What books have you been reading lately?

grimtraveller said:
My colleague that I was talking to had one eye done in 2019 and hasn't had the other done yet. I'm curious, with you, is it a cost issue that's made you wait for a few years ? How has it been having one eye much better and the other one not quite up to the same quality ? Is it very noticeable ?

Because I've always really appreciated George, I found myself getting quite irritated at the way Geoff would talk about him. In the latter part of the book, he sort of stops it, but he makes George seem like a real dufus that couldn't work out solos and whose musicianship was of lesser quality.
His fellow engineer, Ken Scott, was none too pleased with Geoff Emerick over the book. I can't remember if it was him, but one of the former EMI engineers questioned much of what Emerick "remembered" by saying that he had quizzed a number of them for their recollections.

Being me, I'm one of those people that ascribes equal weight to all 4 Beatles. So I could talk about George all day and night. I find it a travesty when so many writers don't give his early songs the credit they deserve, or the part he played in the construction of songs like "And I love her," "Help !", "She said, she said," "I'm only sleeping" and "We can work it out." Straight off the bat, those are 5 songs that would be completely different without George's arranging and compositional skills. And his instrumental colouring of a number of songs in the '65~'68 period, as well as his Indian timing that bled into particularly John's songs {later solidified by Yoko} makes him a Beatle par excellence. Mind you, they all were.
I even like his voice ! Very distinctive as a soloist, glorious as a harmonist and backing singer.
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No, it hasn't been a money issue. It might seem silly, but when the moon is full I want to see a nice round circle. Meaning, the star affect distorted or obscured the image. Even though the eye yet to be done was fuzzy I could still see a nice round circle. As I said, perhaps that sounds silly, but I didn't want to lose that. There are also things like struggling with glare from oncoming headlights, which gets a little sketchy and could be dangerous. I mean, relative to what I may be looking at the rays emanating out from the light source can be meters, and so many it is impossible to count. And as I may have also said, when I initially look at the light source the rays rotate until eventually becoming stable. It's really weird, I can only interpret it as my brain trying to interpret what I am seeing. I wanted at least partially to hold on to my own eyesight as long as I can, in part and certainly because of those things. And I guess because I like the idea of keeping the original equipment. Don't get me wrong, I feel blessed that it was possible to restore vision in my eye. I didn't know anything about cataracts, I thought I was just (secretly) going blind. I'm overdue getting the other eye done, I can't or shouldn't hold out any longer. I'll talk to the doctor about the problems. Honestly, if I experience the same problem times 2 nighttime driving might not be a good idea.

Funny thing: I hadn't shot a rifle in a while. I was on a property where these guys were firing a new rifle. I had arrived a little late to the party, so to speak, and they were putting the rifle away. I was disappointed and briefly considered asking if I could fire the gun. Then it occurred to me and I remembered. With my right (aiming) eye the way it is, stand the fark back. Way back! As the saying goes, I wouldn't be able to hit the broadside of a barn.
 
Orson said:
Yep audiobooks are the way things will be from now on. No one wants to read anymore or even look at pictures
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Speak for yourself, Jack !
I love reading and the idea of audiobooks just doesn't do it for me. I realize that I was like that as a kid. I never liked stories being read to me once I could read and I learned to read at 4, long before I went to school. I didn't mind a story being told to me though, strangely. My dad was great with those.
Even in school, when children are reading to me or the whole class, I sort of treat it as a forensic exercise. I can't get into a story if someone is doing the reading.
 
Orson said:
it is great if you can add all the noises relative to the story but masses of work than just narration.
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The irony is, I think I make a great story reader, complete with noises, expressions and different accents....
For years, random people have been telling me I should do voice-overs. This woman once told me she loved my voice and that I was a natural for the shipping forecasts. I wasn't sure how to take that !
Have you ever heard the shipping forecast ? 😴
 
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grimtraveller said:
The irony is, I think I make a great story reader, complete with noises, expressions and different accents....
For years, random people have been telling me I should do voice-overs. This woman once told me she loved my voice and that I was a natural for the shipping forecasts. I wasn't sure how to take that !
Have you ever heard the shipping forecast ? 😴
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:-) You will have to change your name to DoggerBank............seconds thoughts GT don't do that. It has a double meaning today and Mrs may be none too pleased.

Having a great voice is a fantastic blessing. You should use it to tell stories even if you prefer to read them.
 
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grimtraveller said:
This woman once told me she loved my voice and that I was a natural for the shipping forecasts. I wasn't sure how to take that !
Have you ever heard the shipping forecast ? 😴
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Color me stupid, but what hell is the shipping forecast? A high seas weather report?
Putting your best voice on it, can you forecast when all the container ships lounging outside the port of Los Angeles will have their cargo offloaded?
A lady cashier at a grocery store once suggested that my voice would be perfect as a radio sports announcer. I laughed all the way home until I said out loud, "Here's the pitch. High and outside. Ball one."
 
60's guy said:
Color me stupid, but what hell is the shipping forecast? A high seas weather report?
Putting your best voice on it, can you forecast when all the container ships lounging outside the port of Los Angeles will have their cargo offloaded?
A lady cashier at a grocery store once suggested that my voice would be perfect as a radio sports announcer. I laughed all the way home until I said out loud, "Here's the pitch. High and outside. Ball one."
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The BBC has always given a local shipping forecast on their World Service. A forecast for Mariners around the world and also people who live near the coast. It is basically a much required weather report for sea areas. You may laugh, but a Violent Storm Force 11 or even 12.:oops: Gust wind speeds exceeding 100mph. You will definitely not be going out fishing.

DoggerBank is a sea area off the UK coast.

The shipping forecast is spoken in a very serious type of voice. Go for it GT.:-)
 
gecko zzed said:
Don't laugh, and I'm aware that revealing this may tarnish my reputation as Grumpy Mod, but I am reading Anne of Green Gables. The grandkids had been reading it, and I recalled having done so myself when I was their age. However, I could not remember a thing about it. So I picked it up and started reading.

It is a very engaging and heart-warming story, and I can see why it has become such a favourite.

Even more important for me is that Anne is a character with flaws, but who develops and becomes able to manage those flaws throughout the course of the story. This is a pleasant change from many contemporary female protagonists who seem to be born flawless and show no character development.
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If you don't cry, your reputation will hold up.
 
60's guy said:
Color me stupid, but what hell is the shipping forecast? A high seas weather report?
Putting your best voice on it, can you forecast when all the container ships lounging outside the port of Los Angeles will have their cargo offloaded?
A lady cashier at a grocery store once suggested that my voice would be perfect as a radio sports announcer. I laughed all the way home until I said out loud, "Here's the pitch. High and outside. Ball one."
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Juuuussst a bit outside!!
 
Folkcafe said:
View attachment 111910
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screen-shot-09-27-21-at-07-30-pm-jpg.111910

Folk, you finish read'n this one?

The title has me going...how does it end?
 
Santa emptied his sack and left. Rudolf's nose is still a little red from the snow. But they all lived happily ever after.:-)
 
I recently read "The Midnight Watch" written by David Dyer, the book being a fictional/historical accounting of the night of April 14, 1912 when the Titanic sank....perhaps within eyesight of the crew aboard the ship Californian.
www.barnesandnoble.com

The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian|eBook

As the Titanic and her passengers sank slowly into the Atlantic Ocean after striking an iceberg late in the evening of April 14, 1912, a nearby ship looked on. Second Officer Herbert Stone, in charge of the midnight watch on the SS Californian sitting idly a few miles north,...
www.barnesandnoble.com www.barnesandnoble.com
 
I've just finished "Women in the earliest churches" by Ben Witherington III. It was actually superb, even though a lot of it is in Greek {!!} and a bit of French. He deserved a slap for that !
Love the book though.
I'm currently reading, as my "Lou Reed", a book I read back in 1982 called "The Police - Historia Bandida." It has its moments, but it's written with a tone that I find really irritating at times. My main reading though, is Steve Hackett's "There's a Genesis in my bed" which so far, is really excellent. It's certainly better than Steve Howe's disappointing autobiography and half as long. Much of Howe's one just read like an itinerary of the gigs he played and where he went !
 
Haven't read any books since October.... Have about 8 on the shelf. I've been busy catching up on some movies, and reading Vintage Guitar, Guitar Player, Golf and Golf Digest magazines, and reading this darn computer. Eventually I'll turn everything off, grab a book and spend the next couple of days in the recliner.
 
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