Portable rainbow..

Recursion again..

“In order to understand recursion, one must first understand recursion.”

The post below got me thinking and, as is the way with these things, I discover that all the time I’ve been banging on about recursion on this blog, there has been, sitting at the back of a shelf in my kitchen in Manchester, an unopened box of this product..

For clarificatiion, here’s the dictionary definition..

Recursion

See “Recursion”..

A nice spot of recursion for a Thursday evening..

Sydney Pollack, 1934-2008

A clip from Out of Africa, which I guess would be generally considered to be his masterpiece, although my favourite of his movies was The Yakuza, with Robert Mitchum and Takakura Ken, which I saw as a teenager and which planted the seed of a desperate desire to travel to Japan, a whole decade before I would eventually get the chance to do so..

( I’m listening to John Barry’s gorgeous Out of Africa main theme, and remembering that I always subconsciously referred to it as ‘Free Born’ , for reasons that I assume are obvious..)

Carving or modelling?..

Haven’t had any Adam Phillips on here for a while. Let’s rectify that right now..

“… Denis Donohue, in Thieves of Fire, used the distinction between carving and modelling to illustrate what he called the Promethean imagination; which, he says, ’starts with an incorrigible sense of its own power, and seeks in nature only the means of its own fulfilment’. ‘In carving,’ he writes,

the artist assumes that the block of stone contains within itself the form invented for it by nature; the artist’s desire is merely to liberate that form, to disclose its hidden face… In modelling, on the other hand, the artist gives the stone his own truth, or what he insists is his own truth; the truth of the stone as a different truth is not acknowledged.

… In one kind of creative experience the artist uses his art to elaborate, to expose, to fashion himself. In the other kind of experience the animating intention of the artist is to reveal something other, something separate, something aside or apart from the self; not to fuse with object, but to differentiate it. The sacramental poet, the carver, forgets himself; the erotic poet, the Promethean, the modeller, endorses himself. In one version the self is the instrument, in the other it is the obstacle… At one extreme of this strange dualistic vision there is the cult of personality, the artist as the emperor of egotism; and at the other extreme there is a cult of the object, of a world whose virtue and substance resides in the fact that it resists manipulation. Creative experience is either self-promotion or self-surrender. The moral and aesthetic question becomes: do I value something because I can make it mine, or because I can’t?…”

(From ‘Side Effects’ by Adam Phillips)

Can’t hide love..

Because, well.. you just can’t, can you? Foolish to even try..

Dionne does Earth, Wind & Fire. Actually, I reckon this is the only cover of an EWF song that surpasses the original, although at least one of our background singers vehemently disagrees with me on that point. Anyway, I’m delighted to find this footage, as I used to play the hell out of the album version – a live recording with Isaac Hayes, which incidentally featured a wonderful duet, him singing By the Time I Get to Phoenix and  Dionne singing I Say a Little Prayer, weaving the melodies in and out of each other – an idea I’d later respectfully borrow for a live version of Lala Means I Love You and Am I the Same Girl?

Speaking of inspiration, I’m pretty sure that Love Won’t Let You Down spent much of its formative years wanting to be this song when it grew up..

Betcha!

More wisdom from the all-knowing widget..

Knowledge is power, if you know it about the right person.
- Ethel Mumford

Men live in a fantasy world. I know this because I am one, and I actually receive my mail there.
- Scott Adams

We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin

Spinning and spiralling..

.. through the sky. I was reminded of this last night, by une belle petite oisette (I know, that doesn’t really work, does it?). Anyway, the very striking girl accompanying Corinne in a few scenes is, of course, the lovely Belinda, delectable wife of Mr. Staveley O’Duffy, who can himself also be seen hurtling far too fast towards me down our favourite piste..

As is no doubt apparent, this was pretty much my first attempt at iMovie. Let’s be generous and say it has a certain..er, ‘naive charm’..

Anyone know what this is?..

..No? How about a slightly longer version?..

C’mon, I know there’s at least one person out there who knows this one..

Oh, alright, then.. a little audio assistance..

Update..

Okay – once again, and for the next few days at least, I find myself a man alone in a strange town (albeit the one I supposedly live in) with a mad cat, no-one to play with, and a temptation to resist. Should be an interesting few days.. At least my ..erm, ‘cleansing’ is going well.. not one drop of alcohol of any kind in, let’s see, 10 days now – save for a couple of glasses of champagne to toast Sonja into her swanky new apartment, and one little pick-me-up after the unholy communion experience..

Here’s how I see things panning out..

Gould as Marlowe – and I notice that I’ve begun to do that out-loud internal monologue thing too..

Babyfoot..

.. I just caught myself reminiscing over the fact that I once knew someone who was as good as this..

Which way..

..is she turning? Clockwise, or anti-clockwise?

You don’t know me..

René and Ray agree on that much at least..

Father Jack..

I was obliged at the weekend, against my better judgement, to attend the First Holy Communion of the daughter of close friends. It was, of course, a mistake – big old church, big old priest.. and all I could think of, as he continued to pontificate, were the words of the immortal Jack Handey, which, as it happens, were some of the first I quoted on this blog, a while ago now..

“If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is “God is crying.” And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is “Probably because of something you did.”

..and while we’re on the subject of Catholic Guilt, and sinners in general, no-one nailed it better than Mrs. Doyle..

God give me strength..

Gotta love Illeana Douglas. Here she is as Denise Waverley in Grace of My Heart, the thinly disguised Carole King Story, doing the thing I never had the guts to do well – pitching a song to a skeptical producer. What a song, though! Has to be the finest of all the late-period Burt efforts – how many damn hooks are in there, ferchrissake?…

.. since I lost the power to pretend

that there could ever be a happy ending..

2001, A Space Atrocity..

.. This just in, from Mr. Paul Staveley O’Duffy..

“A good mate of mine (Karl Phillips) is a techy for Robanna’s Studios in Brum and one day recently he was asked to set up and operate a PA at a school concert..”

(Only click the link if you’re not drinking liquid of any kind.)

My little homage to M. Satie..

done

Another little Outsiders snippet, in the Satiesque style, which never made it to the final cut. Video is a brief moment from a picnic with Ayu in Yoyogi Park..

Happy birthday, Erik Satie..

.. 148 today! And if it’s true that everyone has their favourite Gymnopedie, then mine is definitely No. 3..

One for Emil..

Golden Gate Bridge in the fog..

(via Wired.com)

Bennett Freed’s three-step guide to successful band management..

It’s a question we get asked all the time: what qualities should I look for in a good band manager? Choosing a manager for your band can be one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your career, and it’s one that needs to be approached with much careful consideration. Here we’ll take a brief look at the working methods of one of the unchallenged masters of this most difficult of crafts, Mr. Bennett (Hellooo Tokyooo) Freed..

Step 1. Adopt an air of quiet authority. Dress smartly but unobtrusively. Bands are renowned for their colourful, often childish behaviour, but it is your job to stand aloof from the fray and conduct their business affairs in a sober, adult fashion..

done

Step 2. Maintain a commanding presence when dealing with the record company. Let them know that you’re in charge. Once again, your appearance and demeanour are crucial here. The band must feel confident that you are negotiating on their behalf in a professional manner..

done

Step 3. Protect your artist at all times. It is of the utmost importance that you let no distractions interfere with the artist being able to carry out their task – for example, during a prestigious photo-shoot for the cover of an influential style magazine it is your job to ensure that all parties are focussed on the job in hand, and to take swift and firm action to put a stop to anything which may cause the artist to be, even momentarily, distracted..

done