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Still kicking myself for not seeing him at the Vic in Chicago 5 or 6 or so years ago (the show was literally down the street from my place). I really can't remember now why I didn't go.

I generally agreed with the folks who claimed that this was colonization/appropriation when I was younger, but I like to think my appreciation for nuance has increased with age (and I try to be less judgemental about such projects now). More than anything else, this notion that Simon exploited these musicians and stole from their culture doesn't give any weight to the idea that culture, particularly music, is all about hybridization. Also, it is incredibly patronizing to the musicians, assuming that they had no agency -- and couldn't make up their own minds whether to collaborate with the musician from the West. The sad thing is we seem to be entering a new cycle where only one or two bloggers can incite a sh*tstorm and claim that some project is stealing from their culture - and then shut it down. While it probably wasn't the wisest idea in the first place, there was a show shut down by the Montreal Jazz Festival because white singers were singing songs drawn from the experience of Black slavery. https://globalnews.ca/news/4316470/robert-lepage-says-decision-to-cancel-slav-show-a-blow-to-artistic-freedom/

I agree with Daniel. I've been at several gigs where the artist might have some CD-Rs, but mostly are carrying around a big stack of download codes stuck to index cards that they usually sell for about $10... I've bought a few. Yep, we don't have any optical drives at all on any of the work computers. Frankly not too happy about that, but it did push me to digitize pretty much all of my CD collection.

I think Hofmann makes a number of inexcusable editorial decisions. One character's name keeps jumping back and forth from Mack to Mak, and there is a point where Karl is told to head "east" to San Francisco, while he is in New York. I just don't see the point of this, as it is super distracting and doesn't add anything to the enjoyment/understanding of the novel. (Hofman's attempts to justify his choices just don't make any sense to me.) I'll get through this but then donate my copy elsewhere and keep the Muir translation.

Kafka's Amerika (the newish translation). Benjamin's The Immortalists has just turned up at the library, so that will be next.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery going his way.

Midway through Banville's Ancient Light. I didn't realize until too late that it is the third book of a trilogy, though they are fairly loosely linked and I don't feel I missed too much by skipping the others. It reminds me in just a few ways of Robertson Davies's Deptford Trilogy, though I liked that considerably more. I don't think it is terribly likely I will read the other two.

Thanks! It's been quite the challenge doing this with such a small team, but exciting at the same time. Still, this will very much be a one-off, as producing theatre is clearly not my forte.

It's the end of an era...

About halfway into Philip Roth's The Professor of Desire. Not bad, though I preferred his Zuckerman novels. I'll read The Dying Animal next to close out the trilogy, then Banfield's Ancient Light. (Oops - Banville's Ancient Light)

For those of you in Toronto or visiting in early July, I thought I would mention that I have a play in the Toronto Fringe. What makes this particularly interesting is that this year there are some plays, including ours, which are outside the downtown core. This is the first year the Fringe has extended into the neighbourhoods outside the core. Final Exam is playing in South Riverdale (only somewhat coincidentally near where I live...). The basic set-up is that the audience joins a Toronto high school classroom where the students are basically evenly split between worrying about exams and an impending alien invasion! More info here: https://fringetoronto.com/festivals/fringe/event/final-exam Feel free to PM me if you'd like more details. Eric

Interesting list. I've only read 4. I quite liked Half of a Yellow Sun. Might be a bit of a missed opportunity for Costa Rica to be represented by Joan Didion.

Just got the shipping notice. Probably will arrive early next week.

Dickens' Hard Times. Not enjoying this at all. It is a total slog. Gaskell's North and South, while on the same topic, is vastly better. Philip Roth's The Professor of Desire next. That should definitely be more stimulating...

I'll get this, but I am definitely going to wait and see what the digital options are.

#1 The NYTimes piece on Coltrane's lost album is very tantalizing indeed. However, it is very odd that there is some speculation that one of the pieces is by Tyner (not Coltrane). Here's a thought -- why not interview him and just ask? (I do hope Impulse is doing this for the liner notes!)

The last track on Funk in France wasn't fixed as of yesterday, which is kind of frustrating. It may be worth noting that eMusic has added Slick, but not Funk in France (as of yet).

Checking out some of the albums on the Inner Circle label. Most, though not all, can be streamed through Apple Music. Right now, Pasos by Maikel Vistel. (Requires a second listen when I can pay more attention.) Later this aft, The Lucid Dreamer by Simona Premazzi. Greg Osby's on a couple of tracks, and Melissa Aldana (a bit of an Osby protege) is on 5.

Yes, some interesting artists, though the one that appealed to me the most strongly (not that I would likely have made the trek out to Guelph) is playing on Sept. 15, when I have a conflicting event. C'est la vie.

Slick seems complete on Hoopla, but the last track on Funk in France cuts out at about the 12 minute mark (it's supposed to be 27 minutes). I've reported it to them in the hopes they can reload it correctly.

Not sure they were supposed to get a digital release this early, but both titles are on Hoopla, so I'm listening to them that way. I didn't see them on any other platform, but I didn't look that hard either.

On the last story in Alice Munro's Friend of My Youth. I'd say she's starting to take a more Olympian view of all the various betrayals that men and women inflict on each other. Not necessarily a bad thing. Faulkner's The Unvanquished next. Then Hard Times by Dickens. I'd meant to read it in closer conjunction with Gaskell's North and South, but just couldn't swing it.

RIP. Definitely one of the masters. Later this month, I'll be reading the trilogy that includes Professor of Desire. Someday I'll have to get back around to Zuckerman Bound.

Just finished Melville's The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade. It has a certain interest, and is probably not well enough known. But at the same time, the second half really drags. Wrapping up my Mitford kick with The Blessing. Then Faulkner's Flags in the Dust.

Managed to score tickets to the hottest art exhibit in North America -- Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrors at the AGO -- https://ago.ca/exhibitions/kusama It is interesting but it ends up being about 2 hours of queuing to get inside her Infinity Rooms for approximately 3 minutes. The staff have a stop watch and move people along every 20 or 30 seconds depending on the Room.