Today is better than yesterday so far.I've been keeping busy, but I have this tiny feeling of paranoia. I don't think too many higher ranking folks like me. Why, I've not determined, but I have this sense of exclusion at times. Rob, Geoff, Branden, and sometimes Jeff. I can't put my finger on it. Oh fuck well. As long as I do my job, they can't fuck with me. So...yeah.
- Later -
A hour or two to go. Carle Clinic is where I will get my medicine treated and apply.
- Even Later -
I got off work at four today and looked forward to enjoying the rest of my day. Got a Homer Award. Not much of a big deal for...outside of the Home Depot, but still an occasion to get mildly excited about. Anyway, long story short, I'm just now getting to be productive. It is 7:18, post meridian. I am sitting in the Coffee Hound sipping tea, searching for a viable internet connection. It has become apparent to me that I am far too bony, haven fallen out of my regular workout routine. I must make it a priority to get back into the swing of things. I'll start small and work it up - just like starting over. A schedule for fitness will lead to a schedule for work.
Okay, the moment you've all been waiting for - the Randy Newman Review Spectacular! This Afro-pop isn't doing it for me, so I'll turn to the master of satire-Americana. Let's do it:
I had fun with Randy Newman on the evening of October 9, 2008. The miserable bastard is sixty-five years old now, but that hasn't slowed down his potty-minded Libertarianism. From the moment he shambles on stage in his unseasonably bright button-down shirt to the last (equally shamble-rific), he kept the air free and affable; we were all a part of a conversation, Randy just lead the thing. To put a fine, summarical point on the thing, I want to be like Randy Newman when I grow up. Despite tagging the first and last songs of his first set ("It's Money That I Love" and the timeless - for better or for worse - "Political Science", respectively), I recall the play list in no particular order: "The World Isn't Fair"; "My Life Is Good"; "Leave Your Hat On"; "Korean Parents"; "I Miss You"; "Birmingham"; "Losing You"; "A Few Words In Defense of Our Country"; "Short People"; and "Laugh and Be Happy".
The highlight of the first half of our evening was our participatory outing during "I'm Dead But I Don't Know It". We were assigned the task of telling Randy dead (in fact, my favorite aspect of the track) just in case he wasn't aware. He left us for twenty minutes to "shoot up" but came back in true surreal fashion with "Last Night I Had A Dream". A history lesson followed - we all learned about "The Great Nations of Europe" in the 16th century. My favorite moment of the second half came in Newman's delicate reading of "In Germany Before the War". I wrote about this earlier so I'll not retread already-laid territory. I have to say that it was my favorite part of the whole show.
"You've Got A Friend In Me" perversally followed suit, pursued thusly by a walk down memory lane in "Potholes". Honesty being a rare commodity in Newman's work, it was a coy breath of fresh air when be introduced "I Want You To Hurt Like I Do" - an answer to all the bleeding hearts within the music world.
A piece I did not recognize but enjoyed very much followed. The chorus declared the object of our narrator's affection as a "real emotional girl". Newman has an uncanny talent at making sympathy cases out of low lives and this song was no exception. The main character seemed to suffer from the cliched paradox of the American male: fighting a failing battle to "understand" the fairer sex.
The exquisite "Baltimore" tag-teamed the "Rednecks", arguably Newman's all-in-all best song (prefaced by an apology for the language which would follow, seconded by a disregard for the previous apology - there was and is no excuse). Jackson Browne and John Mellencamp received a moral ass-kicking in "Piece of the Pie" before Newman recollected a near-death, near-religious experience with "Harps and Angels", the title track off his new Nonesuch album.
Two time travel stories followed, one of personal history ("Dixie Flyer") and the other of American history ("Sail Away"). Newman turned in his finest playing of the evening on his anti-yuppie anthem "I Love LA" before ending on a characteristically high note with "I Think It's Going To Rain Today". He returned briefly to tell a story of burdensome stardom - "It's Lonely At the Top", a highlight from his 1972 album Sail Away.
The evening received a proper ending with "Feels Like Going Home", the closing track off Harps and Angels. Each song...Wait, let me start over.
The most striking aspect of the evening was the report Newman held with the audience; our reactions were sometime more interesting than the songs being delivered. Here's what I mean: Newman delivered punchlines all night long because we were laughing accordingly all the way. It was more an evening of anecdotes than songs. Newman crossed the threshold of mere songwriter into story teller territory.
His music juxtaposes a writing (and I mean writing) style both Vonnegut and Hemingway in its character. Blunt, yet wholly interesting characters are brought to life by orchestration, lending an even deeper insight into the minds of these mostly inhabitants of Newman's music:
'Why did this man's son sell him up the river?'
'Because they live in a minor key progression. Nothing good can happen to those characters.'
Stuff like that heralds my respect entirely. Few cats understand the function of popular music like Randy Newman, the way a melody can tell a story just the same as a few line of lyrics. Erich Wolfgang Korngold played the same game when he scored The Adventures of Robin Hood. While composing a scene between Flynn and de Havilland, Korngold slowed the dialog and observed the tone of each actors' voice, designing a melody that corresponded to their respective "keys". That's a creative talent which carries on with Newman.
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