Author: ekkarn

Panasonic Recorder Playlist – 1969 – Side 1

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So somewhere about 1968 or ’69 I used my first few paychecks that I got from working for my father to buy a Panasonic reel to reel tape recorder and started making my first tapes and playlists. I kept that recorder and those tapes for a long time and years after it had broken I bought another reel to reel machine so I could play those tapes even though I had most of the songs by then on albums. A few weeks ago I found some old typed lists of the songs on the tapes and tonight with the aid of Rhapsody I remade and listened to the play list. Here it is:

“Ramblin’ Scramblin'” – Jerry Jeff Walker – still a favorite and a song that just flat out made me laugh!

I can remember recording the next few tracks, that were from a new young singer from England Elton John (only I heard and typed Elkton)

“Your Song”, “I Need You to Turn To”, “Take Me to Your Pilot” and “No Shoestrings for Louise” – what a great debut album that was!

“Who Do You Love” (Part 1) – from Quicksilver Messenger Service – listening to this track when it came to the end I wanted it go to the next track because that’s the way it should be heard – the album just flows!

Rhapsody didn’t have the next two tracks “Julie,Judy, Angel Rain” by John Stewart and one of my favorite Tom Paxton songs “Angeline is Always Friday”. I know I have them on vinyl somewhere!

“Blossom” from James Taylor’s Fire and Rain A forgotten song! It was good to hear!

“Margery” Pearls Before Swine from The Use of Ashes a favorite all time album. I saw them at the University of Florida one time and Tom Rapp told a story of how the had been recently miss billed and opened for Bob Hope needless to say it did not go well!

“Dear Mary” from The Steve Miller Band’s Sailor album. Another psychedelic favorite!

Shifting gears totally “Peggy Day” – Bob Dylan Nashville Skyline a favorite Dylan album of mine and I imagine there’s not many of us! Except that “Lay, Lady, Lay” was pretty popular at the University of Florida on Friday and Saturday nights!

“Guinevere” Crosby, Stills and Nash – probably my favorite David Crosby penned song. Well maybe tied with “Triad”!

“Mary Ann” from the Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper. I’ve recently written how Mike Bloomfield influenced a lot of guitar players and though I don’t play he was always a hero! and AL Kooper ain’t to shabby on organ!

“Thoughts About Roxanne” from John Mayall’s Turning Point album. While “Room to Move” was the big song from this album” Thoughts and “California” with Jon Mark and Johnny ALmond were my favorites!!

The night ended with “Who Do You Love – Part 2” from Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service – now I know I’ll have to listen to the whole album tomorrow!

All and all the night’s music brought back lots of memories of 1969!

So I had always know this as a Tom Paxton songs but when I went to look for “Angeline is Always Friday” I found this version by The Seeker. Looking it up on Tom Paxton 6 I see that Tom wrote the lyrics and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers wrote the music! Anyway this is a great version of the song!

Virgin Heat – Lawrence Shames

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ok so I picked out some new names and listened to a couple of tracks from several albums but never got to listen that much to any of them. A slow connecting computer coupled with a good Phillies game and finishing Book 34 Virgin Heat kept me busy tonight!

The artist that I started to listen to included: Mark Scott LaMountain and the Blue Thunder Band and their album Guitars, Gun and Southern Women,

J.J Grey and Mofro’s album Georgia Warhorse, Jay Gaunt a blues harp player whose new album is on the Roots Music Blues Chart but Rhapsody only has some earlier albums and the one I was ready to listen to was Blown Away. Th

e last thing that I previewed today was Charlie Musselwhite’s new album The Well which sounded pretty good. So I will listen to these albums tomorrow and we’ll celebrate Blues Wednesday on Thursday!

But tonight belonged to those Phils and Roy Oswalt as they extended their lead over my daughter’s team those Atlanta Braves.

Book 34 Virgin Heat. This is the first book I’ve read by Lawrence Shames and it won’t be the last! Set in Key West the book tells the tale of Angie Amaro who for years has pined for her lost love Sal Martucci. The reason she pines is that Sal is now living as Ziggy Maxx in Key West after ratting Angie’s father a mob member Paul Amaro and sending him to prison.

After Angie’s Uncle Louie visits Key West and returns with a video in which Angie recognizes Sal, she sets off for Florida to find her lover. Soon Uncle Louie takes off to find Angie and a good tale is told in the style of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen.

Ann Helmuth of the Orlando Sentinel calls it The Birdcage meets the Godfather and that’s appropriate for this often funny and touching book, full of good characters and wit! I enjoyed it and will certainly be on the look out for more Shames and there appears to be seven other books set in Key West!

Blues Wednesday – not! – Book 34 – Virgin Heat

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ok so I picked out some new names and listened to a couple of tracks from several albums but never got to listen that much to any of them. A slow connecting computer coupled with a good Phillies game and finishing Book 34 Virgin Heat kept me busy tonight! The artist that I started to listen to included: Mark Scott LaMountain and the Blue Thunder Band and their album Guitars, Gun and Southern Women, J.J Grey and Mofro’s album Georgia Warhorse, Jay Gaunt a blues harp player whose new album is on the Roots Music Blues Chart but Rhapsody only has some earlier albums and the one I was ready to listen to was Blown Away. The last thing that I previewed today was Charlie Musselwhite’s new album The Well which sounded pretty good. So I will listen to these albums tomorrow and we’ll celebrate Blues Wednesday on Thursday!

But tonight belonged to those Phils and Roy Oswalt as they extended their lead over my daughter’s team those Atlanta Braves and Book 34 Virgin Heat. This is the first book I’ve read by Lawrence Shames and it won’t be the last! Set in Key West the book tells the tale of Angie Amaro who for years has pined for her lost love Sal Martucci. The reason she pines is that Sal is now living as Ziggy Maxx in Key West after ratting Angie’s father a mob member Paul Amaro and sending him to prison. After Angie’s Uncle Louie visits Key West and returns with a video in which Angie recognizes Sal, she sets off for Florida to find her lover. Soon Uncle Louie takes off to find Angie and a good tale is told in the style of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. Ann Helmuth of the Orlando Sentinel calls it The Birdcage meets the Godfather and that’s appropriate for this often funny and touching book, full of good characters and wit! I enjoyed it and will certainly be on the look out for more Shames and there appears to be seven other books set in Key West!

Book 33 – Me of Little Faith

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Book 33 for the year is a collection Lewis Black’s thought about religion Me of Little Faith. The book is hilarious and at times makes me laugh out loud as Black takes on all religions including his own!  I’ve said before that Black is one comedian who consistently cracks me up and I can watch the same concert performance over and over and laugh all the time “If it wasn’t for that horse. I wouldn’t have spent that year in college”.  John Stewart and George Carlin’s praises on the back of the book cover are so true!

“Lewis Black is the only person I know who can actually yell in print” – Jon Stewart. (Whenever you read those statement in all  caps throughout the book you can hear him yell!)

Whenever I’m asked, “Who makes you laugh” or “Who would you pay to see?” I don’t hesitate for a moment. Lewis Black! Period. He’s got it all: brains, balls and chops.” – George Carlin

Book 34 is a book off the Mount to Be Read Laurence Shames Virgin Heat. Time for a quick easy fun read – a lot like Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiassen! Going quickly so far!

The Codex – Douglas Preston

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The Codex - Douglas Preston

So last night I didn’t do whole lot of music listening rather I was caught up in the jungles of southern Honduras finishing Douglas Preston’s latest solo book (Preston being one-half of the writing team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child) The Codex.

Some once asked why read fiction well aside from being exciting and mysterious it also takes me places I’ll never go and then sometimes teaches me about the culture.  This book takes you to the jungles of Honduras and a lost Mayan city.

The Story

The story revolves around the family of Max Broadbent, an Indiana Jones type Tomb raider whose life has been spent collecting rare artifacts legally and illegally.

The story opens when his three sons, Phillip a professor at an east coast college, Tom a veterinarian in Utah and Vernon, a hippie living in a commune in California with “The Teacher” are called to their family home.  When the sons arrive they find the house a shambles and all the artifacts gone having been packed up and taken somewhere.

They find a tape from their father which opens with “Greeting from the Dead” and tells them that he has taken his stuff and had himself buried somewhere in the world with their inheritance and because he really thinks they are failures and never worked for anything, if they want the inheritance they have to find it.

One of his treasures is a Mayan Codex containing thousands of pages listing all the medicinal uses of the jungle plants. Soon others are interested in The Codex because of the money making potential and historic significance. The rest of the story is the quest to find their father and maybe themselves in the process!

My Thoughts

The action and suspense on the quest are good and I liked the characters. I read this morning that Tom Broadbent had appeared in Tyrannosaur Canyon Preston’s previous solo novel and that he has future plans for the character.

All in all it was a good read and maybe will make me read some of the other Preston and Child books that are on my Mount to Be Read!

Douglas Preston

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About Douglas Preston

Douglas Jerome Preston (born May 31, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Although he is best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Child (including the Agent Pendergast series and Gideon Crew series), he has also written six solo novels, including the Wyman Ford series and a novel entitled Jennie, which was made into a movie by Disney. He has authored a half-dozen nonfiction books on science and exploration and writes occasionally for The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and other magazines. Wikipedia

 

Book 32 – The Codex

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So last night I didn’t do whole lot of music listening rather I was caught up in the jungles of southern Honduras finishing Douglas Preston’s latest solo book (Preston being one-half of the writing team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child) The Codex. Some once asked why read fiction well aside from being exciting and mysterious it also takes me places I’ll never go and then sometimes teaches me about the culture.  This book takes you to the jungles of Honduras and a lost Mayan city.

The story revolves around the family of Max Broadbent, an Indiana Jones type Tomb raider whose life has been spent collecting rare artifacts legally and illegally. The story opens when his three sons, Phillip a professor at an east coast college, Tom a veterinarian in Utah and Vernon, a hippie living in a commune in California with “The Teacher” are called to their family home.  When the sons arrive they find the house a shambles and all the artifacts gone having been packed up and taken somewhere. They find a tape from their father which opens with “Greeting from the Dead” and tells them that he has taken his stuff and had himself buried somewhere in the world with their inheritance and because he really thinks they are failures and never worked for anything, if they want the inheritance they have to find it. One of his treasures is a Mayan Codex containing thousands of pages listing all the medicinal uses of the jungle plants. Soon others are interested in The Codex because of the money making potential and historic significance. The rest of the story is the quest to find their father and maybe themselves in the process! The action and suspense on the quest are good and I liked the characters. I read this morning that Tom Broadbent had appeared in Tyrannosaur Canyon Preston’s previous solo novel and that he has future plans for the character.

All in all it was a good read and maybe will make me read some of the other Preston and Child books that are on my Mount to Be Read!

End of Story-Peter Abraham

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Book 31 for 2010 is End of Story by Peter Abrahams. This is the second book I’ve read by Abrahams the other Oblivion I read in 2007 so you can see he is not really a favorite author, but I did enjoy this book and will probably pick up his newer stuff.

The main character in the novel is Ivy Seidel a would be author with a MFA and a stack of rejection letters from The New Yorker. Ivy takes over a part time job teaching writing in a prison in upstate New York. When Vance Harrow enters her group she is impressed by his writing ability and soon begins to look into his background. She finds that he is serving time for a robbery at an Indian Casino near his home town. Ivy is convinced that he is innocent and is taking the fall to protect his wife. Overall the pages flew by.  I liked the characters although  some of the actions in the story seemed to stretch reality a little much. The last hundred pages were really good and overall I liked the book.  I  will be on the lookout for his other books – maybe at the fall sale at the County Library!

Peter Abrahams – End of Story

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Book 31 for 2010 is End of Story by Peter Abrahams. This is the second book I’ve read by Abrahams the other Oblivion I read in 2007 so you can see he is not really a favorite author, but I did enjoy this book and will probably pick up his newer stuff.

The main character in the novel is Ivy Seidel a would be author with a MFA and a stack of rejection letters from The New Yorker. Ivy takes over a part time job teaching writing in a prison in upstate New York. When Vance Harrow enters her group she is impressed by his writing ability and soon begins to look into his background. She finds that he is serving time for a robbery at an Indian Casino near his home town. Ivy is convinced that he is innocent and is taking the fall to protect his wife. Overall the pages flew by.  I liked the characters although  some of the actions in the story seemed to stretch reality a little much. The last hundred pages were really good and overall I liked the book.  I  will be on the lookout for his other books – maybe at the fall sale at the County Library!

The Rook – Steven James

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Another Author to Revisit

The Rook

Last night I had a sports doubleheader — first the Eagles–Chiefs game, then the Phillies game all the way to the top of the tenth inning. Somewhere in between, I also managed to finish Book #30 for the year: The Rook by Steven James.

The Rook is the second book in James’ Patrick Bowers series. Patrick is a special consultant to the FBI who uses geospatial investigation — analyzing the where and when of crimes alongside motives — to track down serial offenders.

In this installment, Patrick and his colleague Lien-hua Jiang are called to San Diego to investigate a series of arsons. Patrick brings along his stepdaughter Tessa, still grieving the loss of her mother and navigating a sometimes rocky relationship with Patrick.

Meanwhile, other story threads emerge:

  • Creighton Melice – a violent criminal out on bail, relocated to San Diego by a mysterious figure named Shade so he can continue his deadly obsession.

  • Victor Drake – a billionaire defense contractor being pressured by the government to hand over a classified prototype.

  • A bizarre homeless man’s suicide — just blocks from a fire scene — pulls Patrick and Lien-hua deeper into a tangled investigation.

The case soon weaves together Melice, Drake and his Sherrod Aquarium, the elusive Shade, the prototype device, and even Sebastian Taylor from the first book. At the same time, Patrick is juggling his feelings for Lien-hua and his responsibilities to Tessa.

James delivers what I’ve come to expect from him — tight plotting, sharp suspense, and characters with enough depth to keep me invested. Patrick, Tessa, Lien-hua, and Ralph make a strong ensemble, and the balance between high-stakes action and personal subplots works well.

I gave The Rook 4 out of 5 stars, maybe even a 5. James keeps the pages turning right up to the last line.

“Once again, James has given us a rip-snorting thriller with a beating heart, a calculating cat-and-mouse game of chess, and a satisfying ending.” – Eric Wilson, New York Times bestselling author

Postscript Update

When I first wrote this, I said I was going to read The Knight, the next book in the Patrick Bowers series. Well… I never did. In fact, I haven’t picked up another in the series since The Rook. Like some other series I’ve drifted away from, it might be time to circle back.

In the meantime, Steven James has launched a new series featuring Travis Brock, a high-level Pentagon redactor with an eidetic memory. The premise sounds right up my alley — maybe I’ll start there and see if it pulls me back into his earlier work.

The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke (Dave Robicheaux #18)

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The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke

 

So it’s been almost a month since the last book! A lot has happened including Peter’s wedding, Nick’s accident, Elizabeth’s return to college. And through it all I have been in the world of Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell in Book The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke. Hum, it does not usually take me this long to read a Burke novel but there was just something about this book so that I really couldn’t get into it and I don’t know what it was. The characters are still good Dave and Clete and Alafair. The low-lifes and criminals are still there.

About The Glass Rainbow

In this one Dave and Clete are investigating the murder of nine women in the Jefferson Davis Parish including one who doesn’t fit in with the others an honor student and all around good girl. Alafair is dating a man Kermit Abelard who Dave does not approve of and even likes his house guest (and other lover ex-con Robert Weingart even less. Soon both stories intersect along with an investigation of Clete’s!

Final Thoughts

Overall the book moved more quickly over the last 100 ages or so and became a page turner at that point. But like always even though I wasn’t enthralled with the book the writing and sense of place that Burke creates were still there putting him well ahead of the crowd in my opinion and I will look forward to his next book which is a Hackberry Holland book (Rain Gods) I think!