Chick Corea, RIP

I went through a brief love affair with jazz fusion in the 1970s. How could you not? Some of the most brilliant musicians of their time were the progenitors: Miles, of course, but also notably keyboardists Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. After free jazz exhaustion we were ready for something a little more accessible, something that held out the hope that jazz could once again be a genre with mass appeal. Herbie's forays became foundational to hip-hop; Chick's were a little stranger and goofier... leprechauns, anyone? Ultimately fusion was pretty busted. But with Chick Corea, there is so much more. To me, the free jazz stuff sticks. Especially in the company of musicians like these... 

Toxic, part 2

TENTSMUIR FOREST
Karen Solie

The sign denoting a negative quantity indicates, 
also, subtraction. The symbol for equivalence

means also alike. The deadliest mushroom is
among the most delicious. Distinct

in their intensities of purpose. Her children found her

on the kitchen floor, plate on the table,
pan on the stove. A life foraging in these woods,

she should have known. But to pour out
is not to spill. To spill is not to lay oneself down.

                                    From The Caiplie Caves

Toxic

Untraceable
Sergei Lebedev

This is a tightly written and cold-hearted literary suspense novel, based on something close to real life. The two protagonists/ antagonists– the Russian chemist-defector Kalitin and the Russian agent-assassin Shershnev– are on a collision course. Along the way, we learn their back stories. Do we come to understand what makes them tick? Hard to say. Comparisons of the book to Le Carré's moral universe have been made, but unlike Smiley, neither Kalitin nor Shershnev seems to have a moral bone in his body, and what emotion or empathy they possess is buried so deep in their psyches as to be nearly snuffed out.

The book actually has a third protagonist: the neurotoxin Neophyte, designed by Kalitin to be lethal and "untraceable," a cousin of the real-world novichok. Neophyte has its own personal history, paralleling Kalitin's as well as Russia's. The stories of these three toxic characters are compellingly told, and the descriptions of the landscape and action are vivid and artful. Thank the translator, Antonina W. Bouis, as well as Lebedev for that. A good read about awful stuff for bad times.

Two more cheers for capitalism

Basically the U.S. government has done jack shit to combat climate change. So we are left relying on Elon Musk and now General Motors. Not ideal, but beggars can't be choosers. 

Crocodile tears for the capitalists

 Ooooh scary! Until you look back five years and see average returns in excess of 10% per year... 

Grant Park lichens

In addition to plenty of birds, oaks, and vistas... lichens! Not the best lichen spot in the region by a long shot, but an interesting rock outcropping here and there...

Busy acorn woodpeckers

 Grant Park, east of San Jose.

Woodrat project, vol. 5

Oh, the woodrats in Wilder Ranch State Park are very very busy. Click on the pictures to appreciate the craftsratship in higher resolution.