Paris, Hendrix, and some Vicious Post-colonialism

Howdy everybody,

Belated thanks to Henrik for the postcard. I'm glad you enjoyed Paris. I was actually somewhat disappointed when I visited. The city itself was wonderful, but there were all these other sweaty American tourists who formed long lines everywhere and got in the way. Beurk (French for "Bleargh!")!

This week I discovered Jimi Hendrix. Whoa. Now I can't wait till the 4th of July comes around again so I can blast "The Star-Spangled Banner" down the block. Or play it at a flag-raising ceremony . . . come to think of it, that seems a lot more authentically American than just having someone sing it, but people would probably get grumpy holding their hands to their hearts for three-and-a-half minutes.

Yesterday my bass teacher advised to practice my rhythm control by playing along with an electric keyboard's built-in drum-line accompaniment. "You and the keyboard; that's your band," he said. So now I'm a band leader. My bandmate is a good guy, I've decided. Although you don't see a lot of Japanese musicians out there on the popular music scene, Yamaha PSR-340 performs in a wide range of musical styles. 101 to be exact, including Funk1, Funk2, J_Ballad, 16RkBld, Happy, and No Data. Maybe his solos are nothing special, but I never have to go pull a hypodermic needle out of his arm right before a big performance (remember Iggy and the Stooges?). I still haven't come up with a name for the band. Suggestions are welcome.

A Word of the Day: flocculation - a delirious picking of the bedclothes by the patient, as in certain fevers. Not many situations in which this one could be used, but you need it, you REALLY need it. There's no real synonym. Plus it sounds extremely ill. OK, that was a weak pun.

I just read a great lit crit essay by Chinua Achebe on Heart of Darkness. Basically, he totally smashes Conrad and argues that he was "a thoroughgoing racist" (Dr. Dave gives his thumbs-up here). It reminds me vaguely of our Nabokov/poshlust discussion. Achebe vs. Conrad - any votes? Essay's called "An Image of Africa" for those interested.

I just compared De Moivre's Theorem to a deer-hunting rifle in a college app essay. If the goal is to get noticed, I think that should do it. Anybody out there offering scholarships for "Exceedingly Iffy Similes," I wonder?

Sam