For what must be the third year in a row I made the mistake of not having any firm plans for the holiday. I always think that I hate the Fourth of July, but I'm beginning to think that's not true. Regardless of the occasion there's something alluring about a long weekend in the middle of the summer. In Atlanta that meant a really sweaty ordeal. In NYC (much like my halcyon days in Michigan) it makes for a much more enjoyable day. Today I made a feeble attempt at going to see Calexico and Lyle Lovett in Battery Park but was dissuaded by the absudly long lines to get through security. It seriously would have taken over an hour just to get into the general area. It also wouldn't have been much fun solo methinks.
Instead I went across the street to the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. The collection is pretty small and really mediocre (the "good" stuff is clearly being held for the new museum on the Washington Mall that opens later this year). The museum, though, is housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in Manhattan. The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House was originally built in the 1880's and remains one of the most impressive examples of Beaux Arts architecture I've ever seen. In keeping with the Smithsonian's charter, admission to the museum is free. Highly recommended.
Also highly recommended...
Hurry and RSVP. You wouldn't want to get shutout!
I'm also putting together a Kerry fundraiser on July 31. Drop me a note if you'd like to attend.
With no segue whatsover, two musical questions that have troubled me for some time. First, what the hell is Springsteen doing on "Hungry Heart?" No. I mean it. What is he doing? It really bothers me on so many levels. It starts with the detached screaming at the very beginning and continues while he sings in that weird pseudo-falsetto that he's never even approached before or since. Really. It's so out there...
Finally, shouldn't we have figured out that Joan Jett was gay when she didn't change the gender of the pronouns in her frolicking and fun cover of "Crimsom & Clover?"
One more thing while I'm on this roll of sorts. My favorite Vic Chesnutt composition is a must-do post for today. It should probably come with a lengthy treatise on what this song means to me. I don't want to bore y'all, though. Perhaps some other time.
independence day
well, future stepped into by field and turned it into an empire
forefathers where are you now?
your dust is settling on my furniture.
independence day,
i never knew it would be so symbolic.
independence day
well, i stepped out of a cloud and the ditch is close,
i mean the ditch is closing in.
hemingway, you did yourself justice
so here's to you you articulate dead fisherman.
independence day,
i never knew it would be so symbolic.
independence day
what if I said I loved you
and needed your guidance to help me through the obstacles?
would you say I am too wordy and then, then, would you laugh?
what if I said I'm under the glass untouchable as the document itself?
would you say OK and that you never even considered me?
independence day,
i never knew it would be so symbolic.
independence day
-vic chesnutt from the Texas Hotel release "Little" (1990)
Posted by mikewolf at July 04, 2004 09:13 PMYou should have given me a call; I was apparently a few short feet away from you while your lower-Manhattan trauma was taking place, though I doubt my sister could have gotten you into the VIP area of Lyle, but maybe I could have snuck you a sandwich.
Posted by: Ken Goldstein on July 4, 2004 11:08 PMGah! I thought about it but assumed you were still "down the shore" with the mystery blogger (who isn't very mysterious if you actually read blogs...).
Posted by: mrw on July 5, 2004 08:45 AMHungry Heart? I thought that was Flo n Eddie on the falsettos. The song was sped up to make it more radio-friendly, which also -- in the pre-digital era -- meant the pitch got modulated so's Bruce sounds like his Levi's are in too tight.
I remember contemporaneous interviews w/ Nick Lowe, who criticized the album's production and performances that entailed Bruce always singing a half-octave or so too high. At the time, Nick sounded bitchy, but in retrospect I'd have to agree.
Posted by: Vernam on July 7, 2004 03:43 PMFunny. My whole life I have suspected that Joan Jett was a man trying to become a woman.
Posted by: Meredith on July 12, 2004 05:23 AM