Elvis Costello at O'Shaughnessy...Well Done!

Elvis Costello at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul

Elvis Costello weaved quite a tale last night.  This show was very well done.  Costello artfully weaved between new songs and older standards - many of which were played in different tempos or with jazzy twists.

Elvis shared the backstory for a number of tunes - as we learned about his grandfather who played for the White Star Lines before the Depression.  We heard about Costello's father and Costello's own start in the business.

Costello is a first rate guitarist who  seems to float effortlessly between many chords.  He reminds me a bit of a jazz performer who "Never Plays it Straight" - but Costello wanders back to the melody.  Add to this the man's amazing ability to write songs daily - and songs that speak to the heart - and you have a very good show.  Especially when you add that he played for two and a quarter hours.  Well done Mr. Costello.

"Beyond Belief" was there as well "Everyday I Write the Book" but my favorite was when he played "Alison" and sang back and forth with the audience at the end of the song.  What an outstanding evening.

Wow, what a show.  Definitely a top five musical experience.

A First...

Today, for the first time in quite awhile, we took a cat back to the Humane Society. We tried every trick to get this lovable creature to use a litter box on a regular basis, but we had no luck. Karyl did the tough duty and drove for two and half hours to return the suspect. A failed experiment. Sigh.

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It is depressing to learn all the facts about the Dreyfus case, but then books on politics are often disturbing. It is amazing the lengths to which the French went to avoid telling the truth. This is one of the most interesting historical fiction books I have read in a long time. I would give this four paws up.

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Photo: John Minchillo

Last week rallies in Ukraine chased the president Yanukovych out of the capital, and he is now hiding in Russia.  On Friday, last week the Russians sent in troops, tanks, and helicopters to make sure the Crimea remained a place friendly to Russians.

One has to wonder if Vladimir Putin is now the most hated man in Ukraine.  In 2014, can you take over a people who hate you and make the country work.  Yes, Ukrainians need Russian natural gas, and Russia wants to maintain its naval base in the Crimean peninsula, but can this takeover really work?

Has Putin entered another Afghanistan for Russia?  If you have to occupy a people, can it really work?

Photo: Sergei Chuzakov

Looks to me like these people would say, "No."  We shall see.  I am betting this doesn't work out for Russia.

Katherines Rule...

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Boy, I like reading John Green stories. In this one the main character, Colin, is searching to make sense of his own journey through life. He is haunted by being dumped by girls named Katherine, but he moves through that to come to interesting insights. I wish I were able to figure things like that out. The middle of the story was a little slow, but around page 200 the afterburners kicked in and I liked this story very much. Well done Mr. Green!

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Photos from Last Week

Norwegian Night

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How often do you have a main character that is an 82 year old man? This story was an excellent read. This story is told from several perspectives or it moves along from different viewpoints. Derek Miller does a great job of sharing characters and their motivations for moving on through the plot. I give this one four our of four paws up on the Tex scale.

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