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Archive: May, 2011
“What do you think is the best kind of story, Max?” asks his colleague in The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim. “The quest. The journey. The voyage of discovery,” she tells him. In the novel, author Jonathan Coe manages to create a traditional questing tale out of modern-day materials: a trip from England to Scotland in a Prius becomes a journey of self-discovery for Max, a series of encounters that range from tragic to hilarious. Set in 2009, it’s a novel about an inability to communicate despite — or perhaps because of — modern technology’s many attempts to make communication easier, from Facebook to texting.
At the start of the novel, Max is on medical leave from his job after suffering from depression. His wife and child have left him, he’s just had a difficult experience visiting the father with whom he could never connect, and he’s beginning to feel a “terrible privacy” setting in, an all-consuming loneliness. Just then, however, he is offered a job as a traveling toothbrush salesman — work which requires him to, like the toothbrushes he sells, “reach furthest.” That means selling his wares in the far north of Britain.
But he gets a bit sidetracked: Max stops in to see the parents of an old friend; he drops by his father’s former apartment, now disused; he visits a woman who was once nearly his lover. But he struggles for a meaningful connection with any of these people — partially because of his own tentativeness, but also because technology designed to ease communication makes it easy to seal ourselves off from the world, eliminating the need for actual physical contact. Despite his cell phone, a special company headset, a camcorder and the many security cameras trained on him throughout Britain — a country where you’re taped everywhere you go — Max experiences such isolation that his most intimate friend becomes his car’s talking GPS, which he names Emma.
Early in the novel, Max learns of a 1960s figure, Donald Crowhurst, who was expected to sail solo around the world but instead attempted to fake his trip. After setting off, he never completed his journey, instead recording false data about his journey as he sat in his boat at sea. With only a half-working radio to connect him to the outside world, Crowhurst goes mad with isolation—something that would seem impossible in our linked-in modern life, where connection seems inescapable. But Max finds that even with all the latest technology to hand, he’s still very much alone.
Despite its rather depressing themes, Coe’s novel retains a fairly light tone throughout. As a narrator, Max is likeable, even if, as his ex-wife points out, he doesn’t like himself. He’s quite funny at times, talking directly to the reader: “Did you like how, when I was describing the sexy bits, I started every sentence with ‘I forget’? That’s good writing, that is. It took me quite a while to come up with that idea,” he informs us. The reader quickly becomes caught up in his world, rooting for him and cringing through one social disaster after another.
Max’s story isn’t a subtle one. The themes are made fairly explicit, and sometimes the narrator hits you over the head with them. But that’s easy to forgive, because it’s entirely in keeping with Max’s character: he’s unendingly earnest, and as he reminds us, he’s not a trained writer.
Jonathan Coe, however, is, and The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim achieves its unpretentious aims: It’s a good story making good points, even if it may not stay with you long.
In the world of pop tunes, presentation is arguably more about the "product" than the music. In that respect, there's almost no question that Lady Gaga is pushing boundaries. Unless of, course, you count Marilyn Manson as a pop star. But, as you know, he doesn't make pop music, he makes industrial Goth. What Gaga lacks in being an originator, she makes up with doing it in a far less adventure-ready arena. But courageousness aside, can we really call Lady Gaga a member of the avant-garde?
According to freedictionary.com, avant-garde is "A group active in the invention and application of new techniques in a given field, especially in the arts." So if the given field is pop music — which we're cynically defining as the packaging of a singer for mass consumption — then, yes, we can say that at least part of what Lady Gaga does is completely new. But is it actually a technique? Or is it just the glorification of flinging stuff at the wall because the market is ready for it? Let's look at the definition of "technique.":
Technique (n): "The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished."
I don't know whether Gaga's procedure can be called systematic. Hell, I don't even know if we can call it a procedure. This ain't Claude Monet developing more exaggerated brush strokes of light and shadow to render a stylized impression of landscapes. If anything, the Gaga shtick seems to flourish by virtue of it's sharply asystematic, WTF appeal.
Sad to hear that Mikey Wild, "the Mayor of South Street," passed away this morning. Sara Sherr wrote about him in City Paper back in 1998. The guy was punk before any of us were, and one of Philly's all-time-best colorful characters. There's a movement brewing to have a mural put up on South Street. His good friend and bandmate Ed Wilcox's 1997 documentary will spell it out for you just what we've lost. (Start with part one below.) Rest in peace, Mikey.
Each week, Peter Chawaga breezes past those big-name theater companies to turn a spotlight on the city's indie stages.
Alex Burns, the artistic director of the Quintessence Theatre Group, has a bold vision, “we want to make sure we keep figuring out how to get young adults to come — not on a school trip, but on a Friday night instead of going to a movie." It might seem like a daunting task — especially for his first season — but if their latest production, The Importance of Being Earnest, is any indication, I'm betting on success.
Sticking to the original script, Burns decided to set Oscar Wilde’s trivial comedy in 1960s London, a considerable update for a play published in 1899. The style, dress and conventions of the Flower Power decade lend themselves perfectly to Wilde’s comedy about social conventions, love and, of course, sincerity. The impressive production is accommodated perfectly by the Sedgwick Theater, a renovated 1920s movie house in Mt. Airy — the neighborhood he's working overtime to turn on to his artistic endeavors.
“We’re gonna be out on the street meeting as many people as possible," says Burns. "Part of the big push is to convince people that they want to have a professional theater in the community.” There's hope that as word spreads, more people will realize that there's an alternative to seeing Hollywood’s latest remakes every weekend.
Well, it looks like that old preacher dude was wrong: The world didn't end on Saturday. So unless he was just off by a few days, that means we'll be able to enjoy another summer in Philadelphia. To get it started, we're releasing our jam-packed Ultimate Summer Fun guide with a bash at Woody's in the Gayborhood. To help us celebrate, five bootylicious drag queens — Navaya Shay, Omyra Lynn, The Goddess Isis, Brittany Lynn and Diana Dharling — will perform one of their signature numbers and mingle with the crowd as we sip on bevvies and talk about all the summertime fun we're about to have. Here are the deets:
Thu., May 26, 9 p.m., show at 10 p.m., free, Woody's, 202 S. 13th St., 215-545-1893, woodysbar.com.
See you there? Hope so!
I can clearly recall when The Roots used to play at the triangular intersection of South Street across from Fat Tuesday. The Book Trader was still there. I bet King Britt still worked at Tower. Now, The Legendary Roots Crew is heading back to the street where hippies meet on June 3, one day shy of their 4th annual Roots Picnic at Penn’s Landing, so to pre-jam at The Legendary Dobbs for the first time. While Wiz Khalifa, Nas (backed by The Roots), Esperanza Spalding (backed by The Roots), Ariel Pink, Man Man and Little Dragon take to the big stage on that Saturday, the Friday night arrangement promises the Crew with special appearances from ?uestlove and Black Thought along with their old pal MCs Dice Raw and Chin Chin plus the threat of good additional guests perhaps from the Picnic’s playbill. Tickets are $10. They’ll go fast. And you can’t wear Tims. Times have changed.
More info at dobbsphilly.com.
Fort Lauderdale's The Heavy Pets are playing at The Blockley on Saturday, with opening support from psychedelic fusionists iNFiNiEN. While they reap the benefits of favoritism with the jam-band crowd due to their solo chops, The Pets also earn a pass with critics for their lyrics and tightness/utility of their instrumental interludes. They're a rock band first and foremost, with penchants for reggae-blues and jazz-funk as well.
The Blockley, which opened two summers ago, has received more recognition as a gastro pub than an entertainment venue. But take a scope at their concert calendar. Nothing to sneeze at, huh?
Sat., May 28, 9 p.m., $8, The Blockley, 3801 Chestnut St., 215-222-1234, ticketfly.com.
Feeling in need of liberation? Bored of the stale, traditional ways of activism? On Tue., May 24, Giovanni’s Room (345 S. 12 St.) is hosting a spoken arts event beginning at 5:30 p.m. The poetry slam is being put on by Gender Edge, a movement which promotes activism through art. Spoken word artists include Ms. Wise, J Mase III, indee, Jane Cassady, and Leah B. You’ll be hearing poetry in the tradition of Gender Edge’s “punk inspired” philosophy of empowerment and creativity, put forth by gender queer/ transgender youth. Right on.
Thursday night’s show at Tower Theatre with Elvis Costello was a gas. The newly slimmed down Costello leapt down memory lane by reviving the Spectacular Spinning Songbook that he first used at the Tower in 1985. Costello and his Imposters did raging versions of classics from his own back pages ("I Hope You're Happy Now," "Brilliant Mistake" dedicated to Glenn Beck, "Mystery Dance," "Radio, Radio," "Heart of the City”) and those from a few of his faves like McCartney (“Let Me Roll It”) and Townshend (“Substitute”). Costello and his Imposters relived the previous Spectacular Spinning Songbook’s staging with a TV that showed only static ("We always keep it tuned to Fox News," Costello joked) and a caged go-go dancer “Katerina Valentina” (in reality, Philly’s own Kate WaWa Watson Wallace). But Costello’s true nod to the past is when he mentioned playing at The Hot Club, the Philly venue where he played in December of 1977 for two dates. Little did Elvis know that I brought him a surprise (and vice versa) when Hot Club owner David Carroll became my special guest for the evening. Carroll was the first guy to bring Costello to Philly, maybe America if I remember my tour dates correctly. Carroll was opening his new venue, Rogue’s Gallery, the next night so getting him away from his 21st street saloon was a hard sell. But when he accepted to be my guest the first thing he did was find one of a few remaining “Hot Club” buttons (he had one hundred made after Costello played his venue), out it in an envelope with the hope he’d get it to EC. “The first thing I remember was that it was snowing when Elvis played,” laughs Carroll. “The second thing is that we actually paid him – like $800 or a thousand dollars.” I didn’t tell Carroll that I was trying to set up a meeting between the two titans until we got to the Waterford around the corner. I mean, you can never know if these things are going to work out. Thankfully Live Nation’s Jim Sutcliffe made it happen for Carroll and I to get backstage where EC and DC met for the first time in over 30 years. Costello remembered the snow on the night of the show but kept mentioning something about running to South Philly between sets. Nobody was quite certain what that meant. Carroll told him that he never left the venue and told Costello that he would place the poster that Elvis signed that December night upon the wall of his new Rogue’s Gallery. Everyone smiled.
View gallery“This is like a physical manifestation of a website’s comments page.”
The first thing one notices about Seattle’s Fleet Foxes either live or on any album is that these guys have some pipes. Robin Pecknold’s voice sounded even stronger on stage for the most part, especially on songs such as “The Shrine/An Argument,” “Ragged Wood,” and “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song,” where the power and range of Pecknold’s voice are on full display. Although Pecknold’s voice is great, you can’t really have Fleet Foxes songs without a healthy dose of harmonized vocals between him and J. Tillman, Casey Wescott, and Christian Wargo. The dead-on delivery of the harmonies was a and sound to behold. In one instance, during “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song,” nobody seemed to be close enough to their microphones to deliver a harmony in time, when suddenly like some strange folk-producing machine they all turned in sync and nailed it.
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