sit there, waiting for a line to be used, an idea to be shaped .  Getting back to revision, I suppose that speaks to a work ethic.  As mentioned before, the poem should be served, not the initial delight in creating it.  

6. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

Great question!  The books and stories of my childhood are forever of my beating heart.  I still have one of the first books I received for my 6th birthday – “Hamish Meets Bumpy Mackenzie” by Frances Bowen.  The Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis truly saved my life when my mother was hospitalized for depression (when I was ten).  I return to my childhood books again and again.  “Half Magic” by Edward Eager still entrances me and makes me laugh.  I can’t imagine abandoning any of these fantastic books and their writers.  They are written so well and never talk down to anyone, except maybe those without an imagination.  I believe in magic and hope and weirdness and underdogs because of the books of my youth.   Of all the books I’ve read in my life, they mean the most to me.

7. Whom of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

I have many favorite writers but I always cite Joyce Carol Oates and Larry McMurtry as two of my most favorite novelists because they both have such amazing  bodies of work.  Everyone calls JCO prolific – because she IS!  She can do it all (gothic, current social mores, retellings of Marilyn Monroe or JonBenet Ramsey, young adult, short stories, etc.) and with such intelligence and depth. She has revisited certain themes in her work for years; dark and psycho-sexual are her trademarks.  As for Larry McMurtry, no one can write a woman like he can.  He has created the most marvelous woman characters.  McMurtry is known for his westerns (Lonesome Dove), yet I haven’t read them!  Because I love his other books so much; I’ve got time.   He makes you fall in love with his people and suddenly, shockingly, someone will die.  I’ve literally let out screams and then cried.  Oh, McMurtry, how could you.  I have to mention Donna Tartt as well – The Secret History is the most amazing book.  I just reread it for the billionth time.  It reminds me so much of Brideshead Revisited; the college students dreamily and beautifully moving through life in a particular time.  Now I realize I haven’t even mentioned poets!  So many – Mark Doty, Sharon Olds, Raymond Carver. . .and always, always, always Leonard Cohen.  Poetry is alive and well.  The social justice poetry in America right now is just sizzling.  The times are right for it.  It’s exciting to read poetry and to write poetry these days.

7.1. Why Leonard Cohen?

Leonard Cohen is the finest.  His poems are so relatable and understandable, yet they are not simple in the least bit.  He references a LOT.   He tells us that we as humans encompass everything.  And he says that with sadness and with hilarity.  I know I’m speaking of Mr. Cohen in the present tense but he lives on, he’s the Master.  I’ve written three poems that he appears in and two of them are especially dear to me; I’m grateful that he shows up.  Anyone reading this – go read Leonard Cohen!  And listen to him as well.  The songs, the voice. . .

8. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

Writing is the thing I do best, creative-wise. I wish I could paint or play an instrument or sing (I sing with gusto but not well). So I write.

9. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

I would advise to Read, Write and Revise. How can you write if you don’t have a love of reading? And when you write, revise! Just a little revision goes a long way.

10. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

Poems are always percolating in my mind but the writing projects I have in my life right now are really about other poets.  I maintain and curate a poetry box in my front yard where I display the work of living guest poets, dead poets, as well as songs, art, etc.  My poetry box is called The Fox Poetry Box.  Passer-bys happen upon it during walks; it’s a concrete and organic small literary billboard.  And it has an electronic life as well – the box has its own Facebook page.  In conjunction with The Fox Poetry Box, I created The Tom Park Poetry Prize which was just announced.  It’s named for a most marvelous cat that my husband and I had the privilege of knowing for a year and a half before he recently  passed on.  Tom Park was, as I wrote in the prize announcement, a profile in Courage, Character and Compassion.  Entries are open until April 15th.  Long live Tom Park!  And poetry!

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Tricia Marcella Cimera Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. 1,650 more words

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