Category: Arts and Letters

Stone’s Fans Do Not Miss Minor Details

4 out of 5 stars
Not bad but needed a better editor
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2026
Format: Hardcover
Verified Purchase
Quite good, but he needed a better editor. There is a whole series of errors: Mona was not the lead track on their first British LP, it was the fourth; in one spot he says that the B side of Let’s Spend the Night Together is Lady Jane; he mentions Herbert Hoover when he means J. Edgar; it’s Memory Motel, not Memory Hotel; the shows at the Oakland Coliseum in 1969 were both inside and both at night, there was no afternoon outdoor show that caused the fans to be sluggish from the sun; Brian had a Rolls, not a Bentley; the 1967 European tour was Mar-April so when they played Jumpin’ Jack Flash at the NME show in May of ’68 it was not nearly two years since they’d been on stage. And there are many many many more errors like this. The writing is good, but all these errors make you wonder about the accuracy of other things he says.

From review of:
The Rolling Stones: The Biography

Record Store Acquisitions

10 Out Of 10, Real World Records
Ten years of Real World Records. One defining track from each year.

Real World Records was founded in 1989 by WOMAD and Peter Gabriel to provide talented artists from around the world with access to state-of-the-art recording facilities and audiences beyond their geographic region.

https://realworldrecords.com/

Eponymous is the first greatest hits album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1988. It was their last authorized release on I.R.S. Records,[6] to whom they had been contracted since 1982, having just signed with Warner Bros. Records.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eponymous_(album)

From Google AI:
Eponymous describes something (like a book, band, or brand) that is named after a specific person, or the person whose name is used. It frequently refers to a title character whose name is the same as the work itself (e.g., Jane Eyre or Harry Potter).

Best of Sonny Rollins
One of Sonny Rollins’ greatest strengths has always been his ability to infuse a classic ballad with an almost preternatural sense of ineffable freshness. Perhaps it was due to that full, rich, chewy tone, or perhaps his incredible rhymthic sense, or perhaps the sly and intelligent humor that underlay so much of his music. Probably it was all of that and more. Those gifts make these early Blue Note cuts a rewarding experience–my particular all-time favorite being, the ever-moving, “How are Things in Glocca Mora?”

Amazon

Jerky Boys 2  is the second comedy album released by prank call artists, the Jerky Boys. The album was released on August 16, 1994, and was the final Jerky Boys album released on the Select Records label, distributed by Atlantic Records. Like their debut album, it also went Platinum. This album was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 1995 for Best Spoken Comedy Album, but lost to Sam Kinison‘s Live From Hell…

Trivia: English rock band Radiohead named their 1993 debut album, Pablo Honey, after the first call on this album (apparently having heard it on a bootleg tape), well before release of this material on CD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerky_Boys_2

Tattoo You is the sixteenth UK and eighteenth US studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 24 August 1981 by Rolling Stones Records. The album is mostly composed of studio outtakes recorded during the 1970s, and contains one of the band’s most well-known songs, “Start Me Up”, which hit number two on the US Billboard singles charts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo_You

Purchases made at the Twist and Shout store on Colfax in Denver:
https://twistandshout.com/
Recommended

Day Tripper – The Beatles

“Day Tripper” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with “We Can Work It Out” in December 1965. The song was written primarily by John Lennon with some contributions from Paul McCartney and was credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the band’s Rubber Soul album. The single topped charts in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway. In the United States, “Day Tripper” peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and “We Can Work It Out” held the top position.

Lennon described “Day Tripper” as a “drug song” in 1970,[10] and in a 2004 interview McCartney said it was “about acid” (LSD).[11] The song title is a play on words referring to both a tourist on a day-trip and a “trip” in the sense of a psychedelic experience.[12] Lennon recalled: “Day trippers are people who go on a day trip, right? Usually on a ferryboat or something. But [the song] was kind of … ‘you’re just a weekend hippie.’ Get it?”[8][13] In Many Years from Now, McCartney says that “Day Tripper” was about sex and drugs; he describes it as “a tongue-in-cheek song about someone who was … committed only in part to the idea. Whereas we saw ourselves as full-time trippers …”[14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_Tripper

Ever Not Quite – William James Quote

Google AI:

The phrase “ever not quite” is a famous expression by the American philosopher and psychologist William James that captures his belief that human knowledge and reality are never completely finished or perfectly understood. Instead of a neat, closed world where everything is certain, James argued that the universe is always open to growth, change, and new perspectives.

What the Phrase Means
  • The Universe is Incomplete: James did not believe in a “ready-made” universe. He viewed reality as a work in progress where there is always something “not yet considered” or escaping our total grasp.  
  • Knowledge has Limits: No matter how smart we are or how much scientific data we gather, human understanding will remain “ever not quite” perfect. There is always a margin for error, growth, and revision. 
  • Room for Hope: Because the world is not set in stone, James believed our individual choices, actions, and beliefs truly matter and can help shape the future.

There is a very old saying about philosophy, brought up to date by James’s friend, the mathematician-philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, that philosophy begins in wonder, and after philosophy runs its course, the wonder remains. James’s early reading of Blood drew him to a similar conclusion. Philosophy could only go so far in explaining the mystery of life and reality—and this is ultimately for the best. In the end, the response to the universe in its complexity may not be a white-knuckled attempt to grasp it fully, but a willingness to experience its utter perplexity.

Be Not Afraid of Life: In the Words of William James
William James
John Kaag (Editor), Jonathan van Belle (Editor)
Above quote from their introduction to the essay, “A Pluralistic Mystic”.

Shallow End – Superchunk

Well, you’re barking out what you think
And you’re drinking your expensive drinks
You’re in your car and you’re on the phone
Think you better follow that cord back home

Is that a pearl I’m supposed to keep?
‘Cause you are putting me to sleep
Well, I know you think you’re deep, alright
But you should stay in your shallow end

Now you’re feeding me watery drinks
And I’m singing while your sunfish sinks
You got a ponytail dragging you down
Like the cloud that follows you around

Is that a call I’m supposed to keep?
‘Cause you are putting me to sleep
Well, I know you think you’re deep, alright
But you should stay in your shallow end

Incidental Music 1991–95

NOTE:
One of the first things I remember looking up on the internet was the name of this song. I’d heard it on the radio and recognized the voice, so I figured it was a Superchunk song. I believe I posted a message on an alt music site/message board, something like, “What song has the lyrics ‘I know you think you’re deep… You are putting me to sleep…'” Got a response and bought the CD.

Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:
The American Cinematheque is thrilled to present a weeklong festival that spotlights some of the greatest films from around the world that explore the darkest sides of humanity, as well as some of the bleakest points in human history. A harrowing, yet powerful lineup of films defined by stark imagery, unimaginable tragedies, existential fear, nihilism and shocking acts of brutality, this series features the world’s leading filmmakers who wholly embrace a cinema of despair in pursuit of unpleasant truths and raw empathy.

American Cinematheque is expanding ‘Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair’ beyond Los Angeles to 73 cities and nearly 100 theaters across the United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, England, Scotland, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.

https://www.americancinematheque.com/series/bleak-week-cinema-of-despair-2/

Some of the movies:
SÁTÁNTANGÓ
THE PIANO TEACHER
THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE
Cinematic Void Presents DEAD PRESIDENTS
SPIDER
THE GODFATHER, PART II
SAMSON AND DELILAH
LA CÉRÉMONIE / VIOLETTE NOZIÈRE
THE PIANO
THE NEW BOY
A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ELLE
JACKAL OF NAHUELTORO
CRISS CROSS
SHAME
TIME OF THE WOLF
MYSTERIOUS SKIN
SWEET COUNTRY
MACARIO
THE SERPENT’S WAY
COME AND SEE
MISUNDERSTOOD
EUREKA
HEAVEN’S GATE
EDDINGTON
PALO Y HUESO
THE PLAGUE DOGS
BEAU IS AFRAID
MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS on Nitrate
MIDSOMMAR: DIRECTOR’S CUT
BUSTER AND BILLIE
WHISKY
BAD TIMING
FEAR STRIKES OUT
HEART OF GLASS
THE DEVIL, PROBABLY
TESS
THE HUNT
THREADS
FIVE STAR FINAL
WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES
HEREDITARY
BOY
INCENDIES
CASTRATION MOVIE CHAPTER III: JUNIOR GHOSTS—PREMORPHIC DRIFT; A FRAGMENTARY PASSAGE
SOUTHLAND TALES
LETTERS FROM A DEAD MAN

Hot N Cold – Katy Perry

“Hot n Cold” is a song by American singer Katy Perry from her second studio album, One of the Boys (2008). She and Max Martin co-wrote the song with its producer Dr. Luke, with additional production from Benny Blanco. The track was recorded in December 2007 at Dr. Luke’s Studios and Legacy Recordings, both based in New York City, New York, and Conway Recording Studios, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles. “Hot n Cold” was released as the album’s second single on September 9, 2008, and was the first single to be released after the album. “Hot n Cold” is primarily a bubblegum pop, dance-pop, disco, and pop rock record with elements of power pop and electronic rock, and its lyrics address an unstable romantic relationship caused by a partner’s mood swings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_n_Cold

Learning Things as an Actor

Broadway actors need to shine in all sorts of ways. Some are obvious (mastering an accent). Some are surprises (mastering a horse). We asked this year’s Tony-nominated performers to describe a skill they had to pick up for a role onstage or onscreen. Here’s what they had to say.

Sam Tutty
I had to learn how to do a tie for ‘Dear Evan Hansen.’ I was 21, and had never done a tie. Evan ties a tie in front of the entire audience. We were in the middle of rehearsals, and I had to say, ‘I don’t know how to do that.’ I had to Google it, and then our director helped me as well. When you learn that way, you learn for life. It’s embedded in my very soul

Alden Ehrenreich
It’s the level of concentration when you’ve done it a thousand times and you’re exhausted spiritually and emotionally. It’s being able to live through each moment as new. That’s the muscle that is the most profound.

38 Tony Nominees Reveal the Strangest Skills They’ve Picked Up – The New York Times

The Grass of Far-off Years – George Eliot quote

These familiar flowers, these well-remembered bird notes, this sky with its fitful brightness, these furrowed and grassy fields, each with a sort of personality given to it by the capricious hedge, such things as these are the mother tongue of our imagination, the language that is laden with all the subtle inextricable associations the fleeting hours of our childhood left behind them. Our delight in the sunshine on the deep-bladed grass today might be no more than the faint perception of wearied souls, if it were not for the sunshine and grass of far-off years, which still live in us and transform our perception into love.

The Mill on the Floss
George Eliot

Found as footnote in:
Art as an Experience
John Dewey

Here’s the footnoted text by Dewey:

But the live creature adopts its past; it can make friends with even its stupidities, using them as warnings that increase present wariness. Instead of trying to live upon whatever may have been achieved in the past, it uses past successes to inform the present. Every living experience owes its richness to what Santayana well calls “hushed reverberations.”

RIP Sonny Rollins

Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, the “Saxophone Colossus” who was schooled by bebop’s legends as a prized sideman and became their peer as a formidable leader, improviser and composer, has died, according to a social media post from his family. No cause of death was cited; he was 95.

Sporting a burly tone, a tart sense of instrumental humor and keen melodic and harmonic ingenuity, Rollins was acknowledged as a jazz voice as groundbreaking as that of his friend and contemporary John Coltrane, with whom he unforgettably locked horns on “Tenor Madness” in 1956.

https://variety.com/2026/music/news/sonny-rollins-dead-jazz-saxophone-colossus-1236758510/

See also:
Sonny Rollins Interview – NY Times Magazine

Dance as Form of Communication – Rolling Stones, Sonny Rollins anecdote

Rollins’s music encompasses one of the most generous dispositions in modern music. It glistens with oversized and contagious energy and bespeaks the character to sustain a course of singular purpose, despite the blandishments of the hip and the enticements of the powerful, with imagination and grace.

Visions of Jazz: The First Century
Gary Giddins

“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn’t feel like that.” –S.R. (2009) 2/2

Sonny Rollins
https://x.com/sonnyrollins

Everyone Is Lying to You for Money – Official Trailer

In Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, actor and author Ben McKenzie turns investigator, pulling back the curtain on the cryptocurrency industry and the culture of hype, misinformation, and speculation that fueled its explosive rise. What began as a promise of financial freedom has evolved into a volatile ecosystem rife with fraud and reckless gambling, carrying with it devastating consequences for everyday people.

We are Transmitters – D.H. Lawrence

We are Transmitters
As we live, we are transmitters of life.
And when we fail to transmit life, life fails to flow through us.

That is part of the mystery of sex, it is a flow onwards.
Sexless people transmit nothing.

And if, as we work, we can transmit life into our work,
life, still more life, rushes into us to compensate, to be ready
and we ripple with life through the days.

Even if it is a woman making an apple dumpling, or a man a stool,
if life goes into the pudding, good is the pudding
good is the stool,
content is the woman, with fresh life rippling in to her,
content is the man.

Give, and it shall be given unto you
is still the truth about life.
But giving life is not so easy.
It doesn’t mean handing it out to some mean fool, or letting the living dead eat you up.
It means kindling the life-quality where it was not,
even if it’s only in the whiteness of a washed pocket-handkerchief.

The Question Concerning Technology – Heidegger, ChatGpt on

The core source for the idea is his essay The Question Concerning Technology (1954).

Heidegger’s argument is subtle. He does not mainly think technology is dangerous because machines become powerful. He thinks the deeper danger is that human beings begin to see everything — nature, other people, and eventually themselves — as resources to be optimized, ordered, and used.

One of his key terms is “standing-reserve” (Bestand). Under technological thinking:

  • a forest becomes “timber inventory”
  • a river becomes “hydroelectric potential”
  • a worker becomes “human resources”
  • even a person’s attention or personality becomes something measurable and manageable

So the irony is:

  • machines can seem increasingly adaptive, responsive, or “alive”
  • while humans increasingly behave according to systems, routines, metrics, and procedures

That’s probably why your remembered quote feels Heideggerian.

A famous genuine Heidegger passage says:

“The essence of technology is by no means anything technological.”

Meaning: the real issue isn’t gadgets themselves, but a whole way of seeing the world.

Another important idea in the essay is “enframing” (Gestell), Heidegger’s term for the mindset that organizes reality into calculable, controllable units. In an enframed world, spontaneity, mystery, contemplation, and individuality tend to shrink.

This connects strongly to a lot of 20th-century literature and film:

  • Modern Times — humans reduced to machine rhythms
  • The Trial — impersonal systems dominating individuals
  • Player Piano
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey — the machine appears calm and rational while humans become helpless or procedural
  • Brazil — bureaucracy becoming absurdly mechanical

There’s also an interesting tension in Heidegger: he was not simply anti-technology or nostalgic for the past. He thought technology revealed something real about the human desire for mastery and certainty. The danger was that this mode of thinking could become so dominant that we forget there are other ways of relating to reality — art, contemplation, ritual, poetry, direct experience.

That’s why he often turns toward poets like Friedrich Hölderlin late in his work. Poetry, for Heidegger, preserves a less mechanical relationship to being.