Culture High & Low

I see that a new album by The (Truncated) Who is on tap. Tentatively titled WHO2, it looks to be released next year. From Pete Tonwshend's online diary:

"WHO2 will not be a concept album. That is, in itself, a concept for me. Roger and I meet in mid December to play what we have written. If we move ahead from there, we may have a CD ready to release in the spring. My working-title for the project - ‘Who2’ - is only partly tongue-in-cheek. If the recording works out we will tour with the usual band in the first half of 2005.

While not the most exciting prospect ever, I thought the two new Who songs on that best-of collection were good, especially "Old Red Wine". Now, I grant you that The Who haven't been the same since Keith Moon died but they managed some great songs dudring the 80s. Now that Entwhistle is gone, the sound will be even more different but good music can result nonetheless as "Old Red Wine" has proven. We'll see. I can always ask Luke for the lowdown on it when it's released.

In other dinosaur rockers news, Jethro Tull will be performing Aqualung in its entirety for XM Radio - more here. Apparently the station has a show in which old duffs come into the studio and play a classic album of theirs. Should be amusing. It'll no doubt be available for download shortly after its broadcast as was the case with Procupine Tree's session there.

Yesterday's mail brought paperwork from the Madison Area Literacy Council. I wrote asking for information about becoming a volunteer tutor. I had thought about giving it a go several months ago but never followed through for reasons lost to me. My mother used to work for Literacy Volunteers of America, my father was a voracious reader when I was a kid, and I love to read & want to make a difference of some kind so it seems a natural fit. What really motivated me was the horrid results of the election which inspired me to do something that seemed even remotely productive and reading that a fellow blogger was volunteering sealed the deal. Unfortunately, the next set of training sessions aren't until February. But it'll roll around soon enough.

Last night Marv, Pete, Christopher, and I went to see Copenhagen at the Overture thingy and I thought it was really great. It concerns the 1941 meeting of physicists Werner Heisenberg and Neils Bohr at Bohr's home in Copenhagen. At the time, Denmark was under Nazi occupation and Heisenberg lived in Germany. The two were close friends in the 20s but the war threw a spanner in the works. The play concerns physics, friendship, and people dealing with the intense pressures of war. The overarching concept is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle - not only as it relates to science but also to human relationships. (More info is to be found here.)

The actors were a bit shaky at the start but soon found their grooves. I liked that it was staged in the round. A spare set consisting only of 3 chairs and a round stage seemed quite appropriate. Characters could walk around the perimeter like an electron around a nucleus. Some comic relief from Bohr helped balance some intense moments from Heisenberg and Bohr's wife, Margarethe.

I'm excited as Miss Pamela is going to be visiting from the good land of Milwaukee. We'll end up at Mimosa and then cruise around. I need to do some shopping and want to hit the Polish deli on Monroe but am afraid of Badger fans toppling my car and snagging my goods as Miss Pamela and I flee. And so tomorrow should be a fun-filled day of good food, sex toys, singing bowls, and, no doubt, beer.