James Blood Ulmer - Kitchen Listening

Spent some time over the past couple of days listening to James Blood Ulmer from albums in my collection including some vinyl. These were from his early years 1979 to 1983. I saw him in 1983 at The Tralf, a small rock/jazz/folk club, in downtown Buffalo. He was awesome. I've always loved his unique guitar playing.

This set of music ran for nearly three hours.

• Tales of Captain Black, 1979
• Are You Glad To Be In America?, 1980
• Free Lancing, 1981
• Black Rock, 1982
• Odyssey, 1983

James Blood Ulmer RIP - Vinyl Spins

James Blood Ulmer RIP. Vinyl Spins. I was sad to hear of his passing this week at age 86. I first started collecting his albums in the early 1980's and I have a bunch. Becky and I saw him perform at the Tralf in 1983. It's time to go upstairs and listen to his amazing guitar on vinyl. I'll start with a couple favorites... Tales of Captain Black, 1979 and Black Rock, 1982.

Terry Pratchett - Authors List

Terry Pratchett - Authors List. I read the 5 books where he collaborated with the author Stephen Baxter for the Long Earth parallel universe series. I read the entire series between March and November 2016. I was always interested in parallel universe science fiction.

Pratchett is primarily known for writing the Discworld fantasy series that consist of 41 novels. I have not read any of that fantasy series but I may try one.

The Atlantic magazine had an article about Pratchett this week... I Am Begging You to Read Terry Pratchett.

The Long Earth series I read:

• The Long Earth, 2012 - Mar 2016
• The Long War, 2013 - Jun 2016
• The Long Mars, 2014 - Jul 2016
• The Long Utopia, 2015 - Oct 2016
• The Long Cosmos, 2016 - Nov 2016

The Hidden History of the Supreme Court - MAGA Dystopia

The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America - Thom Hartmann, 2019. MAGA Dystopia.

I just finished reading this incredible shocking account of the Supreme Court and their conservative MAGA betrayal of America. The hard thing about reading this was that it was published in 2019 and now in 2026 the Court is worse than ever. The book was informative and depressing. We really need to do something to fix this growing problem and the author here has documented ways to do that.

One of the amazing accounts was his description of when John Roberts, the current Chief Justice, worked for Ronald Reagan and came up with a theory of how Congress could go around the Supreme Court.

Subterranean - A Novel

Subterranean - A Novel by James Rollins, 1999. I just finished this science fiction thriller adventure novel which I read in a week. I recently came across a reference to it somewhere and looked it up on my e-book app and sure enough there it was ready to download. I did and then I couldn't put it down although I was reading a couple of other books at the same time.

This book was about an archeology exploration into a subterranean world full of dangers, mysteries and revelations. A sort of "hollow earth" novel. Well, it wasn't great but it was entertaining. I may read another of his novels.

Simon & Garfunkel - Kitchen Listening

Simon & Garfunkel - Kitchen Listening. Old Friends, 1997. A 3 CD box set that runs for nearly three hours and includes their greatest hits and plenty of previously unreleased outtakes. 

I played this album after seeing that Paul Simon was ranked number 2 on the NY Times Readers Poll of Top 100 Living Songwriters. I followed this up with one of their several live albums... Live from New York City, 1967 that was released in 2002. That added another hour to the set. I got a lot more of their albums and solo albums to play over the coming days. 

The first time I saw Simon & Garfunkel in concert was in 1969.

Barbara Tuchman - Authors List

Barbara W. Tuchman - Authors List. 5 books read. I first discovered this amazing historian when I came across her book A Distant Mirror a few months after it was published in 1978. I read it the following summer and loved it. This has been one of my favorite history books and still have a copy on a book shelf.

I then read four more of her histories over the next several years. Because of her I did read many more books on middle ages over the years and continue today.

• A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, 1978 - Jul 1979
• Stillwell and the American Experience in China: 1911-1945, 1971 - Jul 1980
• The Guns of August, 1962 - Nov 1983
• The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, 1984 - Apr 1986
• The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution, 1988 - Feb 1989

100 Top Living Songwriters - Part 2 The List

 

Bob Dylan Live - Kitchen Listening

More Bob Dylan. Kitchen Listening Live. Celebrating his 85th birthday. This is about a five hour set of live music from different times in Dylan's career but mostly in the 70's which was when I saw him perform several times. I especially liked his 1975 tour concert.

I'm also celebrating his position in the NY Times Readers Poll for Top Living Songwriters. He was voted #1.

• Bob Dylan Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue, 2002
• Bob Dylan Live at Budokan, 1978
• Hard Rain, 1976
• Real Live, 1984

Dinner @ Cafe 59

We had another wonderful dinner tonight at Cafe 59 on Allen Street and sat at a table in the front window. I had there delicious Harvest Wrap with roasted turkey, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, field greens, gorgonzola, and balsamic vinaigrette. This is one of my favorite items on their menu. Becky had their Chicken Finger Sub. We also had a side of their amazing Potato Wedges. I also had a Port City Belgian Wit. Cafe 59 has been one of our favorite restaurants for years.