Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

Another one from the Fellini films (after 8 1/2) didn`t leave an impression of true greatness on me. Yes, some parts of it very really interesting but it is not my kind of film. Perhaps it`s so because I don`t like clowns, maybe not. Of course, it is not a film of low quality - there are no simple good/bad characters but nevertheless I didn`t find it to a film for me.

Not as heavy as `Brutal Planet` but still pretty impressive. Nowhere close to my A list though for I don`t have an A list for music.

Now that is one hell of a long title - just like them Germans like them to be. To be honest - it`s almost longer than the book. Peter Bichsel, you see, was a poet who died young (actually he didn`t die young, but that would sound more impressive). And he also wrote this compilation of 21 stories which have more to do with poetry than with prose. They are extremely short and rarely have a real story going on in them. There`s a one called "The Men" - it`s a tricky one about a woman sitting in a cafeteria. And there`s another one about a guy imagining a conversation with a girl selling flowers. And a good one about a granndad who died but wanted to tame lions. And then there`s the title story - this Mrs. Blum gets milk from the milkman every day but never sees him for he comes too early in the morning, still the milkman considers that he knows the woman for he knows how much milk she buys. The stories are made up from very short sentences, and they are rather bizarre images than anything else. I doubt that there`s a need to try to find what Bichsel wanted to tell, what were his ideas. It`s not that important really. I do like poets writing prose, and this is a good example for that. Books like this one don`t make you change your lifestyle, shave your head and go to Tibet; they are too unimportant, unpretentious for that. But does everything have to be immortal to be good? I don`t think so.

Probably it ain`t the best way to start a relationship with this weird German band. After all, 1987 is not a regular album but a collection of early songs (or versions of songs) the band did in mid-80`s. It means that I have no real reason to believe that this record depicts at full any stage of this bands weird career. Yet, be those songs outtakes or remastered demos or even a blind three-legged Spanish swordsmaster they are mostly good. The brand of music is a wicked mixture of Einsturzende Neubauten, Depeche Mode, The Cure and certainly Sparks. My personal favourite on this album is "Reincarnation" - a goofy song with lyrics going "There is no peace in heaven, there is no peace on earth" (and so comparing heaven and earth). "Battle of the ghost" in terms of vocals goes in the vain of "Propoganda" by the Sparks. Yet it`s possible that the Sparks took some elements out of German bar-room music, therefore it may be no clear lift. Of course, you`ll need some time to get through the weird arrangements and electronic sounds but the reward will be worth it. At least I`ve rarely encountered anything as interesting in the scene of German music.

Neticami, bet fakts - es esmu beidzot atradis vismaz vienu Dilana albūmu, ko varu klausīties atkal un atkal. Bet es biju domājis, ka vairāk nekā 4 viņa dziesmas pēc kārtas noklausīties nemaz nav iespējams. Redz, kā izrādās, ka pat Bobs Dilans reizēm ir ļoti klausāms. Savā otrajā albūmā šis ebreju tautības dziesminieks ir sacerējis savu pirmo "grāvēju" - `Blowin` in the Wind`, kas par spīti dažu Ziņģu attieksmei pret šādu mūziku ir ģeniāla protesta dziesma ar skaistiem vārdiem. Taču tas nav viss, ko šis albūms spēj piedāvāt. Te ir atrodamas gan skaistas liriskas balādes, tādas kā "Girl from the North Country" (kas man vismaz rada asociācijas ar vēlāka mūziķa - Leonarda Koena - daiļradi). Tur ir agresīva pretmilitāra dziesma "Masters of War", kas savukārt rada asociācijas ar Džona Lenona solo darbību. Tur ir skaista tautas mūzika, tāda kā "A Hard Rain`s A-Gonna Fall". Tur ir vēl skaista balāde "Don`t think twice it`s allright". Un tur ir humora pilnas dziesmas, tādas kā "Talking World War III Blues" un "I Shall Be Free". Labs!

The Apartment is on the IMDB list of 250 greatest films of all times, therefore there is no doubt that it is considered by many a great film. Of course participation on this list doesn`t guarantee much, still "The Apartment" is there right above "Blade Runner". I can`t say that I completely disagree with such an opinion but I would have my doubts about whether this film is as good as some claim it to be. C.C.Baxter (Jack Lemmon, famous from "Some like it hot") works in a very big company as a very small man. But he has some kind of strategy for becoming successful and wealthy: he lets some of his more influential colleagues use his apartment when they want to have the evening with some chick they`ve just picked up. And C.C. hopes that those fellows will help him advance in the company. Everything would be fine for him, apart from all his neighbours thinking that he is a sex maniac and apart from him sometimes having to spend the night on a bench in the park, until the boss of the company finds out about the brothel Baxter has in his apartment. As you can probably guess, Mr. Sheldrake (the director) also wants to have access to Baxter`s place. And it would be alright, were the girl he takes there not the same girl whom Baxter also loves. Fran works in one of the elevators of the company and she likes Baxter also, but she`s in love with Sheldrake who has promised her to leave his wife, but who thinks of no such thing of course, for he isn`t that sick. When Fran makes a suicide attempt in Baxter`s apartment and he finds her there they eventually could get together but she still loves the Sheldrake person (who is a stupid bastard and who deserves to die, if you ask me), so she and he both remain in their places. And with good results - Sheldrake gets kicked out by his wife so now he theoretically can marry Fran, and Baxter is promoted to Assistant Director at the company. Everything would be fine, if not for the fact that Sheldrake is an asshole. So when he asks the key to Baxter`s apartment once again he decides to cut the crap and quits the company - and I gotta admit, he does it with some style. And as you can surely guess - Fran also quits upon Sheldrake and the ending is a joyful union of the couple of good characters. What I found a bit silly in the film were some of its premises. I can imagine that company bosses could prefer an employees apartment to a hotel room for it`s not only cheaper but also gives more discrecy, yet I can`t believe that not one of the neighbours noticed that it wasn`t Baxter who had orgies every evening but some complete strangers and how nobody noticed all those strangers in the house and believed Baxter to be one hell of a sex bomb, who he wasn`t of couse. The film was funny enough, although some participants overacted a lot, for instance, Fran`s brother in law was about as believable in his role as I would be. Music in such films is also very generic and uninspiring, but overall it was still a fun film to watch, although it was more drama than comedy in fact.

Once you receive a death sentence you start to look at things in a different way. Or you don`t. Not that it really matters. What is characteristic to any book of Rushdie`s is the complexity of his language and the low "readability" level. That`s just the case with "Fury", one of his most recent books. Malik Solanka is a Indo-British professor who leaves his wife and child and flees to the States for he doesn`t know how to cope with his fury and anger. Apart from being a professor he`s a dollmaker, and a bit crazy for that, as a matter of fact. Most of the time he either makes his weird dolls for a new project of his or makes love to some woman about half his age. Yeah, if you want to know there`s a lot of Rushdie`s biography in Solanka. But I really don`t wanna know whether Solanka had to performs blow-jobs on his step-dad or not. Rushdie certainly tries to be accessible and modern, the book includes numerous references to popular music, computer games, Hollywood films (especially "Star wars") etc., etc. But he doesn`t convince me that he really lives for that. And midlife sexuality isn`t particulary sexual for my taste. Still the book has its positive values in terms of fury and Furies Mr. Rushdie knows his stuff.

Das letzte Stück aus dem 2 Band der Gesammelten Werke von Max Frisch ist eins das ich noch nicht gelesen hatte. Es erzählt von Agnes, einer Frau, die im Keller ihres Hauses nach dem Ende des 2. Weltkrieges sich mit ihrem Mann zusammen flüchtet. In ihrem Haus wohnt jetzt einer Gruppe Russischen Soldaten, und unter denen auch der Kommandier Ivanov. Labi, pāreju uz latviešu valodu, vāciski pārāk lēnām iet. Tātad, tai Agnesei vīrs ir bijis Vērmahtā un vai nu ir vai nu nav piedalījies ebreju apšaušanā Varšavas geto. Toties ir droši zināms tas, ka Agnese vienojas katru dienu vienu stundu pavadīt ar Ivanovu apmaiņā pret to, ka krievi pagrabā nelien un viņas veci tur neatrod. Tikai problēma tāda, ka tur ar Ivanovu nekādu seksa padarīšanu viņai nav, bet vācu valodu Ivanovs nezina. Tikām vīrs, lai viņam būtu mierīgāks prāts, tiek turēts neziņā par Ivanova vācu valodas spējām un viņš domā, ka sieva ar to par Gēti un Šilleru sarunājas, lai gan patiesībā viņi vienkārši kaut kur apkārt vazājas, skatās viens uz otru un pamazām iemīlas viens otrā. Beigās gan vīram nervi neiztur un viņš no pagara iziet, atklājas viss saistītais ar Ivanova valodu zināšanām + atklājas, ka to vīru apsūdz diezgan palielos noziegumos, tomēr Ivanovs viņam un Agnesei atļauj aiziet. Lai gan Agnese patiesībā vairs nekur aiziet negrib, jo ir ieķērusies Ivanovā, ar kuru viņi katrs sarunājas savā valodā, nesaprotot, ko otrs saka. Vispār - normāla luga.

Šis albūms iezīmē negaidītu pāreju, transformāciju, modifikāciju, modulāciju utt. Boba Dilana karjerā. Proti, šis jaukais poisietis līdz ar "Bringin` it all back home" ir atteicies no sava drošā akustiskā ģitāra+mutes ermoņikas komplekta un kļuvis "elektrisks", iesaistot albūmā arī citus instrumentus un veidojot pilnīgāku skaņu. Vēl viena šī albūma "firmas zīme" ir viens no pirmajiem, viens no pazīstamākajiem, viens no stilīgākajiem utt. mūzikas videoklipiem, kas tapa uztaisīts albūma pirmajai kompozīcijai "Subterranean Homesick Blues". Klāt pie citām lietām Dilans arī ir kļuvis tekstuāli bagātāks, tautas motīvu vietā iesaistot apziņas plūsmu, kas īpaši izteikta ir tajā pašā "Homesick Blues". Citāts: "Keep a clean nose/ Watch the plain clothes/ You don`t need a weather man/ To know which way the wind blows". Taču viena izcila dziesma nespētu padarīt albūmu patiešām labu, tāpēc Dilans ir papūlējies, lai arī citas albūma sastāvdaļas neliktu klausītājam vilties. "She Belongs to Me", piemēram, man rada spēcīgas asociācijas ar Lū Rīda liriskajām, gandrīz ierunātajām dziesmām, protams, ignorējot to, ka Lū nekad nespēlēja ermoņikas. Neteikšu, ka visas dziesmas man patīk vienlīdz labi, tā, piemēram, bez "Maggie`s Farm" es varētu arī iztikt, pārāk country ir tās skanējums. Toties albumā ir virkne citu kompozīciju, kas to spēj atsvērt ar savu kvalitāti. Piemēram, vēl viens apziņas plūsmas gabals "Bob Dylan`s 115th Dream", nemaz nerunājot par absolūto klasiku - "Mr. Tambourine Man", dziesmu, kura zināma gandrīz jebkuram Dilana necienītājam. Tomēr ar to vēl albūms neaprobežojas. Tam uz beigām vecais labais Bobs ir sakrāmējis virkni īstenu pērļu - "Gates of Eden", "It`s alright, Ma (I`m only Bleeding)" (labs nosaukums, ne) un vēl "It`s all over now, Baby Blue", ģeniāla dziesma, fantastiska dziesma, vairāk nekā atmiņā paliekoša dziesma. Ja tā turpināsies, es visā drīzumā no Dilana skeptiķa būšu pārvērties par viņa fanu, cik pretdabīgi lai man pašam tas nešķistu.

It`s been ages since I read a book this big in German. And I mean literally ages - at least since my previous life. A modern version of Hamlet, you ask? Gotta have lots of perversion in it, you know what these modern versions are usually like. Strangely this isn`t the case. Edward Allison comes from WW2 with only one leg, and has to remain at the hospital for his mind isn`t really well, but his mother persuades the doctors to let him stay with the family. Everything would be ok, hadn`t Edward due to some strange reason decided that he should solve the mysteries in his own house. Which means - unfold his fathers secret. While he tries to find the truth within himself, his relatives tell him weird stories - for example, the one about the princess of Tripoli that lived from men`s life and managed to remain young for a very long time, and a version of king Lear`s life where he isn`t a hero but a tyrant. Gordon (Edwards father) is a writer and his marriage to Alice collapses when Edward drives him out of his home because of the past. Alice tells Edward, that he isn`t his father`s son and goes on the search for her true lover. While his father (who is Gordon) dies in the hands of the mother who has once again accepted him, Edward slowly comes back to himself, understanding that he isn`t a Hamlet, no matter how he tried to be one. What do I say? Despite the length, it`s an interesting novel, showing the confusion of modern times, having quite a few interesting stories told by the characters on their way coping with themselves.