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Archive for the ‘Magazines’ Category

Thomas King–“Not Enough Horses” (The Walrus, July/August 2004)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Flash Fiction, Funny (ha ha), Native Americans, Romance, The Tragically Hip, The Walrus, Thomas King on February 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-Road Apples (1991).

A cleverly designed cover signals an amazing album inside. After the vast improvements of Up to Here, Road Apples rocks and is the first of the Hip’s most great and cohesive records from this period.

The one-two punch of the opening rockers “Little Bones” and “Twist My Arm” is sublime.  And Downie has really found his voice at this point.  Those initial two songs show the kind of complexities the band will add on future discs.

The rest of the disc is really successful raw, bluesy rock.  The guitar solos are longer and more substantial (songs like “Bring It All Back” showcases Rob Baker soloing skills).  And the bulk of the rest are songs that could be staples of any classic rock station.

But they mix up the styles a bit as well.  “Cordelia” is a brooding, intense song, that builds from a quiet intro into a rocking chorus, the kind of song which later albums will showcase.  “Long Time Running” is a grooving ballad.   And “Fiddlers Green” is a pretty acoustic number.  The final track, “The Last of the Unplucked Gems” is another mellow acoustic track, but it foreshadows some of the great songs the band would write in the future.

Road Apples is a hugely successful disc, although for my tastes it’s on the next two albums that The Hip really hit their excellence.

[READ: January 26, 2011] “Not Enough Horses”

This second flash fiction of The Walrus’ 2004 Summer Reading Issue has a similar “problem” as the first one. It actually feels too long to be flash fiction.  True it is only one page and, since it is mostly conversation, it is very brief.  But the story is actually rather detailed, something which I feel doesn’t quite belong in flash fiction.

Indeed, it is a simple enough story:  a young man would like to marry a Native woman.  He goes to the woman’s father and begins offering him gifts for his blessing.  The father says that in the past the gift would have been horses, although the boy’s first gift is kittens. (more…)

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Camilla Gibb–“You Go First” (The Walrus, July/August 2004)

Posted in Camilla Gibb, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Death, Flash Fiction, Humiliation, Lydia Davis, Made in Canada, Short Story, The Tragically Hip, The Walrus on February 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-Up To Here (1989).

Up to Here is a pretty big leap from their first EP.  There’s more guitar soloing (not grandiose solos, just little guitar noodling in the songs “Blow at High Dough,” which was used wonderfully for the show Made in Canada (also known as The Industry).

Downie’s voice is more in keeping with what we’d come to know later, and lyrically the songs are esoteric and interesting.

“Blow at High Dough” opens the disc with a very cool guitar intro (“They shot a movie once, in my hometown”) “I Believe in You (Or I’ll Be Leaving You Tonight)” a not terribly good song has some proto-Downieisms: spoken passages, stories in a breakdown of the song, but the subject matter is not that exciting.  Of course, it’s hard to sound good when you’re followed by “New Orleans is Sinking” another fantastic song that still sounds great today (especially in their live versions).

“38 Years Old” is a surprisingly moving song with some slides guitars…a nod to their country/folk roots that they tend to bury under raw rock guitars.

But even some of the less memorable, less exciting songs have great aspects to them.  Songs like “She Didn’t Know” are pretty standard rock songs.  Better than average, but not exceptional.  But the band puts little things into them that bring them up from the mundane: the guitar licks, the backing vocals (slightly R.E.M.-ish).

Even “Boots to Hears” which sounds a bit too much like John Mellencamp in the intro really wins you over by the end (the lyrics are great).  For what really is a debut album, it’s solid and shows great songwriting skills and promise.

They still haven’t quite gotten the hang of cover art yet, though.

[READ: January 26, 2011] “You Go First”

This was the first of four flash fictions in this issue.  Flash fiction doesn’t really have a definition per se (except that it is very short).  There are some masters of flash fiction who can write very compelling stories with astonishing brevity.  These stories are all short (one magazine page a piece), but they feel kind of bloated compared to the writers like Lydia Davis.

Gibb’s story actually feels a lot longer than it is.  It opens with us meeting the narrator’s next door neighbors, Carl the cremator, his obese wife Brenda and their son Jason.  The narrator doesn’t really like Jason, but he’s the only person who will hang out her because he wasn’t around for her birthday party last year.  At that party, her hippie parents encouraged everyone to play a game called Getting to Know Our Bodies. (more…)

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Guy Vanderhaeghe–“Live Large” (The Walrus, July/August 2004)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Cigarettes, Drinking, Golf, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Rush, Short Story, The Tragically Hip, The Walrus on February 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-The Tragically Hip (1987).

It’s not really fair to review a successful, long-lived band’s first album over 30 years after the fact.  I mean, Rush’s first album doesn’t show any of the prog tendencies they’d be known for (not to mention a different  drummer/lyricist).  In fact, virtually no bands come out fully formed, which is good for all fans.

Having said that, from this album, you’d have very little indication that the Hip would become as dynamic as they eventually did.

This is a 7 song EP full of rocking tracks with overlays of acoustic guitars.  Unlike later discs, there’s only a minor indication that they’re from Canada (“Last American Exit”) or overly literate.  Mostly they seem like a rocking bar band.  The songs are good, somewhat generic, but solid.  In fact, “Small Town Bringdown” is still played in concert from time to time.

The biggest surprise is Gord Downie’s voice.  By now his voice is pretty distinctive, but on this first disc it seems like he’s still trying to figure out what he’s doing.  On “Killing Time” he’s unrecognizable from the frontman of today.  He seems to be working in a much gruffer range than he would later use.  Lyrically, the songs are also tougher than they would eventually become.

The most memorable song is probably the most embarrassing: “I’m a Werewolf, Baby” is as silly as it sounds, but the riff is really great and it has staying power.  Shame about the lyrics.  This disc is probably not worth getting since “Small Town” is available on their Greatest Hits.  Although if you really want to hear “Werewolf” it’s only available here.

[READ: January 26, 2011] “Live Large”

Just as I settle into the idea of reading 25 back issues of The Walrus for all of the fiction contained therein, I get to this 2004 Summer Reading Issue which features seven stories!  Three of them are short stories and the other four are flash fiction.

This first story was my favorite of the bunch.  It is a fairly simple story about a down-and-out man who longs for one day of joy.  Billy Constable has slowly seen his money evaporate.  He has had to sell off a lot of his luxuries, including the membership  to the Fairview Golf Club.  He has also had a recent medical scare (a minor heart attack) which has made him go straight and clean: no booze or smokes.

Except that things have gotten really bad lately, and who can resist the slide back into temptation.  When he gets a call to play a round of golf, from the very man he sold his golf membership to, he is about to tell him where to go, until he realizes that the man is calling him because he genuinely wants him to play in their foursome.  He decides why the hell not. (more…)

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M.G. Vassanji–Mordecai Richler (2009) [Extraordinary Canadians Series]

Posted in Barney's Version, Biography, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Demons, Depression, Extraordinary Canadians, Gord Downie, M.G. Vassanji, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Mordecai Richler, Religion, Short Books, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, The Tragically Hip, The Walrus, Travel on February 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: GORD DOWNIE AND THE COUNTRY OF MIRACLES-The Grand Bounce (2010).

I knew I was going to write about Canadian musicians for this series of Extraordinary Canadians, but I wasn’t sure who would get matched to whom. I figured I’d match Gord Downie to Mordecai Richler, but when I saw this in the liner notes to this disc, I knew I’d made the right choice:

Thank you to the Richler Family for the font you are presently reading.  The Richler font, not publicly available, was created and named for the great Mordecai Richler.  It was commissioned by Louise Dennys, designed by Nick Shinn and graciously made available by Florence Richler.  I am grateful for this honour.

So Gord Downie is the driving force behind The Tragically Hip.  I’m always curious when a guy who pretty much runs a band needs to do a solo album (or three).  And in this case, since the last Hip album was much more mellow and almost country, it seemed like he got some of his less rocky side out on that disc, so what’s the need?  Unless, of course, it’s just the need to play with some other folks once in a while.

Well, whatever the reason, this disc finds Downie in incredible form.  In fact, I think I like this disc better than the last Hip disc (which I did like, but which was a little too mellow overall).  The songs are all great, from the simple folk tracks to the more elaborate rockers.  And, yes, while the disc never rocks as hard as some Hip songs tend to, this is not a simple acoustic guitars and solo vocals record.

“The East Wind” is a wonderful starter.  It’s fairly simple with awesomely catchy lyrics.   I learned that the lyrics are from a quote by Todd Burley.  And they are an awesome way to describe a hostile and violent wind: it’s lazy, because “it doesn’t go around you, it goes right through you.”  Fantastic.

“Moon Over Glenora” sounds a lot like a Hip song.  Downie’s lyrics are almost mumbled and understated until he gets to the end of each verse when he raises his voice an octave for maximum effect.   The stops and starts in the bridge are also great.  “As a Mover” is also smoothly catchy with a wonderful rising chorus.

“The Dance and the Disappearance” is another great conceit.  This song is inspired by a quote from Crystal Pite: “Dance disappears almost at the moment of its manifestation.”  It is suitably dramatic with some great verses.  “The Hard Canadian” is a gentle acoustic number that would not be out of place on the more recent Hip records.  “Gone” feels like a continuation of “Heart,” almost like the slightly more rocking second half of it.

My favorite track is “The Drowning Machine” (I seem to like anything that Downie writes that’s about the sea).  It’s a minor chord wonder, dark and mysterious and wonderfully catchy.  The rock comes back on the rather simple “Night is For Getting.”  It’s probably the least essential track on the disc except that once again the chorus/bridge is really great and memorable.

The last three tracks bring on the mellow, which is a fitting ending for the disc, although since the three t racks take up about 12 minutes, it makes the end drag a bit.  “Retrace” is a country-tinged (steel guitar) mellow track (again, Downie’s voice brings out the excitement) .  “Broadcast” has an extended outro of gentle guitars and piano that for all the world sounds like the end of a disc, so I’m always surprised that there’s a final track after it.   And so the final track “Pinned” feels like filler.  It has a movie projector clicking sound and gentle piano with almost inaudible vocals.  It’s actually a pretty song, but it feels almost discarded here.

One of things I’ve always liked about Downie’s lyrics is that they are atypical of rock songs.  They’re not “about” sex or rock or drugs or swagger or anything like that.  In this case they are about locations and events.  And it really paints a picture.  And speaking of painting, Downie painted the cover art.  The beautiful simplicity of the painting is not unlike the beautiful simplicity of the music on the disc.

Oh and my copy is autographed too! (although I wasn’t there when he autographed it, so it could have been anyone who scribbled on the cover).

[READ: November 15, 2010] Mordecai Richler

I don’t know a lot about Mordecai Richler, although I feel like whenever I read about him it’s in hushed tones (a neat trick, that).  Nevertheless, for a number of reasons I have wanted to read him for many years but have just never done it.  Now, the stars are aligning with me for Richler.

There’s this book, there’s the cover of the October 2010 issue of The Walrus and the recent filming of his book Barney’s Version (the filming of which is discussed in the same issue).  And then a patron asked for the film of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.  So, it’ about time to read one of his books.  But here’s the rub…do I start with the great books or do I start at the beginning and work my way through his career?  And, there’s also a huge new biography coming out (the review of which mentions a wonderfully offensive event in which Richler absolutely dismisses his Jewish audience).

This book was written by M.G. Vassanji.  I feel that I’ve heard of him but I’ve never read him.  And yet listen to this incredible biography:

M.G. Vassanji was born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania.  He attended University in the United States, where he trained as a nuclear physicist, before coming to Canada in 1978.  Vassanji is the author is six novels and two collections of short stories…and he has twice won the Giller Prize.

Damn.

Since I read this right after Coupland’s McLuhan it’s tempting to compare them.  And yet, as I said in that review, it seems quite apparent than Coupland’s book will be like no one else’s, so I won’t say much about that.  Instead, Vassanji opens the book by talking about the similarities between himself and Richler and their few awkward but pleasant meetings.  (In this respect yes, it is sort of like Coupland’s book in that the author puts himself into the text). (more…)

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Frances Itani–“What We Are Capable Of” (The Walrus, April/May 2004)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Dallas Green, Frances Itani, Romance, Shad, Short Story, The Walrus on February 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SHAD & DALLAS-“Listen (remix)” (2010).

The other track on the Shad and Dallas EP is a remix of “Listen” from Shad’s TSOL album.  I like the original song quite a bit.

The remix is marginally faster than the original.  And Dallas Green adds a few lines over the “chorus” (in the original, Shad just says “listen” over and over). It’s a nice addition to a good song.  In fact, I went back to the original and realized that I kind of missed Dallas’ section (and that was after only two listens).

This single benefits Skate4Cancer, so it’s for a good cause and worth checking out.

[READ: January 24, 2011] “What We Are Capable Of”

This is the second story that The Walrus published.  And this author (who I’d never actually heard of) is also a bestseller (with at the time nine books out).

I found this story a little confusing at first (there are many different people introduced without context in the opening paragraph or two).  But once I sussed out who Em had broken up with, who her ex husband was and who her daughter’s ex-boyfriend was, the story came together quite nicely.

Basically this is the story of two breakups.  Em, a widow, has recently become involved with Michael.  (Who is married).  When her daughter, Sarah, calls to say that she wants to come back home, Em soon realizes that Sarah is in a similar heartbroken predicament (although at least Sarah’s boyfriend isn’t married).

(more…)

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David Bezmozgis–“Choynski” (The Walrus, November/December 2003)

Posted in Alexisonfire, Boxing, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, City and Colour, Dallas Green, David Bezmozgis, Death, Sergio De La Pava, Shad, Short Story, Skateboarding, The Walrus on February 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SHAD & DALLAS-“Live Forever” (2010).

Shad and Dallas Green (from Alexisonfire) recorded an EP called Two Songs and the profits go to Skate4Cancer.  The A Side is the new song “Live Forever.”  Shad is a great rapper, and make no mistake, this is a Shad song.  Green sings the hook-filled chorus (and an intro line).

Shad’s rapping is great and his rhymes are clever and interesting (he even does a fast double-time section which I’d never heard him do before). But the music itself is kind of bland.  I listened to it three times and I never really got into the flow of it.

I rather hope that sales are good (for the charity’s sake) but I’m afraid I’m not that excited by the track.

[READ: January 23, 2011] “Choynski”

I recently noticed that I had reviewed a whole bunch of stories from The Walrus.  So I wondered just how many stories there were in previous issues of the maagzine that I hadn’t posted about.  The magazine only started in 2003, and I still have all the issues (yes, that’s right…  I bought Issue 1 on the newsstand), so it wasn’t that hard to figure out.  In the early days, not every issue had fiction in it.  I started calculating and discovered that there were only about 25 stories to go.  So I thought, why not go back and read them all, eh?

This story was in Issue #2, and I have to say, good for them for picking David Bezmozgis to be their first author.  His issue bio reads that his first short story collection Natasha will be published in June.  And if you check now, you’ll see that Natasha won a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was a New York Times Notable Book.  Not bad.

There are essentially two stories in this piece and they tie together quite nicely.  The first arc concerns the narrator’s dying grandmother.  She is an old Russian Jew whose English isn’t great so she tries to speak in Yiddish to make up for it.  Her family understands but few others (like her doctor) know what she’s talking about.  As the story progresses, her family tries to keep the truth of her condition from her, but she is no dummy.

The second story concerns the narrator’s attempt to learn more information about Joe Choynski.  Choynski was being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (Old Timers division) and the narrator was going to the ceremony.  In trying to learn more about Choynski (considered America’s frst great fighting Jew), he enlists the help of Charley Davis, an old man who knows more than just about anyone else about the Choynski.  (more…)

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Lawrence Hill–“Meet You at the Door” (The Walrus, January/February 2011)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Death, Demons, Lawrence Hill, Racism, Short Story, The Dears, The Walrus on February 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE DEARS-Live on QTV (2008).

The Dears are a wonderful band from Montreal. They create epochal noise, make concerts that are unholy messes (and yet totally amazing) and they seem perpetually about to self-destruct.   Murray Lightburn, the singer and song writer of the band is has an amazing voice and great songwriting skills.  They create full blown orchestral rock, but they’re not afraid to totally rock out (see the 20-minute live version of “Pinned Together Falling Apart” on their live album.)

These three tracks are acoustic and totally stripped down.  It’s just Murray on guitar and his bandmate (and wife) Natalia singing backing vocals.  These three songs come from the album Missiles.  Although I am partial to their over the top renditions, these stripped down version showcase how great the songs themselves are.

“Dream Job” is a slow track with limited backing vocals.  “Lights Out” is a bit faster with some really great chord changes.  And finally, “Money Babies” is an amazing duet, really letting Natalia harmonize brilliantly.

You can hear more songs from The Dears at All Songs Considered.

[READ: January 11, 2011] “Meet You at the Door”

This is easily my favorite story in The Walrus in years, possibly ever.  It’s also one of my favorite stories that I’ve read in a long, long time.  It has so much to recommend it: it is wonderfully paced and it is really engaging.

The basic story is of a twenty-something black man who must travel to Gull Lake, Saskatchewan to start a job at a railroad junction house.  But that simple plot doesn’t do any justice to the multifaceted aspects of the story’s construction.

First, the position requires excellence in typing (relays that come from the main train location must be typed on an old manual typewriter in carbon.  With no typos.  And they must be typed fast!  Split second decisions must be made and any errors could be fatal.  So the employee must be smart and skilled (there’s a 75% failure rate on the test).

When the narrator passes the test he must ship off to Gull Lake that night.  And, this being “in the age of dinosaurs” the narrator is carrying his portable typewriter, a guitar and a huge afro.  And he needs a place to stay.  Fast.

He’s obviously not well received at first, until we meet the lady who will take him in.  And she is the second great aspect of this story.  She is a wonderful character (and could easily have many more pages written about her, but Hill is concise which really moves the story along).  She sizes him up, deems him worthy, and lets him have the spare room. (more…)

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Deborah Willis–“Hard Currency” (The Walrus, December 2010)

Posted in Books about music, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Deborah Willis, Drinking, Prostitution, Russia, Sarah Harmer, Short Story, The Walrus, Weeping Tile on February 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: WEEPING TILE-eePee (1995).

Canadian singer Sarah Harmer was originally in the band Weeping Tile.  As far as I knew, they had only released this cleverly titled EP.  Further research at Sarah’s site proves this to be incorrect.  They released two albums and this EP, all of which are available at her site (and elsewhere).  There’s also mention of something called Secret Sessions although there is no evidence of its physical existence on the net.

So this EP is 7 tracks and features two songs that were recorded later on Sarah’s solo discs.

The opener, “Anyone” opens with a nice R.E.M. type guitar sound, but jumps into an uptempo alt rocker.  It’s a very satisfying opening and seems like it should have been a hit.  Interestingly, the next song, “Basement Apt” was a hit…six years later on Sarah’s solo disc.  This version is rawer and feels slower even though it is the same overall length.  The big difference is that Sarah’s solo version has a louder and faster drum track that really makes the song fly.  This version feels more aching though.

“Dogs and Thunder” introduces a more country sound (folk guitar and strings) that Harmer would experiment with off and on for years.    It’s followed by a great cover of Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down.”

Another highlight is “Westray” a very stark almost a capella track which highlights Sarah’s raw voice.  It’s very affecting.  And the disc concludes with “King Lion,” a great song that is back to guitar basics.  The chorus is wonderfully catchy.

This is a great EP from a short-lived Canadian band.  Sarah Harmer has always had great songwriting chops and it’s fun to hear her in her more youthful rock version here.

[READ: January 11, 2011] “Hard Currency”

This is one of the longest stories in The Walrus that I can remember.  It’s set in Russia and concerns Alexei, a Russian writer who now lives in America.  He has had great success internationally (and won a Pulitzer) for his novels, all of which were set in Russia.

And yet, for all of his connections to his motherland, he doesn’t really like Russia very much.  He has been back there several times but he is never treated with respect. In fact, he is never even treated as a Russian–despite his birth, people look at him and know that he’s not a Russian anymore.

The plot of the story is about prostitutes.  [I am pretty surprised at the proliferation of prostitutes in stories…do authors frequent prostitutes more than other people?].  When the story opens, we learn that Alexei’s very first sexual experience was with a prostitute.  And now, twenty-eight years later, after much success and a failed marriage, he has returned to Russia and has called upon another prostitute. (more…)

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Eden Robinson–“Minnows” (The Walrus, October 2010)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Death, Demons, Eden Robinson, Fears, Funny (strange), Jian Ghomeshi, Lights, The Walrus, Violence on February 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LIGHTS-“February Air” (2006).

Lights is a Canadian singer who is managed by Jian Ghomeshi.  She is a young cute pop singer and this was her second hit (I think–Wikipedia says it was used in an Old Navy ad).  I admit that I’d never heard of her before seeing her on Jian’s page.

I think of everything that Jian touches to be unique and always interesting.  And although this is certainly poppy and catchy, it’s only mildly  interesting and is kind of indistinguishable from a lot of other poppy catchy songs (the middle section stands out a bit, admittedly).

She’s received a number of accolades (best new artist at the 2009 Junos), so good for her (and Jian).  But I think I’ll be passing on her discs.

[READ: January 10, 2001] “Minnows”

This very short story (two pages) is dark and quite twisted.  Both in content and in structure.

The story opens with a woman seeing her daughter at the door.  We quickly learn that the daughter is not happy, but when the visit turns violent it’s unclear whether the older woman is crazy or hallucinating or if the violence is really happening.

Then we get some background story about their relationship.  Which sets things straight (sort of). (more…)

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John Edgar Wideman–“Always Raining, Somewhere, Said Jim Johnson” (Harper’s, December 2010)

Posted in Books about writers, Harper's, Huh?, John Edgar Wideman, Portlandia, Short Films, Sleater-Kinney on January 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PORTLANDIA: “Dream of the 90’s” (2011).

This is song that I think of as the theme song for the show Portlandia. (I’ve only seen the one episode so far so I don’t know if it is or not, but if it isn’t, it should be!).  This song is so indicative of the show that, if you like the video, you’ll likely enjoy the show too.  Portlandia is written by and stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein (of Sleater-Kinney).

Although this song is meant to be evocative of the 90s (the chorus is “The dream of the 90s is alive in Portland”), musically, it’s not a 90s-era song (despite the comment that flannel still looks good in Portland).  It is actually a keyboard-only song, kind of discoey (dare I say Pet Shop Boysish?).  It’s a simple musical motif, with a catchy chorus and spoken verse, but really you listen for the lyrics:

Remember the 90s when they encouraged you to be weird?

Portland is the city where young people go to retire.

It’s like Gore won, the Bush administration never happened….  Portland’s almost an alternative universe.

It’s all tongue-in-cheek (with a surprisingly catchy chorus).  But, oh to dream.  Sleep ’til eleven…

Watch the video here.

[READ: January 24, 2011] “Always Raining, Somewhere, Said Jim Johnson”

This second Harper’s story suffered from a similar problem as the previous one.  This story felt like several snippets that never tied together.  In any way.

We see a student at the Iowa writer’s program (this sent up red flags immediately for me–not a story about being in  writing program).  And we read a lengthy section about rain.  Except it’s not really about rain, it’s about a pub in Iowa City.  And the concreteness of it is very cool.  You can really see and smell the bar.   The bartender’s routine is so exact you can win bets on when he’ll finish.   He ensues that everything is tidy and that everyone gets the hell out.  Cool, I’m with you.

Then there’s more rain and the narrator and a guy named Rich crash at Rich’s place.  Rich’s wife, Liz is also there and we learn a word or three about her.  And then the narrator starts really checking out Liz, who is completely naked on the bed with Rich.  And there’s some interesting intense moments where he thinks he’s caught.

Then we jump to another bar scene and some pretty funny comparisons between Liz and Gayle Sayers.  These come from the titular Jim Johnson who is apparently dead by the above scene.  (You don’t have to know who Gayle Sayers is to get the joke, I don’t think.  But if you don’t know who he is, he was a football player).

(more…)

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