I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Spiral Club, Guelph Ontario (December 18 1997).

 This show has an interesting technical glitch that the owner thankfully fixed. It was a soundboard recording (which is awesome), but evidently there was static in the right channel that rendered it unlistenable.  So he simply removed the right channel and mixed it mono.  The sound is actually excellent—one of the best early shows they’ve done.  But since there is only own channel, you miss a lot of what, I think, is Dave’s guitar.  When guest Tyler McPherson plays his solo, I believe you can’t hear it.  Yet despite that, it still sounds great.

I feel like the band was a having a lot of fun on this Thursday night in Guelph (every night in Guelph is a weekend). They mention that their Nightlines episode was aired on the night of Lady Diana’s death (so they feel some kind of weird connection to her).

There’s a few firsts in this set as well.  It’s the first time they plated “Junction Foil Ball” (from Nightlines).  They seem to have finally settled in with “Harmelodia” not “California” in “Easy to Be with You.”  They toss in a bit of “Tubthumping” at the beginning of “Horses,” and a bit of the Monkees, song “Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow)” at the beginning of “Queer.”

Of course there are some flubs as well.  Martin messes up California Dreamline big time and Dave gets lost in the counting of “Four Little Songs” (and then says he never went to school).

But it’s the banter that is the fun part of this show.  They ask the crowd not to shout out requests for a couple of songs.  There’s a very funny sequence in which they try to play a Coors lite anthem.  And Martin says he’s out of his mind.  Dave says he’s a madman and Martin calls him a manatee.  And then someone offers Dave an Islanders jersey which he says he can’t accept—it is too generous, but he’ll always remember it (and now so will we).

Before the end of the set, they offer the crowd some of the food they have backstage (if you like olives). But then they say that $18 was a bit steep of a ticket price for the show (can you imagine?).  So they’re going to play extra long because the ticket price was so high.  Man, how cool is that?

[READ: Summer 2013] Brief Encounters with Che Guevara

Several years ago (long before Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) I read about Ben Fountain…somewhere.  I was reading an interview with a writer who talked about some new writers that he liked.  Ben Fountain was one of them, and this writer specifically mentioned this collection.  A week or so later I was in a dollar store of all places and saw this book on their piles of books.  I couldn’t believe the serendipity. So I bought it (for a dollar).  And then kind of forgot about it (so much for my theory that if I buy a book I’ll read it).  But I did eventually get around to reading it and now sadly not only do I have no idea who originally introduced me to Fountain, I can’t even find it with online searching (and frankly I could have read it anywhere).  Also, Fountain has since written Billy Lynn which received all kinds of praise (and which I haven’t read), so trying to find specific praise for Fountain from 7 years ago is a lost cause.

And just as I forgot to read it I forgot to write about it until now.  This was his first collection of stories.  There are eight in total.  Even though it has been awhile, most of the stories were so powerful and well constructed that I remember them quite well.

“Near Extinct Bird of the Central Cordillera”
This story surprised me very much both for the way it started and for the way it finished.  John Blair is a graduate assistant at Duke University.  He is in Colombia researching a rare local species of parrotlet.  He has nothing financially or intellectually to offer anyone.  So why had the MURC rebels captured him and accused him of being a spy.  The leader of the rebels says he doesn’t look like as spy—which is exactly the kind of person they would send as a spy (there’s no winning for Blair, here).  But they don’t harm Blair, in fact they seem bemused by him–asking him questions about their plans and teasing him about birds.  But soon Alberto, the comandante, grows to like Blair, and they spend a lot of time talking.  In fact, when the revolutionaries admit that ecology is important to their mission, they agree to let Blair do his research (while still being a captive).  Blair records some exciting results with the birds before learning that there is negotiation underway for his release.  But just who have they sent for him?  And why don’t the Americans seem to acknowledge him when he tries to speak to them.  He’ll do anything to leave, until he realizes just what anything might entail.  This was a great story with a very dark twist.

“Rêve Haitien”
Mason moved to Port au Prince and, as a gesture of solidarity, lived in the poor Pacot region.  But he actually grew to like the place, and his Creole improved.  (This of course meant he actually started to understand the things they said about him, which wasn’t always a good thing).  Mason is here for sociological reasons, and he decides that he can observe the local community by playing chess with them nightly. Most of them are terrible but he lets them all win as a way to get closer to them.  Then one night a mulatto man proves to be quite good and states that Mason has been trying to lose on purpose.  The mulatto says that this is cheating them or maybe pitying them.  But Mason says he wants to help.  So the mulatto gives him a real task.  He takes Mason to a location where there are bags and bags of canvases from famous paintings–stolen from the houses of rich Haitians during the coup.  If Mason wants to help the Haitians, he will deliver these painting wherever there are buyers–since he is an American there will be no suspicion.  Will he bring the paintings to Paris?  And when he gets the money, does he have any obligation to go back?  And if he does, what will he go back to?  It turns into quite a surprisingly thoughtful story.

“The Good Ones Are Already Taken”
This was another surprising story.  Melissa, a newlywed, awaits her husband’s return from Haiti.  He has been on a combat mission there for eight months. She explicitly told him that he should expect vigorous and frequent sex as soon as he got back.  He arrives on a Saturday and she leaps on him.  He tells her he is thrilled to be back and he can’t wait to take her in bed, but he simply cannot do it on Saturdays.  The crux of his explanation is that he has been initiated into voodoo society and has more or less married a spirit, named Erzulie.  Melissa is understandably freaked out and pissed. We learn exactly what happened to him in Haiti, but Melissa is not sympathetic–she was first.  She grows more and more angry, trying to break this vow, but Dirk is resolved.  So Melissa calls on her cousin, a psychic, to get to the bottom of things, which unveils something else entirely new.

“Asian Tiger”
This story starts as a tale about a golf pro who is sent to Myanmar for a tournament.  After some promises of great rewards, he agrees to become the Myanmar ambassador for golf–encouraging people to invest in golf courses there.  It’s an easy gig which earns him a lot of money.  But what about the mortar shells that seem to be raining down not too far from where they are?

“Bouki and the Cocaine”
This is a simple story of a fisherman finding a stash of cocaine off the coast of Haiti.  But what happens when its intended recipient is the chief of police?  What is Syto Charles to do and how can he possibly get rid of this product now?

“The Lion’s Mouth”
In Sierra Leone, we meet Jill, an American Peace Corps worker.  She is friendly with Starkey, who happens to be a diamond smuggler.  Although she is naturally appalled at the diamond smuggling she starts to wonder if maybe helping the smugglers might be better for their health and safety.  But then Jill gets mixed in very deep with the people–and yet still has her American duties to consider.

“Brief Encounters with Che Guevara”
This is a story in five parts–five, sort of, encounters with Che Guevara.  In the first, a young boy living in Virgina, is attracted to the lovely teacher’s wife Mona Broun.  His sisters know all of the rumors about her, but he can’t help his crush.  Even when he learns that she had an affair with Che Guevara.  In the second, the boy is now 20, working as a delivery man.  There’s a rumor that his coworker was the guy who killed Che Guevara.  In section three, while in his thirties he takes a trip to Haiti and meets a man who claims to have been Che’s comrade in arms–and that he’s going to be president of Haiti one day.  In the fourth, he meets a woman who listens to Che’s speeches as comfort–even though she doesn’t understand the language.  In the final story, Che’s grave is finally discovered, which causes new troubles for everyone.

“Fantasy for Eleven Fingers”
This story is so unlike the others it seems out of place here.  This is about the pianist Antone Visser, who was born with eleven fingers.  Although initially embraced by proper society, because of a cultural misstep, he was ultimately sent out on his own into the public.  But the public didn’t know what to do with this eleven fingered pianist whose music “captured the sound of Limbo.”  He was loved but also feared.  His Fantasie por Onze Doigits was a sensation.  Then he was killed in a bar fight in Cologne.  It was believed that his piece died with him–not even Liszt would attempt it.  And yet, what are people to make when generations later a young girl is born who may be able to play the Fantasy?  And what will the notoriety do to her?

I really enjoyed this collection quite a lot.  Fountain tackles some deep, thoughtful subjects in a fast paced and interesting way. I also enjoyed that the settings were atypical but not so weird that they were alienating.  It was really a great read.  And makes me think I really should look at Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.