Hell in a Handbasket: 2011

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Letters and Notes

Here are my recent musical and book-related endeavors.

I thought that Patti Smith's Just Kids wouldn't live up to its hype. Well guess what... it actually did.

"One Indian summer day we dressed in our favorite things, me in my beatnik sandals and ragged scarves, and Robert with his love beads and sheepskin vest. We took the subway to West Fourth Street an spend the afternoon in Washington Square. We shared coffee from a thermos, watching streams of tourists, stoners, and folksingers. Agitated revolutionaries distributed antiwar leaflets. Chess players drew a crowd of their won. Everyone coexisted within the continuous drone of veral diatribes, bongos, and barking dogs.

We were walking towards the fountain, the epicenter of activity, when an older couple stopped and openly observed us. Robert enjoyed being noticed and he affectionately squeezed my hand.

"Oh, take their picture," said the woman to her bemused husband, "I think they're artists."

Patti Smith is not surprisingly, a captivating narrator. We find ourselves in her mind, struggling with what it means to be an artist and a woman in a rapidly changing society. Not to mention, it paints a vivid portrait of 1960s and 70s New York City, full of young people and art.

Another book I've been reading is Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America. The author, Nick Rosen, has an uninteresting voice, a tendency to just as paranoid and inconsistent as the people he interviews (maybe he should stick to film making). But, all in all, the subject is interesting enough, I've stuck with it. The multitudes if ways to live off grid and the people who do it, are of great interest to me.

My problems lie in the gun-toting, libertarian, individualist, macho, survivalist types that are drawn to this way of life. Obviously there are some good folk, but you don't see much of them in this book.

Music-wise, unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard these girls. Mountain Man is a sweet three part harmony from Vermont. They make me melt.

Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn singing a lovely duet in a garden. What could be better? Also - I think Johnny looks remarkably like my cousin, who is just as cute and even holds his guitar in the same manner.