I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: DARK MEAT-Tiny Desk Concert #25 (August 31, 2009).

For those keeping track, I wrote about Tiny Desk Concert #24 (The Swell Season) quite some time ago.

Dark Meat is a ramshackle band which I had not heard of before this Tiny Desk Concert.  The blurb says that they have had as many as 20 people in their band and often play loud rambunctious music.    In this Tiny Desk Concert, there are only 8 of them (they have reduced for this tour), but they’re still a huge band for a Tiny Desk.

This concert is an acoustic jam –mandolin, guitars, trombone and piccolo—and is apparently quite different from their usual show.  As such, I can’t really imagine what they typically sound like, because they sound like a pretty solid folk band.

Initially I wasn’t all that impressed, but after a couple listens I found myself getting into their sloppy fun folk rock.  I enjoyed their first song, “The Faint Smell of Moss” a little more than the others because of the great backing vocals, and the possibly slightly off sounding trombone.  The second song, “Dead Man” is long, but it has a fun middle second in which the singer invites the office to sing along (and howl like dogs).  “When the Shelter Came’ is a rambling track which I think actually suffers from the trombone at the end.

I don’t know anything else about the band, but I imagine them playing folk festivals.  I’ll be they’re fun to see live, although I can admit that i didn’t find their songs all that memorable.

 [READ: January 22, 2014] “Benji”

“Benji” is the story of wealth and idleness.  As the story opens, we learn that Benji, now 40 years old, is the last remaining male in the family.  His mother, Mrs Anyaogu  is telling her guest that Benji must choose someone to marry because anyone who remains unmarried, even a man, is suspect at that age.

Then we meet the guest who Benji’s mother is speaking to—a woman named Alare.  Alare also got married pretty late—in her thirties–to a man who was about 40.  Her husband was not wealthy—he was a gardener.  And this was something of a sore subject in their marriage,  Of course, he must have also felt the embarrassment of his employment, but that was his lot in life.

Alare and Mrs Anyaogu became friends when Alare’s congregation had disintegrated because of a scandal with the pastor and she joined Mrs Anyaogu’s Deep Life church.

Alare was aware of the wealth that the Anyaogus possessed, but she hadn’t witnessed it until today.  While the house was beautiful, she felt that the furnishing were tacky—not entirely, but enough.  Nevertheless, the lunch was nice and the food was delicious.  The groundskeeper, Godwin, kept the garden beautiful and Benji complimented the man on his loyalty and hard work.

After the meal, Benji entertained Alare while Mrs Anyaogu busied herself for a bit. Alare was surprised to see how tiny Benji was—almost a dwarf.  Benji began talking about his lifestyle—one of incredible wealth (including trips to Dubai to ‘relax’–although since he did nothing Alare didn’t know what he had to relax for).  He asked if she had ever been, even though it was quite obvious that she had never left the country.

When Benji went to Dubai the next time he sent her a postcard.

Soon, Mrs Anyagogu died.  Alare went to his house to help Benji as best she could.  Eventually, that included in bed as well.  She explained to Benji that she did not normally cheat on her husband, but she didn’t think God would mind.  Her husband didn’t question her actions anyhow.

But then her husband started receiving terrible pains in his head and he was rushed to the hospital.  Alare told Benji that she could not afford the medical bills.  Benji, flush with cash, happily paid the bills for her.  Her husband improved but not very much and Benji made a point of helping her out financially. Soon, Godwin was making regularly scheduled visits with cash for her.

Of course, Benji wondered about Alare caring for her husband while having an affair with him, but he was relatively naïve so he didn’t give it too much thought.

A few other things transpire in the story, but the need escalates when she reveals that her husband has to go to London to see a specialist.  He pays for that trip as well.  And when she returns, she seems very happy (and gives him a mode of Big Ben).  But shortly after, she says that her husband is even worse and needs to go to Zurich. Benji agrees to pay, of course.

But this week Godwin is on vacation, so Benji will bring the money himself.  He has never been to Alare’s house, so he decides to take the money there himself.  And that’s where the drama occurs.

The story had a slow pace, but I enjoyed it.  While I assumed she was taking advantage of him, because of a misreading in the early section of the story, I didn’t put two and two together the way I probably should have.  What’s especially strange is the way Benji deals with the crisis.