GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Category: Notes

  • Jazz Roundup, Jan to Oct 2022

    With “Lucy and Linus”, my daughter got me back into jazz last Christmas on Spotify and youtube. It’s something I’ve always felt I should study, but I hadn’t gotten around to it over the decades.

    This kicked into high gear in October after discovering that the library’s Hoopla streaming app has a host of classic albums in their catalog. (And if an album isn’t on Hoopla, it’s almost certainly on the library’s other app Freegal).

    Now I can listen to the music without advertisements!

    I’m no good at listening to music, much less writing about it. But following my old tagline “notes on my consumption” here’s a write up.

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    A Charlie Brown Christmas — The classic christmas album, Guaraldi riffs on old classics along with her favorite “Linus and Lucy”.

    From All Sides — My daughter got into this collaboration between Guaraldi and Bola Sete, especially “The Ballad of Pancho Villa”. I should give the album an active listen.

    Time Out — Brubeck was a favorite in college and this remains a classic. Brings me right back to studio when I wanted to feel cool.

    Time Further Out — I need to give the whole album it run. I was a dancer in a piece that included “Unsquare Dance” (and “Rabbit in Your Headlights”).

    Giant Steps — Grabbed me late one night and made see the light of Coltrane.

    Olé Coltrane — The use of spanish / arabic scales makes the music seem otherworldly. Spiritual.

    Parker With Strings — This isn’t the most representative introduction to Charlie Parker, but it’s his most popular album. I pushed past my dislike of sissy stuff to understand why. After a few listens, I was thrilled to hear him synchronize with his accompaniment while rising beyond as the soloist.

    Kind of Blue — Why is this the best selling jazz album of all time? Took a few listens for the music to groove into my brain. Miles Davis’ catalog is primarily on Freegal, which is less user friendly. It may be a moment before I get deeper into his oeuvre.

    Portrait in Jazz — Parker got me to accept soft jazz, so I gave Bill Evans a run when I saw he was the pianist in Kind of Blue. Started with Portrait in Jazz because I initially found the live noise sounds of the other two albums slightly off putting. It didn’t click.

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    Waltz for Debby, Sunday at the Village Vanguard — On the other hand, these albums hit. In just a couple of years, these three musicians melded organically into a comprehensive sound, sacrificing individualism for a unified totality. Though fate was much too cruel to take Scott LaFaro right after these Vanguard sessions.

    Ballads — Since Bill Evans cemented my appreciation of soft music, I thought I’d see how Coltrane does it. I don’t remember much.

    A Love Supreme — Time to listen to Coltrane’s other Magnum Opus. It is.

    Fiddler On The Roof — Loved the yellow cover with Cannonball Adderley, and gave it a whirl. Unmemorable. Would I enjoy it more, if I knew the original musical?

    Somethin’ Else — It feels dominated by Miles Davis’ trumpet even Adderley is the headliner. I wonder if some folks have that ineffable extra edge that dominates a stage, even when it’s not theirs.

    Way Out West — A unique trio with Sonny Rollins on saxophone accompanied by bass and drums. I dig the unique instrumentation, though the music was unmemorable after the cheeky first track.

    Brilliant Corners — I’ve always held that Straight No Chaser should be the soundtrack of the sophisticated high life. Time to listen to the album that landed Thelonious in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry Listing. I dig it. Lively. Monk showcases immense range. The cover is a perfect visual representation of the album’s music.

    Getz/Gilberto — Felt the urge for bossa nova over lunch so I borrowed this album. We argued about going to the park that day. Otherwise, very comfortable music. This Adam Neely video is a great breakdown of the “Girl from Ipanema”

    Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus — It’s got memorable moments, but I’m still in thrall of the Bill Evans Trio borg-mind-meld, so the distinctness of the instruments in Vince Guaraldi Trio is slightly grating. But very nice once I get past my prejudice.

    The Black Messiah — I borrowed this after reading best-of lists of Cannonball Adderley. After a few listens I’ve gotten used to it, but I’m not ready for the 70’s (nor electricity).

  • Mahjong solitaire

    My boy discovered our old mahjong set and pulled it out.

    It was from my grandparents.
    They didn’t like this set because the engraving was shallow.
    You can’t feel the tile’s identity before looking at it.

    Mahjong is truly a great rummy game.
    Traditional Hong Kong scoring, three points minimum.
    Unfortunately the kids aren’t ready.
    (I’ve tried.)

    But they’re ready for Mahjong Solitaire.

    I remember hating this knockoff.
    Wishing for the real MJ on the computer.
    The only available program on the 386.

    Thirty years later, I downloaded a couple clones on the phone to review the rules.
    We started playing.

    First the classic pyramid,
    then some wacky stacks,
    ended with a big simple cube.

    The iPhone is a lot easier to set up.
    Click a button.

    The physical set lets us do anything we want.
    It makes real sounds.
    Direct visuals.
    Interacts with gravity!
    You can actually feel the tiles.

    Even if they weren’t engraved deeply enough.

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    My cousin’s grandfather could play the game without sorting the tiles in his hand.
    (he was a ship’s captain)
    All the history, all that skill, gone as the wind.
    What will we leave behind?
    The kids in their turn?
    Wisps lingering in the ether.

  • Puppy Dog Pals (with Olivia) watch Toy Story 2, Lasseter, Branon, Unkrich, 1999.

    He finished his mask for Halloween.
    I cut the paper.
    He insisted that she draw and color.

    She drew more characters, taped to popsicle sticks.
    They held up their new friends so they could watch a movie.

    Later that night, he asked me to add a cat for their collection.
    She said it was the strangest drawing ever.

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    The movie was fun.
    Not an absolute classic like the first one, but still very good.
    It was ambitious of them to push into the wider world with more human characters.
    The Cleaner scene and the Jessie montage are top-notch.

  • Pui Pui Molcar, Tomoki Misato, 2021

    12 episodes (32 minutes) of fuzzy cutesiness in a surreal stop motion universe of guinea pig cars.
    (Humans are live actors inside their cars and plastic figures outside their vehicles.)

    It starts innocently with a few slice of life incidents before spinning into pure absurdity.
    As usual, I preferred the life around town more than the movie references.

    Then again, I love the absurd (more than the toddlers of its target audience).
    Screw it, I’ll take them all!
    Give me more!

    Like all great children’s shows, it’s written for both adults and children.
    By series end, the cars have distinct personalities, without saying a single word.

    The show is a testament to the expansive potential of shear creativity.

    It could be the cutest show you’ll ever watch!

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    The world moves so quickly now. Asian shows took real effort to discover (much less watch) during college (I didn’t bother). Now this children’s show is distributed on the world’s largest streaming service, just a few months after airing in Japan.

    If you don’t have Netflix, check out the Misato’s vimeo account.

  • Rango, Gore Verbinski, 2011

    The film had the dubious honor of winning the Oscar Animation award the year that Pixar went for the cash grab called Cars 2.

    It’s an unfortunate slander against this movie, cause it’s awesome.

    The story is pretty typical American fare — Wild, Wacky, and Western!

    Breaking the fourth wall is a undoubtedly a gimmick, but nicely done.

    And the early 2010’s feels as good a marker as any of the time when 3D animation hit its stride. It’s a decade old but didn’t feel visually dated or technologically constrained.

    I should check out the other Oscar winners and nominees. That list would keep me quite busy for a while.

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    I don’t have any deep thoughts at the moment (or a year later) except to say I felt an urge to rewatch the film. Such an urge is uncommon for live action films, but Disney+ has shown that I enjoy repeat viewings of animated films.

  • Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington, 2008; Heidegger and Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates, 2009; Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein

    Like most sequels, these books are nice, but underwhelming.

    The Washington book on politics was downright depressing. It’s important to examine the sophistry of politicians, but it’s hard to laugh about misdirection in the service of power plays in the face of rising authoritarianism and a war in Europe.

    With my recent interest in aging and death, I had higher expectations about Pearly Gates, but it didn’t add much to the conversation. Maybe I’ve been over-exposed to the subject with my recent readings.

    Both are worth checking out if you really liked Plato and a Platypus, but don’t go in with high expectations.

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    I doubt I’ll revisit Washington (too depressing) but I might relisten Pearly Gates to see what I missed.

  • Toy Story, Lasseter, 1995

    Wow the graphics have aged.
    Five minutes later, I was swept up in the story.

    The kids loved it too.

    My sister and I watched the VHS many times, a quarter century ago.
    Turns out that cutting edge graphics wasn’t the primary draw.

  • Midlife: A Philosophical Guide, Kieran Setiya, 2017

    Midlife is a strange time. Major decisions have been made, and with kids the focus has been switched towards preparing for their wild problems.

    But we’re not old! We’re caught in a predetermined present, experiencing physical decline, playing out the decisions of the past, while dimly peering towards decades of an uncertain future.

    So how we manage? The book starts with contemplations upon regret (fully acknowledging that much “regret” in affluent countries are #firstworldproblems). Then Setiya ponders how to best consider about our mortality and closes with a chapter about life beyond goals.

    When young, we pursue projects for specific results. Get that degree, grab that job! The paradox of such pursuits is that accomplishing the goal kills the goal. I often felt such emptiness after final reviews. A killer presentation is better than failure (I’ve done that too) but still left lingering hollow emptiness. All for what? On to the next semester.

    Accomplishments are critical in the pursuit of prosperity (there is almost little income benefit between a high school graduate and a 3-year college dropout). Crossing the next check box can’t be all there is, especially now that the ultimate checkpoint is visible in the far horizon.

    Setiya brings up the concept of “atelic activities“. Activities for their own reward. Walking for the joy of taking a stroll (not just getting to point B). Reframe one’s hassles with kids from specific tasks (cooking, cleaning, training) to the generic atelic act of parenting (easier said than done!).

    Live in the present.

    I’ve noticed this shift in my reading. I used to devour business books, searching for nuggets to improve productivity and leadership skills. But I’m now closer to retirement than hand drafting in Berkeley. The ROI has waned and this homo economicus has turned away from consuming productive fare.

    My bed stand currently has two books of poetry, a book on philosophy, and a photo monograph. Hell, instead of reading last night, I listened fifteen minutes of Sunday at the Village Vanguard.

    Midlife might not be pretty, but that’s pretty cool.

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    I enjoyed the book, listening to it twice before writing these notes. Setiya dives into deep topics but writes accessibly for a popular audience. He knows he’s in the self help genre and respects that we aren’t his academic colleagues.

    This book is worth reading well before breaking into your forties. It’s good to get some advance warning on the foibles of the upcoming decades. Just like my recommendation to read Travels with Epicurus to folks my age.

  • The Aristocats, Wolfgang Reitherman, 1970

    This show started with a content warning, maybe for a couple stereotypes that are bit distasteful in today’s sensitive era.

    I could see it being annoying but it seems overblown in today’s plethora of awful options on YouTube. To be honest, the Shang Chi’s lousy execution was more offensive to my Asian Asian American identity than ten seconds of a buck tooth Siamese Cat playing drums with chopsticks.

    Aside from the content warning at the start, this was one heck of a fun animation, Siamese and all!

    Like 101 Dalmations, it tells a fun short story with a few memorable scenes, especially the one of the alley cats (including Shun Gon the Siamese) are really wailing on the music.

    As I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost interest in challenging art. I might be able to handle half an hour of an avante garde jazz album while falling asleep, but movies and TV shows are too visceral. I can handle a little cringe, like that Siamese cat, but I don’t have the emotional wherewithal to focus on heavy stuff for 90 minutes (much less 10 hours!).

    I just want well crafted fare that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

    Turns out Disney+ was a godsend for me.

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    BTW I found Eva Gabor’s accent on the mother cat delightful, it made the movie feel properly European (if not exactly French). And Phil Harris’s all-American accent was perfect foil as Thomas O’Malley.

  • Travels with Epicurus, Daniel Klein, 2014

    I’ve recently become a big Daniel Klein fan so I borrowed this book without much thought.

    Turns out that it dovetails perfectly into my current kick of learning about the phases of life, especially aging and death.

    The book is a meditation on growing old. It makes sense that a countercultural philosophy student from the 60’s would question our current obsession on everlasting youth.

    The “Travels” in the title is a stretch — he stays on just one Greek island. But the “Epicurus” part is dead on. Klein is clearly biased towards the gentle hedonism of the philosopher and sees it reflected in world view of the inhabitants on this island.

    He shys away from the gnarly parts right before you expire, but the book is otherwise a fulsome exploration of that season of life when one is no longer young but not yet decrepit.

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    Seems that I’ve developed a syllabus of self-help books for the arc of one’s life.

    • So Good They Can’t Ignore You – top notch advice at the start of a career
    • Wild Problems – a framework for thinking about life decisions
    • Midlife – contemplations of viewing life from the middle
    • From Strength to Strength – encouragement to step into the second half of life
    • Travels with Epicurus – embracing the foibles of old age
    • Being Mortal – ruminating on the reality of death
    • The Five Invitations – thoughts on living fully from the perspective of death