A record-collector local to me, a guy called Geoff, just alerted me to the existence of this interesting looking jazz record blog.
Geoff appears to believe it’s run by John Thompson, of Fast Show fame. The guy behind the blog appears to be called Andrew, however, and only be using images of Thompson as a funny avatar:
The blog looks great, in terms of LJC’s content. It’s sadly marred quite seriously by very intrusive adverts. But thanks, Geoff, got the ‘heads up’. No doubt I shall explore, in time…
The most recent post when I checked the blog out, today, was this (screenshot, not link!):
Today there was the Wimbledon Men’s Final, in which Alcaraz butchered Djokovic. Now we’re watching the Spain vs England Euro ‘24 Final, and Spain are 1-0 up.
Cosy lounge.Pretty.
Over the course of the day Dad shared some old pics, via WhatsApp.
The former POTUS, nicked by a bullet.A shocking image.
Moron, bully boy, defalcator, racist, narcissist… oh, and Former President, Donald Trump, has narrowly avoided assassination, it would appear.
Shortly after 6 pm, July 13th, during a rally of his deluded bovine supporters, near Butler, Pennsylvania, shots rang out. The former POTUS was seen grabbing his right ear. Secret service security guards immediately crowded him.
Uh-oh… future right wing propaganda gravy.
Security forces and onlookers quickly spotted the shooter, on a nearby industrial unit rooftop, who was swiftly dispatched.
One bystander was killed instantly (a shot to the head), two others are seriously injured. This is by the shooter, by the way. All adult males, according to the news sources I’ve been reading. No names have yet been released.
The would-be assassin has been named, as 20 year old Thomas Matthew Crooks:
High School Yearbook photo.
If I’m totally honest with myself, I have to admit I wouldn’t have been too upset to hear Trump had been killed. I’m sure that many people have died as a result of his immoral ways of doing business and politics.
Crooks more recently.
I also think he’s a certifiable lunatic, and a threat to peace in both US and internationally. That said, I’d rather politics was carried out in a civilised manner. And assassination is not civilised.
And worse still, this might well further polarise and destabilise America’s already febrile politics. Trump should be in jail. If he were to become a martyr to the loony American right, things might just get even worse.
Corey Comperatore.
Some time later, checking back in on the news, I learn that the man killed by the shooter is Corey Comperatore.
After our voyage around the first floor, we were exhausted, thirsty and hungry. So we took a break. Shared a pulled pork n’slaw bap, then had a hot chocolate, and a salted caramel shortbread. We also took a chance to look around outside again. Before heading indoors for the trip upstairs.
The weather was mostly cloudy and grey. It kept threatening to rain. But then it turned sunny for a bit. And actually got very hot and muggy, for a while.
So, back into the house, to ‘do’ the upstairs floor…
In one of the upstairs rooms there are seats and books, and you’re allowed/encouraged to sit and read. Should you choose to. We did!
Stunning!
In this unbelievable place, stuffed to the gills with treasures and fabulous craftsmanship, some of the transitions, from room to room, are jaw-dropping. One such occurs at this point.
The transition from the lightness of the orientalist theme bedroom to the dark hand-painted marble effect of the next room, part passageway, part mini-library, is both extraordinarily powerful, and, quite frankly, wonderful.
And finally, back out, into the grounds. And, to my massive delight – having texted Teresa about seeing large deer in the area on my previous (work) trip – who should come and occupy the cricket pitch, after the match? A herd of deer, no less!
There you have it. What a place! We’ll definitely return.
The above gallery compresses several room into one smorgasbord. Moving from the previous room, with the exquisite brass and tortoise-shell, to the next, looks like this:
What an interesting indoor window.
Which, whilst intriguing, doesn’t quite prepare one for the next room:
There’s a vast array of art throughout the house. But the stuff in this room is a concentrated dose that really blew us away. Funnily enough we were starting to tire, and needed a wee sit down. And this room has a perfect little bench. Which was also perfect for taking in some small measure of the richness of what this one small-ish room contains.
And onwards. The treasure trove seems never-ending. Too much to take in with one visit.
The mind boggles at the scale, the splendour. It’s an obscenely ostentatious display of wealth and power. But it’s undeniably intoxicatingly beautiful. Mad!
We rocked up a little later than anticipated, due to a crash on a road just outside March, that diverted us onto a much slower but more scenic route north.
The above mini-gallery is an area I explored whilst Teresa got herself ready to exit our car. The final photo taken as I returned to the car park.
Teresa occasionally mentions wanting to watch some cricket. And, lo and behold, there was a group of guys doing just that, on the lawns in from of the house.
We’d thought we’d walk around the grounds, either before or after visiting the house. But in the end we went straight to the house. Well, sort of. We sat down to watch a bit of the cricket.
There’s so much to see and enjoy here, just in the house, I’ll have to split this into two, maybe three, posts.
Every now and then I succumb to a morbid fascination with true-crime. Occasionally, more specifically, that means those über-transgressive subjects, serial-killers. One of the most intriguing of these is Ed Kemper.
Today I listened to a longer version of some interviews with Ed Kemper, short extracts of which have long been on YouTube. Hearing the fuller versions is very illuminating. Selective editing can, and does (obviously, really) vastly change how things come across.
Ed is massive! 6’ 9”, and very heavy set with it. A giant of a man! As the above images attest. I’m 6’ 1”. Ed’s the best part of a foot taller! And he is beefy with it. This imposing physical presence – even via the abstracting distance of the interweb – also adds to his ‘dark charisma’
Kemper in more recent times.
I have to say that I find both Ed Kemper and Ted Bundy fascinating to listen to. In a way that’s very much not the case with a lot of killers. This is because they are clearly both intelligent and articulate.
One of the bits of Kemper’s story that’s usually left on the cutting room floor, but in this unexpurgated version really struck me, is Ed relating how his ability to think had lain dormant. And was finally brought out by an high school art teacher.
Ed’s victims.*
Unlike Bundy, who had to be caught (and re-caught!), and who doggedly maintained his innocence for many years, Kemper turned himself in, has not tried to escape (unless you count suicide attempts), and has never denied his culpability for his crimes.
Another thing I’ve learned about Big Ed is, rather surprisingly/amazingly, he had a pretty blond girlfriend – to whom he was engaged – during his grisly spree. He has said that she is one of the reasons he ultimately turned himself in.
A great resource for all things Ed is edmundkemperstories.com. I’ve learned a lot about this grim but fascinating chapter of history reading the posts there. And that’s also where a number of the photos I’ve used come from.
FBI profiler John Douglas found that, ultimately, he couldn’t help but like Edmund. Primarily for his intelligence and humour. This is not to belittle the horror of Kemper’s crimes. Rather, it is simply an honest response to the post-killing spree person Kemper managed to be.
To this day, however, Kemper – who requested the death penalty – has either not attended his parole hearings, or has admitted that he is best staying where he is, in prison. He knows he passed way beyond the pale. And admits he’ll never really come in from the cold.
Now, ill with severe diabetes, and having had an aneurysm, he is probably both too infirm to be a real threat to anyone, and simultaneously too institutionalised, physically and mentally, to survive outside of prison.
Directed by a friend!
Interest in Ed and his crimes remains strong. Johnny Burke, someone I know socially/personally (brother of a best buddy’s wife) directed The Co-Ed Killer, in 2021. And a French team has rendered Kemper’s story as a graphic novel.
Looks interesting.
* Kemper killed his maternal grandparents, Edmund and Maude Kemper, aged just 15. Jailed for these killings, he was released back into society just six years later, on his 21st birthday. Shortly thereafter, between May 1972 and April 1973, he killed six young women – Mary Ann Pesce and Anita Luchessa; Aiko Koo; Cindy Schall; Rosalind Thorpe and Allison Liu (these killings earning him the name ‘the co-ed killer’), and finally, his mother, Clarnell Strandberg, and her friend and neighbour Sally Hallett. Armed to the teeth, he then went on the run, anticipating going down in ‘blaze of glory’ gunfight with the law enforcement posse he felt was bound to track him down. When that didn’t happen, he called the police and gave himself up.
I’ve recently bought a selection of David Munrow Early Music Consort recordings, on CD. Some new. Some second-hand. This – Music of The Crusades – is one of the latter.
Whoever I bought this off didn’t pack or rather protect it adequately.
Should have used…… one o’ these!Reboxed, in a… … new ‘jewel case’..
Fortunately the CD itself is undamaged. And plays just fine. Repackaged, it’s looking ok, and sounding fine. I’m mighty relieved.
