Biblofile - October/November

Illness prevented me from reporting on my reads from October so I'll use November's update to report on both.

I read four books in October. The Vinyl Dialogues by Mike Morsch is a collection of stories about some memorable albums - and some not so memorable - by the artists who made them. Interesting for music lovers such as myself. We Are As The Times Are was written by a friend of mine, Ken Rockburn, about Ottawa's well-known and highly regarded - and long-gone - coffee house Le Hibou where many Canadian and American folk acts hit the stage. An enjoyable read. Kenneth Anger wrote Hollywood Babylon a collection of salacious tales about the dark side of Hollywood. Fascinating reading. And I rounded out October with If He Hollars Let Him Go written by Chester Himes in 1945 which looks at racism in the United States. Sadly not a lot has changed in 2015.

I started November out with Further Adventures of a Grumpy Rock Star by Rick Wakeman, former keyboardist for Yes, Strawbs and other progressive rock collectives. This guy is extremely funny and his second volume of reminiscences didn't disappoint. I read the Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz, the fourth book in the Stieg Larsson Millenial trilogy series. The effort was approved by Larsson's estate and it's an excellent read. Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis just won Canada's prestigious Giller Prize for best fiction and was pretty interesting. Dogs are given human voice and the novel centres around a collection of 15 dogs and how they cope. I ended the month with Dylan Goes Electric: Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night That Split the Sixties by Elija Wald. The interesting aspect about this book was it's historical take on the folk music scene leading up to Dylan and his music and that unforgettable appearance at 1965's Newport Folk Festival. I really enjoyed it.

Here are the books I read and their ratings:

The Vinyl Dialogues ***
We Are As The Times Are *****
Hollywood Babylon ****
If He Hollars Let him Go ****
Further Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rock Star ****
The Girl in the Spider's Web *****
Fifteen Dogs ****
Dylan Goes Electric ****

I've read 57 books this year. I'd estimated I'd probably read 75 books in 2015 but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. C'est la vie.

My Back Pages - October

Well, folks, I read seven (count 'em) seven books in October. One I didn't finish but even at that I hit the magic number 50 I estimated for myself by the end of the year. The six books I successfully waded through were, firstly, What Happened, Hillary Clinton's book on her bid for the Presidency. I''m a bit of a political junkie so I get off on this stuff but still it kinda struck me as one long whine over losing. Next up was the excellent Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and Music of Laurel Canyon. Laurel Canyon was the fabled area outside of Los Angeles where many musicians and artists lived. Known as a 60s enclave, the book takes a look at just who lived there over the last 80 years. A fascinating read. Next up was Lightfoot, a biography of Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot. He may have been responsible for some iconic folk songs but he was also quite the womanizer and boozer. Enough said. Then I read Dan Brown's new tome Origin, the fifth ...

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born. That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network. And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door. And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran. The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993. I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share. The formula was pretty simple. A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains. The show opened as follows... Imagination Day! Oh boy! ...

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

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