Folk Boy

I went to see Willy alone after all, but had a great time and met some cool people.

If I haven’t made it clear enough before, Willy Porter is one of my all-time favorite artists – for a few years running now. It’s pretty much folk boy and the little folk singer.

The first and only time I had seen him before Friday was in the Duck Room on September 12, 2002. My boyfriend at the time had stumbled across Willy in a park in Colorado. Said he thought I’d like him. My jaw hit the floor, and I was mesmerized. Sitting in the front row. I’d never seen someone play the guitar like that before. Playing on both sides of multiple, cut-out and hacked-off capos. Hands walking up and down the neck, crossing over, and hitting the body for percussion. Switching back and forth between styles fluidly on both 6 and 12 string. But he also has captivating lyrics and the voice to deliver them. A storyteller. Since then, I’ve been unable to pay much attention to people like Dave Matthews and John Mayer. It even took time for Jack Johnson to get through the Willy barrier. I was just annoyed that these people had gotten farther, and Willy was better. But hey, that’s just my opinion, and I am sharing it.

He’s got some tunes on his website, but I suggest rooting around for some older ones. I prefer him without the band, which his new CD includes. Look for Jesus on the Grille, Big Yellow Pine, You Stay Here or Unconditional Love if you like an awesome story song. Don’t miss Road Bone (!!!) or Zak’s Tale Part II : Zak at the Bar for blow away instrumentals. A few other personal favorites are Blue Light, Breathe, Mystery, Angry Words, Dirty Movie, Moonbeam, and of course Rita.

If you are lucky enough to see him live, or if you download a live show (which he’s pretty cool with, but I hope you do support him somehow; he’s got kids), you’ll get to hear him make up clever songs on the spot by taking audience suggestions and weaving intricate, silly, yet somehow intriguing tales. My favorite of these I’ve heard is a 1997 recording at the Terrace at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He hails from Milwaukee and naturally has played a lot in Madison. At least I believe it’s the made-up song for the evening. The audience banter wasn’t in the mix, but the song couldn’t be entitled anything but “At the Terrace.”

Friday’s performance was nothing short of awesome. I wasn’t as close, but the Sheldon is such a perfect concert hall. Willy performed a new song (at least not one that has been officially released or heard by me) called Fishin’ Shack. Very funny cheese heads. His storytelling ability made his in-between explanations and jabber all the more enchanting. And best of all, the audience was able to buy and walk out with CDs of that night’s performance (minus the encore song, of which I luckily have three other versions).

Do yourself a favor and check out some Willy. I recommend starting with a purchase of High Wire Live or Willy Porter: Willy Porter.

White Oleander

Having seen and enjoyed the movie, I picked up a copy of this book by Janet Fitch at some bargain book fair or another. It had been on Oprah’s hit list.

I have to tell you, I have never read anything like it. The author’s prose was almost magical. Deep, poetic, alluring and enchanting. Sometimes I had to read a graph more than once, just to make sure I understood – didn’t miss something important embedded in a fragment. But I never minded. I was inside Astrid’s head.

Astrid is the daughter of a beautiful poetess who lived the artist’s life regardless of her progeny. Right up to her own stanza’s climax – poisoning her ex-lover with the juice of an oleander and going to jail.

Astrid moves from foster home to foster home while, through letters, her mother relentlessly wraps herself around her daughter’s psyche. The tender girl struggles to come into womanhood and her own identity among a collage of foster mothers who shoot, starve, ignore, and finally love her. But somehow everything Astrid has slips through her hand like the sand in her mother’s hourglass. Her own art may be her only savior.

I loved the book. Though crisply descriptive, it was dark, sad, searching and thought-provoking. Awesome.

Willy Porter

I’m just going to put this out there. Willy Porter is one of my all time favorite musicians. He’s playing at the Sheldon on Friday night. I’ve been holding off on getting tickets because although I don’t mind going alone, I hoped I might find someone to attend with me. As of today, they are offering student prices that are so much lower, I think I might break my “I’m not a student anymore” honesty rule and pull out the old ID.

So if you’re a closet Willy Porter fan or are willing to play student and shell out almost $20 to see one of the best folk guitarists and songwriters you’ll ever see, drop me an e-mail.

BTW – If you go to listen to stuff at his site, I have to admit I am not a huge fan of his newest CD. It’s primarily because it’s with a band, and he doesn’t need a band. Also, with backup, his songwriting seems to have lost an edge. But he’ll be playing solo at the Sheldon. I’ll do anything to hear me some Road Bone and a pluthera of his other tunes.

Pan’s Fearless

A couple more movies for you all…

I know I watch a ton, and I know I am not writing amazing reviews by any means. But I think it’s worth at least mentioning my thoughts, even without detail, because most of us keep that stuff in the back of our heads when we are figuring out what we want to go to or rent. If the movie’s plot sounds interesting to you, and I highly recommend it, you might just put it on your Netflix list.

Speaking of which, I finally joined Netflix myself, though these movies didn’t come from there. Still, you may be in for an inundation. Maybe, maybe not. I plan to be getting TV shows and workout videos etc. as well as movies.

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I watched Fearless with Jet Li a couple of weeks ago. I’m always game for a good kung fu movie, though I’m not sure I’d rate this very high. The plot just didn’t do a whole lot for me. The dialogue was minimal, as was the acting. The cinematography and fighting were both good, but not as sweeping and grand as similar pieces. The main character, Huo Yuanjia, spends and nearly wastes his life in what I would consider a frivolous goal – proving to first his province and then the world that he’s the best fighter. He loses everything in his pursuit, but is still blinded by his greed. The tagline for the movie is “Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself makes you fearless.” – Lao Tzu. I question whether or not he ever really mastered himself. Historically, however, Huo Yuanjia existed and is still known in China for the international fights he won on behalf of China. So if it was fame he wanted, he got it. My real question lies in the plot summary that calls Fearless “Jet Li’s final martial arts masterpiece.” Huh? He’s not making anymore movies???

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When I read and heard that Pan’s Labirynth was dark, I didn’t know it meant ruthlessly gory. Yowser. Cover your eyes when the nasty nasty general bashes a guy’s face in with the butt of a wine bottle, o’kay? If I’d watched it, it might have had the same lasting effect as the curb murder in American History X. Well, maybe not. I don’t think I will ever get over that one. But suffice to say that the moviemakers did an excellent job at making you hate the bad guy. He was a whole new breed of nasty nasty. The movie was dark on a number of levels. Visually, the scenes were often gloomy and oppressive – wet, dank, night, thick woods, caves, and of course a labirynth. Then there were issues of sickness, violence, fear, hunger, revolution, death, pride, lonliness, and unwantedness. And of course there’s “Oh yeah, the movie with that eye-hand-monster-thing.” Even better, it eats children. The film did have some very cool special effects, including the faun himself.

When the movie started rolling in the theater, I thought I was in the wrong auditorium. I had no idea the film was foreign or that it was subtitled all the way through. The historical background of this fairytale really does make you wonder whether or not magic can happen or whether it is all in our minds.

Piece Ain’t Here

When a movie has a cover and title like that, you have to give it a whirl. The story is about two men in Belfast, one Catholic and one Protestant, who as prison barbers have convinced an inmate to relinquish his wig salesman leads. They embark on a dangerous journey as they attempt to prove to the parent wig company that they deserve the exclusive contract for Northern Ireland. How will their friendship hold together as each man’s morals are challenged on the hostile doorsteps of a bitterly divided city?

Well that’s the question. This was a very enjoyable movie, but not the gem I hoped. Not every Irish movie can be Waking Ned Devine. Still, the modern and unexpected look at the Troubles was interesting. And Irish humor is just Irish humor. It was funny and quirky. And Barry McEvoy is a right darling little man.

The second movie I acquired from my local library branch was We Don’t Live Here Anymore. Talk about a disturbingly adulterous movie! It had caught my eye on many a movie shelf, but I’d stayed away due to the obviously unchaste theme. Alas, my curiosity was out to kill the cat. I’m not saying it’s an AWFUL movie. I’m saying that Mark Ruffalo who is so cute in 13 Going on 30 is absolutely slimey buckety in this film. What a dour outlook on marriage. For as long as I am waiting, trying to get my shit together and holding out for good one, I hope I don’t ever have any of the feelings and attitudes the four people in this movie had.

Tragic – This is no movie

The actual video has been taken off the web, but you can still read the transcript of this friendly fire incident. It reads almost like a movie script, but during this event, someone really died. You can tell how crazy and confusing things can be for the pilots in these situations. It’s utterly heartbreaking. Not only because someone was killed unnecessarily, but also because the pilots were shocked and sick at the news. No one involved will ever get over what happened. So sad.