Steven Gerrard on diving

He really is good enough that he doesn't have to dive.

snap links addon for firefox 3

Update: got to http://snaplinks.mozdev.org where rautava, mumbly, and atreus have created a proper update site. Thanks to them and everyone else who has worked to keep this excellent plugin working!

Old text for histoprical purposes:

If you need the snap links addon for firefox 3 then there is a version by Lim-Dul that works here. firefox 3.01 then there is a version here that works. Please note that I did not create this! The real work was done by niko39, Atreus and Mumbly Juergens. Also note you may have to save the file and then tell firefox to open the file with firefox.

World's greatest blog found again

The Linux Hater's Blog. It's no good if you don't know anything about Linux or Open Source. Or if profanity offends you. But apart from that it is perfect.

Should I go and see John Mclaughlin in concert?

I love his electric playing, but this shows that he can play acoustic too.

Photography at concerts

Ian complained about it and it is getting worse. But now a proper blogger has explained it. Apparently it is OK if you are a blogger. Especially if you have lots of readers. And a really good camera.

Now I understand.

There is a proper intellectual discussion here but it is TLDNR.

Rock Stars and their favourite Games (part 2)

Before I had a blog I started this series on Rock stars and their favourite games. Here we see the the RZA playing chess (from Invisible Jukebox in the Wire). He has been going around promoting chess to the youth. His new online club for hip hoppers costs $48 a year which isn't going to work I'm afraid. Still, chess is cool and so is the RZA.

Jazz Icons: John Coltrane Live in '60, '61 & '65

I got this dvd from Netflix. You get Coltrane on European TV in 1960, 1961 and 1965.

March 28 1960 (Germany) with Paul Chambers (bass), Wynton Kelly (piano) and Jimmy Cobb (drums). This is most of the band that Played with Miles on Kind of Blue. They play classic bebop and it is nice.

• On Green Dolphin Street
• Walkin'
• The Theme
• Autumn Leaves / What's New / Moonlight in Vermont (with Stan Getz)
• Hackensack (with Stan Getz and Oscar Peterson)

December 4 1961 (Germany) with Reggie Workman (bass), McCoy Tyner (piano), Eric Dolphy (alto/flute) and Elvin Jones (drums). This band cooks and Jones makes the difference. The band still takes turns soloing. Dolphy looks pretty cool.

• My Favourite Things
• Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye
• Impressions

August 1 1965 (Belgium) Jimmy Garrison replaces Workman on bass. By now they are playing in the stratosphere. Sometimes they all play at once. It's all under control. This is the worst quality film but the best performance, perhaps because it is in front of an audience. Superb stuff.

• Vigil
• Naima
• My Favourite Things

Alex on wikipedia

Cluster / Tussle @ GAMH, San Francisco, May 25, 2008

I saw support band Tussle. They play synths, bass + synths, drums, drums. It made me optimistic to see two drummers after seeing the Boredoms with three. They play a bit of synth noodling then the two drummers and bassist lock into a motorik groove. Pretty simple but it works for me. During the whole gig there were images projected on the bands and stage. There were fractals and hexagons, and vintage video games, and more and more semi-psychedelic images. There were no vocals and the band didn't say a word. They had a bit of a post punk feel (that's a good thing). I thought of Delta 5 and Shriekback - both bands who featured a lot of bass. I liked Tussle.

You can see in the poster above that Cluster used to have lots of nice piles of analog equipment. Now all that they need is easily laid out on two tables. In the interval I wander to the front and watch the setup. It takes me a while to realize that neither guy has a laptop, which is strange, even guitar bands have laptops nowadays.

Eventually the duo wanders on. They don't look at each other, but each sits at his table. Hans-Joachim Roedelius has a keyboard, some CD players, and a glass of wine. He sits on a bar stool. Dieter Moebius has some boxes with knobs on. He perches on a flight case. The sounds are ambient and gentle. Things change slowly. It is nice, but I wish for the motorik groove. I'm glad I'm right at the front so I know I'm not missing anything. I can see when they tap their feet. The sound cuts out for a second and Moebius glances across sheepishly; Roedelius is looking away. After 25 minutes there's a pause. Roedelius has a drink and raises his glass. There's quite a murmur behind me, I think there are quite a few conversations going on. Many people are intent on videoing or photographing the performance. Sometimes I wonder what is the point of live performances. Cluster are very serious and they are definitely making decisions that affect the music all the time. After a while I go home. I'm glad I went.