Dr. Thomas Chen, 1936-2002

Attended the funeral services for the husband of my old piano teacher today. He passed a couple weeks ago after a long, lingering illness caused by some head injuries he suffered as a teenager. I don’t remember an awful lot about him, having moved away from Scarborough when I was 10, but I do remember him being a kind and friendly man, and from the eulogies today, he was also a remarkable doctor and surgeon. My parents were unable to attend, so my brother and I represented our family.

Rest in peace, Dr. Chen.

Fingerprints

Okay Vic, just for you, I’ve enabled the little bookmark tag that allows you to link to any one of my posts for the rest of time. Clicking on the little [+] icon down below will give you a linkable URL that you can put in your blog, skywrite, scrawl on washroom walls, whatever.

Addendum – Bah. There Vic, just cause it was your birthday. A # instead of a +.

Freak.

np – Galaxie 500 / Copenhagen

The Business

Since Vic has decided that having comments on his blog page are contrary to his elitist principles of blogging, I have to link to specific entries on his page if I want to comment on them. Bastard.

All I wanted to say is that Iain Banks is one of my favorite authors but his stuff is all over the place. One book is often nothing like his last. The Business, his last one, was not one of his finer efforts in my opinion. As always, his narrative style is excellent but the plot is thin and never really comes to a satisfying resolution. It’s more like, ‘there’s these people, some things happen, that’s it’. I was disappointed – and I hold the fact that this one was published as a mass-market paperback at least partly responsible. Trade paperbacks are synonymous with quality! Bigger is better! And other such baseless, inane comments…

Banks stuff I’d recommend to the interested would be the Crow Road (a sort-of coming of age wrapped around a murder mystery of sorts), Espedair Street (burned out ex-rock star reflects on his life – funny and sad), Complicity (a mystery/thriller) and The Wasp Factory (an utterly deranged character study of a young child with homicidal tendancies). I’d avoid A Song Of Stone. The Bridge was the first novel I read, and it was a mind-fuck. Takes place in the subconscious of a man in a coma. A testament to Banks’ abilities as a writer that it remains engaging and doesn’t become incomprehensible. Walking On Glass is pretty good and messed up, Canal Dreams left me indifferent. I haven’t read Whit. He has a new one, Dead Air, that I must seek out.

Look at that – lengthy discourse on something that’s not music. Will wonders never cease?

np – The Jesus And Mary Chain / Honey’s Dead

I Need T.P. For My Bunghole

Apparently ‘Bunghole’ is also a nautical term of some kind. Hmm, bungholes… sailors… they’re not helping their cause here.

Yeah I’m being juvenile. What of it?

We have a lunch meeting today, which means free lunch. Smoked salmon! Mmm-mm. Had a hankering for a couple days now.

I am just padding this entry so that the image isn’t too large too fit properly in the blog box.

Sometimes I miss my hamster.

np – The Clash / The Clash

Indian Summer

It’s 15-degrees out there today. Looks to be a nice weekend.

“Cover me with rain
Walk me down the lane
I’ll drink from your drain
We will never change
No matter what they say”
– Calvin Johnson

Addendum – Shortly after I posted this, Kyle, having not read it, sent me this link to a ridiculously underpriced Beat Happening box set. Creepy. While I wouldn’t mind getting some Beat Happening, I think 7 discs is just too much of what’s really an acquired taste in the first place.

I do want the Galaxie 500 box set though.

np – New Order / Movement