Testpattern -- Ocean Liner

 

The above is a photo of the exposed Central Park section on the cruise ship Harmony of the Seas. It's a nice area to stroll and one of the restaurants there introduced me to my first Beef on Weck. Ironically, the sandwich is most famous in Buffalo, New York which is across Lake Ontario from where we are here but I actually found out about it on a huge ocean liner in the middle of the Caribbean.

Cruise ships have been called small cities on the ocean or floating buffet restaurants. I see them as both and after engorging myself on a lot of their fare (I think Royal Caribbean still has a WANTED poster out for me), maybe this song is the one I want to hear as I beach myself on the deck chair. This is "Ocean Liner" by the technopop duo Testpattern.

Not that it has been intentional by me, but I've been apparently placing two posts by these guys in 2022, 2023 and now 2026. I'm basically spreading out their 1982 album "Après-Midi" and I guess "Souvenir Glacé" (that I posted about in January) and this one for "Ocean Liner" are going to be my Testpattern contributions for this year. As for "Ocean Liner", it does feel like a thrumming synthesizer version of a really comfortable and snoozy nap on that deck chair with a slow rhythmic deep ocean beat anchoring the mesmerizing feeling of going off to La-La Land before dinner time. Duo Fumio Ichimura（市村文夫）and Masao Hiruma（比留間雅夫）took care of the hypnotic melody.

Yes, indeed I did get that post-Beef on Weck high...after which I helped myself to some soft-serve ice cream. Relaxation on the deck chair was mandatory.