I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: POKEY LAFARGE-Live on Mountain Stage (2012).

I really only know Pokey LaFarge from NPR (they’ve embraced them, but I haven’t heard them anywhere else).  Pokey and his band plays a mix of early string-band music, ragtime, country blues and Western swing, in a completely un-ironic way (they dress the part as well).  Like Squirrel Nut Zippers, but even more so.

Interestingly, I know the first song “La La Blues” from a previous performance (on a Tiny Desk Concert) and I actually liked that version better than this one.  This entire performance feels a little too loose.  Which is weird because the music is designed to be loose, but in the previous performances there was a little more structure which made the songs jump out a little more (or maybe the recording just isn’t loud enough).

There’s 5 songs in total: 4 originals include “Central Time,” “Drinkin’ Whiskey Tonight,” and “Won’tcha Please Don’t Do It.”  And a Jimmie Rogers song called “Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia.”  This final song feels more authentically of the time than LaFarge’s originals but only barely, just barely (perhaps its the “gal pickin’ time” line).  And yet “Won’tch Please Don’t Do It” sounds just right too.

The best joke in the set is when Pokey says they have 78 RPM records for sale (they really do).  But that they don’t have any that night because they are sold out!

LaFarge is an engaging live performer (even if the crowd seems subdued here).  And while I don’t see myself buying any of his records, I would like to see him live–it seems like a fun show.  Check it out here.

[READ: July 15, 2013] “Somewhere, a Long Happy Life Probably Awaits You”

The prefatory paragraph that precedes up this story seems so light-hearted: “Manfred met Elizabeth when she interviewed for a position at his fortune cookie company.  She was a greeting card writer looking to branch out.”  That is an actual quote from the story, but in the story, it is a flashback after the main action of the story has begun.

When the story begins, Elizabeth is trying to protect a tree in her front yard.  It has gotten Dutch Elm disease and is to be cut down this summer.  She would like to know when, but she is only told between may and September.  While she is not going to go crazy protecting this tree, she would like some actual notification, so she can be there to say goodbye.

Going crazy, it turns out is an important thing to note, though.  Because Elizabeth from time to time goes on “safaris.”  These safaris can last an indeterminate amount of time, and in some cases may even require Manfred to track her down.  Like when she was protesting the war in front of a building (where no one else was) or, as in one case, when she was frolicking in a sprinkler in her underwear.

We quickly learn that Elizabeth is not okay.  And that, indeed, she does not have long to live.  It is never explained how or if the two are connected.  Indeed, Elizabeth has had a tendency to wander since they met (at the fortune cookie factory).

Elizabeth has been the writer of the fortunes for some time, but in the last few months the fortunes have gotten very dark (“A dark shadow moves with you,” “The time for romance has passed,” and the title of the story, as well) and there have been complaints.  Indeed, Elizabeth spends much of her time at the factory in a cave she has created under her desk.

So when Elizabeth starts hugging their tree, and calls out an arborist who agrees to protect the tree even though it is not long for the world anyway, Manfred takes it in grumbling stride (and imagines that his next wife will be normal).  It’s only when their housekeeper calls him dip shit and reminds him that she is dying (emphasis dying), that he agrees to try and help her in the only way he can think.  Doctors, by the way wouldn’t prescribe any drugs, so she has gone out and gotten her own).

Elizabeth casually mentioned that she wanted a tree house.  So, Manfred builds her one.  And they spend the tree’s last few days living there—beetles and all.

The end offers a glimpse of hope but we know nothing miraculous will be happening to Elizabeth or to Manfred.

The story was sad, but interesting and different.  I enjoyed it despite the lack of happiness.