Mysteries Abysmal

Macca lives

John Colapinto has written a fantastic New Yorker article on Paul McCartney (appearing this week only in the print version).  Colapinto followed PM around for a few days and was able to get the man to conjure enough choice recollections to keep us fanboys happy for years.  Pizza, pizza!

"You didn't sit around complimenting each other," McCartney said (of John). "So when he said something, you knew he meant it.  I remember one time when we'd been skiing all day and we were back at the hotel room, and John and I were paired up in a room, and George and Ringo were in another, and we were listening to a cassette tape of 'Here, There and Everywhere'--one that I wrote." He paused. "Which album is that on? Is that 'Revolver'? Anyway, I remember John was taking off his ski boots and he said, 'That's a good one, there.' And I just felt great.  That was true praise."

And...

He recalled how Lennon had winced the first time McCartney had played for him the opening lines of "I Saw Her Standing There," which had originally been "She was just seventeen/ She'd never been a beauty queen." He [then] mentioned that "If I Fell" was perhaps his favorite song by Lennon.

...and much, much more. 

Where's Rascal Flatts?

Imagine this scenario: a two day car-ride with Sean Hannity and he's in charge of the radio. 

Hopper tribute

This week's New Yorker has a nice little 2-page article on Edward Hopper, which pleasantly reminded me how much I love his work. Spend hours browsing his oeuvre here. Here are my 3 favorite Hoppers that scream "America."  (For some reason, Hopper looks extra good in Mysteries Abysmal's color scheme)

Gas (1940)

Early Sunday Morning (1930)

New York Movie (1939)

...and who knew this was the inspiration for the house in Psycho?
House by the Railroad (1925)

Off the Cuff

I'm going to be an extra in Brent Kado's upcoming film Off the Cuff, which mockingly pays tribute to the windy city's local improv comedians.  If you don't know Kado, get to know him.  Start with his fantastic and very successful blog. He's always got his hand in something interesting around the Chicago area.  Recently, he recorded a podcast of the suicide note written by Malachi Ritscher, a man who lit himself on fire last year near downtown Chicago in protest of the Iraq war.  It goes without saying, this isn't for the weak-hearted. 

I like the rain

It washes memories off the sidewalks of life. --Allan Felix (Play it Again Sam)

Jerry Springer: The Opera

Saw the US debut of Jerry Springer: The Opera this evening, which is showing now at the Bailiwick theatre on Belmont and Racine.  Andrew and I (see photo) both agreed the jokes grew tiresome in the second half (the show was written by Brits to larf at our bad taste, but I think most yanks' amusement with Springer expired years ago); the music, though, was very good.  Small theatre, so the ensemble was a few keyboards, a sax, a flute, a flugelhorn and some other brass.  If you're considering going, think John Waters meets the guy who did Rent-- except without Waters' charm.  BTW, I passed on those barenaked lads. 

Transfigured knight

I'd bet this was one of the moments when Arnold began to realize he wasn't going to be like the other kids. 

“I saw your soul, naked, stark naked. It lay before me like a wild, secretive landscape, with its terrifying shoals and abysses, alongside cheerful, graceful, sun-drenched meadows, idyllic resting places. I experienced it as if it had been a natural phenomenon, with its terrors and disasters, and its glorious, calming rainbow. What does it matter that, when I afterward heard of your ‘Program,’ it seemed to have little to do with my own feelings.” --Arnold Schoenberg in a letter to Mahler after hearing his titanic 3rd (1904)

(Source)

Hang on to your Strohs

One of the most special sounds in the world to me is Ernie Harwell's voice.  The 89-year broadcaster will be coming back to call a Tiger's game on May 24 vs. the Angels. Harwell's been retired for 5 years. Said Ernie, "It's going to be a big kick for me.  It's just sort of fun to get my feet wet." The man sounds like a 25 year-old again who's about to get his big shot. Give him a listen and click on "signature calls" here. Also, Ernie used to dabble in the music business as well, and he wrote a ton of tunes in the 60s.  Ernie said a few years back, "Needless to say, I have more no-hitters than Nolan Ryan."

Crazy Rhythm

Here's a record that doesn't quite remind me of anything else.  Les's clean, undistorted electric guitar lines make me wish I could play.  Ok, so LP isn't the Paul Stanley or Eddie Van Halen he imagined himself to be, but he does seem to have a talent for improvisation. Don't listen to the record all at once, but take it in parts--like starting with "Who's Sorry Now?"

My Old Virginia Home

I've been out of town for the last week on vacation in gorgeous Blacksburg, VA. My family and I were there from '84 -'89, and it was the first time since we left that we'd all been back there together. I'm hoping regular commenter extraordinaire joshi will take a look at the photos and pass them on to his lady. They are every bit of Blacksburg to us as the landscape and buildings. (The last B&B in Blacksburg proper: Vera's L'Arche. She's selling the place to retire, so this is some well-off financier's big chance to take advantage of the area's skyrocketing real estate prices.) (Looking east on college st.) (The Lyric was the first theater where I saw a movie: Goonies in 1985) (Sister Lindsay in front of the Hokie House, a watering hole as popular now as it was then) (Looking south on Main street) (My mother, Kim, in front of the Cellar bar; the dog requested that he remain unnamed) (The grand entrace to Tech's campus) (here's a trio of blood-pumping math photos: dad in front of mcbryde) (dad with his former Ph.D advisor) (dad may have left Va Tech 18 years ago, but his deeply-felt influence remains :) (One of Tech's many make-shift memorials for the 32 victims of last month's shootings. Blacksburgians and those variously connected to the tragedy were very forgiving in their messages) (Our humble townhome in Terrace View; we lived there from '88-'89) (The Home Place Restuarant in Catawba, Va. Just like a family inviting you over for dinner; you don't really order anything, but rather eat what's on the plate they provide you) Saying goodbye to the Blue Ridge mountains and one of the prettiest, most comfortable regions in the United States.