Fools! They know not how much more the half is than the whole, nor what great advantage there is in mallow and asphodel.
Hesiod, Works and Days
Vocabulary: Toper th’ Merlon to ye edition
gamboge: resin used as yellow pigment or purgative, from Cambodia (‘gambogia’)
cofferdam: temporary waterproof enclosure for working below a waterline
johannine: relating to or characteristic of the apostle John or his gospel
obsequy: deferential behavior when singular, funeral rites when plural
actinic: related to or able to trigger light-activated chemical changes
merlon: the solid part between the gaps of a crenelated battlement
proa: Malaysian sailboat with triangular sail and single outrigger
invultuation: to create a likeness or effigy, esp. in witchcraft
sardonyx: onyx with layers of sard, a type of chalcedony
lobtail: when a whale strikes its flukes on the water
darbies: cuffs or manacles (also ‘double-darbies’)
rowel: the spiked wheel at the end of a spur
spinet: small upright piano or harpsichord
sporran: pouch worn on the front of a kilt
kentledge: scrap metal used as ballast
synoptic: adjective form of synopsis
lethiferous: lethal; inviting death
pule: to whine or whimper
ophidian: serpent-related
anent: about or regarding
toper: frequent drinker
gargarize: gargle
maukin: hare
Saturn’s rings as seen by Cassini (noise is from cosmic radiation)
Big Thief – “Paul”
Masterpiece
The lonesome peaks and valleys of the verses in “Paul” call out to me to whistle them, but they sound incomplete without their gentle harmonic backing and lyrical punctuation; the richly layered yet monotone chorus likewise defy reproduction without every component. That’s the sound of truly excellent and cohesive songwriting. (bandcamp)
That’s no moon! Actually it is, specifically Tethys
Full many a stoic eye and aspect stern
Mask hearts where grief hath little left to learn;
And many a withering thought lies hid, not lost,
In smiles that least befit who wear them most.
Lord Byron, The Corsair
Close-ups of logic onboard the infamous Clipper Chip (Travis Goodspeed)
Interesting visualization: Trumpland and the Hillary Archipelago
False color image of the Gibson Desert in Western Australia (ESA)
La Luz – “Easy Baby”
Damp Face EP
Channeling Roy Orbison on the closing track, this was La Luz in their early but impeccable surf-sway mode instead of the sparking, driven surf-psych of Weirdo Shrine. (bandcamp)
The sea had leeringly kept his finite body up, but drowned the infinite of his soul. Not drowned entirely, though. Rather carried down alive to wondrous depths, where strange shapes of the unwarped primal world glided to and fro before his passive eyes; and the miser-merman, Wisdom, revealed his hoarded heaps; and among the joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities, Pip saw the multitudinous, God-omnipresent, coral insects, that out of the firmament of waters heaved the colossal orbs. He saw God’s foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it; and therefore his shipmates called him mad.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick
RGB XYZ – David OReilly
A vision of London in 2500 AD, from Greys, cigarettes notable for “their exceptional Bigness.”
The Shadows – “See You In My Drums”
The Shadows
A few of The Shadows’ surfy ‘60s tunes may sound familiar, as songs from that era often do. But there are others where they hit their stride and do something they like and you feel they wish they could jam on it forever. This is one, with a wonderful extended drum solo by Tony Meehan.
In man or fish, wriggling is a sign of inferiority.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Vocabulary: Midleaf Crasis Edition
surcingle: belt worn with a cassock; also one used to strap burdens to horses
crasis: blending or mingling; also combining two vowels into one sound
pasquil: also pasquinade, a satire or lampoon, usually posted publicly
poetaster: an inferior poet (-aster is a universal pejorative suffix)
aerolite: a meteorite, esp. one composed of silicates
caoutchouc: also cauchauc, archaic term for rubber
appetence: desire, appetite, affinity, or tendency
hibernian: relating to Ireland, or an Irish person
chark: to create charcoal, or the material itself
jakes: an outhouse or other outdoors lavatory
wain: an open-topped wagon or cart
collogue: to secretly conspire or plot
putid: morally or chemically corrupt
propugn: to defend or advocate for
harridan: a scolding woman or nag
succade: candied citrus peel
quondam: former, erstwhile
imposthume: an abscess
trivant: truant
The Blue Rondos – “Little Baby”
Produced by Joe Meeks, this and a handful of others were all this short-lived British band put out in the early ‘60s. Still, “Little Baby” is note-perfect: very much a bouncy pop song, yet ever so slightly bent. (official site – watch for autoplaying music)
Failure is less frequently attributable to either insufficiency of means or impatience of labour, than to a confused understanding of the thing actually to be done.
John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture
I now rambled about in great uneasiness from the coffee-house to the promenade, from thence to the museum, from the museum to the tavern, from the tavern to the exhibition of wild beasts, and at last to the playhouse, but I could nowhere find tranquillity.
Lawrence Flammenberg, The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest