Funny Things about Serious People: Declaratively Hemingway

Buying paperback editions of Hemingway is funny because inevitably the back of the book has a statement that says something to the effect of "Hemingway wrote in short, declarative sentences" (that's a direct quotation) and then on page 18 you find a sentence like He knew about that, about motor cycles—that was earliest—about motor cars, about duck-shooting, about fishing, trout salmon and big-sea, about sex in books, many books, too many books, about all court games, about dogs, not much about horses, about hanging on to his money, about most of the other things his world dealt in, and about his wife not leaving him.

Mexico City: Scenes/ Adventures in Rhythm—Folkloric Violins

Last night I went to the Ballet Folklorico for the first time. The violins were out of tune there too, just like they are everywhere else I've heard in Mexico. Throughout the two-hour performance I kept trying to decide if this was done to be "authentic," or if for some reason in Mexico any two given violins are incapable of being in tune with one another. I could not decide.

One expert offers an explanation:

"Stanford (1984)...stresses the devastating effect the inclusion of the trumpet initially had on traditional ensembles, particularly in causing the role of the violin to atrophy. According to Stanford, the violin players in the first modern mariachi groups (after the inclusion of the trumpet) subsequently viewed their instrument as less important, and began to play out of tune and with less care. In small mariachi ensembles, the violin was retained only to complete the overall visual image."

Adventures in Rhythm: Music for Maniacs

For other fans of weird music: enjoy Music for Maniacs. You can download things there and learn things like the fact that Neil Young and Rick James were in a band together in 1966 (but didn't make very weird music) and who Frank Pahl is (hint: he makes weird music).

Marvelous Returns: El Changoleón in VICE

My article on Changoleón, the drunk, formerly homeless, rumored-to-be-dead Mexican reality TV star is now out in the August issue of VICE. What started out as a simple story about a famous alcoholic turned into a kind of interesting look at Mexican television and D.F. social tensions.

 

Some of you may remember the picture I snapped of the Monkey-Lion back on Halloween. It took another few months to track him down, one more to translate the interview with him, and another two or so to find him in Acapulco and get some professional pictures. But then again, it was almost as hard to get an interview with the producers of the TV shows Changoleon was on as it was to find him. I guess that's Mexico.

Adventures in Rhythm/Something Like Something: Blind Preaching

Blind Willie Johnson, 1927.



Revered Gary Davis, ca. 1956.

Mexico City: Scenes—Mexican Yoga

Mexico City is: a car with its car alarm going off, parked in the middle of the crosswalk, in front of the Buddhist Center.

The Vampire Thing Never Dies: Catatonic Music

John Fahey (regrettably obscure guitarist and composer of large amounts of Americana-derived instrumental collages) called Jerry Garcia (regrettably un-obscure guitarist and composer of large amounts of Americana-derived psych-pop drivel) "a psychic vampire." This is perhaps the only commentary about another musician I've found that gets close to what I was trying to say about Vampire Weekend and Paul Simon way back here.

Funny Things About Serious People: Son House, Skip James, and H.C. Speir

Unlike most bluesmen, Son calls each of the standard tuning keys by their right names, save for C, which he calls F. (Booker White calls E G, C cross-G, and A Ab or Db; Robert Pete Williams, Rubin Lacy and Skip James all refer to E as C natural.) However, in other matters Son approaches the delta blues norm. For instance "minor" means any note or chord on or above the fifth fret, and "major" any note or chord below it. . . . In addition, Son uses a rather vague system of string classification, using soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Skip is more definite; from the sixth string to the first they are 6) bass or subtone, 5) baritone, 4) alto, 3 + 2) tenors, 1) soprano. Skip also refers to triplets, 16th, 32nd, and 64th notes, tonics, subdominants, and 2/4 and 4/4 time, all incorrectly. It turns out he bought an "Exegesis of Musical Knowledge" from H.C. Speir in 1931 and skimmed it.

-as told by Al "Blind Owl" Wilson, 1960s

Something like Something: The Face of Shame

Even people in Mexico City are talking about Anthony Weiner. It might have something to do with his name.

But the incident reminded me of this old post about the face of shame in America. Same face! Is there some Manual of Press Conference Facial Expressions for Modern Political Figures that these guys are all reading? Do they all have the same publicity coach? Is it instinctive? Cultural? Ladies, if your man—employees, if your boss man—people in emergency rooms, if your doctor man—comes to you with this face, prepare for the worst. And try to hack his email account because he's probably still hiding something.

Antiquariana: Mexican Industry

It is almost incredible to speak what some write of Mexico and the cities adjoining to it, no place in the world at their first discovery more populous.... We have the same means, able bodies, pliant wits, matter of all sorts, wool, flax, iron, tin, lead, wood, etc., many excellent subjects to work upon, only industry is wanting.

-Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621

Mexico City: Scenes—Mexican Humor

Yesterday I was leaving my building when a neighbor whom I had a met a few times stopped me.

You look very serious, she said in Spanish.

Oh, I said. She was almost middle-aged, which I hadn't noticed before.

Phlegmatic, she said. That's what we say.

That's funny, I said. We don't really say that in English.

About the English, she said. We say they're very phlegmatic.

Actually I'm not English, I said. I'm American. We're happy.

Yes. But we say they're phlegmatic, the English.

Well, I said. I'm not English. Goodbye!

Mexico City: Scenes—Pico de Gallo

At some point during the last month the next-door neighbors acquired a rooster.

He sounds bored.

Something like Something: Comedians...with Strings!

200-something.


1962.


1944.

On the Street: La decadencia romana

My neighborhood is definitely on the brink of something. Walking home tonight, the grocery store was full of tall foreigners and girls in orange leggings. The unannounced opening at the new Museum of the Object of the Object brought a crowd of young men wearing denim shirts and middle-aged socialites with heavy glasses and pomaded hair, while outside the scent of marijuana smoke wafted picaresquely in the air a block away. And around the corner from my apartment, the only man in Mexico City I have ever seen wearing booty shorts in a non-professional capacity was out in his most sparkly gold pair.

On the Street: Heart on the Street

My neighborhood is fast on the way up. About every other week I see a new bar or restaurant opening. This trend has been heartily confirmed today: the telenovela Entre el Amor y el Deseo is shooting on my block.

Antiquariana: Memories of the Middle School Library

Just found this entertaining blog. As I've long suspected, ugly and possibly misinformative books have always been in vogue.

Mexico City: Scenes—Red Water

For the last three days the water in the fountains of Mexico City has been running red. At first I thought maybe there was something wrong with the water supply, but then I noticed the water coming out of my shower and sink were normal.

It turns out the fountains of red are the latest manifestation of the "No Mas Sangre" ("No More Blood") campaign, led by Mexico's famous cartoonist, Rius. The campaign has produced a lot of demonstrations, sign waving, and supportive Facebook posts. Its purpose is to protest the violence created by Mexico's drug war, and combat people's indifference to said violence.

Something like Something: Take a Stand

As we know, Hemingway enjoyed claiming: "Writing and travel broaden your ass if not your mind and I like to write standing up."

And others remembered of him (and his room): "On a shelf by the bed is the Royal portable he uses, typing standing up."

Antiquariana: Have a Sit

A friend from high school who is a science writer recently told me that a study had concluded sitting is toxic.

Everything is toxic, I said. Living is toxic.

Then today I heard this story, which says that we need to program our computers to tell us when to get up and stop looking at our computers. This will keep us from dying.

On the Street: Passover

Was back in New York for about twenty-eight hours. New York is a place where construction workers own iPhones to play Tetris on the subway, and websites deliver soap to your apartment.