It’s where the whole concept of pro wrestling (as opposed to Olympic wrestling) was started. Fortunes diverged in the Seventies and Eighties, as American showbiz smarts made it grow hugely as a TV spectacle, while the British scene dwindled. Losing all TV exposure knocked it back and, while it is back on our screens again, it’s not pulling in tens of millions at prime time Saturday afternoon on what was then one of only three TV channels.
Some of the latter’s stars went West to seek, if not a fortune, at least a living wage.
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I’m not loving how this one begins, but maybe it will grow on me?
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Arrived today, just a transcription book of the Stones’s album (guitar parts only, in Open G, Standard) Get Yer Ya Yas Out (doesn’t have the Chuck Berry covers, b/c of rights issues):
And coming tomorrow,
Yes, I believe I’ve learned the piano parts about as closely as I care to over the years from these and the rest of that string of incredible Stones albums.
But the guitar is still a strange beast to me, and I have a Squier Telecaster Sonic in Butterscotch Blonde coming from Sweetwater that I’ll probably keep in Open G tuning, just for fun.
Even though my ears are good enough to pick out all the piano parts note-for-note (well, close enough), the twin guitars on many of these tracks, in addition to the mix of standard and open tuning makes these two books a winner for me.
But for now, just have the paperback Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out out and idly having fun trying to sound out with the tab notation. Probably have to go back to the records, b/c I can’t sight read that well on guitar, and I don’t recall a bunch of these tunes off hand.
Anyway, it’s been a long time since I’ve played these tunes even on the pianos, so it’s a welcome opportunity to take a quick shortcut and get some extra things together on guitar.
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I see what you did there…
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I always enjoy diving into one of Elmore Leonard’s stories. Haven’t read any of this series, and it’s always fun to see how Leonard structures things.
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Just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Woof. That poor family.
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I’m kind of bummed. The newest Emily St John Mandel novel isn’t very good so far. Did anyone enjoy “Sea of Tranquility”? Am I missing something? About a third of the way through so far but tempted to bail
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Just started this guy
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Oh, if you have never read that before you are in for such a treat!
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I saw the first season of the teevee series, but seeing some mention of the KS for the graphic novel in another thread the other day made me realize I wanted to read the book.
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The book will fill in a lot that the first season left out.
I backed for that graphic novel, it’s gonna be sweeettt
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It’s an awesome book, and a great introduction to the late, great Terry Pratchett’s work.
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I’ve always wanted to try some Pratchett, but have been intimidated by Discworld being approximately 4 billion books. Figured this would at least give me a little bit of an entry.
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Several good entry points. Try at least one. I personally recommend you don’t start with the Rincewind books. Watch, Witches, Death, all good places to start.
By Krzysztof Kietzman, Jakov Olekstein, Diana Nock and others - Discworld Reading Order Guide, CC BY-SA 4.0, File:Discworld Reading Order Guide 3.0 (cropped).jpg - Wikimedia Commons
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Oh thanks for that. I really love GO. I tried a few of the Discworld books but always felt I had come in at the middle. Something with Rincewind may have been one of them. I give another group a try instead.
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I generally suggest people start with Mort or Guards, Guards. They’re the starting points for those sub-series, as seen above, but are after Pterry hit his stride.
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Hate might be a bit strong, but I really didn’t care for this one. At the time I first read it, I was a huge Pratchett fanboy and had never heard of Neil Gaiman. So I was inclined to blame the latter for my dislike. Looking back, I suspect both were equally at fault for why I found it unsatisfactory.
No, and no. IMO Mort is a better introduction to Terry Pratchett.
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Next by Michael Crichton
Usually I gel with some of his stories, but this one dealing with the world of genetics around 2006 feels like he struggles to try and weave together a number of separate story elements, with some that seem really out there.
Prime example: man used his dna to create a human/orangutan hybrid. At first his wife is shocked, and then in a matter of minutes, she pretty much goes: “Well, he did come from dna, so I guess since he has nowhere to go, we have to make him a part of the family.”
That’s bad 80’s sitcom material right there.
And don’t get me started on the annoying parrot that repeats almost everything…and I do mean, ‘almost everything.’
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The first two Rincewind books were the first two Discworld books, so if you started with them the problem isn’t coming in at the middle, but that he hadn’t found his Discworld voice yet. They’re style pastiches and just not that well written by Pratchett standards. Even he recommended watching the TV movie version that combines and streamlines them over the actual books. You just have to keep in mind 1) David Jason is ~50 years too old to play (university student) Rincewind, and 2) David Jason wanting to play Rincewind is the only reason they could get the funding to make the movie.
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I have The Colour of Magic but couldn’t get into it.
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