Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Humiliation’ Category

Dave Bidini–Midnight Light: A Personal Journey to the North (2018)

Posted in Athanaskan, Books about writers, Calle 13, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Corb Lund, Culture Shock, Dan Mangan, Dave Bidini, Délı̨nę, Northwest Territories, Dené, Dog Sleds, Domestic Violence, Drinking, First Nations, Folk on the Rocks Festival, Friendship, Funny (ha ha), Homelessness, Humiliation, iLe, Non-fiction, NPR/PRI/PBS, Politicians, Prison, Puerto Rico, Regrets, Relationships, Religion, Research, Revenge, Rheostatics, Rush, Sahtú, Science, Sexism, Sexual Assault, Sports, Supernatural, Superstitions, Tanya Tagaq, Terra Lightfoot, The Globe and Mail, The Sun, The Telegram, The Yellowknifer, Tiny Desk Concert, Toronto Star, Travel, Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Violence, West End Phoenix, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories on August 6, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: iLe-Tiny Desk Concert #874 (August 3, 2019).

It’s not very often that you hear a song that is all percussion.  But the first song of this set is only percussion and (Spanish) vocals.

iLe is a singer in the Puerto Rican band Calle 13.  Her most recent solo album Almadura:

is filled with metaphors and allegories about the political, social and economic conditions in Puerto Rico.

When vocalist Ileana Cabra Joglar and her band visited the Tiny Desk, they’d just arrived from the front lines of the historic demonstrations taking place in Puerto Rico. Two days earlier, they were part of a crowd of tens of thousands who were on the streets calling for the resignation of embattled Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. (Rosselló recently stepped down, effective August 2.)

Right from the start, it was clear what was on iLe’s mind in her song “Curandera” — “I am a healer / I don’t need candles to illuminate / I bring purifying water to cleanse / Removing pains so they never return” — as congas and percussion shook the room with an Afro-Caribbean beat.

This is the song in which all of the band members play percussion–primarily congas although Ismael Cancel is on the drum kit.  While everyone plays congas, it is Jeren Guzmán who is the most accomplished and who plays the fast conga “solo.”

In the chorus of the slow-burning “Contra Todo,” iLe sings about channeling inner strengths and frustrations to win battles and remake the world. Her lyrics are rich with history, capturing the spirit of the streets of San Juan even as she stood, eyes closed, behind the Tiny Desk. Her entire performance is a startling reflection of this moment in Puerto Rican history.

“Contra Todo” has a rich deep five string bass from Jonathan Gonzalez and two trombones (Joey Oyola and Nicolás Márquez). Two guitars (Bayoán Ríos and Adalberto Rosario) add a kind of percussive strumming and a quiet song-ending riff.  Jeren Guzmán plays the congas with mallets, something I’ve never seen before.

By the time iLe and her band launched into “Sin Masticar,” they’d already captured the full power of protest, as their musical arrangements raged with the intensity of a crowd joined by a shared cause and pulse.

“Sin Masticar” has a super catchy chorus, perhaps the best way to get people involved in a protest.

[READ: August 2019] Midnight Light

Two years ago Dave Bidini co-founded The West End Phoenix, a newspaper that is for people in Toronto’s West End.  It’s print, it’s old school, and it’s pretty awesome.  I don’t think I’ve ever been to the West End, but I find the writing and the content to be interesting and really enjoyable.

It’s no surprise that Bidini has worked in journalism and loved and hated it.

I’ve always loved newspaper: the smell of the ink and the rough of the newsprint weighted in my hands, their broadsheets flapping like Viking sails.  When I was a kid, our family read them all–the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, The Sun, and before that The Telegram–at the kitchen table with each person drawing out whatever they needed: comics, sports, business, entertainment (and yet never Wheels, the Star’s automotive supplement).

He started writing before he picked up a guitar.  When he was 11 he submitted a poem about a hockey player to The Sun‘s “Young Sun” section.  It was accepted and he won a T-shirt.

In 1991, he was asked to write a regular column for a Star satellite weekly called Metropolis.  The day his first piece was to be in print he waited at the nearest newsbox for the delivery man.

But he had no stamina and fewer ideas and he was eventually let go.  Which led to writing books.  But he still wanted to write for the paper and then he remembered: Hey, Yellowknife had a newspaper.

This book is about journalism.  But it’s also about the Canadian North.  And while the journalism stuff is interesting–and the way it ties to the North is interesting too, it’s the outsider’s perspective of this region of the world (that most people don’t even think about) which is just amazing to read about–the people, the landscape, the conditions.  It’s fascinating. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Donald Antrim–“The Pancake Supper” (New Yorker, December 27, 1999 & January 3, 2000)

Posted in Canadian Music, Donald Antrim, Funny (ha ha), Huh?, Humiliation, New Yorker, Pancakes, Rheostatics, Short Story, The Jack Family, Therapy, Work on July 31, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE JACK FAMILY-“You Are My Sunshine” (Moose: The Compilation, 1991).

Back in the 1990s, it was common to buy a compilation or soundtrack or even a band’s album based on one song.  Only to then find that you didn’t really like anything else on it.

Maybe that single sounded like nothing else on the album.  Maybe the movie was almost entirely one genre, but they had that one song that you liked over the credits.  Or maybe the compilation was for something you didn’t know, but a song you really wanted was on it, too.

With streaming music that need not happen anymore.  Except in this case.

I bought this compilation, used, recently exclusively for one song, Rheostatics’ “Woodstuck.”  It’s a goofy song and this is the only place you can get the studio version.  The actual compilation was not well documented, so I didn’t know what the other bands on it might sound like.  It turns out to be a compilation for Ontario based Moose Records which specialized in Rock, Folk, World & Country.  They put out another compilation in 1992 and that’s all I can find out about them.

According to Reno Jack’s biography: The Jack Family was a bunch of musicians who jammed out to whichever song was chosen by whoever was singing. Unrehearsed and free floating each member choosing an alias with the last name Jack just having fun away from the pressures of presenting original music. The band had names like Reno Jack, Bunk “Everyone Drums” Jack, Chief Don Jack, Mercedes Jack, Monterey Jack, Nevada Jack, One-Eyed Jack, Y “Tip” Jack and The Jackets backing singers.

This is the slowest, mopiest take on “You Are My Sunshine” I have ever heard.  Reno Jack is know for “country blues” and this version sounds like the most depressing part of both genres.

[READ: July 30, 2019] “The Pancake Supper”

Thomas suggested that all of the teaching analysts go out for a pancake supper twice a year.  Not at the fancy pancake house, but at the modest open-all night Pancake House & Bar.

Because Breakfast foods, except for cereals, that contain inordinate amounts of sugar, have, in my experience, a comforting, antidepressant quality.

The first to arrive was Manuel Escobar who disagreed with that sentiment: “I suppose that is true is you are an American.”

Escobar flirted with the waitress.  He also wanted to make love to Thomas’ wife.  Thomas was introspective about this:

It has occurred to me from time to time that an affair between this man and my wife could be harmless enough, and might solve a variety of problems in my home life.

Up next was Maria who immediately praised Escobar’s work. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Alice Munro–“The Bear Came Over the Mountain” (December 27, 1999 & January 3, 2000)

Posted in Alice Munro, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Humiliation, Marriage Trouble, Michie Mee, New Yorker, Short Story on July 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MICHIE MEE & TONYA P.-“Made It” (2018).

I read that Michie Mee is the most famous, pioneering rapper in Canada.  And yet, if you look at her discography she has only released two albums in thirty years (!)

Her first one came out in 1991.  Her second in 2000.  But she is still active and seems to release an occasional single and collaboration.  She has also been in a lot of TV and films.

This single is kind of odd because they sing about having made it, but it’s been over twenty-five years since she made it.  It’s a simple, nice, catchy song, quite different than some of her more explicit harsher singles.

The more I learn about Michie Mee, the more fascinated I am by her and wonder what she has been up to.

[READ: April 2019] “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”

I first read this story in the October 21, 2013 issue of the New Yorker (when they republished it).

This is a straightforward but fairly complex story, with a lot of emotional heft.  A married couple, Grant and Fiona, have been together for a long time.  Fiona had always written notes to herself, but Grant sensed recently that the notes were becoming somewhat alarming.  Instead of books to read or appointments to keep, she was writing “cutlery” on the kitchen drawers. Then she started forgetting normal things–like how to drive home or that something which she thought had happened last year had actually happened 12 years ago. Not major problems, but causes for concern.

And so, Fiona was sent, at first temporarily, to Meadowlake.  Grant was told not to show up for the first month–they found that patients settled in better if they were not reminded of their house and old life.  After a month of wondering about her and thinking about her, Grant goes to Meadowlake, excited to see Fiona.  But when he arrives she is not in her room–their touching reunion scene will not be enacted as he pictured.  And the nurse seems rather impatient with him when he asks where she is. (more…)

Read Full Post »

David Rabe–“Uncle Jim Called” (New Yorker, July 8 & 15, 2019)

Posted in American Football, Children's Chorus of Washington, David Rabe, Ghosts, Huh?, Humiliation, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Pink Floyd, Pure Bathing Culture, Short Story, The Weakerthans, Tiny Desk Concert on July 8, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: AMERICAN FOOTBALL-Tiny Desk Concert #865 (July 8, 2019).

It’s common, at least for me, to dislike a band because of their name.  Sometimes I get over it and sometimes I have no reason to get over it.

I thought the name American Football was really dumb, so I never listened to the band (because I don’t like football).  I also didn’t know they’d broken up or that they’d reunited.

But here they are with a Tiny Desk Concert.

Twenty years after a self-titled debut that featured one heartbroken mixtape-worthy song after another, American Football is writing some of the best music of its career right now. Once an emo trio from Central Illinois, American Football brought its expanded band to the Tiny Desk, including a vibraphonist, backing singer and, yes, six children from a D.C. choir.

They play three songs from LP3, as it’s colloquially known, (they have put out 2 self-titled records in the last three years).  For an indie rock band, they get a really long Tiny Desk, as well.  None of this under ten minute stuff for American Football, this set stretches to 18 minutes because each song runs about 6 minutes.

The first third of which is taken up with the first song “Every Wave To Ever Rise.”  It’s a slow, expansive song with singer Matt Kinsella singing gently.  But to me the most exciting thing about the song is Cory Bracken on vibraphone.  He makes some awesome echoing vibes sounds that sound otherworldly.  And at three minutes, he takes out a violin bow and bows ones of the keys.  So cool.

I really enjoy the music of the songs.  The guitar melody that Kinsella plays around two minutes is fantastic, but I find the song a little dull.  There’s a really nice guitar solo at the end while Steve Holmes plays a pretty picked melody.

Maybe I’d just prefer this song as an instrumental.

The blurb says that “these spacious songs act as revelatory meditations on what it means to grow older in love and relationships, with lovers and family.”  I wonder if that means they sound different on record–faster maybe?

“Uncomfortably Numb” references Pink Floyd not only in the title, but also in the way the chorus also includes an “ahhhhh” before the line “I have become uncomfortably numb.”  Although the song sounds nothing like the Pink Floyd song.

Indeed, it opens with drummer Steve Lamos playing a slow trumpet piece–for two minutes.  After a short pause the song starts with harmonics from guitarist Steve Holmes.  Pure Bathing Culture’s Sarah Versprille takes a verse on the song (and sing backing vocals on the other songs).

I enjoy the wordplay in this song for sure.

I blamed my father in my youth
Now as a father, I blame the booze

I used to struggle in my youth
Now I’m used to struggling for two

Versprille’s backing vocals add a lot to the song and it’s interesting to have her sing a verse–it changes the dynamic of the song.  (And those vibes are excellent of course).

It’s the final track, “Heir Apparent” that features the children.

For “Heir Apparent,” we reached out to members of the Children’s Chorus of Washington to sing the coda’s quiet mantra. When the 12-to-14-year olds asked frontman Mike Kinsella what the song meant, in order to capture the right emotion, he told them, in so many words, that it was a sad song, but that he’d like them to wear paper crowns while singing it. Just a touch of Kinsella irony, as he grinned ear-to-ear and they sang, “Heir apparent to the throne / The king of all alone.”

The Chorus inlcudes: Mallory Valmon, Amelia Lashway, Jenna Loescher-Clark, Marika Clark, Taylor Bowen-Longino and William Ekrem.

The song opens with some echoing guitars as Kinsella sings.  There’s some gorgeous vibraphone playing and Mike Garzon plays a melodica.  I really like the high bass line from Nate Kinsella. in the middle of the song.  In fact, once again, the music in the song is really terrific.

With about two minutes left, the kids walk out, dressed in red with crowns on.  The sound beautiful and it’s a very nice ending to the song.

The songs remind me a bit of Weakerthans, which means I should like them more than I do.  Maybe I just need to spend more time with them and I can learn to like them despite their name.

[READ: July 2, 2019] “Uncle Jim Called”

A week ago Thursday, Glenn’s Uncle Jim called him.  He sounded familiar but Glenn didn’t recognize him immediately.  When Uncle Jim said who he was, Glenn was confused because “I thought Uncle Jim was dead.”

This whole story is trippy and weird but amazingly, despite its length, it manages to makes this fairly simple premise work.

Uncle Jim was with his brother Hank (also dead).  They were calling Glenn to ask for Glenn’s mother (their sister) Margie.  Margie was also dead, he thought.

Glenn is uncertain about nearly everything.  He shouts “She’d dead!  You’re all dead!”

Their reply: “So?” (more…)

Read Full Post »

Janet Morassutti–“The Not-Okay Corral” (West End Phoenix: That Summer Feeling, Summer 2019)

Posted in Canadian Content, Comic Strips, Essays, Horses, Humiliation, Janet Morassutti, Lily & Madeleine, Nostalgia, NPR/PRI/PBS, Parenting, Simone Heath, Summer, Summer Camp, Tiny Desk Concert, West End Phoenix on July 3, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SAINT SISTER-Tiny Desk Concert #863 (July 3, 2019).

The first surprise from Saint Sister is the harp.  The second surprise comes when you realize that Saint Sister’s music isn’t going to be traditional harp-centric folk songs.

The third is when Morgan Macintyr speaks after the first song and she has a pretty heavy Irish accent.

It’s a surprise because their voices are angelic and accent-free while they sing their pretty songs.

Saint Sister makes the sort of music I’ve been fascinated with for much of my life, music that mixes the organic with the electronic. In this case, the organic sounds come from that Dusty Strings harp and the harmonies of Gemma Doherty and Morgan Macintyre, with electronics performed on keyboards by Morgan and Dek Hynes, and the mostly digital drums of Shane Gough.

So, yes, even if the harp is the centerpiece (“[when] Gemma Doherty pulled her 34-string lever harp from the band’s vehicle; it seemed bigger than all of us”) the rest of the band fleshes out the harp with waves of synths and percussion.

Causing Trouble” opens with single harp notes and echoing drums.  Then Gemma and Morgan start singing and their voices blend beautifully.

You can tell the Irish connection in the lyrics of this song:

We danced from Belfast to the Basin
When you sang, “And it stoned me”
Well it stoned me

“Shape of Silence” is a short instrumental made up of unearthly sounds and voices as Gemma plays a lovely harp melody.  It’s about a minute long and segues into “Is It Too Early? (Kilmainham).”  They sing in a kind of staccato style (and remind me a bit of Lily & Madeleine here).  There’s no much harp in the verses–it’s almost a dance song, but when the synths fade off, the harp returns and sounds even lovelier somehow.

For “The Mater” Dek and Shane leave so it is only Gemma and Morgan.  This song is quieter with just the harp and their voices.

Although the melding of harp and electronics is cool, they sound beautiful with just harp and voices.

[READ: July 1, 2019] “The Not-Okay Corral”

The Summer 2019 issue of The West End Phoenix was a special all comics issue with illustrations by Simone Heath.  Each story either has one central illustration or is broken up with many pictures (or even done like a comic strip).

Each story is headed by the year that the story takes place–a story from that particular summer.

This story is told in comic book style with panels.

1976: If you are Janet, when you are ten years old, the worst thing about horseback riding camp is the horses.  They are massive and muscular and totally in charge.

Much of the camp seemed to be about teaching the horse who was boss. When the kids were told to walk the horses around the ring, that was okay, even if Janet was clearly letting the horse lead.  But when they left the ring to return to the paddock, the horse let Janet know who was actually in charge.  It stopped following the horse in front of it and stopped to eat some grass. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Khalil Sweileh–“The Tortoise and the Hedgehog” (Harper’s, June 2019)

Posted in Excerpt, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Harper's, Huh?, Humiliation, Jonathan Wright, Khalil Sweileh, Poetry, Poets, Regrets, Relationships, Romance, Translation, Umm Kulthum, أم كلثوم‎ on June 28, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: UMM KULTHUM (أم كلثوم‎‎)-“It is Too Late” (Fit al-ma’ ad) (1967).

I picked this song because it is mentioned in the story.

I don’t really understand the song and I didn’t really understand the story, so I guess it all fits.

Umm Kulthum was an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title Kawkab al-Sharq (كوكب الشرق, “Star of the East”).

The version of the song that I found is 27 minutes long with three sections.  I can’t find anything useful in the way of translation (even of the title) which means “It’s too late” or “The rendez-vous is over.”

There are several parts to this song, although it is so traditional it is hard for me to determine them.  I also have a hard time understanding why her voice is so remarkable as she doesn’t really “do” very much.  She seems to have a limited range although with a lot of stamina.

Perhaps there is a different standard of excellence in Egyptian music.  Although I do understand how in the story she hears the song in the cab and calls him and he seems to take a Panadol then lays down and relaxes before turning on the radio and the song is still on.

[READ: June 1, 2019] “The Tortoise and the Hedgehog”

This is an excerpt from Sweileh’s novel Remorse Test.

It was translated from the Arabic by Jonathan Wright.  The original won an award for literature in 2017.

I include this last part because I found this story really hard to follow and even harder to enjoy.

It is written from the narrator to “you” and wonders what “remorse” is. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Adam O’Fallon Price–“The Maid’s Story” (Harper’s, June 2019)

Posted in Adam O'Fallon Price, Frou Frou, Harper's, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hotels, Humiliation, imogen Heap, NPR/PRI/PBS, Polio, Sex, Sexism, Short Story, The O.C., Thieves, Tiny Desk Concert on June 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: IMOGEN HEAP-Tiny Desk Concert #859 (June 20, 2019).

I know of Imogen Heap from a song called “Come Here Boy” that she released way back in 1998.  It was stark and dramatic and somewhat sexual. In short, a quintessential 90s track.

Then she disappeared.

Well, she actually made an album with Guy Sigsworth as Frou Frou.  And then she disappeared a again.

Actually she didn’t disappear at all. She released a song, “Hide and Seek” which was mostly just her singing into a vocoder (and was quite transfixing.  It became a huge hit (which I didn’t know about because I didn’t watch The O.C.).

But in 2011, she started experimenting with these high tech gloves that allowed her to do all kinds of audio manipulation just by moving her hands.

She even says, some people know me because I am interested in block chain technology and some people know me for these gloves.  They don’t even know I make music they just know about the gloves.

But in this Concert, the gloves come last.

Up first is the first song that she and Guy Sigsworth have written together in 17 years.  “Guitar Song” (she tends to leave placeholder names, so that will likely change) is a quiet pretty song with a lot of, yes, guitar from Steve Jones.  It’s a simple melody fleshed out with keys from Sigsworth.  It’s really pretty and very catchy.

Up next is “Speeding Cars” which she says was a B-side that was never released as a single but which her fans really love.  Zoë Keating plays cello and Imogen says she has a terrific album of her own called Snowmelt and she hopes Keating gets her own Tiny Desk someday.  Tim Keiper is on drums and vast array of percussion.  Imogen is on the piano she has an excellent falsetto for this very pretty song.

Then she puts on the Mi.Mu gloves.

Imogen Heap not only has an enchanting voice but also the talents of a world-class audio engineer. She’s completely engrossed in a technology she’s helped to develop, one that makes it possible to alter sounds, create loops and compose tunes all with the wave of her glove-wearing hands. The high-tech gloves, now called Mi.Mu Gloves, were first shown at a TEDGlobal conference eight years ago. Her performances, with her sound-altering arm and hand gestures, resemble a summoning of spirits, a far more compelling live experience than what Imogen said used to look like she was standing behind her laptop checking email.

She gives a lengthy explanation and brief demonstration of these very cool loves.  Then it’s on to “Hide and Seek,” which she had re-imagined for the Broadway play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and which she says that if she doesn’t play people throw tomatoes at her.

It really sounds nothing like the original but it is amazing to watch her make the song with her hands waving around.

[READ: June 1, 2019] “The Maid’s Story”

This story introduces us to the Gersons, a family on vacation in a hotel. The husband is small and insignificant. But the wife is larger than life.  Both physically and in personality.

Hannah Kohl, the maid, was taken with Mr Gerson’s red brooch and when she went to clean the room later, she pocketed it.  As she did so, she promised herself it would be the last thing she ever took from a patron.

But Mrs Gershon walked in before the maid had time to close the jewelry box.  She told her it was costume and worth nothing but how could the maid have thought Mrs Gerson wouldn’t notice?

The maid is very apologetic.  She begs not to be ratted out and pleads with the woman.  She says her eight-year-old son has polio (“So did our president, but Eleanor doesn’t go around stealing jewelry).

Mrs Gerson asks where Hannah is from–Wroclaw Poland.  In the camp? No, her father moved them before.  And the hotel owner’s second cousin helped them.  Then Hannah did something unexpected–she opened up to Mrs Gerson about her travels and her life.

Mrs Gerson diagnosed her as a kleptomaniac (she compulsively stile things she didn’t need).  But she was mostly concerned about the boy, Isaac.  She insisted that he receive proper care for his polio  The doctor Hannah’d been going to was an elder in the old country synagogue who showed no evidence that he knew anything about medicine  He said the polio would clear up and go away on its own.

The new doctor was in Manhattan, a lengthy trip for Hannah and Isaac.  Mrs Gerson said they could stay with her family when they traveled in.

The doctor gave many recommendations and said that Mrs Gerson was paying for it all.

The Gerson children were uninterested in Isaac until he told them a story about people dying at the hotel.  They found his story (which was partly made up) to be engrossing.

After dinner Mr Gerson excused himself and left the two women to talk.  Mrs Gerson pulled Hannah on to her lap  She soothed her and stroked her head but soon the stroking became sexual.  This made Hannah very uncomfortable and she froze, enduring the touches which gave her revulsed pleasure.

Hannah and Issac went to Manhattan twice a month.  Each time, the same thing happened.  Mrs Gerson never said anything about it, but it happened nonetheless. It was especially upsetting because Hannah very much liked Mrs Gerson otherwise. She was funny and bold and seemed genuinely interested in their health and prosperity.  And Hannah would put p with anything for Isaac;s welfare.

Soon, Issac was deemed just about normal;–one more visit would do it.

One night, Mrs Gerson revealed that all of their money was her husband’s–her family is as poor as Hannah’s. Nobody least of all Mrs Gerson really understood why Bert chose her.  Plus, he always knew that Mrs Gerson liked girls better.

Bert wants things to be easy.  So Mrs Gerson does everything—raises the kids, takes care of family affairs.

The thing with wives is they can leave. Mothers can’t.

Finally Mrs Gerson declared that she loved Hannah.

Hannah grabbed her things and Isaac and left.

When Hannah returned to the hotel, she was called to the office and informed that a guest said that Hannah had stolen from them.  They had to let her go.

What could Hannah possibly do?

 

Read Full Post »

Robert Llewellyn–The Man on Platform 5 (1998)

Posted in Autographs, Consumerism, Fears, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, Jealousy, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Morality, Neurotics, Racism, Red Dwarf, Regrets, Relationships, Robert Llewellyn, Romance, Sex, Sexism, Sisters, Technology, The Tallest Man on Earth, Trains, Trainspotting, Virginity (Loss of), Work on May 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH-“I’m a Stranger Now” (2019).

I’ve enjoyed The Tallest Man on Earth and I’ve been looking forward to seeing him live for a while.  I’ve actually had really back luck with his tours.  One time something came up on the night I was supposed to see him.  Another time he had to cancel his tour.  But, with luck, I will get to see Kristian Matsson live.

The Tallest Man on Earth sings simple folk songs.  The greatness of his songs comes from his voice and delivery.  There’s something about his voice and his style that is steeped in American folk, but the fact that he’s from Sweden changes his outlook and his accent.

This song from his album I Love You, It’s a Fever Dream follows in the style he is known for–spare, simple melodies and his often wordy lyrics.

Starting with fast acoustic chords (played high on the neck), Kristian begins singing in his familiar but unique style.  The bridge ends with a fast vocal melody that is a pure hook that leads to the singalong titular chorus.

After three minutes, the song slows down to a quiet guitar melody and near-whispered vocals.

[READ: May 1, 2019] The Man on Platform 5

I know Robert Llewellyn from the show Red Dwarf, of which I am a huge fan.

In fact, I didn’t know anything about this story, but I figured if Kryten wrote it, it must be good.  I had read his memoir, the wonderfully titled Thin He Was and Filthy Haired, and I was sure I had read this at the time as well.  But evidently not, because when I started flipping through it I realized I didn’t know a thing about this story.  I also see that he has written quite a lot more in the last two decades.

It seems fairly obvious from the get go that this story is a gender reversing story of Pygmalion or My Fair Lady.  Instead of a man trying to improve a woman, in this story, a woman is trying to “improve” a man.  In some ways it’s very modern and progressive and in other ways it’s pretty stuck in gender stereotypes.  But hey it was the 90’s, before writers were enlightened.

The man who needs bettering is Ian Ringfold.  He is a trainspotter!  (I love that Llewellyn made that his hobby as I have heard of it but never knew exactly what it entailed).  He loves obscure facts, dry goods (he works in a supermarket) and being incredibly dorky.  He is deeply into what he likes and genuinely can’t understand why other people wouldn’t like those things.

Enter Gresham and Eupheme.  They are half-sisters and have spent pretty much their entire lives squabbling.  Their train breaks down on the same platform that Ian is currently trainspotting.  Eupheme, the more humane one of the two, bets Gresham that she can turn this sad “anorak” into a “useful member of society.”  Gresham says it cannot be done.  Eupheme (who is short on funds) says that if she can turn this loser into someone that Gresham would fancy that Gresham would pay her a tidy sum.  (more…)

Read Full Post »

Robert Stone–“Dominion” (New Yorker, December 27, 1999 & January 3, 2000)

Posted in Charly Bliss, Guns, Hospitals, Humiliation, Hunting, New Yorker, Parenting, PUP, Religion, Robert Stone, Short Story on April 28, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PUP-“Free at Last” (2019).

PUP has been on my radar for a while now–I’ve heard amazing things about their live shows, although I always seem to miss them. I was really surprised to find out that this year’s Morbid Stuff was only their 3rd album (for about 100 minutes of total music released), because they’ve been touring forever.

I was very amused to see that at the beginning of the video for this first single they wrote

Prior to its release we wanted to see if anyone would cover our song “Free at last” without hearing it first.  We posted the lyrics and a basic chord chart.  The rest was up to interpretation.

253 people tried.

The beginning of the video shows many of these interpretations (wonderful variety) before the song properly starts.

The song is a wonderful punk blast of fast chords and a big chanted chorus of “Just ’cause you’re sad again, doesn’t make you special at all.”

What I particularly like is the slow heavy metal sounding opening guitar riff (it seems like it should be a very different song from the way it starts).  I also love that Eva Hendricks from Charly Bliss gets a cameo line “Have you been drinking?” although I wish she was a little louder in the song, because it goes by so fast.

I will keep an eye out for the next time PUP comes around.  I hope to catch them.

[READ: April 20, 2019] “Dominion”

I really enjoyed this story, the way it unfolded and the way it was broken into relatively discreet sections.  I found the ending to be really unsatisfying, though.

The story opens with Michael and his wife talking to their son Paul.  Paul is 12 and wants to go hunting with his father.  Michael thinks that when he’s 14 he’ll be old enough to go on this annual trip, but that right now he’s still too young.

Paul gives the unexpected argument that in Christian Ethics class, he debated that man has dominion over the animals and that hunting them is okay.

His parents are on the fence about sending him to Catholic school–they both had horror stories about their own upbringing.

The ironic thing is that Michael himself doesn’t really like hunting.  He often walked the woods with the dog ostensibly hunting for pheasants.  But that was mostly because he liked walking in the woods and fields.  The locals though there was something suspicious about you if you didn’t have a gun in your arms doing it.  So he carried a shot gun and planned on shooting nothing.  Of course, if the dog spooked a bird he would try for it.  If he did hit it, it was just more work because he felt compelled to eat it. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Woody Allen–“Attention Geniuses: Cash Only” (New Yorker, February 21 & 28, 2000)

Posted in Camille Pissarro, Cars, Cigarettes, Death, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Huh?, Humiliation, Murder, Negativland, New Yorker, Paul Cézanne, Sex, Short Story, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Therapy, Vincent van Gogh, Violence, Woody Allen on April 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NEGATIVLAND-No Other Possibility (1989).

In the year that Helter Stupid came out, Negativland released this one hour video.  It is a visual approximation of a Negativland album.  Lots of cuts, lots of snippets of ads and songs and news broadcasts.  It’s mostly nonsense with some reality and some things that may or may not be reality.  Who knows?

It opens with a critical diatribe that scrolls over a test pattern.  The diatribe by Crosley Bendix criticizes everything that is (correctly) poor about the video and making up other things–the death of a stuntman.

After the opening credits, the video opens with David Willis’ mother watching TV.  On the screen is a clip from Dick Vaughn and his Jack-O-Lantern (more below).  Then she asks David for her cigarettes and the song from A Big Ten 8 Place is acted out hilariously.

After some clips from video games and a commercial for Marlboro, there’s a video for “Nesbitt’s Lime Soda Song.”  When the bee comes into the song, it turns into clips of David filming his family talking about bees and more (like his grandma looking in the fridge for potato chips which makes David laugh).

Change channels until The Dick Vaughn Show comes on and he brings out David Willis to light up a Jack-O-Lantern with 700 volts.

After a commercial from ZOTOS and Nation Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Association that tells women they have to look their best in order to get a job.  “Appearance and good grooming are essential.”

Then it’s time for Trick or Treat with David Willis who is dressed as E.T.

He talks about Halloween safety with 5 hand drawn posters.

  1. no fresh fruit–nails razors
  2. looks for holes or tears in wrappers–inject chemicals
  3. avoid homemade treats
  4. avoid weird, strange-looking people.
  5. if you bob for apples make sure your partners are not sick

Then some explosions with cars flipping.  A small video slowly evolves revealing a live performance of David singing the “Very Stupid” song from 10-8.   It is noisier and rocks pretty hard while David yells the lyrics: “1, 2, stupid ; 3, 4 dumb.”  The version slowly comes into focus as David roams the audience.  he even adds new lyrics: “1,2 urinate ; 3, 4 defecate ; 5, 6 fornicate ; 7, 8  seat be sate!”

After a text: “Earlier that same evening,” a car drives into the building under a scroll from Dick Goodbody raving about this beauty, “her name is Monarch Mercury Monarch.”

Followed by a commercial for the Monarch.

Then there’s a video clip of the fire in the Negativland recording building (which I think is true?).  They interview Mark Hosler who grabbed master tapes and studio equipment.  He tours the burned out building.

Then there’s interstitial questions of what people think about TV.

  • An old man complaining about sex on TV.
  • Teenage girls saying they like soap operas because of the sex.
  • A guy saying TV would be improved if they quit showing so many commercials.

Up next is Crosley Bendix (“Director, Stylistic Premonitions” played by Don Joyce) of the Universal Media Netweb has an insane piece about numerology, at the end of which he cries, “Thanks a million!

  • MTV has fine guys on it

Then comes Negativland “Fire Song” with Mark singing in the burnt house.

A series of ads for canned foods: tomatoes, grapes, yams, dog food over a muzak version of “Age of Aquarius.”

Then comes the religion portion of the show.  Another diatribe by Crosley Bendix complains of people always searching for more intense entertainment.  Since Jesus’s time.  In fact, The Last Supper is the crucial link-up of food and show business.

Then comes more live scenes of some crazy music and kids walking around in costumes who start shouting about ice cream and other food.

  • I don’t watch religious TV because I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Clips of preachers and then Pastor Dick comes out,

He tells some dad jokes like asking for coffee without cream and the waitress saying “you’ll have to have coffee without milk because we are out of cream.”

He brings out a racist ventriloquist dummy Enrico Gomez.  Then has everyone sing along with the Christian Youth Fellowship song from the album How Do You Spell Joy?

He has a Stop sign and asks everyone to clap along. Stop! [clap clap] And let me tell you what the Lord has done do me.  When he turns around the sign is a hand written note “fuck you pastor dick.”

Then comes the 5 eyewitness news team featuring Hal Eisner, with the video of the audio used in side one of the album Helter Stupid.  Don Joyce is interviewed.

As the video ends, there’s one more guy that they interview.  He says

TV is gonna make me famous one day.  When the interviewer asks how, the guy says

“you gotta know how to exploit the media.”

Was he a plant?  Who knows.  There is no other possibility, godammit.

Watch the whole video here.

[READ: April 25, 2019] “Attention Geniuses: Cash Only”

Woody Allen doesn’t seem to write much for the New Yorker these days.  I’ve found over the years that I rather like some of his New Yorker jokes and then others are just ho-hum.  Of all of the short “funny” pieces in the New Yorker, Woody tends to be able to pull off three pages better than others.

Although this one drags and often come across as an excuse to throw out pretentious references.

And yet he’s got some great turns of phrase:

Jogging along Fifth Avenue last summer as part of a fitness program designed to reduce my life expectancy to that of a nineteenth century coal miner

(more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »