You are not alone

I'm with you.
I'm lonely too.

Instead of reading (more) biophysics, I just wanted to say that the album 'You Are Not Alone' by Mavis Staples (and produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy) has been an extreme breath of much-needed fresh air this past week. The whole album is amazing, but here are a few highlights and reasons you should pick it up:

1) Gospel records are so amazing. Not only do you get the wonderful Gospel vocals of Mavis Staples overlaying bluesy guitar, but you get lyrics with a heavy emphasis on a heaven-bound existence, lost in most thought and music today.

2) Mavis Staples' versatile vocals. Even in her 70's, this Gospel legend still has the pipes. Check out 'Last Train' and 'We're Gonna Make It.'

3) The variety of songs. From the comforting, bluesy 'You are not alone' to the Gospel hoe-down 'Creep Along Moses,' to the whimsical, crisp 'In Christ there is no East or West,' this album's fantastic.

4) The way the lyrics speak to you. 'You are not alone' is perfect for when you're feeling down or lonely. 'Wrote a song for everyone' is a smack in the face for when you go through the motions to avoid one real hard confrontation or conversation. And the list goes on.

So go out and buy it. And you won't regret it; I promise.

Nick Cave's Western

I don't know if I've ever blogged about a movie before. But I also don't know many movies I've been affected by as much as 'The Proposition.'

I don't watch too many Westerns, a genre that is perhaps overshadowed nowadays. But the 'Proposition' weaved in-and-out of the Western genre, occasionally following and other times breaking traditional genre norms. In the end, I think Nick Cave's screenplay was even better than the music he wrote for the film.

The premise of the film, as outlined in the trailer is that outlaws Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and his brother, Mikey, have been caught by Captain Mo Stanley (Ray Winstone). The entire Burns gang is wanted for the slaughtering of the Hopkins family. But the Burns brother still at large, Arthur Burns, is the ringleader and orchestrator of the slaughtering. Captain Stanley makes a gamble and offers Charlie and Mikey freedom if Charlie tracks down and kills Arthur.

Here are the parts that I think that made this Western unique that I can't stop thinking about:
1) The lack of dialogue leaves most of the events open to subjective interpretation. The amazing cinematography also contributes to this.
2) Captain Stanley makes his deal with Charlie, knowing that the whole town wants all of the Burns' dead. Consequently, when his wife, a dear friend of Eliza Hopkins, and the villagers discover his plot and opt to flog (the young kid) Mikey instead, Stanley is left in desperation mode, having briefly lost everything. The flogging scene is real hard to handle, but ultimately shows how the town has turned into animals just as bad as Arthur (who is even called a dog).
3) Stanley's tragic wife, Martha, played by Emily Watson. A woman of little dialogue, she is a sad, tragic figure. Dominated by the sadness and fear of what happened to Mrs. Hopkins (she was killed with a child in her belly).
4) Pearce's character Charlie. You never know what he's going to do with his brother when he finds him. He's clearly torn between keeping his family together and ending Arthur's violent rampage, but he never voices any of it.
5) The ending. Phenomenal. But so hard to take. Martha's greatest fears come to a head, Captain Stanley is rendered useless, and Charlie has to make his ultimate decision.

Such a great film. But be warned, it is real hard to handle. It has its violent parts, especially the ending. Also, Guy Pearce looks just like Viggo Mortensen in this movie.

It's temporary, this place I'm in

I permanently won't do this again.

"More muscular than The Avett Brothers or Iron & Wine, less concerned with experimentation than Wilco, and free of the folk prison occupied by Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses...might be the best traditional rock band in America not named My Morning Jacket."
From Paste Magazine's review of Infinite Arms

Get the album folks, it's some of the best rock n' roll in town. And it's only $5 on amazon mp3. Here, to help you out: Laredo & Compliments.

Upwind is the best place...

...to roll and proceed to smoke a joint. especially when you're in a family-oriented park adjacent to an elementary school.

I live in a sweet neighborhood near an elementary school and its adjacent playground (Longwood playground). See here. Having stumbled upon the absolutely amazing Brookline Booksmith earlier today, I brought my freshly purchased used copy of Tobias Wolff's well-respected memoir, This Boy's Life, down to the playground to read. But when you read a memoir you fall into the blissful mindset that all of life can be put into humorous, nearly factual writing. So you start people-watching and it can be a rather joyous or peculiar thing.

So on the joyous side of things, a father brought his little girl down to the park with a new, training-wheels free bike. The young girl, at first, could barely pedal with one foot before quickly putting down both feet so as not to fall over. By the time I left, she was riding confidently for long strips on the quarter-mile perimeter of the park.

Speaking of leaving, some young teens decided to choose a bench slightly uphill and upwind of the entire park and...light up. Failing, perhaps, in their drug-addled mind to realize that the odors will drift for a ways. Preferring reading in my room to reading to the odors of marijuana, I packed up and headed home. But walking through the playground towards my home, I felt bad for all the young children playing with their parents, because the odor was so strong. Teenagers can be so dumb.