On The Wire

I was mildly intrigued by this discussion on the Guardian web site about sexism in The Wire.  This is the only season of The Wire that I've watched.   It has so many characters that most of them pass me by.  I find many of them hard to tell apart.

The only woman character whose name I recognise is Dolores (who is just a bit part).  I assume from the context in the Guardian discussion that Kima is the lesbian policewoman.  I have no idea who Brianna and Snoop are, these being the other characters mentioned in that article. 

On the male side, I recognise the names of a few more characters (Frank, Ziggy, Nick, Horse, McNulty, Daniels, and Omar).  I used to know the name of the young kid who got killed in prison but I've forgotten it.   The programme is definitely more about men than women, which given the societies portrayed is probably accurate.  Still, this does make me uncomfortable.  I'm still unsure whether the programme is just a presentation of misogynist societies or whether it is misogynist itself.

Ry Cooder and Nick Lowe

This year's birthday treat for Mrs. HTC was to see Ry Cooder live in Edinburgh.  He is touring Europe with Nick Lowe, which seems a strange combination in some ways but makes sense in that they are both interested in old popular music.  On stage, they make an odd couple.  Nick Lowe looks rather like Barry Cryer now, with short white hair and glasses.  Ry Cooder looks like, well, an older Ry Cooder.  Nick Lowe played the bass or strummed the chords on accoustic guitar, while Ry Cooder played the twiddly bits.  The difference in ability was obvious but they combined well to make good music.

When the fairies were handed out the potion of groove to each new soul, they must have dropped Ry Cooder into the cauldron.  He was constantly moving to a rhythm, whether of the music or, between songs, of an internal beat.  And when it comes to playing slide guitar, you have to admit that he is definitely Quite Good.  Whatever the style - blues, gospel, pop, country, rock - he had a solo to match.  He just drew my eyes and ears to his playing throughout.

My favourite piece of the night was when he played a lap steel guitar for an ominous version of Vigilante Man.  I'd have liked more pieces in that vein.  But hey, the night out wasn't for me anyway.

From nosing about on the web, it seems that Ry Cooder doesn't tour often.  That might explain the price of tickets.  The encore of How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live, excellent as it was, seemed rather inappropriate given the amount we'd spent to hear it.  I'm sure you could get into some weekend festivals for that amount.  But as a birthday treat it was well worth it.