Senses working overtime #593

1 The feeling this week:

Photo by Tim Johnson on Unsplash

2 Reading: Songs from the Shaky Isles (A short history of popular music in New Zealand) - Gareth Shute

I picked this up from the sale bin outside Paper Plus in Waipukurau this week. I'm already engrossed in the origins of music in New Zealand.

3 Not reading: The Virginian - Owen Wister

I've decided to shelve this novel 150 pages in. I wasn't looking forward to reading it and started reading other books instead of it, hence the decision to stop. Maybe I'll come back to it in the future.

4 Watched: The first three Terminator films

All of the scary speculation about AI's future vs the benefits it brings to humanity meant we watched the first three Terminator movies this week. I suggest the boffins at Open AI and Anthropic do the same, as news reports of a potential US/China conflict in the Middle East thanks to AI surfaced. 

5 Listening: Hemi Hemingway's album Wings of Desire

This was Kevy's choice for the week. My review is here.

Overtime: André Gide (in 1925)

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore.

Senses working overtime #592

1 Spring is on the way at Maple Grove

Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash

2 Watched: Alone Australia Season 4

This is the one where nine Aussies and one Kiwi aim to be the last person standing in the frozen wastes of northern Finland. A good season but I wanted Clint (the Kiwi farmer) to 'win'. He lasted until the final three contestants.

3 Listening: Monkee Business: The Revolutionary Made-For-TV Band (an audio book)

GK recommended this audio book to me, and I've been a keen listener this week on my daily pootling to school along State Highway 50.

4 Reading: Three Reasons For Revenge - Dervla McTiernan

The amazing Jodi, in the Iona College library, has started a book club which of course I joined! The concept is that members choose a mystery book in a brown bag. In mine was Three Reasons for Revenge. It's yet to catch fire but I'm hopeful. Hold the phone!! It just got interesting with a deep fake blackmail of a sexual nature plot change!

5 Listening: The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz at Oberlin

Perdido is a clear standout on this live album from 1953.

Overtime: Judy Garland

Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of someone else.

Senses working overtime #591

1 This week:

Photo by Ivan Vranić on Unsplash

2 Reading: Bill Bryson - Down Under (in Walkabout)

I enjoyed A Walk in the Woods, now onto 'Straylia.

3 Listening: Bob Welch - French Kiss

4 Watching: The Brokenwood Murders (Season 4)

Detective Sims

5 Birthdays this week:

Ivy (1)

Poppy (3)

Overtime: Michelle Obama

Just try new things. Don't be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar.

Senses working overtime #590

1 A rinse and repeat week

A hectic week at work (two late night parent interview sessions, disruptions to daily timetables for a House competition and visiting speakers, after school PD, mid-winter illnesses) meant I had little time for enriching the senses with new books or TV shows.

So, I kept going in fits and starts with those Bill Bryson, Gary Snyder and Owen Wister books when I could, and finished watching Lawmen: Bass Reeves. That was it.

However, I did manage to maintain my blogging rituals, so those are my jewels for the week.

2 Baggy Trousers

3 Destination Records

4 Goo Goo G'Joob

5 The Purdzilla Show

Overtime: Wozza's Place

Senses working overtime #589

1 The feeling this week

Photo by They CallMe ZEUS⚡ on Unsplash

2 Reading: Bill Bryson - A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Over the years, I've read quite a few of his books but somehow I've missed this one until now (and Down Under which I'll get to eventually). It's great too - funny as all get out.

3 Listening: Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner

My favourite album this week. If you want just one track try Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson). First up is the hilarious intro, then the song.

4 Watching: Lawmen: Bass Reeves

5 Reflecting: Who am I, really?

I really enjoyed writing my Wozza's Place blog entry this week - the last in a series of self-examinations.

Overtime: Marcus Aurelius

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. 

Senses working over time #588

1 A rainy week in Takapau

Photo by ERIC ZHU on Unsplash

2 Watching: Zappa - d. Alex Winter (2020)

I bought this BlueRay DVD a while ago from JB Hi Fi and watched it while Jacky was away in New Plymouth this week - she would have hated it, so I've been waiting for my opportunity. It was okay, but how do you cover all the various Zappas in a two-hour documentary? Impossible, but this is fine as a taster to the weird and wacky Zappa universe.

3 Reading: The Virginian - Owen Wister

After the superb Three Days in June by Anne Tyler (she is a brilliant writer - I love her books), it's change-up time - with a western and a collection of essay (below).

4 Listening: Bongo Fury - Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.

The 50th anniversary edition came as a 5 CD set. I love the original album and the set on Spotify (3 discs) has two complete concerts - the third comes with an unscheduled intermission for a bomb threat.

Some of it is great and some is terrible. The great though, like Pound For A Brown in 2 parts, is really great.

5 Reading: The Practice of the Wild - Gary Snyder

A collection of his essays originally printed in 1990.

Overtime: Harriet Beecher Stowe

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

Senses working overtime #587

1 First week in August - chilly morning arrivals at school!

The Iona College chapel at 7.00am this week

2 Reading: Three Days in June - Anne Tyler

3 Listening: Wozza - Wonders (on our Friday night road trip to NP)

4 Watching: Alone Season 13

It's a bit painful waiting a week for each new episode but the show is engrossing, so it's worth the pain.

5 Reading: Joan Didion

I loved this passage about Joan Baez from Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

Overtime: Anne Tyler  

Someday I'd like to be given credit for all the times I have not said something that I could have said.

Lead character Gail in Three Days in June.