Senses working overtime #407

1 A brief history of pancakes

2 Crosby Stills Nash and Young - David Browne

Kev sent me a copy of this to read - nothing in there was a revelation but great to be reconnected with the twisted CSNY machinations and I still don't get why Young and Nash became so pissed off with Crosby at the end - wasn't like they didn't know him by then, right?! 

It also inevitably took me back to their music - of which I am mildly obsessed. Surprised me how good American Dream was, although it gets a bad press. Worth a revisit!

3 What rewatching old TV shows tells us about ourselves

4 What is a snack, really?

5 How coffee (caffeine) really affects our bodies

Overtime: Still Raining, Still Dreaming - Jimi Hendrix

A good track to listen to while it persistently comes down in the Hawke's Bay of New Zealand.

Senses working overtime #406

Cyclone Gabrielle hits the north east of North Island. Hits hard!

1 Maple Grove (Takapau)

2  Gisborne

3  Auckland

4 Hastings

5 Northland

Overtime: John Steinbeck (The Grapes Of Wrath)

“Women can change better’n a man,” Ma said soothingly.

“Woman got all her life in her arms. Man got it all in his head.”

“Man, he lives in jerks-baby born an’ a man dies, an’ that’s a jerk-gets a farm and looses his farm, an’ that’s a jerk. Woman, its all one flow, like a stream, little eddies, little waterfalls, but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it like that. We ain’t gonna die out. People is goin’ on-changin’ a little, maybe, but goin’ right on.”

Senses working overtime #405

1 AI's de-aging of movie stars is a thing

2 Fifty-two acts of kindness for 2023

3 What causes déjà vu?

4 Ten rules of philosophy to live by

5 The rise and fall of music sales by format

Overtime: The Antidote to our Existential Helplessness

“Rather than feel impotent and useless, you must come to terms with the fact that as a human being you are infinitely powerful, and take responsibility for this tremendous power. Even our smallest actions have potential for great change, positively or negatively, and the way in which we all conduct ourselves within the world means something. You are anything but impotent, you are, in fact, exquisitely and frighteningly dynamic, as are we all, and with all respect you have an obligation to stand up and take responsibility for that potential. It is your most ordinary and urgent duty.”

– Nick Cave

Senses working overtime #404

1 The Wife Of Bath

2 Why comedy films don't make it to the box office these days

3 RIP Tom Verlaine

Patti Smith: On Saturday at 2:39 in the morning we lost Tom Verlaine. Words cannot express my sorrow for the loss nor the joy for having known him. All who loved his music may wish to play his records. I am offering Break it Up. It’s the song that Tom and I composed for Horses in 1975. The lyrics reflect a dream I had of the death and imagined resurrection of Jim Morrison. Tom’s uniquely beautiful and expressive guitar work can be heard throughout.

4 Stephen King's 20 rules for writers

5 The power of a walk

Overtime: Writer Lauren Elkin on the joys of walking:

"Walking is mapping with your feet. It helps you piece a city together, connecting up neighborhoods that might otherwise have remained discrete entities, different planets bound to each other, sustained yet remote. I like seeing how in fact they blend into one another, I like noticing the boundaries between them. Walking helps me feel at home. There's a small pleasure in seeing how well I’ve come to know the city through my wanderings on foot, crossing through different neighborhoods of the city, some I used to know quite well, others I may not have seen in a while, like getting reacquainted with someone I once met at a party."