I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: THE DIVINE COMEDY-BANG goes the Knighthood (2010).

I’ve really enjoyed The Divine Comedy since their earliest Michael Nymanesque music.  I loved the orchestral pop that Neil Hannon seemed to effortlessly create.  His last few records have been less exciting to me.  He has toned down the orchestration and made his songs more subtle.  They’re still beautiful but they’re not always as immediately arresting.  I thought that was true of this album as well, although I found that when I sat down and really listen to the music and words together (what a novel idea) the music played so well with the lyrics that the album overall is easily one of his best.  Although I still prefer the pomp and full orchestration of the earlier music, this newer stuff is very interesting. An artist has got to grow, right?

The new sound is more Tin Pan Alley.  It’s piano with guitars and occasional horns–very limited strings are present at all.  And, as any fan knows, Neil writes wonderful songs about love, and the songs on here are some more great love songs.  The non-love songs span the gamut of ideas–from emotionally wrenching to downright silly.  Neil is definitely a “get to know him” kind of songwriter.  And it’s rewarding when you do.

“Down in the Street Below” is a piano based song that morphs into a jaunty little number after some quiet verses.  It features yet another of his great melodies.  “The Complete Banker” is a jaunty piano song that mercilessly mocks the banking industry.  Not terribly original but certainly fun and lyrically it’s quite clever.  “Neapolitan Girl” is a faster song (reminds me of a Broadway musical or movie instrumental) which is (as they all are) very fun to sing along to).  “Bang Goes the Knighthood” is a musical hall song that is really quite funny despite the somber sound of the music (it’s about a knighted man who indulges in certain proclivities that might cost him what he has).

“The Indie Disco” is the exact opposite, it’s bouncy and shuffly and yet understated as only an indie disco can be (this may be the softest, least excited “yea!” in any song ever.  Name checking Morrissey may not be original but it would be a less real picture without him.  The songs he mentions are kind of dated, but are probably pretty accurate to what gets played in an indie disco these days.  “Have You Ever Been in Love” could be used in any rom-com film montage.  Although maybe it’s too obvious?  Sweetly filled with strings (yes strings).

“Assume the Perpendicular” is a slightly faster song, as befits lyrics, “I can’t abide a horizontal life while “The Lost Art of Conversation” is another bouncy tune with a whistle for an ending!

“Island Life” is one of the first duets I can think of from the Divine Comedy–it sounds like something out of the movie Brazil.  “When a Man Cries” is an emotionally wrenching song.  It seems somewhat out of place for Hannon’s usual topic, but it’s quite beautiful.  The silly fun of “Can You Stand Up on One Leg” is the perfect antidote.  Each verse provides something that’s harder to do than you think.  The final verse offers, “can you hold a singing note for a stupidly long time…. Let’s see how long you can hoooooooooo….oooold on to a note.” For the record, Neil’s note is 29 seconds long….stupidly long!  Is that really him holding that high note for 29 seconds?

The final song “I Like” is a wonderful poppy ditty, in which the full band rocks out (more or less) to another great melody.  It’s a perfect love song (even modernized to include a kind of rhyme with sexy and texting).

Initially I was a little disappointed by this disc, but it really proved to be fantastic.  More, Neil, more!

[READ: December 28, 2011] Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Is Mindy Kaling a big enough celebrity to write a book (memoir or otherwise?).  To use her own in-book comparison, she’s nowhere near Tina Fey’s level of fame, right? (although I actually think she is funnier).  I mean, she’s a minor character on a popular show.  True, she’s also a writer and producer, but that’s not going to lead you to fame or anything.  The more I read about her in the book, the more I wondered exactly who would know her aside from fans of The Office.

None of that is to say that Kaling isn’t awesome.  She is.  She’s funny and talented and I am thrilled she wrote a book–sometimes within an ensemble your individual voice will get lost.  But I have to wonder how much name recognition she has.  And the book doesn’t do a lot to dispel this sense for me.  I mean, she tells about everything she’s done, and really all she had done was write Matt & Ben (which sounds awesome and which I remember hearing about back in the day) and work (a lot) for The Office.  Not minor accomplishments by any stretch, but not a fame-inducing resume.  Nevertheless, good for her that someone was interested in letting her write a book.  And good for us who read it.  If you are amused by the use of the subtitle of the book (which I am) you will like enjoy the humor here.

I had read some excerpts from the book so I assumed it was all funny essays and whatnot, but it’s not.  It’s actually a memoir with funny essays mixed in.   Of course, Mindy’s life before Matt & Ben isn’t really very “interesting” (the book is very funny during this time of her life, even if she really didn’t do much more than babysit for rich folks and watch Comedy Central).

In the Introduction, Mindy provides a FAQ about the book.  One of the questions is if she is going to offer advice and she says yes.  And here’s the thing, Mindy’s advice is outstanding.  She offers advice about many topics and I don’t think I disagreed with her about anything (except maybe pea coats).  She’s like the voice of reason in a world gone mad and an excellent role model for anyone.

Her general gist (supported by the memoir) is that she was a dorky wallflower (due in part to being the daughter of a hard-working Indian family) who loved books and comedy.  She didn’t go on dates, she didn’t do crazy things.  At all.  At one point she hung out with her three best friends at the Cheesecake Factory (ordering a piece of cheesecake and some sodas) every Friday night.  And when she made her big break from them it was to hang out with another friend from school who enjoyed watching Comedy Central marathons (in the 90s before it got really good, even!).  And yet, despite this utterly uncool upbringing, Mindy has made it as a successful comedian, actor, writer and (maybe soon director).  She’s even appeared on magazine covers and red carpets.  (I guess she is quite famous, but again, I’m curious about her name recognition).

The best part about her advice is that in addition to being useful, it’s also quite funny as well–she is a very funny individual you see.  Like

Teenage girls, please don’t worry about being super popular in high school, or being the best actress in high school, or the best athlete.  Not only do people not care about any of that the second you graduate, but when you get older, if you reference your successes in high school too much, it actually makes you kind of pitiful.

This leads to a wonderful smackdown of John Mellencamp’s “Jack & Diane” and how depressing it really is–doesn’t anybody actually listen to the lyrics of the song?  The best they have is remembering hanging out a the Tastee Freeze?  Why do people always cheer when it comes on?

She talks a lot about her friends (she lived with two girls who sound like a lot of fun) and then about writing and performing Matt & Ben (with one of these roommates).  And then, after a quiet period, she moves onto The Office.  I admit I would have loved a little more dishing about The Office.  [I know, if I want dishing about The Office I should read a book about The Office.]  But it was nice to hear about Steve Carell and her frenemy Rainn Wilson.  And I was fascinated by the behind the scenes of the writers room (30 Rock has let us peek into dysfunction that is writers rooms (however true that may be) so it’s nice to hear other stories as well).

One of the big surprises for me is how young her taste in comedy is.  I realize that Mindy is young herself, but she’s not that much younger than me and yet her favorite comedy bits are so recent.  Her boss at The Office mocks her for this too.  They include a scene from Anchorman, Talledega Nights and Old School (she loves Will Ferrell apparently), several from SNL (Amy Poehler, which is cool), David Brent in The Office, Wet Hot American Summer, The Sopranos (that’s a nice touch, because there is a bunch of funny stuff in the show) and Bridesmaids.  Of course, earlier in the book she mentions how much she loves Monty Python, so there are roots there.

The book also includes the excerpt that was in The New Yorker not too long ago as well as a number of other observations (about men, married couples, Jewish guys, chest hair, the right level of celebrity and about being normal sized in Hollywood (a huge nightmare, apparently)).

Mindy comes off as a very real person. A nice girl who happened to break into Hollywood.  She may not be a likely role model, but kids could learn a lot by choosing her as one.  And they’d laugh while doing it.

In the intro to the book, Mindy writes “This book will take you two days to read.  Did you even see the cover?  It’s mostly pink.  If you’re reading this book every night for months, something is not right.”  And it’s totally true.  It’s nice that she can be so honest.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot even if I’m not the target demographic.  It’s not laugh-out-loud funny, but it is read-parts-to-your-significant-other funny.  And that’s a pretty good thing.