Better Than Friday - 22 (Patreon)

1. An awesome book sent to me by a good friend in Northern Germany.  

I've never read Theodore Storm, but it looks excellent. 

“The Rider on the White Horse” begins as a ghost story. A traveler along the coast of the North Sea is caught in dangerously rough weather. Offshore he glimpses a spectral rider rising and plunging in the wind and rain. Taking shelter at an inn, the traveler mentions the apparition, and the local schoolmaster volunteers a story.The story is both simple and subtle, and its peculiar power is to surprise us slowly. It is a story of determination, of a young man, Hauke Haien, living in a remote community (Storm depicts the village with the luminous precision of a Vermeer), who is out to make a name for himself and to remake his world. It is a story of devotion and disappointment, of pettiness and superstition, of spiritual pride and ultimate desolation, and of the beauty and indifference of the natural world. It is a story that opens up in the end to uncover the foundation of savagery on which human society rests.Theodor Storm’s great novella, which will remind readers of the work of Thomas Hardy, is one of the supreme masterpieces of German literature. It is here limpidly translated by the American poet James Wright, along with seven other shorter works, including the lyrical love story “Immensee.”

2. Peggy Lee 'Is That All There Is' 

I like how Pop music used to have such substance back in the day. 

There's something so amazing about this. The spoken word Cabaret style and orchestral arrangements remind me of stuff by Lee Hazlewood. 

'I'm not ready for that final disappointment' - HA!

3. Hecate and Her Dogs is now being listed for up to $989.90 

The Pushkin edition of Hecate and Her Dogs by Paul Morand now appears to be a rare book.

I think I've seen it going for over $1000.00.

I still have my copy, which is in good condition. If somebody would like to purchase it, please get in touch with me - I will definitely part with it for less than any of those prices. 

4. My Mom's Mastador, 'Sensei', nicknamed 'Hefty Jeff'. 

He's a beast - 140 pounds - but acts like a puppy. 

5. Etienne Daho 

I heard this track the other day, I'd never heard him before. 

Now it's stuck in my head and I'm really enjoying it. 

Visiting my mom in the PNW. This is her dining room centerpiece - Mad Max from The Road Warrior.