Since I moved back to buying and collecting most of my music on vinyl I have pretty much stopped listening to the large collection of CDs we have in the house. So I’ve been working through it and selling on a lot of the ones I haven’t listened to in ages, or now have duplicated in vinyl. Before I sold anything on I have been importing them to a cloud-based app music platform so we still have access to the music.
Every decision has been a tough one, and some we will be hanging on to long term.
Working through the stacks of CDs I came across the one pictured at the top. This was a birthday present from Meggan, my eldest daughter, several years ago. Fed up that none of the music I listened to had been released in the 21st Century, she pulled together a selection of more modern tracks for me to enjoy. And they were all good choices.
But looking at my list of stations on Pandora, I think I may have slipped back into my old habits when it comes to my music listening.
But is there any harm in that? It’s what I like, and it gives me pleasure. Plus I may not be discovering much new music, but the more I dig into the history of rock the more I find tracks and artists that are new to me - such as just yesterday picking up an album featuring the amazing blues guitar work of Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
There is also the fact that with today’s fractured media landscape, I just don’t get exposed to much modern music the way I used to. No radio, no TV shows like Top of the Pops, no MTV.
And to be honest, in some ways I miss it, but clearly not enough to actually make the effort to go find new sounds I may like.
Maybe it’s time for Meggan to make me another Music of Today collection - but I guess this time around it would have to be a Spotify playlist.
Alan
Other Stuff
Each week when I sit down to put one of these newsletters together I’m always grateful to my subscribers - you have subscribed haven’t you? If not just click the button and join our growing community of subscribers.
Word Slinging
2,500-word detailed plot outline for upcoming 'space opera' style short-story / novella written up.
Now comes the fun part of working in the SF genre - the world-building.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2024- “A Night To Remember” by Walter Lord
After visiting the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge TN during our recent road trip we thought this classic tale of the ship's fateful encounter with an iceberg might make for an interesting listen.
The first part of the narrative from the sighting of the berg to the final fate of the ship is gripping. But then (if you'll pardon the pun) the author seems to veer off course as the story jumps around in both timeline and approach leaving the reader (or listener in this case) a little confused.
Written in 1955 it has been superseded in some areas by more recent research and evidence from the dives to the wreck. It also carries some viewpoints and statements that don't sit too well from today's perspective.
But that aside it is at heart a very human telling of a tragedy that still haunts and fascinates us.
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If you enjoy the books I review here, you may want to check out my Instagram account where every book I read gets a quick review as I finish it.
We’ve also updated our online bookstore at Bookshop.org with a list of the books read over the last few years, and in 2024 to date, so you can pick up copies of any that interest you, while also helping out local independent bookstores
Podcast Pocrastinations
Last weekend Jarrod Albreich and I recorded the next episode of our James Bond vs Spy Movie series over on the On Her Majesty’s Secret Podcast network. This time around we went back to 1963 to compare From Russia With Love to Charade. - The completed episode is scheduled to go live on the Monday after this edition of the newsletter drops - so keep an eye out for that.
And talking of From Russia With Love, this upcoming week the Rogue Agents crew will be getting together to review the BBC Radio adaptation. Which if you haven’t heard before is a good listen - you can check it out below.
Bond Briefings
In the latest edition of our bi-weekly James Bond Lexicon newsletter, I took a look back at our recent visit to the latest iteration of the Bond-in-Motion exhibition at the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C.
If you enjoy the worlds of 007 and haven’t subscribed, you can join us at the link below
Before They Were Beatles Updates
The next episode of THE FORGOTTEN BEATLES podcast now live and available on your podcast platform of choice or directly at the link HERE. I
In this episode, we uncover the man with the weeping guitar who was credited as "Eddie Clayton." (aka Eric Clapton).
The March issue of the Before They Were Beatles newsletter in which we formally introduce one James Paul McCartney to our story is now online. If you don’t want to miss out on the expanded story of the early Beatles history when they are published, you can sign up for a subscription below.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Forest Comics - We are pausing activity on our on-line store for a couple of months for reasons that will become clear over the coming weeks. - Thanks to everyone who has supported the online store with purchases and feedback. It will return.
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week we continue our journey through January 1969 with books published in Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, and Norway.
No standouts this week as all were straight reprints of earlier US covers.
Where on the Web is Alan?
You can now find links to all the places you can find me online, websites, newsletters, social media, and more in a single LINKS page on my personal website.
As always, thanks for joining me this week. If you know someone else who might enjoy the contents of this week’s newsletter, or just my weekly ramblings in general - please feel free to share by clicking the button below.
See you next time
Alan J. Porter
The Can’t See The Forest (TM) newsletter is a production of Megrin Entertainment, a division of 4Js Group LLC