Humility Circus: The Two Coreys

Last week, I made fun of the two Coreys for their flamboyant displays of masculinity. And while it still deserves a hearty dose of mockery, this week's episode and its theme of repentance is worthy of a few less sarcastic comments.

Canadian Corey's desire to make amends seemed as genuine as his obliviousness to his attempts at self-sabotage:

The intent he expressed in the episode--to apologize to all of the directors, movers, and shakers he ruined relationships with--was undone by the over-the-top gesture of the ad. A simple card or bouquet of apology would have likely been more effective and less queer (as in "odd"). Also: the ad never actually expresses an apologetic sentiment. Hints at one, yes--but hinting and saying are not the same thing; anyone who read the first few pages in the Handbook of Passive-Aggressive Behavior would know that. (Note to Self: get to drafting an outline for said handbook before someone else uses the idea.)

Worried that his hastily composed ad might be misconstrued, Haim has a minor fit of buyer's remorse. And for as ridiculous as his agony appears, there are a few kernels of humanity in there. Being on the humble end of an apology makes for anxious vulnerability. His contorted chagrin as he reads the comments on the Web site (he's stunned at the supportive comments, defensively indifferent to the scorn) is palpable. It is also why he went for the group apology as opposed to the one-t0-one; because his fragile ego--his assistant, Nell, has her work cut out for her--can't take it.

The fragility is most evident at the end of the second half--or rather, second episode of the evening--of the show, when American Corey and wife Susie arrive at Maple Corey's (still experimenting with nicknames) house for dinner. At the center of the awkwardness is a need to be forgiven for last season's transgression by the Feldmans, his best friends/surrogate parents. (BTW: Susie is quite the grownup or is doing her part to keep the cash cow called The Two Coreys alive. Either--or both--works for me.)

Their (T2C's) therapist seemed delighted at the prospect of there being calamitous fallout from the dinner at Haim's house. It was almost as if she was counting the dollar signs when she was talking to Feldman, who predicted there would be some awkwardness but that all would likely go well. Go figure.

It was comedy gold, though, when the producer he'd had the meeting with was looking to get Haim as a possible guest on the prospective television project. He'll never be able to get away from the stigma of their Siamese years.

Top 8 Songs: Week Ending June 28, 2008

1. "Kissing a Fool," George Michael (from Faith)
2. "What It Is (Demo)," Amy Winehouse (from Frank: B-Sides)
3. "My Dear," Nomo (from Ghost Rock)
4. "Lush Life," John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (from John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman)
5. "A House Is Not a Home," Luther Vandross (from Never Too Much)
6. "Black & Gold," Sam Sparro (from Sam Sparro)
7. "Gladd," Nellie McKay (from Pretty Little Head)
8. "The Grave," Don McLean (from American Pie)

Letter of Concern: Helen Folsade Adu

Dearest Adu,

I've been meaning to write you for some time now, but I kept telling myself that you'd come back before I had to. But you haven't, so here I am at the keyboard, wondering where you've been. I'm not one to nag, but we are nearing the eight-year mark--and, frankly, I'm a worried.

Don't get me wrong--I know you've been busy with being a mom and all, and I really respect you for giving parenthood your all, but... Maybe it's just the jealousy talking, but I could use a little attention, too. Before you left Lover's Rock (*), you promised you'd never be away this long again. I know I have no right to ask about your personal life, but is everything okay? Are you and the guys fighting? Is there something other than praying (which you've driven me to) that I can do? I've been joking with my friends about getting you put on a milk carton or one of those blue-and-white missing persons flyers, but I'm about six months away from not joking.

A friend of mine who knows a friend of yours said you're in the studio. But I think he's just trying to cheer me up, because he knows how bummed I've been about you being gone. I don't know--I hope everything's okay on your end and that you are indeed working on something new. Come November, it'll be 25 years since your Diamond Life (*) started this codependency of mine.

I go ramble on longer, but I should probably quit before I look like a crazed lunatic. Just drop a line when you can--through the media, if you want--and let me know you're okay. Hope this finds you and the little one (who's probably not so little anymore) well.

Always,
L.

In Memoriam: George Carlin

Rest in piece, George Carlin.

Straight Men Behaving Queerly: The Two Coreys

I just saw the first half of the season premiere of The Two Coreys, and I just want to say...men are gay. Just watching the whole twentysomething minutes of drama leading to their meeting in a diner/restaurant--the jujjing of the hair, the outfit changes, the donning of shades for an evening meeting: gay. Très gay.

Which is fine; heterosexual masculinity has taken a hit--a big one--over the years. I think it has something to do with the missed esteem-building time straight men missed out on when feminism was giving women theirs. Among the hits:

• The aforementioned esteem-building lapse;
• The shock of learning they weren't responsible for female care and pleasure;
• That the emotional compression all men were taught (by men and women, it should be noted) to believe were key to their survival/happiness/strength was, in fact, dysfunction; and
  
• The challenges homosexuality posed to the marred mirror of masculinity

Those aren't all of them, to be sure, but it becomes clear that straight men are struggling. I give the Coreys credit for bringing up the sexual traumas (read: molestation) of their youth, but this business of couples therapy....seems kind of gay (which apparently sells these days). Not that a lot of friendships couldn't benefit from the presence of a referee, but...I dunno. It's certainly a long way from Dream A Little Dream, that's for sure.

Top 8 Songs: Week Ending June 21, 2008

1. "Loose Change," The Morning Benders (from Talking through Tin Cans)
2. "What It Is (Demo)," Amy Winehouse (from Frank: B-Sides)
3. "Strike Gold," Leslie Hall (from Door Man's Daughter)
4. "Don't Stop the Music," Yarbrough and Peoples (from The Two of Us)*
5. "Someone to Watch over Me," Amy Winehouse (from Frank: B-Sides)
6. "Brainwaves," Nomo (from Ghost Rock)
7. "Lush Life," John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (from John Coltrane and Johnny Hartmank)
8. "My Little Corner of the World," Yo La Tengo (from I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One)

* Link leads to The Best of Yarbrough and Peoples

Ms. Jackson's Complaints about Discipline

So Ms. Jackson feels stiffed by her label, eh? Well, get in line, lady! A lot of people felt stiffed by Discipline, her latest failed effort. Things started off hopefully enough; "Feedback," the disc's first single, seemed like a step in a quasi-different direction. I wasn't fond about the "'Cause my swag is serious/My flow is heavy like a first-day period" bit, but what the hell; she was letting her freak flag fly. Who was I to disagree?"

And then I saw the video.

In a word: low-budget. It's so low budget, I refuse to post it on this blog--which is saying a lot. Ms. Jackson obviously spent the money on weaves and wardrobe--and what was left on "special effects"--which, frankly, weren't very special. The background looked like something out of a CG Basics class. The dancing/choreography--Jackson's trademark--was unoriginal, uninspired, and downright sad. Besides, didn't she wear a more-interesting variation on the rubberized fetish look in "What's It Gonna Be?" video with Busta Rhymes?

The single wasn't helped by its appearance in an Overstock.com commercial. I like a discount as much as the next person, but I don't often find myself wanting to get it on after a good point-and-click--or need to smoke a cigarette afterward.

Then I read the article in Black Book (which I can't seem to find on the Web site):

Par usual, Ms. Jackson pulled the usual ambivalent ambiguity bullshit she's been pulling since the Velvet Rope. She hints at possible meanings but never actually offers a definitive point of view. So it's no real surprise that the disc has failed to make a mark--or for that matter, go gold. Spectacle doesn't sell an album like it used to--especially when you don't back it up with worthwhile content. And she can't blame Jam & Lewis, whose masterful sonic texture she abandoned; she can only blame herself.

Where the Afro Meets the Rainbow: Pride & Black Music Month

My initial reaction to Black Music Month was one of exasperation, because its crime seemed to be one of poor timing. June is most popularly associated with (LGBT) Pride Month, so the placing of BMM, a relative newcomer (to my mind), seemed somewhat self-defeating.

And then I realized why June was a significant month in Black history. June 19th--otherwise known as Juneteenth--commemorates the day the Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news that the war was over and that enslaved blacks (the real African-Americans) were free. That being so, it was easier to understand the music connection: Had I lived then, I too would have burst into song. As the young people would say, "Fo' shizzle!"

Which set me to thinking about the best way to honor both sides of this month's coin. Black Pride Month was a decent enough start for the black part, but in order to honor the legacy of music that black culture has given the country, the world, and itself, I would have to dig deeper. So I did:

The dynamic quartet listed above consists of Billy Strayhorn, Luther Vandross, Johnny Mathis, and Sylvester.

• Strayhorn, known among jazz aficionados for his work with Duke Ellington and such hits as, "Chelsea Bridge(*)," "Take the A Train(*)," and "Lush Life(*)," among others, was a brilliant composer, arranger, and musician.

• Vandross, known for such hits as "The Glow of Love(*)," his rendition of "A House Is Not a Home(*)," and "Here and Now(*)," as a gifted singer, songwriter, and producer.

• Sylvester was a soul and disco singer, as well as a drag performer whose greatest hit "Dance (Disco Heat)(*)," "Do Ya Wanna Funk," and gay disco standard, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)(*),"
  

• Last but certainly not least is balladeer Johnny Mathis, whose "When Sunny Gets Blue(*)," "Chances Are(*)," and "Stop Look and Listen to Your Heart(*),"played in the homes of many Baby Boomers is steady rotation.

That having been entered, Happy Black Music LGBT Pride Month!


* Link to AmazonMP3.com version

Top 8 Songs: Week Ending June 14, 2008

1. "Green Light," Jamie Lidell (from Jim)
2. "Someone to Watch over Me," Amy Winehouse (from Frank: B-Sides)
3. "Too Hot," Kool & The Gang (from Ladies' Night)
4. "Loose Change," The Morning Benders (from Talking through Tin Cans)
5. "Afraid of Monsters," Xela (from For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights)
6. "Ocarina," Birds & Batteries (from I'll Never Sleep Again)
7. "Saturday Love," Cherrelle (from High Priority)
8. "Woh, Don't You Know," James Taylor (from One Man Dog)

Jamming to "Jim"

Had the privilege of catching Jamie Lidell at the Bowery Ballroom with my buddy Kirk last night (which, quasi-technically, is still tonight). He's touring to support Jim, his groovy new album. He strode onto the stage wearing shades, a black blazer with what looked like gold-foil embellishments in the shape of leaves, a black T-shirt with an indiscernible image, and a baggy pair of black-and-white striped sport pants*. Had he not been such a great performer, I would have launched into a fashion--police dirge. But alas, he put on a great show. The set list went as follows:

• Another Day (AmazonMP3.com)
  
• Figured Me Out** (AmazonMP3.com)
• Out of My System (AmazonMP3.com)
• Freestyle/When I Come Back Around***
• Freestyle/A Little Bit More***
• Little Bit of Feel Good (AmazonMP3.com)
• Green Light (AmazonMP3.com)
• Where D'You Go (AmazonMP3.com)
• Wait for Me (AmazonMP3.com)
• Game for Fools
• Multiply (Encore) (AmazonMP3.com)

Not the best image, I know, but it was dark, and I was in the balcony.

The band consisted of keyboardist and jazz vocalist extraordinaire Denzal Sinclaire, the double saxophone playing Andre Vida (was it the medication, or was the bearded sax man rocking a girl scout outfit--'cause I loved it!) Taylor Savvy, aka Daddy Szigeti. whose white jumpsuit was H-O-T! All in all, good times.

I would like to give a special shout-out to the brilliant Zach Gunsel at Warp Records, who helped make it all possible.


* My vantage was limited; I watched from the balcony.
** Sung with a vocoder
*** Performed with a machine connected to a laptop running MaxMSP

Top 8 Songs: Week Ending June 7, 2008

1. "Someone to Watch over Me," Amy Winehouse (from Frank: B-Sides)
2. "Never Be Mine," Kate Bush (from The Sensual World)
3. "In My Bed (CJ Mix)," Amy Winehouse (from Frank: B-Sides)
4. "Green Light," Jamie Lidell (from Jim)
5. "It Covers the Hillside (Acoustic Version)," Midlake (from Oak and Julian - EP)*
6. "Rope of Sand," Jamie Lidell (from Jim)
7. "Afraid of Monsters," Xela (from For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights)
8. "Sleeping in Paris," Roseanne Cash (from The Wheel)

* EP not available at Amazon.com

Out of Left Lane: Now (Some of) It Can Be Told

Last fall/winter (2007), I took a writing class with Sue Shapiro through MediaBistro. In that class, I wrote an essay about the fallout from the car accident I was in nearly 19 months ago. That essay was recently published on Newsweek.com (with my lawyer's permission, of course). I now understand the term "mixed blessing."

Notes from Insomnia: June 2, 2008--2:52 AM (EST)

With all the 25th anniversary hubbub surrounding Michael Jackson's Thriller, it should be noted that the wolves in Joni Mitchell's "The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey" (from 1979's Mingus) predated those on the King of Pop's title track. It should also be noted that the legendary Jackson album was released in '82, thereby making it 26 years old. I'm a lover of shameless self-promotion, but enough already!