The death of David Bowie has hit me really hard. The two most personally revealing things I've probably written for this blog were about my life during the period between 1997 and 2000 when I was in full-on Bowie obsession mode. So what the hell, I'll be even more personal. His music and performances really helped me to be comfortable with what I would call my non-traditional masculinity. I went from years of feeling like I was some kind of abnormal being incapable of being manly to realizing that those standards were stupid and that I was right for not conforming to them.
It's been very difficult for me to put my feelings into words, and so many other people have been doing it and doing it better, so I don't have a lot to offer. Instead, I'd like to offer up a short playlist of five songs that have been comforting this week, and which will probably stay with me forever.
"Life on Mars?"
I put this one on last night, and my wife enthusiastically said "Yes! This is what I want to hear!" It is a haunting song from Bowie's early period ostensibly about a mousy young woman going to the movies by herself feeling lost but looking for the company of the images on screen. These movies end up being a "saddening bore," leading her to ask whether there is life on Mars, or at least some other world less dreadful than this one. The lyrics are not completely straight-forward, but that's the beauty of Bowie. I can picture this song perfectly in my mind every time I hear it, but it won't be how anyone else pictures it. I am now firmly convinced that I want it played at my funeral.
"Width Of A Circle"
Although it may be a cliche to say this, cliches are cliches for a reason. Bowie's shape-shifting ways made him the first post-modern rock star and had a huge influence on others. Before he figured out the Ziggy Stardust persona, he could rock out, glam style. As good as the Ziggy era was, none of his songs, including "Rebel Rebel," rock quite like "Width Of A Circle." This hard-rocking version of Bowie came after his being a mod in the mid-60s and slightly folkie in the late 60s, before letting his camp side out on Hunky Dory, which came right before Ziggy. He changed images so often that The Man Who Sold The World gets lost in the shuffle, mostly because his work from 1969-1980 is so fertile that is probably the greatest run of that length by any rock act.
"Heroes"
This is one of those few songs that the first time I heard it I literally could not believe what I was hearing. I had never listened to anything quite like it before, and I must've listened to it ten times a day for a month afterward. Bowie's Berlin music is probably my favorite of his many phases, and this song takes the amazing, otherworldly sound he was creating with Tony Visconti and Brian Eno, and applies it to one of the most stirring rock ballads of all time. I am going to just stop talking because this song really speaks for itself.
"Queen Bitch"
On Hunky Dory Bowie paid homage to many of his idols, from Andy Warhol to Bob Dylan. This song was meant for the Velvet Underground's Lou Reed, and pushes ahead with a truly wonderful propulsion that makes it one of my favorite highway driving songs. Bowie was one of the first people to understand the revolution latent in the Velvets' sound and adapt it to something new, rather than just imitate it. That act may very well be one of the most important great leaps forward in rock music history, and one of the least known.
"Word On A Wing"
When I heard of Bowie's death, this was one of the first songs to pop into my head. It comes from Station to Station, the album he recorded in the mid-70s when he was at a low point of failing health and cocaine psychosis. It's a song about grace, with heavy religious overtones. In the midst of the worst, he sees a way out and a spiritual awakening. Yesterday I thought a lot about how Bowie's life could very well have ended forty years ago. We were so fortunate to have him for so long, and now his breath has gone out, no longer lies like a word on a wing. All that remains are the memories, and the music, and those I will carry with me.
After re-watching the prequels I heartily endorse Patton Oswalt's assessment of them
I finally managed to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens the week after Christmas, and now, I am finally able to write about it. There are enough takes flying around out there about the film, so I decline to add my own. Instead, I'd like to discuss it in context with the other Star Wars films, because I sat down and rewatched them all before seeing Force Awakens. Here's my annotated ranking of the films now that I've seen them all again back to back:
1. Empire Strikes Back
This was number one for me before the great rewatch, and seeing it again in juxtaposition to all the others just solidified that position. In the first place, it looks amazing. Evidently there were cost overruns in making it, but it looks like it was money well spent. The original looks a little chintzy in spots, and Jedi has parts that could have looked better, too. Unlike all the other Star Wars films (except The Force Awakens), the human relationships feel real. It's practically a flawless film, as far as I am concerned, except maybe for that bad line reading of "two fighters against a star destroyer?" It is also telling that it is the film among the first six where George Lucas has the least involvement. He came up with the story, but Lawrence Kasdan wrote the script, Irwin Kershner had a lot of leeway in directing it, and Gary Kurtz did most of the day to day production on set. (This also led to those aforementioned cost overruns that also led to Kurtz not taking part in the next film.) Lucas has a real talent for world building, creative scenarios, and drawing the broad outlines of mythical stories, but he needs other people to translate that story into script and to direct actors to say the lines. Five stars
2. Star Wars
(I categorically refuse to call this A New Hope.) This film is very very close to being number one, but gets edged out due to the more fully human emotional landscape of Empire and the drama that comes with it. In any case, it is a truly great film. It blows me away that something made in 1977 holds up this well. If not for the sideburns and haircuts, it looks almost contemporary. It also may be the best edited film ever made, somehow propelling itself forward while leaving room for the extended and slower story of the droids landing on Tattooine. The lived-in universe this films creates is so rich that we still want to return to it decades later, and it is left so open that so many stories can still be told there. It doesn't just build that world, it hits all the right notes and never fails to surprise. Thinking about it from the perspective of my first viewing, its crescendo is breath-taking. After blowing our minds for over an hour and a half, Lucas gives us the assault on the Death Star, which feels light years ahead of the film's beginning, which was light years ahead of 70s sci-fi cinema. Five stars
3. Return of the Jedi
When I was like ten or so, I probably would've put Jedi first. Since the 80s it's come in for some abuse due to the Ewoks and other factors, but seeing it again it is obvious that this is a really good film. The Jabba's palace adventure at the start and the three-way battle and duel in the throne room at the end are both fantastic. Yes the Ewok stuff drags the movie down and slows it up, and Han's role seems weird and ambiguous, but that does not outweigh the greatness elsewhere. I think Mark Hamill really outdoes himself in this movie, he seems to wear his burden to destroy his father on his face. By ranking Jedi third, this is less by default and more just to say that while it is really good, it's not as good as the other films in the original trilogy. Perhaps it gets underrated because after seeing the prequels, the seeds of Lucas' future wrong turns are evident. The Ewok stuff comes across as silly and motivated more by marketing than by art, a harbinger of Jar Jar. Four and a half stars
4. The Force Awakens
Again, this ranking is based on the fact that films ahead of it are so good, not because this film is not good. In fact, I think it is really, really good. As I mentioned before, it is the one film other than Empire that really seems to have nailed human relationships. I was at the edge of my seat several times in the theater. Unlike the prequels, it seems to have figured out how to incorporate humor and to introduce new characters that the audience actually cares about. Some touches, like Finn's origin story, are truly brilliant. This film so good that I put it just about even with Jedi, in fact. It doesn't quite make it for me, because some of the derivative elements mirror the 1977 original beyond a reasonable point. Also, while it does a good job of keeping things mysterious and not over-expositioning, the First Order and its motivations, as well as the status of the Republic, are all murky to the point of distraction. By trying hard not to make the mistakes of the prequels, TFA may have overreacted in this area. Four and a half stars
5. Revenge Of The Sith
Now here we have a change in one ranking slot, but a sheer cliff drop-off in quality. When I first saw Sith I thought it flawed but as good or better than Jedi. Now there is no way I would say anything so ridiculous, especially after rewatching Sith. Ewan MacGregor gives it his all, and thus makes the final showdown with him and Anakin feel meaningful to the point that I get goosebumps for the only time in any of the prequels. But my God, some things are just awful. R2D2 is given ridiculous abilities. The Jedi bodyguards for Mace Windu are all slayed in a matter of seconds by Palpatine in a way that defies belief. Key dialogue and the reading of it are dreadful, especially Hayden Christensen's "From my point of view the Jedi are evil." The "Padme died of a broken heart" thing is a stupid cop-out. The mission to protect baby Luke and Leia could've been a great movie, and it lasts about five seconds with zero tension. The destruction of the Jedi, supposedly the greatest warriors in the universe, ends up being as easy as microwaving a burrito. Frankenvader. Decades of anticipation went into the storyline of this film, it should have been a big fat pitch over the middle smacked for a home run, but instead it was mashed into the ground for a squeaker of an infield single. Three stars
6. Attack of the Clones
Before this set of rankings, I considered this one the worst, but now that title goes to Phantom Menace. Make no mistake, this is a bad movie. The romance between Anakin and Padme simply does not work, the dialogue is rotten, and the bad delivery of said dialogue is probably down to the lack of proper direction of actors who have otherwise done well. I should add that I am not as critical of Hayden Christensen's performance as others are, he's just not given much to work with. His Anakin comes off as an edgy creep with violence lurking below the surface. That's a good choice, but it's also very, very jarring after seeing the good-natured kid from the first film, who seems to have none of these characteristics. Apart from the bad romance and bad direction, the film is bloated (the longest of all of them) and has massive set piece action sequences that don't quite work. The whole droid factory sequence is useless, and C3PO's "humorous" experiences irritating in the extreme. The CGI is not all that great and it is so ubiquitous that so many crucial scenes are distractingly fake looking. I give this film a reprieve from the bottom for a few reasons. In the first place, I like the whole Obi-Wan as detective plot. It's something a little new for Star Wars and interesting, even if I could do without the Boba Fett origin story. Some of the design elements are also really cool, especially Coruscant. Lucas never lost that ability to envision breath-taking worlds. Last and certainly not least, Christopher Lee is in this and brings his wonderful glower. Why couldn't he have been in the movie from the beginning, or at least halfway through? Two stars
7. The Phantom Menace
This movie is last because so many bad decisions were made in its conception that marred the prequel series as a whole. Making Anakin a little boy (and thus making the romance with Amadala creepy.) Centering the plot around poorly explained trade routes that nobody can get into or care about. Midochlorians. Jar Jar. Giving the aliens ethnic stereotype accents. Taking the lived-in universe of the originals and making it all shiny, sheeny, and bland. It's a shame because the lightsabers are so much cooler and the duels well-executed. There's some great actors here (McGregor, Neeson, Portman, Jackson) but they look lost or like they are phoning it in, especially in Neeson's case. This movie also has no real reason to exist, in terms of the larger plot. It is fun in places, but that doesn't come close to saving it. Two stars
Songs from these tracks of the week tend to be things I am listening to at this moment and feel like talking about. "Transmission," on the other hand, is a song that lives with me, and has for many years now. Joy Division's music is another kind of experience, listening to it I feel transported to a kind of semi-dreamspace in the back of my mind. Few others can do that, which probably explains why lonely, introverted teens are still listening to Unknown Pleasures to this day.
My favorite Joy Division song is not on that album, though. I love the stand-alone single "Transmission" best. I just discovered that it was their first single under the Joy Division name (after going by Warsaw), which is a hell of a way to announce your presence. The start is just about as perfect as can be, and sums up what made Joy Division great in a matter of seconds. There is an airy synthesizer chord that seems ominous despite its lightness, and then Peter Hook's bass comes in, tapping out Morse code from some forgotten realm, mimicking the "Transmission" of the title. Suddenly there's a quick, unorthodox drum fill from Stephen Morris, sounding more spare and angular than anything yet in rock music and then Bernard Sumner's distorted, snaking guitar weaves around the beat, leaving the melody to the bass. It's all so very strange, and then Ian Curtis' voice intones "Radio/Live transmission" with a hitch, sounding in that instance like a man damaged by the inhumanity of modern life. In a mere forty seconds, the greatness of Joy Division has been made manifest. I don't think any other group has managed to distill their essence so magnificently so quickly in their first single.
And it only gets better from there. Sumner's guitar after the first verse seems to slice the air, and Ian Curtis matches that intensity with his voice rising, to the point where it almost crashes into the wall, before he lowers it a notch and says "dance to the radio" in a flat, dark tone that is about a million miles away from KC and the Sunshine Band. The song does not end with a flash, but slows down to a halt, like a car breaking down at the side of the road. It's a song that still thrills me, no matter how many times I've heard it.
Surprised that the hipsters haven't tried to revive this bourbon label
A former student of mine who is now working on her PhD posted an article to Facebook about the "signature cocktails" this year at the annual American Historical Association conference in Atlanta. These will be served at the various conference hotels, with cute in-joke names like "The Bourbon Restoration."
The article made me chuckle, and not just because of the cocktail names. When I went to the AHA, I did my fair share of drinking, but very rarely in the overpriced hotel bars. I was either a broke-ass graduate student or a barely less poor junior scholar, already having to foot the bill for plane tickets and expensive hotel rooms. For that reason, my signature AHA cocktail was Evan Williams from a bottle bought across the street at a liquor store mixed with warm coke, usually served in a plastic hotel room cup and consumed with other similarly situated friends. Evan Williams is indeed some cheap, rotgut stuff, but it is the king of cheap rotgut bourbon. Why? Because while alone it burns without any smooth bourbon sweetness, mixed with the sugar of the coke it becomes the best twelve dollars ever spent.
I still remember my last night at the DC AHA in 2008, exhausted and punchy hanging out with friends in our room above its legal occupancy to save money, turn of the century tenement style, downing this concoction while speculating if any of our interviews were going to lead to a future job. (They didn't, but that's another story.) Unlike those other signature cocktails, it doesn't have a name, but what it lacks in panache it more than makes up for in affordability.
That drink is a reminder of how the AHA's annual conference, perhaps more than anything else, highlights the division between the haves and the have nots among professional historians. Job seekers are the ones who most desperately need to go to the conference, since their livelihoods depend upon it. However, they are more likely to be required to pay their own way, despite being the group who can least afford to go. Those who have secure positions in the professoriate usually have institutions paying their way, which leaves a lot of surplus dough for downing cocktails in the hotel lounge.
I went to the 2015 conference because it was being held in New York and I would get to see a lot of my friends. It was a wonderful experience. I took in some cool panels, scouted some good books, and caught up with old grad school chums. It was entirely liberating to be there because I wanted to, and to have enough money that I wasn't in a constant state of anxiety over what things were costing me. All I had to do to have a pleasant AHA was to quit the profession.
We had freakish weather here in the Garden State this holiday season. It felt more like Easter than Christmas, or like Christmas in Houston. Now a full on winter cold snap has hit, and I am reminded that the older I get, the less I can tolerate winter. The lack of sunlight is the worst thing, but add the cold and it's unbearable. There's nothing quite like standing on the train platform in the pre-dawn darkness shivering while hoping that the winter conditions haven't caused any train delays that morning.
In times like these I turn to cheesy music to help get me through, and no decade has stinkier musical cheese than the 80s. I do not believe in guilty pleasures, we like what we like. And while I can talk your ear off about a lot of great underground contemporary music, right now in my time of need I want the musical Doritos and aural RC Cola of my youth. Here's the 80s pop I'm stuffing my ears with right now: Level 42 "Something About You"
I don't know what it is, but this song just SOUNDS exactly like the 80s. While there is some decently funky bass lurking here beneath the mannered English singing and smooth harmonies, it's still a shiny, glittery piece of 80s pop cubic zirconia. I think I still hear this song in waiting rooms from time to time, the perfect forum for smooth 80s pop music.
Bobby Brown "My Prerogative"
I'm not ashamed to admit that this song taught me the meaning of the word "prerogative." It's got maybe the biggest, dumbest, catchiest rhythm groove of any song to ever hit the top 40 this side of "Louie, Louie" to boot. Bonus points for the prominent keytar in the video. Laura Branigan "Self Control"
There's a certain kind of darky, synthy 80s pop music that I just can't get enough of. Chuck Eddy referred to the genre as "flashdance" in one of his books, the music of late nights on rain-slicked streets. That world is directly evoked in this video, and Laura Branigan's voice sounds weary of desire in a world made of steel, made of stone. (Sorry, couldn't resist the reference.) As a kid I loved the effects laden guitar that hits hard after the "Oh Oh Oh" bridge. This song seemed to be about an adult world that I could barely even comprehend.
Hall and Oates "Out Of Touch"
Hall and Oates made some pretty awesome jams in their early days, and recently they have undergone a bit of a renaissance, and deservedly so. But man, they started letting their sound get wrapped up in the Big 80s sound circa 1984, draining much of their soul roots in the process. (The video even uses a giant drum set to drive the big-ness of it all home.) On this song they really do master that sound, in all of its overproduced, synthetic glory.
Journey "Who's Crying Now"
People like to remember Journey for their romantic power ballads, whether it's the sappy "Open Arms" or the epic "Don't Stop Believing." They often forget about this song, where I imagine a sleepless Steve Perry at 3AM sitting on his dark stoop smoking a cig and contemplating the dark side of love. It's so wonderfully moody. Talk Talk "It's My Life"
The arc of New Wave is long, but it bends towards Talk Talk.
Sade "Smooth Operator"
It's like Roger Moore-era James Bond and Sonny Crockett combined in song form. Also includes sultry sax, which was never better than it was in the 80s.
Mick Jagger "Just Another Night"
Okay, this one I don't actually like, I just think it's fun to gawk at just how awful and ridiculous Mick Jagger was in the 80s. It is funny to think that at this point he thought he could ditch the Stones and strike out on his own, when without Keef his music is flimsy at best. And don't even get me started about the ballet shoes.
I tend to write a blog post predicting events in the coming year each January, but I was going to hold off because it's a fool's game. The status of the world is so insane right now that predicting the future is about as easy as drinking up the ocean. I was talking to a close friend on the phone last night about this, and after giving it some thought, just decided what the heck and do it anyway.
Trump Won't Win The Nomination, But Will Make It Interesting
At this point I think that the Republican establishment has made the decision to keep Trump from getting the nomination at whatever the costs. Those Republicans who aren't Trump voters tend to really dislike him. Even if he wins a clear plurality of the delegates, he will have to face a brokered convention. I don't see him getting a majority. Trump does have a lot of support, obviously, but primary turnouts are low, and his voting base is disconnected and less likely to vote in the first place. Because he has such weak opposition, however, I don't see one person sweeping in and uniting the "anybody but Trump" forces.
Clinton Will Win The Nomination Easier Than Expected By Going Left
I like Bernie Sanders and intend to vote for him, but I think that his prospects have been overstated by the media due to their interest in making a contest out of it. He might win one of the early primaries and generate some hype, but that will quickly dissipate. His problem has been that Hilary Clinton has gone left to capture the base. I think she has gone far enough left that many voters in the base will be satisfied with her. On top of that, with the international situation getting more uncertain, Clinton gets a huge boost over Sanders.
A Global Event Will Massively Impact the Presidential Election
Didya notice how the Republicans reacted after the terror attacks in Paris? They know that exploiting fear and ginning up militarism are major winning tactics for them. That enabled the re-election of George W Bush, and Reagan's appeal to nationalism during the Iran Hostage Crisis was very effective. Considering the current tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, I am fairly certain that something big is going to happen between those two countries in the coming year. If not there, then there could be another Paris-style terror attack or San Bernardino shooting or major ISIS offensive in Iraq or Syria. In the grand scheme of things (like Benghazi), it might not be a huge deal, but the Republicans will do their best to blow it up into something huge. If it is something huge, then all the better for them. If Iran and Saudi Arabia go to war, for instance, blame will be laid on the policy of rapprochement with Iran, and by extension, on the Democrats.
Clinton Will Win The General Election In A Squeaker (But A Loss Would Not Surprise Me)
Despite getting the nomination easily, Clinton will have a hard time in the general election. Turnout is key, and getting voters excited for an establishment candidate will be tough. A lot of the people who came out for Obama will not come out for Clinton, and the raft of voter ID laws and such will make it harder for Democratic voters to vote. Polling is showing Republicans who aren't Trump running well against her, and due to super PACs her opponent will be be able to run many more ads. Clinton will ultimately benefit, however, from the rise of Trumpism, which has continued to alienate Latin and Asian voters from the Republican party.
The Republicans Will Retain Both Houses Of Congress
Because the Democrats will not have high turnout with a Clinton nomination, they will not win the House. Due to gerrymandering, they need a big wave to move the needle in the House, and they won't get it. In terms of the Senate, they would need to flip several races, which I don't see happening. The result of this election will likely be more gridlock and the continuance of the status quo.
Marco Rubio Will Be The Republican Nominee
This is the hardest thing to predict, so I kept it for last. I really think the election will come down to Rubio or Cruz. If there is a brokered convention, I think it definitely goes to Rubio, since the establishment will have a greater voice in steering things, and Rubio has a history of getting in good with the big wigs. In that scenario Cruz loses because everybody who actually has to deal with him hates his guts. The Republicans always nominate the guy who's "next in line," but there is no one fitting that description this time around, which has enabled Trump. Bush was the closest to that, but he has clearly screwed up so bad that he has no chance anymore. I have to think that the establishment will try to make Rubio their man because he is young, smooth, and moderate enough on immigration to prevent further alienation of the Latino vote. He will provide a great contrast to the elder Clinton, even if Rubio's an old man in a younger man's body. If he gets the nomination that also gives the Republicans a shot at getting Florida in the general election, and for Clinton to win without Florida will not be easy. Of course, Rubio still has to win the damn nomination, and his strategy of looking past Iowa and New Hampshire will pay off, I think. Once the base gets a chance to pitch their little hissy fit early on cooler heads will likely prevail. If Cruz and Trump split the wingnut vote, all the easier for Rubio.
A Nightmare Scenario Cruz Presidency Is Not Impossible
This isn't so much a prediction as an observation. As I have mentioned, Clinton has a lot of weaknesses. She is an establishment candidate when the establishment is reviled. It is very rare that a party is able to hold the White House for three terms in a row. Cruz has a shot at the Republican nomination, and he is extremely adept at spinning his bullshit. If turnout is low, and enough people are seduced by Cruz's bullshit artistry and longing for hawkish rhetoric in a dangerous world, he could win out. If he gets the nomination he will have a massive propaganda machine at his back, unlimited money to spend, and several swing states where opposition voters will have a harder time getting the ballot. I think this possibility has maybe a 15% chance of happening, but it still could. People thought Reagan was too far to the right, too.
New Year's Eve has long been one of my favorite holidays, and and New Year's Day one of my least favorite. It's the day I realize that the holiday season is over, and that I am about to go back to work with the worst months of the year stretched out before me. In recent years it has become even more difficult because of the deaths of those close to me, and the changing in the calendar reminds me of their loss. The years keep rolling on, and fewer and fewer people are there with me, either due to distance or dying.
I've tried to take time this new year's season to remember those that I've lost. The song I choose for this reflection is always "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House. This might sound like a strange choice, since it's apparently a minor key love song, but I have my reasons. The first person close to me I ever lost was my dad's father, in April of 1987, on Good Friday after a long illness. He and my grandmother lived in a tiny town half an hour away, and I swear every time we drove there over the days after my grandfather's death this song was on the radio. I cannot hear it without thinking about that moment in my life.
I often think about the fact that I was just really getting to know my grandfather as a real person right at the moment he died. The prior year he had stayed at our house for a couple of weeks while getting treatments at the hospital. I was at first resentful of the fact that he was sleeping in my bed, and I was now confined to the couch. I got over that pretty quickly, thankfully. My grandfather would tell me stories, and as a budding history nerd, they blew my mind. He was born in rural Missouri in 1903, and could thus tell me of a time when he surprised to see cars, not just horse drawn carriages, on the roads. He was actually in the train station in Kansas City during an infamous 1933 shootout there between gangsters and the police. More crucially, he wanted to watch baseball every day, and that habit drew me away from the after-school episodes of GI Joe and towards Cubs games on WGN. My life would never be the same again.
But I never really had the chance to talk baseball with him, even though he lit the spark for my more serious interest in the game. I watched the '86 World Series intently, and when the 1987 season began I was buying Topps cards like a maniac and checking the daily baseball scores, but he was already in the hospital for good. I still remember a day, maybe the day of his funeral or the day after, sitting disconsolately on my grandparents' couch in their always underlit, cramped and cluttered living room while looking at the sports page of the Omaha World-Herald and seeing that Bo Jackson, the Royals' great new hope, had struck out five times in his last game. (Based on my research, this was apparently on April 18, 1987.) That made a truly rotten day feel even worse. As I sat on the couch, despondent, my sweet Aunt S. came over to ask if I was all right, and I think I talked about Bo Jackson as a way to deflect the depths of my sadness over my grandfather's passing.
I was talking to my parents on the phone tonight, and my dad retold the story of how my grandfather loved baseball so much that he played on the town team (back when every little town had its own amateur teams) well into middle age, and used an unorthodox cross-handed hitting style to great effect. For some reason my hands instinctually want to grip a baseball bat that way. It's my grandfather's blood talking to me.
What I would give to be able to talk to him again. Listening to this song is the closest I can get.
