Sunday. Trying to work up the enthusiasm to write another post about the Juicy Athena Gravy story, but not quite sure how to do it without consulting lawyers first. Apparently if you speak Italian this article is significant. I don’t know what to make of it, but coffee room gossip is that Private Eye would.
So I finished the book I was reading instead – Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Beautiful but very sad. Gets very mixed reviews I see but I was gripped. It has a science fiction setting but is really about love, the difficulty of expressing what you feel, and how you cope with the inevitability of loss.
So next I tried ironing and music, always a combination that perks me up, as the mindlessness of ironing allows channels to open that the busy mind will often block. I picked “Mellow Gold” by Beck. Mostly I associate Beck with a kind of punk nihilism, but sometimes he is hypnotically surreal. My favourite is “Steal My Body Home”. I really don’t quite know what its about, but like the Ishiguro book, it reeks of emotional dissociation. I refrain from pointing out the grimmer more accidental link.
The e-Astronomer 
Aesop’s fable of the Astronomer comes to mind. As a computer scientist I admit to spending most of my time at night observing cyberspace. I like the serenity, Astronomy and cosmology are sadly just a hobby. I find myself at the bottom of a hole listening to Beck as well. Thanks for the series on scientific plotters. Like a standardized illuminating measuring stick (type1A), those posts caught my attention. I now subscribe to your blog. I look forward to turning my gaze from time to time to your region of the sky.
You are most welcome old chap.
For those who know some British political history it is entertaining that the Minister’s name is Profumo.
Back even less than 20 years ago when RAM was DM 100 per MB, theft of memory was a problem in some places: office doors were locked, guards were posted.
True. But as far I know, we have never had security measures to prevent emotional loss.
I assume that “Beck” is a popular beat combo of some sort.
There’s a nice bit in “Five Finger Exercise” by Peter Shaffer where a judge says “What exactly are “Brahms” ?”, showing that by pretending ignorance you can demonstrate your superiority to any sort of culture, not just popular culture. I constantly annoy my friends by doing the same thing for any kind of sporting event.
Who’s pretending?
Are you the Young Pretnder or the Old Pretender ?
Note that the Pretenders are a modern beat combo.
A few years ago, I was surprised by Jeff Beck’s sudden rise in popularity after having been in the business for so long. Maybe he should do a cover of Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe”. 🙂
Poor old Jeff Beck doesn’t even feature on the wikipedia Beck disambiguation page.
Mind you, he actually has been having a bit of a comeback over the last few years – partly due to that amazing new bassist, Tal Wilkenfeld. She’s a lot jazzy, so even Peter might approve, although she’s not really dead enough.
There is a pointer to an article on him under Beck (surname), though.
The film version of “Never Let Me Go” is probably the saddest movie I’ve ever seen. Very atmospheric, bleak and haunting. I was thinking about it for days afterwards. Highly recommend if you want a thought-provoking film, but definitely a bit depressing. Carey Mulligan is wonderful in the lead role.