Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

Hārdroks agrīno Queen stilā ar ne pārāk pārliecinošiem vokāliem, tīri normāliem, bet ne izciliem ģitāras soliņiem un nelielu Black Sabbath imitāciju. Oriģinalitāti gribu!

Animāļi bija reiz viena no britu invāzijas lielākajām bandām, žēl tikai, ka viņi bija nožēlojami dziesmu autori un līdz ar to ātri norietēja. Tas, ko šodien klausījos, ir viņu debijas albūma (laikam tas bija debijas) Lielbritānijas versija, kurā nav iekļauts leģendārais "House of the Rising Sun", tā vietā ieliekot vienīgo viņu sākotnējo oriģinālkompozīciju "The Story of Bo Diddley", kas ir visai prikolīgs britu mūzikas vēstures atstāstījums līdz 1964. gadam (ieskaitot). Viss pārējais - labāki vai sliktāki kaveri. "The Girl Can`t help it" (Little Richard) būtu tipiskākais neveiksmīgā kovera piemērs, citi piemēri - varbūt arī labāki - bet nu patiesi nekā īpaša. Foršs agrīns rokenrols, bet es nevarētu pamatot, kāpēc man būtu jāklausās "The Animals" un nevis piemēram "The Other Creatures" (ja tādi eksistētu) - tikai un vienīgi Erika Burdona vokāls viņus izvilkt nespēj, it īpaši, ja viņš sāk atdarīt melnos dziedātājus.

I don`t really know who told me that Heym was an important German writer. At least I remember hearing his name somewhere. I guess, he was more popular in East Germany than anywhere else mainly because of his dissidents cult status - a socialist that has his dissagreements with a socialist state. Anyhow, this book here tells us of 5 days in the history of GDR - about the workers strike on June 17 1953. There`s this socialist named Witte being somewhere among the bosses of a factory who wants to stop new requirements from the workers which would mean more work for less pay, but nobody listens to him. And this way a hell brakes loose - with the help of capitalistic agitators, having their own reasons for doing what they do - telling that the Americans would come to help, which they don`t, of course. As a historical material this book may have its value, and it is quite thrilling to read (not the whole time though) but as a piece of literature it`s very far from the best the 20th century could produce. It`s a piece of socialistic realism, although not in the ideological sense but in the form it seems pretty lame to me.

The author has obtained a Nobel prize. I coudn`t achieve reading this book until the end, giving up on it at the half of it. Basically it`s a psychological porn story with some witty remarks in it. Not interesting to me, as a matter of fact. If you`d count how often the word "dick" arises in this book, you`d get a very big number. Sadly I can`t rate it to that number.

Kaut kā pēdējā laikā man te faktoīdā tikai mūzikas ieraksti parādās, jo neko citu īpaši lielos daudzumos neuzņemu. "96 tears" ir tipisks viena hīta izpildītāja albūms. Tāpat saucās arī grupas vienīgais grāvējs - leģendārā un mazliet sviestainā kompozīcija "96 tears". Pirms visai daudziem gadiem, kad šo albūmu pirmo reizi dzirdēju, es nezināju, ka grupas dziedātājs oficiāli nomainīja vārdu uz "?" (Prince nerullē, jo viņš līdz tam aizdomājās stipri vēlāk), apgalvoja, ka esot marsietis un dzirdot balsis un vienmēr nēsēja saulesbrilles. Žēl tikai, ka izņemot "96 tears" grupai nekā, ko teikt nebija un ka Jautājumazīmes dīvainā tēlainība mūzikā nekur neparādās. Tā vietā tur parādās tādas dziesmas kā "Midnight Hour" - tipisks 60 gadu pops ar šausmīgi sliktu aranžējumu. Vispār vai nu man viņi ir tizlā ierakstā vai misteriāņi bija pārāk tipisks "garage rock" grupējums, lai domātu par to, cik viņu mūzika forši izklausās. Sintiķa darbība šajā albūmā ir visai forša, bet skanējums ir tik ļoti plāns, ka vismaz es neko šeit baudīt nevaru. Visas dziesmas ir īsas un neapnicīgas (16 kompozīciju albūms ir īsāks par 40 minūtēm), bet man visvairāk kaitē skanējuma pliekanums - tas viss izklausās pēc tualetē tapuša ieraksta un arī melodijas nav tā vērtas, lai nīkulīgo skaņas kvalitāti varētu piedot. Varbūt tīri no vēsturiskā viedokļa šī grupa būtu ievērību pelnījusi, bet muzikāli tajā nekā nav.

Finally a new country is added to my factoid. Norway - the country which has given the world Ole Einar Bjorndalen and probably something else as well, Knut Hamsun, for instance, has given us the band "Madrugada". I don`t mean to tell that the band is particulary popular anywhere in the world but who cares about fame, who cares about anything? So, the band is a bit pessimistic in its sound having some goth elements in its sound. The first track on the album "The kids are on the high street" is a superb one, and the album goes on in a similar manner having some references probably to "The Cure", some to "Joy Division" but with less synths and more guitars. That means that Joy Division can be replaced with the Smiths and now you`ll get it more. A good record for sure, although it doesn`t make you shake your lazy ass off the chair.

Хотя по идее я должен был бы восхищаться Ромэном Гари - как никак он почти из наших краев - но на самом деле он меня не больно интересует. Какое-то время назад моя матушка стала большой почитательницей данного писателя, но вскоре и ей он надоел. Правду говоря, я и не поинетересовался - "Гари Купер" - это удачный или не удачный его роман. По мне то - явно это не вершина всей французской литературы, а всего лишь старание пожилого француза сойти за битника или хиппи. Главных героев в книге двое - это Джесси - дочь американского консула в Швейцарии, и Ларри - лыжник-бомж, если так можно сказать, который отказался от американской сборной по горным лыжам, потому что ему наплевать на общество и он - лыжник одиночка. Вообще книгу весьма сложно воспринять, она написана каким-то очень замороченным образом так что там скорее свихнуться можно, нежели особо заинтересоваться содержанием данного труда. Скукота не описуемая. Если я и дам Гари второй шанс стать мною любимым, то не скоро, хотя он то два раза гонкуровских приз за литературу отхапал, значит по крайней мере кто-то его ценит очень высоко.

It might be the best way for a person to find some sort of a key to the person known ar J.P.Sartre (which is his really name, by the way). The book is an authobiography about Sartre`s childhood. Some episodes are quite amusing, for example, the way little J.P. rewrites books and imagines himself to be the author. I wouldn`t say that I have become a fan of the author after the book has been read but at least the background for his attitudes has got a bit clearer now.

I don`t really know how I managed to live for so long without watching this film. The reason why I should have watched it is the appearance of John Cleese. It would be silly of me to tell who John Cleese is since I have already done that on many, many occasions. There`s Rowan Atkinson here though, which is not a bonus imho. And Amy Smart - you know, that girl from "Butterfly Effect". And Whoopy Goldberg! And it`s directed by the director of "Ghost"! Ok, enough of that already. An owner of a Vegas casino hosts the weirdest horse (not really) race ever where 6 people are on their way to get two million bucks. But since they are each others enemies it`s not the easiest task for any of them. I`m not gonna tell more about it, except for the fact that John Cleese is the casino guy and that the main thing about the race is a stupid bet for some rich morons (who among other things like to bet on who`s gonna be the first to throw up on an airplane and how much an exact sexual perversion might cost). It`s pretty funny, I must say. Although it`s definetely not the smart kind of humour, I really don`t care as far as I get my laughs.

There was a festival of fantasia films in Riga, and one part of it was this collection of short films. Some of them there good, some of them not so good. Among the best was an Austrian film about a man working in a copy central who suddenly notices that he himself has been copied and is still being copied. "Nosferatu tango" is a weird cartoon about an insect falling in love with Dracula - the coolest thing about this cartoon is certainly the weird kind of computer animation. And last but not least there was a film called "Paradisiak" about an alien coming to earth and being killed by duck hunters.