SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Sabotage (1975).

Sabotage seems to be somewhat forgotten (maybe because of the creepy cover art 0f Ozzy in a kimono and fascinating platform shoes, Bill Ward in red tights with a codpiece (and visible underwear on the back cover), and Geezer and Tony’s mustaches).
But this album rocks pretty hard and heavy.
“Hole in the Sky” is a sort of spastic rocker with Ozzy screaming vocals over the top of the rocking track.
“Don’t Start (Too Late)” is the by now obligatory acoustic guitar piece.  But this one is different, for it has some really wild and unpredictable aspects to it.

“Symptom of the Universe” is another classic Sabbath track, a blistering heavy fast riff with the wonderful Ozzy-screamed: “Yeaaaaaahs!”  It then surprises you by going into an extended acoustic guitar workout for a minute and a half at the end.

“Megalomania” is a slow ponderous piece. Unlike the psychedelic tracks from the previous records, this one moves along with a solid back beat. It also has a great bridge (“Why doesn’t everybody leave me alone?”). They definitely had fun with the effects (echoing vocals, etc.) on this one.  And, like their prog rock forebears, this song segues into another rhythm altogether when we get the wonderfully fast rock segment.  And the humorous point where the music pauses and Ozzy shouts “Suck me!”

“Thrill of it All” is a pretty good rocker, which after a  pretty simple opening morphs into a slow, surprisingly keyboard-fueled insanely catchy coda.  “Supertzar” is a wonderfully creepy instrumental.  It runs 3 minutes and is all minor-keys and creepy Exorcist-like choirs.  When the song breaks and the bizzaro Iommi riff is joined by the choir, you can’t help but wonder why no horror film has used this as its intro music.

“Am I Going Insane (Radio)” is a very catchy keyboardy track.  It clearly has crossover potential (although the lyrics are wonderfully bizarre).  But it ends with totally creepy laughing and then wailing.    “The Writ” ends the album. It’s another solid rocker and it ends with an acoustic coda with Ozzy’s plaintive vocals riding over the top.

Sabotage has some truly excellent moments.  It’s just hard to fathom the amount of prog-rock tendencies they’ve been throwing onto their last few discs (we’ll say Rick Wakeman had something to do with it).

Black Sabbath made two more albums before Ozzy left.  I haven’t listened to either one of them in probably fifteen years.  And my recollection of them is that they’re both pretty lousy.  Maybe one of these days I’ll see if they prove me wrong.

[READ: December 16, 2009] McSweeney’s #7

This was the first McSweeney’s edition that I didn’t buy new.  My subscription ran out after Issue #6 and I never saw #7  in the stores.  So, I recently had to resort to a used copy.

This issue came packaged with a cardboard cover, wrapped with a large elastic band.

Inside you get several small volumes each with its own story (this style hearkens back to McSweeney’s #4, but the presentation is quite different).  7 of the 9 booklets feature an artistic cover that relates to the story but is done by another artist (not sure if they were done FOR the story or not).  I have scanned all of the covers.  You can click on each one to see a larger picture.

The booklets range from 16 to 100 pages, but most are around 30 pages.  They are almost all fiction, except for the excerpt from William T. Vollman’s 3,500 page Rising Up and Rising Down and the essays that accompany the Allan Seager short story.

KEVIN BROCKMEIER-”The Ceiling” [cover by Eric White]
The basic plot of this story is quite simple: a large black square appears in the sky one day.  Slowly it sinks towards the earth, growing larger and larger.  Despite the somewhat Stephen King-like nature of the premise, the story is really all about how people live their lives: specifically, how one man’s family acts during this crisis.  I enjoyed the story quite a bit.

However, I was confused by the beginning.  The opening scene is at the son’s  birthday party.  There’s a lot of detail given, but it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the rest of the story.  It begins with the son telling a fictional tale about himself in a hot air balloon with the father noting, on a separate line: “This is a story.”

It seemed like this was all a set up for something special.  And I’m just not sure how that ties together with the rest of the story.  But I’m not too worried about it as I enjoyed the piece as a whole.

ANN CUMMINS-”Red Ant House” [cover by Tim Bower]
I really enjoyed Cummins’ story in McSweeney’s #6, so I was excited to read this one.  The red ant house is a house down the block that is infested with red ants.  A new family moves into the house and the daughter of that family immediately latches on to the narrator of the story, Leigh.  Leigh is one of 6 kids whose mother is pregnant again.

The new girl, Theresa Mooney, lives with a man who is not her father and a woman who is her mother.  The man seems to have families all over the place.  None of this is good news for Theresa Mooney, especially when Leigh and her siblings decide to point it out to her.  Despite her best intentions however, Leigh and Theresa become friendly, and their bonding is complete when they dare each other to do something risky.

This story didn’t blow me away as much as the previous one, but there was something oddly affecting about it.

A.M. HOMES-”Do Not Disturb” [cover by Melinda Beck]
This is a very prickly story.  It can easily be summed up by the exchange: “You knew I was a bitch before you married me, say something original.”  In the story, a man and his wife are quite obviously falling apart (as individuals and as a couple).  Before the evening’s events, the couple had yet another huge fight.  And he thinks, yet again, of leaving her.  But that night, during dinner, she becomes gravely ill.

Since she is a doctor, she is reluctant to go to the ER, but after several hours of agony, she relents.  She is diagnosed with cancer.  But this diagnosis, rather than softening her, as everyone suspects, just makes her more prickly, more demanding, even less compassionate.  But he can’t leave a cancer-riddled wife can he?  Even if she pushes him out?  This was a very dark story, but it was very powerful.  And, as with all of A.M. Homes work that I’ve read, it was very good.

MICHAEL CHABON-”The Return of the Amazing Cavalieri” [front & back covers by Chris Ware]
I loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay when I read it a few years ago.  I was delighted to discover that this story (the cover art suggests it is an “Un-Told Tale of Kavalier and Clay”) was included here.  Sadly for me, I don’t remember too many details of the novel (it was like ten years ago, right?).  Happily for me, they are not relevant to this story.

This piece concerns Cavalieri himself.  He is walking to school with his nephew and the fear and dread he had during grammar school is rushing back at him.  Cavalieri’s nephew has promised his class that The Amazing Kavalier will perform some magic tricks (maybe even escape from a safe!) for Sharing Time.  Cavalieri susses up the class and decides that they are at the perfect age to be simply skeptical.  He grows more nervous as Sharing Time approaches.

He proceeds to perform his simple tricks, but when he suspects that the kids are not all that impressed, he attempts one grand feat.  I enjoyed this story immensely and it makes me want to re-read Kavalier and Clay (or at the very least Maps & Legends, which is sitting on my bedside right now).

The cover art by Chris Ware is, of course, fantastic.  The front cover is designed to look just like a comic book.  And the back cover is even more fun (in a sick and twisted way) as an ad for how much your life will suck if you have a baby.

HEIDI JULAVITS-”Little Little Big Man” [cover by Elizabeth Kairys]
This is, frankly, a bizarre story.  It involves a tiny man named Big who works for a rodeo.  And beyond that the story is full of what I can’t decide is fantasy, magical realism or just hallucinations.

Big becomes involved with a large woman who carries him over her shoulder (his face getting caught in her skirt ruffles as it bumps against her behind).  This part was very funny.

They become serious and settle down.  He grows unhappy and winds up spending a lot of his time climbing into her uterus to read the graffiti that her six children have written in there.

[Pause for people to digest that sentence].

So I’m not sure what to make of details like that.  There are questions of impotence, unfaithfulness and pseudo-bestiality.  And while I understand what happened plot-wise, arriving there was a very bizarre path.

J.T. LEROY-”Harold’s End” [cover by Sharon Leong]
Of course, now we know that J.T. Leroy is a fraud or a pseudonym depending on your opinion of the author’s stunt.  It makes it hard to read this for the first time without having the author’s reality impinging on the story.  I’m not sure if I would have been quite as cynical about the story if I didn’t know what I know about Leroy.  But I an inclined to think that I would have been at least suspicious of the details of the story anyhow.

The basic premise here is that a man approaches a group of kids on the street.  They are suspicious of him (is he a cop, a social worker, a john?), but when they see he is handing out free needles, they relent.  He singles out one boy and invites him back to his house, where they shoot heroin and hang out for an extended period of time.  A single event (that I will get to in a moment) happens which causes friction between them and the boy is asked to leave.

I was immediately suspicious of the story because the kids seem completely unreal.  I’m not even sure how old they are supposed to be.  They hang out on the curb but it’s unclear if they are trying to score drugs, if they are trying to score dates or what.  The only thing we know is that they all have pets (a rat, a pit bull and a boa constrictor)  hanging out with them.  And, the kids tell the man that all of their pets have pedigrees (in far more exacting detail than one might expect a kid to know).  The title of the story comes because the boy who the man brings home did not have a pet.  Along with the heroin, the man gives the boy a snail named Harold as a pet that he can take care of himself.

So, despite the fact that the man is in the role of chickenhawk for this young boy, nothing sexual ever happens between them, except for the event that causes the friction (which is wholly unexpected and really rather disgusting).  But it’s not even entirely apparent afterward why the man is upset (because it didn’t work? was he just embarrassed?).  The whole scene from start to finish seemed unbelievable.  Finally, as the story ends, we see the boy is too squeamish to clean out the snail’s poop, yet moments later he willingly dives into a dumpster (not to mention the disgusting scene above).  It just doesn’t add up.

The whole story rang false to me.  Maybe it was meant to be over the top; maybe it was meant to be surreally funny.  Maybe it was a hyperreal or fantasy look at kids on the street.  But I don’t think so.  It was just creepy.

COURTNEY ELDRIDGE-”The Former World Record Holder Settles Down” [cover by Katherine Streeter]
This is one of the longest stories that McSweeney’s has published.  It’s 75 pages.  And, what is so great about it is that it never feels like a long story.  And what’s even better is that the story goes through many twists and turns to end up in a sad but interesting place.

I loved the fact that the story begins by talking about the narrators’ husband.  And he is a bowling dork.  He loves bowling, he bowls all the time, and he has even gotten the narrator–a hipster New York woman who only thought of bowling ironically–to enjoy bowling.  As well as other sports, too.  He gets her to watch and enjoy baseball (and she develops a mad crush on Don Zimmer (!)).

But back to bowling.  Her husband, Joel, gets very mad at himself if he doesn’t bowl well.  And his mood stays dark for quite some time.

But.  He’s not the titular record holder.  The world record of the title comes as a complete shock (and I won’t reveal it).  But once we learn of the record, everything in the story changes (except they still love bowling).

As the story progresses, we learn more and more about the narrator and how much her father’s disappearance had affected her.  And how much she hates to talk about her past.  And how much she loves her husband for not pushing things about her past.  Until he does.  And then things comes to a head.

There’s so much going on in this story, and it all starts so simply as a bowling tale.   It was a great, great story.

WILLIAM T. VOLLMAN-”The Old Man:  A Case Study from Rising Up and Rising Down“
This is a 100-page excerpt from Vollman’s 3,500 page study of violence called Rising Up and Rising Down (which I will never read).  This excerpt is a case study, written in 1995 and concerns Muslim terrorists in Thailand.

The excerpt reads like a real-life version of Apocalypse Now.  Vollman is in Thailand trying to get an interview with The Old Man, the reputed head of PULO, the Pattani Unification Liberation Organization.  Vollman interviews (with his faithful translator D.) citizens of Thailand and Malaysia as well as political figures and former members of PULO.

The main problem I have with the excerpt is that the context is left out.  We never learn who D. is or how he met her.  And, we have no context for WHY he wants to do this.  He spends days and days negotiating with bureaucrats, thugs and taxi drivers only to ultimately end up right where he started from.  Is it all in aid of this book?  I’m not entirely sure.  I’m sure that the full text covers this, so it’s not really a compliant.  I just wish I had a little context  for this daunting piece.

As for the piece itself although it is a look at only one instance of violence, it is still fascinating to hear people involved in this organization (the quotes are direct in broken English, lending credence to the authenticity).  And it is fascinating to see the kind of security that this man, the head of a terrorist organization, has and yet doesn’t have (and the difficult in actually finding the man).  And to hear how much is hidden in plain sight about members of the organization is rather surprising.

No answers are forthcoming about the why’s of terrorism (maybe they are answered in the big book).  But Vollman is a dogged investigator and an excellent writer.  And although I don’t want to say I enjoyed the excerpt, I’m glad I read it.  (But I’m still not going to read the 3,500 page version).

ALLAN SEAGER-”This Town and Salamanca”
Seager is a once-revered writer whose work has largely gone out of print.  This booklet contains this short story as well as some commentary from others.  The three nonfiction essays attached add a lot of backstory, and certainly allow the reader to learn a lot more about his work and about Seager himself.

I didn’t think I would enjoy the story all that much.  They way it opened, I feared it was going to be a travelogue.  But as it progressed I found it really enjoyable and surprisingly deep.  The premise is that in his youth, John was a world traveler.  He built a boat and sailed to Cuba.  He joined the army to learn how to fly, and then he left the army and then he rejoined the army once again.  He learned to fence in Italy and France.  And then he returned from Salamanca to settle down in “this town.”

The story is really about the other residents of the town and how they more or less hung their hopes and dreams on his journeys, since none of them would ever leave the town.  They relish his stories when he returns and ask for as many details as they can get.  And his details are juicy and quite delightful.

But when he settles down in his home town, everyone is a little disappointed that their wanderer has stopped wandering.  It is a simple no-frills story, and was quite effective.

JOHN WARNER-”Allan Seager: An Introduction”
Warner provides a brief sketch of Seager’s life: his rise to fame as a short story writer (and the numerous places that have published his work: Esquire, The New Yorker, Playboy) and his eventual loss of recognition.  He also fills in details about his personal life (and health).

JOAN FRY-”Colorless in Limestone Caverns: a remembrance”
As a student, Fry set out to seduce Seager.  She was ultimately successful.  But their relationship proved to be a terrible hindrance to her creative writing (although she wound up being the impetus for one of Seager’s own stories).  She spent much of their time together trying to get away.  I actually found this true story to be slightly more compelling than Seager’s short story itself.

STEVEN CONNELLY-”Man is Born For Sorrow as the Sparks Fly Upwards: a remembrance”
Connelly was a student of Seager’s.  His essay here describes how autobiographical “This Town and Salamanca” is.  Seager also traveled the world and then settled down in his home town to write.  It also describes him as a wonderful teacher, who knew as much about James Joyce as anyone.  Seager was inspirational for Connelly as well as many other students.

~~

McSweeney’s #7 is another great collection of stories.  It was absolutely worth tracking it down.

SOUNDTRACK:  McSweeney’s #6 comes with a CD.

Most of the music on the CD is performed by They Might Be Giants (a rather perfect fit for McSweeney’s).  Some other musicians who appear are: M. Doughty, Philip Glass, Michael Meredith. Roger Greenawalt & S.E. Willis

Instructions included with book:

#3. The compact disc contains music.  There are 44 discrete pieces of music –”Tracks”–on this compact disc.  Each Track corresponds to a picture, series of pictures, or story–a Piece–in this journal.  When you are reading or looking at a certain Piece, we ask that you cue your compact disc to the corresponding Track on the disc.  The appropriate track number will appear prominently, usually under the title of each Piece.  Note: The track number will no appear on subsequent pages of the Piece.

#6. Please note that you may listen to Tracks without reading their Pieces and you may read Pieces without listening to their corresponding Tracks.  But this is not recommended.  You fucking bastard.

[READ: December 8, 2009] McSweeney’s #6

I’m finally getting back to reading some older McSweeney’s issues.  This was the final issue that I received from my initial subscription.  I distinctly remember being excited by the CD and maybe reading some of the book, but clearly never finishing it.

So yes, this issue comes with a CD.  The intro note explains that each Piece in the book has an accompanying  Track on the CD, and, you are to only listen to the Track that accompanies the Piece you are reading…never read a piece while listening to the wrong track.  Ever!  It explains that each Track has been created to be as long as it would take you to read each Piece.  But there are obviously many exceptions. The first story for instance is well over ten pages but the song is about 5 seconds long.  And, the Arthur Bradford Track is 8 minutes long when anyone could read the Piece much more quickly.

The bulk of the songs are by They Might Be Giants.  Anyone who knows TMBG knows you can’t summarize their work, and this book exercise is ideal for them: there are several pieces that are just a few second long.  But they also write some nice longer pieces as well.  And, of course, they are perfectly suited for mood music that works well with the writing.  Some of the songs have words which is a bit distracting while trying to read, but that’s okay.  I did try my best to follow the prescription about only listening to the appropriate song, but I admit to getting off pace from time to time. 

The notes also state that this was initially meant to be an all art issue.  They abandoned that premise, but there is still a lot of very cool art work in it. There are excerpts from artists’ works, there are drawings by non-artists, there’s even a full comic sketch from Chris Ware!

This is probably one of my favorite McSweeney’s thus far.  The music is great, the artwork is wonderful.  Some of the short stories are really really short (a page or two) and most of those are just okay, but they are made up for by some really strong ones (Zadie Smith).

BREYTEN-BREYTENBACH-”(Notes from the Middle World)”
Breytenbach is a South African writer. I’ve found his work to be hard to read (because of th content) in the past.  This piece I found doubly hard as it was very abstract (its about placelessness). The Middle World is meant to be the world in between realities.  I can’t say I got a lot of it, although I understood the gist.  This was apparently a speech, and I wonder if it would have worked better as one (with a handout).

KARL HAENDEL-various photos:
“Dollar for Dollar Invest in the Past,” “Oprah Helped Me Through This,” “It’s Getting Late”, “Mr. & Mrs. Nuclear,” “I Want It Faster Better Now,” “Grassroots Internet Revolution,” “Even My T-Shirt has a History,” “Lincoln, Washington,” “People Died Today,” “Be Kind and Gentle When You Have a Big Stick,” “Mona Lisa”
Haendel is an artist who (at least for these compositions) paints a few words onto white plywood and then photographs them in specific locations.  You can tell by the title list above a little of the intent behind them.  I enjoyed his pieces quite a bit.  Although they work more on a “huh” or perhaps a “yes!” level than as brilliant works of art.  The exception is Mona Lisa where the plywood has a print of Mona Lisa attached sideways to a car which is parked in front of an Art Gallery.

STEVE FEATHERSTONE-”The Garden of Eden”
A very short piece (one paragraph) about a man whose father is intending to build the Garden of Eden in his yard. Details are given, which are undermined by the story’s conclusion.  More of an exercise than a story, it’s hard to say much about it.

IAN FRAZIER-”Eulogy for Saul Steinberg”
This is a loving look at Saul Steinberg.  I didn’t know a thing about Steinberg before reading this, but I was charmed by the man and found this to be very enjoyable piece.
The song for this piece is John Linnel’s solo song “West Virginia.”

W. KOENIGSTEIN-”W. Koenigstein’s Colossal Outpouring: Affair Number Six”
With an Intro by Lawrence Weschler (more about him later).  Koenigstein created delightful landscapes with very simple line drawings.  This showcases several of the pictures from one notebook (And details his rather obsessive work).

SEAN WILSEY-”Marfa, Revisited”
This is a continuation of the Marfa saga that Wilsey wrote about in McSweeney’s #2.  Unlike that first piece, which was lengthy and packed with information, this Revisiting is a bit more fun. It is broken down into several small sections of examples of the quirky kinds of things that happen when you visit Marfa.  It is full of interesting characters, probably none of whom are unique to Marfa, but for whom Marfa was probably like a calling card.
The song for this piece was written and performed by Michael Meredith.

AMY SILLMAN-”Untitled”
A painting, part of a  35 foot long painting.  See samples of her work here.

ZADIE SMITH-”The Girl with Bangs”
This is the first Zadie Smith piece I’ve read since enjoying On Beauty.  It’s an older story (published after her forst novel), and I think it’s great.  The premise is that the narrator, a woman who usually dates men falls for a woman with spectacular bangs.  The narrator now understands what men go through when they’re rendered speechless by a beautiful woman.  It’s a funny and insightful piece and showed that Smith was a great writer, with an excellent grasp of emotions even then.  I fully intend to read the rest of her work, and this was a great impetus to find that first novel.

The story ends with a blank page that notes that Smith’s story used to be longer.

CANDY JERNIGAN-”Excerpt from 99 Blue Rocks”
Candy Jernigan  and her partner Philip Glass traveled to Nova Scotia.   He composed and she drew pictures of rocks.  Here’s a sample of many of these drawings.  And they are technically brilliant.  Most of them look like photographs.  But beyond that, the rocks also seems to have, if not personalities, then at least some kind of quality that makes them seem like more than “just rocks.”  It’s pretty amazing.
The music for this piece is written and performed by Philip Glass

ROY KESEY-”The Workshop”
This piece is a sort of fable about patience.  When a man is told to make an airplane out of a paperclip, he is perpetually sent back to work on it until it is done correctly.  The reaction to his success, and the conclusion of the piece are quite delightful.

GINA O’MARA-”After This, Everything Got Louder and No One Could be Heard”
This very short piece concerns the creation of a whale, out of the ether.  Something of a creation myth.  I’m just not that inspired by these shorter pieces.

ANN CUMMINS-”Billy by the Bay”
This is a funny/sad story about Billy.  Billy’s night has gone from awesome to terrible when he is publicly humiliated in from of the woman he was planning to hooking up with (she promised to feel his balls!).  Billy’s revenge is sweet but short-lived and is packed with adrenaline (and his large balls).
The accompanying song is Ann Cummins herself reciting the last six or seven paragraphs of the much longer story.  It’s fun to hear the author getting into her story.  Performed by Ann Cummins with S.E. Willis on piano.

WALKER EVANS-”The Deltiographs of Walker Evans”
A deltiograph is a picture postcard.  Walker Evans collected over 9,000 penny picture postcards.  They are preserved in a gallery.  Several are shown here and they are really quite neat.  They are either drawings or colored photographs from all over the country circa the early 20th century. There’s some really cool stuff here. I wish they were online for more thorough viewing.
The song is by Erika Kawalek with Roger Greenawalt on banjo.

BARRY BLITT-”Barry Blitt’s Vacation Postcards”
Blitt is an artist whose work is very familiar (he has done many New Yorker covers (including this week’s with President Obama and Santa Claus).  This is a collection of postcards that he designed and drew.  (He even includes the note inside the “place stamp here” box).  There’s a short interview with him which is also revealing.  I enjoying learning about his technique, and of course, the pictures themselves are great.

JOHN WARNER-”Tough Day for the Army: In the Beginning”
A weird little story that begins with he Army and ends with professional food photography.  I’m not entirely sure how they got from point A to point B.

LYDIA DAVIS-”Oral History with Hiccups”
This story was in Lydia Davis’ book Samuel Johnson is Indignant. I found this to be one of her lesser pieces, although it is mildly amusing.  There are graphic representations of hiccups in the story.

LAWRENCE WESCHLER-”Convergences: Gazing Out Toward: Kret/Friedrick/Diebenkorn”
Weschler’s Convergences book is pretty great.  This is another excerpt that was eventually put into the book. In this one he looks at several pictures of people gazing, whether at the viewer, at a sunset, or into the hazy distance. Weschler’s pieces are always fascinating.

CHRIS WARE-”Sketch for Little Lit:  A Very Sad Story About a Frog and A Banjo, Not at All Appropriate for Children”
Little Lit is a cool series of comic for kids.  This sketch was done for the inaugural edition.  However, if you know Chris Ware, you know that his stuff is not for children.  He somehow managed to rein this in and make it more kid friendly, but as it stands in this sketch, the piece is twisted (and quite funny).  The best thing about this piece here is that it shows Ware’s sketches.  So if you’ve ever wondered how he does his letters/figures, here’s a great chance to see them.  (It’s very cool).
The song is performed by M Doughty

SASKIA HAMILTON-”Robert Lowell’s Letters Containing Artwork”
This is a collection of poet Robert Lowell’s letters that contain art (he wrote a few when he was a kid, and then a few more much much later when his daughter was 13 or so).  His art is not very good, but as Hamilton argues, it was very expressive and revealed a lot about him.  It’s always fascinating to see an artist struggle (both before and after his success).

SAMANTHA HUNT-”Bathymetry”
A short piece about two sailors.  The American sailor mentions a mermaid but is lucky to be drawn away to his duty before the French sailor can regale him with a story of his own about a mermaid.  The mermaid story is pretty funny.

DAVE FORD-”Dave Ford’s Drawings by Trucks”
Dave Ford set up an art studio in he back of his big rig. It consisted of two liter bottles filled with fluid suspended from the top of the truck with pencils attached to the bottoms.  As he drove the truck the pencils would sketch out abstract “art.”  It’s fascinating, even if the art isn’t that inspirational.  But the picture of the bottles is pretty amazing.

MARK O’DONNELL-”Hard Truths”
Set up as a movie with stage directions, this piece is a series of clichés that attack each other in their attempt to get their messages across.

RICHARD ERIKSON-”Richard Erickson, Art Teacher Who Also Makes Art
Erikson’s art is fantastic.  The titles bring wonderful insight into the simple pictures (crumpled jeans are named “elephant”). Great stuff.”

ARTHUR BRADFORD-”Roslyn’s Dog”
The song for this track is Arthur Bradford reading the entire story.  Except…his ending is completely different in the audio versus the printed version.  It’s hard to know which to review.  The basic gist is that the narrator pet’s Rosyln’s dog which bites him.  In something reminiscent of a werewolf movie (although not scary), he gradually tuns into a dog himself. In the printed version, the dogs run off together; in the audio version, a major twist is thrown in.  I think I prefer the audio version, actually.

SHEILA HETI-”The Man from Out of Town”
This was a dark story which ended in a place that was surprisingly even more dark.

FRANZ SWANSON-”Slow”
This story is about an Indian named Slow, who will eventually grow up to be Sitting Bull.  It mostly involves Slow chasing Crow.  I wasn’t terribly inspired by this piece.

JUDY BUDNITZ-”Just Borrowing It for a Little While”
This was a fascinating story that left a lot to the imagination.  Two girls are driving, when something bad happens and they are sent to community service as hospital candy-stripers.  While there, they get into more (somewhat unintentional) mischief.  Although I’m not entirely sure what happened, I enjoyed reading it.

LAWRENCE WESCHLER-”Convergences: Girls in Their Turning: Richter/Vermeer/Velaszquez”
Another Convergence which relates back to the previous one.  This one is focused on girls turning away from the viewer.  The main painting is Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.  I like this stuff quite a bit.
The song contains vocal samples of Robin “Goldie” Goldwasser.

TOMMY WALLACH-”The Life of Doug”
This story follows Doug, a loner and a loser who needs a new blender.  While at the store, Jay convinces him to buy more things.  We then look at Jay’s life, and then at Sam (Jay’s boss)’s life and then at Sam’s wife’s life and on and on until we get back to Doug for a satisfying circle. This story was light and fun, and I enjoyed it quite a but.  Next.

MATT FAGAN-”Roller Coaster”
In this story a woman on a date tells her date about Fantasy Dates which were much better than this date.

“MARY GALLAGHER-A Brief Unrelated Companion Piece to ‘Roller Coaster’ Written Without Mr. Fagan’s Knowledge”
This story was tacked on at the end of “Roller Coaster.” It is two sentences about God and dignity.

AD REINHARDT-”Art in Art is Art-as Art (Art-as-art Dogma, Part III)”
This is a series of slogans or perhaps even a manifesto about what art is and is not.  I can’t say it was that inspiring, frankly.
The song is excerpted from Free Cooperation’s “Our Master’s Voice” recorded in Warsaw, 1985.

The book ends with Contributors notes, song notes and a reproduction of the hand written musical score for the Philip Glass piece.

The back cover features excerpted lyrics from the CD and a place for the CD itself.

As I said, I enjoyed this issue quite a lot.  The artwork (in full-color!) was great, and, of course, the music played  a nice accompaniment.

SOUNDTRACK: KATE BUSH-Aerial (2005).

This was Kate’s first release in 12 years!  There’s a part of me that would expect unparalleled genius to emerge from a 12 year hiatus, but realistically, what we get is a more mature and confident singer, and songs that sound very much like Kate Bush songs. There’s not a lot of experimentation, although there is a song cycle (two in fact) to hold the disc together.

The first disc (for there are two, totaling about 80 minutes) is listed as “A Sea of Honey”

It opens with “King of the Mountain” a great upbeat single.  Next is “Pi” a fascinating song in which Kate sings out the decimal places of Pi (3.14…).  It’s airy and ethereal, and pretty neat.  “Bertie” is an adorable ode to what I assume is her son. It’s a very sweet love song to a child.

“Mrs Bartolozzi” opens with a piano sequence that sounds very uncomfortably close to a Phil Collins.  And, later in the sings she sings a “sloshy sloshy” part which is pretty odd.  But despite all of this, the song is closest to the Kate of old.

“How to be Invisible” has some really cool choral effects (and is a very neat concept lyrically).  It also features a very nice guitar line that sneaks out of the musical tapestry from time to time.  “Joanni” rocks in Kate’s inimitable way (and it’s about Joan of Arc).  It has also got some fun and funny parts the reflect the Kate of old (screaming vocals way down in the mix and “Mmm Hmms” that are kind of silly).  The disc ends with the gorgeous ballad “A Coral Room.”

The second disc “A Sky of Honey” is more of a complete song cycle (It starts with a Prelude AND a Prologue).  There’s a couple of short songs (90 seconds each) thrown in the middle.  My favorite is the final track, “Aerial” which has a cool dance rhythm (that seems so unlike Kate) which propels the song almost magically.

Overall, this disc doesn’t overwhelm me as much as say Hounds of Love, but it’s a really solid disc and I’ve found myself listening to and enjoying it a lot over the last few weeks.  It’s nice to have Kate back.  I wonder how long it will be for her next disc.

[READ: November 27, 2009] Unspeakable Practices Unnatural Acts

After reading (the incomplete) “The Balloon” (see the post), I decided to give the entire collection a spin.  I didn’t really enjoy the short stories I had read in Harper’s, but I did enjoy “The Balloon,” so I thought it would be worth investigating Barthleme (a little) further.

This collection is a mix of utterly absurdist stories (many of which seem to have multiple vantage points that I found rather difficult to keep track of ).  One of the most noteworthy things about the collection is that it seems to me to be very topical circa 1968.  And I think I’m missing a lot of what is happening in the stories.   I’ll cite examples below, but oftentimes I assume that I’m just not getting something that I should be getting

The opening story “The Indian Uprising” was one of those stories.  The premise seemed pretty enjoyable: a modern city is attacked by Comanche Indians, and I understood that part, but I don’t know where it went from there.  Characters came in, points of view changed, I’m not even sure what happened.  I probably wouldn’t have read the whole collection if I had started with this one.

“The Balloon” I’m going to give its own post to make up for the previous one.

“This Newspaper Here” is another weird one (okay they’re all weird) in which the narrator (a dirty old man) repeats phrases (“The little girl come along come along dancing doggedly…”).  It gets rather dark and is actually amusing in its darkness.

“Robert Kennedy Saved from Drowning” is a series of sections with their own titles (“K. at His Desk,” “K Reading the Newspaper” etc).  I’m not sure if Kennedy was alive when this story was written, so I’m not exactly sure what to make of it.  This 1968-era work is especially tough for me to pin down because there was so much going on culturally but since he’s in the middle of it, I’m not sure if there’s a side point or a specific point or if he’s just reflecting the craziness at hand.

“Report” was one of my favorite pieces.  It was a much more straightforward, wonderfully observant anti-war piece. And it ends with a great punchline (even though it’s not funny).

“The Dolt” was also great.  In it, a man is planning to take (for the third time) the National Writers Examination, which will (apparently) guarantee him a job as a writer (which is funny in and of itself).  His wife is beleaguered by his failures at this test, but when he finally reads what he has written, she gets turned on by his proficiency.  Good stuff.

“The Police Band” was also rather fun. I suspect there is a lot more at work that what a surface reading would propose, but then again, this may be another circa 1968 political story that I’m just not getting the full impact of.  Nevertheless, the premise, that the police have a band, a musical band, that lies in wait ready to be called into action in the event of an emergency was quite delightful.

“Edward and Pia” and “A Few Moments of Sleeping and Waking” both follow Edward and Pia. I found the first one to be a weird jumble of misunderstandings and deliberate confusions.  The second story was a bit more fun as a third character is introduced and dream analysis is proposed.  Pia reveals secrets about herself but then invents things too.  A dysfunctional relationship if ever there was.

“Can We Talk” is one of those stories where I enjoy the language (“he tickled the [door]bell”) but which elude me when I try to see the whole story.

“Game” was wonderful.  Two men in an absurd situation (and how many stories/movies/TV shows have used this premise since then) try to deal with each others’ neuroses.  These two men are placed in charge of a very important job.  But when the short tenure of their job is extended indefinitely, their facades begin to crack.  The way the story is written, it seems that neither man is aware of the other’s secrets but clearly they are, or are they?  An enjoyable descent into madness.

“Alice” is a story with no punctuation  it is a rumination about Alice whom the narrator wants to fornicate   but the lack of punctuation while liberating makes you work extra hard for this story which is ultimately just about a man who wants to sleep with another man’s wife

“A Picture History of the War” I found kind of annoying. Military stories are usually lost on me as I know virtually nothing about the military at all.  This one has amusing repetitions of the same passage as a man relates his story to different people.  Ultimately, I felt the story dragged too much.

“The President” was a weird little story (and the first one I read in the collection).  The narrator is not altogether sympathetic to the new president.  I couldn’t help read this in terms of our new president, which didn’t help matters.  It’s funny, though, how the story about the President ultimately hangs on a woman who sings at a party.

See the Moon?” is a fascinatingly odd story about lunar hostility.  This story also seemed a little too long.

And that is one of the basic things I noted about Barthelme: the shorter the story, the more I enjoyed it.  He seems to edit himself much more efficiently when he writes less than 10 pages.

This collection is definitely not for everyone.  You need an affinity for the absurd to enjoy this work.  Even the most straightforward stories are a bit off-center.  I also found myself being less impressed by his work than I likely would have been if I read it 40 years ago.  His work is described as groundbreaking.  And, I assume that that is true.  But now, 40 years later, a lot of the things he likely invented have been done by others.  And probably by others that I have read.  So, it doesn’t seem that exciting. And that is one of the problems of reading a work so much later than it was written.

Havign said all of that, I think I have gotten my fill of Barthelme, and I doubt I’ll read anything else by him.

SOUNDTRACK: KATE BUSH-Aspects of the Sensual World (1989).

This was the first CD single that I can remember acquiring.  I got it from the radio station at school, and I felt like I was in on a big secret having all of these bonus tracks.

There are five songs on this disc.  The original “The Sensual World” and an instrumental version of the song.  The three bonus songs are pretty rocking songs that fit nicely with this era of Kate’s output.  “Be Kind to My Mistakes” sounds like it should be a sweet ballad, but no, it’s all percussion-heavy and fun.  And “I’m Still Waiting” is even more intense, with some of Kate’s over the top vocals added in.

The final track, “Ken” is the theme song to The Comic Strip Presents short film The GLC.  It’s a wonderful theme song, even if the film is a parody.  It’s got a singalong “da da da” chorus and fist pumping backing vocals and all sorts of fun things.  You can see the “preview” for the film along with Kate’s song, on YouTube.

This disc is something of a trifle compared to her full CDs, but it’s an easier way to get these tracks than buying This Woman’s Work!  When The Sensual World came out I assumed that Kate cut off all her hair (judging by the cover), but this cover belies that.  I wonder which one is a wig.

[READ: November 13, 2009] “An Insurrection”

This story won the Esquire fiction contest.  I fully intended to submit a story to this contest, but, well, I forgot.  I didn’t write a word for it (although I did spend a few days thinking about what I would write about).  If I had won the contest, I would of course have wanted people to read my story, so I felt it was the least I could do to read the winner’s story.

And I’m a little mixed about it.

I’m not at all certain why there was such emphasis placed on the fact that it was a post- 9/11 scenario.  The jokes about cashing in on people’s insecurities about terrorism were fine but it didn’t really warrant all of the set up about when the story took place.

Really, the story is just about two people growing apart; the time of the story was irrelevant (and yes, I do understand that everyone is more tense with fears of terrorism, but it doesn’t really impact the story).  I found the introduction of the story to be quite compelling.  But when it started to turn into a “she’s going to leave me because I’m fat” gripe, I lost interest.

The story did reverse that trajectory, thankfully, and the final section was gross but interesting.  And I have to say that the final lines (within the context of the whole story) were fantastic.

My biggest gripe however, comes with Esquire itself. They included two pictures with the story.  One references a wet T shirt description in the story (which I needed to cover up when reading in the library).  The second, and yes, I’m writing this in all caps:  THE SECOND PICTURE TOTALLY GAVE AWAY THE “TWIST” IN THE STORY!  And, it came right at a time in the story WHERE PLACING THE PICTURE WOULD GIVE THE READER NO DOUBT ABOUT WHAT THE PICTURE REPRESENTED.

Talk about spoilers.  Of all the things they could have put a picture of, they had to put that one?  Hey Esquire, if I were the contest winner, I’d be pissed if you gave away the (admittedly minor) twist in the end of my story.  So, I hope that Walsh isn’t too pissed (he did win, after all).  But man, it so obviously impacted my reading of the story, that I couldn’t appreciate it for what it was trying to do.

I can’t honestly say how much I would have enjoyed the story if this wasn’t so obviously given away, because I spent much of the last section expecting it to be spoiled.  Pity, really.

I’m being a little dramatic, yes.  I’m sorry.

Overall, the story was good. I’m quite certain that nothing I would have written would have made it into Esquire (I don’t think I’ve ever written a story with the word “tits” in it).  So, I won’t sit around wondering “what if.”  Rather, I’ll just enjoy the story for what it was: a look at midlife crisis (in an out of control environment).

Congratulations Walsh.  Well played.

SOUNDTRACK:KATE BUSH-The Sensual World (2009).

It was three years between The Dreaming and Hounds of Love.  And this time it took four years for The Sensual World to come out.  This was the first Kate disc that I bought as it came out.  And I was such a huge fan of Hounds, that I was really quite excited about this release.

Kate has always been fairly forthcoming about sex/sensuality on her songs (even if it was metaphorical, the metaphors weren’t really labored).  So, the fact that she’s putting it all out there is not much of a surprise.  And yet, to me this seems like a much more explicit work than her earlier ones  (an older songwriter perhaps?).

The other thing that strikes me about the album is just how accessible it is.  Unlike her previous discs which featured flourishes and howls, headphone tricks and other show offy tactics (which I totally love), this disc comes across as a songwriter who is more confident in her songs so she doesn’t have to put frills on them.

I have a fndeness for this disc because it was the first one I bought as a fan, but I don’t listen to it all that much.  When I played it again, I had forgotten how much I liked it.  And, yes, I miss all the tricks and cool studio fun on this disc, but the songwriting makes up for it.

The opener “The Sensual World” is, yes, a very sensual song (with the “Mmmmmyessses” every line or so).  The second track, “Love and Anger” is a great, freewheeling Kate track.  The younger Kate would have had crazy wild fun with it, but the more mature Kate plays it fairly straight.  And it really showcases what a great song it is.

As “The Fog” opens, she says, “I’m all grown up now” (and there’s no headphone tricks accompanying it).  That seems to be a statement about the disc itself.  But, just so you know it’s npt a totally safe disc, “The Fog” has a wonderful otherworldly violin running through it.

The one thing that stand out on the disc, though is how rocking it is (relative to Kate, of course).   The guitars on about half of the songs quite loud and raucous.  And Kate is clearly having a lot of fun with the songs.

But there are some mellow songs as well.  “Reaching Out” begins as a delicate piano ballad (although it is full of some wild ethereal backing vocals) but it also builds to a louder chorus and finish.  “Deeper Understanding” is an interesting song in which she sings about a computer (which I thought would sound really dated twenty years later but which doesn’t).

“Never BE Mine” sounds like Kate of old (ah, fretless bass).  While “Rocket’s Tail” showcases the gorgeous sounds of the Bulgarian Choir, who would assist her on many future tracks as well.  The choir seems to take on a lot of the strange vocals that Kate herself used to perform. But they have an oddness of inflection that makes it sound otherworldly.  It also has the unmistakable sounds of a David Gilmour guitar solo.

The highlight has to be “This Woman’s Work.”  When all is said and done, Kate’s voice is what any fan comes back for.  This song is a simple piano based ballad.  Kate’s voice is clean and pure and rather magical.  And the emotional release as the song nears its end is phenomenal.

The Sensual World is an overlooked disc (its regular price on Amazon is $7).  And while it doesn’t have all of the flair and magic of Kate at her wildest records, the stripped down version of Kate is pretty wonderful too.

[READ: November 15, 2009] “Noughts and Crosses”

It took me a few paragraphs to realize what was going on in this story and then I liked it even more.

The story opens with an email.  Several of the words are in bold.  The email, from j to n, is a break-up letter.  It’s sort of generic and doesn’t really reveal all that much.  But the rest of the story is a reply to each of the bolded words of the email.

As n replies (presumably in her head, although it could also be written even if it is never sent) we learn more and more about the two of them and their relationship. The parties involved, the promises told and the little giveaways that show that the relationship was over long before this email (a breakup by email!) was sent.

What is so delightful about the story is that the original email seems pretty straightforward, as if you could tell the whole story from it.  But as the full story unfolds, so much more is revealed, and you learn just how much has been hidden in the suddenly vague phrasings of that original email. Even the genders are hidden in that original missive.

As the reply grows more intense, if not more heated, you get a real feel for what that email could have said, but didn’t.  It’s very clever.   This was a wonderfully original way to look at an age old topic.  I think it would have been very suitable for inclusion in Four Letter Word.

SOUNDTRACK: KATE BUSH-Hounds of Love (1985).

I have a very specific memory of the first time I heard the song  “Hounds of Love.”  I was in high school and the Wilderness Adventure Club was heading towards whatever destination we were going to (funny I can’t remember the destination, but I recall the car trip there).  The head of the club (who was a teacher, but not one I had) was driving a bunch of us in his station wagon and this song came on.  My friend Brad and I howled with laughter at the “barking” that Kate does. “Roo Roo Roo Roo.”

It only occurred to me recently that the driver probably enjoyed the music or else he wouldn’t have had it on, so that wasn’t very nice of us.  It also occurs to me that he must have had the disc (actually the tape, as there were no discs then) because I don’t imagine the song was ever on the radio.  (Although I also think there may have been a DJ talking about the songs, so my memory is shaky).  I just remember laughing and laughing and quite likely Roo Rooing for much of the trip.

So, it’s funny now how much I love this disc (my high school self was a metal head, my college self expanded his musical mind rather a lot).

Kate’s previous two records were a wonderful precursor to this monumental disc.  The big hits come at the top: “Hounds of Love” is indeed an amazing song, as is “Running Up That Hill.”  But they’re familiar enough that I don’t have to say anything.  “The Big Sky” is a rollicking romp of fun.  And “Cloudbusting” is just simply amazing.  (Look for the video with Donald Sutherland!).  It’s five minutes of intense storytelling.

But for me, the second side of the album (starting with track 6 on the disc) is the real selling point.  It’s something of a story called The Ninth Wave.  And what I love about it (in addition to the awesome music) are the amazing effects and sounds and voices that are all over the tracks.

It begins simply with a delicate piece, “And Dream of Sheep,” a beautiful piano ballad.  It’s followed by the mesmerizing “Under Ice.”  The opening string sounds evoke someone skating on an ice (which is what the song is about).  As the tension grows (is someone under the ice?) voices far back in the distance compete with Kate singing “Its me!”

The next track, “Waking the Witch” begins with some awesome headphone voice work.  Voices from various family members implore her to wake up.  Left, right, middle, back.  Then, a voices asks “Can you not see that light over there?”  With a far off voice whispering “over here.”  When the song finally bursts forth, her voice is manipulated in a creepy disjointed way.  Followed by different musical sections with cathedral bells.  All through the track a male authority figure condemns the girl for being a witch.  And as the song ends (with a sample of the helicopter from Pink Floyd’s The Wall she is found guilty.  It’s quite intense.

The intensity slackens somewhat with the mellow “Watching Me Without You.”  But it builds again with the manic intensity of “The Jig of Life” a traditional jig with uilleann pipes in the background and Kate’s vocals over the top.  The song breaks into a very traditional sounding step dance seisiun until Kate starts whispering “I put this moment here” (more of that cool headphone stuff) and the song takes of again.

“Hello Earth” starts as a simple ballad reminiscent of “And Dream of Sheep” but it grows in intensity only to break for a choir passage.  It then returns to the intensity of Kate’s voice which fades and ends with Kate’s whispered:  “Tiefer, tiefer.  Irgendwo in der Tiefe.  Gibt es ein licht.” (Roughly: Deeper Deeper, Somewhere in the depths there is a light.)

The disc ends with “The Morning Fog” a respite from the intensity of the music and the contents.  It’s a light ballad (with amazing fretless bass work) that seems like it could have been used in a John Hughes film.  Especially for the “I tell my mother/father/loved ones/brother how much I love them” lyrics.

The Ninth Wave is one of my favorite suites to listen to.  It not only demands attention, it usually gets it.

Hounds of Love is, simply put, fantastic.

[READ: November 15, 2009] Gemini & The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie

When I was a kid, watching cartoons on Channel 11, WPIX, there was a frequent, (in my memory it was incessant) commercial for a Broadway play.  And the only things I remember about the commercial were two snippets:  In the first, a young boy is gorging himself on food and his mother yells “TAKE HUMAN BITES!”  The second shows a woman who says “I’m  not hungry, I’ll just pick” who then grabs a handful of spaghetti from someone else’s plate.

This commercial was such a part of our culture, that my friends used to shout “TAKE HUMAN BITES” at each other all the time.  And yet, after all these years, I couldn’t remember what the play was.  So, out of curiosity, I did some searching to see if I could find this mysterious play (and, more importantly find the commercial).

So, thank you, internet, for helping me discover the play is Albert Innaurato’s Gemini.  No commercials have been forthcoming, sadly.

Well, I thought it would be fun to read this play and see if it was as funny as the commercial seemed.  Who could have guessed that the play would have turned out like this?

The play is set in a poor section of Philadelphia.  The cast is: Fran Geminiani, his son Francis, and his lady friend Lucille Pompi.  Their next door neighbors are Bunny Weinberger and her son Herschel.  The entire play is set in the yard that separates the two houses.  The two newcomers that set the play in motion are Randy & Judith Hastings.  They are brother and sister and go to Harvard with Francis.

Francis is a somewhat overweight, very insecure, very Italian kid.  Fran, his dad, is pretty close to an Italian working-class stereotype, with the pasta making and the boisterousness.  The basic plot is that Judith, a beautiful WASP, has fallen in love with Francis.  She and Randy hitchhike to Philly complete with camping gear.  They plan to sleep in Francis’ yard for a couple days (you know, crazy college kids).

Francis is very uncomfortable about their arrival.  He tells them that his dad is a Mafia guy and kills WASPs on sight.  (This freaks out Randy but not Judith, who is his intended target).  When that doesn’t work, he ultimately rebuffs her advances by telling her that he’s queer.  She doesn’t believe him after what they did at school before the summer started (and she is even more disbelieving when he reveals who he’s got a crush on).

The rest of the story, and arguably the real heart of the story, focuses on the interactions in the neighborhood.  Fran and Bunny have lived next to each other for many years.  Bunny is a loud, obnoxious Irish woman who married a Jew (there’s a lengthy monologue about that).  Her son Herschel is an overweight, asthmatic loser who she says is a genius, even though at 16 he rides a tricycle around the yard making trolley sounds, and collects Public Transportation paraphernalia.

Bunny is abusive to everyone, including her son (one stage direction states that she “beats the shit out of Herschel”).  She sings songs loudly on an out of tune piano and flirts aggressively with Fran and then Randy (a stage direction states that she grabs his crotch).  She is also due for a court date because she assaulted a woman who caught her (Bunny) in bed with the woman’s  husband (in the woman’s house).

The action of the play takes place over a 24 hour period.  In in that short span of time we are treated to attempted suicide, drug use, homosexuality, train schedules, and a near-crushing by a piano.  It’s quite a feat.

The story is pretty funny (although I must say that the commercial was much funnier than reading the lines in print).  But the strange thing about the play is that there are absolutely no likable characters (except maybe Randy, as he seems an innocent victim).  Fran and Bunny are loud and boorish.  Lucille is lazy.  Francis is insecure.  Herschel is an annoying hanger-on.  Even Judith gets into the mean-spirited act when Francis turns her down.

And yet, there is something starnegly endearing about the whole group of them.  And as a slice of life play, it’s very entertaining.  The characters are (despite the stereotypical ideas) well rounded and amusing.  And the scenes have the potential (when performed) to be over the top hilarious.  The play itself is only about 70 pages, and it’s a brisk read.  But as with most plays, I’m sure seeing it is better than reading it.

I just wish I could see the commercial again.  If anyone knows where it might be available, do pass it on!

The other play that comes with the book is The Transformation of Benno Blimpie. It’s only 30 pages (it’s a one act play).  If you thought the characters in Gemini were unpleasant, you have seen nothing yet.  The set-up of this play is that Benno, a very fat twenty-year old, has locked himself in a room and plans to eat himself to death.

The entirety of the play is Benno’s (biased) memory of events.  And the play is set up so that he never physically leaves his room, but he interacts with the other characters as if he were in the room with them.  (Which I’ll bet is a very cool device on stage).

Benno’s flashbacks concern his parents and his grandfather.  His father is a former athlete and is something of a non-entity in the house.  His mother is a mean, horrible woman who never fails to insult Benno about his weight or his complexion or about how miserable her life has been since she had him.  (Her very first scene is quite shocking!).  The only charterer who is at all nice to him is his grandfather.

And yet, as Benno flashes back, his grandfather becoming sexually involved with a 13 year-old Catholic school girl.  (She encourages him to do things to her, and tries to get money out of him).  And, when she turns him down when he tries to do “more” with her, he takes his frustrations out on Benno just like everyone else.

Benno basically went through life being mocked and abused by everyone.  His only joy was in art.  But the art he made wasn’t appreciated by anyone.  So his only love has also let him down.  His last recourse is to simply to eat himself to death.

This play is shocking on many levels.  And all of the characters are reprehensible.  I’m not even entirely sure that I would want to see it performed (it lacks even the grim humor of Gemini).

I didn’t know a thing about Innaurato, so I looked him up and discovered that Gemini ran on Broadway for 1,819 performances and earned him an Obie Award.  It was also made into the film Happy Birthday, Gemini. starring Madeline Kahn and Rita Moreno.  Benno Blimpie also earned him an Obie.  Wow.

While looking around I found some clips from the movie Happy Birthday, Gemini.  And I have to admit that watching the clips leads me to think that if done well, both of the plays would be quite funny despite how disturbing they are.  I also wonder, if I find these stories shocking now, how shocking they must have been in 1978!  Francis’ homosexuality is accepted without any dismay, as is the drug use (there’s some very funny sequences about the pot smoing).  Even Benno’s grandfather’s pedophilia is sort of dismissed (although I think that, awful as it sounds, pedophilia was seen as less horrible in the 70s…can that be right?  I mean the whole Jodie Foster/Taxi Driver thing.)

Anyhow, these plays are not for the weak-hearted.  And I wonder if a revival of Gemini would be viable now.  (Although, interestingly, there is now Gemini The Musical.  I can’t wait to see what that’s all about!  Actually, I want to hear the music!)

The two movie clips are shared below.  Madeline Kahn is Bunny and she is hilarious (although she is cast completely against what Bunny looks like in theplay).  And, I think Francis is also a good looking athletic guy in the movie, too  (Innaurato didn’t have anything to do with the movie).  The clips are quite funny.  Sadly neither one features my favorite lines.  The movie is available only on VHS as far as I can tell.

Here’s one of the pot smoking scenes:

This is the suicide scene:

SOUNDTRACK-KATE BUSH-The Dreaming (1982).

This disc focuses Kate’s intensity somewhat.  I was just reading that it was nowhere near as popular as her previous discs in England (where she had been number 1 many times), although, interestingly it made the charts in the US because of college radio airplay.

The disc is still experimental (there’s all kinds of weird things going around) but it feels kind of claustrophobic.  The disc opens with the manic percussion of “Sat in your Lap” (this song also features the gamut of Kate’s diverse vocal talents: whispered verses, shrieking bridges and bellowing chorus).

“There goes a Tenner” is about a robbery (and is sung with an East End accent).  There’s also the weird and wonderful “Suspended in Gaffa” (recently covered by Ra Ra Riot).  “The Dreaming” is about Australia (and is sung in an Aussie accent).

Meanwhile, “Houdini” breaks briefly from its raging vocals into a mellow string-filled middle piece (with more of that gorgeous fretless bass). The cover of the disc shows a “scene” from the song (she’s slipping a key into Houdini’s mouth).

The disc ends with the outrageous “Get Out of My House.”  It is a scary, crazy song with Kate shrieking like a madwoman and the male vocalist turning into a donkey (hee-hawing as he goes).

I have always enjoyed this disc.  It is a wonderful step between the all-over-the-place crazy of Never for Ever and the gorgeous controlled beauty of Hounds of Love. It’s not afraid to showcase Kate’s crazy side (okay, really crazy side), and yet it still keeps a sense of humor (and has some wonderful melodies as well).

[READ: November 13, 2009] This Book is Not Good for You

I’ve been a fan of the Pseudonymous Bosch books since the beginning.  I love the whole concept of the series (that even the author is being persecuted by the bad guys and can’t give out any real names, not even his own).  This book is no exception.  The mystery concerns the adventure of our heroes: Cass, Max-Ernest and Yo-Yoji in their fight against the Midnight Sun, who….   Well, I have to be honest, I’m not entirely clear exactly what the Midnight Sun are up to.  I’m not even sure that not knowing is a bad thing.  We know that  they are mysterious, that they are all very old (they have gained knowledge of a formula for eternal youth), and they really don’t like our heroines or the Terces Society that they belong to.  But aside from that I’m not sure what their long term goal is.  It may have been mentioned in the previous books, but at this point, I just know they’re bad.

This volume has an added element of fun in that the author himself is under attack from the Midnight Sun in the very pages of the book!  (They drug him and at one point even slip an extra piece of paper into the book (which tells the reader that the Midnight Sun is being misrepresented by Bosch).

But really, the story is all about chocolate.  Bosch himself is a chocolate gourmand (he disdains milk chocolate and especially white chocolate, although he doesn’t have a problem with vanilla per se).  There’s a thorough guide to chocolate in the index.  There’s even chocolate recipes!

For chocolate is the latest way the Midnight Sun plans to keep their organization growing in size but never in age (the founder of the Midnight Sun is over 500 years old!).  And what better way to get new members than through delicious chocolate.

The heads of the Midnight Sun (Ms Mauvius & Dr. L are still in charge) have moved their base of operations to a cacao-producing rainforest.  And they are able to pick the ripest and most succulent cacao seeds (through a combination of child and monkey labor (and the monkey labor…ew!)).  With these beans thy plan to create the most delicious chocolate ever.  But they need one special item to complete the task.

And this item is…a tuning fork (?!).  There is a magical tuning fork that enables any item to taste like the most delicious food in the world.  And if the Midnight Sun can get the tuning fork, well…  they can use their delicious chocolates for their nefarious purposes (which seem to be capturing Cass, but perhaps there’s more).

This book is set in the summer, just like Diary of Wimpy Kid’s Dog Days.  I wonder if winter 2009 is the season for summer books.

Cass, Max-Ernest and Yo-Yoji (which we learn is not his real name although, sadly, we don’t learn his real name) get into all kinds of fun trouble.  (Wait till you see what the chocolate can do!).  And, this time, Cass’ mom gets inadvertently involved in the action.

In the previous book we learned that Cass was adopted.  This subplot is followed up on, too.  Lots of tantalizing secrets are given about her, but as with Yo-Yoji’s name, nothing is revealed.  Even Max-Ernest has a few surprises revealed about himself…in fact the two things that most dominated his character are undermined and called into question!

And…  the book ends on a cliffhanger.  Although the -hanger is not for this story arc (thankfully.  There’s nothing worse than a book that should end but doesn’t because of a sequel).  So this story arc ends, and the final chapter sets us up for what lies ahead.  Since it was fairly obvious that there would be another book in the series, there’s nothing wrong with Pseudonymous setting us up for what lies ahead.  And what lies ahead is…

a Secret.

I’m pretty psyched about it.

If you haven’t read the previous books in the series, then don’t jump into this one!  (He even gives a way a plot point of book 2, so don’t read out of order).  But if you have read the first two, then this is a wonderful follow up.

All of Bosch’s tricks are in full force: Weird chapter titles, chapters that are interrupted by other chapters, passages that are interrupted by Bosch himself, definitions (funny and often quite helpful), and footnotes, lots of footnotes, that are also very funny.

The first book in the series had a lot of puzzles for the readers to figure out.  This book doesn’t really have those (faithful readers will be a little disappointed to hear that); this story is more of a mystery that needs to be solved, but the reader doesn’t have a lot of time trying to figure out anything really challenging.  It takes a little of the fun out, but replaces it with a lot of suspense.

And Bosch is such a good storyteller, that you’ll find it hard to put this down.

I can’t wait for book 4 !

SOUNDTRACK: SONIC-YOUTH-the eternal (2009).

It was the release of this disc that inspired me to see what they’ve been up to since the 80s.  And, sometimes it’s really fun to root through a band’s back catalog to see what kind of progression they’ve made over the years.

There are three things that set this disc apart from  many other SY discs.

The first is the dual/harmonized vocals. I don’t recall ever hearing Thurston and Kim split vocals duties in a song before, least of which in a half-line by half-line way.  There’s also some points where they sing (sort of) harmonies.  It’s a really interesting addition to their sounds.

The second is the staccato playing.  In the past I’ve always felt like SY ’s sounds flowed over everything (even if it was noise, it was a continuous wash of noise).  On The Eternal, there’s three or four songs where the band plays a chug chug chug chug rhythm (with everyone playing along).  It’s most notable in “Anti-Orgasm,” where the chug chug part is accompanied by Thurston and Kim chanting uh uh uh on every beat.

The third is the bass.  The band has added Pavement bassist Mark Ibold to their lineup.  And as far as I can tell he does things on bass that Kim never did.  He seems to complement Steve Shelly as a rhythm section.  I always felt that Kim played something of a lead bass: she didn’t seem to go in for a notable steady bass rhythm (note on “Kool Thing” where her bass plays the main riff).  And since Thurston and Lee were often playing noise, it was essential for Kim’s bass to be more than just a rhythm instrument.  On this disc you have bass sections playing the song’s rhythm. Its a simple thing, something that all bands do, but it sounds so different for them.

They even mix up the song lengths quite a bit.  The opener is a two minute bit (with great lyrics from Kim: “What’s it like to be a girl in a band?  I just don’t understand.  That’s so quaint to hear.  I feel so faint my dear.”)   While “Anti-Orgasm” is over six minutes (three of the chug chug section and then three of an extended jam).  Lee’s awesome song, “What We Know” runs about 4 minutes.  And the final song, the very cool “Massage the History” runs over 9 minutes.

These elements give the band a revitalized sound.  And they sound like they’re really having a lot of fun. And boy are they rocking.  The band sounds heavy, they sound intense, and they sound great.  There’s not a bad track on the disc.

[READ: November 6, 2009] “Premium Harmony”

This story takes a look at a dysfunctional husband and wife on the way to Wal-Mart.  She wants to stop at the Quik-Pik on the way, to buy something that he thinks will be cheaper at Wal-Mart anyway.  This detour turns out to be significant, and nothing will be the same for them again.

I have to be this vague because saying anything more will give away too much of this rather simple story.

As with many Stephen King stories, I was gripped by it pretty quickly.  I was intrigued and somewhat entranced by the story.  But when it was done, I realized that it didn’t have any real emotional impact.  There wasn’t enough of an investment in these characters for me to care about what happened to them (although i really enjoyed it while reading it).

It reminds me of friends who tell a really great compelling story while you’re hanging out.  The story’s about their bosses or whomever (someone you don’t know) and it’s really funny.  But you forget them as soon as you start to head home.

You can read it here.

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Donkeys 92-97 (1998).

Donkeys is a collection of singles, rarities and unreleased recordings.  It came out just before Simple Pleasure, and has tracks from the era of the first four discs.

With the reissue of those first four discs (and all the bonus tracks therein) and the Greatest Hits collection, it’s not really necessary to get this for these rare tracks.  (I admit that I haven’t actually checked to see if all of the tracks here are now available elsewhere…there seems to be a number of different mixes and versions of songs, so I’ll let someone else do the legwork).

However, if you’re disinclined to get the reissued discs for whatever reason, this is a great collection of songs that are worth having for any Tindersticks fan.  And, interestingly, it works quite well as an introduction for the newbie: it features several of the most accessible songs from the first few discs.  But, for fans, the highlights include their great cover of “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.”  Also “Plus de Liaisons” a French version of  “No More Affairs.”  It also has the fabulous duet with Isabella Rossilini (“A Marriage Made in Heaven”) and another version of “For Those”  (I’m not entirely sure how many versions of that song exist, but there’s got to be about 3 or 4.

This disc is probably easy to track down cheaply since all the tracks are available elsewhere now (although my copy came from my friend Lar and has the Euro symbol on the Used sticker to prove it). Or, maybe it’s now totally rare and out of print and is hugely expensive.  Either way, it’s still a great collection of tracks.

[READ: November 5, 2009] “Too Much Happiness”

It’s a little lame to lump these two pieces together, but the Charles Foran article isn’t something I would review on its own.  Nevertheless, it is a very interesting look at Alice Munro’s hometown, and the Self-Guided Tour of Points of Interest in the Town of Wingham Relating to Alice Munro sounds like a fun thing to do if you’re in Ontario.  (Even if Munro herself is never actually there).

But onto Munro’s story.

I’ve only read a few stories by Alice Munro (they’ve all been reviewed here).  And yet, I’ve come to think of her as writing a certain type of story.  And this one does not conform to any of my notions of a Munro story.

First, it’s rather long. Second, it’s not set in Canada.  And third, it’s a historical piece about a real person.  There’s an author’s note at the end of the story which informs us that she learned about Sophia Kovalesky when she was looking up something else in the Encyclopedia Britannica (which I find charming in and of itself).  So, all of this seems to be something of a departure for her (at least from what I’ve read).

I admit right off the bat that I have a hard time with Russian stories (so, not too much Dostoevsky for me).  I have difficulty keeping the names and locations straight (despite my nationality).  And given that this is a historical piece (set in and around 1891) and there’s a lot of historical Russian information, I struggled with portions of this story.

Although I think what caused the biggest difficulty was that the story is designed as a reflective journey.  Sophia reflects back on different times of her life: her sister and questionable husband; her own first marriage (a political marriage designed to allow her to escape from her life); and her mentor and friend, Weierstras.

Sophia is a mathematician at a time when women were not mathematicians.  As the story opens she is awarded the Bordin Prize and has become something of a celebrity in math circles.  But she is still not offered a job.  She is also spending a lot of her time with Maksim Kovalevsky.

Despite having the same last name, they are not related (Sophia’s first marriage was to a distant cousin of Maksim’s).   Maksim is an academic but because he is a Liberal, he cannot teach in Russia.  (This is some of the historical Russian politics that I don’t know, so a lot of this infighting was lost on me).  Their friendship blossoms into more than friendship until she wins the Prize.  Suddenly, her star shines more brightly than his and he pulls away from her.

After several months apart, Sophia tries to rekindle their relationship, and it works.  He pledges to marry her (although she is not entire sure of his sincerity or even his motives).  And since they are both in their forties with little else in the way of romantic prospects, well, why not.

The remainder of the story shows Sophia taking a trip to give a lecture.  The trip entails trains, ferries and more trains.  It also involves trudging through snow and carrying her own bags (because of a currency mix up).

On the trip, Sophia reflects back on her life, and the many events that led her to this stage.  But she is also clearly becoming feverish from the travel.  So, as the story moves along, the dream sequences get a bit more hazy, and it’s not always clear when the action is happening.  Because the main story is also in the past tense, there are times when I had to really work on which storyline she was presently in.

After reflecting on the story, the timeline did make sense; it all seems to fall into place nicely, but during the story I was a bit confused.

And confusion is something I don’t expect from a Munro story.

Knowing that this is a piece of historical fiction changes things for me somewhat, even if I’d never head of Sophia Kovalevsky before.  Hers was a fascinating life, and I appreciate Munro for introducing her to me.  I feel like this might have worked better as an even longer story, as a lot of details seemed condensed.  But, Munro acknowledges that she didn’t intend to write Sophia’s history, just a portion of it.  And at that, she succeeds.

She also notes a great book about Sophia’s life (where she began her research): Little Sparrow: A Portrait of Sophia Kovalesky by Don H. Kennedy.

[READ: July 19, 2009] “Alice in Borderland”

This article provides some insight into Munro’s life, and the kind of people and places that she grew up with (many of whom appear (somewhat disguised) in her stories).  And, since most of her stories seem to be situated in Jubilee (a fictionalized version of the town of Wingham) in Huron County, Ontario, it’s a fascinating insight into her work.

Munro (born in 1931) grew up outside of Wingham, but after going to college, she moved to the West Coast and did not return to Ontario until the 1970s.

Foran’s article focuses on The Self-Guided Tour of Points of Interest in the Town of Wingham Relating to Alice Munro, a brochure available at the North Huron Museuem.  It includes a stop at the Alice Munro Literary Garden (where Munro herself has only visited once).  But mostly it reveals the locations and scenery where her stories are set.

While walking around the town, Foran talks with many residents (to see if he can recognize anyone from the stories).  Munro’s stories offended sensibilities when they were first published (she revealed Secrets); however, it seems like now people are rather fond of her and the modicum of celebrity she has given the region.

Foran also has a (somewhat rare for the publicity-shy Munro) lunch interview with her.  And this little insight into her personality makes the article completely rewarding for any Munro fan.

It’s available here.

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERTSICKS-”curtains” (1997).

“Rented Rooms” from Curtains is another one of my favorite songs. It is dark yet sensual at the same time: “We had to go find somewhere else more… you know.”  The disc itself works similarly to their first two discs.  It’s not as long, and is a little less dynamic.  But it is still unmistakably Tindertsicks.

The album has a lot more strings on it (not that it didn’t have strings before, but they feature more prominently here).  And they add a new dimension of tension and intensity to the proceedings. “Don’t Look Don’t ” has sections that sound like a scary action movie. “Desperate Man” returns to that gorgeous flamenco-tinged music that they played with on the first disc.

And “Fast One” has crazy demented strings as the song chugs along quite fast.  “Bearsuit” is a whimsical (!) look at sex.

“Buried Bones” is a gorgeous duet.  (Female singers complement Staples’ voice so well).  While “(Tonight) Are You Trying to Fall in Love Again” is another great uptempo string-filled song.  The disc ends with a trio of great tracks.  The beautiful “I Was Your Man” the sinister (I’ve never heard a band make a piano sound so sinister) “Bathtime” and the closer, “Walking”

The reissue comes with a bonus disc of alternate versions of songs from the disc (and some that didn’t make it). Yet another version of “For Those…”  It also has two versions of “Rented Rooms” (the orchestral version is quite fascinating). “Paco’s Theme” is a great instrumental. “Shadow” has that flamenco thing in spades as well.  Probably the best addition is “A Marriage Made in Heaven” a beautiful duet with Isabella Rossellini.

Curtains is something of a transitional record for Tinderstciks, and it’s not quite as awesome as the first two, but it is full of top notch songs.

[READ: October 29, 2009] “Unmasked”

I’ve enjoyed Chris Ware’s work  for years.  His cartoons are meticulous, fascinatingly detailed, often with crazily-sized boxes and sometimes hard-to-follow linear styles.  They are almost universally sad.  And I can’t get enough of them.

This one is the first I can remember in a long time that focuses on adult-adult relationships.  That’s not precisely true, as many of his stories deal with familial themes and the problems of growing up.  But, and perhaps that’s because this was a shorter piece (I’m more familiar with his longer multi-character-filled stories, the main characters are a woman and her mother.  (Her daughter is with them, and her husband is working).

It’s a fascinating look at familial dynamics as well as infidelity (real and imagined). And it ends on a note of possibly mistaken positivity.

It’ a very impressive piece.  It goes without saying that the artwork is fantastic…It must take him months to do even a relatively short story like this.

You can read it here.