Longest novel yet

Under the Dome -- Stephen King (1074 pages)

More long novels

Recently read (Jan - March, 2015):

The Crimson Petal and the White -- Michel Faber (838 pages)
Special Topics in Calamatiy Physics -- Marisha Pessl (514 pages)
The Art of Fielding -- Chad Harback (512 pages)

Long form novels read in 2014

This is not how I spend the 16 months since my last post.  I did do other things too.

But I became interested in long novels last year.  This is what I read in 2014, along with many other more standard length (~ 300 page) books. The order is approximate:

The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt (775 pages)

Skippy Dies – Paul Murray (672 pages)

I Know this Much to be True  -- Wally Lamb (912 pages)

Middlemarch – George Elliott (879 pages)

Portrait of a Lady – Henry James (660 pages)

Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackery (719 pages)

The Secret History – Donna Tartt  (559 pages)

The Book of Strange New Things – Michel Fahey (500 pages)

Which were worth the time? I started but did not finish some others, so all the above were worth it.  However, with that qualification, the only one I want the time back for is I Know this Much to be True. On the other hand, I might read Portrait of a Lady or Middlemarch again.

And here are the long books I started by did not finish:

The Way We Live Now – Anthony Trollope (800 pages)

Sacred Games – Vikram Chandra (992 pages)

Suitable Boy -- Vikram Seth (1488 pages)

Live Music 2013

It's been a very good and very varied 4 months of live music.

Thus far

Charlie Parr, Feb. 2

Umphrey's McGee, Feb. 8

Happy Apple, April 9th

Craig Taborn, April 26

Cole Porter, April 27

Puzzling waste of time

Jigsaw puzzles finished since Christmas.

Each is a 1000 piece puzzle.  The last one was disassembled before I remembered to take a picture.

Kate and Rob

A picture that needs to be shared...

Umphrey's McGee

I was there (1st Avenue, Mpls on Feb. 6).  With brother Tim.  Horrible video, but the artifact counts.

Thanks to Kate and Rob for pushing me a bit beyond my comfort zone.

It was a great night.

Salers, France

This video may suggest more than is really there,  but for me, the perfect visit.

Footnote to history. the Portrait of Louis XI

The painting of Louis XI which I post previously appeared in the New York Times today:


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/arts/design/brooklyn-museum-finds-some-problematic-gifts-cant-be-returned.html

The painting is owned by the Brooklyn Museum and is part of a bequest from the estate of Col. Michael Friedsam, president of the elegant retail emporium B. Altman.

It turns out that many of the items in the bequest were either forgeries or of poor quality, and the museum would like to 'give them away'.

The portrait of Louis XI is one of these.

The 5 Great Monarchs of France

Here's the list from a recent French history book I been skimming:

Philip Augustus (1165 - 1223). aka, Philip II


















Philip IV (1268 - 1314)

   

















Louis XI (1423 - 1483)



















Louis XIV(1638 - 1715)

Napoleon (1769 - 1821)


















More to come...

Listening to Now: Ian and Sylvia, Southern Comfort

Not sure why, but I found myself internally singing this over the past several days.  It's from one of my 60's favorite albums: Ian and Sylviai, Nashville

Note the complex suite-like structure.

Happy Birthday My Precious Kate

When You're 64.

Bruno Mars?

I don't get it.  250 million views.

'

History Notes. The 5 Republics of France

(The first in perhaps a series of notes. )

The 5 Republics of France

First Republic 

1792 - 1805. Began with THE French Revolution (of which there were actually 3)
Ended when Napoleon declared himself Emperor.
Markers: the Tennis court Convention; the Terror; and Robespierre

Napoleon (1769 - 1821)

Robespierre (1758-1794)

Second Republic
1848 - 1851
Began with the 1848 Revolution
Ended with Napoleon III declared himself Emperor
Markers: emergence of the moto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

Napoleon III (1808 - 1873)

Third Republic
1870 - 1940
Began with the fall of the Emporer after being defeated in the Franco-Prussian War
Ended with the defeat of France by German and establishement of Vichy France
Markers: the Paris Commune

Fourth Republic1946 - 1959

Began with liberation of France after WWII

Collapsed as a result of the Algiers crisis

Markers: Charles DeGaulle

Fifth Republic
1958 - present
Began with new constitution, formally ratified in 1958
Markers: strong president serving 7 year terms

Gobble Gobble Hey

\

Fun site

This is here just to preserve the link:

Theuseless web.com

Be sure to listen with the sound on.

Hey, FrenchKate!

Notre Dame, 1842

And, who's that at the top?  (Hint: Is that a ruler in his hand?)

 Feel free to borrow these.

Listening to Now: Billy Bragg

Always loved this song...the raw guitar behind a strident protest song:

Listening to now: Walking Blues

THE classic blues song

Of course Clapton covered it!

A technical introduction:

And Muddy Waters:

And a horrible cover by the Grateful Dead:

Listening to Now: Chicago blues

One of the music blogs I follow posted this picture.  It was too special not to pass on.

So here's Muddy Waters performing a song entitled "Country Blues"

Which, curiously, is a variation on a much earlier song by Son House entitled variously "Death Letter" or "Walking Blues":

And to round things out, here's Howlin Wolf performing a classic Chicago song: "The Killing Floor".  (The killing floor was the slaughter house in the Chicago stockyards).