Mutterings from elsewhere ii
An occasional, lightly edited selection of stuff I've said on social media, which for me these days means Bluesky.
>>>
When I was a kid I pronounced macabre "mack-a-burr" because I didn't know any better. Now I pronounce it that way because it's fun.
>>>
"Breadfan" is an odd name for a song, but if you think about it for a while you start wondering: what other kinds of fan are there that we don't know about yet? And whose interest does it serve to keep them from us?
>>>
[showing my partner a video of Cory Henry playing sick tunes on a synth I want to buy] of course, I'll be playing it with two fingers and just randomly turning the knobs to make funny noises but otherwise it'll be much the same
>>>
This is a chord. This is another. This is a third.
Now form a band.
(And have Desmond Child write your songs.)
>>>
Conversation overheard in a bookshop:
"Are you interested in the notion of standing stones as a kind of historical memory code?"
"Hmm. [pause] I could be."
>>>
I appreciate small character details in films and tv shows. One I think about a lot is how in Boyz In the Hood, Furious Styles owns a hardback of The Hunt For Red October and the Carousel soundtrack on vinyl. It makes the character feel real, someone who is interested in the world, not just reduced to being a "didactic Black man".
>>>
Google search: best translation of [x]
Really helpful (usually) men of the internet: there is no one good translation, for no translation can convey the majesty of [x]. If you're not willing to put in the work to learn Russian/Chinese/Akkadian perhaps stick with works written in English.