A question to the linguistically minded among you

While watching Carnivále, the term geek came up at various times, describing one of the acts (Henry Scudder was one)

I looked it up and M-W online had the following definition:
"a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake"
and of course the one we all know.
(The etymology is given as "probably from English dialect geek, geck fool, from Low German geck" but the German definition of Geck I know is a fop, a man in fancy clothes, overdrawn manners and often not very bright.)

I wonder how the first definition evolved into the second. Any ideas?

Rain!

Rah! Now to hope this continues until about 6 or so tonight so the sun doesn't have a chance of making a humid horrible mess of the wetness. The ground and plants desperately need the water, though.

I'm looking forward to a full night's sleep without tossing and turning and having to take another shower in the morning.

No plans for tonight so will probably process photos.
Might do some shopping in town tomorrow (need a filter for the new lens and maybe a quest for some more summer clothes).

Two new CDs today:
"Ry Cooder - Chávez Ravine" and "Van Morrison - Magic Time". Mini-reviews to follow tonight.

Fantastic!

Alternative Intelligent Design

[Music] Quick Reviews

Ry Cooder - Chávez Ravine (4/5)
A long wait since Buena Vista Social Club and it's been worth it. The great recluse is back.
As the previous record, it's not a solo album but a collaboration with numerous and various artists, this time from the Mexican/Latino scene in LA.
Chávez Ravine used to be a Mexican neighbourhood that was eventually razed to the ground to make way for a new Dodgers baseball stadium. What was an eyesore for city officials was at the same time a rich and colourful community with its own culture and even language.

15 songs by various authors tell stories about the life and people in that community or tales they used to tell.
Music-wise it's just as varied. From happy Mariachi tunes to dark and twisty solo Blues numbers with everything in between, all with a touch of Cooder and Latino influences.

The lyrics are roughly evenly divided between English and Spanish, with translations provided in the chunky CD booklet.

Great stuff, but maybe a bit heavy to listen to intently all the way through and some of the instrumentation needs some getting used to, so -1 point for listenability (is that a word?)

If you're interested in the history of Chavez Ravine, here's a short article.


Van Morrison - Magic Time (4.5/5)
This one's quick indeed. Van Morrison is back with his unique mix of Soul/Blues/Jazz/R&B which he's been perfecting for the last 40 years. Perfect music for a summer evening, from mellow jazzy numbers to all out grooving tunes that make you groove along and snip your fingers, shake your head and kick your feet.
Only .5 from the perfect score because we've really heard it all before but, to be honest, would anyone want him to change doing what he does best? I wouldn't.

A week on Sunday I'll finally see him live at Leeds Castle. About bloody time, too.

Relief

is a cool breeze wafting through my little flat.

Mmmmm

I think I'm going to watch the Hollywood remake of the superb Dark Water, just because Jennifer Connelly is in it...