December 21, 2021
Cover Me's 50 Best Cover Songs of 2021
The Texan Who Saved the Beatles
So when Preston strolls into Apple Corps wearing a cool, black leather jacket, he’s hardly starstruck. He doesn’t know the band has been looking for a keyboardist; he’s just there to hang. Earlier in the recording sessions, the band was hoping to gain some momentum by hiring a keyboard player so they could record live, rather than having to pause so one of them could lay down a track. Preston’s arrival was so perfect that Lennon casually offered him the gig: “If you’d like to do that, you’re welcome to, and then you’d be on the album.”
Au revoir, Shoshanna
A detailed breakdown of the camera angles and compositions used in the 134 shots and 47 setups which comprise the harrowing first scene from Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, by YouTuber emotiondesigner, aka Markus Madlangbayan (@emotiondesigner). [more inside]
Before The Fictional Artist Inevitably Burns Out He's Always Fading Away
That writing fiction may finally be incompatible with adequately describing a work of art is the worry that shadows many of these novels. But, like Bergotte’s dying realization, they also suggest that the knowledge of this shortcoming is what makes writing worthwhile. From The Lives and Deaths of Fictional Artists by Sam Thorne
Is America Really Running Out of Original Ideas?
The nation’s crisis of originality isn’t in our minds, but in our markets. Take movies, for example. In the essay, I observed that the share of Hollywood blockbusters that are sequels, adaptations, or reboots has increased steadily this century. But is this evidence that today’s screenwriters are “running out of ideas”? Not really, and suggesting that they are innately less capable of conceiving of non-sequels than they used to be is kind of absurd. (And I’m a little embarrassed that I implicitly made that suggestion!) [more inside]
For the Apogee of Night, a Solstice Weird Podcast Roundup
It’s the darkest night of the year (well, for half the planet), so here’s yet another roundup of weird audio dramas! They may help you spend time while isolating through omicron, dealing with the holidays, or just hunting out that perfect holiday shiver. Most of the series are audio dramas with paranormal elements, but anthologies, fantasy, and science fiction are included. Just to get a link above the fold, I will point out that Believer, mentioned in a previous roundup, is back “on the air.” [more inside]
Barbados Today
Govt plans universal income for all - "It appears that the Government is moving ahead with a plan to provide Barbadians with a universal basic income, which may come in the form of a 'citizen's dividend.'"[1] [more inside]
The icy sky at night...
THE 2021 Northern Lights photographer of the year. "Buckle up because this trip is going to take you from the remote boreal forests of the Arctic to the far landscapes of the Southern Hemisphere, passing by spectacular frozen forests, volcanoes, mountains, and beaches along the way…always with the Northern [or Southern - ed.] Lights dancing in the sky."
The Human Toll of America’s Air Wars
Airstrikes allowed America to wage war with minimal risk to its troops. But for civilians on the ground, they brought terror and tragedy. [NYT investigation] [more inside]
"My sister is not going to be into something so sepulchral"
"I have my own personal banshee. Most mornings, usually during my second bowl of cereal, she lets out a soul-melting wail to give me a heads-up on my impending death that day. I used to get worried, but it’s been going on awhile. And I’m still here." "Keening" by Josh Denslow is a short fantasy story in which it is frustrating and edifying to have a banshee as a constant companion. [more inside]
On the charts
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