1.
On Salon today, I read a review of A.M. Homes's new book, This Book Will Save Your Life. The review, of course, summarizes the plot, and two of the events in a list of heroic acts by the book's protaganist are listed as: "Richard rescues a horse from a sinkhole in his yard (with some help from his movie star neighbor)" and he "saves a kidnapped woman (stuffed in the trunk of a car, she was tapping out "SOS" using the brake lights; Richard noticed and ran the guy off the road)." Shortly after reading this review, I turned to CNN.com to read the news. To my surprise, two articles in the national news, in order, were: "Victim recovered from hole in house"--about a man who died when a sinkhole opened beneath his living room floor and sucked him 10 feet into the earth, and "Cops: Abducted teen found locked in trunk." I found this strangely amazing, and I do hope that both the Salon reviewer and A.M. Homes herself caught this little example of synchronicity.
2.
Look, there's a lot of talk about gas prices in the news. The president is going to--try not to laugh--investigate the oil industry to see if they're price-gouging. I know, it's laughable. On the surface, this is clearly a move of political opportunism that is as obviously hollow as the man's head, but actually there is something much more important to this. The important part is that the Republicans in general--and this radical administration in particular--are experts at controlling the terms of any discussion. Even if the American people see this move as blatant political opportunism (which they will) they will still be talking about the problem in Republican terms (not enough oil being mined and refined). The reality is, of course, gas prices might fluctuate downward again at some particular points in the near future, but they will never move downward in general at all. There is not enough oil in the earth to cover our needs. We are--relatively--nearing the end of it. Demand is high and supply is low and shrinking, so it's not gonna get any cheaper. Yeah, sure there are reserves and Venezuela is sitting on a huge oil field, we should drill in Alaska, and blah blah blah. But 100 years from now it's just not gonna be there. Or what is there will cost you $100/gallon at the gas station, and you'll think the $3/gallon in Manhattan now is just dandy. Fact is, we need to start dealing with reality. Our consumption of oil must dramatically decrease. A huge investment in truly alternative fuels must begin right now. But to go on talking about figuring out how to reduce gas prices is a fucking joke. It's not gonna happen. All that discussion does is reinforce Republican setting of terms. So if you're sick of paying so much for gas, I have a couple pieces of advice for you: 1. stop complaining, because the prices are not coming down; and if you have kids and/or grandkids, you shouldn't be giving them a false sense of security about it--they're gonna be paying a hell of a lot more than you are; and 2. demand that your government do something concrete to wean this country off the big teat of oil. One way to do that is to stop electing politicians (of both parties, but obviously the Republicans are the bigger problem here) who are in bed with the oil industry, the auto industry, and big business in general. If we don't start making some demands of our government they are going to keep working only to line the pockets of the people who are raping and destroying this earth.
3.
I'm not over my Joni Mitchell adrenalin rush yet. I insist you go listen to "Down to You" (on the "Court and Spark" CD). Wow. Just buy it if you don't have it.
4.
I think my friend over at girlsdontcry is a brilliant writer. Funny and steeped in broad cultural points of reference (note: I did not mean Broad Culture in any misogynistic way).
5.
Talk about late to the party--finally, after 614 performances of it, Mark Fox and I made it to the 615th Metroplitan Opera performance of Wagner's Lohengrin. Granted, only a recent handful of those were of Robert Wilson's new production of it. It was a sublime combination of music and theater--an absolutely perfect example of what opera can be. Forget horned helmuts, Wilson's production has so much authority and integrity that while watching it one cannot imagine this story being staged any other way. Slowly moving beams of light, highly mannered movements for the actors, and a blue light that Wilson surely must have borrowed from heaven itself--all a perfect fit for Wagner's long melodies, his brooding call and response between singer and orchestra, and his harsh mystical subject matter. And can we talk about the Met Orchestra's brass section? Holy shit, have they ever flubbed a note? Not that I've heard. The singing cast was excellent too--Karita Mattila as Elsa brought down the house with her intense voice, and Ben Heppner as Lohengrin sustained the high emotional level, the high dynamic level, and the high level of the notes--way up there for a tenor at times. It's a four-and-a half hour opera, and we stood for the first two acts, then begged off a pair of Parterre Box seats from a generous couple who'd had enough after the first two acts (philistines!). When it ended, we applauded long and loud, as did the rest of the audience. It was a most memorable event.
6.
Meanwhile, back at the other Met.... Paula and I went to see the Kara Walker show, After The Deluge, at the Metropolitan Museum. I've never been a huge Kara Walker fan, though I like her well enough. But I thought the show's concept sounded good, and it was. Walker showed her own work alongside her own selection of related work from the Met's collection, all centered around the theme of destruction by water as an aesthetic contemplation of Hurricane Katrina. Topical exhibitions usually miss their mark, but Walker nailed it. Her introduction is absolutely the best exhibition introduction I've read in many years. Succinct and insightful, it offered historical perspective, immediate political concerns, and a deep humility about what her contribution as an artist means (not much). If you can't make it to the show to see for yourself, you'll probably still get a lot out of listening to the interview between Walker and the Met curator; it's on the Met's web site here.
7.
One last Met-related thought: MAJOR CELEBRITY SIGHTING ALERT After Paula and I left the Met, we ran into James Levine at EAT, a prohibitively expensive deli and restaurant on Madison Avenue. His arm was in a sling (recent shoulder surgery) and he was ordering a bagel and lox. Wow. Also, tonight, from a taxicab window I saw Ed Norton drinking wine at an outdoor table at Peppolino on West Broadway. But who cares--I saw James Levine!!!
8.
Marco has posted a new story. Go show him some love so we won't have to wait so long to get another one.
