Better Than Friday - 37 (Patreon)

Hello everyone!

Hope this finds you well, a new review of Silvina Ocampo's 'Thus Were Their Faces' is almost finished. 

Here's some stuff I've been into lately. 

1. Book in the Pipeline - Pu Songling - Strange Tales From a Chinese Studio 

It was suggested recently in the comments section that I review some Chinese authors. 

Coincidentally, I found this book not long after, in one of those little free-book libraries. 

In a further coincidence, it's an author that was in a collection edited together by Borges, Casares, and the forthcoming review's author, Silvina Ocampo. 

Interesting indeed. 

The Strange Tales of Pu Songling (1640-1715) are exquisite and amusing miniatures that are regarded as the pinnacle of classical Chinese fiction. With their elegant prose, witty wordplay and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this selection reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems. Here a Taoist monk conjures up a magical pear tree, a scholar recounts his previous incarnations, a woman out-foxes the fox-spirit that possesses her, a child bride gives birth to a thimble-sized baby, a ghostly city appears out of nowhere and a heartless daughter-in-law is turned into a pig. In his tales of humans coupling with shape-shifting spirits, bizarre phenomena, haunted buildings and enchanted objects, Pu Songling pushes back the boundaries of human experience and enlightens as he entertains.

2. New York Is Killing Me

A remix of a terrific Gil Scott-Heron song by Chris Cunningham, a hero of mine who I consider the greatest music video director of all time. 

He's known for his (astounding) music videos for Aphex Twin. 

Nobody has ever matched image to music like him. He is truly in a class all his own. 

Unfortunately, this song takes on a deeply disturbing relevance given the current events. 

3. A Fantastic Resource For Finding Rare Books 

The world's largest search engine for old, rare, and out-of-print books. 

4. Yeah I Know It's Silly But It Seems to Make Delicious Coffee 

A pour-over technique from coffee expert Scott Rao. 

5. "Mwwaaah The French Champagne" 

If you noticed me saying something strange at 2:48 of 'The Plague' review and didn't get it, this is what it references.

The greatest piece of comedy ever captured on celluloid. Starring Orson Welles. 

There was even a decent spoof. I pretty much died when he begins telling the crab how he's been boiled alive by the studio system. 

Spotted this on a walk recently. 

It seems to reflect the feeling of the times.