Me & My Llama

Hey Aretha

I've been lucky enough to see some of my favorite musicians perform recently: Arcade Fire, Neil Young, and last night, a first-rate performance by Cat Power despite technical difficulties (at Terminal 5, a truly terrible venue). Last time I saw Chan Marshall was in 2001 at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA and though she stumbled and mumbled through that set, it was worth the while to glean some of her persona, which was at the time an uninviting mix of rock star and hermit. Though I didn't expect to see the same side of Marshall last night, I figured there would be a little awkwardness--and there was, but she's come a long way from 2001, funny dance moves and all.

There's something electric about Marshall now, as she prowls uneasily around the stage and offers incomplete sentences to the audience as banter. Her vocals are more pronounced and she's more willing to really sing out, at times pushing her voice beyond what we hear on her records. She seems comfortable with herself, she's not hiding behind her guitar anymore, but instead backed by amazing people (like Jim White from Dirty Three, whose drumming last night spot on). Of course, Marshall is healthier now, happier, and more recognized than ever before, too. There's still the issue of how to handle the fine, alluring line between public persona and personal biography that makes her work even more interesting, but perhaps it's time to put that issue to bed. She's clearly not miserable anymore and invested in playing good, sometimes great shows and even graciously handing out flowers, t-shirts, water, and set lists to the audience.

She also lives in Miami, a place I've been thinking about recently (see this review in Time Out New York). I'm hoping to spend some time there next month, to revisit old digs maybe. Perhaps more on that later. Here's Matthew's take on the show.

"Satanic nutrients"

This was the phrase Michael Pollan used last night to describe the largely American phenomenon of casting blame on out-of-style nutrients (hello, saturated fats). It's part of what he calls "nutritionism" in his latest book In Defense of Food. I caught him speak briefly last night at a Barnes & Noble on 82nd street and Broadway. He's gracefully entertaining, perhaps the best journalist around right now, and seemingly an all-around awesome dude.

So far, his new book hasn't thrilled me as much as The Omnivore's Dilemma or The Botany of Desire, but it makes for a good way to start off the new year, with resolutions or not. Thanks to wikipedia, I found out today that he's the brother-in-law of Michael J. Fox, too.


Typical bounty from my CSA share.

Thesis Quote 2

"She knows there’s no success like failure; and that failure’s no success at all."
-- Bob Dylan

Thesis Quote

I get on the board; I'm choking and spitting up water. They pull me out of the water, up on the beach, and I'm down on the beach choking up water. They're pulling me up like Christ between them, holding me, trying to take my photograph with them; they won't even give me a break. They recognize me. They said they recognized me from the Swimming to Cambodia poster, the way my head was bobbing half out of the water! Art imitates life; life imitates art!

-- Spalding Gray, Gray's Anatomy, page 77.

From Wednesday to Saturday

This week I'm going to be blogging for the CAA during the annual conference, February 14-17. The CAA event is massive, so my posts will mostly be about the sessions and events I attend, etc. Here's a link.

"Notes on Marie Menken"

Anthology Film Archives is screening several rare Marie Menken films next weekend along with a documentary by Martina Kudlacek, which started yesterday and was reviewed by Manohla Dargis here.


Glimpse of the Garden, 1957.