Tag Archives: writing
My first book! The Gramble Chronicles I: Sophie’s Playlist
Yes, I have been away from WordPress for too long, but I was productive. In 2016, I read 218 books totally 73000 pages – spanning the work of Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon among many, many others. … Continue reading
TV Series: Best Shows of 2014 (Updated) (Updated Again)
There was a LOT of excellent television again in 2014. Making my list and rating each of the shows against each other is challenging. And let me also state that all the shows in the top 20 below were outstanding. … Continue reading
Music Review: “My Side of Town” by The Roadside Bombs – The Boys of ‘Noma Slam It Home
I could justifiably be accused of nepotism, but I want to plug my cousin Ben’s band The Roadside Bombs and their debut CD just out called “My Side of Town” on Chapter 11 records. Ben has been a punk rock singer … Continue reading
10 Things the French Do Better
I often get accused of being a bit of a francophobe because I yearn for things american while living in Paris for so long (18 years!), but there are things that I do appreciate here. Recently, on the French edition … Continue reading
TV Series: Ken Burn’s Jazz (2001) – Beautiful documentary but based on flawed premises
I have been reading a LOT about jazz lately (see my articles on Monk, Miles, Giddens, etc). Through this reading, I bumped into the existence of the world’s record holding for sheer length (19+ hours) documentary by Ken Burns that … Continue reading
More Musing on Miles
I have been binging on Miles Davis for a few months now and have realised how ignorant I have been about his music. Back in my 20s, I just grabbed a couple of CDs I had heard about – Kind … Continue reading
The Leopard by Tomasi di Lampedusa – a true 20th C masterpiece both of literature and cinema
This summer I actually got some good reading done. I had been plagued with seeing The Leopard by Lampedusa in various bookstores in Italy, but did not really know what it was about aside from the reunification of Italy in … Continue reading
Book Review: Thelonious Monk by Robin D. G. Kelley – The Genius
Continuing in my reading about jazz, I just finished the masterpiece Thelonious Monk by Robin D. G. Kelley. It was an incredible read about a largely misunderstood genius. I have always enjoyed listening to Monk, but never exactly understood why. … Continue reading
Travel Tips: Georgia Aquarium – or – Damn, those are really whale sharks!?!
I visited a fascinating customer last week in Atlanta – not the one you know associated with news and cable, the other one – and had a morning off before heading to the airport. I had heard of the aquarium … Continue reading
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