New Model Army live

Last night I saw New Model Army live at the Astoria, here in London. As always it was an incredibly good performance. I find it amazing that they can just keep going like they do, releasing new records, and hold the same quality still. This performance included most of the songs from the High, of course, but they also managed to blend a lot of good old classics.

I gotta admit, both High and No Mirror, No Shadow works really well live. But the nights best parts were still No Rest For The Wicked, and Vagabonds.

Another interesting thing is that every time I've seem NMA, they play at least four songs from The Ghost Of Cain. Now, they play different songs, but they are so good it doesn't really matter.
The Ghost Of Cain is really New Model Army's counterpart to Velvet Underground's Loaded. Songs like "The Hunt", "51st State", "Poison Street", "Western Dream", "Lovesongs", "Heroes" and "Master Race" are all hit material.

I'm still happy with having New Model Army as my favorite band.

Siouxsie Sioux - Mantaray

And the love just keeps coming. Not only a new NMA album, but Siouxsie Sioux releases a solo debut next month! Wow. Lovely!

New Model Army - High

Wow! A new New Model Army album. In two weeks! I'm full of joy.

The Knife

I have many bands I really like. Most of them have been split up for decades. Then there are the real heroes; Bowie, Cave, New Model Army. I'm thinking seriously about adding The Knife to this list. They are new, yes, but the music they have done is just wonderful. And the music videos... Ah. My one big regret about leaving Sweden is that it will be so much harder to get to see them live. Anyway. Take a look at youtube. Search for The Knife and some song name. Silent Shout is beautiful. Heartbeats (the live version) is wonderful.

It's interesting. I've never heard The Knife played anywhere outside Sweden, except in San Francisco where some of my favorite DJ's play them most of the nights I've been out.

Something or other

First of all, this won't be one of my regular posts. In fact, I don't even know where to file it. It is surely not technical. It doesn't fit in with the kind of personal updates I post to LJ. And it's not related to books ore music or anything like that I've posted to this place before. I guess it's a post about me. And I'm not even sure it's something I'm interested in people reading or not.

I'm sitting in a car, outside Florence, OR. We are on our third day of traveling from San Francisco to Portland. It's going well. I've seen some beautiful sights, but I'm getting to be tired. Right now I'm sitting with headphones, hiding within myself. Prolonged exposure to people tend to create that reaction in me; I need to get away for a little while. I'm listening to lovely music, things that touch me, and looking at images I like, words I enjoy. And what I come back to is this: I still don't know what I'm doing with my life. I'm very happy about moving to London and then SF. The job at TW seems like a dream job for me. I couldn't possibly imagine anything better. And Stella will come with me when I move out from Sweden which is something I couldn't have expected but am very happy about. She is a part of me.

But still, is the work I do all that I am nowadays? In earlier times I could always find time to write and sing, let the music handle the yearning and removing some of those feelings. But right now I don't have the time. Of course, that's a matter of prioritization and the things I'm doing right now is to important for my future. But I don't want the music to die. I long for being able to sit down with my guitar, let new music flow, and record something that feels like it's a part of me captured in external media.

But I guess that's what all I'm doing is about. In a very real sense, I'm diluting my essence, putting parts of myself into programming environments that I believe will be extremely important for the next era of computing. I know that it isn't the end piece, but it's something to use until we finally see the next step on the ladder.

Can time really run out for me? I hope not - I would see what's beyond today, tomorrow, this year and next decennium.

Overfire - Lucky - Timglas - Until - Vortex

The Sparrow

Religion usually doesn't play a big role in Science Fiction novels. And when it does, I have a tendency to find it trite and boring. Of course, I'm writing this blog post to recommend a book that not only features religion as a major part of the narrative, but actually does it in such a way that the book becomes vastly better for it. It's called The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russel. I have read much SF in my days, but if I had to choose my one favourite, The Sparrow would be it.

The main character is a Jesuit, working in the gutters of San Juan, Puerto Rico, when suddenly extra terrestrial transmissions are discovered. The Jesuits quickly arranges an expedition to the world the transmissions originated from.

What's so beautiful about the book is how the inevitable conclusion at the end builds on everything that's happened. Within a consistent universe, what happens could only be interpreted in one way, and that is devastating.

I could gush on about this book for pages and pages, but I won't. Instead, I say, just go and read it. NOW!

And if you happen to notice there is a sequel to the book, don't read it. The sequel removes much of the power of the desperation and hard choices made in the first book. I was not satisfied.

Crypto-Gram

I have been a faithful subscriber to Bruce Schneiers Crypto-Gram for several years. Every issue always contains at least something highly interesting and several parts that are damn right unsettling. The latest issue can be found here.

What's almost always very interesting is Bruce insight into the security measures USA continuously try to implement, and also how wrong headed they are. Reading about Automated Targeting System made me very glad I'm not an American citizen, and very frightened that I live on the same planet where USA is one of the most powerful countries around.