Duets

For the last couple of weeks, I've been listening to Raising Sand, the album that brought Robert Plant and Alison Krauss together.  And, a few weeks before that I purchased one of the new singles on Neil Diamond's latest album, Home Before Dark (this album was produced by Rick Rubin who helped orchestrate the American recordings for Johnny Cash).  Like Cash's American albums, Home Before Dark features a scaled back approach, allowing Neil Diamond to exercise his essential giftedness.  It just so happens the song I purchased was another duet:  Neil Diamond paired up with Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks.  

There's something else going on in the Kendall house, too.  It's the number two.  As of yesterday, we have taken definite steps to end our ability to (re)produce any more Wes' or Anna's - leaving the prospective number of descendants at ... two.  So, in honor of Wyatt and Elise, here are my ten top duets (I'll even include videos of #10 & #1):

10.   Johnny Cash & Joni Mitchell - Long Black Veil:  Two of my favorite singer-songwriters of all time, on opposite sides of the range.  Even their personalities in this video seem light years apart (the angelic Mitchell and the hardened Cash).  This song was a Cash original I believe.  But, on the Johnny Cash show, it was not uncommon for Cash to pair up with another big name star to sing a song.  Interestingly, this song has since become a favorite for other duet-ers, including a rendition by Dave Matthews and Emmylou Harris (see it here).  

9.  Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel - Bookends:  It's hard to qualify Paul and Art as a duet.  They seemed so much one up until their break.  But, of all their songs, Bookends most clearly demonstrates the grace exuded by their harmonies.

8.  Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush - Don't Give Up:  If you check Youtube, you can find the original video from the 80's.  The song really is great, but when you watch the video it just seems agonizingly awkward.  Gabriel and Bush grasp each other in forced embrace with a sun in the background, which becomes eclipsed.  Although, given Gabriel's other videos ... well, it's fairly normal.

7.  Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan - Girl from the North Country:  Another strange pairing for Mr. Cash.  Bob Dylan supposedly had quit smoking when this song was originally recorded, which only added to the uniqueness in his voice.  This is a great country song, something I imagine sung out on those wild, lonesome prairies.

6.  Ray Charles & Willie Nelson - It Was a Very Good Year:  Every time I hear this song, I still think of the Simpson's when Homer has the flashback to his late high school years ("When I was seventeen I drank some very good beer ...").  But, that aside, Charles and Nelson add their strong, soulful voices to the reminiscent instruments.  Originally a Sinatra hit, Ray remade it along with several other songs on the duet album Genius Loves Company. 

5.  Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Your Long Journey:  What strikes me about this duo is that both Plant and Krauss seem confined on the album, particularly Plant.  That's especially true on the hit song, Stick With Me Baby.  It's as if they recorded the song with the mic in the next room over.  And on Journey, Krauss clearly takes the lead throughout the song.  Still, the combination of these two stars with the bluegrass picking is perfect. 

4.  Neil Diamond & Natalie Maines - Another Day (That Time Forgot):  Right away, Neil Diamond commands the stage with that rasping remembering.  Then comes Natalie Maines:  perfect and haunting in her own way.  Together the strike out as opposite in equal - strong man, strong woman.  And the song ends with them both releasing the day with painful, healing cries of lament, "Oh no!"  

3.  Bono & Daniel Lanois - Falling At Your Feet:  Lanois - whose fame rose after the movie Friday Night Lights - paired up with U2's lead man to create a subtle, encompassing song that is largely a prayer.  The song's point:  every one of us falls down, which is both the epitome of frailty and praise.  As David Crowder would say:  it's a beautiful collision.

2.  Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing:  Motown's miracle makers, Gaye and Terrell produced hit after hit in the mid to late 60's, including other well known duets like Ain't No Mountain High Enough and You're All I Need to Get By.  Terrell died tragically young in 1970, putting an end to some great music.  It also sent Marvin Gaye in a completely new direction.  In 1971, he would release What's Going On. 

1.  Loretta Lynn & Jack White - Portland, Oregon:  This is just brilliant.  With White producing the album, Loretta Lynn found her career resurrected, bringing the Coal Miner's Daughter into a whole new generation.  The entire album won a Grammy for best country album, and Portland, Oregon won for best country collaboration with vocals.  In some ways, this is not a duet.  The third voice is Jack White's guitar, which sings the first 1:35.  And then comes Lynn:  "Well, Portland, Oregon and sloe gin fizz, if that ain't love, then tell me what is ... uh huh ..."

~Wes

The Dark Night ... and Days

My brother-in-law came into town this past weekend to celebrate my birthday.  Very kind of him, I will say.  Even more kind:  he helped get everything ready for my birthday party on Saturday, staying around to grill and clean-up.  Nice dude that Drew.

Drew and I had talked a few weeks ago about seeing the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, which has created quite a stir after months of anticipation - largely stemming from Heath Ledger's untimely death.  From what I gather, the movie has benefitted nicely from the tragedy.  

Anyhow, I had given up on the idea of seeing the movie about a week ago.  Anna and I had refigured our budget, which invariably makes me feel like it's time to pinch some pennies.  Plus, I had read a review in The New Yorker that was fairly scathing of The Dark Knight.  And, on top of that, the other review in that same magazine was for Wall-E, the newest Pixar film that has been released, and that review was glowingly positive.  

So, I had determined to see Wall-E if I saw any movie.  But, here's the thing, Drew shows up and asks me, "What are you thinking?"  He's like this, one of the many reasons I love him.  He'll just show up on your doorstep one day, as if you and he had never parted ways.  And, he'll pick up a conversation that you started two weeks ago.  And, this time, which is not usual, I knew what he was talking about.

"You want to go see Batman?" I asked back.  

"Well, I figured we could go," he began.  In the next few moments we did the dance of commitment.  I realized that he had actually waited this long simply to see it with me.  He realized that my promise might not have been complete.  

But, Drew, he's a nice guy, and I hate to be the one to bear bad news to a nice guy.  And, in fact, I did want to see the movie.  So, two hours later we're standing in line at the local cinema that is overwhelmed with families and teens and college students on a busy Friday night.  

And not long after that, we're sitting in the theatre, jam packed full of human beings, about to be belligerently assaulted by over two and half hours of what The New Yorker called a celebration of perversity.  And, it was.  

Yes, the movie was good - riveting and dramatic.  No doubt about that.  And Heath Ledger's performance?  Well, it wasn't really a performance.  It seemed real, which was both the draw and the repulsion.  He seemed to overwhelm the film and the movie theatre with his unwieldy madness.  As one commentator said, Ledger is proof of how staring into the abyss of madness is dangerous.

But that raises the question.  How can staring into the abyss can be good for anyone?

What I am really driving at is this:  movies in particular, but also our news and television, have become much darker, much more sadistic in recent years.  I'm sure some sociologist is taking note of this somewhere and beginning to evaluate when it began, but it seems to me that the turn came almost precisely after September 11, 2001.  At least that's how I remember it.  In the years that followed that horrific morning, images and stories of torture, of nihilistic destruction, of horror that leads to post-traumatic stress-disorder began to appear:  Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, movies like Hostel and Saw, television shows like 24.  And the age old debate about culture influencing media or media impacting culture begins anew.  

The Dark Knight then is but one in a series of movements that makes this decade one of the harshest, darkest in my personal memory.  And it seems like a shame that Drew and I spent $8 a piece to be immersed into that world.  Like I said, Drew's a nice guy.  And I'm more of a Pixar guy anyway.

~Wes

Rosebud

The Simpsons: Season 5 ... wherever you are, I miss you. I hope someone is watching the "Rosebud" episode tonight.

I've just finished Citizen Kane (still AFI's #1 movie of all time) for the first time in my life (my previous attempt secured a great nap after only making it through the first few minutes in my dad's lazyboy recliner).

Perhaps just as good as the movie was the accompanying second disc, which details the momentous battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst - Godzilla and King Kong egos at war.

The lesson learned: beware the appetite of ambition. It ultimately consumes the consumer.

Welles prodigious will catapulted him into fame, fame he created in radio and theatre. But, he was always living on the tight-wire of genius, running from place to place and project to project as a way to keep his attention off of the shadow and faults that lay at his feet. With youth, he could do so. His enormous energy kept his identity glamorous, but it was an identity like a stage set - thin behind the show. He devoured life, plowing through meals (two steaks, two baked potatoes, a pineapple and a bottle of whiskey for dinner every night), dominating rooms, overwhelming nay-sayers, bewildering critics.

Two generations before him, though, Hearst had fashioned himself in similar manner - using his inherited wealth, which his father secured from mining in California, to launch a whole new way of seeing the world: print journalism that captured the fantastic, the strange, the nitty-gritty, and thus the common man's attention.

In Citizen Kane, Welles launched himself at Hearst, seizing hold of a man that would give Welles what had always brought fortune to him earlier: adversity. Only this time that is exactly what he got.

Welles' refusal to back down from Hearst, and his own drive to make himself a great man eventually brought his own life into the arc of tragedy that was the fictional Citizen Kane. It is harrowing to watch an aged Welles before the camera confessing that 2% of his life after Citizen Kane was about making movies. The other 98%: "hustling," trying to live a lie which was his life, trying to let his image outpace his reality.

So, let the words of the Beastie Boys stand as the last voice of reason: "Be true to yourself and you will never fall."

Wes

Philip Glass

Anna and I watched The Illusionist for the second time last night, and five minutes into it Anna said, "this is definitely by Philip Glass."  I was amazed that she knew so surely (only later did I realize that she saw his name in the opening credits - you sly girl).  

Like most things, we are just now getting clued into something a million other people already know:  Philip Glass is a beautiful genius, and his work is breath-taking.  In some ways he is becoming to modern, artistic cinema what John Williams has meant to big screen blockbusters.  His scores are signature pieces, and you most likely recognize his music even if you still don't know his name (think The Hours, or Secret Window).  

His style is minimalist, which I wish meant more to me, but my musical appreciation and knowledge is fairly thin.  Side note:  I remember one of my professors of economics at DePauw University said he was into minimalist "stuff" back in 2000, but I had no idea what he was talking about.  I prefer to believe that he knew then about Philip Glass, which is probably correct.  

Anyhow, there is a documentary forthcoming about Glass titled GLASS:  A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Pieces.   You'll note in the trailer that the San Francisco Chronicle called Glass our "greatest living composer."  I noticed and took delight in the fact that his genius exists and somehow continues even amidst the chaos of home.  For all parents who live in the heap of constant confusion and endless madness, Philip Glass seems a Phoenix of hope.

I look forward to seeing this film ... six to twelve months after it is released in artsy corners of our nation.  Do me a favor and see it if you can.

Wes  

Behind Every Great Team

Many people know that I loathe the New England Patriots. I have said as much as they have humiliated the Indianapolis Colts on several occasions in recent years. Anything that destroys hopes is vile. So you might very well imagine who I am rooting for this upcoming weekend in the Super Bowl: yes, the Giants. I hope that they shatter the last eight months of perfection with one evening of humiliation. At least that is what I tell people.

The truth is that my attitude towards New England is more like fear and a quiet sense of awe. The few games I have seen them play this season have made me realize that this is probably the greatest football team of all time. And, as a football fan, I have to appreciate that ... even if it their greatness comes at the expense of my hometown team.

I have also seen enough Patriots games in the Belicheck era to know that they have an aura of mystique about them: the improbable win against St. Louis to win the first Super Bowl, the way they play with New England ice coursing their veins, the unnatural way Tom Brady can kill you over and over again when it counts, the Cro-magnon fleet of linebackers who defy the laws of natural aging in arriving in the "a" gap on the goaline to crush your hopes of scoring a touchdown. They seem not capable of losing, which is why the last two years are such aberrations. Who knew Brady could throw an interception to end a season ... twice! Achilles does have a heel.

But not this year, and - for that matter - not 90% of the time. And, today, I discovered the secret to the Patriots' strength. Read this article; then you will know too. This is the sort of story that seems almost too incredible to be true. And, my favorite part: Ernie Adams' top five books of all time - including Robert K. Massie's Nicolas and Alexandra.

Somebody kidnap this guy before Sunday. That would be the greatest sports conspiracy of all time!

Wes

I'd Buy That for A Dollar

I paid my $20 to Steve Jobs this past weekend - as if Apple's pockets are not stuffed like teddy bears already. Anyhow, here are the twenty songs I selected. Oh, briefly, a word about them: I didn't get much feedback from all of you ... huurruumph. A friend from Los Angeles had given Anna a heads up about a cool artist named Regina Spektor ... that was great advice. Her two songs are my favorite on the cd. The rest of the songs came from hearing one song on "Lost": Joe Purdy's Wash Away (end of episode 3 of Season 1). I decided to go with the folksy, alternative stuff. So, again, here I go ...

1. Fidelity by Regina Spektor
2. On the Radio by Regina Spektor
3. Gotta Have You by The Weepies
4. The New Love Song by Joshua James
5. Today by Joshua James
6. Wash Away (reprise) by Joe Purdy
7. The City by Joe Purdy
8. Cinderella & the A Train by Joe Purdy
9. Laughing Man by Joe Purdy
10. Why You by Joe Purdy
11. Colors by Amos Lee
12. The Guy That Says Goodbye to You Is Out of His Mind by Griffin House
13. Never Again by Griffin House
14. Come On! Feel the Illinoise!, Pt. I: The World's Columbian Exposition / Pt. II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In a Dream by Sufjan Stevens
15. Chicago by Sufjan Stevens
16. Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens
17. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh! by Sufjan Stevens
18. Title and Registration by Death Cab for Cutie
19. Rottura by Polmo Polpo
20. Chicago (To String Remix By Jongalloway) by Sufjan Stevens

Wes

Music

Hey, everyone. I am ready once again to stretch my musical awareness (which usually means some minor purchases on iTunes). So, if you have any ideas how I should spend $20 or so, let me know.

...

In other news, Ingmar Bergman died this week - film maker and philosopher. His most famous film is The Seventh Seal, which involves a medieval knight playing chess with death:


Anyhow, I've been co-leading a bible study on Revelation for our church, and - wouldn't you know it - this weeks study has us looking at Revelation 8:1 ... about the seventh seal. Clearly this is true evidence that history is now nearing its fulfillment.

Anna and I watched The Seventh Seal not too long ago ... actually, I think I was the only one to make it through that one. I remember being bored at times by the heavy imagery and overt philosophy, but I loved the overall message. In short, it is about the triumph of love and faith over despair, death and disbelief.

Wes

Recipe for a Box Office Bomb

I am always amazed at the entertainment industry which tries to break movie-making down to a science. Perhaps it is trying to imagine studio execs looking over scripts and trying to "figure" a budget for a final chase scene involving three Ferraris, dozens of stuntmen, ten fire engines, and the collapse of the Golden Gate Bridge (hypothetically speaking). Wouldn't that be a sweet job! Just imagine the bravado and stupidity you'd have to have to venture into that conversation.

Then, on top of all that, there's the extremely nebulous, yet incredibly important fees celebrities command for the mere appearance of their name on the titles - let alone their acting skills. Who in the world determines that Tom Cruise was once worth $20 million dollars a movie? Do all actors have standard fees - like dj's that play at middle school dances and quincieneras? What does William H. Macy command? Or Bruce Campbell? Do execs have cards of every star complete with information about how their last three movies performed? I'm sure they do; I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they have something comparable to a baseball card: picture, stats, best year, etc.

One thing we can know. Hollywood, movie "forecasting" is about as accurate as any other type of forecasting: pretty crappy. I chuckled through this article in the LA Times about the flop that is Sahara, a movie I helped send into the red because there was no way in hades that I would put this cheese-puff in my Netflix queue, let alone pay money at the box office.

Sahara is a classic example where people in the arts industry - for the love of all things holy - simply refuse to be creative. Instead, they take a classic movie - in this case, Sahara - and hope to resurrect it by throwing money at a star who is no where near as cool as the original (Bogart vs. McConaughey ... please!) with some extra flesh, fire and effects. Such efforts are nothing more than processed art. For shame, for shame.

And I normally love what Penelope Cruz does! I don't even know how to reconcile Vanilla Sky and Sahara?

I know people who work for and within this media machine. And for four years, I regularly ran or walked by plenty of crews doing a shoot somewhere just south of our apartment. I have to believe that 90% of the people within the system are artistic and imaginative, but I also know that all the money floating around the process of making movies draws plenty of less-desirables. Did you see how much they spent on catered meals ($1.4 million) and bottled water ($105 k). How absurd is that? Why wouldn't you want to grow fat on that excess - even if it meant hanging around the fringe.

And somehow $9 tickets, promotional ties, television replays, DVD's and foreign markets are more than enough to cover all this extravagance. With plenty left over. Clearly. Los Angeles now includes something like 250,000+ millionaires in the county. That's freakin' amazing. Especially considering that a good chunk of that 250k comes from a medium of entertainment and art that wasn't even present two hundred years ago.

Do you think any of this stuff gets recycled? Like, say, the walkie-talkies that cost over $100k ... do they sell those at the close of filming, or do they go to some wharehouse in Burbank?

I love movies. Don't get me wrong. But, I would be naive and hypocritical if I didn't stare into the obscene abyss that generates all of this. To do that, though - to critique the movie machine - is to bite the hand that feeds you. Besides, it's not like you needed another reminder that the world isn't very just or fair.

What you really want is an escape - another world. Thankfully, someone is always working their tail off and throwing money at another project that will do just that. Coming soon ... an escape from reality.

Wes

p.s. - if you're up for exploring this issue more deeply, check out Wikipedia's piece on "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman.