The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Recently a friend an I were talking about Haruki Murakami‘s books, and when we asked each other’s favourites, my friend’s answer was “Killing Commendatore”, while my first reaction and answer to this was “1Q84”.

And while both are brilliant, by re-reading first “Kafka On The Shore”, and after that, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”, my mind has changed (at least for now; I began re-reading “Killing Commendatore” but after a few pages interrupted that to read the ones mentioned above first).

Like probably every author, Murakami has recurring themes, topics, and sometimes even characters – the “hollow man” being a figure in “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”, and “hollow men” being a concept in “Kafka On the Shore”, or Ushikawa being both present in “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”, but having a much more prominent role in the third book of “1Q84”.

I think now that “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” was probably the best I’ve read so far of Murakami’s, it’s also a very sad one at times, and the described cruelty (and the nonsense of war) is frightening. The most frightening figure of all is “Boris the manskinner”, a Russian who was elsewhere compared to Vladimir Putin, and let me cite from the English translation why I had the same thoughts:

My own country is hopeless. It was almost better under the czars. At least the czar didn’t have to strain his empty head over a lot of theory. Lenin took whatever he could understand of Marx’s theory and used it to his own advantage, and Stalin took whatever he could understand of Lenin’s theory (which wasn’t much) and used it to his own advantage. The narrower a man’s intellectual grasp, the more power he is able to grab in this country.

Brilliant, isn’t it? And to have “Boris the manskinner” aka Vlad being the ones who took whatever they could understand of Stalin (less than Lenin, much less than Marx), but both equally brutal, yes that seemed to fit. If you can stand it, read it.

More about Haruki Murakami here. And as always, thanks for reading.

About food and nutrition

Michael Johnston from The Online Photographer is not only an expert and a must read on photography, he’s a very interesting and friendly guy to follow on a lot of topics. So now he wrote about food again, here and here. And he put links to videos of some doctors in there as well, listen for instance to Dr. Gemma Newman:

WHY I QUIT LOW CARB & WENT VEGAN – Dr. Newman

Or to her colleague Dr. Barnard, and others:

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY: Dr Barnard & Other Plant Based Doctors

What Michael describes quite nicely is that you can eat as much as you want, and some if not most of these doctors confirm that – as long as it’s healthy food, which means fibers, and plant-based. In that last video you also saw Dr. Greger, and I have both his original “How Not To Die” plus the accompanying “How Not To Die Cookbook“, and I can recommend both of them.

By the way: these last two links to the German Amazon contain affiliate links back to Wikiloops, so in case you’d use these links to buy something there, Wikiloops would get a bit of support as well. Normally I never do this, but for that page I make an exception – it’s like supporting oneself if you’re using that great site as a musician during these times of Covid-19.

As always, thanks for reading, and for watching.

What to do in times of a pandemia

Well I can hardly give any tips of what best to do in a “lockdown” kind of situation, when you can’t or at least shouldn’t really leave the house. I can only tell you what we’re doing:

  • we went shopping of Friday after my work already, so we were through with that early on. It also helps if you enter the supermarkets as a single person, not with a whole family. Better for the distances we should keep…
  • reading is always good – my current favourite fiction author is Haruki Murakami as you might know if you’re reading this blog once in a while
  • listening to music and/or watching TV is what I’ll guess what most people would do, and of course we’re also doing that. Long running series like “Doctor Who” are good tips if you like that
  • If you’re a computer geek, get involved into some free and open source project – write some code or documentation, or share some tips via an own blog or Youtube or whatever
  • We’re the lucky ones, at least Zuleikha and me – we play instruments. Plus we are both members of Wikiloops where you can play with other musicians from all around the globe for free if you like. All you need is some way to get your instrument or voice into a computer, which is usually done with some kind of audio interface – see here for some examples. And Wikiloops just lifted its time restrictions, so even as a new user you can now start down- and uploading at once, without having to wait (or to pay).
  • If you are creative in another field – I consider myself a portrait photographer for instance – then do this at home as well. Take photos of your family, or in case you’re alone, take self portraits. There’s always something new to learn, and if it’s only about lighting.

Other than that I haven’t done much this weekend, in fact I wasn’t even out of the house except to feed the birds:

7e4_3222159-bird-food
Bird food, Mörfelden-Walldorf 2020

As I’ve read, the rate of new infections with SARS-CV2 aka the Corona virus is slowing down here in Germany. So maybe (and hopefully) it helps if everyone is staying at home or at least keeping a safe distance. And while it’s still way too early to speak of or to hope for a trend, we can still carry on and wait this out, shall we?

Be safe. Stay healthy. And thank you for reading.

In case you like fiction…

Here are four books which I’ve got for my birthday this year, and in the order I’ve read them:

7e4_3012052-birthday-presents
Birthday presents, Mörfelden-Walldorf 2020

I like Murakami anyway, and I had read some five or so other books of his already – but these here are all exceptional. I think that I’ve read them in the right order, so if you don’t know the man, that would be my recommendation. Other than these I can recommend ‘Kafka on the shore’, ‘Norwegian wood’, or ‘Killing Commendatore’, but in my opinion these ones here are truly good. And that last one, ‘1Q84’ is definitely a masterpiece (and one of his latest if I’m not mistaken, it was published 2009/10 in Japan, and 2011 in Great Britain).

Recommended, all of them.

I took the photo with the same in-camera black & white settings resembling a digital Olympus Pen-F camera like I wrote one day before my birthday, here.

And, as always, thanks for reading, and for looking.

Auf Deutsch: Der Eberhofer Franz

Letzte Woche Mittwoch und Donnerstag wurden in 3Sat zwei ‘Eberhofer’ Krimis gezeigt – das sagte mir erstmal nix, aber da Mitchie Krimis mag und die Filme ab 12 sind dachte ich am Donnerstag, man könne ja mal reingucken.

Haben wir gelacht! Und gleich den verpaßten Film vom Vortag in der Mediathek gesehen, einer ist auch jetzt gerade noch in der ARD-Mediatek verfügbar…

Zuleikha und ich haben dann später auch noch den 3. von bisher insgesamt 6 Filmen (und 10 Büchern) in der Mediathek des Schweizer Fernsehens gesehen, nacheinander und auf einem Mobiltelefon mit der ‘Zapp’ App aus dem F-Droid Appstore (unbedingt mal danach suchen, das lohnt!).

Also – wer der Eberhofer Franz und sein bester Freund Birkenberger Rudi eigentlich sind, worum’s geht und was es mit all den komischen Speisen der Oma oder dem Kraut vom Papa so auf sich hat erfahrt Ihr am besten auf der Webseite der Autorin:

https://www.franz-eberhofer.de/home.html

Der neueste Film kommt am nächsten Donnerstag, den 1. August in die Kinos, zum Beispiel in Groß-Gerau. Den werden wir uns in der Woche danach auch ansehen – um aber erst einmal die anderen Folgen alle zu sehen hab ich eben die ‘Kruzi Fünferl Box’ bestellt:

Und weil’s hier 5 DVDs für 23 Euro gibt und man dafür beim größten Versender auch noch Porto bezahlen müßte (weil unter 30 Euro), hab ich noch ein Buch mit drauf gelegt:

Bin ja seit einiger Zeit auch Murakami-Fan. Der ist zwar weniger lustig, aber mindestens genauso Kult wie der Eberhofer Franz.

Wird alles am Samstag kommen; cool!

Und wie immer danke für’s Lesen.

John Goldsby’s “The Jazz Bass Book” is a deep dive into Jazz history

On Saturday I got this fine book of John Goldsby, about whom I wrote a few days ago already.

And his book is indeed a deep dive into Jazz history; I’m learning so much. You can spend an awful lot of time with all the players he covers there, and you’ll discover a world full of surprises if you take that time and listen to some of them – which I recommend as much as reading the book itself.

Yesterday for instance I mentioned Scott La Faro to a colleague (and I think also to my brother in an email to him) – and Scott’s outstanding work is possibly best represented on this recording (1:22h but well worth your time, as this was just ten days before the young genius died in a car accident):

Bill Evans – Sunday at the Village Vanguard (Not Now Music) [Full Album]

And of course this album is on my big dealer’s wishlist since I heard it – a must have for bass players as well as for lovers of fine music.

Like I said: worlds are opening, this book is like a ride through jazz history in a jet plane. Just like a first semester course on your typical music university. Cannot say more than Ron Carter in his foreword:

I’ve enjoyed this book and will delay further research on the history of jazz bass until John Goldsby writes another.

As always, thanks for reading.

Meet John Goldsby

Just a short blog note before I have to start work – and just because I was talking about John to my brother yesterday, and to a colleague today. So here’s a short portrait, an interview, and a free lesson as well as a link to a book John wrote:

JOHN GOLDSBY: Portrait – PERSONAL SOUNDS | WDR BIG BAND
John Goldsby Interview with Discover Double Bass
Killer Joe – Walking Bass Etude. Lesson by John Goldsby

And his book “Jazz Bass Book: Technique and Tradition” is on my personal wishlist, it’s also mentioned in the interview above.

Enjoy. And thanks for visiting.

About a mixing legend, and kisses on the bottom

I’m currently watching an interview of Al Schmitt through Warren Huart on Youtube, which is so nice.

Al is a legend of a recording engineer, and he recorded and mixed them all, his story is totally worth the time even if you’re not a technical person or interested in how music is produced – the list of artists alone, and what he says about them is so remarkable.

He mentioned that he recorded Sir Paul McCartney’s “Kisses on the bottom” album which is in my opinion a super classy jazz album through and through – the title track alone leaves no doubt as soon as you hear that double bass on it.

But I wanted to show you another example of Paul (and this is also for my brother who likes Mrs. Krall) and orchestra, recorded and mixed by Al Schmitt, and later put into an official video with two others. First, Sir Paul:

Sir Paul McCartney – My Valentine (Live Kisses) ~ 1080p HD

Then, the awesome official video:

Paul McCartney’s ‘My Valentine’ Featuring Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp

So nice. I love seeing and hearing pros at work 🙂 And Al Schmitt’s book is on my Amazon wishlist, even if I won’t ever sit in front of a 72 track SSL console or put 200+ tracks into ProTools…

Thanks for reading & viewing.

Some very interesting interpretations

I have just finished reading the “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell, which I’ve got as a birthday present this year. This is David’s third book, and also the third one I’ve read – after I saw Cloud Atlas the movie by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

And tho the book and the movie tell the same story quite differently, both are really really beautiful, with the movie being a bit more difficult to understand in my opinion. Anyway, love them both. And here’s a very interesting interpretation and kind of conclusion for those who might ask what these are all about:

Yeah. Heavy on philosophy of Nietzsche et al, but the main message is simple to understand. And now I’m actually interested in a series of the Wachowskis which they did after Cloud Atlas, and which seems to have a quite similar message. That one’s called Sense8, and it belongs to Netflix (let’s see where and how I can see that one without being a subscriber to them):

Enjoy. I certainly did.