SOUNDTRACK: JOSH RITTER-Tiny Desk Concert #119 (April 11, 2011).
Not too many performers mention the actual day that they are performing their Tiny Desk Concert. But Ritter mentions Valentine’s Day twice during his set so I thought I’d post it on Valentine’s Day even if the actual date of the posting is much later.
I don’t really know Ritter, I’ve heard of him, but I’m not too familiar with him. Nevertheless, I was quickly won over by him. He is charming and polite and is certainly having a good time (he even laughs at some lines in his songs).
His first song “The Temptation Of Adam”sounds vaguely familiar. The melody is very catchy and his voice is strong and excellent. Lyrically the song is quite interesting. I especially loved this section: “We passed the time with crosswords that she thought to bring inside/ ‘What five letters spell apocalypse?’ she asked me/ I won her over saying, W.W.I.I.I.’/ She smiled and we both knew that she misjudged me.”
“Lark” is a faster song, but still very folksy and clever. I love that although the melody is fairly simple, the way he plays it (with very fast fingerpicking) makes the song sound more complicated. “Rattling Locks” is a dark minor chord song, louder and heavier than the other two.
The site says there is an audio only track called “Pale Blue Eyes,” but I can’t find it. For the last track, his 2003 song “Kathleen,” he introduces the song by saying, “I think Valentine’s Day is the most awkward self-imposed holiday — even worse than New Year’s — so this is an awkward song.” It’s a louder song, with Ritter’s voice reaching great intensity. It’s a great way to end the set.
[READ: February 14, 2016] Deogratias
Here’s another story that I would never have read if it were not for First Second’s #10yearsof01 challenge. The thought of reading a story about the genocide in Rwanda just seems to depressing to undertake. And yet in the spirit of reading things outside of your comfort area, I decided to read this this weekend.
And I am incredibly glad that I did.
I feared that this story would be one of rampant genocide–struggle and death and mutilation and everything else that I could imagine. But rather, what Stassen has done is created a story about how the toll of genocide can impact one person. Yes, it affects him directly and the story is incredibly sad, but it was a very different story than I expected, and it was so personal that it made it more tragic without having the oppressive unreality of millions of dead people in the plot.
The introduction alone is worth reading, as translator Alexis Siegel gives a brief summary of the Rwandan tragedy. I’ve always found the conflict to be really hard to grasp. Hutus and Tutsi, a privileged minority, a brutal majority. The back and forth was so hard to grasp, and the names of the tribes were similar as well. It is hard for a lazy person to keep straight.
But I found Siegel’s explanation to be succinct and very effective.
I was particularly pleased that he gave some of the history dating back to World War I. Rwanda and Burundi were colonized by Germany, but After World War I, the countries were taken over by Belgium. When Belgium took over, a Tutsi aristocracy was ruling the Hutu majority. Belgians amplified the racism in the country by promoting the taller and fair-skinned Tutsi and offering them privileges includes education and jobs. They issued ID cards that showed the ethnic identity. Later, during the 1994 genocide of Tutsi by the majority Hutu, these cards were used to easily identify Tutsis to kill.
When the Hutus gained power in the 1970s, the oppression of Tutsis began. First the Tutsi went into exile, but soon they were killed, and they were regularity called “cockroaches” even in the media. Hutu extremists believed that by exterminating the Tutsi they would hold power for good. The genocide began in 1993 and other countries watched, doing nothing. The genocide ended in 1994 when the Tusti-led resistance gained control of the country.
Between the genocide of the Tutsi and subsequent punishment of Hutus, it is estimated that 3 million people died.
Wow.
The Belgian connection is interesting here because Stassen himself is Belgian and he has settled in Rwanda.
The story begins as we see Deogratias, a Hutu man, looking awful. his eyes are yellow, his clothes are torn and he is getting yelled at by a shop owner. But then a white Frenchman tells him to come over and sit. The man knows Deogratias and says it’s good to see him–despite his condition.
The story jumps back and forth on the time line and soon we see Deogratias looking clean and bright eye He is stealing money from a church. He intends to buy a prostitute with the money, but she refuses him. he is caught the next time he tries it.
When we return to the present, Deogratias is telling the white man that they should get some Urwagwa, a banana beer that he seems hooked on. But the white man says no way and calls it poison.
Then we flash back to see a large white man with a beard flying to the country. He is a missionary and will come into the story later.
Next we see a clean Deogratias offering a gift to a beautiful Tutsi woman, Apollinaria. She loves the gift but refuses to kiss him because of it. So he offers it to her sister, Benina, who is a bit freer. And she tells Apollinaria that Deogratias is in love with her.
More flashbacks reveal the parental origins of these girls and how the white Frenchman knows Deogratias.
Throughout the story there are references to dogs. In fact kids tease Deogratias and ask him if he is still a dog. At one point he even seems to turn into a dog. This is explained as the story ends.
Soon enough these threads start to form a narrative. Benina agrees to meet Deogratias. But it happens on the night that the president of the country was killed, which is the excuse the Hutu majority needed to begin their genocide.
Deogratias is Hutu and Benina is Tutsi. He tries to keep her safe, but she refuses to be kept against her will. She wants to find her family.
And soon enough, everything clashes and the explanation about the dogs comes into sharp focus.
The story is about one man’s descent into madness, with his own culpability still in question, the overwhelming horror is just too much to bear. It also asks why the killing of one person is murder by the killing of millions is not.
While I never would say I enjoyed this story, (it was really horrifying), it was so well told. And Stassen’s artwork was amazing. He could have made the artwork bleak and hard to look at. But his drawings were clean and all of his characters were perfectly distinguishable. With a story as tragic as this, any confusion would lessen the impact. His design choices were perfect. And it offered real insight into a situation that I’ve always felt was beyond understanding.
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