A Couple of Unrelated Things Before We Start ... Robert Fripp posted a very moving tribute to Bill Rieflin on his Facebook page this week. Bill was a drummer and keyboard player who became part of the wider King Crimson family. He succumbed to cancer on Tuesday. Burning Shed is offering a free download of…Read more Soften the Glare
Month: March 2020
Midnight Commander
Has there ever been a better time for tales of heroes? Here's a story to lift our spirits from the latest album by modern-day minstrel, Kray van Kirk. Kray has appeared in these pages twice before; the last time was in October 2015 when Shiloh was my track-of-the-week. Back then the song was about a…Read more Midnight Commander
In a Lifetime
I write this piece with a mixture of profound joy and heart-wrenching sadness. Five days ago the Crotchety Couple enjoyed another Clannad concert. We saw them perhaps 20 years ago and they were a delight, although the sound then was a little muddy where we sat in the wings. This time we had just about…Read more In a Lifetime
Artificial
artificial /ɑːtɪˈfɪʃ(ə)l/ adjective made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural. "her skin glowed in the artificial light" (of a person or their behaviour) insincere or affected. "she gave an artificial smile" It always puzzles me why 'artificial' has negative connotations. I suppose it's because mankind's…Read more Artificial
Pavlov’s Dog
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist. He was born in 1849 and in 1904 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Pavlov was studying the digestive system in dogs when he noticed that his test subjects would salivate as soon as the research assistant who normally fed them entered the lab. In…Read more Pavlov’s Dog
Crotchety Man 