Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Big Read

Via Lisa Rullsenburg .

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you love.
4) Strike out the books you have no intention of ever reading, or were forced to read at school and hated. (I see no reason to restrict ‘books I hated’ to school - there are only a couple of books on the list I really disliked, and neither of them was a school text.)
5) Reprint this list in your own blog so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks - started and will never funish
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - will never read, read another of his and hated it!!
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks.
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

73 read in my case - quite a lot I guess, I am a pretty prolific reader. There's nothing unread on the list that I feel a burning need to read - my exposure to the classics is limited but through choice not omission. Couldn't figure out how to strike out so have put comments beside a couple of books that I have no intention of ever reading or finishing in one case. Birdsong - left me completely cold.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

The Big Chill









I've just come back from a brilliant weekend at the Big Chill festival in Herefordshire with Lizzy and Chris (first two pics). It was a very family friendly festival (see third pic with lovely hula girls). The location was brilliant, see 4th and 5th pics. 6th pic is Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords, just because I like him
We saw Leonard Cohen on Sunday evening, he made me cry his music was so beautiful. Also lots of other brilliant acts. It was a great experience all round. Even with camping. We'll do this sort of stuff again.


Friday, June 06, 2008

The clearest sea you ever did see

This is me floating in the sea off Marathia Beach in Zakynthos. A lovely island, beautiful weather and the sea as clear as clear can be. Bliss!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Meet the family



Back row: Me and My siblings - Sarah, Bethy, Steve, Tina
Front row: Nephew Jake, Mum, Dad, Niece Amy

I think this was on the occasion of my Mum's 80th birthday a couple of years ago.
A nice day.
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Eight go wild in Paris





Keith got told off for taking this picture!


Compare and contrast

Sergeant Pepperoni


Saturday, April 26, 2008

Baby Lemonade

The guys are back in the UK in October - hurrah!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=45100164

I'll be picking up as many of the shows as I can, pity they're not doing the Rescue Rooms but never mind.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Where have I been??





Its been a while hasn't it?




One of the places I have been is Madeira - favourite of the more mature holiday maker. It was lovely, nice weather, lovely gardens, nice places to walk etc. Here's a pic or two.








Thursday, January 10, 2008

Guitar lessons

I had my first guitar lesson this evening. It was good, I'm going to enjoy this. Must make sure I practice as I need to harden up my fingers as much as anything.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Black Mountain

I went to see Black Mountain perform at the Rescue Rooms last Thursday as the "plus one" of Mike of Troubled Diva fame - very much my sort of band. And I do recall saying to him at different points during the gig "This sounds like the Doors" and "He sounds like Neil Young now". Thanks very much Mike, a good band that I would have otherwise missed.

Also, I discovered from talking to Mike that sitting at a table in a restaurant in Milan with two members of the Residents not wearing their customary eyeball masks is a coup indeed - unknown to me previously, presumably they are an extremely secretive bunch never seen in public without said headgear. I never blogged about the aftermath of the Milan Sgt Pepper concert but it involved variously wandering the streets of Milan with Badly Drawn Boy and a Badly Drawn Map until said restaurant was found, as well as above mentioned Residents exclusive.

Baby Lemonade & London Sinfonietta are doing the Sgt Pepper gig in Paris next year involving a well known survivor of the 60s / 70s with a predilection for hard drugs, taking his top off and wearing see through PVC trousers ........ Can't wait!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Okkervill River - saw them tonight at the Social and they were tremendous!

My shuffleathon CD and letter to Mark

Hi Mark

Well you’ve had the dubious privilege of drawing my name out of Swiss Toni’s big shuffleathon hat.

I’m probably at the older end of the age scale of participants and my choice of tracks reflects that – age doesn’t make me any less passionate about music however, which has been a huge thing in my life, not quite as long as I can remember, but certainly since I reached adolescence in the 60s. I’ve made no attempt to pick out tracks which I think are the best musically, or even to reflect my taste in music now, I’ve simply come up with a list of artists and tracks that have meant something to me over the years.

The list enclosed gives track name, artist, and the album I’ve extracted the track from (not always the original source album, some of these are from “Best ofs”) and there’s a little bit of context about each track below:

1) Pleasant Valley Sunday The Monkees The Definitive Monkees

The Monkees are the first band I really got into aged about 13 – they were a manufactured boy band and had a show on primetime TV, early Saturday evening. My friends and I used to get together to watch and scream a bit – my fave member somewhat against the general trend was always Micky Dolenz, who went on to marry one of the Pan’s People dance group off TOTP. They were derided at the time by “grown ups” but they’ve achieved some critical acclaim over the intervening 40 years or so, and this is a great track.

2) Getting Better The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Again, against the general trend of the time I wasn’t actually a huge Beatles fan, but I did love Sgt Pepper – I was a bit of a hippy chick in those days. This isn’t the best track on Sgt Pepper even but its great positive stuff, and if you look at my blog you’ll see that I went to a gig in Milan recently where Sgt Pepper was recreated and this was a stand out track with Badly Drawn Boy doing vocals.

3) Son of a Preacher Man Dusty Springfield Goin'back - the very best of Dusty Springfield

Dusty is imho the best soul voice by a mile that the UK has ever produced. This takes me back to my teens, listening to a little transistor radio by the side of the cricket pitch at school in Whitley Bay on a long hot summer afternoon, my friend Amanda was going out with the son of the local minister who was a bit of a bad lad.

4) Seven & Seven Is Love Da Capo

I love this band and again if you look at my blog you’ll know why in great detail – nuff said.


5) Click Clack Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band The Spotlight Kid

Another great 60s favourite – the best gig I’ve ever been to bar none in a long career of gig-going was Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band at Newcastle City Hall early 1972 – the tightest band imaginable. Old Don was a bit of a nutter, still is, he had some weird things going on inside his head, but some of the music he created was just out of this world.

6) L.A. Woman The Doors L. A. Woman

Adulation of Jim Morrison was certainly not against the general trend in the late 60s / early 70s – another one who died far too young. The dark side of 60s psychedelia. As with Love, on the periphery of the hippy stuff going on at the time but no flower wearing in hair going on here.

7) The Jean Genie David Bowie Best Of David Bowie 1969-1974

David Bowie to me means starting University in Nottingham in 1972 and leaving the North East pretty much for good, sitting around in student bedrooms raving on about Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane and so on. I could have picked any number of tracks but I really like this one..

8) If The Shoe Fits Leon Russell Carney

This takes me back to meeting my old man Keith in about 1973 – we’re still together. H e had this album and really loved it when we first met.

9) Can We Still Be Friends Todd Rundgren Hermit Of Mink Hollow

Beautiful track, again early 70s stuff. End of a heavy evening stuff.

10) You gotta walk (don't look back) Peter Tosh Bush Doctor

I’ve always had a reggae thing going on even with all the psychedelic hippy trippy stuff around – I find it impossible not to jig around the room when this is on. Brings back memories of some great nights with friends.

11) Sultans Of Swing Dire Straits Money For Nothing

Before they got arenaised and MTVised, Dire Straits were just a little guitar playing band from Newcastle. My Mum’s friend knew Mark Knopfler’s Mum, and she apparently was always berating him for spending all his time in his bedroom picking away at his guitar. Parents eh?? When this first came out it sounded so fresh and original. They also mention Whitley Bay in one of their tracks (Tunnel of Love) so how could I not love them?

12) Train To Rhodesia Big Youth Dreadlocks Dread

More reggae. Big Youth got us together in 1977 with some people who are still great friends today. Keith decided to train to be a teacher after a few years not doing much after leaving University. One evening we had a few folks from his course round to our flat, including a rather sullen youth from Hull called Steve. We put the Big Youth album on and he just came to life completely, he’d come to Nottingham to do his PGCE course and join up with his girlfriend Wendy who was already a student here after doing a degree in London, and the album had been the soundtrack to his student days. They’re still together as well and are our best pals in Nottingham.

13) No More Heroes The Stranglers No More Heroes

Late 70s. Punk. Great song. Keith became a Geography teacher but had to do some English teaching as well, which filled him with trepidation. I suggested he did something about song lyrics and he used this song, went down very well with the 3rd year apparently.


14) Jimmy Jimmy The Undertones The Best Of The Undertones

More punk. Great song. We named our son (now aged 22) after this song. Middle name Leon after the previous one.

Poor unfortunate lad.


15) Tired Of Being Alone Al Green Al

This just sends me. The man’s voice is pure liquid honey. He found religion and became the Reverend Al Green after being seriously injured when he was found by a cuckolded husband in bed with his wife and had boiling water chucked over him. Hey Ho.



That’s it, hope you enjoy at least some of it. I know I did.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Shuffleathon 2007

We had a week in Crete recently, arriving back 27th October - nice week if a tad rainy to begin with. When we returned there was a jiffy bag waiting for me from an address in Texas - my shuffleathon CD!! It emanated from Mike of Mad Stories, an Englishman living in the U S of A.

I've been listening to the CD driving around in my car since then to get the feel of it - I've spent some of the intervening time in London working so its taken some time to get the review together, but I reckon I'm there now - so here goes...

1) Midnight - Yazoo
Not a Yazoo track I was previously familiar with - Alison Moyet has a great strong voice and I'm into electro-pop so this is a winner as far as I'm concerned.

2) Don't walk away - Toni Childs
A new artist to me. Wikipedia tells me that she is aged 50 and hails from Orange County. Another strong female voice. Like it and its become a bit of an earworm, but I won't be rushing out to buy the album.

3) Into the great wide open - Tom Petty
More familiar territory here. A rebel without a clue. Great video with Johnny Depp playing Eddie. Oi'll give it foive.

4) Fog Town - Michelle Shocked
Its about San Francisco. We were there in the summer and it certainly is foggy. Not my sort of thing although I liked "Anchorage".

5) Lil' Devil - The Cult
Driving around Nottingham suburbia in autumnal drizzle this does absolutely nothing for me - but I can imagine driving along the freeway in the vast wastes of the USA with the sun shining down and this going down a treat. Its all about context.

6) Rainbow Child - Dan Reed Network
Ditto as above re context - soft rock, made for driving along with your sunglasses on and your elbow sticking out of the car window.

7) I'm the only one - Melissa Etheridge
Don't like her voice. She's the lady famous for her and her female partner having children fathered by David Crosby. Still don't like her voice.

8) Woman in Chains - Tears for Fears
I'd forgotten how much I liked this band. Very pleasing sound.

9) Smooth - Santana featuring Rob (not Rod) Thomas
Very familiar territory here. The track that was huge a few years ago. Rob I can take or leave, bit of a parvenu, but Carlos Santana is God. Brilliant guitar playing.

10) Be my downfall - Del Amitri
Not very memorable. Scottish.

11) Ladylike - Storm Large
Mike apologised in the letter he sent with the CD for the amount of swearing in this track. I liked it, possibly even my favourite track of the selection. Looks like the lady was on a reality TV show in the States. Well done her I say!

12) Without you - Nilsson
A classic. Very reassuring. Wave that lighter in the air.

13) Troy - Sinead O'Connor
Another strong female voice, Mike is obviously a big fan of those. I always admired Sinead as an artist even if I didn't actually like much of her music. You're still a lawyer. Is that lawyer, or liar in Oirish? Or is the point that Sinead thinks the two are synonomous? Striking is the word that springs to mind to describe this track.

14) Hijo de la luna - Mecano
"Son of the Moon" in Spanish. Lovely melody, nice light and airy song. Like it a lot.

15) Nothing else matters - Metallica
Thought I'd hate this before I listened to it - I was expecting heavy metal (not a fave genre for me) but this is almost baroque. Thanks Mike, I'm almost a convert.

So a number of hits, a couple of misses, but generally very favourable. Mike likes his strong ladies, and if I didn't know he was a British expat in the USA, I might have guessed it. Thanks very much and good night.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Sunday, October 28, 2007

OK Go

I really like this - Jim showed me it!