Status:
Had a visit from a puppy today. Nothing else that happened today matters.
Reading:
- ‘The most stunningly awful wonderful record’: how The Shaggs became rock’s most divisive band. - One of the great things about the 20th century is the infinite amount of weird outsider art there is to discover. Never heard of The Shaggs, despite them being championed by Zappa and Cobain. Not sure I can listen to the whole album in one sitting but definitely enjoyed a dip. Will keep an eye out for the documentary.
- Ibram X Kendi on book bans and far-right fear-mongering - A reminder to put How to be an Antiracist back on my to-read list and to check out his new book, Chain of Ideas, which looks right up my street.
- Self-Defense Techniques for Jazz Musicians - Take five. Have a smoke. Offer one to the person hitting you. Ask them what music they like. Listen intently and then tell them how what they like can be traced back to jazz. Get punched again.
- Girlguiding gives trans girls and women until September to leave UK organisation - I don’t want to rise to rage-bait but that quote from Helen Joyce from Sex Matters is just fucking disgraceful. Shame on you.
Looking:
- Hurvin Anderson review – this haunted, hazy, beautiful show is like stumbling through someone’s memories - Anderson had a show at Birmingham’s Ikon a while back and it was tremendous. Would highly recommend this to those who can get to Tate Britain.
Watching:
- Eyelet Press Restoration (15:22)
- What if you kept digging downward? (2:52)
Listening:
- How Reading Made Us: pt2. How Reading Made Our Feelings - Interesting stuff about the rise of the novel giving people access to the interiority of others, though tempered by a bit too much Steven Pinker (an era has the public intellectuals it deserves, I guess) and a jarringly wrongheaded conclusion by the host about social media. “If the bias of the novel is towards empathy, the bias of social media is towards rage.” Well, yes, if you’re using the stuff that is optimised for rage. I know I have gained much empathy for others by engaging with them on non-commercial online environments, especially those based around text. You know, like novels. Anyway…