Senses working overtime #168

1 Perceptive essay on Star Wars anyone?

This one is worth reading (thanks James for the heads up)

2 Romelu Lukaku

Excellent autobiographical piece by the Belgium striker.

3 Goodbye CDs and downloads, welcome back - vinyl!

I have a lot of CDs, but I have even more records! I'm not sad about the prospect of buying less CDs and more vinyl!

4 Open offices? Hmmmm...

Interesting article.

5 Margalit Fox
Terrific piece on her retirement as an obit. writer.

Overtime - Candelas (thanks to Eleri)

Senses working overtime #160

1 Luke's reaction to Han's death

Great piece about a deleted scene from The Last Jedi (my co favourite Star Wars film Of All Time!

2 Poetry corner

At Night the Salmon Move

At night the salmon move
out from the river and into town.
They avoid places with names
like Foster's Freeze, A&W, Smiley's,
but swim close to the tract
homes on Wright Avenue where sometimes
in the early morning hours
you can hear them trying doorknobs
or bumping against Cable TV lines.
We wait up for them.
We leave our back windows open
and call out when we hear a splash.
Mornings are a disappointment.

Raymond Carver (1976)

3 More Star Wars: Solo

My expectations are not that high - I'm not a fan of 'young blah blah' stories (Indiana Jones, Butch and Sundance, Sherlock Holmes etc etc and so on) but this piece has piqued my interest levels somewhat.

4 Warren Ellis
Love his newsletters but he's gone dark for a spell to work on some ideas in his fevered brain. So here's a great picture of the great man to tide us over:

5 Robin Williams

After Margo, this gaze at Robin's last days is even more poignant. Once I started reading this I couldn't stop. Very sad ending!

Overtime: Seth Godin...

...on genius

Senses working overtime #143

1 Lana Del Rey vs Radiohead

This is plain weird, but The New Yorker does a good job giving the big picture to this copyright conundrum.

2 Performances that save or ruin a film
I don't disagree (shock horror). How 'bout you? Check out the list here.

3 Hue and cry
Twelve cool words that are survivors by dint of embedding themselves in phrases.

4 Luke

Interesting views on the changed Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (yes, that J G-L - the actor).

5 Nu Orlns!!!!!

OMG - what an end to a play-off game. The New Orleans Saints, with 14 seconds to go, looked like winning it, easily. Then they blew it. Big time. Here's the NY times on the whole sorry mess.

Overtime Benjamin Franklin

You could do a lot worse than following old Ben Kenobi's advice. Seriously dude - check it out!

Senses working overtime #140

1 Time photographs of the year
Some great pictures of some harrowing 2017 events. Lest we forget.

The Thomas fire in December

Protest in Charlottesville in August

Mosul in March

More here.

2 More best ofs for 2017

This time - movies. The top 20. Given it starts with The Last Jedi and includes Dunkirk - I'm paying attention! Plenty of these to catch up with in 2018!

3 Best Last Jedi article so far

I LOVED The Last Jedi - have I made that absolutely clear yet? This dude manages to nail a few of the reasons why I LOVED it so much.

4 Stanley Clarke
Excellent interview with the jazz bassman:

Some humans, they just see each other, it has nothing to do with sexuality or anything. Sometimes you meet a person and you connect, sometimes you don’t. I think it’s the basic reason why really interesting creative things get done.

5 Rian Johnson on the force

Have I mentioned I loved The Last Jedi yet? Here's some interview responses from the director on the force.

Extra Texture: Last words on The Last Jedi

1 Threads throughout the franchise
Interesting critical analysis of The Last Jedi and Star Wars tropes.

2 Luke in exile
Apparently it was George Lucas' concept from the get go. Read all about it!

3 The Last Jedi is the most intellectual Star Wars film
Which may explain why the critics love it! Wired magazine weighs in this time (I am the master).

Senses working overtime #138

1 The first review is in...

...and it's a very positive one!

 2 John Wick, a celebration

Coincidentally, I re-watched this and Chapter 2 over two nights this week. This appreciation of Keanu Reeves hits the right tone.

3 Do the evolution baby
Movie trailers are how they have evolved.

4 Netflix
Some great stats here on how the world watches via Netflix, like: the highest global re-watch record was set by an American who streamed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 365 times in 2017. 

They tell some interesting stories about the evolution of watching stuff.

5 The last word on Star Wars: The Last Jedi for this edition

Excellent primer - what you need to know BEFORE you go and see Episode 8.

Overtime: Merry Christmas by Big Big Train

Senses working overtime #135

1 Next Last Jedi

A new poster is out and the countdown continues to The Last Jedi. One month to go!

2 The twins

Nice focus to this story - a profiling of the Star Wars twins Luke and Leia.

3 Graham and Stephen
Colbert that is, with Graham Nash - interesting interview.




4 Eight Four days a week!!
Let's join the movement. You know how much you love the four day week? Sign up!

5

Overtime: I heart squirrel stories!

So here's a good'un.

Senses working overtime #129

1 The First Trailer. The Last Jedi.

Read and watch all about it here.

2 Yeh, Tay Tay

What to do with a problem like Taylor? Am I the only 60 year old male alive who actually appreciates Taylor Swift? I'm not sure how old Ryan Adams is, but he can't be that old, so, I think I might be. 

Hilarious, is it not, that her image is so fascinating for people. Try this analysis for starters.

3 The politics of Plath

I read Ariel as an undergraduate back in the late seventies. Appreciating it was a complex experience; she was a complex woman.

 Nice that Plath is still generating thoughts, words and new dramas into 2017. This Medium article is absorbing and worth your time.

4 The Governator on Trump

Arnie is the man! Here he is at Oktoberfest and talking sense about Trump (and other things)

5 Courtroom sketch artists and why we need 'em

  

Extra Texture
Austin Kleon's blog is pretty darn cool.

Senses working overtime #120

1 Disney's Star Wars Hotel

Last time we were at Disneyland we saw the huge area where the Star Wars stuff is under construction. The Hotel concept is explained here. We'll be there!

2 Arsenal v Leicester

Premier League is back! Read all about the first weekend.

3 The Last Jedi...

is getting closer.

4 U Thant Island
Loved this Vox video - best thing I watched on a computer this week!




5 THOR...

...is also coming. Great poster!

Extra texture
In praise of San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), actually their museum store which looks splendid.

Senses working overtime #110

1 Vanity Fair hits one out of the park, again

I never buy Vanity Fair but I'd sure as heckfire buy this copy! And there are more to come!


2 RIP Gregg Allman




I recently raved over Eat A Peach on my music blog and now this...Duane and Gregg, together again.

3 Sgt Pepper taught the band to play

Rolling Stone article on the reworked Sgt Pepper's for a generation who think - Dr Pepper? Huh? What do you mean? (Hi Jeff, if you read this!)

4 Rogue One, Hammerheads and physics

Great article explains the physics involved in ramming an Imperial Star Destroyer. I thought that too, but read it anyway - I learned a few things about physics and I thought THAT was impossible!

5 Paul Ryan
Friend Paul Ryan is walking the Camino again. You can read about him and his pilgrimage here. Good luck avoiding the blisters this time Paul.

Extra texture:
More on Sgt Peppers - the making of...Macca's Penny Lane (mmm - I know it's not on the actual album but Rolling Stone are taking a holistic view. Go see for yerself).

Senses working overtime #109

1 Melania's view

Fascinating piece that features analysis of Melania Trump's photos that she posted via her Twitter account. Sad and revealing!

2 Cool movie posters without text

More here.

3 I love maps

I have a Readers' Digest big book of maps that dad used to have. As a kid I'd often gaze and wonder. This site is a pretty cool extension of that idea.

4 RIP Chris Cornell
Dead at 52. What a waste. I have been growing old with Soundgarden and I will miss that voice.

5 The Last Jedi
Trailer is here in case you missed an earlier post and this is a thoughtful piece about what to expect around Christmas this year.

Overtime
JFK! JFK! JFK!!

Had he lived, he would turn 100 on May 29. This selection of thoughts from his daughter, Caroline, and her children, is very moving. But it's the photos that accompany the video that got me...and resonate, even today!

Senses working overtime #103

1 Stars!

Doris Day!

Great look at some golden age stars in the raw (so to speak).

2 Animated Music Video Clips
Twenty might be 15 too many but at least it has Aha's classic Take On Me!

3 Fabs! In colour! Live! Raging!!
Listen to this with some headphones. Amazing.




4 Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Breathe, just breathe!



5 Newspaper black out poems (by Austin Kleon)

Austin writes an interesting newsletter and had this bright idea about writing poetry that is pretty cool!




Overtime

Thor: Ragnarok - this time - they might have got it right! Great trailer at any rate, featuring Led Zeppelin's classic song!