The divisions between all the different stripes of desperado and the regular run-of-the-mill inhabitants were so fine and subtle that it was nearly impossible to identify a decent man.
Mark Helprin, Winter’s Tale
Ah! what a vulgar thing does courage seem when we see nations buying and selling it for a shilling a day. Ah! what a sublime thing does courage seem when some fearful summons on the great deeps of life carries a man, as if running before a hurricane, up to the giddy crest of some tumultuous crisis, from which lie two courses, and a voice says to him audibly, “One way lies hope; take the other, and mourn forever!”
Thomas de Quincey, The Vision of Sudden Death
tarentel_03_ursa_minor_ursa_major
Tarentel – “Ursa Minor, Ursa Major”
From Bone To Satellite
My favorite Tarentel song, from before they got really, really weird (We Move Through Weather). This nearly 18-minute epic has some of the best guitar tone I’ve ever heard – those first few plucks at the strings send shivers up my spine every time. And of course when it blows up, it’s beautiful and huge. Goes on for a bit after that, but it’s more expansive and ambient. (buy)
Don’t fight it
Just spend the rest of the night reading Charlie Brooker’s columns. Probably the only person I’d submit to reading regularly with no screening.
Me (briefly) on CNN. I’ve been covering CES this last week.
Colleen – “I’ll Read You A Story”
The Golden Morning Breaks
When I reviewed it earlier, I called it a mermaid’s music box. That’s about right.
Colleen – “A Little Mechanical Waltz”
Mort Aux Vaches
This is a beautiful piece, done as far as I can tell on a componium, that reminds me of my other favorite track by Colleen, “I’ll Read You A Story” from The Golden Morning Breaks, which I’ll put up next.
My longest article so far. Google as Rome in their road-building and empire-founding days.