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Mr. Verlander
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« Reply #125 on: January 13, 2015, 04:32:06 PM »

Myth in pop music? How exactly do you mean? Stories about bands that aren't true? Or the mythology of music in general, that 'thing' that makes a kid want to plug a guitar into an amp?
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« Reply #126 on: January 13, 2015, 05:18:36 PM »

Myths are myths, to some extent!

Absolutely!


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I began (but shelved out of laziness) an essay about myth in pop music. I really want to get back to it, but, well, I suck.

I'd like to hear more about that. I'm doing all this reading because of a course I'm teaching this term. I'm thinking of playing some pop songs in class, including Mrs. O'Leary's Cow and Heroes and Villains, as well as other songs by General Music Discussion bands.
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« Reply #127 on: January 13, 2015, 05:21:04 PM »

Can I take your class? Grin
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And production aside, I’d so much rather hear a 14 year old David Marks shred some guitar on Chug-a-lug than hear a 51 year old Mike Love sing about bangin some chick in a swimming pool.-rab2591
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« Reply #128 on: January 13, 2015, 05:32:13 PM »

Can I take your class? Grin

 Grin

Unfortunately, it may be too late to sign up.
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« Reply #129 on: January 13, 2015, 10:18:50 PM »

I have this very huge bookcase in my basement, but never read anything from there. So, I went downstairs to check it & found this:

A. Vertinsky* "Behind the scenes". Stories, interviews, letters, memories & biggest joy - NOTES! Now've got sth. to play.

*Vintage Russian singer and composer. This is original vinyl sticker of a song he sang that you, my friends, know as "Those Were the Days".

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« Reply #130 on: January 14, 2015, 02:02:04 PM »

ANIMAL: by George "The Animal" Steele (with Jim Evans)

Foreword by Cowboy Bill Watts
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« Reply #131 on: January 20, 2015, 11:42:23 PM »

As usual, "Goosebumps", scary stories, as much creepy & mysterious as it can only be possible,  thank you very much. I found & never returned to the library (& frankly, not willing to do so coz I liked it, don't care if other people want to read it too) collection of Alfred Hitchcock's favorite 'horror' novels by assorted writers. Blue one (they are multi-colored, but this one contains better stories).
Generally, the horror genre might be my go-to favorite & sole read. Some of the details are really funny, altho nobody will agree with me on there. But it's great entertainment value, so to speak. Ditto horror flicks. There, I said it. Go figure. So there! 3D
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« Reply #132 on: January 21, 2015, 05:53:32 AM »

Some good ideas and suggestions here Smiley  I used to read far more than I do, I would plough through books, now not so much, had some lifey things get in the way.  Need to sort that.  I've been reading a lot of health books that are very interesting, such as Grain Brain (about how certain grains cause disease, particularly neurologically). The last fiction was Life After Life - Loved it! Also the Rosie Project (also great, warm and fuzzy).  I like older novels and my favourite author is Agatha Christie, I have all her books and a few of her pseudonym ones.  When I feel a bit down I pull out one of hers, it's like a comfy pair of slippers.  I love Arthur C Clarke too, though I haven't read all of his.  A classic I really love is Vanity Fair and Far From the Madding Crowd.
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« Reply #133 on: January 21, 2015, 06:07:11 AM »

Cool, I'm a fan of fiction too! I prefer her Miss Marple character, she's so smart. Have you seen the Marple series? What a great cast, love Joan Hickson; she used to play in comedies when she was relatively younger (1940s-50s). With that being said, my ever so favorite detective writer is Rex Stout. There is lots of humor in his books. Can you believe it, the man compiled all the recipes for dishes described in his novels! Very nice cookbook edition. or addition, anything fits.
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« Reply #134 on: January 22, 2015, 03:37:17 AM »

Hi RR!! Smiley  Nice to see a Miss Marple fan..  Hercule is my favourite though Smiley   I haven't watched many of the series though as I have a very fixed idea in my mind of settings, characters etc that it undoes the book somewhat for me. Does that make sense??  I haven't read any of Rex Stout, though I have heard of Nero Wolfe.. might have to have a look.
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« Reply #135 on: January 23, 2015, 12:38:47 AM »

Cool, I'm a fan of fiction too! I prefer her Miss Marple character, she's so smart. Have you seen the Marple series? What a great cast, love Joan Hickson; she used to play in comedies when she was relatively younger (1940s-50s). With that being said, my ever so favorite detective writer is Rex Stout. There is lots of humor in his books. Can you believe it, the man compiled all the recipes for dishes described in his novels! Very nice cookbook edition. or addition, anything fits.

I have more books by Rex Stout than by any other writer - all of the Nero Wolfe books (except The Nero Wolfe Cookbook) and all his non-Wolfe books (except for a couple of the novels he published in the years just before the Wolfe series began). I also have John McAteer's biography of him, based on hundreds of hours of taped interviews with Wolfe. One of these days I hope that his appearance on The Dick Cavett Show (in 1973) shows up on Youtube.
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« Reply #136 on: January 23, 2015, 06:42:45 AM »

2Wild-Honey: you speak the truth; when I had read my favorite goosebumps - that is, "Scarecrow walks at midnight", "The mystery of abominable snowman" - & later typed in the same on imdb, discovered there are actually episodes made of these stories! I thought wow, cool, let's check it out. ...only to be disenchanted, here & now. I was like, "What is this fabrication?? Are you kidding me, crew guys?" Everything was incredibly boring, the cast was miscast, more like it. Wherein my imagined stories while I followed the adventures in the book - it was perfect! But there are exceptions, f.ex. "Coraline". The book was OK, but the cartoon, the dark vibe, animation - nothing was over-the-top & it was quaint, in a good way One of the best cartoons I ever seen, def. I mean the eyes-buttons!!! 3D

2rn57: that's great! I didn't read his 'serious' non-Wolfe stuff. Do you mind recommend me one of these? I would love to read his biography, he seems quite an interesting figure in literature. Maybe not classic 'uni' author, but still. And wow, he made an appearance on the DC show, in 1 9 7 3? That's sth.; I always found interesting seeing people from another century, albeit born at the end, in another time frame/modern society. I once saw a vid on Youtube of Lillian Gish - an actress who started in silent fillms - being interviewed as late as 80s, forget the year. Unforgettable.
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« Reply #137 on: January 29, 2015, 02:30:13 PM »

2Wild-Honey: you speak the truth; when I had read my favorite goosebumps - that is, "Scarecrow walks at midnight", "The mystery of abominable snowman" - & later typed in the same on imdb, discovered there are actually episodes made of these stories! I thought wow, cool, let's check it out. ...only to be disenchanted, here & now. I was like, "What is this fabrication?? Are you kidding me, crew guys?" Everything was incredibly boring, the cast was miscast, more like it. Wherein my imagined stories while I followed the adventures in the book - it was perfect! But there are exceptions, f.ex. "Coraline". The book was OK, but the cartoon, the dark vibe, animation - nothing was over-the-top & it was quaint, in a good way One of the best cartoons I ever seen, def. I mean the eyes-buttons!!! 3D

2rn57: that's great! I didn't read his 'serious' non-Wolfe stuff. Do you mind recommend me one of these? I would love to read his biography, he seems quite an interesting figure in literature. Maybe not classic 'uni' author, but still. And wow, he made an appearance on the DC show, in 1 9 7 3? That's sth.; I always found interesting seeing people from another century, albeit born at the end, in another time frame/modern society. I once saw a vid on Youtube of Lillian Gish - an actress who started in silent fillms - being interviewed as late as 80s, forget the year. Unforgettable.

Rex Stout's writing career can be divided in three parts. From 1912 until 1917 he published short stories and novelettes in magazines; these were in the style of the popular fiction of that time. He never allowed these writings to be republished in his lifetime after Nero Wolfe made him famous, but since his death they've been collected in several books which are pretty easy to find.  Or a lot of it can be read online, at this site:

http://fiction.eserver.org/short/stout/

In 1927, after he'd made money as a businessman over ten years, Stout moved to Paris to write serious fiction. He wrote four novels in this style up to 1934, all but one of them long out of print and very difficult to find.  The one that is pretty easily available is How Like A God, which was first published in 1929 - that is to say, secondhand copies of it can be found. Stout thought it was his best book that was not in the Nero Wolfe series so he allowed it to be reprinted a few times.

The Wolfe books started with Fer-De-Lance in 1934; the same year Stout published a thriller about the kidnapping of an American President, naturally called The President Vanishes, and he wrote several more thrillers and mysteries which did not feature Wolfe, up to 1941; after that his fiction was entirely about ol' Nero.

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« Reply #138 on: March 18, 2015, 10:07:47 PM »

Today, I finally finished one of the many books I've been reading.


Now to tackle the Picture of Dorian Gray.
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« Reply #139 on: March 23, 2015, 02:06:09 PM »

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« Reply #140 on: March 24, 2015, 04:18:36 AM »

Now to tackle the Picture of Dorian Gray.

That's one of my favourite novels. What are your thoughts so far?
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« Reply #141 on: March 24, 2015, 08:33:07 AM »

Now to tackle the Picture of Dorian Gray.

That's one of my favourite novels. What are your thoughts so far?

That Oscar Wilde has an unbelievable wit. There are brilliant lines on every page of that book.
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Chocolate Shake Man
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« Reply #142 on: March 25, 2015, 07:46:52 AM »

Now to tackle the Picture of Dorian Gray.

That's one of my favourite novels. What are your thoughts so far?

That Oscar Wilde has an unbelievable wit. There are brilliant lines on every page of that book.

Absolutely. You can almost see him smirking to himself when he's writing it.

Currently, I'm re-reading Crime and Punishment which I read in high school and was the first novel that got me hooked on reading independently from school after the disaster that was Moby Dick (should probably return that one some day too). The first time around C&P took me 8 months to read, and what with my current obligations, it will probably take the same amount of time again. But now 90 pages in, I can say that it is still for me one of the most well-written stories I have encountered.
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« Reply #143 on: March 25, 2015, 02:42:34 PM »

Currently, I'm re-reading Crime and Punishment which I read in high school and was the first novel that got me hooked on reading independently from school after the disaster that was Moby Dick (should probably return that one some day too). The first time around C&P took me 8 months to read, and what with my current obligations, it will probably take the same amount of time again. But now 90 pages in, I can say that it is still for me one of the most well-written stories I have encountered.

Crime and Punishment was a book I read in high school as well. I got about about three quarters of the way through the whole thing in a few weeks and I've been stuck there for two or three years now. Still, I can confidently say it's one of my favorite books I've read. Never finished Moby Dick either...
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« Reply #144 on: March 25, 2015, 03:04:50 PM »

Hi all,

Today I read The Blackberry Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke.  It was a very good book.  Her books are known as light or cozy mysteries. 

Happy Reading!!!   Smiley 
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« Reply #145 on: March 25, 2015, 03:21:38 PM »

Hi all,

Last night I finally finished reading "The Mystery Of Cabin Island" by Franklin W. Dixon.   I can't wait to read the next Hardy Boys mystery story!
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« Reply #146 on: March 25, 2015, 04:50:22 PM »

Hi all,

Last night I finally finished reading "The Mystery Of Cabin Island" by Franklin W. Dixon.   I can't wait to read the next Hardy Boys mystery story!

They are good for all ages.

Crime and Punishment was a book I read in high school as well. I got about about three quarters of the way through the whole thing in a few weeks and I've been stuck there for two or three years now. Still, I can confidently say it's one of my favorite books I've read. Never finished Moby Dick either...

From what I can recall and from what I've read since, Crime and Punishment is definitely worth finishing. I hope I'm able to do it myself. Good luck!

I did finish Moby Dick but it was a slog and at the time I didn't feel it was worth it. Later, we read his short story Bartleby the Scrivener in school and I found that one equally difficult. However, I was quite young when I read it and now that I'm into all things Americana, I might appreciate Melville more. Thinking about the novel as being part of a continuum that includes people like William Carlos Williams, Chaplin, Faulkner, Robert Johnson, Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, and the Coen Brothers makes me want to re-evaluate. But who knows - maybe I'll still think it's a bore. I still recall reading those chapters of biology information with contempt and I was equally unimpressed by him consistently referring to the whale as a fish. But, hey, context is everything!
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« Reply #147 on: March 25, 2015, 06:10:16 PM »

Myths are myths, to some extent!

Absolutely!


Quote
I began (but shelved out of laziness) an essay about myth in pop music. I really want to get back to it, but, well, I suck.

I'd like to hear more about that. I'm doing all this reading because of a course I'm teaching this term. I'm thinking of playing some pop songs in class, including Mrs. O'Leary's Cow and Heroes and Villains, as well as other songs by General Music Discussion bands.

To jump on this old point....

There are a lot of 'myths' in pop music - Elvis Presley springs to mind, and a few other rock and roll figures, but a nice way to look at the pop myth would be to look at rap music and the construction of the myth in how, for instance, the Wu-Tang Clan use the ancient or mystical to define themselves. Or Jay-Z's early albums in the context of the gangster movie, the notion of the hustler as a heroic figure.
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« Reply #148 on: April 01, 2015, 12:33:40 AM »

Rex Stout's writing career can be divided in three parts. From 1912 until 1917 he published short stories and novelettes in magazines; these were in the style of the popular fiction of that time. He never allowed these writings to be republished in his lifetime after Nero Wolfe made him famous, but since his death they've been collected in several books which are pretty easy to find.  Or a lot of it can be read online, at this site:

http://fiction.eserver.org/short/stout/

In 1927, after he'd made money as a businessman over ten years, Stout moved to Paris to write serious fiction. He wrote four novels in this style up to 1934, all but one of them long out of print and very difficult to find.  The one that is pretty easily available is How Like A God, which was first published in 1929 - that is to say, secondhand copies of it can be found. Stout thought it was his best book that was not in the Nero Wolfe series so he allowed it to be reprinted a few times.

The Wolfe books started with Fer-De-Lance in 1934; the same year Stout published a thriller about the kidnapping of an American President, naturally called The President Vanishes, and he wrote several more thrillers and mysteries which did not feature Wolfe, up to 1941; after that his fiction was entirely about ol' Nero.
Nice to meet a Stout connoiseur. Thanks for the link! now to locate the rest...

Re Dostoevsky, having read his stuff in orig., I would not say it was of any interest to me. Further on, I don't get any author that did well abroad - Nabokov, Bulgakov (silly story about dog sapiens; Master 'n' Margarita), Tolstoy, Turgenev. I usually stick to rare.
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« Reply #149 on: April 01, 2015, 01:55:52 PM »

I just finished reading Face The Music: A Life Exposed by Paul Stanley of Kiss. Well, I've read all four member's books and this was the one I liked the least. Although very interesting in the beginning about his childhood and the early days of Wicked Lester and Kiss, his book was the nastiest when it came to trashing the other band members (yes, even worse than Gene Simmons' trash talk). And it got so incredibly boring towards the end that I was forcing myself to finish it (the stories about the lawyers and his marriage were just zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....). I know there aren't too many Kiss fans here, and honestly I don't like anything they've done since the early 80s, and I agree that their musicianship is only so-so, but it's been interesting reading each member's books. Ace Frehley's was the best, Peter Criss' was the second best and Gene's after Peter's. Paul's last).
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