I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-“Alex Chilton” (live on the Tonight Show) (2014).

I was pretty surprised to hear that the Replacements were going to be on the Tonight Show (and even more surprised to hear that they were going to play “Alex Chilton.”  I didn’t realize they were touring (or reunited or whatever they are), and I knew that at least one of the former members had died.  So, really this version of The Replacements is just Paul Westerberg singing and Tommy Stinson on bass.  The other two guys Dave Minehan on guitars and Josh Freese on drums are new as of 2012 (but have a history of working with Westerberg).

It was great to hear this song.  I never saw them in their heyday, when I understand the odds of them being drunk were 100% and the odds of a great show or a disastrous show were 50/50.

I’ve no idea how sober the guys were, but this version of the song was super sloppy (in a good way) and made it seem like they were channeling the ‘Mats of old.  Guitarist Minehan has played on Westerberg’s solo albums, so there is a connection, and he seemed to get that “can’t be bothered to hit every note” vibe.  Even Westerberg was skimpy with all of the words (was he having fun or annoyed at being there?  who knows).  But they weren’t sloppy bad, especially when the song ended and they added on a coda–they were all super tight and right on tempo.

It was good to hear, but I have to admit I like the album version better.

[READ: June 26, 2014] “The Late Novels of Gene Hackman”

Rivka Galchen had two short stories in the New Yorker in 2013, one in January and now one in December.

The story is about J, a young woman who makes presentations to older people, in this case in Key West, Florida.  She had accepted the invitation to the writers conference because it was going to be in February in Florida, and that seemed like a good time to be warm.  J was allowed to bring a guest, and she decided to invite her stepmother, Q, rather than her husband.  She felt a little sorry for Q, whose latest business venture had failed and whose hair was turning gray.  J is under the impression that Q is having financial troubles, she keeps talking about things that make it seem like she does, but J can never get a straight answer out of her.

They were picked up by M (this initial thing was a little confusing but ultimately more comical, I decided) who had organized the convention.  M had married a much younger woman, but she had recently died.  “Of something.”  M also had an eye patch, and J told Q not to stare at it, “‘I would never stare at an eye patch,’ Q said.” 

When they get in the car, it is J who makes the awkward conversation (nothing to do with the eye patch):

‘You must feel like a bride,’ J said.
‘A What?’ M said.
‘Like a bride,’ J repeated.
‘Bride? hmm. Well. No, I don’t feel like a bride.  What do you mean?’
J felt obliged to stand by the tenuous comparison.  ‘You know all this planning, now it’s happening.’
‘I see well, no.’ M repeated ‘I don;t feel like a bride.  I don’t really do much of the organizing.
A few minutes later Q asked. “Why is he supposed to fee like a bride?”

The rest of the trip goes like this, with weird little sparring between them.   Q says ‘I think I won’t come to dinner.’  J asks, ‘Why not?’  Q answers ‘Maybe you don’t want me there.”

When they do arrive at dinner, Q turns out to be the center of attention. Someone asks her if she is a writer and she says no she only writes emails.  J keeps trying to change the subject but is unsuccessful.

Later, when they attend the party, J realizes that the host was the author of a book she had often pretended to have read.  Eventually the discussion turns sour with the host accusing J of being “disgusted by us.”  Because the host knows about young people.  Q comes in and takes over the conversation, calming the host with comments about J and children in general.

The Gene Hackman part of the story seems incidental but it strangely important. The story ends oddly, with a discussion of Hackman, it makes the ending feel a little unsettled, which is a shame since the rest of the story was so sharp and funny.