Movies That Aren't Terrible

I've written about a movie I didn't like, and I've written about some books that I do like, but I haven't really written about any movies that I love. I thought I would take some time write about a few movies that I really love. In no order whatsoever, here's a list of my favorite movies at the moment:

• Garden State: This 2004 film stars the usually funny Zach Braff and the ever-adorable Natalie Portman. Braff, who is best known for his television role as the goofy but loveable young doctor J.D. in Scrubs, both wrote and directed this film. In his movie debut, Braff does an excellent job with a very different sort of script. Andrew Largeman (Braff) goes home for the first time in a long time when his mother passes away unexpectedly. While there, he struggles to find his place in the world and to make some sort of amends with his estranged father. He also meets the delightful pathological liar Sam (Portman) with whom he develops a relationship. The action includes a high school reunion style party in someone's parents' house, a trip to a quarry in which a scientist and his family live, and many other uninteresting-sounding adventures. I promise, however, that this movie is a cinematic wonder. The soundtrack alone is worth purchasing, with or without having seen the movie. Sam's eccentric mother and household are also a winning addition to the film. While it deals with some depressing subject matter, Garden State entertains and ultimately is uplifting at its end. Just so you can get a taste of how wonderful the film is, the following is a scene from the movie with Braff and Portman:

• 21 Grams: This movie is a strange one in the style of the Academy Award-winning Crash, in that it connects seemingly-unrelated characters with a common theme and plot. It bounces from past to present tense seamlessly, without indication to the viewer. The film is therefore difficult to piece together in the beginning. However, after catching on, I found it a well-put-together form of madness. A controlled chaos, if you will. The fractured timeline mirrors the frustration and disconnect inside the characters' minds. Starring Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, and Benicio del Toro, the movie features a veteran cast of actors well-versed in their trade. We see each of them endure their own private torture as the movie progresses. Don't look for a happy ending to this one; it doesn't happen. But it is a beautifully made film, and one well worth seeing for other reasons than a happy ending. It makes the viewer think, and sometimes that's all you can ask for. Not to mention the ongoing mystery behind the title. Just what does "21 grams" refer to? Watch the movie, and you'll find out.

• Big Fish: I always showed this movie to my students when I was teaching ninth grade English. I felt so strongly about it, I felt it a necessary piece to show them. However, Big Fish isn't exactly included in the Tennessee state standards for English I, so I had to work to make it fit. Thankfully, Big Fish is so fabulous that it fits with almost any literary theme you could think of. I chose to focus on the epic hero aspect of the film, and especially its protagonist Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor). Bloom tells the primary plot of the film as stories from his youth and life to his grown son Will (Billy Crudup). He goes on adventures that cross the globe, many of which Will considers complete lies. Through this family drama, I introduced The Odyssey to my students. By showing this film to my students prior to our reading that Greek myth, I began discussions on epics, epic heroes, "tall tales," oral histories, family conflict, and much more. Tim Burton directs this movie based on the book Big Fish; in addition to McGregor and Crudup, the cast includes Burton's partner and children's mother Helen Bonham Carter, Albert Finney, and Jessica Lange.

Hidden Jewels of the Cumberland Plateau

Since moving to Cookeville, Tennessee in October 2007, I have been pretty busy working full-time and going back to school at Tennessee Tech. However, I do from time to time happen upon a rare find in the Cumberland Plateau region: a good place to eat!

One of these such places is the coffee shop the Intrepid Traveler. I try to make a pit stop there at least two or three days a week for a cup of coffee on the way to work. I'm a simple girl when it comes to coffee drinking, so my drug of choice is usually simply a large coffee-to-go. When this order is placed, you're handed a go-cup with a smile. Then you can choose from all of the currently-brewed coffees available at the moment. I usually go for the dark roast, but after talking to owner and coffee expert Rene Albert I was informed that the dark roast actually has less caffeine than lighter roasts. After inquiring as to why this would be (shouldn't stronger taste = more caffeine?), Rene told me that the lighter roasted coffee beans are less "messed with," and therefore retain more caffeine. Darker roasts, therefore, have been leeched of their caffeine because of the roasting process. A true coffee drinker will begin his or her day with a "breakfast" roast, which is light but full of caffeine, then slowly progress to a rich dark roast with after-dinner dessert because it is relatively caffeine-deprived.

This is just an example of the richness of life customers experience at the Intrepid Traveler. In addition to coffees and teas, the coffee shop offers an extensive array of chocolates provided by the former business The Cocoa Ladies. This specialty coffee shop used to reside next door; when they started to close their doors, a partnership was born and they moved in with Rene. Now you can purchase a cup of joe and a gourmet chocolate bar in the same location. The shop also offers sandwich and wrap choices at lunch, and other desserts in addition to the chocolates. Everything is good for you -- they even offer organic and vegan chocolates. Rene's wife makes the sandwiches and wraps with all-fresh ingredients. My personal favorite (after plain black coffee, of course) is the Vosges Haut-Chocolate Bar with bacon and sea salt. I know, I know. It sounds really weird (some would say terrible), but not so. In fact, it is the perfect blend of salty, savory, and sweet.

The atmosphere is nothing to sneeze at, either. In a revitalized section of downtown Cookeville, the Intrepid Traveler has brick walls and comfy seating. Magazines and books abound for those who want to come in and stay awhile. The shop's website touts itself as "a meeting place" and "a destination." It tells the truth. It is both and much more.

Around the corner from the coffee shop is a small restaurant and deli which you might overlook, even after driving past it every single day. The Cafe Trio is on N. Cedar Avenue in Cookeville's Westside Shopping District. It is a small space -- seating for 15-20 at most. But the women behind the counter pack a punch with their unbelievable recipes. According to a newspaper article which appeared in the Herald-Citizen just after the cafe opened last year, the owners/cooks came to the cafe from Cookeville's IHOP. Let me tell you, these women can cook! I've only ever eaten there for lunch, but they are open for breakfast, as well. What, might you ask, do they serve?

There is quite an assortment of sandwiches, which you might expect from a location which calls itself a "cafe and delicatessan." However, the sandwiches are unusual -- a Cuban, an eggplant panini. Mmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! And I haven't even eaten a sandwich -- yet, anyway. Instead, I have been a difficult customer each time I've gone and asked the people behind the counter to make me a "special plate" with an assortment of the things I see in their deli case. And what an assortment it is!

The Cafe Trio touts everything from stuffed grape leaves (dolmathakia) to tabouleh to baklava. They also have a delicious brandy tiramisu and too many salads to name (Greek, several types of pasta, cucumber & tomatoes, just to give you a few). They make their own hummus... Need I say more? They also do a different quiche each day. On the days I've been, that has been everything from spinach to portabello & sundried tomatoes to cheeseburger.

My friend Caroline and I went there for lunch before Christmas, and we absolutely pigged out on everything in sight. I took my mom and aunt there on New Year's Eve for lunch, and they had the same reaction Caroline and I had... yum! My mom took some hummus and baklava home to my dad, but I'm not sure it all made it there!

The atmosphere at the Cafe Trio doesn't quite make the splash that the Intrepid Traveler does, but the food more than makes up for it. Try either (or both!) sometime when you're in the area. I can promise you won't be disappointed.

Books, Part 2: Skinny Dipping, Sitting in Airports, and Lots of Southern Ambiance

Here is the follow-up to my last blog listing good books I've read lately. This only includes books from last fall & winter. The newest books I have read will have to be reviewed at some point later in time...

• Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen: Hiaasen writes books set in his native Florida, and they are every bit as hot and intriguing as you might discern simply from the setting. In this novel, Hiaasen returns to the loveable rebel Mick Stranahan, who began his literary life in Hiaasen’s book Skin Tight. This time, Mick rescues the beautiful Joey Perrone after her sleaze of a husband Chaz tosses her off a cruise ship. As Mick and Joey plot their revenge against Chaz, a whole host of winning characters become intertwined with the plot and lend a wonderful humor and depth to the story. The villains are bad (and bad at being bad), the good guys win, and everybody ends up happy. I recommend this and any other Carl Hiaasen book, particularly the first Mick Stranahan story. However, Skinny Dip works perfectly well as a stand-alone work, as well.

• Clay's Quilt by Silas House: House’s beautiful novel set in the Kentucky coal hills follows the life of Clay Sizemore. While Clay is a good ol’ country boy, his life is anything but boring. His mother was killed when he was five, his aunt who raised him sees visions, and his love interest Alma has recently escaped a violent marriage. House’s writing would be enough without an excellent plotline, but together the two are magical. Read this (one of my favorite novels of all time), as well as the two other companion novels that center around the Sizemore family at various times from the 1800s to Clay’s present day: A Parchment of Leaves and The Coal Tattoo.

• House and Home by Kathleen McCleary: In this debut novel, McCleary introduces readers to the flawed but lovable Ellen Flanagan. Ellen is in the middle of several life changing events when the novel occurs. She is in the middle of a divorce from her long-time husband and father of their two young girls. She is also in the middle of selling their family’s house because they can no longer afford it after her husband’s money-losing inventions and her own opening of a coffeeshop. In the novel Ellen develops a relationship with the new buyer’s husband, as well as a hatred for the wife. She cannot stand the thought of anyone moving into her lovingly painted and decorated home, and she goes to great lengths to stop them from doing so. Hopefully, this is the beginning of many more beautifully written novels to come from new author Kathleen McCleary.

• Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles: Miles has taken on a large project in his novel Dear American Airlines, but it is not more than he can handle. The novel is written in the ambitious style of a(n extremely long) letter. To – of course – American Airlines. The protagonist Bennie Ford is stuck, along with several thousand other passengers, in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. It is the eve of his only daughter’s wedding, and as a result of some plane delays, he is not going to make it. As Ford sits in the airport, he pens this rant to the airlines, asking for a refund and then explaining why he – more than the other passengers he is sure will request the same – deserves one. Ford goes backwards and forwards in time, sometimes narrating his current surroundings in the airport and at other times relating his life up until this point. Ford’s regrets are many, and he tells the airline (and therefore, the reader) about them all: his mother, a mentally ill woman in the last stages of her life; his relationship with his daughter’s mother, with whom he fell deeply in love with in New Orleans; his lack of participation in his daughter’s life; and most profoundly, his alcoholism which is to blame for it all. Miles manages to present Ford as a character whom the reader feels for, rather than a character the reader hates, in spite of his many mistakes. It is a poignant first novel from an author I hope to read a lot more of in the future.

• Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett: In this seamlessly written “love story” for her best friend, Ann Patchett describes the late author Lucy Grealy and their twenty year relationship. At times hilarious and at times tear-jerking, Truth & Beauty is the most real account of female friendship that I have ever experienced in book form. Neither Patchett nor Grealy are perfect friends; they hurt each other, they hurt themselves at times, and they feel real emotions – jealousy, admiration, love, pride. Grealy is presented as an immensely talented but fatally flawed character; in other words, a human being. Patchett loves Grealy, supports her, but ultimately cannot save her, as none of us can save anyone else. While Grealy’s sister and family took issue with Patchett’s supposed “capitalizing” on both her friendship with Lucy and her untimely death, I felt that Patchett wrote this as part of a grieving that she couldn’t do any other way. I also felt that her written tribute was the only tribute that she had inside her to give to Lucy, given the importance that writing had been in both their lives. It is a moving work that I gave to my mother as soon as I finished. I pressed it into her hands, saying simply, “Read this. You have to.”

• When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris: In satirist David Sedaris’ latest set of essays/stories, he continues to make you both laugh and cringe at the hilarity of his own life. Some pieces in the book “spoke” to me more than others; for example, Sedaris writes a lengthy piece about an elderly neighbor who he ends up spending more time than necessary with; they become “friends” in a love-hate sort of way. Half the time, she makes him and his partner dinner (almost all of which he describes as inedible), and the other half of the time they are yelling obscenities at each other. This piece is Sedaris at his best: hilarious, real, but honest and at times heartbreaking. Towards the end of the book, he goes off on a self-indulgent tangent which I didn’t particularly enjoy, primarily about his time spent in Europe. All in all, however, an excellent read from a wonderful speaker who also translates well into the written word.
  

• sTori Telling by Tori Spelling: The infamous Tori Spelling tells her side of the story in this autobiography. Beginning with her childhood and going to present-day, Spelling tells readers her version of the much-publicized life she has lived thus far. While much of the money tales are true (think snow machine in Hollywood at Christmas so that she and her brother could sled), Spelling also clears the air on everything from her estranged relationship with her mother and her infidelity during her first marriage. While admitting her own faults, Spelling also explains her feelings during various tabloid times in her life, from 90210 to her father’s death and her mother’s outspoken insults. As a fan of 90210 and Tori and Dean: Inn Love, I very much enjoyed Spelling’s comedic version of her life. As a human being, I sympathized with her for the hurts she has endured in life and the public eye being always on her. I think that people reading this book will find a different Tori Spelling than the one they make fun of; they might even like her – even if they don’t ever watch her reality show.

• Olive Kitterige by Elizabeth Strout: Strout writes a unique novel-in-short-stories in her newest title Olive Kitteridge. Olive is a schoolteacher in a small fishing town in northern Maine. She is brash and heavyset and, in many ways, unlikeable. She is seen in each of the various stories, sometimes as the main character and sometimes only as a peripheral character or in a brief mention. Through these stories, however, Strout shows us some surprising qualities to Olive Kitteridge, and in the end she becomes a character worthy of our sympathy. I did not enjoy Strout’s first novel, the much-lauded Amy and Isabelle. This novel was both depressing and uplifting all at the same time. It was also an enjoyable read, written with skill and expertise. I look forward to Strout’s next effort after two very different novels.
  

• Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West: West outdoes herself in her latest southern female fiction masterpiece. Known for her slightly eccentric but always delightfully colorful characters, West delivers in her newest work. Renata is a movie-script writer whose director lover has just made tabloid headlines with his latest leading lady clutching his thigh in a London bar. Renata flees to her grandmother’s estate on the Alabama Gulf Coast, a deep south where the moss hangs from the trees and cocktail hour is held nightly. There Renata learns from her grandmother and her grandmother’s cast of crazy friends the “real” story behind her mother and father’s tumultuous marriage and divorce. In the process, Renata learns something about herself and attempts to mend her estranged relationship with her father. Michael Lee West is right on target, as usual, with both her plotline and her dialogue, both dripping with sweet iced tea and spiked with horseradish from the shrimp cocktail sauce.

• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski: Wroblewski is a new writer about whom everyone is abuzz. His debut novel, Edgar Sawtelle, has received rave reviews from everyone from the New York Times to Amazon.com. Wroblewski sets his modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the forestland of Wisconsin. The title character is a mute-from-birth whose family raises a specially-engineered new breed of dogs called Sawtelles. Edgar must face his own demons, as well as his uncle Claude in this fabulous story. Playing the part of Ophelia is one of Sawtelles, a house dog named Almondine. Complete with ghostly visitors and family secrets, Wroblewski’s novel is a masterpiece everyone should experience.

The Book Version of "Can't Hardly Wait" and More (Part 1)

Last semester, I took a course in adolescent literature which I enjoyed immensely. Most of the course consisted of reading books aimed for the middle school level through adult, which pretty much meant we could read whatever we wished. For the class, we had to keep up with our readings by compiling an annotated bibliography. There were only certain books required, but as an avid reader, I far surpassed that list. My bibliography turned out to be a lengthy list of almost all the books I read between September and December.

The following is a condensed version, which summarizes and slightly critiques each book. I'm only leaving in the ones I loved (well, and some I just liked)... Here they are in no particular order. Okay, that isn't true. They are in order alphabetically by author, but only because that's how they had to be sorted for the bibliography I turned in to my professor:

• Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews: Andrews has written two very different series, the first a mystery series set in Atlanta, and the second a chick lit series that takes place in Savannah. Andrews' recent forays have been into the realm of separate, stand-alone works starring an array of new and different main characters. All are female and all are souther, but other than that the differences are many. This novel centers around the escapades of Gina Foxton, a chef with a television series on a local cable channel. When Gina has the chance to make it in show business and win her own cooking series on the national food network, she goes head to head with a know-it-all male chef who catches and hunts his own ingredients. Andrews falls short of her usually flawless plotline in this novel, giving in too easily to the current hype surrounding reality television. Some writers have managed to use the scenario successfully (such as Carolyn Parkhurst in her Amazing Race-esque novel Lost and Found), but Andrews should stick to what she knows - southern females - and stay away from what she does not - the television business. That being said, please check out both of her amazing series: the Callahan Garrity Irish Atlanta mystery books and the Savannah southern belles Weezie and BeBe in books which include Savannah Blues and Savannah Breeze.
• The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg: Bragg began the three-part saga detailing his family history with All Over But the Shoutin' in 1998, a memoir that largely centered around his mother. In the second book, Bragg stepped further back in time to research his maternal grandfather and honor him with 2002's Ava's Man. After at one time pledging that he would never write "more than three chapters" about his father, Bragg found himself plunged into a late fatherhood when he married a woman who already had a son. At this point, Bragg found himself unable to stop pondering over the brief but hard life his own father had lived. He set out to find people who had "one story, just one story" that showed that his father in a positive light. It took some time; Bragg's father was a drunkard and a violent man who beat Bragg's mother and cut more than a few men who looked at him wrong. But in this memoir, Bragg tells not so much about his father's evils as he tells about the man his father was and the man he wished he had had the chance to get to know. He learns about the main his mother fell in love with and comes to terms with his own journey into forced fatherhood. Bragg's writing, as always, is as beautiful and smooth as the stream he reminisces about in the book. He tells his father's story as he would tell it aloud, and the reader is a better person for having heard his tale. Read the first two books as pre-requisites.
• Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes by Dixie Cash: In this hilarious installment of the Domestic Equalizers series, Cash takes the girls out of Texas and into New York City. Edwina Perkins-Martin and Debbie Sue Overstreet run both a hair salon and a private investigator business (hence, the Domestic Equalizers title for the series). Both women are known for their big hair and tendency to get into trouble during investigations. But when you put them in New York City, the chances of trouble goes up by leaps and bounds. Edwina and Debbie Sue are asked to speak at a conference for private investigators, where they end up befriending fellow Texan and loner extraordinaire Celina Phillips. Celina is a librarian in her small town, but she is a huge fan of the Domestic Equalizers and dreams of joining them in business. She raises money and uses all of her savings to send her self to NYC to the conferences, where she meets her idols and a cute policeman. The Texas girls get themselves involved in a series of murders which have been occurring in the city when they also befriend a genuine NYC hooker. All turns out well in the end, and Cash wraps everything up in a perfectly contrived romance happy ending. In spite of some downfalls, this novel is a great read for getting your mind off your own problems and delving into a book rich with funny characters and a little twist of mystery.
• Deadline by Chris Crutcher: Crutcher describes the last year of high school senior Ben Wolf's life in this young adult novel. At the novel's beginning, Ben discovers that he has a disease which will prove fatal. Not only that, but Ben makes the decision that he will forgo treatment in exchange for living his life to the fullest. Ben plays a winning football season with his brother Cody; befriends an alcoholic, sort-of-reformed child molester; and dates the hottest girl in school. In essence, he accomplishes his dream. Crutcher describes the sports scenes in great detail, just one of the many highlights of an overall excellent book. Cruther does not make a martyr or a saint of Ben; Ben makes mistakes, as any 17-year-old would. However, he remains lovable until the very end, when of course, the reader must face Ben's imminent demise. There are many lessons to be learned in Crutcher's novel, only one of which is the mantra to "live life to the fullest."
• Blood on the Bayou and No Mardi Gras for the Dead by D.J. Donaldson: These are actually the second and third installments in a mystery series set in the Lousiana bayou country. Main characters Andy Broussard and Kit Franklyn solve murders amid the swamp water and alligators. Broussard is an old-school medical examiner, and Franklyn joined his office as a psychologist investigating suicides for a book she has been writing for some time. Franklyn ends up investigating much more than suicides, however, as she accompanies Broussard on almost every call. In Blood, Broussard's past comes into play and he learns more than he would like to about some old friends. I immensely enjoyed this novel and its New Orleans and bayou country setting. It was a short but satisfying complex mystery with just enough intrigue and gristle. Donaldson followed Blood with No Mardi Gras starring, once again, the team of Broussard and Franklyn. This time the action starts in Franklyn's backyard - literally - and ends up, once again, in the recent past as Franklyn begins investigating the murder of a young girl whose body is found buried there. Donaldson continues the New Orleans and bayou setting in this novel, which thrills me as a French Quarter junkie. Another short and delightful mystery which still maintains an element of surprise.
• I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle: Like the Toms - Wolfe and Perotta - Doyle uses pop culture to drive this fascinating novel. Doyle gives us the story of high school senior Denis Cooverman on the day of his graduation. Denis is the ultimate geek, and as valedictorian, is also chosen to give his school's graduation speech. Choosing to forgo the usual "Oh, the Places You Will Go" motivational speech, Cooverman instead calls out all of his classmates for their bad behavior and hidden secrets, ending as he announces to thehead cheerleader (way out of his league): "I love you, Beth Cooper." Doyle follows Cooverman for the rest of the evening to the cliched post-graduation party complete with the aforementioned cheerleader, jocks, "goths," nerds, and drunk former-wallflowers. Doyle does so with hilarity and precision, resulting in a fabulous novel reminiscent of the blockbuster movie Can't Hardly Wait.
• Bulls Island by Dorothea Benton Frank: I love everything Dorothea Benton Frank has written, from her first novel to this latest one. Frank is a southern belle who writes about the south with the fabulous cynicism of a New Yorker. All of Frank's novels are set (at least in part), in her native South Carolina, and in each one Frank manages to entice her readers with a new and different slice of South Carolina low country, especially the islands that are so prominent in that area. In this novel Frank returns to a style of novel she is especially adept at writing - the woman who has left the south for greater things, ends up having to return for reasons beyond her control, and realizes her true place is in the south. This time the protagonist is Betts McGee, a career-minded woman living in NYC. She returns home to complete a business deal, which happens to be with her ex-fiance's company. Throughout the course of the novel, which ends up slightly predictable, Betts slowly comes to realize what her life is missing - the south, of course! While some might fault Frank for her sometimes formula-esque writing, I simply enjoy reading anything she puts out there for me to read. Formula or not, she is a good friend of and constantly endorsed by author Pat Conroy. To me, that's reason enough to pick up one of her excellent books.
• Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler: As a fan of her E! show Chelsea Lately, I picked up Handler's book prior to the Thanksgiving holidays, when I needed much entertainment. It was a surprisingly great read. Handler writes hilarious accounts of her life, from being tortured in school by bullies who called her "dog" on a regular basis, to drunken one-nigh-stands twenty years later in her Hollywood life. Handler is every bit as funny as a writer as she is doing monologues on her television show. She writes like she talks: intelligently, sarcastically, and laugh-out-loud funny. She is every bit as entertaining as David Sedaris, while perhaps a bit more of a lush (I mean, the title of her book does liken vodka to God). I would recommend this to anyone with a sharp sense of humor who is willing to let their morals go for a few hours and allow themselves to be entertained by Chelsea's crazy tales.
• While They Slept: An Inquire into the Murder of a Family by Kathryn Harrison: In this nonfiction book, Harrison delves into the depths of the Gilley family of Oregon. In 1984, the oldest son Billy killed both his parents and his youngest sister Becky. The middle sister Jody was left out of Billy's rampage. It was she who escaped from the house with him and went to a neighbor's house, where the police were eventually called. Harrison gained trust with both Jody, who is living in NYC now, and with Billy, who is serving time in an Oregon prison. In the style of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, Harrison tells the story of both the Gilley family's life and their deaths. It is a haunting story with no true conclusions; Billy still seems to see himself as the avenger for his sister by helping her escape their abusive parents. He does regret the murder of his youngest sister, who was eleven at the time of her death. He tells Harrison that he panicked and killed her to keep her from screaming; he never intended to kill Jody, who some have suggested may have been more than the object of sibling love for him. It is an interest-grabbing book, as most true crime volumes are. However, this one in particular is interesting because of the personal link Harrison finds between herself and these two children of abuse. Harrision herself was the victim of abuse by her own father. In her teens, her father came into her life for the first time and seduced her into a sexual relationship. Harrison tells the Gilley's story as a manner of exploring her own, which she actually wrote about in more depth in the previous book The Kiss.

Two CDs I Would Take With Me (a.k.a. The Stuck-on-a-Desert-Island Question)

It amazes me that the general public continues to have such poor taste in music. Gosh, that sounds extremely pompous and snobbish, doesn't it? Sorry. I can't seem to help it. I'm not saying that I've never sung along to Rihanna or even that I don't own a Kelly Clarkson CD... I have and I do. However, for the most part, the music that radio deejays spin fifty plus times a day are often, quite simply, terrible excuses for music. "Popular" music - in general - is dumbed down, beat heavy, and lyric weak.

Ironically, if an underground artist or band who I have liked for some time becomes popular, I have a terrible attitude about it. I whine about how other people don't have a "right" to like them, how they only like their "stream-lined" songs, and how they don't really know anything about the music they're listening to. Again, that music snobbery rearing its ugly head. This feeling does hold some merit, though (at least in my humble opinion).

Take, for example, David Gray. A few years ago he became popular to the point of radio fame with his single "Babylon." I overheard numerous people discussing David Gray's music shortly after the success of this song, and people seemed to think that they could label themselves as David Gray fans as a result of hearing and liking that song. In my opinion, the song did not even come close to much of Gray's other music. And those new "fans" didn't like the rest of Gray's music. It "sounded different," they would say. Well, yes, was my answer. Of course it does. "Babylon" was only one example of David Gray's multi-faceted talent as a musician. The rest of Gray's amazing body of music will continue to be ignored, because it doesn't meet the (admittedly low) standards of popular music.

I say all that to get to my main point, which is this: so much excellent music goes to waste by never being heard. The general public likes bad music. Thoughtful, beautifully written and played music often doesn't stand a chance. And so I would like to introduce the world (or the small percentage of the world who might read this) to two of my all-time favorite CDs, both by artists who receive much critical acclaim, but little popularity or radio play.

The first CD is Lucinda Williams' 1998 Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. I must admit that this is sort of a sellout choice on my part. I say this because this is actually Williams' first "popular" album. It won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album and went gold as a result. So, in fact, my underground choice is Williams' most popular album to date. However, I would bet money on the results of a survey: ask a thousand people who Lucinda Williams is and the vast majority of them will not be able to answer correctly. This is sad, since this album in particular is a compilation of Williams' best work. Williams' whiskey-and-cigarette voice is at its most winning, and the music that accompanies each lyric is played to its utmost. According to Wikipedia's article on Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Williams worked diligently to give each track a flawless finish. Wikipedia states that:

Williams actually recorded the 13 songs on 'Car Wheels' from start to finish twice before she recorded the versions that would ultimately be released. In 1995, after previewing the material from the first sessions to rapt audiences in Austin, Texas, Williams went into the studio. . . . The results, she felt, were flat, lifeless, not up to par so she shelved the tapes. A year later, Williams fired [her longtime guitarist and producer] and went back into the studio, this time in Nashville with the legendary songwriter Steve Earle as a producer. . . . [They] worked with vintage recording equipment from the 1950s that produces a raw, scratchy sound Williams loves. But the notoriously dissatisfied Williams and the notoriously difficult Earle (who had just been released from prison for cocaine possession) couldn't sustain their collaboration, either. In the fall of 1996, Williams dumped Earle and took her tapes to L.A., where she hired the eminently laid-back Roy Bittan, . . . the longtime keyboardist for Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band.

In short, Williams' perfectionism pays off, and the result is a CD which I can listen to all day long, over and over again. I would recommend this album to anyone who likes country music. I think that despite her lack of commercial success, anyone who is truly a country music fan will appreciate this album in particular. Like David Gray, however, liking this album does not necessarily mean that a listener will be a general Williams fan. As many artists who don't enjoy popular and radio success, Williams likes to change her style and experiment with sound. This means that her body of work is varied and exciting. Try this as your first taste, then move on to Williams' more adventurous work later in your own Lucinda Williams fandom.

You can't go wrong with this album, though. Both Ryan Adams (who will be discussed further in this posting) and Emmylou Harris contributed to the awesomeness that is Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. From the first haunting song "Drunken Angel" to the get-down-hard-and-heavy-country title song, Williams hits it exactly right.

Next, but no less entertaining, is Ryan Adams' album Gold. This has been Adams' most successful album to date, and like the Williams' album discussed above, this is probably because it is his most user-friendly album. Again, like Williams' before-mentioned album, Adams won wide critical acclaim for this album. He won two Grammy awards for the album, both for Best Male Rock Vocal for the song "New York, New York" and Best Rock Album. In spite of this, Adams is still not a mainstream artist, even when it comes to this album.

Case in point: When the CW's One Tree Hill played Adams' song "When the Stars Go Blue" as part of character Haley James' and character/ actual artist Tyler Hilton's musical success on the show, no one had ever heard the song. Country music superstar Tim McGraw even went on to cover the song, which I overheard people refer to as "that song from One Tree Hill." Even though Adams won a Grammy for this very album, it remains little-known, and no one knew that the original song was written by and originally recorded by Ryan Adams.

Perhaps the most memorable story I have about Ryan Adams (besides the fact that many people hear his name and mistake him for 1990s singer Bryan Adams, of much popular success and radio play) is the story of his first performance at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. I was not present for that moment back in October 2002, but that December at a New Year's Eve party, I heard the tale secondhand.

So it goes, Adams gave a stellar musical performance accompanied by Tegan & Sara and acclaimed vocalist Gillian Welch. He was obviously nervous about performing for the first time on such a legendary stage as the Ryman's, and stumbled along, playing rapt performances of his song set, but awkwardly screwing things up otherwise. For example, he reportedly did a Cookie Monster impression, sang along with a recorded version of Madonna's "Like a Virgin," and smoked like a chimney in violation of the esteemed venue's no-smoking policy. According to AnsweringBell.com, when a poor review of the the concert appeared in the Nashville newspaper The Tennessean, Adams responded with a voicemail full of expletives and insults.

According to the version I was given by a concert attendee, Adams was rude to the point of bordering on obnoxious. Many concert-goers left early, tired of waiting for Adams to get down to business. My own private concert reviewer told me that the last straw was Adams "throwing a cigarette down on the stage of the Ryman and grinding it out with his foot." At that point, she and her crew left. Adams also reportedly "yelled at a guy in the audience" who asked him to play popular singer Bryan Adams' song "Summer of '69." Apparently he's heard this comparison/ mix-up more than once, and it wears on his nerves.

Regardless of all this hoopla surrounding Adams performance at the Ryman, the Gold album remains one that I can listen to endlessly. In fact (this is terrible), it kind of made me like him more because it proved he really doesn't care who likes or dislikes him. He's in music because he can't not be. A musician is who he is not because he earns millions doing it (although I'm sure he's not starving or homeless), but because it is what he loves. He's not Miley Cyrus, appealing to as many fans as possible and selling himself on Wal-Mart shelves; he's the real deal. An artist. And with "artist" comes... well, grinding cigarettes out onstage at the Ryman. Yelling at people who paid to come see you. Because you just don't care.

Much more upbeat than Williams' Car Wheels, this is the perfect CD to listen to while going on a road trip. I know -- I did it! On a trip to the Smoky Mountains a couple of years ago, I listened to it over and over... all the way to Gatlinburg, then winding through the park to North Carolina, and back. It's a perfect roll-down-the-windows, open-the-sunroof kind of album. From the bittersweet "New York, New York" which always reminds me of 9/11 (not that Adams intended that -- it's just that it was released as a single right around that time) to the flippant "Answering Bell," Gold is Ryan Adams at his best.

Both albums are definite chill-out CDs to listen to; I can put either in my computer at work and set them to auto replay without becoming irritated or bored. And yes. Both would make it on my list for CDs to take with you to a desert island. Now books, on the other hand... That's a much more difficult question, and an entirely different post!