The “Three Things” meme was created by Paula at Book Jotter, and I haven’t done one for literally months! However, as I was crashing out of the “Berlin Alexanderplatz” readalong, I thought it might be time to revive the meme! So, time to share thoughts on things I’ve been reading, looking at and thinking… ;D
Reading
As you might have noticed, I’ve been wrestling during November with a challenging book, during the readalong of Alfred Doblin’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz” for German Literature Month. It’s a book I struggled with at the start, and although I found at points that I did become quite engaged, I eventually lost the will to live (or at least read on with it) and abandoned ship. I confess to having interspersed the reading of it with other books, and a complete (and pleasant!) contrast was “Noted Murder Mysteries” by Marie Belloc Lowndes. I have her crime novel “The Lodger” lurking on the TBR; this is her re-telling of several true crimes which has just been reissued by Michael Walmer. It’s very entertaining and a review will follow when I catch up with these; I’m a bit behind with them at the moment, and things aren’t helped by an attack of raging indecision about what to read next: should it be a Barthes Binge or an Attack of the Gides????? ;D
Looking (at)
I do love a good documentary, as is probably blindingly obvious to anyone who drops into the Ramblings, but I’ve been struggling recently to find any decent ones. I do lose patience with some of them; the content can be trite, the music over-done and the points often lost. I had high hopes of the recent slew of Cold War programmes, but in the end only two held my interest – “Letters from London”, about a propaganda radio show, and “A British Guide to the End of the World”, a very thought-provoking work about the effects of nuclear testing and the daft films put out to guide us how to survive an attack. I really could do with a decent documentary, along the lines of Professor Richard Clay’s “Utopia” (which is currently repeating on BBC4 in the wee small hours, if you’ve not seen it) or “Viral“, both of which I enjoyed hugely. Fortunately, a little hint of a glimpse of a rumour reaches me that he might be in the process of filming something new, which is excellent, as his ideas are so very interesting and the subject matter sounds quite fascinating!
Thinking
I’m going to bend this category a little bit, as I spent some time recently looking at a live event as well as searching for documentaries, and that set me thinking about past times! That live event was an OMD concert at a lovely venue in the local Big Town; I’ve seen the band there four times now and they never disappoint, presenting a highly-charged and enjoyable set full of hits old and new. Despite my increasing age (hah!) I refuse to conform to anyone’s expectations of how I should behave; and so I spent the two hours of the gig happily dancing my little socks off right in front of the stage. It was a wonderful night and rest assured, I will be there at the front again when they make their next visit!
The venue itself is a wonderful one, with a long history. It was previously a Gaumont and back in the 1960s hosted visits from both the Beatles and the Stones (and Mr. Kaggsy, being somewhat older than me, was at both concerts!) In my time, I’ve seen some inspirational musicians play there, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, The Teardrop Explodes, Tori Amos, and Morrissey (ahem…) to name a few. In fact, when I think back I’ve seem some incredible acts perform over the years: Bob Dylan, Echo and the Bunnymen, Patti Smith umpteen times, The Velvet Underground on their 1990s reunion tour, and the great John Cale on more occasions than I can recall. I love music almost as much as I love books, and there’s nothing better than a really good live gig! 😀
*****
So there you go. Three aspects of where I am at the moment: glad to be out of Berlin Alexanderplatz, looking forward to new documentaries and wishing more decent bands would play locally! “Three Things” is a fun meme – do join in if you want to! 🙂
Nov 28, 2019 @ 07:12:03
i don’t think you’re alone in your struggles with the Doblin. I’ve seen a few abandonment tweets/pieces on social media over the past few weeks!
Nov 28, 2019 @ 10:27:12
Yeah, it’s a hard read. And I’m not averse to a hard read, but this was a *real* struggle and in the end the effort wasn’t outweighed by any rewards!
Nov 28, 2019 @ 08:31:13
I wasn’t even relieved when I finished Berlin Alexanderplatz. I’m not there yet. Still trying to recover.
Those documentaries sound very interesting.
Nov 28, 2019 @ 10:26:21
I feel for you…
And yes, the documentaries were interesting – the one about the radio broadcasts particularly. I really do enjoy a good documentary! 😀
Nov 28, 2019 @ 10:46:11
Ah, a woman after my own heart! Where would we be without dancing? And I have to say I’m disappointed that so many of my friends, including those younger than me, are no longer up for dancing the night away…
Nov 28, 2019 @ 11:19:37
LOL! I’m determined to grow old disgracefully! 😀
Nov 28, 2019 @ 10:53:19
An excellent Three Things, Kagsie. I really must do one myself, it’s been far too long!
Nov 28, 2019 @ 11:19:19
Thanks Paula! Yes, do – such a fun meme! 😀
Nov 28, 2019 @ 16:15:04
A Barthes binge always sound good
Nov 28, 2019 @ 16:16:55
It’s awfully tempting… 😀
Nov 28, 2019 @ 18:30:09
I believe I saw Van Morrison at the Ipswich Gaumont in 1985. It was a great venue.
Nov 28, 2019 @ 20:29:04
It was, and still is when you get a real act playing there. Trouble is, it’s mostly stuffed to the gills with tribute acts…. 😦
Nov 28, 2019 @ 19:02:10
Noted Murder mysteries sounds intruiging, I am looking forward to your review. Those documentaries sound interesting, I wish I had caught the letters from London one.
Nov 28, 2019 @ 20:28:24
LOL! I got the title wrong – it’s London Calling and it’s still on the iPlayer if you want to catch up!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000b1h0/london-calling-cold-war-letters
Nov 28, 2019 @ 21:08:05
ooh great, thanks.
Nov 29, 2019 @ 11:24:43
😀
Nov 28, 2019 @ 21:30:40
I share your frustrations about the quality of many documentaries. So many of them follow a pattern of telling you what they are going to tell you, then they start all over again and tell you it in bite size pieces. I feel I’m being treated as an idiot who can’t cope with more than one insight or fact at a time. Celebrity presenters are some of the worst….
Have you seen the short series from the BBC in conjunction with Open University about three crimes that proved landmarks in criminal justice. It’s called Catching Britain’s Killers and deals with DNA testing, double jeopardy and PACE.
Nov 29, 2019 @ 11:24:37
Agreed – the padding can be horrendous, the music overpowering and I like something that stretches me a little intellectually!
And thanks for the hint about Catching Britain’s Killers – I missed that, and it might interest Mr. Kaggsy too! 😀
Nov 29, 2019 @ 14:19:57
LOL. Love it!
Nov 29, 2019 @ 14:35:08
:DDDD
Nov 29, 2019 @ 15:21:43
Oo looking forward to the Lowndes review!
Nov 29, 2019 @ 15:47:46
Spoiler Alert! I loved it! 😀
Dec 02, 2019 @ 07:30:26
Loved your gig report – fabulous. I saw The Men They Couldn’t Hang again recently and, while I wasn’t at the front dancing, had a huge smile on my face throughout – esp when they did a song they hadn’t done since 1991 … on a tour I saw!
Dec 02, 2019 @ 11:21:35
It’s such fun when you see a band you love doing songs you love – perfect! Mind you, I first saw OMD in 1979 supporting Gary Numan – and weirdly my Eldest Child is now a huge Numan fan! Go figure! ;DD
Dec 31, 2019 @ 07:53:57
Apr 06, 2022 @ 07:00:13