Mary Renault

Really, hands-down some of the best historical fiction ever written sprang from the pen of Mary Renault. Excellent characters, interesting plots, brilliant writing and scholarly period accuracy are all right there...and you get free lessons in the lives and histories of the ancient Greeks as well. HIGHLY recommended. If you're looking for moving, humorous, fascinating fiction that very convincingly takes you out of your time into another, this is the mother lode. I'd have to say The Praise Singer is perhaps my favorite, with Renault's protagonist really giving a wonderful insight of what it's like to be a musician and songwriter (go figure), but The Mask Of Apollo does much the same with its note-perfect reading of the character of an actor. And The Persian Boy is an amazing book too, telling the story of Alexander The Great from the viewpoint of his slave and lover. Really hard to miss with this writer...give 'em a shot.

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Do not pass Go, do not collect $200...instead, hit that link and laugh your butt off with Foamy The Squirrel, Germaine and their pals. Foamy is a talking squirrel with a really bad attitude (beware his "squirrely wrath), and Germaine is a punky girl (with somewhat of an attitude problem herself) who lives with him. These are NOT cartoons for the kids...well, at least watch 'em yourself first and then figure that out. I love Foamy myself. Ill-Will Press is smokin' funny with this stuff!

Music In The Key Of Oscar

Watching the documentary movie Music In The Key Of Oscar, which has footage of Oscar Peterson and his classic jazz trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis. I'm taken with how each of these musicians helped shape my life...Oscar's "Sound Of The Trio" was the first album I owned that made me really want to play jazz; Ray Brown was the guy that made me want to play upright bass; and Herb Ellis' method book was the one that opened up the swing guitar thing for me. Strange that they all played together in the quintessential jazz trio.

Another wonderful thing in this movie is the interviews, which show that these are not only some of the greatest musicians in the world, but that they're intelligent, well-spoken and super nice guys. The obvious affection and respect that they have for each other is incredibly charming, and says a lot about the bonds that form with the right musicians working together. Their reminiscences about traveling as an interracial trio in the deep south, and in the 50s and 60s, are very moving.

Plus, this movie has both vintage and more recent clips of the trio playing, and playing REALLY well! If you have any love of jazz (or even just a bit of curiosity about the genre) this is a treat. If I gave stars for stuff this would have a good-sized galaxy.

Here's a bit of the trio playing in 1958...amazing...

The Merrymakers

It's been said by others before me, in a perfect world The Merrymakers would be a household name, and big stars too...alas, "Bubblegun" was their only American release. It's well worth seeking out though...pure Pop Rock heaven, songs that stay in your head forever (in a good way). The Merrymakers are a musical duo composed of Anders Hellgren and David Myhr, from Sweden, where they must put something in the water I guess to have the kind of Pop songwriting that comes outta there. The melodic content is just so strong, and the production is fantastic...I'm still trying to figure out how they've managed to get their choruses to sound so darn big!
Hellgren and Myhr are still working together, writing and producing for others in the studio (most notably for Puffy AmiYumi), and threatening periodically to make another Merrymakers CD. I'm still waiting, guys!

Here's a great song and very silly video from the "Bubblegun" CD:

3 Mustaphas 3

3 Mustaphas 3 is a British World music band formed in 1982. Core members are Ben Mandelson (under the name Hijaz Mustapha), Tim Fienburgh (1954-2008) (under the name Niaveti III) Colin Bass (under the name Sabah Habas Mustapha), and Nigel Watson (under the name Houzam Mustapha), around which orbit many other Mustaphas - all supposed to be the nephews of Uncle Patrel Mustapha. They claim to originate from the Balkans, but play music from almost every continent; their slogan, "Forward in all directions!", is an expression of this musical diversity. Active at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, they have now stopped producing and performing together, but haven't officially disbanded.

(Thanks to Wikipedia for the above explaination)

...This is a band that really rocked my world in the 80s and early 90s, and still does today! Full of absurdity, humor, and extreme musical eclecticism, they also could seriously kick ass in an amazing number of musical genres. I HIGHLY reccomend seeking out "Heart Of Uncle" to start with (you can get it as a download through Amazon actually), but many other fantastic albums in their catalog await you too. "Can I take it to the fridge?" Hell yeah!

Dracula - Pages From A Virgin's Diary

I watched this movie late last night, as a second feature after Paranormal Activity (a movie so stultifyingly boring that watching paint dry would have been more interesting)...and I found it delightful! Take Bram Stoker's classic story, choreograph it for the Winnipeg Royal Ballet, stir in a score by Gustav Mahler, then bake it as a silent movie a la Jean Cocteau, sprinkle with a little 21st-Century irony courtesy of director Guy Maddin, and viola! A cool instant classic. Perhaps one of the best Dracula movies ever made, and certainly one of the strangest. Renfield, unfortunately, does not have a dance number in it, but it's still great.

The Indestructable Beat Of Soweto

I was originally turned on to South African music by listening to Johnny Clegg on old MTV (Remember when they actually played music? And late night, sometimes cool and obscure stuff)...it inspired me to look further into World Music and South African music especially. Beautiful rhythms and harmonies from a fantastic heritage and a troubled country, which at that time was still under the rule of apartheid. Later I'd go to our local Schookids Records and just find records that looked cool and buy them...so many were so good. This collection was one excellent one! Still available in CD form, and a great introduction to many now Old-School SA styles. Wonderful stuff.

Here's an example of this music working on the youth of America:



Here's another great track from the same record:



And here's that first video from Johnny Clegg that just blew my mind 30+ years ago. I'll have to do a seperate post for his work, but check it out too!