The Aardvark Blog

Musings from the Between Time 1
10/07/2020

First off thank you to those who have come out to visit the shop over the last few days, or who have called or emailed to lend us their support. Whilst we haven’t been overcrowded we have had a fairly continuous flow of customers, which has given us the time to make necessary adjustments and to figure out how to be able to keep the different parts of the business working. At times it was quite emotional - particularly when welcoming back regulars - and also quite exhausting, but I am glad that we made the decision to open up again. I realise the sight of me in a visor is somewhat off-putting, but trust me when I say that I hope it is only temporary.

Driving in yesterday I heard Joe Jackson’s ‘Stepping Out’ and it instantly became my internal Between Time anthem (what plays in my head when I am looking to find some courage to address problems). I think it was the line: ‘ we .. so tired of all the darkness in our lives, with no more angry words to say can come alive ... get into a car and drive to the other side.’ It just struck the perfect mix of sadness and defiance. On the subject of music I have also been listening to the album that Tom Bowes made of the violin music of Ysaye, which I think I will keep in my playlist for some time. I think I mentioned this CD in a blog before lockdown, but I am taking the view that anything done in the 'Before Time' doesn't count and am hence mentioning it again. I have always loved Tom’s playing, but this seems to me one of the best things he has done, and I hope that he includes some of these pieces in an Arcadia Festival programme in the future.

One last comment on music is that I have been listening to the three tracks so far issued from the new Chicks (previously The Dixie Chicks) album ‘Gaslighter’. Judging from what I have heard so far this could be their best album yet. To make the waiting more bearable check out their wonderful cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’ that they put out a decade  ago. I confess it made me cry.

Just had an inspiring conversation with Paul Brooks from the Cliffe at Dinham who in the alternative universe that we had pre-Covid was due to play in the bookshop this weekend for the start of our sale. Paul is restarting his restaurant and will also be doing some outdoor jazz. Contact the Cliffe for details. He is one of the best jazz keyboard players I have heard live and I can't wait to get him back here to play.

A brilliant portrait of the recently deceased Carl Reiner in yesterday's New York Times written by the great Steve Martin was everything you would expect from an intelligent and subtle humourist saluting a peer. Again it made me shed a tear - signs of true humanity strike me more powerfully at the moment than in the before time when I guess one was more blasé. You can read a few articles a month free in the New York Times without subscribing and this one is the one I would choose.

Finally if you are not one of the many people I have bored on the subject and if you have a Netflix subscription, do try the new adaptation of ‘The Babysitters Club’. I realise that I am absolutely not the demographic that this is aimed at, but I just really enjoyed the wonderful writing and acting of what is in the main a cast of young unknown actresses. Always a joy to see Alicia Silverstone who is an actress who has rarely had the material she deserves, but here has some wonderful lines, and shout out also to Mark Feuerstein who does well with the underwritten role of an enthusiastic, unwicked stepfather. Perfect Between Time viewing.