Portnoy's Complaint

Author : Philip Roth (b. 1933)

Title : Portnoy's Complaint (1969, 309 pages)

Genre : Fiction, Comedy

Rating : C

This Month I Read...
Philip Roth's best-known work caused a sensation when it came out in 1969, for its shock value, sexually-taboo subjects, and Jewish humor. The book is essentially a 300-page monologue by the book's protagonist, Alexander Portnoy, to his shrink, one Dr. Spielvogel. Alex recounts his life, in more-or-less chronological order, focusing extensively on his four favorite sex partners - "The Monkey", "The Pilgrim", "The Lieutenant" (attempted only), and his hand. We won't mention the liver, the cored apple, the bottle, and his sister's bra.

What's To Like...
If you like the Mel Brooks style of humor, you'll enjoy PC. One-line zingers abound, such as, "The perfect couple : she puts the id back in Yid; I put the oy back in goy."

The book was banned in Australia when it came out, which naturally stimulated sales Down Under. It is self-deprecating, and obviously semi-autobiographical; so you'll have fun trying to figure out how much of this was drawn from Roth's life. You'll meet his domineering mother, his Willy Loman-esque father, and his plain-and-patient sister. You laugh as Alex tries to cope with his Jewish heritage and survive in a goy world.

What's Not To Like...
It's a monologue. A very lonnnnnggggg monologue. Try imagining having to listen to a Mel Brooksian rant for, say, 12 hours straight. It may be funny at first, but it grates on one's nerves before very long.

There's no plot. There's little progression, other than Alex grows older. And if you're looking for Alex to impart to you some grains of experiential enlightenment, forgetaboutit!

So. Now vee may perhaps to begin, Yes?
I think the book's chief value lies in its ground-breaking impact when it came out. Up till then, American literature was pretty tame. And boring. No cuss words, nothing to offend the WASP and the Jewish communities, and above all, nothing about S-E-X. Portnoy's Complaint burst through all that phony Puritanical bullsh*t, and made people laugh while doing so. And the rabbis and Jewish leaders couldn't call it anti-Semitic, cuz Philip Roth is Jewish.

Nevertheless, the book didn't age well. The shock-threshold has long been exceeded, and without that, the limitations of a chapterless, 300-page monologue are exposed. As you tire of the same themes and the same humor, you'll find it difficult to keep reading the book. I did complete it, and I'm happy about that, but it'll be a long time before I read another Philip Roth book.

Unbearable Cuteness for the Week

I don't know who that big white dog might be, but the pit bull is a dead ringer for Preacher, and that could easily be Huxley in the foreground - he isn't afraid to stand up to Preacher.

Paradise Lost - In Requiem

Artist : Paradise Lost (1987 - present)

Album Title : In Requiem (2007)

Genre : Doom Metal

Rating : ***** *** (out of 10*)

This Week I'm Listening To...
We saw these guys when they opened for Nightwish here in Phoenix last November. PL turned out to be a talented metal band (is that an oxymoron?). They were also a good fit with Nightwish, so I went out and found In Requiem; their 11th , and latest, release.

Paradise Lost has been around since the late 80's, and is considered to be one of the bands that pioneered the genre Doom/Death/Goth Metal. Their albums often explore new territory - they incorporate symphonic elements into their songs and, over the last few years, they've been fusing Synth with Metal, which is said to sound a lot like "Depeche Mode Metal". Now there's an interesting concept.

What's To Like...
Hey, these guys are good! They sing (as opposed to grunt or growl); and you can even understand the lyrics. There are a whole bunch of bitchin' guitar soloes, and just enough symphonic tinges to keep us Nightwish fans oohing and aahing.

What's Not To Like...
Not much. The themes are the same old Metal ones - gloom and doom; sadness and badness. No tiptoeing through the tulips here. Still, I guess that's inherent in Metal, and those themes, although banal, are well done here.

YouTube Links.
You can hear the title cut, Requiem, here., although there's no video with it. PL made a video out of the third track, The Enemy, which you can see here. If you like these two tracks, you'll like the whole album. YouTube has a whole bunch of live videos of PL.

Metal Tolerance Quotient (MTQ).
In Requiem is said to be a return by Paradise Lost to their more metallic roots. I do not claim to be a MetalHead - most of my Metal has to be hybridized - Folk-Metal, Symphonic-Metal, Polka-Metal, etc. So hearing them live butted up against my MTQ.

Still, the more I listened to In Requiem, the more I grew to like Paradise Lost. Which makes me wonder - does one's MTQ change over time? Is listening to Metal kinda like drinking red wine - an acquired taste? Would I have hated this album five years ago? Does this mean that sometime in the far-distant future, I might actually like to listen to groups like Black Sabbath, Cradle of Filth, and Cannibal Corpse, without bemoaning thir utter lack of musical talent? Oog. Let's hope not.

But I digress. From a technical sense, In Requiem is an excellent album. The songs are well-constructed, all the musicians are great, and although you won't confuse the lead singer with Pavarotti, IR is objectively worthy of at least eight stars. How much you personally enjoy this album will be a function of your MTQ. So pour yourself a glass of red wine, and settle back and enjoy the YouTube links given above.

RIP - Albert Hofmann

Albert Hofmann

born : 11 January 1906

died : 29 April 2008

Albert Hofmann passed away earlier this week at the tender young age of 102. He was a chemist, which we all know is the coolest profession in the world. We pay homage to him for the highlight of his illustrious career - being the first to invent (synthesize, actually) LSD-25.

He first made it in 1938, and in typical stoner fashion, promptly forgot about it for 5 years. On 16 April 1943, he unwittingly became his own guinea pig when he accidentally got a small amount on his finger, and it absorbed through his skin into his bloodstream. Three days after this first acid trip, he did another first - the first acid overdose, when he misjudged the dosage of his initial deliberate trip.

Throughout his life, Albert stood by his conviction that LSD was a legitimate psychoanalytical tool, taking lots of trips as part of his research. Yeah right, dude. Like I'm buying that story.

LSD was outlawed in the USA in 1966, which of course promptly led to thousands of flower-children trying it. Gotta find out why the feds don't want us to take this stuff, man.

Farewell Albert Hofmann! You have achieved deified status in the great realm of Hippiedom, right up there with such luminaries as Timothy Leary, Maynard G. Krebs, Jeff Spicoli, and San Mescalito. We salute your contribution to ...um... science.

Word for the day : w00t

Properly spelled double-yew zero zero tee. We forget sometimes that a language is a dynamic entity.

Deathwatch 2008 - Fernando Lugo

Fernando Lugo (center-right in the photo) is the newly-elected President of Paraguay. He brings hope to an impoverished nation. For the last 61 years, one party (the Colorado Party) has ruled Paraguay; about 2/3 of that time as a repressive right-wing dictatorship under a guy named General Alfredo Stroessner.

Lugo got 41% of the vote. The candidate from the Colorado Party got 31%, and a former Army chief got 22%.

Fernando Lugo's politics are center-left. He's a former Roman Catholic bishop who stepped down from that post so he could run for president. His supporters are the Indians, peasant farmers, and trade unions. He is not a big fan of Cesar Chavez.

The now-unseated Colorado Party has the support the Army, the rich, and every power-broker who's enjoyed 60+ years of corruption.

Lugo is scheduled to officially take office on 15 August. We're laying even money that "the powers that be" don't even allow him to get that far. If he does get sworn in, then we're betting there'll be a coup within a year, and the only question is whether they'll send him into exile or "Allende" him.

Congratulations on making our 2008 Deathwatch List, Fernando Lugo. Best of health and best of luck. You'll need both.

Lisa Jackson - Absolute Fear

Title : Absolute Fear (2007; 494 pages)

Author : Lisa Jackson (b. 1952)

Genre : Murder-Thriller

Rating : C

This Month I Read...
A serial killer roams Louisiana, killing men, women, and a few old nuns in ritualistic fashion. Eve Renner gets stalked and shot, and has to deal with the possibility that her jealous beau could be the shooter/stalker.

What's To Like...
The story starts out fast, and continues for 500 pages that way. There's lots of mysterious clues to reason out, and someone gets offed every hundred pages or so to keep you from getting too relaxed. I guarantee you won't figure out who's the Ultimate Evil until the end.

What's Not To Like...
The heroine obviously has a death-wish. There's a psychopathic killer stalking her, and she just can't think of enough reasons to go off to places by herself.

Everyone is amazingly dense here. The killer tattoos 3-digit numbers onto his victims, and no one can figure out what they mean. Hey, it took me two pages to deduce that one.

Finally, there's a slew of unresolved loose-ends left lying about at the end, and one doesn't get the feeling they're there in order to carry over into the sequel. For instance, once our intrepid heroes figure out what the 3-digit numbers stand for, you're still left with a giant "so what?". Are these clever MacGuffins, or just sloppy writing?

And if you don't know what a McGuffin is, click here.

Wait! It's not Murder-Thriller! It's...
Think about where you found this book. Were there Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele books on either side? Maybe that should be telling you something.

Yes, folks. There may be blood, gore, moral outrage, death, and nunocide in this book, but at its core - it's Chick Fic. True love oozes from page to page, and threatens to overshadow the murder-mystery. I guess that's okay if you happen to be a chick, but male readers are hereby forewarned.

To sum up, Absolute Fear is overall an average novel. The unforeseen twists and action-packed chapters are offset by the IQ-challenged characters and the loose ends and MacGuffins. We'll give it a C, keeping in mind that if you like Romantic Thrillers, you might rate this a lot higher.

RIP - John Wheeler

John Archibald Wheeler

born : 09 July 1911

died : 13 April 2008

Okay, I can hear you saying, "Who??" John Wheeler was an important American physicist. "Big deal," you say.

Well, what makes the man memorable is that he popularized the terms black hole and wormhole. Up until him, the concept of a black hole was referred to as a "gravitationally completely collapsed star". Yeah. Try saying that three times fast. When inebriated.

As a time-dimension traveller, I have to admit I've used wormholes once or twice. It is not my preferred mode of transport - the flukey things are always changing termini, and dumping you out into an unknown galaxy.

Black holes are worse. Yes, you can go into them, no problem. And you can also exit them, provided you are acquainted with dimension-travel. But trying to exit them as the same entity as when you went in is a real trick. I once ducked into a black hole in Rigel 9 to take a short-cut to the Yth'hinian Universe, and emerged as a 5-dimensional glob of ectoplasm. Talk about being embarrassed! But that's a story for another time.

Anyway, so long John Wheeler. And thanks for all the fish.

(Happy) 420 Louis !!

If you're older than 25, you're probably unaware that April 20th is a holiday. You can read the MSNBC article on it here, or read the Wikipedia entry here.

2008 Phoenix Pride Parade

The pics are up. You can access them by using the link here, or by going to http://www.2008phxpride.blogspot.com/ or by clicking on "View My Complete Profile" (in the left-hand column) and scrolling down to the bottom.

Billboard Sign for the Week

A quick, but apropos post. I've been going to the gym 3x a week to try to avoid becoming the next poster-child for this billboard. Alas, that cuts into blogging time.

Hairy Back Contest (a)

I've been reminded that I'd promised to post some pics of the "Hairy Back Contest" from when we went to the hockey game. So here we go. Three shirtless "contestants" got to go out on the ice during the first intermission. You'd think we, the crowd, would simply clap for our favorite Hairy Back, but oh no...

Hairy Back Contest (b)

First, each contestant's lady friend got to lather his back with shaving cream.

Hairy Back Contest (c)

Okay, they're all fully lathered - from neck to waist; from love handle to love handle.

Hairy Back Contest (d)

Step Two - the girlfriends now get to toss handfuls of cheese curls at the contestant's backs. One whole bagful per entrant.

Hairy Back Contest (e)

Step Three - the cheerleaders get to count the number of cheese curls on each hairy back. Well, they just kinda sorta guessed at the numbers.

Hairy Back Contest (f)

And here's your winner!! With (an estimated) 85 cheese curls sticking to his shaving cream. What any of this has to do with having a hairy back escapes me, but is was good, cheap fun at your local minor-league hockey game.

Strawbs - Blue Angel

Artist : Strawbs (1964 - present)

Album Title : Blue Angel (2003)

Genre : Prog Rock

Rating : ***** ****½ (out of 10*)

This Week I'm Listening To...
The Strawb's heyday was the first half of the 70's, so Blue Angel is 30 years past their prime. It was their first new material in 12 years, and almost all the main Strawbs musicians form the past (with the exception of Rick Wakeman) are present on at least a couple of the tracks. Needless to say, Dave Cousins, the mainstay of this group throughout its history, is the lead-singer and guitar-player here.

What's To Like...
This album hearkens back to the finest days of the Strawbs. The eponymous title track is an 11-minute triptych that will remind you of Ghosts from their 1975 album. The rest of the album is more akin to Deep Cuts (1976) and Burning For You (1977). There is no filler here; the whole album is replete with varied styles and sounds, expert musicianship, dynamic lyrics, and fantastic guitar licks.

For the first time since Sandy Denny sang with them in the 60's, there is a female vocal presence. Welsh-born Mary Hopkin (she of "Those were the days, my friend; we thought they'd never end...") sings accompaniment on about half of the first dozen tracks; and Maddy Prior joins in the chorus on the final cut, "The King". Awesome!

What's Not To Like...
Nothing really. 3 or 4 songs from earlier Strawbs' and Dave Cousins' solo albums are re-worked here; that apparently miffs some folks. Other than that, the worst I can say is that I don't think the Strawbs tour at all anymore. Cousins does some acoustic concerts, but on those rare occasions when he comes to the USA, he seems to confine himself to the Northeast. The odds of me seeing him/them in Arizona are pretty remote.

YouTube Links...
I haven't found any of the tracks from the Blue Angel album available at You Tube, but there are a couple videos featuring their better-known songs. One is "New World" which you can watch here. "Part of the Union" is undoubtedly their biggest hit (in th UK only), and you can hear it here. And "Lay Down", another signature piece, can be heard here. Finally, although it's a non-Strawbs video, you can listen to "Round & Round" here.

Treat Me Kindly, Dear Blue Angel
Deepest Colour of the Night
Be Merciful, Be Gentle
For I Have No Strength to Fight...
I became a Strawbs fan the day in 1972 when I walked into the local record store and found Grave New World, an album with a cool cover, and whose title was a take-off of a book by my favorite author, Aldous Huxley.

The album was quite progressive, quite metaphysical, quite spacey, and quite good. Its cover is posted below. Then in 1974, I found Hero & Heroine, which at least one person (not me, honest.) has described as "the greatest album of all time". That's not far from the truth.

I'm tempted to give Blue Angel a rare 10-star rating, except for one thing - it isn't even in the top-three Strawbs albums of all time. In order, those would be Hero & Heroine, Bursting At The Seams, Ghosts, and Grave New World. Blue Angel checks in at #5, and there's still a couple Strawbs albums I haven't listened to. So we'll stick with 9½-stars, and give this our highest recommendation, provided you can find a copy.

Strawbs - Grave New World

The album cover that started it all. Buying LP's by unknown groups just because the album jakcets are très cool has its risks, but this one was a wonderful discovery.

Lest We Forget...

It was 40 years ago today that the government blew away Dr. Martin Luther King as he stood on his balcony at a Memphis hotel. Anyone who thinks that a lone redneck yahoo could have pulled this off probably believes in the tooth fairy too.

The assassination came one day after King's famous "I've been to the mountaintop" speech, in which he seems hauntingly aware that he is soon to die. Here's the relevant excerpt...

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." (Martin Luther King - 04/03/68)

We pause to remember this tragic event, and wonder when right-wing brownshirts will realize that murder is NOT an acceptable means of voicing one's political opinions.

Eloy - Planets

Artist : Eloy (formed in 1969)

Album Title : Planets (1981)

Genre : Progressive Symphonic Space Rock

YouTube Link : point of no return

Rating : ***** ** (out of 10*)

This Week I'm Listening To...
Eloy is a German band with a sound that's a blend of Pink Floyd and Yes. Their last studio album came out in 1998, and they haven't toured since 2003, so they may be defunct now.

Eloy is not named for that famous city in Arizona; instead it's a reference to the race of the Eloi from the book The Time Machine. The Eloi were the primary munchies food of the evil Morlocks.

Planets came out in 1981, which was in the heyday of Eloy. It is a concept album, and was planned to be a double-LP. Unfortunately, the record company decided one disc was enough, so you get half-a-story. The concluding half had to wait for the next LP, A Time To Turn, which came out in 1982.

What's To Like...
Expertly crafted songs and fantastic musicianship. Check out the YouTube link (above) for a song, Point Of No Return, from this album. Cool album covers (the British cover is posted below), and lots of prog music from beginning to end.

What's Not To Like...
Lead singer Frank Bornemann's voice leaves something to be desired, and it's evident from the lyrics that English is not his native tongue.

Although this whole album is good, there's nothing that really jumps out and grabs you. I prefer their 1979 effort, Silent Cries & Mighty Echoes, which is much closer to the Pink Floyd sound.

Yes , as in "Overrated"...
Eloy-Planets is what Yes could've sounded like if they had been able to get rid of their pretentious attitude. I have several Yes LP's, and a couple Rick Wakeman albums as well. None overly impress me. Too much fluff; not enough substance.

Which is a shame, because the concept behind the Yes-sound has always had great potential. It's nice to hear a group like Eloy grabbing that concept, and taking it to another level of proficiency.

But I digress. Planets is a good album, but it's not the best of what Eloy has to offer. If you can ignore the vocals, and concentrate on the music, you'll find this album a treat. Then if you are in need of a Floydian fix, go out and buy Silent Cries & Mighty Echoes.

Eloy - Planets (British cover)

Cool, huh?

A River Runs Through It

Title : A River Runs Through It (1976; 104 (217)pages)

Author : Norman Maclean (1902-1990)

Genre : American Literature

Rating : C-

This Month I Read...
73-year old Norman Maclean's debut novella was an instant hit. A semi-autobiographical (I love that term. It means, "I'm gonna write about my life, but I get to lie at times.") story about the family relationships, primarily between Norman, his dad and his younger brother. The setting is ...erm... fly-fishing. Pure and simple.

Being only 104 pages long, ARRTI is bundled with two other Maclean stories - one about a summer he spent in a logging camp; the other about a year he worked for the US Forest Service.

What's To Like...
Maclean has a nice, poetic style. If you like your storylines heavy on the drama and light on the action, you'll love ARRTI. I don't think anyone before Maclean ever thought to use fly-fishing as a metaphor for life.

Personally, I liked the two "add on" stories better. They have a bit more plot, a bit more action, and (best of all) give a glimpse into what being a logger and a ranger was like 90 years ago. Daily life was a lot different then, and it's enlightening to get insight into it. In that respect, it reminded me a lot of Isaac's Storm, which was reviewed here.

What's Not To Like...
Did I mention it's light on action? In truth, ARRTI is devoid of action.

Plot-wise (PWP), little brother is self-destructive, and the 30-something author can't figure out how to help him. He asks his Dad, he of zero parenting skills, who also has nothing to offer. A lazy bum of a brother-in-law shows up, who at least puts the "fun" back into "dysfunctional" by boinking the town whore and drinking everybody's beer. The Maclean women's sole activity is nagging the Maclean men.

All-in-all, pretty uninspiring stuff. Alternatively, those who loved ARRTI call the book "dark". Oh, the book was made into a movie, starring Robert Redford, and my carpool partner (who has excellent movie tastes) says it's a yawner too.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it...
Judging from other reviews, I am in the minority when it comes to ARRTI. They gush about the poetry, the philosophy, the metaphysics, and the key to life, the universe, and everything else. Here's one example :

(ARRTI is) "detailed descriptions of fly-fishing and nature to engage with a number of profound metaphysical questions". Whoa! Way deep, huh?

El toro poo-poo. Maclean wrote about fly-fishing cuz it's one of the few things he knew something about. Anything can be hyped into being a metaphor for life. For instance, here's a quote from yesterday at MSNBC.com, coinciding with the advent of the baseball season :

"Bart Giamatti, the former commisioner of baseball, wrote eloquently about that journey that begins with the batter standing at home, trying first to leave it and then to get back - to be safe once again at home. For him, it was a grand metaphor of life, this circuituous journey that could be fraught with danger and obstacles, that could demand daring and bravery to complete."

Wow! More way deep stuff, eh? IMHO, they're both ridiculous, unless you happen to be a baseball or fly-fishing fanatic.

But I digress. For me ARRTI was a ploddingly slow read, lacking any plot and action, and saved only by the two add-on tales. I must admit it's well-written; now if Maclean could only have thought of some sort of storyline to drape his flowery philosophy around. If you want to see this sort of genre done much better, try The Thin Place, by Kathryn Davis, which we'll review in the near future.

Motivational Poster of the Week

Easter at Terry & Liz's (2008)

11 People, 9 Dogs, two Easter Egg Hunts, and a lot of fantastic food and libations. Coming soon to a blog near here. Chock full of insufferably cute pics like this one.

- UPDATE -

The pics are up. The web-address is www.easterlud.blogspot.com , or you can click here, or you can access it by clicking on "View My Complete Profile" in the left-hand column of this blog-page (under my portrait).

Happy 5th Anniversary

We got the triple whammy. 5 years in Iraq; 4,000 troops killed; and ½-3 trillion dollars spent, depending on who you believe. And for what? Happy Anniversary, Dubnutz. Thank God your idiotic reign is coming to an end. You twerp.

Happy Easter !!

ASU beats ASU !!

Yes, it's true. ASU (Arizona State) whupped up on ASU (Alabama State) in the first round of the NIT. Final score was 64-53. That's Jeff Pendergraph (above) and James Harden (below) doin' some serious dominating.

ASU also defeated the Southern Illinois Salukis (is that a cool team nickname, or what?) in the second round, 65-51. All that stands between Arizona State and a trip to the NIT Final Four is playing Florida, here, next Wednesday.

There is some disappointment in not being invited to the "Big Dance" NCAA Tournament, but frankly, this is an over-achieving team of overall modest talent. Perhaps it is better to be a big fish in a small pond, than first-round dog-meat for some national powerhouse. Bottom line - we're still playing hoops, while the under-achieving blue-chippers at UofA are sitting at home watching TV.

And in other news,,,

ASU (#1 in the nation) beat UofA (#2 in the nation) in collegiate baseball, 6-5, earlier this week. True, we finally lost last night to Northern Colorado (who?) after starting the season with 19 straight wins.

All in all, it was a good week for Sun Devil athletics.

Dumber & Dumberer

The dolt on the right doesn't think we're in a recession yet. The dolt on the left thinks that the Shiite regime in Iran is training the Sunni group Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq. At last Dubnutz has found someone who won't talk down to him.

Roadrunners Hockey (a)

We went to see the bottom-feeding Phoenix Roadrunners take on division-leading Victoria on Friday night. This is much better - and much cheaper - than going to see our NHL team, the Coyotes. There was a decent turn-out, but you could still sit anywhere you wanted.

Roadrunners Hockey (b)

It was also "Hairy Back Night", but we'll do a separate posting on that bit of insanity.

Roadrunners Hockey (c)

There were some decent fights, which is the only real reason to watch a hockey game now, isn't it?

Roadrunners Hockey (d)

One perk about going to a Roadrunners game - you can get your picture taken with the cheerleader cutie.

Roadrunners Hockey (e)

In the end, we drubbed Victoruia 5-1. Three cheers for the Roadrunners (especially our goalie), and we'll post the exciting "Hairy Back Contest" pics sometime soon.

The Ides Of March

Title : The Ides Of March (1948; 191 pages)

Author : Thornton Wilder (1897-1975)

Genre : Classical Literature

Rating : C+

This Month I Read...
Thornton Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He won Pulitzer Prizes for The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) and Our Town (1938).

TIoM is one of his later works, and frankly was not a big seller. It deals with the 6 months or so leading up to Julius Caesar's assassination ("Et tu, Brute", and all that). At 191 pages, it was an opportunity to read something "high brow" for a change, without too much of an investment in time.

This is not a historical novel - Wilder makes that clear from the beginning. He 'borrows' a number of things that actually occurred 5-15 years earlier, and time-shifts them to 45-44 B.C. for the sake of his book.

What's To Like...
The style is wonderfully unique. There's a high-falutin' word for it : epistolary. Basically, the story here is written as a series of letters from/to the various characters - Caesar, his wife, a lady named Clodia, Cicero, Cleopatra, etc. You can read more about this style here. It works. I'd enjoy trying to write a story in this mode.

Being a series of letters, there's always a convenient place to stop if you're a late night reader like I am. Overall, Wilder divides TIoM into 4 "books". They are not chronological; instead, they deal with different themes. Book 1 introduces the characters; Book 2 deals with Love; Book 3 focuses on Religion; and Book 4 details the events that lead up to Caesar being perforated 23 times.

The book provides some delightful glimpses into the daily thoughts and activities of people living at the height of the Roman Empire. Okay, actually it's all just Wilder's opinions as to what these would have been, just like Shakespeare did in his play. But it's still quite interesting.

The central theme of the book is the "human-ness" of us all. Slave or emperor; ancient Roman or modern reader; we all put our pants on one leg at a time. Inspiring? No. But can you relate? Absolutely.

What's Not To Like...
PWP? For the acronymically-challenged, click here. If you're looking for an action-packed storyline, you're better off with Gene Wilder than with Thornton. Ditto for hoping for any humor and/or surprising plot twists. This book can drag at times, especially if you have to plod through a verbose diatribe by Cicero or some flowery prose by Catullus.

What Makes Thronton Wilder Worthy of a Pulitzer Prize...
I've read The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and will comment on it at some other time. And I've had to sit through Our Town at least once a long time ago, as it used to be the default choice for every High School Drama Club director who found himself with a limited budget and a dearth of talent.

There are recurring themes in Wilder's works. First and foremost is the focus on our humanity. We may aspire to have the world revolve around us, but the truth is, God makes the rain fall on everyman.

Speaking of the Deity/Deities; Wilder doesn't seem to have a high regard for theism of any sort. At its best, the concept of God(s) serves to give us inner comfort and inspiration; at its worst, Religion exists to be manipulated for self-serving purposes.

So what is important to Thornton Wilder? Love. Pure and simple; and in all of its aspects. We live; we die; and in a couple generations, no one remembers us. But to love, and be loved, makes it all worthwhile.

Ah, but I digress. The Ides of March is a decent book, if you're in the mood for something philosophical, rather than a thrill-a-minute tale. We'll give it a C+ and snort condescendingly to indicate we've read something high-brow. We'll recommend it to others, but I don't think this will motivate me to pick up anything by Nathaniel Hawthorne or Elizabeth Browning.

the legacy

Mermaid Avenue

Artists : Billy Bragg, Wilco, (& Woody Guthrie)

Album : Mermaid Avenue (1998)

Genre : Alt-Folk

YouTube Link : calif stars

Rating : ***** *** (out of 10*)

This Week I'm Listening To...
Here's the scoop. In the 90's, Nora Guthrie, the daughter of folk-icon Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), asks leftist-activist folk-singer Billy Bragg if he is willing to take a bunch of Woody's unpublished lyrics and put them to music. BB agrees, and in turns asks alt-rock-country Wilco to collaborate. Bob Dylan gets miffed, claiming Woody promised him that honor, alas without any documentation to back that up.

The result is Mermaid Avenue, 15 tracks and 45 minutes of some of the freshest Alt.Folk to come along in quite some time.

What's To Like...
The blending of three disparate styles works out quite well and yields some refreshingly new Alt-Folk. The music is a mellow mixture of BB/Wilco; and is definitely not Woody-Guthrie style. I for one and thankful for that. Woody is first and foremost a lyricist, and his half-century-old lyrics are still quite relevant to today's world.

There are a slew of stand-out tracks : California Stars, Christ For President, Walt Whitman's Niece, and the John Prine-esque Hesitating Beauty.

There are a couple tracks from this album up on YouTube; the link to one of them is given above.

What's Not To Like...
Both groups seem to be holding back a bit. It reminds me of a CD put out by Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler a few years back. With talent like that; you expect the spectacular. Instead they both seem try to crawl into the shadows behind each other. Maybe Bragg/Wilco were doing the same thing out of respect for each other. Or maybe they were saving their best efforts for their individual albums.

There is some filler. And if you're looking for Wilco-style rock, it ain't to be found.

It's Folk; It's Not Supposed to be Musically Great...
What makes a great folk album? Well it isn't great guitar-work; I defy you to find anything beyond simple chording on a Simon & Garfunkel album. Nor is it the vocals; no one has accused Joan Baez of having anything beyond a mediocre voice. The themes in Folk may be progressive, but the music certainly isn't. And as Jewel found out, Folk won't getcha a lot of radio-play.

I think Folk, as with any album by a "singer", needs to be catchy and diverse. Catchy lyrics; catchy chording; and a variety of themes. John Prine has managed to stay fresh and interesting through four decades of singing/song-writing. Dylan did too, until his brain fried. Paul Simon had it up through Graceland; but hasn't found it since. Joan Baez had it for about two albums, but we tolerated that because she was against the war. When the war was finished, so was she.

But I digress. Mermaid Avenue (which is named for the street on which the Guthries lived) is a very good album (eight stars), but only if you're in the mood for Folk. There is a Mermaid Avenue 2, which I've not yet heard. If you want to rock-out with Wilco, or kill the Fascists with Billy, you might want to "try before you buy". But if you still think this genre has some new directions to explore, give this one a listen.

Alpaca Lips Now

Someone has managed to give me the nasty cold that's been going around. There are a half-dozen suspects at work, but the main suspicion falls on Liz, who's had it for a week. She denies it, of course, claiming that she couldn't've (*) given it to me since she still has it. So we'll go with an old Worth1000 image that has nothing to do with my coughing, wheezing and sneezing.

(*) : Gotta love those double-apostrophied words.

Sheryl Crow - Detours

Artist : Sheryl Crow (b. 1962)

Album : Detours (2008)

Genre : Country - Pop - Folk - Rock

Rating : ***** ***½ (out of 10*)

This Week I'm Listening To...
Sheryl Crow's latest release finds her reuniting with Bill Bottrell, who produced her breakthrough, early albums. It is also a "coming out" effort - Sheryl touches upon a number of political themes - including global warming, the war in Iraq, post-Katrina New Orleans, and the idiocy that is Karl Rove. Some of the songs are also introspective - a lullaby to her new (adopted) son; her brush with breast cancer, etc.

What's To Like...
There are 16 tracks, and about an hour's worth of music here. "Side A" is exceptional - a beautiful mixture of themes & styles, all of which have catchy, upbeat lyrics that you'll be singing to yourself long after the album is done. The studio production is flawless. If her last couple CD's have been so-so; this one recaptures her muse.

What's Not To Like...
"Side B" slows down a bit, and turns inward. They are meaningful tracks if you know the background to them; if you don't, they aren't very memorable.

Most of the criticism comes from C&W wingnuts who are offended that Ms. Crow should disagree with our Chimperor Dubnutz on things like the war, global-warmng, etc. Hey, dittoheads! The latest polls show our Preznit setting new all-time records for umpopularity - 19% and falling. Your ostracization of the Dixie Chicks didn't work; you'd better get used to the fact that 4 out of 5 people are fed up with your brown-shirt politics.

God Bless This Mess...
I tried hard not to like this album, partly due to SC being the poster-child for the RIAA; partly due to the fact that it's "just another chick-singer album". Alas, it really is an excellent CD; and I chided myself as I kept putting it in the CD player time after time.

Personally, I'd rate the first half of the album 9½ stars; and the second half 7½ stars. Best tracks : God Bless This Mess; Peace Be Upon Us; Motivation; and first-and-foremost, Gasoline. Weakest tracks : Diamond and Lullaby For Wyatt.

Highly recommended.