Singular Music

 

This is a collection of short-stories Murakami published in 2020. The title comes from the last story in the collection but the one I liked best is the one depicted on the cover - "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey"  / Ichininshō Tansū (一人称単数).

It is a story that brings together a number of elements I love about Japan - the inclination to experience nature, the everyday courtesy, openness to absorbing and improving upon foreign music, literature, food and technology. With some effort it seems even monkeys can improve themselves in Japan :)

As with most of his books, quite a few of stories in this collection revolve around music, mostly jazz or western classical. Many of these pieces are completely unfamiliar to me, so my way of indulging in immersive reading is to settle down with the book on my favourite chair with a drink, a bowl of snacks (if KakiPi is nor available, murukku or banana chips will do), and to play as background music one one of the pieces that appears in the storyline.

In this collection, no less than three stories have their titles that indicate which type of music is going to dominate the narrative - "Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova", "With the Beatles" and "Carnaval". The last one comes with a specific recommendations - Schumann's Carnaval by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (Angel Records) or the one by Arthur Rubenstein (RCA  Records)!

An enjoyable, uplifting read.

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Music from 'First Person Singular' / Ichininshō Tansū (一人称単数):

• Jazz - Charlie Parker - Ornithology - the best of Bird
• Charlie Byrd - Corcovado (also a hill in Rio, Brazil - home to the statue of ‘Jesus the Redeemer’)
• Pharoah Sanders
• Miles David
• Art Pepper 
• Thelonious Monk
• Beethoven Piano Concerto 1 - 3rd movement 
• Middle-class music: Mantovani Orchestra -- Percy Faith -- Roger Williams -- Andy Williams -- Not Cole King
• Max Steiner - Theme from A Summer Place (Percy Faith Orchestra)
• Rolling Stones - “(I can't get no) Satisfaction"
• Byrd - “Mr.Trambourine Man”
• Temptations - “My Girl”
• Righteous Brothers - “You've lost that lovin’ feelin’
• Beach Boys - “Helping Rhonda”
• Diana Ross
• Supremes
• Classical - Bruckner - 7th symphony, 3rd movement / 9th symphony 
• Richard Strauss
• Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet 
• Schumann - Carnaval -- by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (Angel records) or Arthur Rubenstein (RCA)
• Bach - Goldberg variations + well tempered clavier
• Beethoven - late piano sonatas + third Concerto 
• Folks Crusaders - “I only live twice”

Glimpses of Bangkok

 

It was good to return to the Brahma temple in downtown Bangkok after a few years. I missed a few shrubs and trees that once stood in the area now thronging with people - worshippers, onlookers, curious tourists - all watching the dancers swaying to the rhythms of cymbals and prayer songs. 

Not too far from Erawan Brahma shrine on Rama-I road, Lumpini district is the "Sri Maha Mariamman Temple" on Silom road. A plaque outside this colourful temple informs you that, "It is a temple of Goddess Uma, consort of Shiva, built around 1879...It was in custody of Tamil Indian who brought Indian civilisation to other areas of Asia". Am I missing something here? ;)

People

Street Art

Cityscapes

Surprises

There are no stray dogs in Lumpini Park but it does have a number of 'community' cats that the park regulars like to pet. The big surprise here however are these lizards. When I first saw one slowly sauntering across the road, the first thought that crossed my mind was - 'what are Komodo Dragons doing here??' After crossing the road, it slipped into one of the canals and lazily swam past fishes, herons and humans practicing Tai-Chi in the park.

Turns out that these are the Asian Water Monitors. Though quite closely related (second heaviest lizards in the world), to the Komodo Dragons these are comparatively less venomous and aggressive. Wonder if they ate up all the stray dogs in Lumpini... ;)

I love "Conbinis",  Japanese style convenience stores that seem to have a fairly wide network in Thailand. I like to try and spot the similarities and differences between the 7-Elevens in different localities, the types of merchandise they stock, the shop layouts, and the efficiency with which these businesses are managed.

At this particular 7-Eleven on Wireless Road I caught a glimpse of the amazing logistics networks at work. This particular Conbini was going through a stock-check. Two staffers were quickly scanning the shelves with QR code readers that were no bigger than finger-rings, and simultaneously sending out an audio report on their observations. By the time we checked-out of the shop a carton of onigiris would certainly have been added to the next van or scooter replenishing the shelves we had emptied a few minutes earlier!

And the final surprise - the city metro network. Bangkok has three metro systems - BTS, SRT and MRT - but strangely they don't talk to each other! You can buy transit "Rabbit Cards" from any BRT station (THB 100 for the card, minimum refill THB 100) but for commuters and tourists the card cannot be used across most other metro lines. The Rabbit is valid only for BRT network and only two of the six MRT lines (Blue and Pink). Quite surprising for an urban mass transport system that was started as early as the 1970s..

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* Difference - Komodo Dragons and Water Monitors - https://www.rekoforest.org/field-stories/komodo-dragons-vs-monitor-lizards-can-you-spot-the-differences/#:~:text=Asian%20Water%20Monitor%2C%20the%20world's,tropical%20islands%20with%20warm%20weather.