I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: LOS LOBOS-Tiny Desk Concert #90 (November 10, 2010).

I don’t really know all that much about Los Lobos.  I frankly got sick of them because of “La Bamba” (which came out 20 years ago!) and I don’t think I’d ever heard much else by them.  So I wound up enjoying this Tiny Desk much more than I anticipated.

The one big problem with this tiny desk is that the drummer is playing one of those plastic mail bins and it sounds awful.  Especially on the first song.  I think anything would have had a better drum sound than that.

I really enjoyed the first song “Burn It Down.”  It has a propulsive minor key structure and an excellent bass line.  I would never have guessed it was Los Lobos, but that may be because it’s not the singer I most associate with them (he sings on the next two songs).

“Yo Canto” is a cumbia, sung by a different guy (in Spanish) who also plays lead guitar.  The mail bin sounds better on this song because of the placement (and use of) a cowbell.  The singer sounds amazing.  I rather like the riff that underlines the song.

Those two songs are from their then latest album.  And the band sounds really good all these years on.

The final song is “Don’t Worry Baby.”  It has the same singer as the middle song (this time in English) although it is a pretty standard blues song that I found just okay.  It also features a bunch of saxophone.  I didn’t realize that it was from their major label debut in 1984! and is something of a classic.

So three songs, all of them enjoyable, from a band I didn’t really think I’d enjoy.  The funniest part is just before the show stops and someone asks, “Okay, where’s the beer?”

[READ: October 1, 2015] How to Skin a Lion

This book sounded awesome–I love outdated things that we can laugh about now (because I’m a superior git, of course).

But this book proved to be not all that funny.  The outmoded advice wasn’t treated comically exactly (well, some was), rather it was looked at rather seriously–some as good advice that still stands, some as crazy advice that is way outmoded and a few things that are, yes, just comical.

Cock-Starkey (insert joke here) says that this is a collection of materials from the vast archives of the British Library.  It culls from medieval manuscripts, Victorian manuals and self-help guides from the early 20th century.  She explains that the book aims to reveal the secrets of lost arts, remind us of how modern conveniences have changed our lives, recall the complexities of etiquette, highlight changing attitudes and beliefs and furnish us with still useful tips and guidance.

Although she also points out that readers should be advised that some pieces of advice contained herein have stood the test of time better than others.

There are dozens of things to read about: How to cure sea-sickness (1874)–if brandy doesn’t work try a raw egg with a few drops of vinegar and black pepper–it will be wonderfully sustaining.   How to put back a dislocated jaw.  Even how to cure a headache (1551)–make his nose bleed or tie bands around the arm and legs for 15 minutes but be careful so the limbs don’t turn blue.  How to cure a head cold (1551) it involves cutting open a live black hen and mixing her blood into the man’s blood.

I also enjoyed this sage piece of advice from 1856-How to restore a drowned person–make sure to take the body out of the water before an hour has lapsed.

Then there’s some really arcane items like How to communicate with flowers (1852) which shows in great detail what different flowers mean when you give them: buttercup = ingratitude ; lettuce = cold-hearted ; spiderwort = I esteem but do not love you.

The title does come into play with two chapters–how to stalk a lion and later how to skin a lion (1908).  Hunting was a big part of the old days, so there’s a chapter entitled How to pack for a 12 month expedition into the interior of Africa (with very detailed weights and measures of items) (1820).  There’s also How to travel across the desert without water (the bushmen do it every day, you know) (1850).  Or the rather disturbing How to fashion an elephant’s foot into something useful (1920s) or the even more disturbing in a very different way– How to run a household in Anglo India (1874)–it involves about 22 servants.

There’s toilette advice, like how to look after your hair (1839).  This includes what hair is made of: animal matters, white concrete oil, iron, manganese and considerable quantity of sulfur.  How to remove freckles (1856) just seems dangerous.  Although How to wash (1839) offers this: the feet should be washed every day.  So should every other part of the body except the head.

Other advice concerning polite society includes: How a lady should conduct herself in polite society (1838) and How to dress like a gentleman (1879).

Practical skills were also taught like How to make Stilton cheese (1834) and the less appealing How to make turnip wine (1856).  More pleasing: How to carve meat (1877) and How to smoke your own bacon (1864).

Hunting skills included: How to train a falcon (1898); How to bait a hook and which kinds of worms are best for which fish (1867).  There’s even How to select manure (1780) which explains which kind of manure (even human) is best for what task.

And then a category all to themselves: How to read the future with snails (1887).  How to perform cupping (with an awesome illustration (1854).  How to use the English method of fortune telling by cards (1889).  And the most useful thing in the whole book was How to perform coin tricks (1904) which should all still work today.

Actually, really the most useful piece of instruction is: How to borrow things (1879) “buy any article you are likely to want on more than one occasion rather than borrow.”

So this book proved to be a lot less funny than I imagined.  But it did have a lot of historically interesting things and some things that I’d never heard of or even imagined (those flowers and snails).   A few things were a little dull but Cock-Starkey did a great job of editing things down to the most enjoyable bits.