The Philter

Strange normal word choices

What’s Blowing My Mind, 2016 Edition (Part 4)

by | Aug 22, 2016 | Read it in books | 3 comments

Kurt Vonnegut

I’ve sensed for awhile that I had a Vonnegut period coming, and it arrived this week. I’ve been reading Welcome to the Monkey House as well as listening to the audiobook of Breakfast of Champions read by John Malkovich.

The latter makes BoC a somewhat darker experience than it is on the page, though when you think about what happens in the story, clearly that darkness was always there. In print it may be leavened somewhat by KV’s whimsical illustrations, which obviously are difficult to translate to the audio version. So if you’ve ever longed to hear the great John Malkovich attempt to describe Kurt Vonnegut’s drawing of an asshole, now you can.

For awhile I thought Malkovich and Vonnegut might be a stylistic mismatch, but it’s improved as it’s gone along, and the Malk absolutely kills Rabo Karabekian’s monologue about unwavering bands of light. Karabekian is a strange case — here Vonnegut has created a character that he clearly detests, and says so. And yet he gives Karabekian a beautiful and lucid speech that’s right at the heart of what Breakfast of Champions is all about.

I now give you my word of honor…that the picture your city owns shows everything about life which truly matters, with nothing left out. It is a picture of the awareness of every animal. It is the immaterial core of every animal—the “I am” to which all messages are sent. It is all that is alive in any of us—in a mouse, in a deer, in a cocktail waitress. It is unwavering and pure, no matter what preposterous adventure may befall us. A sacred picture of Saint Anthony alone is one vertical, unwavering band of light. If a cockroach were near him, or a cocktail waitress, the picture would show two such bands of light. Our awareness is all that is alive and maybe sacred in any of us. Everything else about us is dead machinery.

He seems like one of those characters who just takes on a life of his own. (I am pleased to note that Rabo Karabekian has his own Wikipedia page.)
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What’s Blowing My Mind, 2016 Edition (Part 3)

by | Aug 15, 2016 | Whatever Else | 0 comments

A few days ago I was at a friend’s house in Berkeley watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and Oliver was talking about how New Zealand was looking for a new flag. Apparently, everyone in the country was invited to submit their designs, with the results you would expect — some interesting, some boring, and some insane. (In the interim, the Kiwis have opted to stay with their old flag, to the disappointment of the whole world.) One of the rejected designs made me laugh so hard I stopped breathing for a while. It probably won’t have the same effect on you, but I still wanted to share.

I’m not sure exactly what struck me so funny about it — some combination of the earless sheep, the zig-zag lightning bolt, and the fact that someone thought a sheep being struck by lightning was a good idea for a flag. It is making me giggle a little even now, and for that, I thank you, New Zealand.

What’s Blowing My Mind, 2016 Edition (Part 2)

by | Aug 9, 2016 | Dancing about architecture | 3 comments

This Is Where I Live

William Bell was never in the top tier of soul singers with your Reddings, Cookes, and Gayes, but he had a solid career as a songwriter and recording artist. He wrote “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” which was made famous by the aforementioned Mr. Redding, and co-wrote “Born Under a Bad Sign,” a big hit for Albert King and then Cream. As a singer, he was best known for “Forgot to Be Your Lover,” a stone classic that was later covered by everyone from Billy Idol to the reggae crooner George Faith (in a version produced by Lee “Scratch” Perry).

But I had no idea that Bell was still active in the music business, so I was surprised to hear that he was releasing a new album. I was even more surprised when I actually heard it. It is shockingly good.
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