Leeway

I'm all in on CECMA and Lindberg.

Argentina wins on PKs! Looked like nobody waned it in the 2nd half, but maybe Argentina was just playing rope-a-dope. Stopping the first Dutch PK was huge.

Half Time To my amateur eyes, it looks like the Dutch strategy is to mob the ball and double-team Messi. The Argentinians countered by running through double teams and through accurate passing. Slight advantage to the Argentinians in first half.

Jean Jacques Rousseau Albert Roussel Russ Meyer

Rocky (I,II, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, ........) Rockefeller Goodfellas

I know that you can't translate one game to another, but hard not to think that the U.S. side is looking even better in retrospect for their game against Germany. Watching Messi is a treat but I think a Dutch-German final would be the better game.

Ho Chi Minh Fred Ho Fred Van Hove

Jonathan, will you be at Capital Audio Fest this month? If so, any chance of having the Tapscott available by then?

Conrad Hilton Joseph Conrad Lord Jim

Cupid Psyche Roosevelt Sykes

LIGHTNING OVER WATER - Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love. Laurence Family 2LP. LP1 so far, totally jammin' it.

I always rather see Braxton on reeds but I don't have a problem with his piano playing, which, like a good physician, "does no harm." In fact, like most of what he does, it has its idiosyncratic interest. I like his playing here: Braxton as a piano composer is something else. I think his compositions are probably in advance of his playing.

TERRITORIAL RIGHTS - Muriel Spark (1979). That is the American First Edition cover. As indicated, the novel is set in Venice. An ingenious and nasty young man is at the heart of it (of course), surrounded by a cast of characters with a corrupt or shady past, much of it the product of their activities during WWII. The young man's parents are either oblivious or stupid or both. Let's just say the milieu is seedy even when (or because ?) the characters have money (except for a few down-at-the heels refugee types). The story winds itself up into a mystery/detective type plot (not one that would give Agatha Christie any sleepless nights) and unwinds itself at the end like spaghetti on a fork. If Spark likes Italy, she keeps it carefully concealed here. For the most part, the Venetians are a bunch of people rowing gondolas and generally making themselves unpleasant, or just the decorative background for the expats busy exploiting each other. Spark's wit, rapier-dialog and amusing sense of sophistication are all here, which makes it rather a breezy read. The morality though is as toxic as one of those Venetian canals.

Alain de Botton Red Buttons Bodoni

Clunky, those are nice finds! Is the Braxton a gatefold, or in a box?

The article has whetted my appetite for this, which I began today. I'll probably break off from time to time to read other Spark novels. Yes, I noted the Stannard; now on my list. My recent used book hunt, which turned up "Territorial Rights," also turned up: I need to dip into it a bit. Also, don't forget "The Comforters"-- that first book is quite revealing and often the template for what follows.

Yes, that seems the likely reason for the article, although the Washington Post might gets its own reviewer (I would guess Michael Dirda, but let's see). Will advise. I found the article on Penelope Jardine quite interesting. I can see why the character of the quirky, difficult young man is a recurrent one in Spark. I was also thinking how the move to Italy affected Spark and her work, although I don't have that aspect precisely figured out. I don't think it was a positive move though.

Iris Murdoch Rupert Murdoch Christoph von Dohnányi

That is a new one to me. I can see why it wouldn't make a lot of friends. Her later novels seems to lose some of that joyous, or at least buoyant, quality that helped balance the acerbity. BTW, the Washington Post is promising something (not sure if review, article, or maybe forthcoming bio) on Spark this Thursday. Will post on that when I see it.

This has got some good piping:

Ian Fleming The Hawk Pete Hoekstra

What! There are people who don't like the pipes?? I can't believe it. I'm disappointed when he shows up for a concert with only his tenor.

King Coal Nat King Coal Coalman Hawkins

I would have enjoyed seeing that! As it is, I saw him do a long border pipe solo (can't remember when) that was memorable, as was his performance with Henry Grimes and Andrew Cyrille at a Vision Festival (2008 IIRC).