The Last Bass Outpost

No, not jade eggs, something useful for once which - if applied correctly - can also prevent fishy smells.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/apr/11/tupperware-warns-could-go-bust-emergency-funding

My wife is a great fan. (Whenever a piece of Tupperware leaves our household because a guest is taking something with her/him, my wife gets all restless until it has been safely returned.) And it is my conservative guess that we could go a long way stocking a Tupperware museum with exhibits if need be. That stuff - unlike lesser plastic ware - really is indestructible. And seals tight. We all know: Tupperware can't spill a leak ...



And don't forget to 'burp' it correctly!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/11/pentagon-leak-traced-to-video-game-chat-group-users-arguing-over-war-in-ukraine

The mind boggles. Do they exchange construction plans on how to build nuclear arms as well when arguing about the nuclear arsenals in their game world?

Stumbled on this by coincidence. If you take an interest in varying lead guitar styles (as I do), this is a treasure trove. The guy knows what he is talking about.

https://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/alchemy/guitar

"Ahh requests. People sure love to make them, usually via mid-song, alcohol-scented hollering (keep smiling). Or they occasionally sidle up to the bass player to try to get a word in; people seem to think that bass players don’t actually do very much and are therefore available for a conversation. They became a bass player so they wouldn’t have to talk to people. Leave them alone."

So true. 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/14/its-the-bridesmaids-youve-got-to-watch-out-for-notes-from-a-professional-wedding-singer

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/09/burt-bacharach-

Call me a wuss, I really liked his elegant songwriting.




(Talk about an expressive bass sound!  )

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/29/tom-verlaine-television-perfectionist-guitar-genius-always-kept-punk-guessing

His band Television had their Andy Warhol 15-minutes of fame when the English music press gushed over them in 1977 upon the release of their debut Marquee Moon. (Being an item with Patti Smith for a while also helped.)



To my ears they were extremely NYCish, you could hear the Velvet Underground influence, but at the same time you hear a whole lot of Tom Verlaine's music in The Pretenders (especially in Chrissie Hynde's singing) and The Strokes, also in REM. Not so much fathers of Punk (Television were known for keeping their guitars undistorted), but fathers of Indie Rock.

Verlaine's naive, yet questing and sometimes daring guitar playing defied convention (there's two lead guitarists on the album, the one  stumbling on more bum notes is Verlaine  ) and the whole album had the feeling of an elegy that just drew you in.