Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

Thomas McGuane–“The Good Samaritan” (New Yorker, April 25, 2011)

Posted in Boredom, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Prison, Robyn, Short Story, Thomas McGuane, Work on May 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: ROBYN-Body Talk Pt 1 (2010).

Robyn’s Body Talk albums got a lot of praise in 2010.   When I looked at them online, they were really cheap (and considered EPs), so I bought Pt 1.  I was disappointed when I first listened because it seemed like such a sparse album, that I felt there wasn’t much to it.  (Oh, and before I continue, yes, I knew that Robyn was a big time pop singer, but reviewers that I respected–like Sasha Frere Jones raved about the albums).

The opening song “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do” is a really strange song.  The verses are simply Robyn stating that different things are killing her.  It’s strangely compelling despite the repetitiveness.  There’s virtually no music (eventually a single keyboard line keeps a bare melody.  And then the titular chorus.  After two listens I found that I really liked the song even though the first time I heard it I totally blew it off.

“Fembot” is the first proper song, and it’s a simple twist on the stereotype of “woman as robot” since she, the fembot, embraces her sexuality (over a very simple catchy pop melody).  “Dancing On My Own” is an even better song.  Fuller, more complex and with a great chorus.  Two songs seemed like they’d have been destined for Glee: “Cry When You Get Older” & “Hang with Me” they’re a bit too pop for my liking.

The second half of the disk is where it gets odd and interesting.  “Dancehall Queen” has Robyn (a Swedish sing mind you) singing in a Jamaican dancehall accent–which, since I’m infrequently exposed to it, I really like).  It’s super catchy (and I love when she sings “the riddim goes boom boom boom”).  “None of Dem” is another odd song, with a great minor key transition in the chorus and music by Royksopp.

The disc ends with “Jag Vet e Dejlig Rosa” a sweet lullaby sung in Swedish.

The entire EP displays her impressive vocal range and styles.  And even though I really didn’t like it at first it has not only grown on me but gotten my to consider getting Pt 2.  (She released Body Talk Pt 1 (an EP) and Pt 2 (an EP) and then Body Talk which is a combination of some of 1 & 2 with more songs thrown in–a cash in, in my opinion).

[READ: April 30, 2011] “The Good Samaritan”

This was a rather dark story that explores people’s generosity and gullibility.

I was confused through the whole story because the main character’s name was Szabo, and I couldn’t figure out if the ethnicity of the character made a difference (I don’t think so) or even if that was his first or last name.  But that’s a very minor criticism of an otherwise thoroughly engaging story.  I was particularly delighted that while I thought Szabo was going to be a certain kind of character, he turned out to be something else entirely.

As the story opens, it reveals Szabo’s land.  He doesn’t like to call it a ranch (the word is abused by developers), rather he calls it “the property.”  I kind of assumed this story would be about a downtrodden rancher, but that turns out to not be the case at all.  Szabo owns and runs “the property” as a not-very-lucrative side business.  He grows racehorse-quality alfalfa hay for a handful of grateful buyers (he sells in small amounts which most dealers won’t).  It’s true he barely breaks even, but he loves it.  He loves everything about the property–the planting, the reaping and especially the John Deere, which he treats like a baby.

Then one day the baby bites back.  While climbing on the tractor, Szabo slips and dislocates his shoulder.  He calls on his secretary and she assists him to the hospital.  His secretary, Melinda, is from his “real” job, and she is a saintly woman. I was delighted that the story went into so much detail about his “other” life and this woman who helps him.  Szabo’s main career is as a kind of middle man for parts.  He used to manufacture them, but he learned where the money was and took advantage of it  Now he sits in an office (and “the property” is his release).  But Melinda is his saving grace.  She knows everything about him and what he wants and their history together is wonderfully explained. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Ben Marcus–“Rollingwood” (New Yorker, March 21, 2011)

Posted in Ben Marcus, Marriage Trouble, Mojo, Neil Young, New Yorker, PJ Harvey, Short Story, Tom Waits, Work on April 3, 2011| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: PJ HARVEY-To Bring You My Love (1995).

After the intensity of Rid of Me, To Bring You My Love ratchets things down a bit.   In fact, it almost seems like Harvey wanted to explore a more mellow side.  I was disappointed in the disc when it came out, although I do think it has a couple of her best songs on it.  The overall tone is simply too atmospheric for me (and I like atmospheric music, I think I just don’t like her version of it).

She dumped the PJ Harvey band, and worked primarily with John Parrish on this disc.  But her voice is deep and resonant throughout the disc.  The disc seems to be easily broken into three styles of song:  brooding, quiet songs; distorted loud romps and catchy songs that have  kind of folk base.

The broody quiet songs dominate the disc.  “Working for the Man” is a very quiet–drums, quiet organ,and a shaker.  “Teclo” and “I Think I’m a Mother” are moody pieces.  After the dynamics of Rid of Me, you expect a big noisy section to come next, but it never emerges.

The louder, more rocking songs are sonically loud.  The title song is pretty much just her and a distorted guitar (not unlike Neil Young), while “Meet Za Monster” has a Tom Waits quality.  Of course, the real power comes from the devastating “Long Snake Moan.”  It’s a five-minute scorcher of a song full of screaming intensity.  And also from the amazing single, “Down By the Water.”  It has an intense distorted bass that buzzes seductively through the whole song.  And when the whispered vocals come in it’s an unexpected sonic triumph.

The third style, acoustic rockers, shows up on “C’mon Billy,” a gorgeous acoustic track with Harvey’s voice strong and proud, and “Send His Love to Me” another intense vocal song.  Both of these songs thread her wonderfully catchy acoustic guitar playing with her rocking sensibilities.

The final track on the disc doesn’t fit neatly into any camp.  “The Dancer” is a moody piece, but Harvey’s vocals are loud and strong and probably the most interesting on the disc.

Even though I don’t like this disc as much as her others, I still acknowledge that there’s some great stuff here.

UPDATE: My friend Lar mentions an interview with PJ Harvey in Mojo.  I’ve made it accessible here.

[READ: March 17, 2011] “Rollingwood”

This is a story about a man who is overwhelmed by his life.  But unlike those of us who suffer from general overwhelmedness, Mather has some very specific problems that conspire against him.

The second, and less obvious one is that his work is less than forthright to him.  His supervisor doesn’t communicate well, there are temps in his cubical and, worst of all, the daycare center where his son goes during the day is closed inexplicably.

The first and more obvious problem is his son, Andy.  Well, more to the point the problem is that his ex simultaneously doesn’t think he does a good job rasing their son, but she also has no problem leaving Andy with him when she runs off with her new boyfriend.

Of course, Mather doesn’t speak up for himself in any of these situations so he is not innocent in the problems.  However, Andy’s mother is pretty much a capital b bitch.  She takes off with her new boyfriend for an unspecified amount of time and doesn’t leave any kind of contact number (Andy has health problems, too), yet she still doesn’t accept responsibility for her actions.  And when Mather’s office’s day care center is closed, there’s not very much that he can do. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Colin McAdam–“Jackie” (The Walrus, December/January 2006)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Colin McAdam, Funny (strange), Sex, Short Story, The Tragically Hip, The Walrus, Work on April 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-Live at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2006 (2006).

I hadn’t heard of this album until I stumbled across it on the Yahoo! music page.  As far as I can tell it hasn’t been released on CD.  Or if it was, it’s no longer in print.  But you can download all of these songs from your online retailer.

Austin City Limits has brought out some great performances, but if the cover photo is to be believed, this is the outdoor music festival and not the usual intimate setting that you see on TV.

This is a seven song EP. I’m not sure if it covers their whole set or not.  But it does touch on many of their high points.  “Courage,” easily one of their best songs,  sounds a bit strained here.  Downie’s voice sounds like he can’t hear the rest of the band (although I suspect he was just being intense).  “The Lonely End of the Rink” sounds great, though. A really solid performance.  “Gus,” one of my personal favorites, also sounds fantastic.  These big anthemic songs work very well in this large setting.

They quiet things down a bit with “Bobcaygeon.”  I’ve always felt that this song really shines live, an it certainly does here.  But there’s little downtime when they rock out with the great “Poets.”  “At the Hundredth Meridian” also rocks really hard, but as with “Courage,” Downie seems less than excited to be singing it.  It just doesn’t have the attention to detail that he brings to the other songs.

The set ends with “Blow at High Dough” and unlike the other older songs, Downie seems to be having a lot of fun with this one.  He plays fast and loose with some lyrics, but the stuff he adds is his usual bizarre stuff.  It was a treat to find this recording, even if it isn’t their best live showing.

[READ: March 9, 2011] “Jackie”

As soon as the story opens, you know it’s going to be unusual: “I made a girlfriend a while ago. String, wax, some chemicals.”  And, indeed, the narrator has made a woman, not an inert sculpture, but a full-fledged woman, who eats and speaks and of course has sex.  He names her Jackie.

After her introduction, we learn about him.  He is an engineer and a pro soccer referee.  She enjoys going to the games.  But aside from the amazing sex (he built her well), she seems mostly disinterested in him.  He senses this but, since he made her, he assumes the best (although he does wish she’d get a job as it’s expensive doing all the fun things she wants to do.

So she gets a job at Imovax, and she is very secretive about her work.  He tries to find out even what the company does but she more or less just blows him off. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jim Gavin–“Costello” (New Yorker, December 6, 2010)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Ô Paon, Canadian Music, Drinking, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Jim Gavin, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Work on January 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: Ô PAON-“Courses” (2010).

This album, Sainte Patronne De Rien Pantoutemade ranked #7 on Viking’s Top Ten list and it is very different from the other albums on the list.

This is a simple song with a gentle guitar motif repeated over and over.  There also appears to be some looped vocals.  The singer, Geneviéve Castrée, sings in Quebecois-French and is assisted by Godspeed You Black Emperor mainstay Thierry Amar.

As with many of the songs on this list, the song builds and builds as it repeats itself.  But unlike the other songs, this one never grows menacing or dark.  Rather, it builds, layer upon layer of instrument or voice until the song (whatever it’s about) reaches its climax.

Viking says that there are English liner notes on the disc, but you ‘ll have to buy the disc to get them.  I liked this track more with each listen, and would like to hear more from her.

[READ: January 4, 2011] “Costello”

This is a story of perseverance.  Costello is a middle-aged man with two kids.  When the story opens, we see him floating on a raft in his pool. The pool is overgrown with grossness and, down in the filter, there is a dead lizard.  But Costello seems, if not exactly content, then at least not unhappy.  He has everything he needs nearby: a newspaper, a Zippo and smokes.

Costello is a plumbing salesman, and he has been nominated as salesman of the year (you can read about it in Pipeline!).  It’s pretty much the only exciting news he’s received recently, especially since his beloved Dodgers are middling at best.  Although even he likes being able to watch the Disney fireworks from his roof.

Costello seems like a decent guy.  He also seems liked by others: his coworkers like him, his neighbor likes him (although Costello hasn’t accepted a dinner invitation from him in almost a year).  Through the course of the story we wonder why his wife isn’t there with him.  The answer to this is revealed slowly throughout the story. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Lincoln Park–Handle Time (2008)

Posted in Canadian Music, Corporate skewering, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Lincoln Park, Luther Wright & The Wrongs, Office Space, Short Books, Steve Martin, Work on September 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LUTHER WRIGHT AND THE WRONGS-instrumentality (2006).

I loved Luther’s Rebuild the Wall, and I kind of thought of him as country, but not really country.  A sort of punky country (his song “Broken Fucking Heart” lead me in that direction, too).

But this album is all instrumentals (hence the title) and it’s very traditional bluegrass/banjo-fueled tracks.   Eleven tracks in all (totaling about 22 minutes).  There’s even a cover of “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”  Listening to this I realized that I like banjo music (not as my favorite type mind you, but certainly more than a little).  Steve Martin (an excellent banjoist himself) once said:

“You just can’t sing a depressing song when you’re playing the banjo. You can’t go– [grins, plays and sings] “Oh, murder and death and grief and sorrow!”

And there’s something to be said for that.  With this fun collection of mostly 2 minutes songs, you’ll smile for twenty minutes or so.  (And the playing is top notch, too).

[READ: September 11, 2010] Handle Time

When I wrote about One Night @ the Call Center, several readers said I must read Handle Time, that it was the consummate Call Center novel and that it was much better than One Night.  So I tried to find it.  No libraries in New Jersey carried it.  And although I could get it at Amazon, there was precious little other information about it.  Well, I finally decided to add it to our library collection (so I didn’t have to pay for it) and to read it for myself.

My first surprise came when the first line of the text has the word embarrassed written in a super large font.  The font is so large in fact that it put a pretty sizable space between the lines of text (that’s called leading).  My second surprise came when I saw that littered throughout the text were a whole bunch of large words and crazy fonts and a bunch of clip art pictures that showed what was happening.  (I was especially surprised when one of them turned out to be Mr Burns from The Simpsons!).

So it turns out that there are different fonts throughout the book, some of them large and crazy, others fancy and scripty.  But the long and short of it is that this book is really only about 50 pages long (I mean I read the entire 188 pages in about 2 hours).

Okay, but what about the content.  Well the plot itself is fairly brief.  Chase gets a job at a call center.  She sits through orientation, begins working, gets demoralized and has a panic attack about her job.  That’s pretty much it.  But really what you read the book for is for the side bits, the comments, the snark, the sympathizing with call center workers.

Except that I’ve never worked in a call center and yet I have experienced many of the things in the novel.  So, this book, much loved by call center workers, could be about pretty much any shit job (except for the part about keeping your numbers up (and the part about not actually helping people because it skews your average handle time)).  But bad cafeterias, microwaves, bizarre HR nonsense, stupid powerpoints, they’re part of any corporate job.  And she does a good job in skewering them, they’re just not specific to call centers.   (more…)

Read Full Post »

David Foster Wallace–“A New Examiner” (Harper’s, September, 2010)

Posted in Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Canadian Music, David Foster Wallace, Harper's, The Believer, The Flaming Lips, The Polyphonic Spree, Work on August 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE POLYPHONIC SPREE-The Beginning Stages of… (2001).

The Polyphonic Spree caused a lot of stir when they released this album.  There were like twenty of them, they all wore robes, and they sang choral chamber pop that was incredibly infectious.  Some people hated them outright.  And yet at least one of their songs was deemed worthy of being in a commercial (maybe that’s why people hated them).

It’s been almost ten years since the record came out and I have to say it still holds up really well.  In fact, given the trend of music over the decade, it almost seems like a precursor to bands like The Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene (the swelling orchestral bits, that is) and there’s the inevitable comparisons with The Flaming Lips.  Even Nick Hornby got into the act, naming one of his collections of essays for The Believer, The Polysyllabic Spree.

Unlike a lot of music that I’ve been enjoying lately, this album doesn’t have a lot of diversity within it.  That’s not to say that it’s bad, because what it does it does very well.  Symphonic pop.  Euphoric, majestic, swelling happiness.

You have to be very cynical not to be moved by some of these songs.  (Or really into death metal, anyway).

Of course, nobody needs the 36 minutes of synthesized swirls that constitute the last “song.”

[READ: August 12, 2010] “A New Examiner”

For those following the releases of excerpts from The Pale King, this is apparently the same fiction that was published in Issue #6 of The Lifted Brow (which I haven’t seen, so I don’t know if this is the same excerpt in toto). (more…)

Read Full Post »

America in Color 1939-1943

Posted in Depression, Funky Web Sites, History, Military, Newspapers, Nostalgia, Photo Essays, Set at School, Technology, Work on August 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

[VIEWED: August 5, 2010] America in Color 1939-1943

The Denver Post recently published 70 color photographs from the Depression.   You can see them all here.  The photographs are part of the Library of Congress’ collection of photos.  The Library of Congress’ collection houses 1,600 color and over 160,000 black and white photos from this period in American history.  It is a bit more for scholars, as you can’t just browse the pictures like in the Denver Post site, but for completeness, you really must check out the LOC prints.  They’re available here.

But back to the Denver Post.  The Post’s collection of 70s prints come from the Library of Congress’ 2006 Exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.  These Post’s pictures are very large and very clear (they are reproduced from slides).  And they are all downloadable.

They include photos from New Mexico, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Georgia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, California, Texas, Nebraska, Ohio, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Washington D.C., Illinois, Iowa, Virginia, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan.

And, they show the amazingly diverse makeup of the country.  From a peach farmer to a railway worker.  From kids fishing, to kids playing in the snow.  From women at a fair, to women welding.  From men on horseback to men in front of bomber.  Not to mention, the creation of the Shasta Dam!  (It’s amazing — #28)

The thing that amazes me most about these pictures is that although some things have changed quite dramatically in sixty years, other things haven’t.  Kids still fish, stores still sell fruits and veggies, and people still love pictures of scenery and interesting faces.

You can obviously tell that these pictures are old.  Even the ones without people just look old, why is that?–see #2 in particular for one that looks old even though nothing in the picture is dated.  Or picture #11: the women’s faces simply look like the were photographed 60 years ago.  Or this one, which I’m including.  There’s nothing particularly dated about the picture, and yet you can tell this didn’t just happen in 2010.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Fredy Perlman–[Week 9] Letters of Insurgents (1976)

Posted in Anarchy, Big Books, Canadian Music, Communists, Consumerism, Drugs, Fredy Perlman, Free Speech, Insurgent Summer, Military, Morality, Politicians, Rush, Technology, Unlikable main character, Work on August 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RUSH-“The Trees” (1978).

I suppose many people know this kind-of popular song from Rush.  But lyrically it seemed relevant to Insurgent Summer.

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their please.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can’t be happy in their shade.

There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream “Oppression!”
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
“The oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light.”
Now there’s no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.

I’ve liked this song for some twenty-five years and my interpretation of it changes every once in a while.  I’m not sure if the book influences my thoughts on the song, but it seemed relevant.

Oh, and it totally rocks, too.

[READ: Week of July 30, 2010] Letters of Insurgents [Eighth Letters]

Yarostan replies to Sophia’s letter by saying that her victory is complete, that he has been looking through opaque lenses all these years.

But the main focus of this letter is the dance at the factory that Yara and Mirna have coordinated.  They decorated the whole room (moving machinery aside) to have the experience of the life that Sabina lived.  It even included signs that said “everything is allowed” and “nothing is banned.”

The dance is basically a retelling of Mirna’s story, complete with Mother with Broom, Devil, and all the other characters that we’ve heard about in their bizarre “love games”  Although the dancing part with the spinning and circling and all the music sounds like it might have been fun, I feel like the audience must have been very confused and a little bummed that there wasn’t more dancing for all.

After the dance Jasna reveals that she asked Titus to marry her.  Twice.  And Jasna reveals that Titus has said some awful things about Luisa and Vera (and, yes, Mirna) over the years.  Yara still hates him. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Fredy Perlman–[Week 5] Letters of Insurgents (1976)

Posted in Anarchy, Consumerism, Culture Shock, Dead Kennedys, Dystopia, Epistolary Novel, Fredy Perlman, Free Speech, Insurgent Summer, Politicians, Threats, War, Work on July 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: DEAD KENNEDYS-Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980).

Punks often marry politics to their music.  And none moreso than the Dead Kennedys.  I found out about them around the Frankenchrist album, but it’s this one that introduced Jello Biafra to the world.

What I loved about the Dead Kennedys is that they set out to offend everyone–unless you actually listened to their lyrics. The first track, “Kill the Poor” seems like it a horrifying encouragement to do just that, but if you read the lyrics: “Efficiency and progress is ours once more/Now that we have the Neutron bomb/It’s nice and quick and clean and gets things done/Away with excess enemy/But no less value to property/No sense in war but perfect sense at home.”   As was recently commented, Dick Cheney may have seen the sarcasm there.

“Let’s Lynch the Landlord” is a song that Sophia and Yarostan could get behind: “I tell them ‘turn on the water’/I tell ’em ‘turn on the heat’/Tells me ‘All you ever do is complain’/Then they search the place when I’m not here.”

The biggest track of the disc was “Holiday in Cambodia,” a song so catchy that Dockers actually asked to use it in a commercial (!).  Cause nothing sells jeans like: “Play ethnicky jazz/To parade your snazz/On your five grand stereo/Braggin’ that you know/How the niggers feel cold/And the slums got so much soul.”

The thing that I especially liked about the DKs was that although they played hardcore (some brutally fast and crazily short songs), they didn’t limit themselevs to just that.  They had actual guitar riffs, they tinkered with styles and genres (surf and rockabilly among others), and they even slowed things down from time to time (all the better to hear the lyrics).

Even if the band disintegrated into lawsuits, it’s fair to say that they inspired plenty of kids to take an interest in what was going on around them.

Pol Pot.

[READ: Week of June 25, 2010] Letters of Insurgents [Yarostan’s Fifth Letter]

Because Sophia’s letter is very long, this week it’s only Yarostan’s letter for Insurgent Summer.  It opens with Yara annoyed about the tone of Sophia’s letters and her surprise that Yarostan is so quick to want to open the latest one.   But indeed, Yarostan feels compelled to apologize for “the way I treated your earlier letters.  I did treat you as an outsider, as a person with whom I couldn’t communicate about my present situation.  I was wrong” (283).  [It’s very nice of him to admit that he was wrong].  But that doesn’t mean that he is going to lighten up in his discussions with Sophia: “it seems to me that …critical appreciation is not an expression of hostility but is at the very basis of communication and friendship” (285).  Mirna also chimes in (with rather high praise):

Sophia is a born troublemaker, just like Jan and Yara.  She shares Jan’s recklessness as well as his courage.  I’m glad for her sake that she was taken away from here even if her emigration caused her some pain.  There’s no room here for people like that.  If she’d stayed she would have disappeared years ago in a prison or concentration camp (283). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Fredy Perlman–[Week 4] Letters of Insurgents (1976)

Posted in Anarchy, Big Books, Billy Bragg, Communists, Culture Shock, Death, Drinking, Fears, Fredy Perlman, Free Speech, Insurgent Summer, Language, Military, Newspapers, Politicians, Unreliable narrator, Wilco, Work on July 2, 2010| 3 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: BILLY BRAGG-Talking to the Taxman About Poetry (1986).

I’ve liked Billy for ages now.  I’ve seen him live a few times, and I’ve always loved that his accent is so prominent when he sings.  Over the years he has become somewhat less overtly political, but he is still a man of issues and causes.

This is Billy Bragg’s second full length.  He was still primarily a man with a voice and a guitar at this stage.  His melodies are strong, and since there’s no other instrumentation, all that’s left to talk about is the lyrics.

“Greetings to the New Brunette” is an adorable love song, followed closely by the anti-marriage “The Marriage”: “If I share my bed with you Must I also share my life Love is just a moment of giving And marriage is when we admit our parents were right.” (which doesn’t quite jibe with Sophia, but it’s close.

But really what you come to Billy Bragg for is the politics.  LIke in “Ideology”:  The voices of the people Are falling on deaf ears Our politicians all become careerists They must declare their interests  But not their company cars  Is there more to a seat in parliament  Then sitting on your arse.”

He also covers a public domain song which I wondered how well it would fit here.  “There is Power in a Union” seems like it’s saying the right thing, but some of the characters here would disagree about the end: There is power in a factory, power in the land Power in the hands of a worker But it all amounts to nothing if together we don’t stand There is power in a Union.”

This album also features the great track, “Help Save the Youth of America.”

Over the years Billy would expand his sound (he even worked with Wilco on two discs), but he always sings for the people.

[READ: Week of July 2, 2010] Letters of Insurgents [Fourth Letters]

As I’ve been going along in the story, I began to wonder if the two letter writers were going to be rehashing the same arguments in each letter.  I had confidence in Perlman that the story would be interesting (it sure had been so far), but I couldn’t imagine how he would keep it original, especially since Yarostan was in jail for so long–he has no information except secondhand.

This week’s reading gave two examples of how he’d do it:  Jasna comes to visit Yarostan and she updates everyone about what had happened to all of their fellow workers, and Sophia reveals a horrible situation in which she hits rock bottom–a real physical bottom, not a philosophical one. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »