Pliny the Elder on Hedgehogs

 

Picked up Pliny last night and just reveled in his wildly discursive sentences, his wide curiosity.  The sheer force of certainty he applies to some very dubious propositions.  For example, here he is on hedgehogs.

Pliny the Elder, on Hedgehogs:

Hedgehogs also lay up food for the winter; rolling themselves on apples as they lie on the ground, they pierce one with their quills, and then take up another in the mouth, and so carry them into the hollows of trees. 

These animals also, when they conceal themselves in their holes, afford a sure sign that the wind is about to change from north-east to south.

When they perceive the approach of the hunter, they draw in the head and feet, and all the lower part of the body, which is covered by a thin and defenceless down only, and then roll themselves up into the form of a ball, so that there is no way of taking hold of them but by their quills. 

When they are reduced to a state of desperation, they discharge a corrosive urine, which injures their skin and quills, as they are aware that it is for the sake of them that they are hunted. 

A skilful hunter, therefore, will only pursue them when they have just discharged their urine. In this case the skin retains its value; while in the other case, it becomes spoilt and easily torn, the quills rotting and falling off, even though the animal should escape with its life. 

For this reason it is that it never moistens itself with this poisonous fluid, except when reduced to the last stage of desperation; for it has a perfect hatred for its own venomous distillation, and so careful is the animal, so determined to wait till the very last moment, that it is generally caught before it has employed this means of defence.

They force it to unroll itself, by sprinkling warm water upon it, and then, suspended by one of its hind legs, it is left to die of hunger; for there is no other mode of destroying it, without doing injury to its skin. 

This animal is not, as many of us imagine, entirely useless to man. If it were not for the quills which it produces, the soft fleece of the sheep would have been given in vain to mankind; for it is by means of its skin, that our woollen cloth is dressed. 

From the monopoly of this article, great frauds and great profits have resulted;there is no subject on which the senate has more frequently passed decrees, and there is not one of the Emperors, who has not received from the provinces complaints respecting it.

Brooklyn Museum - Egyptian Collection

 Found myself in Brooklyn with some spare time a few weeks ago and wandered through their Egypt collection.  It was simply stunning.

It scratched an itch and now I'm off and running. Intrigued.  Deeply curious. Working my way through a 200-episode (!) podcast on the History of Ancient Egypt.  And it's even wilder (and more interesting) than I thought!

Some highlights of the afternoon:

An ancient game called Senet played for over 2,000 years.

Incredible naturalistic design on a vase from the era of Akhenaten.  Those colors!  Capturing flight.

The torso of Akhenaten vandalized after his death - an incredibly divisive king.

Another incredibly naturalistic tree, also dating from the era of Akhenaten.

This pottery!  It's alive!  Feelings, a world, captured and transmitted over time.

I thought this dude was cool.

Also him. I'm here for big cats.

And hippos.

A toy - with a working arm - millenia later.  The care and craftsmanship.  The depth of love and play.  It's amazing.

And what a great color!  The animals are fun.  The detail, the craft, the care.

Who doesn't love a good sleeping hound?

Opening the Vault - Dylan Clips @ the Nighthawk (9/4/2024)

Left DC for Brooklyn mid-morning and got into town by 2:30p.  Took a work call from a coffeeshop in Park Slope, then rambled through the Brooklyn Museum's Egypt wing (separate post here!) - a gorgeous afternoon.  

A quick pint at the Domino Park branch of Other Half before settling into the hip Nighthawk Theater to see some rare Bob Dylan clips.  Billed as Fifty Years in Sixty Minutes - it was an assemblage from the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa that I'll make it to - someday.

The pre-roll was a fun compilation of music films.  Traci Chapman at Wembley in 88.  Kleenex  Some Don't Look Back footage.  The mood was upbeat, the Nighthawk's food was decent, all good signs.

After a short introduction from Steven Jenkins, the director of the Dylan Center, the lights went down and we were off..  

Autopsy on Operation Abolition (December 1961)

The first clip opened with an interview of Tony Glover, on a bus - somewhere in the Midwest (?) - remembering a film project that he and Dylan worked on in Minneapolis in late 1961 (around the time of the December 1961 Hotel Tape).   Apparently a group of Franciscan fathers were working on a film countering a film the House Unamerican Activities Committee had released called Operation Abolition and they wanted some folk music for the soundtrack.

Glover remembered Dylan recording straight to magnetic film - a first for both of them.  Apparently Dylan worked up three different instrumentals, mostly built around what Glover called a "Carter Family lick in G" as well as a version of We Shall Not Be Moved.  And Dylan used the name BL Jefferson to sign the contract.  Ha!

The full film is here.  The segment had some great clips from the film woven into Glover's interview, including We Shall Not Be Moved and that Carter lick.

Hollis Brown (Westinghouse Special 1963)

Sharp intense version of the song with a haunting banjo backing him up.  In the Q&A session afterwards someone asked who Steven Jenkins if he knew who was playing and Jenkins said he'd ruled out Tony Trischka.  But that was about it.  Incredible quality, powerful song.  Weird animation at the beginning.  Amazing close shots.  Watch for yourself here.

Maggie's Farm (Newport 1965)

It's that iconic footage - backlit Bob dodging shadows and shooting from the hip.   Wild.  The sort of performance you feel you know like the back of your hand until you're watching it again and the sheer thin wild mystery of the sound - the energy! - just swallows you whole.  Richly restored here, incredible quality.  And you get just how revolutionary this must have sounded!  

Bloomfield's solos are kinetic, but he's hidden here in the shadows.  Pure sound, leaking out at the corners.  Bob's all leather jacket and babyface cool.  He knows exactly what he's doing, and is loving every minute.

And then at the end - the boos.  It hits you.  They're real.   Tangible.  Cascading.  As someone pointed out in the Q&A the crowd's not mad about not the sound quality (as some folks say) - it's clearly the performance they can't stand.  And they're not subtle about it.  

Baby Let Me Follow You Down (UK 1966)

I didn't catch which show this is from, but the electric leap from Newport in 1965 to full houndstooth 1966 was thrilling.  Bob moves in that strange way he still does - almost lyrically - a kind of dancing, awkward yet deeply human.  

The sheer joy of Robbie's solos, standing close - in a tie! - focused on making this song come alive.  The interplay between them, the way the sound seems to simply spring into existence is unmatched.  And the quality of the footage makes it look like it's happening now - incredible restoration work.  

No link for this one, friends.  But to get a taste (in much lower quality) of what's going on, try this one.

I Pity the Poor Immigrant (Fort Collins 1966)

Bob and Joan hamming it up with the Rolling Thunder Review in the footage shot for the Hard Rain special.  The whole thing is a treat to see (it was at the Museum of the Moving Image once, long ago).

There's a playfulness that doesn't quite come across on the Hard Rain record. A musical banter between Bob and Joan - dancing with their eyes.  A young Rob Stoner rocking out, holding his own.  Bob shooting skeptical looks at the band.  There's a decent version here - so fun to see on the big screen.

Blowin' in the Wind (Lakeland FL 1981)

Bob starts at the piano, lights down.  Backup singers on the chorus, full gospel era sound.  That lush organ.  He sings hard, stretching out the vowels.  Then as the lights come up, Bob makes his way to center stage and his guitar.  

The crowd up close is into it, but the arena feels small, and is definitely not full.  How much '81 footage like this is there!?  

Low-quality version of this footage is here.

When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky (Australia 1986)

This was easily the highlight of the night.  My notes simply say:  

• Holy Shit!  
• Leather sleeveless vest
• Tom Petty
• Fire.  Pure fire.

And it's true.  A purely electric performance.  Every syllable sharp and precise - capturing that hurt, tender, angry moment when the letters start burning.   

You can see it for yourself here - but play it loud.  On the biggest screen you can find.  Now.

Ring Them Bells (Supper Club 1991)

The Supper Club shows are special.  There's an intimacy in his voice, a closeness to the viewer.  That checked jacket (echoing the houndstooth of 66).  And the arrangement of this song is superb - gorgeous, soaring, his voice building.  Subtle, but powerful.  

And - best of all - through all these clips but particularly here you get a glimpse of the way Dylan moves on stage - the wide leg spread, the awkward but endearing dance moves, the deep joyous grin as he closes his guitar solo. So alive.  Video here - well worth your time.

Train of Love (Johnny Cash Tribute 1999)

I remember watching this on TV live back in 1999 and never thought I'd get to see it again (though apparently the clip is here!).  Everybody loves a song about trains.  So great to see Larry Campbell - and to see Bob dancing and vamping during Larry's solo.

Cold Irons Bound (Masked and Anonymous 2002)

I saw most of my Dylan shows in that wild midwestern college window between 1997 and 2002 and there's something about this sound - particularly with Charlie Sexton in the band - that just goes right through me.  Bob is sharp here, tight voiced with a taut bassline - spitting lyrics.  A cowboy band.  Great interplay between the band - Larry and Charlie looking at each other and smiling.  Clip here.

Once Upon a Time (Tony Bennet Tribute 2016)

Something I'd never seen before.  Dylan in his classics era, picking up the mic stand and leaning into every word.  The Hollywood stage lights, the big suit and bolo tie.  It's clear how much he cares - about the song, the tradition, the feelings behind it all.  Clip here.

Visions of 66 (compilation):  A short documentary-style clip about the Center's efforts to restore Pennebaker's 66 footage.  They're doing amazing work and so much of the footage is simply spell-binding.  There are worlds here.

Conclusion

I lingered round the Nighthawk for a bit afterwards, chatting with Bob fans.  It reminded me of those neighborhood cinema bars in Berlin where folks hang out before and after shows.  Then a long drive back to DC - counting the cars on the (mostly empty) New Jersey turnpike before landing back home, late - but smiling.

Newport Folk Festival 2023 - Raw Notes

Newport Folk is a truly magical place!

Each year, to keep track of what I see (and like) I take notes in real time.

Here's a dump of that doc - very lightly cleaned up - for those who might find it interesting!
--

Friday (7/29) - SO HOT

Ron Gallo - High energy early. Fuzzy distortion on the guitars. Tiny bass player in a dress and heels, locked in. Tight propulsive (smart!) songs. Highlights : All the Punks are domesticated / Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me.

Laden Valley (end) - Caught “Do You Love Me Still” and then cover of Times Changin”

Beths - Giant fish! Fun, poppy, from New Zealand. Lead singer overheated - cut set short! (Apparently she rested a bit, then continued, but we moved on..).

Lee Renaldo & Eastern Medicine Singers - Intense collaboration. Drone with percussion, endless possibilities. Atmospheric , mesmerizing. Better than expected.

Bella White - strong, powerful vocals, captivating country rock (steel guitar! Fiddle!). Taut. (Still SO HOT out). Good song: Just Like Leaving.

Mdou Moctar - Pure kinetic energy. Heat, blistering, mesmerizing. Loud but so delicate. Layers and worlds. The whole crowd standing and cheering. Drummer kicked out his drum shell and it had to be replaced. Grinning, alive, he’s electric. Would love to see him with Billy Strings.

Slaughter Beach, Dog - Rollicking, tight band. Funny lyrics. With Erin Rae on backing vocals. Strong clear vocals. But a fuzzy psychedelic sound. Craig Finn came out for a song. Song about friend who played bass. Charming, fun. Would see again.

Illiterate Light - I rode a bike to power the stage! Super fun. Short set. New protest song. Rockin’ cover of Vampire Blues (as always). Growing Down to close as a sing-along.

Nickel Creek - From Beer Jail. Sara seems to be in good form, tight harmonies. Chris is a pro. Destination is a great song.

Maggie Rogers - From the pier. Such joy! Young and spinning and happy. Did a slower version of Want Want. Brought out Del Water Gap. Alaska. Such a voice and a lot of fun, as always.

James Taylor - Noah Kahan dropped out and James jumped in at the last minute. Meg heard the rumour in line for beer and it was true! Made it over for a story about a pig and Carolina on my Mind and you’ve got a friend. Singing close harmonies with his wife and son.

MMJ - Say That You Love Me (with Maggie Rogers!). They jammed. We smiled and soaked it in.

Tyler Childers @ Newport Blues Cafe (Aftershow). How to capture this in words? So close. Four songs in and we had our money's worth - Whitehouse Road / In Your Love / All Your'n / Purgatory. Deep gospel through-line. Triune God. Old Country Church. No crazy song about the shepherds from DelFest. Tight band, wild bass player. Solo acoustic to close - Grindstone. Lady May. Virgie. Walked out, floating.

Saturday! (7/30) - Still hot. Slightly overcast.

(Proposal! In which Megan agrees to marry me.)

Willi Carlisle - held the crowd in the palm of his hand with just his voice and banjo (and accordion). Folk songs (real ones). Vanlife - funny and smart with a political twist. Steve Goodman Vietnam protest ballad had me crying. Ended with two sing alongs.

Jamie Wyatt - silk shirt, blue suit, came out strong with neon cross. Fixed the sound. Slinky. Danced and slid around the stage, warm chaos with a soulful voice and a tight band. Warmed up to the crowd more and more by the end. Willi played fiddle! New album and show at 9:30. Can’t wait.

Danielle Ponder - caught last few songs. cover of mountain deep. Final song for pscilocybin ("or god - they’re the same thing.")

Bartees Strange - Incredible energy. Kindness, presence. But voice. Great songs. Heavy Heart. Dancing on stage, kinetic.

Ballroom Thieves (Bike Stage) - Charming, hair blowing in the wind. Jumped on the bikes and forgot the words to their own song!

Hold Steady - Straightforward hyper-literate rock and roll with a Midwest accent. Lots of words, images. Harmonica player wearing a suit. Characters in stories - high energy. Loose but polished, ragged but sharp. Good song. - Sequestered in Memphis.

Goose - Jammin’. Cover of Don’t Do It. Animal appearance.

SG Goodman - Short set on the foundation stage. Space and Time (which Tyler Childers covers?). Song by high school friend Tyler. Then Teeth Marks.

Jason Isbell - Opened with Cover Me Up. Turnpike Troubadors guy singing King of Oklahoma. Most of the rest of the new album. Sadler rocking out - that guitar sound!

Turnpike Troubadours - Rocking Western swing. Playful, fun, danceable. Tyler Childers came out for two songs - cover of Prine’s Muhlenberg County, kids (and me!) so excited.

Jon Batiste - Opened with medicine show singers. Guest spot by Lauren Daigle. Funky soulful Nobody’s Fault But Mine. Storm clouds rolling in.

Sunday (7/31) -

Made it through security, but long delay to the stages - long sound check by Lana? (Yes. Caught her with Nikki Lane, wrapping up as we went in).

JP Harris / Willi Carlisle / Palmyra - Bike stage. JP doing old ballads. Willi doing Rocks Don’t Know. Song by old friend (Luke Bell) - Bullfighter in the Pen. A highlight of the whole fest, easily.

Sonora May - Gorgeous smoky voice. Bluesy sound. SG Goodman came out for Milk and Honey. Energy up, loping guitar line. Papa won’t you let me go to town - Bobbie Gentry song? Dogs of Mexico to close. Really good.

Dan Blakeslee - ok? A lot of stage to fill with one guy. Would see in a smaller venue:

Sumbuck - sounds like caamp. Tastes like bbq and street corn (lunch).

Earls of Leicester - tight fun bluegrass. Train that carried. Big black train. Charlie Poole’s Deal Go Down. Gospel songs. Jimmy Brown the Newsboy. Jerry Douglass on dobro. Doing the Flatt and Scruggs set from 1966. So great to see the old songs still alive, folks dancing.

Madison Cunningham - Blue guitar, slightly funky beat. Tight band. Cool energy with a bit of a slide. Good song - I Think We’ve Been Here Once Before. Remi Wolf came out for Hospital. Slower ballads. Wide range to her voice. Closed with Looking For Something, filling the stage.

Remi Wolf - Small human, big energy. Had crowd up and dancing - Disco. Funky, playful. Alive. Bit of Lizzo-feel. Pacing the stage with a grin - flowing, happy. But still SO HOT out. Quad air felt thick so -

Los Lobos - from the pier, with a cool breeze. Opened with Chuck Berry riff. Neko Case! I finally see how Like a Rolling Stone comes from La Bamba.

Lana Del Ray - Nikki Lane came out (we saw her at sound check!). Highlight - Jack Antonoff playing piano as she sang a great Joni cover - For Free. Loved Video Games. Choreographed dancers. Dragged off stage in a sheet (exit!)

Billy Strings - Jammed a lot at first. Tight band. Doc Watson songs. Make me a Pallet. Stanley Brothers - Rank Strangers. Solo - talkin blues about fishing. Very good at playing lots of notes, exuberant, wildly talented. Sun setting, gorgeous end to a weekend.

Hayden Pedigo

My new goal here? Post more. Even if they're short.

Just back from Denver where I hit the one and only Twist and Shout yesterday afternoon. After gathering (and putting back) and armful, I ended up walking out with a Hayden Pedigo record that had been prominently displayed in the Folk section. And boy am I glad I did!

Billed as "a Texas panhandle ode to John Fahey" - it's all that, and more. Rich, deep, deceptively simple. A perfect record to sit with and open up to. And, well, write to..

Mdou Moctar - Ottobar (9/7/2021)

It was a Tuesday night. In Baltimore. And I finally got to see Mdou Moctar. At Ottobar.

We got there a little early. My first time at Ottobar - a wonderfully dark, sticker-and-graffiti-covered place. The stage was a few steps down from the bar, to the right. A small balcony on the left side with a row of chairs looking down on the crowd A far more diverse crowd than DC, a bit of excitement in the air. Full - but not uncomfortable. Got a good spot about 1/3 of the way back, smiling.

Blacks' Myths opened. Loud, dissonant, fractured. Jarring, but beautiful. Jazz-as-hardcore isn't a bad description. It was wild. Started with a guitar / bass player, seated, building layers of sound. Wild strumming, pauses, spaces. With a drummer pulling time backwards and forwards - tight, steady. Then a saxophone. Noise. So much noise. But textured and moving. It felt like a painting, with lines and threads you could follow indefinitely. I got lost. Floated. Didn't care. Pulled through. So good to see chaos like that, risk like that, in public. I'd go again, anytime.

Then a break. Time for a Natty Boh and some choice crowd-watching. Then Mdou walked out with his band - in full desert outfits. Like they stepped out of that movie. He smiled, wide and deep, and said "thank you for the claps, guys" and launched into the first song.

It's incredible to me that the guitar has so many voices. And that there are new ones - expansive ones - just waiting to be found. He played a tight, short set. Maybe 45 minutes. But for those 45 minutes, time stopped. It felt like the desert. It felt like Mdou's time and we were just living in it. There was a beauty in the rambling melody lines, real feeling in the singing - words themselves immaterial to understanding.

The band has been on tour for a while - so they were able to shift tempos with a glance. Everyone working together - real joy passing between them. Big smiles, simple connections. The room was moving - not chaotically, but like we were entranced, pulled rhythmically together. It's a long way from the Sahara to Ottobar - but somehow, not. It felt good to be there. Really good.

Look around, 'round, 'round, 'round..

There's a moment every year, just before Thanksgiving, when I get the email reminding me that a new music issue of the Oxford American is coming along. And it makes me smile. And click the link. The tracklist this year looks particularly strong. I can't wait to dive in!

Other various and sundry observations and notes and internet scrapings:

• A great write up of The Ear in the NY Times. One of my favorite bars in the world. And it pulled me back to those late-summer nights in early 2000's NY. A different world, for sure, on so many fronts. The layers of history, a palimpsest.

• EO sent me this amazing oral history of Nirvana's Unplugged sessions. Well worth the read! I love this image:

  Bobcat Goldthwait (comedian-filmmaker): Kurt was a fan of my stand-up. It’s like finding out that Jimi Hendrix really liked Buddy Hackett. He wanted to meet me. It was before the band had broken. I was in Ann Arbor doing a gig and I think Nirvana was playing the Blind Pig. Kurt wanted to meet me, so he interviewed me on the college radio station, even though we were both guests. It was weird. He’d written a bunch of questions on a paper bag, and it really just digressed to us making fun of the Grateful Dead.

• Dylan's been doing a James Brown cover lately. Not sure it measures up to the original, but love that he's digging deep again.

• Earlier this week I caught the Pulse show at the Hirshhorn just before closing. And the place was empty. And it was _amazing_. Seeing an entire room of old filament lightbulbs beat in time to your hearbeat for a few seconds, and then get swallowed up into the most recent bulb, was quite powerful. I found it more emotional than I expected. There was subtlety and beauty and that sort of awe you get when you look at the stars on a clear night.

• Speaking of emotional. The end of Serial this week was quite powerful. She didn't pull punches - and Josh's story was a good note to end on. But the frustrating thing is that it doesn't seem to be making any difference. Aside from at the margins. Within the choir. But it's making me think about my role within the system. And what, if anything, I can do. But at the very least, well worth listening to. And thinking about. And debating.

• After There, There, I'm headed back in time to pick up one of the books I missed in High School! Let's hear it for Pip and Great Expectations! So far it's funnier than I expected. And a fairly easy to read.

• Been listening to a lot of White Album this week. The NPR podcast, All Songs Considered, does a great deep dive on the making of the album that got in my veins. They were only 27! Amazing..

That, for now, is all. I'm working up an art-centric NY trip soon-ish. On the agenda: the Armenia show at the Met (and maybe Delacroix), and the Klint show at the Guggenheim. And, if its available with a TKTS-discount and the timing is feasible, The Ferryman.