There's something unique about this woman. No, not Leeloo in the 5th Element film, I'm talking about Annette Peacock, the American composer and musician who released her debut album, I'm the One in 1972. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs9zwqXsceUjPhAZQhNJ2OKYbdNvSeofE In the film, Leeloo is grown in a lab from an alien blueprint, and the scene of her awakening is…Read more I’m the One
Bite the Bullet
To adjust to unpleasant circumstances. e.g. "The severe drought is forcing everybody to bite the bullet and use less water." dictionary.com A few days ago, a drought was declared in half of England. Crotchety County falls within the drought area and this part of the English midlands has sizzled to 30+ degrees C. Our once…Read more Bite the Bullet
Light is Dim
Hommage aux Frères Pigeon Spöket i KöketÅkervinda Today I'm offering a collaboration between a folk big band and a choral quartet. The instrumentalists call themselves Spöket i Köket, which is Swedish for Ghost in the Kitchen. (Literally, the spook in the cookhouse.) If you think of a 50s dance band playing traditional folk tunes, you'll…Read more Light is Dim
Anna Maria Jopek
From the pictures of Anna Maria Jopek on the Web, you'd have thought she is a glamour model. Her hair is the colour of sun-ripened wheat, her eyes shine cornflower blue, and her feminine curves would grace the cover of any glossy magazine. But AMJ is not known primarily for her looks. She is a…Read more Anna Maria Jopek
Tünel
Tünel is the Turkish word for "tunnel". The one pictured here carries water 120 kilometres across Finland from Lake Päijänne to a reservoir at Vantaa on the outskirts of Helsinki. (The photo was taken when it was undergoing refurbishment.) It seems unlikely, though, that Naci Oğuz had this particular rock channel in mind when he…Read more Tünel
Solution
Here's a problem for you: What do you get if you add a solute to a solvent? That's right, you get a solution. But that doesn't mean you can dissolve every problem. When I was a student, I had a summer vacation job at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, an official establishment that analyses…Read more Solution
Fleeting Future
A single mother and a married man enter into an affair with the understanding that their relationship is purely sexual. Though they agree the relationship has no future, they find themselves increasingly drawn into each other's company.Imdb The present is always fleeting. As soon as it has come, it has gone again. And yet it…Read more Fleeting Future
To Have You Near
You might think that an album titled To Have You Near would be full of love songs, but this one takes the broader theme of kinship and community. It starts, appropriately enough, with the place we share with our nearest and dearest: home. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kIudNn4LTAS0SHR_j9xDmzp5700YfME6Q When it's time to step outside the door, we meet with…Read more To Have You Near
Hear You Can See
Today's track-of-the-week has a puzzling title. It might be the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next: "... hear. You can see ...". It could be a spelling mistake: "Here, you can see ...". Or it might be another example of the curse of autocorrect. And that gives me a problem. What…Read more Hear You Can See
Try!
When I see the word "try" my first thought is always the famous saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again". Then there's W. C. Fields' rather more realistic and much more entertaining slant, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about…Read more Try!
Crotchety Man 