Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

Būtu nepareizi laikā, kad mana bloga pirmais ieraksts ir veltīts Elvisam Preslijam, šo sava laikmeta ikonu nepieminēt arī blogā. Un kā gan nepieminēt, ja šobrīd man austiņās skan vienīgais Elvisa studijas albūms, kas ir manā krājumā. Par savu gaumi gan lielīties man laikam nevajadzētu, tā kā sliktāku ierakstu par šo manā kolekcijā nav nemaz tik daudz. Kādreizējais rokenrola karalis Elviss 1961. gadā bija paspējis pārvērsties par romantisku filmu galveno varoni un Sinatras stila dziedoni, tikai ar sliktāku muzikālo gaumi un mazāk interesantu personību.

(valoda: angļu). Izlasījis "Ulisu", pieņēmu, ka "Mākslinieka portrets jaunībā" man tagad problēmas neradīs. Zināmas bažas gan radīja apziņa, ka šo grāmatu iepriekš jau biju lasījis (lai gan neesmu pārliecināts, ka biju to arī izlasījis). Savā otrajā pazīstamākajā darbā Džoiss vēl nebija tik pilnīgi un galīgi sajucis prātā, kā tas viņam atgadījās nieka dažus gadus vēlāk, līdz ar to šo konkrēto grāmatu ir pat iespējams lasīt. Tomēr tai ir arī viens trūkums - ja "Uliss", par spīti saviem daudzajiem trūkumiem, tomēr ir unikāls literatūras darbs, tad "Mākslienieka portrets jaunībā" ir tikai viens no daudzajiem romāniem, kurā attēlota bērna pieaugšana un vecāku ideju noliegšana. Šeit tiek stāstīts par Stīvenu Dedālu, kas mācās internāta tipa baznīcas skolā un kas pēc skolas pabeigšanas izbeidz arī savas tuvās attiecības ar Dievu, atzīdams, ka nespēj to vairs ilgāk mīlēt. Tas būtu īsais ieskats šajā romānā. Nekas īpaši cits tur arī nenotiek, vismaz ne tāds, ko būtu vērts pieminēt.

Having already talked about both this groups albums on my site I have to mention a gig of theirs I went to. It probably wasn`t the best concert of my life, especially since I wasn`t feeling very well and spend the next week after the concert at home with influenza, but it`s surely my fault and not the fault of the band. The opening act was quite intollerable and I never managed to get its name but the central band played quite a decent show. There wasn`t a single song on the set which I didn`t know - that means that the group doesn`t have a lot of new material, but it didn`t bug me at all for I`d never seen them on stage before. The lead singers did quite a good job, and even the sound mix was ok, which is a rare thing in Latvia. The band didn`t rely only on it`s "greatest hits" (as if any of their songs were hits as you understand the meaning of the word) but that was also ok. "The cat", "The heart", "Birds fly away" were my favourites of the night. A good show for a Latvian band, probably a bit too much trying to sound as in the studio but that`s alright with me.

"Labu gadu" ir režisējis viens no prestižākajiem Holivudas režisoriem - Ridlijs Skots, kura kontā ir tādas filmas kā "Bladerunner", "Hannibal", "Thelma&Louise", "Black Hawk Down", "Gladiator", "Matchstick Men", kā arī 27 minūtes gara īsfilma "Boy and Bicycle", par kuru es pilnīgi neko nezinu.

Ja 70-to gadu "Uriah Heep" neskaitās īpaši augstas klases progroka grupa, tad ko varētu gaidīt no 80.-to gadu inkarnācijas šai pašai blicei? Kā zināms, astoņdesmitie bija desmitgade, kas ir atbildīga par pūdeļroku, sintīpopu, eiropopu, Boju Džordžu, Džordžu Maiklu, sliktākajiem visu lielo 60-to un 70-gadu roka dinozauru ierakstiem, nemaz nerunājot par to, ka 83. gadā arī es esmu dzimis.

Woody Allen directed this little film here. The film isn`t only short in minutes but it also doesn`t show no big events, no showbiz` glamour, a very moderate and personal film this is. The action takes place in the dawn of the 20th century at a house in the country where three couples spend a vacation. There`s Andrew - the crazy goofy inventor (played by Woody himself) and his wife Adrian. There`s Maxwell - Andrew`s friend, donjuan, doctor, who has never lost a patient - got a few of them pregnant - but never lost one, together with his latest victim. And there`s an old doctor of philosophy Leopold together with Ariel - Andrew`s crush from the days of his youth. Falling in love, physical lust, you know how it goes. All men go crazy after Ariel, while Adrian tries to improve the her sexual with her husband (their marriage is referred as good but not working), Dulcy (Maxwell`s chick) seduces the professor and while making love to her, he dies. Of course, it sounds a bit like a soap opera, and it`s what it`s meant to be, and it`s what life is.

Just so the 10 hours long journey through the carreer of the fab four comes to the end. "The White Album" isn`t a collective work by the band anymore, but it still has many beautiful songs upon it. The tension in the band has become really bad, and the making of "Let it Be" which was supposed to be a film of them making an album becomes a real horror - with nobody liking what the rest did. Ringo leaves the band, but comes back again, the same happens to George. The songs are simply beautiful, despite all the problems in the band. The arrival of Yoko in John`s life is probably the biggest problem which the band faces. This doesn`t mean that John can`t come up with great songs anymore, but the Beatles as a band have almost died by the time. Still they do the legendary performance on the roof, which was simply superb. Later the Beatles reunite to record "Abbey Road" being almost sure that it`s the last album, therefore they were much more relaxed and each one of them did their best. There`s also the video to "Free as a Bird" - but that song sounds too little like the Beatles and too much like Tom Petty (I wonder whether Jeff Lynne of ELO also produced Tom Petty). And the last words of John in this film are just so cool: "It`s just natural. It`s not a great disaster. People dramatise like it`s the end of the world. It`s only a rock band that got split up. It`s nothing important." Isn`t it really?

This album is considered either a silly excourse the Stones did in 1967 just for fun, a terrible record that doesn`t make sense, a "Sergeant Pepper`s" ripp-off, or the most underrated rock album of all time. After having been listening for it for some 3-4 hours I gotta say that this surely ain`t my favourite record from the Stones. The opening "Sing this song all together" bugs me a lot and I don`t think that the kind of psychedelic junk suits me fine. "Citadel" is much better. "She`s a rainbow" and "The lantern" are good, but I still prefer "2000 light years from home". To my book there`s a bit too much goofy experimentation on this album sometimes making it close to unlistenable and the Stones aren`t certainly known for being unaccessible as the Residents.

Pēc šašlika un novusa sezonas atklāšanas skatījāmies jaunāko Supermena inkarnāciju pagājušā gada grāvējā (nosacīti) "Supermena atgriešanās". Negribu izlikties gudrāks kā esmu, tāpēc varu godīgi pateikt, ka manas zināšanas par Supermenu un tā nozīmi ierindas amerikāņa ikdienas dzīvē ir tuvas nullei. Es neesmu lasījis supermena komiksus (kā to arī varētu gaidīt), neesmu redzējis nevienu "Luisa un Klārks" sēriju (kā to varētu iedomāties) un nevienu Supermena filmu (kas, protams, ir šokējoši).

Varu pavēstīt, ka tuvāko mēnešu laikā visticamākais neviens Uriah Heep albūms faktoīdam nepievienosies, tā kā ātrāk kā 27. numura diskā to parādīšanās nav gaidāma. Un, kā teiktu kāds Latvijas hokeja komentēšanas klasiķis - labi, ka tā!