Books: The Giver

I somehow managed to make it through both junior high and high school without reading The Giver by Lois Lowry--which is odd since I read nearly everything I can get my hands on.
But recently I decided to make up for lost time and read it. I didn't have any idea what the plot was, but it wasn't long before I was captivated by the story and plot. If you don't know, the story follows a boy named Jonas was he grows up in a "perfect" society. In this look into the future, useless members of society are quietly euthanized, marriages are carefully arranged by committees, conversations and behaviors are constantly monitored, and any pain is quickly eliminated with the aid of medicine. Jonas' role in this society is to keep memories from the messy past in order to help guide the future of the society. The knowledge he gains makes him question whether the supposed perfection in which he currently lives is not somehow inferior to the beauty and chaos of the past.
If there's one thing I love, it's a look out a dystopian future. I can't get enough of it. The Giver, along with the more recent City of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau, is a dystopian social novel aimed for younger readers. While DuPrau's future is darkness moving towards an ever brightening future (both figuratively and literally), Lowry's future is much bleaker. The haunting ending of The Giver is almost shocking in comparison to the speedy pace and inquisitive tone of the novel. My expectations were constantly subverted as I read Jonas' journey towards wisdom. This is a book that raises questions about human nature and personal liberty, and Lowry is please to leave us without any easy answers.

If you read The Giver as a kid, read it again and let me know how your feelings then compare to now!

Patrick Watson at The Largo Coronet

I was privileged to join a small band of fans to see Patrick Watson play in Los Angeles this weekend. Patrick is a Canadian musician who fuses complicated percussion, looping, and a feeling of improvisation with heartfelt melodies and earnest vocals. His music is lovely to listen to, but it is entirely different to see it performed. Patrick and the members of his band seemed to approach each song like a new creative endeavor as they built the sounds up using trickery and technique that you can't fully appreciate unless you see it being done. At any given moment, someone on stage was banging pots and pans, using a bow on a guitar, stomping their feet, or playing the saw. Patrick occasionally sang into a megaphone, and then mute it like a jazz trumpet player.
The show was lively and fun because it was clear that Patrick and the band were genuinely enjoying playing together. It felt like we were looking in on a practice rather than a performance at times--which is not to say say that they were lazy performers. It would be impossible to say that as Patrick even came out into the audience to sing one song, but I did feel like they didn't care whether or not an audience was there at all to see them play. There was just some serious love of music and each other going on that night.

If you haven't heard this talented and unique musician yet, here are a couple of songs by Patrick Watson for you to check out. Also, the set list from the show is posted below--except for one song I can't remember because my pen died and I couldn't write it down.

Go To FileFactory.com

Set List:
Tracy's Waters
Beijing
Wooden Arms
Big Bird in a Small Cage
Traveling Salesman
The Storm
Man Like You
Where the Wild Things Are
Hearts in the Park
Luscious Life

Encore:
To Build A Home
Bright Shiny Lights

Classic Film: Random Harvest

I sat down to watch Random Harvest the other day without having any previous knowledge of it except that it starred the fantastic actress, Greer Garson. I had no idea the pleasant surprise that awaited me with this film from 1942.

The story is about an amnesiac British war veteran who marries a kind chorus girl named Paula. When another head injury restores his memory, the vet then loses all of his memories since the amnesia first set in. He returns to his former life, gets engaged to another girl--all without ever realizing that he has abandoned his first wife. If that wasn't twisty drama enough, Paula resurfaces in her husband's new life, but not in any way I expected.

I was never sure as the film progressed whether the ending would be a happy one or not. I was completely drawn into the story and the characters. For a film that is more than half a century old, Random Harvest never felt out of date.

Random Harvest came out the same year as another great Greer Garson film, Mrs. Miniver. While she may have won an Oscar for her role in Mrs. Miniver, I think Random Harvest might be an even better film. Has any one else seen both of these movies and would like to weigh in?

COMING SOON: THE MOTH

My friend Kim and I are pleased to announce that The Moth is coming soon!

Save the date for TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27th!

For those of you who are not familiar with The Moth, it is a public radio program of true stories from life told without scripts or notes.

Our theme for the night will be, "The Maiden Voyage: Stories of First Attempts."

Storytellers for the evening will be:
Judy Smith
Monica Romig-Green
Danny Paschall

If you would like more info on The Moth, check out their official site: www.themoth.org

Invite a friend a come along!
Kim and Judy

Bon Iver at Hollywood Forever Cemetary

Any Bon Iver fans out there?

Last weekend I was lucky enough to score a ticket to see the band play live. At 6am. In a graveyard.

Yes, you read that correctly. This was a unique concert that was the brainchild of Bon Iver's lead guy, Justin Vernon, and was put on by none other than my favorite radio station, KCRW.

The doors opened at midnight and although I was not among them, many people showed up the the Hollywood Forever Graveyard to camp out. There was music and entertainment throughout the night including a showing of Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket. My friend Bethany and I ended up getting up really early and showing up just in time for a blessing by some Buddhist monks. It was nearly 6 by this time, still dark and appropriately misty. It would have been creepy if there weren't a couple thousand of us all crowded together in the dark.

When Bon Iver finally got onstage, the sleepy crowd roused themselves for an awesome show. As the show progressed, the sky when from dark, to pink, to blue as the sun rose over Los Angeles. It was an odd but perfect setting for a band that sounds as good live as they do on their albums. I'll include the set list below, but make sure to comment if you were at the show. Did you camp out? What was your favorite song of the morning? Post pictures if you got them!

I loved the banjo/fiddle on "Worried Mind" performed with members of the band Megafaun, but you can't beat "Skinny Love" or "Flume" in the morning: best wake-up call ever.

Set List:

Sum

Creature Fear

Brackett, WI

Flume

Skinny Love

Babies

Blood Bank

Beach Baby

Worried Mind by Megafaun

For Emma

Re: Stacks

Wolves

Stuck on Repeat: Chains, Chains, Chains by Elvis Perkins

Every once in a while I hear a new song that I just can't get enough of no matter how many times I listen to it.

My latest song obsession is called "Chains, Chains, Chains" by Elvis Perkins. It has great musicality and a really focused and controlled performance by Elvis. I just love the way he semi-wails the word chains over and over. It's passionate but not over the top.

Take a listen and see if the song stands up to repeat listens for you:

- FileFactory.com

The Art of Making a Mix Tape

I have made quite a few mix tapes in my day. I enjoy the challenge of trying to capture a person's musical taste while also surprising them with new songs and artists. Sometimes I give myself a theme to work towards like songs about America or songs featuring the banjo.

Over the years I have developed my own system of arranging songs in order to create a mix that flows while telling a continuous story with the music. To some extent I follow the technique explained by Rob in the movie High Fidelity:

"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules."

Here are a few other tips from me:

--Never use two songs by the same artist.

--Include one good cover songs if you can.

--Inevitably you will have a handful of songs that you think are killer. Make sure you space them somewhat evenly in the mix.

--I like to end my mixes upbeat rather than with a slow song. It's a bit more unexpected.

What are you mix tape rules and tips?

Rodgers and Hammerstein at the Hollywood Bowl

I was lucky enough to take in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl this past week. Not only is this one of my favorite venues, the show was all music from musicals—another one of my favorite things. And speaking of favorite things, the night was dedicated to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, the legendary duo that penned the music for Oklahoma, The King and I, and of course, The Sound of Music. And the icing on this cake was that the night was hosted by none other than Robert Osborne, film historian and host for the Turner Classic Movie channel! I loved hearing his off-the-cuff trivia and anecdotes about the movies and music, and it was great to see him live after years of watching him on television.

More than just music, the night was about movies. The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by David Newman (of the film-composing Newmans), played the musical score in synchronization with scenes from the movies played on a giant screen. The amazing thing is that this music-image combo was so seamless that we weren’t listening to the film’s soundtrack.

After playing some of the best-known songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein songbook, the evening concluded with an audience sing-along of “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music. This is what I was hoping for all night! Until then we had been instructed to join in the music making, but finally we were able to belt out along with Julie Andrews—and all was as it should be.

Daytrotter Sessions: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes

Daytrotter.com (http://www.daytrotter.com) is one of my favorite websites for music. They have a huge variety of mp3s for FREE download on their site and it's all live versions of songs by indie bands. In the past they've had some favorites like Bon Iver, Cold War Kids, Aimee Mann and Andrew Bird.

All this week I have had the Daytrotter Session by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros stuck on repeat. So far this band's recent album, "Up From Below", is my favorite album of 2009. It's full of catchy and exuberant songs that feel like they've come out of some super happy hippy commune. From what I hear, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros put on a great live show that eclipses even the energy heard on the album. Hopefully, I can judge for myself when the band comes to the El Rey in Los Angeles later this month for a show--Anyone interested in going? Anyone have tickets you want to give me?

Until then, I am happily spinning their Daytrotter Session which gives a pretty good estimation of their odd wit and tight musicianship. "Home" is great and the live version of "40 Day Dream" manages to sound as big and sprawling as the album version. If I had to describe them (which I am terrible at) I would say it's something like a less sparkly and more folksy version of The Polyphonic Spree. Only maybe (probably) better.

Check them out and bask in the retro vibe:
http://www.edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros.com/

The Moth

The Moth is an organization dedicated to storytelling. They host evenings where people get up on stage and tell true stories from their lives without notes or scripts. You can listen to podcasts of stories on iTunes, or their website: http://www.themoth.org/

I love that there is a community of people out there dedicated to preserving personal narratives. I love it so much that my friend Kim and I have decided to host our own Moth night!

It's still in the works, but we have some really exciting plans in the works. We hope to have our first Moth Nighte in October and we are already getting some good interest generated among some of our favorite storytellers.

If you enjoy storytelling and you want to be involved or attend, be sure to let me know. If it goes well we may do these on a semi-regular basis.

And let me know if you have any good ideas for themes!

Before We Begin..

...A word from me:
Welcome! This blog is will cover art, creativity, media and culture. This includes pop culture, indie music, classic novels, public radio, new movies, vintage albums, homemade crafts, or anything else that happens to interest me at the moment. I'm going to start there and see where this takes me. I invite you to comment, make suggestions, disagree with me, or share your own current interests.

And don't forget to invite a friend!

later days,
Judy