First We Take St. Louis…

(^ Reference to a Leonard Cohen song.)

 

Just got back from the Leonard Cohen show.  (By which I mean I’ve been back for about a half-hour or so…not like JUST got back…)  Great show.  He played for about three hours.  Got several standing ovations, one lasting for about a full minute (a true novelty amongst St. Louis crowds, lately).  Three encores.

 

…and every time that 75-year-old man came out onto the stage he ran—yes, RAN—out.  …and when he left, he danced—yes, DANCED—out.  I can barely WALK, and I’m only 29.  Wow.

 

They did all the usual songs.  No major surprises…but I think it was a good night.  The crowd was really into it and really grateful.  Once or twice, Cohen seemed genuinely touched by our applause, laughter (of the good kind), and the bouquet of roses someone threw at his feet (which he then picked up, tipped his hat, and danced with the roses in his arm until the end of the song—class act). 

 

The performance was strong.  “Susanne” gave me chills (literally—didn’t see that coming).  “First We Take Manhattan” had the audience clapping along so loudly that you almost couldn’t hear the music.  “If It Be Your Will” was performed just by the Webb Sisters (background singers) and was absolutely beautiful.  “Hallelujah,” of course, was kind of the highlight of the evening…and in regards to that song, I’ve got to say…

I did my best.  It wasn’t much.

I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch.

I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you.

And even though it all went wrong,

I’ll stand before the Lord of Song

with nothing on my tongue but “Hallelujah.”

…if you can write a better lyric, I’d like to hear it.  But you can’t.  So don’t try.

 

All in all a GREAT night.  Thanks to Dave Knobel for coming along (and insisting on buying the tickets!).  I know it probably wasn’t the most exciting show in the world for you, Dave, but it was a real highlight of my concert-going career.  So thanks.  (…but next time we go to a show that close to a theatre where it’s playing, I’m going to SUCCEED in talking you into going to Rocky Horror afterward!)

 

And that’s it for tonight.

Top 5 Worst Things Known to Man

My friend Larry and I were talking about it today, and we have arrived at the following list of the Top 5 Worst Things Known to Man…in sequential order.

 

1. The Holocaust
2. An under-cooked Chicken McNugget
3. Cancer
4. Hiccups
5. AIDS

 

Just thought you’d like to know.

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Current Listening:

• Leonard Cohen – “Live in London”  SO freaking excited about the show tomorrow!!!

I Assure You that I’m Not Stalking J. D. Salinger

So, I’m basically just waiting for J. D. Salinger to die.  Not because I don’t like him…but because I LOVE him.  (I know this sounds creepy-stalker, but I assure you I have no plans to go looking for Salinger.)

 

For those who don’t know who Salinger is, he wrote “The Catcher in the Rye” (among others).  He’s become a complete recluse and hasn’t published anything in decades.  The closest he’s come is signing legal orders to stop people from “misuse” [sic] of his work—often fans who just want to quote the guy and tell people why they think he’s important.  (As such, I won’t be directly quoting Salinger in this post or anywhere else in print…ever…)  By some accounts, he’s gone kind of crazy-grandpa.  By other accounts, he just doesn’t want to be bothered and sometimes is seen in whatever town he lives buying donuts and whatnot.  By still other accounts, he didn’t care for the pressure of celebrity and chose to withdraw and cease writing.  The truth is probably some combination.

 

There’s been a long-held theory that Salinger never stopped writing and has volumes and volumes of texts stashed away that we haven’t read.  I don’t know if that’s true.  In fact, I kind of doubt it…  But that rumor is why I’m waiting him out.  If it’s true, I can’t wait to read it.  If it’s not true…then double-bummer when he dies.

 

Just in case, I’ve never read “Raise High the Roofbeams, Carpenters.”  I know the plot (and the ending), but I’ve never read it—because I’m nuts—just so I know there’s always another Salinger book in my life, in case he never wrote again after his stint writing for The New Yorker. 

 

…no idea why I shared that with you…maybe it’s because I just found out that a “new” Vonnegut book was published, containing some of his unreleased work…so I’m hoping one day we’ll see some more Salinger.  Not sure.

 

Either way, I again stress that I don’t have any plans to stalk Salinger.  Wouldn’t even know where to look for him.

 

…and, for the record, I don’t actually WANT him to die…I just want to know if he’s written anything else, and the only way we’ll ever find out is if he dies.  It’s kind of a catch-22…

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Current Listening:

• Leonard Cohen – “Live in London” in preparation for his upcoming show at the Fox Theatre this weekend!  (I’m super-excited about it!!!)

And we’re back.

I never quite know how to resume blogging after posts like the last couple of ones I’ve done.  The stupid crap I normally spout seems somehow stupider, crappier, and spoutier after things like that…

 

…but we’ve got to start somewhere…so let’s start here.

 

I’ve been on a Monty Python kick lately.  It’s because they just released a new documentary called Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut).  Good documentary.  Hugely entertaining and funny—and I even learned some things I didn’t know.  So…I bought that.  I think I’m putting the complete Python (TV show) on my Christmas list (though I need to double-check the cost before doing so).  I bought John Cleese’s follow-up Fawlty Towers this weekend, and I’m half-way through it already.  I re-watched A Fish Called Wanda.  I’ve been kind of sucking up all the Python-related things I can lately.

 

…and then I remembered that one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life involved Python.  It wasn’t a Python show or movie.  Wasn’t a documentary.  None of the group were present (except in the words used).  You won’t find a tape of this in any shop, or even in anyone’s private collections or home movies.

 

When my brother graduated from high school, he took part in a sort of talent show for just the Seniors.  (A tradition at our particular high school, mostly for drama and music students.  I did it, too, when I was there eight years later.  Go Wildcats.)  Dave was supposed to do a rendition of Python’s beloved Argument Sketch from the series.  The only problem was that his partner for the sketch had cancelled on him…so Dave had to go it alone.  He did a reading of just HIS half of the sketch (I think of it as The One-Sided Argument Sketch).  It went something like “Come in.  I told you once.  Yes I have.  Just now.  Yes I did.  I did!  I’m telling you I did!”  …and so on…for like 5 minutes.

 

…and that’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

Maybe the Best Tribute…

Maybe the best tribute to Tom Wallace—or at least the one I find the most personally reassuring—is that his name is the number one search-term leading people to my blog right now, and my page hits have increased about 500% as a result.

 

To all of you stumbling upon the blog because of that…  I’m deeply sorry for your loss, and I mourn with you.  My apologies for anything else you read here that doesn’t do Tom’s name—which I’m gratified to see was so well-known and loved—justice.