Deep Elem Blues by The Levon Helm Band

So, the other night I was spending a significant amount of time on the Rolling Stone website, due to the fact that Bob Dylan was turning 70 and the magazine devoted quite a bit of space to Robert Zimmerman's legacy. While on the site, I managed to stumble upon this video from The Levon Helm Band which frankly, is just dynamite Americana music. It seems fitting that I should find this video buried amidst all the Dylan coverage; after all, it was The Band, with Levon Helm on the drums and vocals, who spent so many of the glory years playing and recording with Dylan.

After enjoying this seven minutes of joyous music, I would advise copying the link right above the video. It is my favorite song from the best concert film ever made-Helm leading The Band through "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" from The Last Waltz. You will notice a much younger version of the man putting on a performance that caused a member of the audience I was watching the film with to give a standing ovation upon the song's completion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMHyovwX7JM

Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides

Like many, World War II has long fascinated me. Without in-depth analysis as to why, I would say that it largely has to do with the good vs. evil narrative that emerged with this war with Adolf Hitler emerging as the biggest monster of the 20th century during this time period. Much of the "story" that has been provided over the years has to do with the theatre of war in Europe-the aforementioned Hitler, the concentration camps, D-Day, "Saving Private Ryan", "Band of Brothers", Stephen Ambrose books, etc. all focus upon the evil that was overcome when the Allies defeated Germany.

Of course, there were two fronts being fought, and America's involvement ostensibly was drawn out by the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. History was certainly made over in Asia and the narrative of foreign policy was determined for the next forty-plus years by the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but this aspect of the war has received scant attention in comparison to what occurred in Europe. Perhaps it is because no villain as grotesque as Hitler was established or there weren't the horrors found of the concentration camps in Asia, but over the years my World War II self-education has largely ignored this part of the war.

Hampton Sides' wonderful book Ghost Soldiers addresses a piece of my lacking knowledge. It tells the story of the Bataan Death March and the rescue of these abandoned soldiers four years after their surrender. The Bataan Death March is infamous for its brutality and disregard for the captured Allied prisoners. This book provides a detailed, grim view of that march and the subsequent awful days spent by the prisoners in the makeshift prison camps in the Philippines. The Japanese had not anticipated so many prisoners and as a result, their plans soon became inadequate which lead to overcrowded prisons, mass starvation, and severe nutritional deficiencies among the Allied forces. Combined with the wanton, indifferent cruelty of the Japanese soldiers left to guard the prisoners, you come away amazed that the death toll was not higher than what was recorded.

As the Allied forces began to seize back the Pacific in 1945, they began their march through the Philippines and received word from guerrilla allies that a prison camp housing the survivors of the Bataan Death March existed nearby. Fearing the extermination of all the prisoners as they moved further north, a rescue plan involving a newly established force called the Army Rangers alongside brave Philippine guerrillas was drafted into action to stage a daring rescue mission of the emaciated prisoners.

The ending of the story may seem inevitable, but the journey that Sides takes the reader upon is breathtaking and finely detailed. Whether you're reading about the appalling conditions that the prisoners endured or the incredible bravery and stamina of the Rangers and their Philippine allies as they pull off the amazing rescue, the author provides a rich, accessible picture. I have been frustrated in the past by authors writing about military/war action when they delve so deeply into jargon that the uninitiated have a difficult time fording their way through the story, but Sides limits such writing to a minimum, instead providing sometimes haunting, sometimes humorous imagery for the reader.

As WWII books go, this is definitely one of the finer texts that I have read and highly recommended for anyone with interest in the war, particularly on the Pacific side of the battle.

The Wire, Season 4

The Wire is the best television show I have ever watched and Season 4 of The Wire is sublime, a season that is transcendent, leaving everything else to pale in comparison.

A bold statement, lending itself to argument from fans of other shows, which I can understand. But there is nothing on television now that I have seen that will sway me from my argument and whatever comes along in the future has quite a job to knock The Wire from its perch. Marianella and I are working our way through The Wire for the second time, and we just have Season 5 (admittedly the weakest of the seasons) left for consumption. When we began watching again from the beginning, I braced myself for the drop-we had both loved The Wire so much during the first viewing that I wondered if a bit of luster would wear off when watching a second time. Not only has that not occurred, but we find ourselves even further enmeshed in the story lines of the show; knowing what will happen we are able to examine and explore the characters deeper while also contemplating the larger themes of each season more in-depth.

For those unfamiliar, The Wire is set in Baltimore and on its surface it is a cop drama, with the police struggling to maintain order in a decaying blue-collar city. We have obviously seen this before (for me, dating back to Hill Street Blues), but I don't think anything else approaches The Wire in quality. For one, it was shown on HBO, which of course allows more freedom to broadcast the language and violence of the street that broadcast networks don't have the freedom to do. And make no mistake-The Wire is extremely profane and violent; if my words sway you to start watching, well I recommend to do so after the kiddies are fast asleep.

Beyond the ability to curse and show violent acts, the show also establishes themes for each season. In its initial season, the focus was on the drug trade on the streets; season 2 brought us the smuggling through the ports and the decline of the blue-collar job; season 3 returns to the drug trade and explores legalization of drugs; season 4 focuses on the failings of inner-city education and politics; and season 5 takes a look at the decline of the media, specifically the newspapers.

As you can see, the themes focus on decline and there are no happy endings to make the viewer feel better about the state of affairs. Season 4 may be the best run by a series ever, but it is heart-wrenching in about ten different ways, harder to watch the second time around because you know what's going to happen to these kids before they do. The show takes an unflinching look at a world I've never been privy to and honestly, I don't want to see. It's scary and dangerous and it is occurring in more places than just inner-city Baltimore.

The creator of the show, David Simon worked for years as a crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun and he provides a lens into this world from his experiences. In addition to his insights, he provided the show with a crackling group of script writers, several of whom are best-selling mystery-crime writers, such as Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos. The writing is superb-seemingly every episode provides a memorable quote or two that lodges in your mind and sits there, eloquent in its truth even when coming from the mouths of junior high-aged drug runners.

One last caveat about The Wire-if you choose to jump on board, watch from the beginning and give it some time. I can't imagine trying to jump in mid-stream to this show, it's just so layered and complex. Additionally, when Marianella and I first tried watching it in the States, it didn't take-we had gotten the first disc through Netflix and while it seemed alright, we weren't bowled over from the first few episodes. But then. . .it grabbed hold. It hasn't relented yet and I imagine we could start the series over again with season 1 once we finish season 5 and still be enthralled.

Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

This book was a favorite of mine in airports; as I've been spending more time at these places over the last couple years, Sh*t My Dad Says was a perfect book to kill a few minutes with at the airport with its three or four page stories neatly wrapped up with funny quotes at the end of each story for various situations from Halpern's father.

However, I discovered one of my co-workers had the book in his possession and was kind enough to send it my way, so at the beginning of this week I began reading it in earnest, from front to back cover. It is the perfect book for little snippets-it began the week with me in the car, handy for the wait when I waited to pick up Marianella from work. Mid-week it entered into the apartment and over the past couple days I devoured it. I did so more because I wanted to move onto some reading material that's stacking up at the place, rather than because I just couldn't put it down. Don't get me wrong-I enjoyed it, but its thin contents (it checks in just shy of 200 pages) were plenty. Its ideal for the car, the airport, the doctor's office, that type of environment, because reading the book for long stretches just seems to stack the profane tales of Halpern's dad one on top of the other.

Now, the Dad who says the sh*t is a great character; I found myself laughing or broadly smiling at some point with each story and actually was surprised to find the father to be quite the educated and loving father, despite the constant stream of profanities spilling from his mouth. And while the stories do get a bit tedious in the middle, the last three stories are all wonderful-poignant and funny. I think its due in large part to the fact that the author is now an adult and you can see the love shine through between father and son.

I know the book has been spun into a TV sitcom with William Shatner as the Dad-frankly, from the commercials I see, it doesn't lure me in at all. It's a product that seems to be best digested in small snippets with the authentic language of the Dad rather than shoved into a twenty-two minute, watered-down sitcom, but perhaps I'm wrong.

My Favorite Supporting Actors, TV Sitcoms

I'm currently in the midst of a book and Marianella and I are in the midst of a few different TV series, so I'm going a different route with this post.

The other night I was flipping through the channels and landed on "Parks & Recreation" and an episode where John Larroquette was guest-starring. Seeing Larroquette reminded me of his brilliantly sleazy character Dan Fielding on Night Court from the mid-'80s and got my mind thinking as to my favorite supporting characters on TV sitcoms throughout the years.

As the title of this post states, these are my favorite roles from TV sitcoms, not any official, TV Land-type list. And I've decided to pick just one character from each show, so you won't see a list dominated by Seinfeld or Cheers. And I'm making it a Top 10 list cause I just love Top 10 lists.

Onto the list. . .
10. Chris Stevens, Northern Exposure
Alright, so this isn't technically a sitcom, but it's my list, my rules (and this is the only exception). I'm not sure if there are any other Northern Exposure fans reading this, but I fell in love with this show after graduating college. My initial job out of college required that we take an hour-long lunch and my workplace was about a five minute drive from my apartment. So, I'd go home and try to find something worth watching at noon during the weekdays. It didn't take me long to settle upon NE and I became attached to the quirky characters and intelligent writing and themes of the show. Among several characters who I found wonderful on the show was Stevens, the ex-felon disc jockey of Chris in the Morning. Played by John Corbett, who went onto significant roles on Sex and the City and as the husband in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Stevens broadcast a radio show that could unfortunately only be fiction-an incredibly eclectic mix of songs sprinkled with bits of interesting wisdom and book readings in between the songs.


9. Mr. Roper, Three's Company
Looking back on this show, the premise seems even more contrived than the frequent scenes where one of the girls overheard the other girl and Jack talking in the kitchen or living room and the double-entendres lead them to think shenanigans were occurring on the other side of the door. Really, in the late '70s in anything goes California was there a landlord who would not allow platonic roommates living together? Into that ridiculous premise stepped Mr. Roper, the old-fashioned, leering fuddy-duddy who was always asking seeking the rent (didn't it seem they were short on rent on a weekly basis?) and making mincing mockery of Jack's supposed homosexuality. Norman Fell played Mr. Roper perfectly; the facial expressions in reaction to Mrs. Roper's suggestions and the sly smile he emitted when he made a joke only he would laugh at elevated this silly show's overall comedy.

8. Dan Fielding, Night Court
The inspiration for this post, John Larroquette was so funny as the ultra-sleazy attorney Dan Fielding, who seemed in constant pursuit of illicit relations with a calvacade of bimbos who somehow crossed his path. Amidst the zany do-gooders that comprised the rest of Night Court, Fielding delivered the laughs consistently and looking back, I doubt the show would have lasted six episodes without his presence.

7. Johnny Fever, WKRP in Cincinnati
Another disc jockey, this one from the inept radio station that barely stayed afloat in the Queen City. During my youth and until first semester of college I was planning on becoming a radio DJ and as best as I can recall, my inspiration for choosing this career path was Dr. Fever. I don't know why I was struck to follow a career path of an itinerant, frequently blacked-out character played by Howard Hesseman, but he played the role so well, I was hooked.


6. Dwight Schrute, The Office
Hey, an entry from a show still on the air! I never thought I would fall in line with the U.S. version of The Office after first becoming obsessed with the British version, but over the years I have become a big fan, in large part due to Dwight, the beet-farming, borderline psychotic top paper salesman for Dunder Mifflin. A show with a great cast, but Dwight certainly stands out.


5. Reverend Jim, Taxi
I've already expressed my admiration for Christopher Lloyd's comedic skills in the Back to the Future post, but on a show with a stellar cast (perhaps the best in TV ever? Hmm, perhaps an idea for another entry down the road), Reverend Jim was a standout.


4. Sideshow Bob, The Simpsons

Never has there been a larger, unique, and funny supporting cast than on The Simpsons. Technically, I think you would have to consider Sideshow Bob a guest star; after all, he doesn't appear as often as Mr. Burns, Milhouse, Comic Book Guy, etc. However, if you ask me to pick my favorite episodes from the golden days of The Simpsons, the episodes with Sideshow Bob stand out. To stand out amidst all those other supporting characters in a show that was so consistently excellent in its prime deserves an exception.



3. Ernie "Coach" Pantusso-Cheers
How do you pick amongst the best supporting cast in TV history? I could have easily chosen Norm, Woody, Cliff Clavin, Frasier, or Carla and had them on this list, but my heart goes out to Coach. He was a part of those early years when the Sam-Diane love/hate dynamic was at its peak and his lovable befuddlement always delivered the laughs. Woody was a worthy replacement (a much better transition than from Diane to Rebecca, in my mind), but there's just something upon stumbling an old Cheers episode when Coach is behind the bar.



2. George Costanza, Seinfeld
Surprised he's not #1 on my list? I am a little bit too. I used to often say that Constanza was like my Id-when I re-watch the episodes now, I continue to marvel at his character over all others. The rest of Seinfeld is zany and funny, but without Costanza I doubt it would have lasted and certainly wouldn't have become the classic it became. It's so difficult to pick a favorite episode or scene with Costanza, but the one shown below is near the top of the list:



1. Barney Fife, The Andy Griffith Show
You ever see the Andy Griffith episodes in color? I figured out quickly these episodes weren't worth spending a moment on, because they were the episodes after Don Knotts left the show (but I am thankful that the producers of the show decided to go to color once he left; it has saved me so much time in my TV surfing days). Barney Fife was truly irreplaceable, one of the funniest characters ever to grace the small screen. Knotts could have also been considered for this list as Mr. Furley on Three's Company after replacing Mr. Roper; no doubt he will go down as one of TV's most memorable actors.

So how did Fife beat out Costanza? It simply came down to this-I could and can watch Barney Fife with any one, of any age and enjoy the show with them. I've watched Andy Griffith with my parents, nieces and nephews, and friends and enjoy it greatly no matter who I'm with. It speaks to the brilliance of Barney Fife that such a character can be enjoyed by such a wide range of ages and tastes.

The Messenger

So, how does one follow up the feel-good family fare of Back to the Future? How bout with a movie about the military men whose job is to visit the families of soldiers killed in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars?

Occasionally, it takes awhile for American movies to matriculate down here to Peru. Usually it is some forgettable romantic comedy or action film that barely registered a blip on the domestic scene and is being shopped around to foreign countries to recoup a few dollars of a budget certainly in the red. The Messenger, which was released in 2009, followed this path but it's unusual we're seeing it so late, given its critical acclaim and the Best Supporting Actor nomination for Woody Harrelson (more on that later).

As I've already mentioned, the movie revolves around the story of two Army servicemen who have been removed from active duty and now visit the families to deliver the dreadful news of a son or daughter being killed in action. During the first half of the movie, we witness several of these visits as heart-wrenching as they are. Emotions spring forward from the families while the Army representatives remain stoic, a task easier for the veteran (Harrelson) than for the newcomer to the job (Ben Foster).

The movie shifts in the second half of the movie and focuses on the relationship between Harrelson and Foster's characters and a relationship between Foster and a widow whose husband was killed in action. The emotional scars that each of the characters bear become apparent to the viewer as they try to maintain their day to day lives.

This was a grim movie covering a grim topic, but it was done so well. The actors-Foster, Harrelson, and Samantha Morton (as the widow)-were superb and really breathed life into the characters, keeping the movie from devolving into a depressing two hour affair. Mind you, it was tough to watch at times but the job done by these fine actors (one scene between Foster and Morton as they make tentative steps towards intimacy was particularly well done) elevated The Messenger.

Before exiting, a word on Woody Harrelson-as mentioned, he was well-deserving of the best supporting actor nomination here, further affirming his strong acting chops. I lost track of the him when he was thrust into feature roles in films such as Natural Born Killers and The People vs. Larry Flynt-those movies just didn't appeal to me. However, in this movie and No Country for Old Men he has played supporting roles that just ratchet up the respective movies. I hope he continues picking up these choice parts in quality flicks, but in the end, I will always think about Harrelson as how we first knew him:

Recent Reads

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer:
Many have heard the basic story of Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who walked away from a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01. Tillman became an Army Ranger and was killed in action while serving over in Afghanistan.

That was the narrative I knew-I remember listening to the Jim Rome show the day after his death was announced and the three hours that was devoted to his passing and mourning his loss. I recall seeing snippets in newspapers and websites after his death, mentioning how his mother was fighting to discover the circumstances behind his death on the battlefield. But I did not delve further into the story until I cracked open this book.

Krakauer is the acclaimed author of books such as Into Thin Air, Into the Wild, and Under the Banner of Heaven. He aggressively writes about the topics he chooses and will unflinchingly criticize which has brought him controversy (particularly so for Under the Banner of Heaven). This book devotes itself to two main narratives-the life of Pat Tillman and the cover-up of his death due to "friendly fire" in Afghanistan.

The portrayal of Tillman reveals an incredible man and I feel describing him as such is even a disservice. Krakauer doesn't portray a flawless man-he recounts an incident in high school that landed Tillman in juvenile detention and nearly derailed his football career before it got started. As I read I discovered a flawed human who defied convention-he was an introspective jock, a NFL star who was devoted to his high school sweetheart, a soldier who doggedly avoided the limelight that the Army tried to shine upon him.

In contrast, the Army brass and White House officials involved in the cover-up of the cause of Tillman's death come off as manipulative, calculating, and shallow. As the author lays out, the cover-up began almost immediately as the attempt was made to cloak Tillman's death as a hero fighting off enemy forces when in reality he was inexplicably killed by members of his own platoon. Tillman's death was used as a rallying point for citizens back home, to support increasingly unpopular wars in the Middle East. That his death didn't fit the hero's narrative meant little to those scripting the story they wanted to present.

I finished this book awed and angry; awed by the man that Pat Tillman was and angry with the twist of politics that his death became.

The Help by Kathyrn Stockett
I didn't really expect to like this book. It was a book club selection for a group where I'm one of two male participants (and a plethora of middle-aged women). This book screamed femininity-the story centers upon two black housekeepers in Mississippi just before the civil rights movement. I went in with guarded expectations.

When I finished this compulsively readable novel, I was a bit stunned. It had been a long time since I had dove so deeply into a book, compelling me to pick it up whenever I had a free moment. The setting is rich territory and actually pretty predictable-on one side you have the overworked, underpaid housekeepers who work for the bigoted white women who themselves are constrained by the limitations of being a housewife in the 1950's. I've read some reader commentaries after I finished the book that call it an instant classic, but I don't think I'd go that far. Comparisons to To Kill a Mockingbird just don't feel like they will hold up over the years.

But that doesn't diminish the enjoyable read that this book provided. Looking into the window of life in Mississippi just prior to the civil rights era provides perspective that I will never experience and this book does a wonderful job of doing so, in a very accessible manner.

Back to the Future

For my 14th birthday, my parents took my cousin Dan and I to Winona for dinner and a PG-rated movie to celebrate the big day. I chose Back to the Future on that night and nearly twenty-five years later I was again in a theatre viewing the big screen showing of Michael J. Fox's step into movie stardom after having already conquered the small screen with his character Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties.

I couldn't help feeling a bit nostalgic on Saturday night while Marianella and I watched Marty McFly valiantly attempt to return to 1985. The nostalgia existed for a time when I relied on my parents to take me to movies (which in retrospect was a time of pretty limited celluloid options-my Dad, who could exercise a pretty colorful vocabulary working around the farm, was conversely a critic who judged a movie's worth upon the amount of profanities that were included in the film; even Back to the Future couldn't escape his scorn with the profane utterances in the movie that you can count on one hand).

Nostalgia was also present as I viewed a film whose premise was built on the vast disconnect for Marty returning to the time of his parent's youth of 1955. Twenty-five years after this movie debuted, there was a similar disconnect from the mid-'80s for us. We were struck by the stonewashed jeans favored by Marty, his "hip" lingo (evidently 'heavy' was an adjective popular among teens in '85), and a time when JC Penney's was still considered an anchor store for large shopping malls.

Analyzing BTTF a bit closer than when I was fourteen, I was also struck by the choice of Fox as the lead character of Marty McFly. The character was written as a bit of a smart ass, anti-authority figure who caught the scorn of the high school dean and local townspeople as he maneuvered around town by stealing rides from the rear bumpers of various vehicles on his skateboard. But really, has there ever been a more wholesome teen idol than Fox? Nothing about him was anti-authority; I mean, he was just finishing his run as Alex P. Keaton, the ultimate square (to steal from Marty's mother in 1955). You also can't look at the era and say that all of the teen characters were still wholesome as Wonder Bread; in the same year, Judd Nelson was starring as the ultimate anti-authority teen in The Breakfast Club. Viewing Fox as a electric guitar playing rebel was. . .quaint. When you consider the director of BTTF (Robert Zemeckis) would also direct Forrest Gump in the next decade, you can definitely see Zemeckis was most comfortable in family-friendly, non-threatening fare.

All this being said, Back to the Future is one of those classic popcorn movie experiences-a movie enjoyable at age fourteen and again at thirty-eight. We left the theatre smiling and recounting the cleverness of the movie's dialogue. We laughed over our favorite scene, when Marty is being chased by Biff and his gang around the main square, eluding them before they smash into a manure truck. And while Fox was the star of the film, the considerable talents of Christopher Lloyd as Marty's mentor, Doc Brown stole the show. His elastic expressions and frantic nature provided the perfect foil to Marty. Lloyd certainly has made a career of stealing laughs however, as this clip below will attest (if you don't have five minutes, I strongly suggest tuning in at the 4 minute mark):

The Initial Post

Greetings everyone (or no one-who knows who will bother?)~
I've decided to double my blogging empire with the advent of this new blog. What will it be and why bother? Well, for one, I enjoy writing and I just am not getting enough practice in with my other blog. So, to keep my skills sharpened, I've decided to begin this blog, which will concentrate on musings of recent movies, books, articles, TV shows, news items, youtube videos, CD's, etc, etc. that have crossed my path and I feel like spilling my thoughts about.

By no means is this going to be an up to date review of the latest in entertainment-for many of the items I write about, they have been in circulation for quite some time. So, don't cancel your subscriptions to Entertainment Weekly, but I do hope you find these entries interesting.