Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Still, Life



I always presumed that Van Gogh adopted his color scheme from the bright light of Provence. But perhaps the seed was always there, in glimpses of the canals of Amsterdam on a clear winter’s morn.

On the turntable:  Jimmy Smith, "Dot Com Blues"

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

(untitled)




Thinking of Uruguayan rugby teams,
As large rocks drift by
Just off our wingtips.

On the turntable:  John Scofield, "Steady Groovin'"
 

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Sunday Papers: Isabel Allende


"There's a certain freshness and innocence in people who have always lived in one place and can count on witnesses to their passage through the world. In contrast, those of us who have moved on many times develop a tough skin out of necessity. Since we lack roots or corroboration of who we are, we must put our trust in memory to give continuity to our lives... but memory is always cloudy, we can't trust it. Things that happened in the past have fuzzy outlines, they're pale, it's as if my life has been nothing but a series of illusions, of fleeting images, of events I don't understand, or only half understand."

On the turntable:  Jimmy Smith, "Standards"


Saturday, February 23, 2019

Remembering Jordan, One Year On


I think of those early days in Japan, those places, the people we knew.  All of them changed, finished, gone.  Most of all, you.  

And with you gone, I am alone in being the caretaker of memories. 

On the turntable:  James Brown, "Grits & Soul"

Thursday, February 21, 2019

From Bike Pound to Buddha on Rokkaku-dō Dōri



The next installment of the Kyoto Streets series, at Deep Kyoto:

http://www.deepkyoto.com/from-bike-pound-to-buddha-on-rokkaku-do-dori/


On the turntable: J. Geils Band, "eXtras"

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

(untitled)




The dual nature of stone:
To help shape a life
Or to take one.

On the turntable:  John Coltrane, "The Complete Atlantic Recordings"

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Sunday Papers: Bruce Chatwin


"Patagonia is the farthest place to which man walked from his place of origins.  It is therefore a symbol of his restlessness."


On the turntable:  Jimmy Smith, "Fourmost"

Friday, February 15, 2019

Imbibing Bibliophile #64




In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin

Roja IPA, Cerveza Hernando de Magallanes
On the turntable:  Jah Wobble, " I Could Have Been a Contender"

Monday, February 11, 2019

Imbibing Bibliophile #63




The Old Patagonia Express by Paul Theroux

(flight), Beagle Brewery
 
 On the turntable:  Jimmy Smith, "Damn!"

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Sunday Papers: William T. Brigham


"Old travellers know how soon the individuality of a country is lost when once the tide of foreign travel is turned through its town or its by-ways."

On the turntable: John Coltrane:  The Complete Prestige Recordings" 

Friday, February 08, 2019

Imbibing Bibliophile #62



      Patagonia, Moon Guides
Cape Pembroke Pale Ale, Falkland Beerworks


On the turntable: Jaco Pastorius, "Invitation"

Tuesday, February 05, 2019

A Great Wall


May 2005 

It was on a trip to Beijing.  Walking across one of the big open courtyards of the Forbidden City, my girlfriend at the time said something, and I knew at that moment that we could no longer be together.  We visited the Great Wall the following day, and none of my memories of that day seem to include her.  She had already begun to recede from my life. 



On the turntable:  Joni Mitchell, "Wembley Arena, 08-24-1984"

Sunday, February 03, 2019

Sunday Papers: Jorge Luis Borges


"Joseph Conrad could write that he excluded the supernatural from his work because to include it would seem a denial that the everyday was marvelous"

On the turntable: Joni Mitchell, "Night Ride Home"


Friday, February 01, 2019

Looking for the Lost on Kyoto’s Higashi-no-toin




Looking for the Lost on Kyoto’s Higashi-no-toin - the first Kyoto walk of the new year with Edward J. Taylor.  

http://www.deepkyoto.com/looking-for-the-lost-on-kyotos-higashi-no-toin/?fbclid=IwAR1DDOisBeMKOHvE6koRf8ToGY2E-DY_yIitLH7wbwBr5rlFHe8MOU_mx2U


On the turntable:  Joni Mitchell, "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter"