10,000 Maniacs is one of those bands that really defines the sound of my teen years. R.E.M. is another, and I’ve always connected the two because of the distinctive voices of lead singers Natalie Merchant and Michael Stipe.
In My Tribe is a stellar album that throws me right back into a very specific time and place… in this case, 1988 in Fairfax County, Virginia, when my sister was introduced to this band by a co-worker and played it that whole summer.
I’m an Alec Baldwin fan from way back. Forget all you Johnny-come-latelys who are jazzed by his performances on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live. I’m talking She’s Having a Baby and Working Girl. I’m talking The Hunt for Red October.
And then, 1990’s Miami Blues launched him into the pantheon. His performance in that wonderful film remains one of my favorite by anybody ever.
In trying to piece together Charlie Kaufman’s wild, visionary new film Synecdoche, New York, I’ve decided to gather some random thoughts about the film here in the hopes that others will drop by and help flesh them out into actual answers.
Major spoilers follow… do not read on if you ever plan to see this film.
First, an aside. My god, this woman has a large mouth! Christopher Nolan should look her way if he needs to recast The Joker in the next Batman film.
Carly Simon is one of those artists who make me wonder about the fleeting nature of talent. She put out a series of albums in the early 70s that include some of the finest songs ever written. Her No Secrets is a flawless piece of work, featuring such classics as ‘The Carter Family,’ ‘You’re So Vain’ and ‘The Right Thing to Do.’ That was in 1972.
Since then, she has put out 25 more albums (including collections of covers). And with the exception of Coming Around Again (a very strong album that contained, among other things, a version of ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ that my dad just loves) there isn’t a winner among them. And even Coming Around Again was 21 years and 13 albums ago.
OK, so this blog is in danger of turning into a Tift Merritt Appreciation Web site, fine. Believe me, there are far worse things it could be.
I couldn’t resist going back to the well where I found the first of these record store clips and highlighting another great performance by Merritt from the same show as the last one.
Of all the videos I’m posting this week, this Tift Merritt show is the one I most wish I’d attended. And no, smart alecks, it’s not because she’s one of my Celebrity Girlfriends. I mean, I wouldn’t want to see Jennifer Garner or Connie Britton trying something like this.
Meet Me In Montauk 