Tomorrow I Leave

For New York, that is. My 39th Sonic Youth show beckons.

It will be the last concert at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn, which will then revert to--ahem--a pool. Neighboring high rises rejoice, you've won! And New York lost another great place to see a show.

Jenn Shares To Learn

A new book of questionable value, really; the sole Amazon review slams the small print and
smaller "blanket". But how can you not love the nonchalant pose Snoopy has on the cover? How weak is Linus, anyway?

Schulz and Peanuts

Since last year my birthday fell on a Tuesday, I decided to celebrate it on a Sunday. My father was in the hospital, so it was just me, my mother and boyfriend. One of the gifts I received was David Michaelis' biography of an American master, Schulz and Peanuts. It took one week for me to read the 500+ pages, a task that would have been completed even sooner if not for the death of my father one day before I turned thirty.

His passing became inextricably linked with the book in my mind. I have only in my entire life cried over the passing of two human beings: my father and Charles Schulz.

Great controversy followed Schulz and Peanuts, the children of Mr. Schulz bemoaning the inordinate amount of space Mr. Michaelis gives to the single known infidelity Schulz committed. Oldest son Monte has been the most vocal critic of the authors approach, accusing Michaelis of taking a single angle--the Artist as Bitter Prick--and running with any anecdote that bolsters this view while downplaying and ignoring those events in Schulz' life that indicated a more emotionally well-rounded individual.

Anyone who loves Peanuts should read the book. It provides numerous insights that illuminate several running gags: Schulz' divorce written in as Charlie Brown kicking Lucy off the baseball team; an illicit affair turned into Snoopy falling in love; and those are just the most salacious examples. Throughout, Michaelis wisely uses reprinted strips to buttress anecdotal text. There are also a wealth of photos which give face to many of the names in the Schulz universe, including the cousin who inspired the look and attitude of Peppermint Patty.

The book is depressing; I would have felt careworn at the end of it even had I not lost a parent. (The frequent quotes of Monte Schulz made it a more onerous task at times; "Monte" was my fathers nickname.) But the scope of it is nothing less than what a tremendous artist deserves. For fifty years, Charles Schulz maintained a world of children who were too wise to be just "cute". That was the genius of Peanuts. Anyone who would profess shock that Schulz was not exactly a child-loving, happy-go-lucky, eyes-wide-shut Christian didn't pay enough attention. Exactly how wholesome is a man who sets up his hero for failure after failure? Who revels in sending his creations head on into the oil slick of unrequited passions?

Michaelis' exploration of Schulz as despairing is done almost too well. That he felt he could not explore with equal zeal the happier moments in Schulz' life is a shame, for the reader and for Michaelis himself.

If there is one thing that gives the book value above all else it is that it deepens the strip. Peanuts is treated reverently, even if its creator is not; the comic strip is seen as a fictional masterwork, a half-century long discourse on the human condition that only a man of deep thoughts and feelings could construct. The gossip is ephemerally interesting; the art of the man lives and breathes so long as there is a world fit to contain it.

Peanuts on DVD: New News in the News...News!

There's a brand new site dedicated to the Warner DVD Peanuts reissues, and new release dates for the latest discs. The deluxe editions of You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas will all come out on October 7th. Each will feature a fresh "making of" special, and in the case of You're Not Elected, will mark the DVD debut of He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. Hopefully hi-res photos of the boxes will appear soon.

Stumbling Into Victory

Leave it to Hagerstown...go to your first Little League World Series in 40 years and win your game against Jeffersonville, Indiana 3-2 without getting a hit.

Not...one...hit. That's Hagerstown, baby.

I love Little League baseball. Those kids swing at the damnedest pitches. Also, a lot of them look up to basketball players rather than major leaguers.

Building a Snoopy Army: Taking Inventory, Pt. 1

It's quite a "thing", this Snoopy collection of mine. Soon, aided by my oldest sister, I'll be taking complete inventory (index cards and all) of my beagle paraphernalia.

Let's take a look at what we're dealing with here. At least, some of it. Behold the contents of a single box in my exercise room:

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23 pictures...couldn't plan it if I tried.

Revisited: "Oh No It's Devo" by Devo

There is a conventional wisdom about the music of Devo, all the more hilarious for the very idea any conventional wisdom could exist where Ohio's finest are concerned. But so it goes that their debut Q: Are We Not Men A: We Are Devo! is their pinnacle, Duty Now For the Future valuable yet underwhelming, and Freedom of Choice, the "mersh" record, famous for giving the world "Whip It" and the energy dome. The product after is pretty damn negligible.

In the case of Devo's final three albums, conventional wisdom is dead-on. But the fourth album, the one with the potatos on it, is actually worth your time. Yet it seems only diehard Spuds know this. Oh No It's Devo is a minor classic in the realm of early 80s synth-pop, what the B-52s Whammy would have been if Fred Schneider wasn't so damn flamboyant.

"Time Out For Fun"--Simon Says as motivational tool. Everyone find your inner happy rhombus! A straight-faced message of optimism that doubles as one of the bands greatest songs. Almost unbelievable coming from the cynical mind of Gerald Casale.

"Peek-a-Boo"--This song is like a baby. It's real cute. Then times passes, the baby grows into a toddler to a young child to a teen to an adult. Along the way, it stops being so damn cute.

"Out of Sync"--In the vein of "All She Wants to Do is Dance", in that it references a metaphorical "she". But Devo didn't write cautionary tales about cocaine, they just snorted the shit.

"Explosions"--A lost classic. Sounds the way an assembly line looks. The Discovery Channel, had it still the sense it was born with, would make this the theme to "How They Make It". I also like explosions that leave me feeling good.

"That's Good"--It's dancey, but not too, and they once played it on Square Pegs. Which starred Sarah Jessica Parker, who later starred on Sex in the City, which also featured Kim Catrall. Who once dated Gerald Casale. See what I did there? 'Cause I sure as hell don't.

"Patterns"--A redo of "One Dumb Thing" (found only on Pioneers Who Got Scalped), this is a spudly ballad, done in inimitable Mark Mothersbaugh style. Life is a series of patterns inside one larger pattern, and our life is better when we take the initiative to shape them to our benefit.

"Big Mess"--A schizophrenic radio DJ named "Cowboy Kim" sent interesting mail to an LA office that handled the fan mail of a local game show. Some of those privy to these missives just happened to be Friends Of Devo, and passed them along to the band. Hence, this song, which is luckily more dynamic than the backstory.

"Speed Racer"--Proof positive that Mark wrote better music than lyrics. I'd be fucking pissed if Weird Al did my own style better than me, too.

"What I Must Do"--Sounds like Gerald Casale hitting up the church confessional, if that made even the slightest bit of sense. "I must do what I must do/And I do/Though I know better". Like dating bisexual chicks.

"I Desire"--Infamous for consisting strictly of John Hinckley poetry. The beat is like what happens when manufacturers attempt to infuse toy soldiers with erotic feeling.

"Deep Sleep"--Not very somnolent. Almost out of Rygar, really.

And now I really wish I had my old Nintendo.