I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: iMOGEN HEAP-Speak for Yourself (2005).

I really liked Heap’s first album i Megaphone, but I didn’t really think to much about her after that.  Sometime last year I heard a track she was in with Frou Frou, which I liked.  So I thought I’d get this album which was highly regarded.

The problem with it is that I have listened to it a bunch of times, often several times in a row and it really just never sticks with me.  I keep relistening to see if it ever does but it’s just a kind of nebulous dancey pop.  Heap has an interesting voice–she can hit major highs, but she can also do a raspy voice that is unusual and intriguing.  But I suppose the problem is that there’s so much going on that she is effectively lost in the sound.

The standout track is “Hide and Seek” but that’s because her voice is manipulated by a vocoder, making her sound like a machine. It’s a very cool effect, especially when she hits a very high note, but it can’t really be a good sign that the most memorable track on the album is the one where you sound like a machine.

This is not to say that the album is bad–there are a number of interesting moments on it, unfortunately there aren’t a lot of great songs.  When I was looking this disc up to see other comments about it, I see that it was very highly regarded in the dance genre.  And maybe given those parameters I should revise somewhat as well.  As dance music this is more interesting than your average four on the floor stuff.  I can see how it led to the duet of Frou Frou.  And yet, compared to i Megaphone, I fear that it’s a lot less exciting.

[READ: January 12, 2013] The Dangerous Animals Club

I don’t often read autobiographies or memoirs.  I really never even look for them.  But I was waiting online at the library and this book jumped out at me.  I don’t really know why.  The title is kind of interesting and catchy.  And the author’s named seemed, if not familiar, then at least compelling in a very-long-and-Polish-or-Russian way.  So I started flipping through it.  And it sounded interesting.

But who the hell is Stephen Tobolowsky?  Well, if you have seen just about any movie or TV show, you have seen him.  He has been in a ton of things.  He was in Groundhog Day, he was in Heroes, he is in Glee, he was in The Mindy Project briefly.  Community? yup.  The New Adventures of Old Christine?  you bet.  Deadwood for a lot of the show.  That 70’s Show for one episode.  He was in the unaired pilot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  He was even in a 1976 movie called Keep My Grave Open!

So who is he?  

He’s this guy.

Yup, everyone has seen him.  He’s always “that guy.”  He’s what’s called a character actor.  I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant and I found that in the 1883 edition of The Stage, it called a character actor “one who portrays individualities and eccentricities, as opposed to the legitimate actor who […] endeavours to create the rôle as limned by the author.”  That’s kind of an insult, and yet without them where would be?  But in addition to one offs as principals and guidance counselors,  villains and neighbors, Tobolowsky has had big roles–Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, Hugo Jarry, a regular, in Deadwood, and Bob Bishop in Heroes.

So, another actor trying to cash in on his celebrity.  Except not really.  Tobowlosky has had an interesting life and has had an interesting experience as an actor, and his story is enjoyable   He used to tell stories of his life and he was encouraged to write them down and here we go. Although I have to admit that the title, which is one of the stories in the book, is a little misleading.  There’s only one story about animals, the rest are about acting.

The title refers to a club he and his friends started when they were kids in Texas.  They wanted to collect all kinds of dangerous animals.  They get a scorpion (which they store in alcohol), and thy try to capture a snake (the image of you young Stephen trying to keep the snake from biting him was hilarious and will stay with me a long time–as will the image of what happened when they dumped out the scorpion).  The story is very funny, a little twisted and with great payoff.  I figured that this book would be a really funny autobiography.

And it kind of is.  But what’s smart about Tobo (as he is called) is that he lures you in with humor and then keeps you there with heart (man, that sounds like a blurb).  Because the book is not all funny.  There’s a funny moment in each story, but many of them are tinged with confusion, regret and, sometimes sadness.

The book also has a narrative arc, but it’s an odd one.  We learn pretty early on that Tobo married his wife Ann and they have two children.  But the bulk of the stories are about his first serious girlfriend Beth (who turns out to be Beth Henley, actress and author of Crimes of the Heart, among other plays and movies).  [I want to observe that Beth is in just about every story here and yet she is neither thanked not acknowledged in the back of the book–I hope she gave permission to write all this as she is not always drawn in the most flattering light.  He’s never really mean about her but it’s a warts and all picture (as it is for him too) and I hope she doesn’t mind us seeing her youthful behaviors.  She does ultimately come out in a pretty nice light, but there’s some indiscretions, too].

What I learned from the book is that Tobolowsky is a  talented actor who was bent on becoming an actor no matter what (there’s a very funny story about one of his acting teachers who took a major dislike to him and how he outsmarted her).  He has quite a range and a lot of musical background.  He has befriended many actors and directors over the years and he really has nothing bad to say about anyone (except that one teacher).  And the message you take from the book is that here’s a decent guy, a very nice person, who actually made it n Hollywood.

Along the way there are some very funny stories about drugs and orgies (the hot tub story is very funny).  He mentions funny things about a few of the things he’s been in–nothing really juicy, although he does basically let on that nobody on Heroes knew what they were doing plotwise and that Deadwood was crazily s spontaneous and a lot of fun (and now I want to watch it).

There’s a lot of interesting stuff about acting school and the steps one should take when trying to make it.  And of course, there’s his life with Beth.  They were together for a long time, and their life was interesting (the fleas story is very funny, as is their neighbor who never cleaned up after dinner).  But by the end of the book, we can see that the path he’s on with Beth will soon be coming to an end.  And he is clearly saddened by that, as he should be.  What is funny is that he never really talks about how he met his wife.

Before reading this book I probably never get a second thought about this actor–I liked seeing him as a face I recognized, but I never knew his name.  I am never going to be an actor so this book doesn’t “help” me in any way–in fact, even if you were going to be an actor I don’t think this would help as most of his information is just way out of date now.

But what is very enjoyable about this book is that Tobolowsky is a good story teller.  He knows how to draw you in.  He has an excellent ear for detail and yes, he has done some interesting things (and has been naked a lot).  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.  And next time he pops up on screen, I’ll be able to shout “There’s Tobo!”