Bob's Short List
Bob has just returned from a 4-week National Endowment for the Humanities seminar on Poetry, held at DePaul University in Chicago. Now back at work, his new school year begins on August 24th with Summer Reading sessions on Pat Conroy's The Great Santini and Arthur Miller's All My Sons. His portrayal of someone actually working this week has earned him knowing nods from both his headmaster and his upper school head and has generally allowed him to be left alone.
Jazzed About JazzI had never been to a real jazz club until I stepped into the Jazz Showcase in downtown Chicago. The posters and photographers of the greats who have played here is astounding, the setting is intimate and friendly, the drinks are generous and cheap, the waitresses are classy and attractive. But when Mulgrew Miller and his band left the bar and took the short walk to the stage, I finally understood, "Oh, so this is how you're supposed to listen to jazz, close enough to see how each member of the band plays each note, how they play off each other, how they find a groove and pull you into it."
We?
Joshua Ferris' Then We Came To The End, a funny, oddly poignant account of office life in an advertising firm pulls off quite a few tricks for a first novel. The humorous approach and outrageous antics of disgruntled workers would seem to invite immediate comparisons to The Office and Office Space. The focus on advertising might call to mind Mad Men. And yet the book manages to be nothing like any of those, largely because of the broad, flawed humanity contained in its first person plural narrative approach (except for one significant break in the middle). The narrator, in effect, is everyone who works there except for the specific characters who have stepped out of that sea of employees onto the stage at any given moment. The resolution of the novel is one of the more beautiful pieces of writing I've encountered in years.
You Scream, I Scream
I had pretty much given up on dessert. Even at the finest restaurants, there is a sameness to the offerings. That is, until I stepped into Margie's Candies, an old-fashioned ice cream shop in Chicago. Oh, my sweet Jesus, the hot fudge sauce is perhaps the finest spoonful of anything that I have ever put in my mouth! The perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness. And that took me back to ice cream, which I never eat. And that took me back to making ice cream, which I haven't done in a long time. Oh, the pleasures of the real thing!
The Dark Side
My song of the summer has been Charlie Mars' "Listen To The Darkside," a sleek, slickly-produced little ditty that invites everyone having a bad day to come over to the narrator's house ("Come over and get high/We can listen to the Dark Side Of The Moon). Very catchy. Very convincing. I have played it a lot. But the song also pushes you back to the source, the Pink Floyd classic that has the pretty rare gift of not sounding old or tired out nearly 40 years later. If you've got it, put it on when you can turn all the lights out and let it take you someplace else, without the need for The Wizard of Oz tie-in or any artificial stimulants. Trust me, it can still do the job all by itself.
We?Joshua Ferris' Then We Came To The End, a funny, oddly poignant account of office life in an advertising firm pulls off quite a few tricks for a first novel. The humorous approach and outrageous antics of disgruntled workers would seem to invite immediate comparisons to The Office and Office Space. The focus on advertising might call to mind Mad Men. And yet the book manages to be nothing like any of those, largely because of the broad, flawed humanity contained in its first person plural narrative approach (except for one significant break in the middle). The narrator, in effect, is everyone who works there except for the specific characters who have stepped out of that sea of employees onto the stage at any given moment. The resolution of the novel is one of the more beautiful pieces of writing I've encountered in years.
You Scream, I ScreamI had pretty much given up on dessert. Even at the finest restaurants, there is a sameness to the offerings. That is, until I stepped into Margie's Candies, an old-fashioned ice cream shop in Chicago. Oh, my sweet Jesus, the hot fudge sauce is perhaps the finest spoonful of anything that I have ever put in my mouth! The perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness. And that took me back to ice cream, which I never eat. And that took me back to making ice cream, which I haven't done in a long time. Oh, the pleasures of the real thing!
The Dark SideMy song of the summer has been Charlie Mars' "Listen To The Darkside," a sleek, slickly-produced little ditty that invites everyone having a bad day to come over to the narrator's house ("Come over and get high/We can listen to the Dark Side Of The Moon). Very catchy. Very convincing. I have played it a lot. But the song also pushes you back to the source, the Pink Floyd classic that has the pretty rare gift of not sounding old or tired out nearly 40 years later. If you've got it, put it on when you can turn all the lights out and let it take you someplace else, without the need for The Wizard of Oz tie-in or any artificial stimulants. Trust me, it can still do the job all by itself.
No ReservationsThe Food Network has become very, very hot right now, but I'd suggest you go to a slightly different place on the dial--The Travel Network--for one simple reason. Because Anthony Bourdain is there. Bourdain, the renegade chef, writer, traveler may still have the ego of the jockeys on that other network, but he also has an irrepressible joie de vivre and a show that ultimately isn't about him. And an insatiable love of all things pork. If you've ever seen him, you know he has a no-nonsense, I'm-up-for-anything approach that makes him to perfect host to take you around the country, or around the world. There are many shows that want to take us to explore new worlds of food; I'd prefer to stow my gear and set sail with Captain Bourdain.
Charlie Mars is available at Itunes. By the way, should you want to cartoonize yourself, it's very easy to do at http://www.befunky.com/. You don't need to join or download anything. And, by the by, if you'd like to try the wonderful world of blogging and write up your own Short List, we'd be happy to have you as a guest contributor. Just write it up and send it to our email, bottomoftheglass@gmail.com and we'll do the rest.
Charlie Mars is available at Itunes. By the way, should you want to cartoonize yourself, it's very easy to do at http://www.befunky.com/. You don't need to join or download anything. And, by the by, if you'd like to try the wonderful world of blogging and write up your own Short List, we'd be happy to have you as a guest contributor. Just write it up and send it to our email, bottomoftheglass@gmail.com and we'll do the rest.
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