Ernest Hemingway - The Capital of the World

Another short story that I think is brilliant.  Like the Jack London story I posted a week ago, this story is precise and grim.  Very different, superficially, but I get a similar vibe from both.

"The Capital of the World"
by Ernest Hemingway
http://pdbooks.ca/books/english/authors/hemingway-ernest/short-stories/part-one/the-capital-of-the-world.html


Some commentary, from GradeSaver.com:
http://www.gradesaver.com/complete-short-stories-of-ernest-hemingway/study-guide/summary-the-capital-of-the-world

What do you think?  Is Paco an idiot who died senselessly?  Or is he a hero in the sense that he never lost his idealism?

The latter possibility is described by GradeSaver:

There is only one exception to the general gloom at the Luarca, and that is Paco. He is the only character described as having any joy or wonder. Generally, this is referred to as a sense of the “romantic.” Paco is the only one with beliefs, ideals, and illusions, some of which he absorbs from those around him. As he is speaking to the two other waiters in the dining room, Paco thinks to himself, “He himself would like to be a good catholic, a revolutionary, and have a steady job like this, while, at the same time, being a bullfighter.” He adopts the beliefs and ideals of the Anarcho-Syndicalist, the priests, the middle-aged waiter, and the bullfighters who surround him.

In one sense, Paco’s malleability is one of his weaknesses, as is his idealism. It can be argued that Paco is merely a gullible, easily awed country boy who had overly-grand dreams for himself and met his end through overconfidence. On the other hand, there is a real sense of sympathy and even nostalgia in Hemingway’s description of Paco and his short existence. Paco’s dreams are not the dreams of a fool, merely the dreams of a youth. In the second to last paragraph of the story, Hemingway writes, Paco “died, as the Spanish phrase has it, full of illusions. He had not had time in his life to lose any of them, nor even, at the end, to complete an act of contrition.” Perhaps it is better for Paco, Hemingway implies, that he perished attempting to fulfill his dream of becoming a bullfighter than rotting away as a second-rate coward or has-been in a place like the Luarca. Given the reader’s knowledge of the type of deep depression and despair that overtook Hemingway at certain points in his life, this reading of the story must receive serious consideration.

Prince

Wow, we've all heard the news by now.  Prince, dead at 57, on Thursday, April 21, 2016.  Just one week after I apparently saw his last concert (April 14, 2016, Fox Theatre, Atlanta).  Should have known something was up when his private plane had to land in Illinois on the way back home to Minneapolis.  I mean, if he had the flu (reason given why he rescheduled the original April 7th Atlanta date) you would think he would just push on ahead to Minneapolis which would only be another half hour away, hour at the most.

I'd post a few songs, but they'd probably just get taken down.  Having said that, here are two great links.  Listen if you have time, they're pretty long ... but worth it.

From Creative Loafing (local Atlanta paper):
"Prince's Last Concert: Live at the Fox Theatre 4/14/16 [Full Audio]"
http://m.clatl.com/cribnotes/archives/2016/04/21/princes-last-concert-live-at-the-fox-theatre-4-14-16-full-audio

From Consequence of Sound:
"Prince’s legendary Coachella 2008 performance posted online in honor of late musician — listen"
"During which he covered Radiohead, The Beatles, Sarah McLachlan, and The B-52s"
http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/04/princes-legendary-coachella-2008-posted-online-in-honor-of-late-musician-listen/


Finally, I was proud to see that Google updated their home page very quickly.
https://www.google.com/doodles/a-googledoodle-4-prince-1958-2016

Jack London - To Build A Fire

One of the finest short stories I have ever read.  Actually came up in a chat with a work colleague, a field manager for a contractor we work with.  I would never have guessed we had this in common, an appreciation for stories like this.  You just never know.

This simple, harsh story is so well told, so concise and precise, to me it is a joy to read.  It is not pleasant, of course, London could be very grim.  But he is brilliantly descriptive here, in my opinion.

London also seems to "get" animals, and write about them as well as anyone I've ever read, which makes this story, and many others of his, even more enjoyable.

From JackLondons.net:
"To Build A Fire"
By Jack London
First published in The Century Magazine, v.76, August, 1908
http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html

Or if you want it read to you, here it is on YouTube:
"Jack London - To build a fire (audiobook)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8WnlrUKsBU

There are moments of philosophy and reflection in the story.  Maybe a way of thinking that we need to adopt in more aspects of our lives.  Absorb not just the facts but the significance.  For example (italics are mine):

But all this—the mysterious, far-reaching hair-line trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all—made no impression on the man. It was not because he was long used to it. He was a newcomer in the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter. The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable, and that was all. It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold; and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and man's place in the universe. Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, ear-flaps, warm moccasins, and thick socks. Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero. That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head.

Brilliant stuff.

Prince "Piano & A Microphone" (and about 37 amplifiers) Tour

Raise your hand if you thought that someday--SOMEDAY--you were going to party like it was 1999.  Be honest!

Now, keep your hand in the air if you NEVER imagined Prince would have fallen off the radar for decades (at least in terms of general popularity) and yet ... when he does go on tour decades later tickets are scorching hot, and you consider yourself lucky to pay hundreds of dollars per ticket (not scalped, I had multiple browser windows open to order as soon as tickets became available!).

Okay, my hand was in the air the whole time.  What about yours?

By the way, prior to the concert I played some Prince songs for my daughters.  They just looked at me like I was crazy.  Typical 80's stuff, they said.  As if they know what even means.  :)   I told them that they needed to check out Purple Rain, the movie, to understand Prince--except maybe they're not old enough yet!  Here's a documentary that helps explain it (same link as what I posted yesterday).
Prince In The 1980's - Full Movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRNYiFxR2Ps

So the concert was last night.  Originally scheduled for a week ago, April 7, it was delayed because Prince was sick.  So it was rescheduled for a week later.  How was it?  Honestly, it was a bit of a letdown.  First a couple links with reviews.

From Funkatopia:
"Review: Prince, Piano & A Microphone – Atlanta"
http://funkatopia.com/funk-concert-reviews/review-prince-piano-a-microphone-atlanta/

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution, or the AJC as they seem to prefer now:
http://buzz.blog.ajc.com/2016/04/15/the-photos-people-managed-to-take-at-the-prince-concert-in-atlanta/
http://music.blog.ajc.com/2016/04/14/concert-review-prince-enchants-at-intimate-fox-theatre-show/

My take?  First of all, the 7p show that I went to was only 1 hour, 15 minutes (yes, I timed it).  1:20, as mentioned in both reviews above, is being generous.


I thought that the sound was horrible, as bad as any concert I've ever been to.  My post title tells the story.  It didn't come across at intimate at all the way the piano was over-amplified.  The bass portion of the keyboard was horrifically distorted, and drowned out Prince's voice, which was in great form by the way.

I particularly liked "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "I Feel 4 U."  Not a surprise given my post yesterday, I suppose.  "I Would Die 4 U" was a lot of fun, too.

The show ended unexpectedly early, and the Fox Theatre didn't seem to realize he was done at first.  Lights stayed dim for a while fans chanted for another encore.  "Purple Rain" was a common chant.  But after a while the lights came up abruptly and fans were asked to exit.  Very awkward, amateurish really.

Lesson learned: Don't go to the early show.  You won't get the full experience.


I looked around to find a Prince song to link to here.  Very few results.  Okay, so Prince doesn't seem to allow his videos on YouTube.  But he did do a Super Bowl halftime show a few years back.  And the NFL posted it, so I'll go with that video here.  I don't usually think much of such shows, but I thought Prince did a really good job, even though it was in the rain.

Prince Performs “Purple Rain” During Downpour | Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show | NFL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NN3gsSf-Ys

Song of the Day: Prince (and Sinead O'Connor) - Nothing Compares To You

In preparation for Prince's concert tonight in Atlanta I was watching a documentary him, and they mentioned how he was a very good songwriter.  Interestingly, they said that he seemed to do better writing for women!

"Prince In The 1980's - Full Movie"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRNYiFxR2Ps

Listen at 56:09, to see how he wrote "Manic Monday" for The Bangles.

Then listen at 57:40 for this:
"Isn't it interesting that Prince wrote so well for women.  His big hit covers are by women.  His range and his attitude suited the female voice."

Why do I find this interesting?  Because I seem to prefer female singers to male singers ... yet I love Prince.  Maybe that's the reason!

The documentary made another good point at 58:22.  "Sometimes he did not do the best versions of his songs."  They were talking about this song in particular:
"prince & candy dufler nothing compares 2 u"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHV-rd4Ey0o

You probably remember this version, which is simply fabulous:
"Sinead o' Connor - Nothing Compares to You (Best Quality)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB1TKw8_b1s

Song of the Day: Santigold - Chasing Shadows

I love the vibe of this song.  It captures a certain discomfort, dissatisfaction.  With life, with love, with anything really.  Whatever ... it touches me.  See if you don't relate to it, too.

Santigold - Chasing Shadows [OFFICIAL VIDEO]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8xS1FqQzjQ

But even as I love the vibe ... I'm not quite sure what it means.  So I did a little search.  From JonAli:
http://jonalisblog.com/2016/01/19/santigold-embraces-her-conflicted-reality-on-chasing-shadows/

“‘Chasing Shadows‘ is about the conflicted reality of an artist’s life. Caught in the web we spin around ourselves, a mixture of hubris and the guise of perfection, we fear being swallowed up by our own ambition,” Santigold said in a statement. “Never in the moment, as quickly as we reach our goals, our gaze shifts to those still looming in the distance. We judge ourselves harshly for not being further on the path and revel in the anxiety of racing the rate of consumption. The lyrics weigh the value of going against the current to maintain artistic integrity, and the feelings of isolation and vacancy bred by a persona that is always ‘on’ and ready for show.”

Same quote, with more discussion about the video, from Music Times:
http://www.musictimes.com/articles/61975/20160116/santigolds-chasing-shadows-best-pop-song-2016.htm

"Chasing Shadows" is by far the most radio friendly of the three songs but it's also just a masterfully crafted pop song intermixing some simple piano and drum beats with her reggae style singing and rapping.

The video, produced by Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij and directed by Elliot Lester, is equally devastating as she sings around her home spending the holiday alone in front of the TV screen and playing tea party with herself.

Some lyrics from the song:

Here is the glow
Chasing the goal
I'm trouble, you know
You find us where we fall
We're chasing shadows

Sad, in a way, right?


It kind of reminds me of my Jackson Browne "Pretender" post, in which I quoted Browne as saying:

"Someone asked me what, you know, who The Pretender is.  And I, it's, it's um, it's always been my pleasure to avoid answering that question.  But uh ... Because it's not me exactly.  Although sometimes people applaud for me at that moment in the song as if I am.  But in truth there is some of The Pretender in me.  But it's anybody that's sort of lost site of some of their dreams and is trying to make, sort of going through the motions, trying to make a stab at a certain way of life that he sees other people succeeding at.  So, maybe it's a lot of people of a certain generation who sort of embraced a material lifestyle in place of dreams that they had, that sort of disintegrated at some point."

The Santigold song is much different than Browne's, yet to me they are capturing the same vibe.  Struggling and striving, doing what you think is the right thing, and then finding you're not closer to where you really want to be.  Agree or disagree?

Lyrics from MetroLyrics:
http://www.metrolyrics.com/chasing-shadows-lyrics-santigold.html

Chasing Shadows Lyrics
from 99 Cents

Being dizzy, fell in love,
I'm getting through the day
I'm thinking 'bout everything I've said,
Now that you got the best of me
One thing about time it waits for nobody,
You told me, isn't that what they say
Been banged against it and you know where
Just raised ain't got nothin' to say to nobody
Little lady better get in line,
I'm talking this to myself
Better getting on down with the program,
Sell your life all over
Broke dream in the sun
If you fall like tom petty waiting on his rodeo, to all
I'm breaking my rules, do it my way,
On this just like a beast

Here is the glow
Chasing the goal
I'm trouble, you know
You find us where we fall
We're chasing shadows
Here is the glow
Chasing the goal
I'm trouble, you know
You find us where we fall
We're chasing shadows

Always knew I'd be international, no fear of flyin'
Limits is been keepin' apart, just when I'm on an island
Watching through our window, the flashing light on the bed
Neon sign goes red
You are here until, well
At least someone knows where I am

Maybe I won't get it wrong, no baby for myself
Only years ? still I'm old, I'm living on the shelf
I will follow things in the long way if my standards hold me up
Why they eatin' they idols up?
Now, why they eatin' they idols up? dammit
I give my heart away so that they remember me
I leave em alone in time they'll wanna smother what I say
Around another year I wonder did I go some place
I'ma button this one down, this one right here won't walk away

Here is the glow
Chasing the goal
I'm trouble, you know
You find us where we fall
We're chasing shadows
Here is the glow
Chasing the goal
I'm trouble, you know
You find us where we fall
We're chasing shadows

Always knew I'd be international, no fear of flyin'
Limits is been keepin' apart, just when I'm on an island
Watching through our window, the flashing light on the bed
Neon sign goes red
You are here until, well, at least someone knows where I am
You are here until, well, at least someone knows where I am

Song of the Day: Lennon and Maisy Stella - All We Ever Wanted

What a tender, beautiful song.  Isn't this what we all want?

"The Music of Nashville - All we ever wanted (Lennon & Maisy Stella)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5wTExKODSM

I won't make excuses
I have no regrets
I know what the truth is
I will not forget
All we ever wanted
All we ever needed
Was love