Emily Cat 176

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue  This album is a masterpiece of jazz. Recorded in 1959 Davis played with a sextet for the album. All who played on it were such good musicians. Davis himself played the trumpet. We are so luck to be able to listen to this music all these years later. The album does not sound dated and continues to be popular today. A masterpiece indeed.

Big Live are coming to Melbourne again.  And l can't wait. This is a treat for me. I mainly stick to the suburbs of Melbourne where suburban arts are high quality. Big Live do ballet productions differently. Earlier in the year l saw them do The Great Gatsby. It was so good and, although l can't imagine Dracula as a ballet, l expect this production will be just as good. I love ballet and think a new ballet company is all good. Do you like ballet, do you think Dracula can become a ballet? Leave me a comment.

I'm talking about history today.  In 1629 present day Java was called Batavia. Also in 1629 the Dutch were sailing a ship called Batavia to the Batavia colony. The ship ran aground on a reef off the coast of Western Australia. They all had to abandon ship and make for small islands in the area. So began the true life story of what happened on those islands.  It's not good. Peter Fitzsimons has written a very good book about the Batavia. It's well written and you can feel the terror coming off the pages. If you like history and like reading non fiction can l recommend you read it. 5 out 5 stars 

Johann Sebastian Bach  Was he the greatest composer ever? This is the music l have been listening to this week. It's great music, but, l have one thing l don't like about it: the harpsicord. I know that's what was around then, no pianos in those days. Even knowing that l have to say l don't like the sound of a harpsicord. Bach came from a musical family and, in turn, several of his children also became composers. It's so much fun listening to all this music. Who said classical music was boring? Me and l was so wrong.

I'm talking about films today.  There seems to be a particular type of film that show constantly in the cinemas this year.  I like seeing films in a cinema. I also have a movie club. So far this year has been a disappointment. The cinemas have been full of, what l call, franchise films. You know the ones. Part3/4/5 of the same film. The Devil wears Prada 2 came out this year something like 16 years after the first one. Marvel and all those types of films. If you like that kind of film go and see them. I'm not saying that they shouldn't be made, but, what about the rest of us who want something different. It's like the film makers have run out of new ideas. I had such a good film year last year. This year is different, a complete disappointment.

Do you belong to a book club?  I keep hearing that people aren't reading books anymore, that there are more authors than readers. This got me thinking about book clubs. Are they still popular? I'm one of those who don't read anymore. Audiobooks is what l do. Instead of reading the book myself l listen to someone else read it. That's what l call reading now. It suits me as a non driver. When l'm out and about do l want to be carrying a heavy book with me? No l do not, and, l swear the book gets heavier the longer the day goes. So let me know if you are in a book club.  ** There is now a section where you can leave a comment. Please do as l would like to hear from you.