Name that Music

Jazz has the best, coolest titles.

Like Miles Davis' So What, Thelonius Monk's Straight, No Chaser. Compare these with the titles of classical works --- piano trio No. 100, cello concerto No. 5, symphony No. 8. Hehe, this is not a knock on classical music as music, but a knock on their BORING TITLES!

I've been listening to drummer Matt Wilson's album "An Attitude For Gratitude" and am about to buy it. Look at the pieces on the album --- You Bet, Bubbles, Stolen Time, and, my favorite, There's No You.

Fog and Crimes

在我看过的几部意大利电视剧里 Fog and Crimes 算是制作不错的了，大部分戏是同步录音而不是后期配音，场景大多是外景，情节虽然不如英国和北欧的侦探剧那么靠谱，比别的意大利戏（除了 Montalbano 和 La Piovra）像样些。意大利的侦探剧颇差劲，只比中国的侦探剧好一点大概。

外景全部在北部的 Ferrara 拍摄，查了一下地图， Ferrara 位于威尼斯和 Bologna 中间，不临海，冬天还下雪，看上去又湿又冷。

男主角 Luca Barbareschi 颇有魅力，外表有一点瓦兰德的中年颓丧和刻意装饰的冷淡，实际是无法掩盖、意大利式、温情到牙酸的 sentimentality。很喜欢他念台词的口吻，温柔的，淡淡的，仿佛有三四股彼此矛盾的感情同时在薄薄一层克制之下暗流汹涌。

意大利剧的特色是大家经常在吃饭，而且菜很好，跑龙套的餐馆老板必不可少地细细介绍今日特色菜。今晚一集里就有两场餐馆戏，什么 white truffle salad 啦，tuna carpacio 啦，口水 ... 瑞典挪威电视剧里就从来没见过瓦兰德，Martin Beck，或 Varg Veum 在餐馆里正襟危坐，镜头贪婪地盯着盘子里的好菜。唯一的例外是女侦探系列 Irene Huss，作者非常范特西地给女主角配置了一个 tall, dark, handsome 的厨师丈夫。

Dark Horse

读摩登侦探小说的享受之一是作者们对特定时间地点的描写，Ystad 或西西里或者纽约唐人街。Craig Johnson 的 Walt Longmire 系列读起来跟上火星差不多，搞得我都想去看看怀俄明了。

周末本打算慢慢地享受，一不小心干掉一半；昨晚失眠，呼啦啦连蹦带跳地把结尾给翻完了。叹气，真好看，老头警长很有魅力哦。

故事的结构有点故弄玄虚，两条时间线并行。如果不是并行，谜底大概会一早掉出来。

Shaggy Dog

Randomly I stumbled upon the term "Shaggy dog story." Apparently it is a kind of "extremely long-winded tale featuring extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents, usually resulting in a pointless or absurd punchline. These stories are a special case of yarns, coming from the long tradition of campfire yarns." For example ---

A boy owned a dog that was uncommonly shaggy. Many people remarked upon its considerable shagginess. When the boy learned that there are contests for shaggy dogs, he entered his dog. The dog won first prize for shagginess in both the local and the regional competitions. The boy entered the dog in ever-larger contests, until finally he entered it in the world championship for shaggy dogs. When the judges had inspected all of the competing dogs, they remarked about the boy's dog: "He's not so shaggy.

It so happens that I have been re-reading "A Game of Thrones" lately, in which the youngest Stark kid, the little wild man Rickon, named his direwolf "Shaggydog." Now I have a weird suspicion that the A Song of Ice and Fire series is one big Shaggy Dog story.

The Conversation (1974)

Oh my god the most heart-pounding, mind-blowing thriller I have seen in years. Just unbelieeeeeevable.

What the hell happened to Coppola? He was so fantastic. And then nothing. He kept flapping his arms and nothing came out. Yet once upon a time he was the master.

What the hell happened to American cinema?

I'm speechless. I'm damned speechless. How could anyone still have the nerves to make any movie about wiretapping after The Conversation?

And the music! It creeps me out! Amazing! It is not only David Shire's spine-chilling OST but also the Jazz pieces he littered throughout the movie. At one point I was, like, I know that one. Am I hallucinating? I know that one. In the end credits it came up --- Sophisticated Lady by Duke Ellington. Indeed, I did know that one.

What Next?

I've been listening, very slowly, two interviews of Philip Glass by Ira Glass. There is a lot of very poignant ideas that seem to transcend music. I am ignorant enough of music and the language composers use, but what he said makes sense for making up and telling stories as well.

In both interviews, he mentioned that a composer's work is fundamentally to resolve a problem, or "What next?" And the propensity each (good) composer resolves problems defines his style. Bach, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Philip Glass each has his own way of coming up with the answer to the question of "What next?"

When I heard this I had to chuckle. A few weeks ago I was sitting in a doctor's office with the classical music station in the background. At some point I thought, "That sounds very Rachmaninoff!" It was a piece I was sure I had never heard of, but it just reminded me of all the other Rach pieces I had heard. And at the end the radio host said, "That was Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 4." I pumped a fist in the air.

Needless to say, the question for every storyteller (or perhaps even for every nonfiction writer) is also "What next?" How do you get from point A to point B? That is the question.

随便发发牢骚

终于明白了为什么 Jonathan Cassar 的脸让我觉得似曾相识，每次在现场看见都魂不守舍地盯着看个没完没了 ...

古希腊出土文物有木有？！



遗憾地说每次都是只顾着看了又看，总是忘记多拍两张照片。我真是太傻冒了。

The closest thing in the world to perfection.