Books

Signed copies of Stuart Murdoch's novel "Nobody's Empire"

https://www.strandbooks.com/nobody-s-empire-a-novel-9780063383456.html

kosmo wrote:
Signed copies of Stuart Murdoch's novel "Nobody's Empire"

https://www.strandbooks.com/nobody-s-empire-a-novel-9780063383456.html

Tempting..thanks for posting

Ok I broke down and ordered it. $45!

hutch wrote:
Ok I broke down and ordered it. $45!

will it go right next to the Scooter?

You know darn well I have no idea where scooter is and when I get book I will have no idea where that is either…

Actually my partner has read me the riot act about the state of the house….

hutch wrote:
You know darn well I have no idea where scooter is and when I get book I will have no idea where that is either…

Actually my partner has read me the riot act about the state of the house….

I've been getting that riot act for years and I don't even own a scooter.

I think the answer to the problem is get a bigger house.

Thank god we only had one kid.

I guess maybe this should be in the home improvement thread.

Can you believe my wife says when it comes to housework, that raking leaves (which I do 100% of), walking the dog (which I do 100% of) and cooking (which I do 4/7 nights) doesn't count?

Oh yeah, I'm reading maybe the only David Sedaris books I haven't read, and next up are maybe two of the only Bill Bryson books I haven't read.

My college roommate says I'm the only friend he knows who still reads books.

It does get hard given that I don't have bifocals or progressives.

Psssht. You guys are doing it wrong. Just get a magic coffee table.

https://youtu.be/-_kXIGvB1uU?si=-csuIzsKG_UvsJoY

Neko Case book tour

The Harder I Fight The More I Love You

JAN 30, 2025
Sixth & I
Washington, DC
In Conversation with Hanna Rosin

https://www.sixthandi.org/event/neko-case/

Airplane on the big screen followed by
David Zucker Book Signing/Q+A

Arlington Cinema Draft house 12/12
https://www.arlingtondrafthouse.com/shows/287220

After the movie, David Zucker will sit for an interview with Lee Reynolds and an audience Q&A. Zucker also co-wrote the book, "Surely You Can't be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!" He will sign books after the audience Q&A.

I been reading this…

Tis the season



Next on recommendation list was this



And likely on many reading lists



Hand Jobs for the Whole Family (Cancelled Children's Books for Adults)

I couldn’t finish the Stevie Van Zandt autobiography

He just about takes credit for everything from inventing electricity to liberating Mandela. The arrogance..the ego….

I am currently engaged in Woody Allen’s autobiography and it’s one of the best I have ever read so far…..about halfway
Am not sure a non fan would enjoy it.

Everyone always says this is THE book on Van Halen’s early days and while I am only on page 60 it’s a fantastic read. It came out in 2015.

I am at the point in the story-1971- where David Lee Roth asks the VH brothers to let him join as singer and he fails three “auditions” since he can’t sing (remarkably this I believe has always been true live!) so he starts his own band - Red Ball Jet- and they begin competing with the Van Halen’s band - Mammoth- on the Pasadena backyard party scene. DLR is exactly the same showman he always was (even dresses the same with the vests, sock you know where), is incredibly popular (particularly with Latinos, black women particularly and all women) and has money. A senior in HS he already has the Diamond Dave nickname! The VH brothers are poor, not outgoing,  permanently rehearsing and practicing in their house (Eddie is of course an incredibly gifted player), brought up to be working musicians (they even used to accompany their father- a musician- when he played gigs in West Germany in bars when they lived in the Netherlands…am talking about when they were five!), received hardcore classical piano training for years until their parents accepted they wanted to play rock and were typically rooted on stage during shows.

This is the background, so far, to DLR and the Van Halen’s eventually joining up. Hell of a story.

John Davis announces a new book

"Keep Your Ear to the Ground: A History of Punk Fanzines in Washington, DC," comes out October 1 A 100k word history of the D.C. punk zine community with 130+ full color images.

https://press.georgetown.edu/Book/Keep-Your-Ear-to-the-Ground

https://bsky.app/profile/jrdarchivist.bsky.social/post/3llrgorgbh22c

I reread this…..





It’s quite good but I think like a lot of books the first years and records are covered much better than the last ones which after Echo just races to the end. Book is about 300 pages but really could have used at least 100 more.  Also, it’s an authorized biography with Petty’s full cooperation and that results in pitfalls and limitations.

I find Petty’s career arc fascinating in that over 40 years he continued to write and perform at a top level. It’s a pretty rare thing. I can find albums by Petty that are significant to me - that have been significant- from each decade and in each decade.

I think in a way he suffers from too much popularity to get taken seriously as one of the great American songwriters. And his songs are just everywhere.

When one thinks of the great songwriters one tends to think of Dylan, Garcia-Hunter, Joni, Simon,  Chuck Berry, Bruce, or even the Canadians Young and Cohen and forget about Petty. Maybe it’s cause his songs are so immediate and catchy and we don’t see them as having depth. It’s also notable just how long the band lasted together…with the exception of Stan Lynch. When Howie Epstein got kicked out cause he lost control due to heroin they replaced him with the original Hesrtbreakers bassist who had been let go twenty years prior!

The only other American band that comes to mind in terms of longevity and impact is the Grateful Dead.

For lack of a "2025 Books" thread-  Thomas Pynchon-  Shadow Ticket

A year or two ago, I was playing bar trivia with a bunch of millennials. During the “Name that Artist” round, the song was “Touch of Grey”. All the kids insisted it was Tom Petty. When I explained it was the Grateful Dead, they all just stared blankly at me…

grateful wrote:
A year or two ago, I was playing bar trivia with a bunch of millennials. During the “Name that Artist” round, the song was “Touch of Grey”. All the kids insisted it was Tom Petty. When I explained it was the Grateful Dead, they all just stared blankly at me…

I'd argue that 'artist' was doing a lot of heavy lifting in the question

This is how the giving tree should have ended
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJO6kT0xc3_/

I always thought it was a horrible story and not a god moral lesson for kids

BarelyHatch wrote:
This is how the giving tree should have ended
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJO6kT0xc3_/

I always thought it was a horrible story and not a god moral lesson for kids

Dude don’t even remind me of this horrible book or I start crying!