Reamde (Neal Stephenson, 2011)

Like most Neal Stephenson books, Reamde is unsatisfying. But unlike Anathem, which was unsatisfying because it just barely missed following through on a powerful and fascinating premise, Reamde is unsatisfying because it aims so low. It is a surprisingly unambitious and overstuffed series of procedurals that has you waiting for a payoff that never comes. Page by page it is enjoyable, but around 900 of the 1040 pages are enjoyable in more or less the same way, and you reach saturation long before they run out; the remaining 140 pages are essentially irrelevant navel-gazing.
Read more

tumblr_m6k867Z2ID1qzv802

Lead Belly – “Black Betty”
Negro Sinful Songs

After hearing the 1977 Ram Jam version of this song, I was curious about its origins. Turns out it dates back to at least 1933 (almost certainly decades before), but was first commercially recorded by Lead Belly in 1939. Betty herself seems to be everything but a trouble-ridden woman; “Black Betty” is said to refer to a whip used in prisons, or the black wagon used to transport prisoners, or (as early as 1736, noted by Benjamin Franklin) a bottle of whiskey.

They are irregular, obscure, various, so infinite, Proteus himself is not so diverse; you may as well make the moon a new coat as a true character of a melancholy man; as soon find the motion of a bird in the air as the heart of man, a melancholy man.

Anatomy of Melancholy

tumblr_m61b5nnNkF1qzv802

Tanakh – “5 AM”
Ardent Fevers

While this album never approaches the mystical prominence of Villa Claustrophobia, it does have some moments of beauty and lucidity. Here is one of them. (insound)