Monday 30 March 2015

More Library and more Luciani with Divertissement Baroque (Kaleidoscope No. 6) -- Lossless Available!




I don't know what possessed me to buy another baroque outing from Luciani.  Maybe because of their great popularity out there in the ''blogosphere" or perhaps "blogtopia."

Anyways, what you see is what you get here for sure.  A little too light for my tastes.  A typical sample, B2, Clementina:





Notice the famous whistling of the composer.




Saturday 28 March 2015

Thomas & Henry Kiefer - 1980 - Improvisationen Uber Edoardo Antonius Eumel (Private)




A very beautiful cover painting, again, with its surreal trunk, candle, and Daliesque guitar neck... and a beautiful album as well, a mixture of folk and some fusion courtesy of our old prognotfrog friend pollux... whose ripping style as always is unparalleled in the digital domain.  An old mono rip that was barely listenable was circulating heretofore and needed replacement.

My favourite track is one called Santa Barbara:



Rüdiger Oppermann's 1985 Celtic Harp opus Reise Nach Harfistan (i.e. Journey to Harpistan)




He made several albums.  From discogs:

German harpist and experimental musician. He specializes in the Celtic harp, which he began playing in 1973. A musician devoted to exploring all musical cultures, Oppermann has collaborated with folk musicians from around the world, particularly musicians from Africa and Asia. Rudiger Oppermann might be best described as a free-style and experimental folk musician, who draws on both ancient and modern musics and musical traditions, to create a melting pot of musical cultures that cannot be ascribed to any one folk tradition. 


From the record insert:

The harp is the oldest stringed instrument in the world, its form being etched on the face of stones as many as 12000 years ago, in various ancient cultures (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Celts, Central Asia, Zimbabwe), the harp played in important role specifically as a magical instrument: the portrayal of the human body with taut strings connecting the head and stomach.


Of interest here is that not just the concert harp is used in this music, but the wire-strung trad. Celtic harp (which was developed some 800 years ago), a Kundi which is an African bowed harp, Kora (West African Lute Harp) and Wind Harp (Aeolian Harp).

The sidelong track on side b called "The Mist Rider" comprises the following passages:

The Tones of Fong (Chinese progression of F - C - G - D - A)
Nhemamusasa (Zimbabwean finger piece with xylophone)
Morrisons (trad. harp tune from the Celtic Epoch, used by famed master Alan Stivell)
Zongo (a five-voiced "flying carpet piece" with 3 celtic harps, electric guitar, and percussion)
Paradise of the Heart (which includes vibrato and stretched tones)
Gending Tirtakenjana (A Java melody originally played on Gamelan)

And I think the composition closes out with the original diatonic C major with which it began.  So you can see there is quite a bit of the 'world music' influence here.  The whole flows quite beautifully through the passages making it a little difficult sometimes to tell where you are in the above six parts.  Still, a journey worth making, far more attractive than to any other of the '-stans'.

A track called "Amethyst" provides some very interesting tintinnabulation by the harp on a bass basis:


Friday 27 March 2015

Germany in 1980 with the fusion album FAUN [No Download Available-- sorry]





We were hoping for something outrageous with the shocking cover art: a helllish and porno-grade-tailed faun branding his name on a high-heeled woman's butt in (?) red blood-- but it is altogether disappointingly easy fusion, fuzak with funkishness (fusunkzak, I guess we could appropriately term this ugly hybrid), such as we can find in the millions in this era in time, like trilobites in the cambrian.  Some very proficient musicianship, but only one track to appeal to the progressive aficionado and that one is called "November" with its opening oh-so-exciting and encouraging synth tritonal attack, there is enough dissonance in the initial riff to perk up our jaded ears instantly, recalling famed Exil-Fusionen, then a whole tone scale topped with thirds builds interest but by the time the electric guitarist plays his solo there is very little momentum to carry through 7 minutes to the generic fusion finale:





Don't be too excited by the above, obviously, it's the peak of this performance, and the lower latitudes are really just a pedestrian, car-friendly zone of big city boxes, walmarts,drug and liquor stores, strip malls, and other such platitudes of modern life...  I don't believe it's worth the going price, however high that might be owing to its rarity, which my poor friend was caught red-handed dishing out to his and our communal disappointments.  I nonetheless thank him and the gods of prog for my luck in hearing this LP, curious as I was when I first saw the cover some years back.  As I am merely a worshipper (and sacrificial lamb sometimes) in this pantheon, I am not permitted to share with you anything more-- other than the not important news of its mediocrity.

Wednesday 25 March 2015

By permission of an anonymous collector, two rarities from the library world again: Pastoral / Grand Panorama CBL 643 and Beat Drama CBW 628





We interrupt our regular programming for a day here, as these are limited time losslesses for the grab and snatching.

I know these little collector's items are very popular, so here are two more, by permission from the collector, who apparently has huge pockets, in lossless.  I am instructed to again beg if anyone has the time and patience to clean the sounds off these raw rips with eternal thanks in the event of a successful fix.

They are typical library albums, various artists are contributing.  The pastoral series (the first side, by different composers) on the second share is particularly impressive at least as soundtrack music.

You can read about the composers here for Beat Drama, and the Pastoral - Panorama, here.  Trevor Duncan as usual stands out.

Enjoy them.

Monday 23 March 2015

Jan Reimer's 1984 Escape from a Fairy-Tale






One must admit the statuelike cover is artistically beautiful, although I would have preferred at least one of the faces to have been of a female physiognomy, I suppose we can't always expect perfection here...  nor do we, in the case of this music, get it.

This is 'healing guitar music' as my friend always calls it, acoustic guitar meanderings through folk and classical fugues, etc.  As usual in these cases it's a mixed bag, with bluesy elements, sarabandes, Brazilian imports (Manha De Carneval), etc.

Of the self-composed melodies, the most beautiful is surely the title track with its melancholy E minor (I would have wished a different key or at least a capo, but oh well):





Note that this guitarist made a handful of records that are databased here, all starting with this one.

Sunday 22 March 2015

Lenny Mac Dowell (FM Leinert) is back with Bird Watching fusion from 1982






I talked in earlier posts how annoying the commercial Hawaiian music sound can be, and we have a great example here with track A5.





This is very very light fusion, fuzak as my friend calls it.  Mac Dowell's magnum opus was "Balance of Power" and luckily was released on CD so as far as I know is readily awailable, and I posted an earlier LP called "Airplay" here.  We are far from the seventies in spirit here, the song called "Birdwatching" has none of the delicatesse and beauty one would have expected after listening for example to "Jocs D'Ocells" but in fact is about a creepy guy looking at females with a hint of voyeurism.  Sigh.




Anybody need the lossless?  (lol)
How odd that Balance of Power came two years after this one.  The search goes on, as we say here...


Saturday 21 March 2015

Nels Cline's Angelica from 1988



I thought this one would nicely compliment the other album from Cline called 'Elegies' that I posted on this blog long ago, it was a very popular submission.  And indeed it's quite similar in composition and atmosphere.

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Hungarian Fusion from 1983: Kaszakő and their Garden of Eden, Édenkert




Some typical Eastern European fusion here...  many thanks to the original ripper!
Here is their Garden of Eden:


Monday 16 March 2015

1975's Perky Quinby And Gavin Gervis aka The Street and The Sea




Is it the Golden Gate Bridge or the Verazzano-Narrows?  Someone might recognize it better than myself.  In any case, quite a gorgeous monochromatic blue photograph for an album that is very beautiful once one hears it a few times.  This poor quality mp3 has been circulating sometime among collectors and no one seems to have access to the actual record which appears to be exceedingly rare.  If anyone actually possesses it, some information might be really appreciated.  For example it's not clear if this rip is even complete, being suspiciously well short of thirty minutes.  There is very little information on the internet, just this rym note.

I find the first track in particular to be breathlessly beautiful in a way that early Joni Mitchell was.  It's not a masterpiece-- there are too many inferior tracks, but it's one of those hauntingly gorgeous records, like the Marcia Meyers, and Melisma's album, I feel very very lucky to have heard in my life....







Obviously this is not my rip, but I sincerely feel immense gratitude to the kind soul who let us hear this rarity...

More info on discogs now:

https://www.discogs.com/Perky-Quinby-And-Gavin-Gervis-The-Street-And-The-Sea/release/10136469?ev=item-vc

Saturday 14 March 2015

Gelmetti,Luciani,Turicoli - Nature Et Montagne (Sonimage ‎– SI 802)




While scanning the Luciani discography I came across this album with appealing titles relating to European sights.  Subject lines include the Dolomites (big disappointment for us, just some mountains, and not very tall either), Cypres (are we allowed to go there still??  don't get into any arguments with the locals!), Muletier Corse (no desire to visit Napoleon's hometown, wasn't he pretty much the French Hitler?), Vendanges (are you kidding-- French wines are the worst in the world!! only old men with no taste buds still drink that stuff, and even their worst vintages are overpriced), Cimes (let's all hang out with some eurotrash ski bunnies? sure, sorry, but I'll be in Colorado myself, where the women know how to shave, or, in the best cases, wax), etc., etc...  I was particularly curious about his treatment of the Chateau de la Loire (A2) (magnificent, recommended to all):





Unfortunately it's a little too baroque for my taste, unlike the superb compositions of the earlier Aspetti della Natura.  Having said this, there are some interesting pieces.  The B3 Glaciers of Gelmetti is one:





Too bad said glaciers will be all gone in a couple of decades thanks to European inaction in the climate change department.  We'll see what happens in Paris this fall with moving forward on cutting greenhouse gases as opposed to government spokesperson gases.

A disappointment not to discover a gem like the aforementioned treasure.  But the hunt continues.

Thursday 12 March 2015

Yasuo Inada and the Bemi Family, 1976 (Kankaku Shikō)








This album goes to the heart of what progressive is all about.  Starting with a beautifully played solo piano piece it moves on to various intricate compositions, with funky moments, electronic scribbles, chamber music, and a slow gorgeous song at the end: "Life, is such a wonderful thing..." it is, and it's partly thanks to beautiful music like this...

For those who don't have a taste for classical music the beginnings of sides one and two will be a slow slog, since Debussy constitutes the first few minutes of the former and Beethoven's Pathetic Sonata as I used to call it the beginning of the latter.  Notice that all the keys are played by Yasuo Inada.  Particularly useful I've found is to listen just prior to going to bed for some natural sedation.

Notice as well that Tom Hayes is right on the money with his assessment that there is nothing quite like this record.  To my mind, what comes closest is the Ajatulapsi of Kotilainen which is more electronic or Cosmic Debris' While You're Asleep.  Having said that, I would take Inada and Bemi's album any day over the other, it just never ceases to interest me in its various changes.  I must have listened literally dozens of times to it already.





Yes, life is a wonderful thing...



Tracklisting:

  • A1 ドビッシー 「水に映る影」より オリジナルNo.I (Debussy ''Mizu ni Utsuru Kage'' Yori Original No. I) 19:47

  • B1 ベートーベン ピアノ奏鳴曲8番ハ短調 / 作品13 「悲愴」「32の変奏曲ハ短調」より オリジナルNo.II (Beethoven Piano Sōmeikyoku 8-Ban Ha Tanchō / Sakuhin 13 ''Hisō'' ''32 no Hensōkyoku Ha Tanchō'' Yori Original No. II) 10:47

  • B2 オリジナルNo.III (Original No. III) 6:12          

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Time for some electronics with Mako's Meeting With the Sea from 1984




It's a gorgeous cover admittedly and really the reason I bought this.  This gentleman's career started with this record but he made other releases.  It's typical electronics of the 'Berlin school' although this is an Austrian release.


Some information about it:

Tracklist:

A1 Flight Across The Wide Sea 3:36
A2 Songs From The Waves 11:15
A3 The Golden Statue On The Bottom Of The Sea 5:31
B1 The Mysterious Cave On The Sea Shore 16:32
B2 Farewell And Recollection 5:19

Saturday 7 March 2015

An upgrade of Melchiori and Luciani's Brilliant Aspetti Della Natura in lossless (Library, late 70s)





To me this is one of the most beautiful of all library records-- at least, side b is.  It was posted previously, in fact the trilogy from these two composers was completed (for me, at least) when I posted on prognotfrog their "Inchiesta sul Mezzogiorno" (which can be reuploaded by request, in mp3).  The other album was on the dusty shelf blog long ago and was called "Atmosfera" and to me was the least successful (can be upped again in mp3). Oddly enough as separate composers I never found their material to be as good as this set.  Although it always struck me as annoying that the Luciani compositions, which are far superior, were in mono whereas the Melchiori electronica are stereo.

The standout track for me is the legend of the lake, which reminded me of the north of Italy and the gorgeous castle Scaliger on Lake Garda and the Roman ruins in the north of the peninsula.  I mentioned this before here with Luciani's Eventi.

Here's the upgraded version of the song:




The beauty of the song lies not only in the use of a cello to play the melody, which as mentioned innumerable times sounds plaintive and sad to us, but in the high-treble chords with plenty of second intervals the piano is playing, without any bass addition to detract from the bell-like percussiveness and quasi-dissonance, and the downward pattern of these chords evokes rain.  Notice also how interesting and well-composed the bridge is, taking it away from the simplistic (I - IV - V) chord progression of the stanzas.  Sheer genius.

Does anyone know where it was used, as doubtless it must have been being such a heavenly composition...   For when I think of music, I have repeated before (over and over in fact) that, as an atheist, music is the closest I will ever get to heaven or to put it differently it's the closest to heaven we mortals will get while we are here on earth.


P.S. Apologies for the warped tracks (A4, A5) which we can safely blame on the Italian jerk who sold me this and overcharged me by 50 euros...  anyways to compensate I threw in the old mp3 rips of those tracks...

Thursday 5 March 2015

CBW 639 Psycho Soul & Dramatic Orchestral Suite, 1971





In this record the outstanding composition is on the second side, by Balemaric, his Dramatic Orchestral Suite which as you can see is string orchestra with harp and xylophone.







For those of you who know Hitchcock's Psycho, the debt is a bit more than I would enjoy.  Yet still one appreciates the excellently atmospheric moods.

Again many thanks to the collector of library records, and other vinyl.

Tuesday 3 March 2015

CBO 613's Mono 10-inch of the Industial Espionage Suite ("Trip to The Mars") by the famous Roland Kovac



I am so very pleased to be offering you this outstanding composition in advanced jazz big band mode, by Roland Kovac from his early days, 1968 to be specific.  A very atmospheric and interesting almost poetic title with the Mars mention perfectly describes the sheer interest of his composition.

Again we have to thank that same record collector of rare library material who shared the Mean and Dirty record and who owns the actual vinyl with its amazingly well-positioned grooves that hit by the diamond needle produce in us such an ecstasy, those of us, like you who read this, who love music more than anything else.  For this little piece is surely a treasure....

Here's the opening:





Note the unfortunate James Bond reference, which I thought a bit gratuitous.  But others may think it's a nice, well-integrated homage, brief as it is.

An ebay seller:

Now this is one of the "big" Library albums.... Issued in 1968 on Harmonic LP CBO LP 613 as "Industrial Espionage Suite" by Roland Kovac this later found fame as the soundtrack to "Trip To the Mars" which is itself a very collectable soundtrack, but it started life on Harmonic and is incredibly rare. It's also fantastic and could easily have been the soundtrack to a classic Bond film. The musicians, as per usual, aren't credited but it's known that Jimmy Deuchar, Derek Humble & Cliff Hardy were involved in the session. These 10" LPs were pressed in minute quantities, often as few as 50, and if a track or two took off then they might get reissued on a 12" LP but it is the 10" issues that are the true originals. The disc is in near mint condition and plays great. It has a plain card sleeve (not unusual for library LPs of this vintage) A rare opportunity to pick up a seriously rare slice of vinyl. Feel free to ask questions. I am happy to ship anywhere on the planet and operate a no-quibble refund policy.

From our beloved popsike: (Note the low price)

Industrial espionage suite : Roland Kovac
Brull CBO 613, UK, 1968

Big one here ! This is the 10 inch issue of "trip to the Mars" from 1968.... Included 11 tracks of the Saba lp (no names tracks but with blue dance !) from the Kovac session with Jimmy Deuchar (Trumpet), Cliff Hardy (trombone), Derek Humble (Alto), Charlie Drewo (tenor), Johnny Fisher (bass), Francis Coppetiers (piano), Jimmy Pratt (drums), Stuff Combe (percussion). 

Sunday 1 March 2015

Another hospital visit



Another year, another visit to the hospital...  this time a tiny piece of glass stuck in my wife's left foot caused persistent pain for weeks until we got her to check it out on Xray and ultrasound (nothing there, not even a small pearl) and to see the plastic surgeon, who excavated a big hole in her foot but came up empty-handed.  Sure enough a day later as she started screaming in pain we observed a large red area develop on the dorsum of the foot that kept getting visibly larger and larger by the minute Saturday night as her mother massaged it utterly in vain, and then we realized, coupled with the increasing fever, she had developed a serious infection.  I had some leftover antibiotics called suprax in the house which I urged her to take in order to avoid an unpleasant and stressful trip to the ER and the next day it improved somewhat but thereafter each day it seemed to get angrier and worse, with the fevers never relenting.  The original plastic surgeon prescribed a similar antibiotic but after two days she was tired of waiting, rightfully so, and went to the local emergency dept.-- now you would expect we would think twice about such an act knowing as we do what health care is like here. And we did, we thought a hundred times about it.  But there really was no choice.

As usual in the ER there was a lineup for triage, about an hour's wait.  Luckily this time the government had installed an internet website to track these times similar to what you see in border crossings so you could look up the community hospital and see, for ex, there's a two-hour wait for triage for here, there's a two-hour wait to enter the sliding doors from outside at the central hospital, etc., a ten-hour wait at the inner city hospital to see the MD, a twenty-hour wait at the rural hospital to get a drink of water at the fountain, etc., etc.  Eventually she did see the ER doc, who was utterly puzzled by her case, repeating incessantly how surprised he was by her non-response, by her allergy to next-best drug clindamycin, which were the correct ones according to the book; every hour, as he ordered tests including bloodwork and a swab of the open wound in her foot, he repeated how puzzled he was.  So much so that he called the infectious diseases consultant for advice and a visit.  Of course they never did show up that night, presumably having something more important to do, somehow that wasn't a surprise.  Then, some 6 hours later, he told her how puzzled he was by what abc to administer, took off his white coat, put on his thick fur-hooded winter coat, almost picked up her black purse by mistake thinking it was his big house-call bag and walked out the front door.  "Uh, is he going for a smoke?"  asked my wife to the triage nurse.  "Oh no, his shift is over.  He's gone.  Outta here!!!"  she said, laughing at the sheer hilarity of the situation as she wandered off to tell others, no doubt, about the wonderfully funny story.

And of course, predictably, another emergency doctor then came onboard and repeated all the tests the previous one had done. "You know, I've already had a swab done"  said my wife.  "Really?" said the new guy, as he swabbed her foot.  'Uh, yes."  "You did?"  he said.  "Yup.  I would know!" She said.  But of course, it was too late.  They started her on intravenous toradol (a strong antiinflammatory (NSAID) similar to naproxen) which had proven effective for her pain relief as an outpatient.  And the new doctor, inevitably, told her he was puzzled by her lack of response.  But he had the heart to admit her to the hospital rather than have her sit on a stretcher in the middle of the ER in a blue gown, open at the back, where anyone could, if they wanted, see her underwear if she adjusted her position or moved at all.  So instead she was transferred to the middle of the hall of the west wing of the fourth floor, a very busy hall in fact where there was constant traffic.  (Of course we knew that already: that hospital is just another word for humiliation.)

The next morning the attending doctor came by to say hello.  And that's almost all he said, other than "You're not going anywhere now"  when she mentioned she had two very young children who needed her at home and a job she could barely afford to miss for financial reasons.  "Oh no, you're staying here.  NO WAY you're leaving here.  I just wish you were on the right floor.  You're not on my floor.  You're on the WRONG floor!"  he said, almost yelling, apparently not realizing he was standing in the middle of a busy hallway just outside the nurse's station.  Then he interrogated her about the original suprax prescription.  "Where did that come from? How did you get it?  It's not available anywhere!" he said looking at her suspiciously. "I've already explained this twice in the ER, I took it, I had it at home, I wanted to avoid a hospital visit on a Saturday night.  Is that hard to understand?"  "Yes it is" he said, "you don't like hospitals?  Why??" and without letting her answer, he left.

She was also puzzled that morning she hadn't received her daily thyroid medication as she had again twice already mentioned she took a daily dose, for years.  Luckily just then a bright young pharmacist came up to say hello, cheery and pleasant.  "Hi, I'm your pharmacist liaison.   My job is to provide YOU with something called, continuity of care!  It means all the health professionals on the big team here involved in your care as a client of our hospital are on the same boat!" She spoke as if lecturing a first-grader and inanely made a large boat with her index fingers.  "Oh that's good," said my wife, "then can I get my daily thyroid pill, and the pain medication, toradol, I'm in a lot of pain again."  "What!!!?!?  I don't have any record of those!"  she said, frantically searching the paperwork... how quickly a smile can be wiped off a face sometimes...
"Yeah.  I need those.  I haven't had any yet.  I'm in pain.  And tired, I haven't slept.  I mean, I have to sleep in a noisy hallway, right?  Look at me here!"
She stared at the chart.  "We don't have any toradol, what are you talking about?" said the pharmacist.
"I've just received toradol for the last twelve hours.  IV, two or three doses already."
"No you haven't, we don't have toradol."
"I just got two doses!"  said my wife.
"Uh-- I'll go check on that,"  and she walked out.
"It doesn't make sense-- I'm trying to fight off this nasty infection, and these people keep stressing me!'  she exclaimed.  It was all cleared up some hours later-- it turns out the doctor had made a mistake in prescribing my wife toradol, the hospital didn't really have it, they gave it to her wrongly, by iv, or perhaps ordered it incorrectly, as both IV and PO, which was absurd, of course-- something like that.  So the pharmacist clarified that issue right up nicely but returned with more for the interrogation.
"So what about that suprax, how did you get it?  It has been back-ordered for years... no one has any anywhere.  Where did you get it from????"  she asked.
"I've answered this question so many times already...  I had some at home."
"You had some at home...  hmmm... really..."  she said, looking furtively, as if about to call the police.  "Are you sure?"
"Yup.  I'm pretty sure that's what happened."
"Now, as regards the pain meds, we don't have toradol, AS I SAID TO YOU BEFORE."  She paused and looked straight at my wife.
"You have a choice between morphine and naproxen.  OK?"
"Isn't morphine much too strong for me?"
"I don't know how much pain you're in.  So you want the naproxen?"
"I don't think I can take morphine.  I don't want to be nauseated and knocked out."
"OK naproxen then??"  she was becoming visibly impatient.
"Is that really all you have?"  My wife implored.
"YES!  You have a choice! morphine or naproxen!  WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR DINNER?  I mean, what do you want, for your pain med?"
"Is that all this pharmacy carries?"
"Yes!"
"Why does my local drugstore have more options?"
"Hahahaha!!!!  This is a HOSPITAL!!"
"OK, then there's no choice then, it has to be naproxen."
"Wow.  OK.  Finally. Thanks!!!  Phew! wow!"
'"Isn't naproxen the same as aleve, which I can buy off the shelf anywhere, even the grocery store?" But she had walked off before hearing out the last question-- luckily.

Sometime later that day her attending came back for all of ten seconds, and, without looking at her open wound, asked if she was better.  Then without waiting for a response he said,  "I really wish you were on my floor.  I have to walk all the way here to 4W for you!  Just for you!  I don't have any other patients here, just you!  Well, you're not going anywhere, anyways. No way.  You are stuck here!  Uh anyways your bone scan is tomorrow"  and he started to rush out the door.
"Can I ask you something?"  my wife asked, hoping to engage him in some kind of human contact, to see if maybe, somehow, he considered this attractive young mother clothed, absurdly, in underwear and an open blue gown to be a human being rather than an object to be fixed.  He turned without speaking-- but then, as so often happens to us in these circumstances, she had an absurd sort of brainfreeze: "Um--.... what time is the bone scan?"
He laughed at her as if she was an idiot: "That's what you want to know??  Whenever!  I don't know!"  He shrugged his arms up and he walked out.

The nurse was very sympathetic.  "Too bad you're not on his floor.  He does complain about you a lot.  I mean that you're on the wrong floor.  Poor Doctor E-- I feel bad for him. You're just on the wrong floor....."
"You mean I'd get better treatment if I was on his floor?"  my wife asked.
"You never know, maybe..."
"Ouch, that hurts!"  my wife said as the nurse injected fragmin into her abdomen.
"Yes poor Dr. E--..."  repeated the nurse to my wife's grimaces of pain.  But then the nurse screamed.  She had dropped the nightly dose of naproxen on the floor.  "Oh no...  Oh no no no..."  shaking her head.  "What!!??" my wife said, worried something serious was amiss.
"I dropped your naproxen on the floor!  Oh no.  I'll try to get you another dose.  But it might take a while.  Would you do me a favor and tell them you knocked it over yourself, carelessly?  As you were eating dinner?"
They both looked at the bedside table full of trays of untouched food.
"Uh-- make that knocked over your water bottle there. Oh god.  Pharmacy is NOT going to be happy about this!" and she ran out.

And indeed it took a while.  So she suffered in pain again for a half day: because of the dropped dose the pharmacy was not able to provide another pill until some twelve hours later.  Apparently this substitution was completely against protocol usually patients are not permitted to make up for a spilled pill in that hospital but are taught, like small children, to suffer without for their error, as it is good for character-building.  Thank god for small mercies: although she again vainly offered her morphine instead, at least the pharmacist didn't come up to interrogate her about the case of the missing dose.  For we surely would have told her it was missing with the toradol she had received the night before just to infuriate her further.

Thus it goes without saying the thyroid medication, which the pharmacy liaison had made sure she was on, never arrived.  It would have been more of a surprise, in fact, if it had arrived without any expenditure of work and complaint.  When this person arrived later and explained the many reasons why toradol didn't exist at that hospital, again, my wife asked about the thyroid pill.  "You're on thyroid pills?"  she said, checking her notes.
"Uh, yeah, you checked that yesterday.  You checked it with me. You even called up my two pharmacies I used and they verified it.  Remember?  You told me I got percocet on Sunday at an area pharmacy from the original plastic surgeon and asked me if I was a narcotics abuser, remember?  then you mentioned the thyroid as well which was on their records for years-- unlike the percocet, which was the first time I got it, Sunday"  my wife said.  "Oh.  Right.  Obviously the porter made a mistake bringing it to another floor.  You know you're on the wrong floor, right?  Maybe that's what happened"  and she quickly walked away, to never reappear again (perhaps swallowed up by an unfortunate discontinuity of care).  So my wife took a break from all this and went to the starbucks in the lobby because she was dying for a coffee.  There, by chance, she noticed the pharmacy was located across, walked in, and bought 20 pills of naproxen-- at the same dose they so carefully rationed to her upstairs-- for a few dollars to bring up with her.  And in that way the pain relief situation was resolved to the satisfaction of everyone concerned.

This talk about wrong floor and such was making us both increasingly agitated, particularly since there was no information forthcoming on when she would leave which was our primary concern (I leave out the parts about the children crying at night and in the morning asking where their mommy was and if she would be OK) so finally I called up her attending doctor one morning after he had ordered an ultrasound on the large open wound on her foot, a procedure she refused to do for good reason, on the grounds that no one could put gel and push a probe on such a painful lesion without ill effects.  But the worst was he had never even warned her that he had ordered it.  Though, to be honest, he had never even looked at the hole in her foot, after 5 days in the hospital on the wrong floor, so it's unlikely he even knew about it.
"Yes who is this?"  he said.  "I'm the husband of M--- who is your patient, and I wanted to tell you she is very upset."  "Look" he said "I'm doing a procedure right now.  I'm very busy.  What do you want?"  "Why does she need an ultrasound?"  "Well uh we need to know if there's fluid there.  There could be a lot of fluid there.  Then it needs to be taken out, you know.  A  LOT of fluid!"
"Have you looked at her wound?"
"You know, I don't know why she's my patient.  She shouldn't be.   She's on the WRONG FLOOR!  Look, I don't like talking when I'm doing procedures. Bye."  And that was it.  End of story.  I guess I was on the wrong floor with that phone call too.

Needless to say my wife is still in there, begging for her thyroid medication from anyone who would listen, terrified of knocking over her pill in that little styrofoam container and being accused of stealing a naproxen, even as I have to buy over the counter aleve to provide her with pain relief (at the same community drugstore where I was able to verify that they were all wrong: it turned out suprax is no longer back-ordered and now, for the last month, is easily available again) as the pharmacists are too busy checking her past history going back many years, to verify she gets her medication delivered to her room today (it's called 'continuity of care') and the attending is too upset about her presence on the wrong floor to see her...