Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

This book by the eastern German she-writer doesn`t get too much recognition nowadays - even on amazon.de you won`t find a single review of it. I`m not really sure why - probably it has something to do with the fact that the book is poorly written and uninteresting. It`s probably about a couple of Eastern Germans going to Yugoslavia in order of getting married, and on the way or already being there the bride tells a lot of boring stories to her groom which would probably cancel the wedding in real life because Paul (that`s the groom) would leave Bella for some cheap Yugoslavian slut he`d pick up in a crack joint. In this book he doesn`t do that and nothing really happens. A borefest galore.

(valoda: krievu). "Lieta" ir turpinājums Krečinska kāzām, kas no komēdijas pāraugusi drāmā. Ļida tiek apsūdzēta pirmslaulības sakarā un sazvērastībā ar Krečinski, kas lugas gaitā viņas tēvu ved postā un bankrotā un nāvē. Tas viss norisinās lugai pietiekoši garā stāstījumā, kas ir pretdabiski garlaicīgs. Ja Suhovo-Kobiļina humors ir nīkulīgs, tad dramatiķa talanta viņam nav gandrīz nemaz, līdz ar to šo lugu var uzskatīt par spilgtu neintersantas un nekvalitatīvas lasāmvielas paraugu.

A film by Luis Bunuel, director of `The Discrete Charme of (..)` features two actors from the already mentioned film. A man who`s on a train from Seville to Madrid explains to a few other people why he spilled a bucketful of water over a pretty young Spaniard. Basically it`s a very strange love story about a man who knows what he desires but doesn`t really know that he desires only the desire (or something like that). An interesting thing about the film is that the leading female role Conchita is played by two women, and the change of those women every time shows also a change in her behaviour. It`s sad and it`s funny, it`s cynical and it`s romantic. It`s everything I want from a film.

At last I have seen my first Tarkovsky movie. I liked the ideas about the true goal in a man`s life, how nobody cares about the meaning of life when he`s happy, etc, etc. Visually the film also was strong, much more than you could expect from a Soviet film. What was not so good was the length - it was even more of a problem than in the case of Space Odyssey. What else? The dialogue was pretty crazy, most of the time it seemed that nobody spoke in full sentences, as if something was cut out. I also liked the scene with the rain both inside and outside the house. I should watch the Soderberg version to be able to compare which one I like most. And there`s also the book by Stanislav Lem. Therefore it`s not the final word you hear from `Solyaris` on this page.

Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman and Michael Palin. Do you know who these people are? Do you at least know where you are? You`re lost in America. But these people were once known as the "Monty Python`s Flying Circus". That was way back - some 30 years ago they disbandoned for different projects only occasionaly performing the good ol` Python stuff. And this was one of the occasions. In lates 70`s they played the same arena where the only official Beatles concert album was made. And boy did they know how to make people laugh! The "When we were young we had it tough" sketch absolutely makes blood in my veins turn to wine, and so does "the ministry for silly walks". At some parts video material is shown to the audience, for example the majestic soccer final between Greek and German philosophers, where Greeks become the champions thus predicting the victors of the 2004 European Championships. Still some of the sketches aren`t particulary entertaining but you can always skip them for the best stuff.

I guess I had never listened to a whole Elton John album that came out later than in mid 1970s. For it`s known to most people that he`s nothing more than an old fart who records piano ballads. But somehow I got the news that this album here is a fairly good one, so I said to myself - why not give it a try? The album starts off with a typical Elton John ballad "Porch Swing in Tupelo", which clearly showcases all the pros and contras of this album. What`s good is that Elton doesn`t try to be hip and record something cool-sounding, he just sticks to his known winning formula. And the contras? He sticks to his bloody formula. While the songs may be not bad as such - on the contrary they`re moody and beautifully sounding but they are absolute rip-offs from John`s older stuff (especially "Your Song" and "Candle in the Wind" come to mind). Sometimes he records a bit more rocky tracks - like "They Call Her the Cat" - which reminds me of something from his early recordings. Of course, his old songs are good, therefore the new ones don`t come out bad as well. But listening to this record you can`t be sure that you haven`t heard everything on it sometimes before.

Mazliet interesantāks darbs par "Delo", bet tikai mazliet. Šoreiz lugā vismaz parādās kaut kas līdzīgs sižetam un atkal jau žanrs ir komēdija. Es, protams, saprotu, satīra un tā tālāk, bet tas viss man atgādina "Revidentu", kuru būtu rakstījis kāds cilvēks ar vidēji statistikā sētnieka dotībām literatūrā. Galvenais varonis inscinē savu nāvi, lai izvairītos no kreditoriem, bet visļaunākais viņa ienaidnieks viņu tomēr atpazīst un atmasko (apmērām tā). Patiesībā gan no komēdijas te nav ne miņas, ne tur ko smieties, ne ko, vienkārši laika nosišana sabiedriskajā transportā, nekā vairāk.

Bija tāds laiks salīdzinoši nesenā pagātnē, kad es diezgan aktīvi fanoju par šo vecu mērkaķi - galvu kodēju. Patiesībā gan lielākā mērā tas attiecās nevis uz Ozija solo karjeru, bet gan uz viņa darbību kopā ar Black Sabbath, bet kurš gan to vairs atceras, kas un kāpēc par ko ir fanojis. Tomēr tā sagadījās, ka manā krājumā ir arī vesela kaudze viņa solo ierakstu. Ok, kaudze varētu būt arī neliels pārspīlējums, bet to noteikti ir vairāk nekā viens. Nē, patiesībā man pat laikam ir gandrīz visi viņa ieraksti, bet tas jau ne par mani, ne vēl jo vairāk par Oziju neko neliecina. Šajā albūmā ir viena no viņa solo karjeras slavenākajām dziesmām - "Crazy Train", kurā viņa ģitārists Rendijs Roudss demonstrē savu pirkstu veiklību, bet Ozijs demonstrē, ka viņa balss, lai gan nav slikta, bet neko unikāli spēcīga tā arī nav, tomēr dziesma ir vienkārši lieliska. Žēl, ka vairums pārējo ieraksta dziesmu nav diez ko sirdi aizgrābjošas. It īpaši to var attiecināt uz romantisko "Goobye To Yesterday", kas patiesībā ir easy listening un nevis metāls, turklāt puse dziesmu albūmā izklausās gandrīz identiski - piemēram, kas lūdzu īpašs ir kompozīcijā "Suicide Solution"? Ai, vispār tas ir tik tipisks monotons metāla ieraksts, ka tipiskāku un monotonāku grūti iedomāties. Nemīlu es vairs Oziju, ne un ne.

Var strīdēties par to, vai Ramones bija visu laiku labākā pankroka grupa. Var strīdēties par to, vai Ramones bija visu laiku pirmā pankroka grupa. Var pat strīdēties, vai Ramones vispār bija pankroka grupa. Toties nevar strīdēties par to, ka vairāki šīs grupas dalībnieki nu jau kādu laiku ir miruši un ka nekad - es atkārtoju - nekad - neiznāks vēl viens grupas Ramones debijas albūms. Personīgi sevi es neuzskatu par pārmērīgu šīs bandas daiļrades cienītāju, tomēr primārā "Blitzkrieg Bop" skaistumu nesaskatīt arī man būtu grūti - kaut ko tik ģeniālu un stulbu vienlaicīgi patiešām varēja radīt tikai tādi mūzikas guru kā Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Tommy Ramone, Joey Ramone un vēl kaut kādi citi Ramouni (es gan patiesībā nezinu, cik daudz un kādi Ramouni bija grupā pirmās plates ierakstīšanas laikā, bet kāda starpība). To pašu var teikt par "Judy is a punk" - patiešām savādāk kā par primāru es šādu mūziku nosaukt nevaru, it īpaši šajā dziesmā izceļas otrā panta sākums - "Second verse - same as the first", kas arī tiek godīgi izpildīts atbilstoši solījumam. "I wanna be your boyfriend" izklausās pēc tipiskas girlgrupas dziesmas tikai mazliet smagākā izpildījumā. Nevaru nepieminēt arī leģendāro 4 rindiņu kompozīciju "Now i wanna sniff some glue" - kolosāls apgalvojums, kolosāla enerģija. Kas, protams, ir prognozējams - visas albūma dziesmas ir pārsteidzoši vienveidīgas - bet tas jau laikam gan bija Ramones mērķis, netiekties pēc daudzveidības, bet palikt uzticīgiem savam imidžam. Vēl viena albūma priekšrocība - tas ir mazāk nekā 30 minūtes ilgs, atļaujot man pāris stundu laikā to noklausīties veselas četras reizes. Primāri viņi varētu teikt ir gluži kā bītli savos agrīnajos ierakstos. Tomēr es nespēju sevi pārliecināt, ka "Ramones" ir visu laiku labākais pankroka ieraksts - nepatīk man šāds mūzikas stils, ja es izvēlos pankus, es tomēr gribu kaut ko oriģinālāku par šo skaisto blici.

DK were undoubtely one of the most interesting punk bands in existence. Apart from being more intelligent and technically advanced than most of their peers they differ from bands like "Ramones" and "Sex Pistols" with being much more anti-establishment oriented than the already mentioned "Pistols" who basically were the "New Monkees". DK are agressive, Jello Biafra sings as if he had no teeth in his mouth but as is if the capitalists had ripped his guts or done something nasty to his grandma. Their debut record boosts a group of uber-cool, uber-agressive and uber-satiric songs: including "California uber alles", "Holiday in Cambodia", "Kill the poor" and "Let`s lynch the landlord". The first song of theirs I ever heard was "Kill the poor" which I had on some bizarre CD titled smartely "Best of rock". Back then I didn`t particulary enjoy this song, but nowadays I consider it one of the finest statements punk music has given to the world. Being so alternative the Kennedys still pay very much attention to making their songs stand out, with excellent memorable melodies and catchy choruses. They even do a cover of Elvis`s "Viva Las Vegas" without a doubt outdoing Sid Vicious and "My Way", because the band sounds so hardcore that I can even imagine becoming a fan of hard core punk music.