Romania

The world described in I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys reminds me of Orwell's 1984, but unlike that book, it is not a fictional world that she describes but Romania in 1989. I find historical fiction like this particularly fascinating because is not distant history she describes, but an era that I lived through from a safe distance. I remember hearing about Ceaușescu, their communist leader, on the news, but I knew little about them. While I was attending keg parties and cramming for college, Romanians my age were fighting and dying for their  basic human rights. I know I am not alone and many Americans know even less than I do about this part of the world. Few of us know more than that it is where Transylvania is, home of an infamous vampire created by an Irish writer of fiction. Many don't even don't even realize Transylvania is a real place, but think it a fictional land like Oz or Middle Earth. The reality is that Dracula's Romania was probably a better world to live in than communist Romania.

After World War II, Romania became friends with USSR. Due to Soviet influence, communism took hold and they forced their King, Michael, to abdicate and live in exile. Nicolae Ceaușescu took power in 1960 and stayed in power until he was overthrown in 1989, the last among their neighbors to overthrow the yoke of communistic rule. During his rule, Ceaușescu pulled a fast one on the West when he convinced the rulers of the free world that he was a benevolent ruler when the exact opposite was true. Of the leaders behind the iron curtain, he was perhaps the most monstrous, but because he stood up to the Soviet Union, American presidents (Carter, Ford, Nixon) and British royalty held photo opts with him and hosted state dinners in his honor. Many of us got pissed when Trump did so with Kim Jong-un. This is similar, except the world knows of the human rights abuses in North Korea. The world knew nothing of what was going on in Romania at the time of Ceaușescu. The free world knew little about life in the Soviet Union at time, but we knew even less of Romania. 

Romania's economy did well in the post war period which continued into the 1970's but by the 1980's, their debts came due and extreme rationing measures were instituted. Electricity was turned off periodically, similar to what is happening in Lebanon now. Ceaușescu government's had no problem producing power, but they sold it to the Soviet Union to cover their debts rather than supplying it to their citizens. Sepetys's book cites stories of babies dying in hospitals because they lost electricity during the birth. This affected everyday lives as well. Just imagine your dinner being interrupted by the loss of power, you'd be stuck with a half cooked meal or perhaps eating in the dark.  It gets very cold in Romania. They would heat up bricks to keep their feet warm at night. 

Inflation was so bad that no one used the Romanian currency. Cigarettes like Kents and BTs were used as currency. Service workers, like doctors and plumbers, would have stockpiles of cigarettes and other contrabands. They could make deals with the black market for security and actually make a decent living while those around them starved. The state run stores had long lines. You could wait hours, after a long day of work, and get nothing because they were out of stock before your turn came. Most of their life was spent working or in line. She describes people being very tired.

We hear a lot about Nazi Germany's Gestapo and East Germany's Stasi. Romania's Securitate is just as notorious. An estimated one-in-ten Romanian citizens were informers, called "Reporters," for the Securitate. They were a brutal police force that detained thousands and subjected them to torture, starvation and death. In a regime of total control, you could be reported for having contraband like an American dollar or any product that was not sold in Romanian. Ceaușescu was trying to increase the birth rate so he'd use the Securitate to monitor women. Population growth was badly needed to produce more workers. If you were childless, you were taxed. Women were periodically checked for pregnancy at their place of employment.  

When you live in such a world, rumors can make things worse. Perception is reality. Any injustice you can think of  is believable. When you believe that all the phones are bugged and that everyone you know could be an informer, whenever true or not, can be very stressful.  They whispered in their own homes so that they couldn't be heard. 

I recently reminded my son that he hit the lottery just by being born in the free world. No doubt he doesn't get it, just like I didn't. I don't think I ever will completely understand, but this book put it in better perspective. 

Why Pro-Gun People Always Bring Up Chicago

In reading old blog posts of mine, I have come to realize that posts with lots of stats don't read well. So I have been trying to keep them to a bare minimum which is really difficult when it comes to the subject of gun laws. Gun laws work, we know this. Lets keep it simple, this could be shown with two lists. 

Here are the US states with lowest rates of firearm mortality in 2021 according to the CDC: 

CA, CT,  HI, MA, NY, NJ & RI. 

Here the states with the strictest gun laws: 

CA, CT, HI, IL, MA, NY, NJ & MD.

Notice the cross over? Ya, I am saying it ... strict gun laws bring down the incidents of murder.  Duh! This is pretty obvious. But yet, when I talk to gun rights people, they always say the opposite that gun laws don't work. They always use the example of Chicago.  They usually don't mention New York, LA or Boston all of whom have historically low gun crime. 

On the surface, they are correct. Gun laws aren't working in Chicago. Cook County, Illinois and Chicago have some of the country's highest rate of gun death including suicide and homicide. Chicago's has 25 gun murders per 100,000 citizens But it is a lot more complicated than that. Both Chicago and Illinois have very strict gun laws, but look at Chicago on the map, it on the edge of Illinois very close to Wisconsin and Indiana. If you want to buy a gun, legally, you just need to make a short drive to Milwaukee (murder rate of 32), Gary (64) or South Bend (23).

Detroit (45) has the same problem but it is even worse because their state, Michigan, has lax gun laws so Detroiters just need to go to the suburbs to buy their guns. 

In comparison, someone who wants to buy a gun legally in New York City, can't go to the suburbs or the closest states (CT & NJ). They would have to drive to PA or VT which is a significant effort. They will either make a road trip, buy the gun illegally or not buy it at all.  The last option is what we are hoping for a potential mass shooter.  The goal of gun laws is not to stop all murders, which would be impossible, but to stop some of them. They are succeeding   

By the way, Jackson Mississippi has the highest murder rate in the country of cities over 200,000 people of 69 per 100,000 people. It is very easy to buy a gun in MS. Those liberal cities where the politicians are supposedly so soft on crime are very low. The four largest city in Texas have the higher murder rates than New York (3), LA (7) or Boston (7): Houston (15), Dallas (13), San Antonio (9) and Forth Worth (9).

When I was kid, both new New York and Boston were known for their violent crime, but a lot has changed since then.  They are safe cities and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Congratulation to everyone who has worked so hard to make this true.

I apologize for all the stats. I was originally worse, much worse. Through the magic of editing I kept to a bare minimum.

Marvel is Liberal, DC conservative

I recall a fireside chat with some college friends. This guy, a friend by marriage, was telling me that he could never get into Marvel Comics. Sometimes you couldn't tell the good guys from the bad guys, he said. I am paraphrasing, of course, this is a memory through the fog of three or four decades. He told me that he preferred DC Comics because this line was more well-defined. It was this conversation where I first got the notion that Marvel is for liberals and DC for conservatives.  

This is true about DC Comics, at least most of them. Most of the classic DC Comics came out of the conservative 1940's and 50's. The first Superman comic, Action #1, was published in 1938. You knew where he stood, "truth, justice and the American way," as stated in the 1940's radio shows.  Lets face it, he is Christ-like, sent from the heavens. When he was fighting someone, you knew who the good guy and the bad guy was. In the universe of the comic, the cops  and media always supported him and feared his enemies. He was their savior and they stood by him. A well defined line between good and evil is a very conservative idea. Clear and concise.  It always bothered me that Superman fought crime and then as Clark Kent wrote about himself. This is a bit too fascist for me.  He wears red, white and blue and fights to preserve the status quo. Conservatives love this stuff. It never comes up that he is technically an illegal alien, literally. 

Most of the other major DC comics have similar motifs: Aqua Man, The Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow. They fight evil and it is obvious. One major character that doesn't fit this mold is Batman.He really toggles the good/evil line at times but by all other counts, he is a conservative. He blames government for the death of his parents, he uses his own resources to tackle the crime problem and beats up on the poor and the insane. The insane are almost always portrayed awfully in the DC universe a la Arkham Asylum. When you have a DC "bad" guy, he/she is evil or insane, usually both. 

The only exception of the DC major heroes is Wonder Woman, the only woman in the bunch. She is a feminist icon, working in a man's profession and trying to change the world. Most female DC heroes are simply female counterparts of male heroes: Super Girl, Bat Woman, Hawkwoman, etc. Although, I do admit Marvel has done the same with She-Hulk and Spider Woman. 

Marvel came out of the rebellious liberal 60's. Liberals are wishy washy. They never met a nuance they didn't love. Marvel is full of them. Spiderman is a struggling college student who moonlights as a photographer for the Daily Bugle who portrays him as a menace. The cops want to arrest him. His Aunt May is afraid of him. The Hulk is hunted by the military. Thor is a demigod. In the Marvel universe gods are just very powerful beings from different realms. The X-Men are actively trying to change the world making it safe for mutants (aka the outsider) which is a neat sci-fi way of saying homosexual, black or any other counterculture. Their leader is disabled, Professor X is bound to a wheel chair. 

The differently abled are well presented in the Marvel universe. Professor X's son, Legion, has multiple personality disorder. Daredevil is blind, Moon Knight has schizophrenia, Deadpool is in constant pain, Puck is a little person and Hawkeye, the Avenger, is deaf. The disabled don't fair so well in the DC universe. The first disabled super-hero, Caption Mid-Nite, introduced in 1941 was blinded by a grenade and discovered he could see in the dark.  Even comic geeks like me, have never heard of this guy. It is difficult finding a major DC character with anything close to a disability.  They are idealized beings, like Greek gods. The best example is probably Cyborg, who is an amputee whose parts have been replaced by machines. Not incredibly inspiring. 

Marvel villains are also more complex than DC's. Sometimes they are extreme evil, but often they are just people who have had a raw deal. Magneto grew up in Auschwitz and only survived with the help of his mutant abilities. He grew to hate non-mutants because of the experience in the camp.  

Galactus is a cosmic entity that requires the eating of planets for sustenance. Thanos actually wants to save the universe by reducing our population by half; he's an environmentalist with simply too much power.  The Submariner is also a radical environmentalist, protecting the ocean from humans, after all he is the prince of Atlantis. Can we blame him? Also, can we really blame Red Skull for doing evil, he was chosen as a teenager by Hitler and then groomed by the Fuhrer himself.  

Marvel's Iron Man may seem like an exception. In the early days, Tony Stark is just another millionaire industrialist (weapons manufacturer) using his technological toys to defeat bad guys. But in later issues, he sees how war is destroying the world and how his lifestyle is killing him (alcoholism). He changes Stark Industries to green energy, cleans up his personal life and ends up being a good liberal. 

The one true exception in the Marvel universe is Captain America. Perhaps this is because he predates the 60's. He premiered in 1940 published by Timely Comics. He fought Nazis and communists. He was later reintroduced in Marvel as a superhero fighting bad guys in 1963. He is still a very conservative character. His powers are a result of a righteous government experiment that worked.  He is the idealized blond hair American guy who was even born on the 4th of July. 

Iron Man, Captain America along with The Avengers were not very good comics. This is one the amazing things about the film adaptions because they work so much better in film. 

For a long time, every black super hero had the word "black" in their name: Black Lightning, Black Panther, Black Goliath etc. This is a trope that had to end. As you guessed it, Marvel has more black heroes in more prominent roles. Marvel's Power Man, Hero for Hire or Luke Cage (this comic was renamed many times) was the first American comic, 1972, starring a black character. It was created in the wake of blaxploitation films of that era and it was pretty bad. He had a catchphrase "Sweet Christmas!" He is a street level hero with the stories based in a high crime section of New York City much like Daredevil. Comics are still the realm of the white guy but now there is a lot more diversity than ever. Marvel's latest version of Ms. Marvel is a character named Kamala Khan, introduced in 2013, and she is Muslim. 

I must apologize if I am wrong about DC. Other than Batman and The Watchmen, I have not read a lot of their comics. This is mostly because I don't like them, never have. I love nuance. While writing this, I've had to wonder if I am a liberal because I read Marvel as a kid, or did I read Marvel because I have always been a liberal. I still have no idea. I did not grow up in a political family but I did read my first comic, The Incredible Hulk #2, by looking through my brother's comics. Perhaps if he had a copy of Hawkman lying around, I might be Trumper right now. I doubt it. 

Contact: Book versus Movie

A few decades ago, I read The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I love Dickens and I have been seeing television versions of it since I was a child, probably at least two dozens. Heck, even the Six Million Dollar Man did a version of it. I was curious as to how accurate they were to the book. I discovered that reading it wasn't as enjoyable as I'd expected. Really. It was beautifully written of course, but because I knew the story so well, there were no surprises, same characters, nothing new.  Most of these film and play productions of the Christmas classic, it ends up, are actually quite accurate. I was expecting my reading of Carl Sagan's Contact to be like this because I had seen the movie so many times. It was not, at all.

Contact, the 1997 Robert Zemeckis film, is one of my favorites. Jodie Foster in a thought-provoking hard science fiction (a real sci-fi story, not like Star Wars) with ethical and theological paradoxes ... what could be better? Not much actually. I have seen this film many times. Much is different in the book, which makes it an enjoyable read, but unfortunately, it might be one of those few books where the movie is better than the book. 

**Fair warning: I tell you now, if you have not read the book or seen the movie, there are spoilers coming. You have been warned.  You may want to stop and watch the movie now. You won't regret it.  

The first thing you should realize is that it was originally conceived of as a movie, not a book, in 1977. Sagan and Ann Druyan (whom he later married) wrote the story. It bounced around Hollywood for a few years taking on many different forms, in the meantime, Sagan decided to write the novel which was eventually published by Simon and Schuster in 1985. It reached #7 on the New York Times Best Seller list. It returned to the list in 1997, briefly, when the movie came out. 

In the book, we get a lot more of Ellie Arroway's (Jodie Foster) back story. She was based on Jill Tarter, an astronomer for SETI.  Her name comes from Eleanor Roosevelt and Francois-Marie Arouet (aka Voltaire).  We do get the scene of her with her father conversing about the stars and he dies while she is still young, but the book also shows her mom remarrying a very pious man whom Ellie does not get along with and there are some surprises to their relationship as well. In the movie, her mother dies while giving birth to Ellie and is a non-entity in her life. She calls her mother throughout the book. We also read about Ellie going to college with her sexual exploits and the continued sexism she gets exposed to her in her field. Many characters are in the book that don't make it into the movie. Her lover is Presidential Science Adviser Ken der Heer. He isn't even in the movie. The movie has Ellie in a relationship with Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey) which is only hinted at in the book. She seems to be attracted to him but is more interested in their intellectual sparring than anything physical. 

Some characters from the movie are not in the book at all, like the guys in the lab. They are there, but they aren't named. Remember the blind guy, Kent (portrayed by William Fichtner). Not in the book. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is when Kent actually hears the message from space in the static, he hears structure while others cannot. I could imagine this scene was added to create drama to the moment of discovery. This character is based on a real guy, a scientist that worked at SETI, Kent Cullers.  Rob Lowe's Richard Rank is a parody of Ralph Reed and is not in the book. The book does have Billy Jo Rankin but he is less extreme and less cartoonish. I can understand this change since the book came out in the 80's and much had changed with religion in American, a la the Christian Coalition, by the late 90's when the film came out. It needed an upgrade. James Wood owns the character of Kitz. Kitz who is in the book and is still quite obnoxious but Wood pushes him into the realm of belligerence which makes him much more interesting. He is a character you love to hate.  

One big change is that the US President, in the book, has a big role and the president is a woman. The movie only shows the President once and it is Bill Clinton. Zemeckis very creatively uses news footage from 1996 of Clinton talking about a Mars rock, but the clips are so vague it appears that he is talking about the message from Vega. Zemeckis received a complaint letter from the White House because they never granted permission for the footage. The original plan was for Sydney Poitier to play the president but he turned the role down. So the president wasn't a woman in the film but was supposed to be black, both of which were quite progressive for their time. 

There is more science in the book which is a good thing. Carl Sagan is one of the best science educators of the 20th century and it makes sense that even in his only book of fiction, he continues to educate. As I read I learned about the star Vega and Polaris, about the moons of our solar system, about message decoding, radio and television waves, and about the general nature of the universe. A number of compelling conversations/arguments take place between scientists and religious folks throughout the book. These are fascinating, as they are in the movie, but the book has more of them.  

Of course, the movie is filled with stuff  not in the book that must have been added because it works. Another memorable scene is Ellie laying on her Thunderbird's hood with headphones listening to the "cosmic static." Not in the book, but it is a fine scene. Her relationship with Dumlin (Tom Skerritt's character) is strained, but it is a much bigger part of the movie than it is in the book. He was her faculty adviser and was disappointed in her career choice of searching for E.T.

The message is prime numbers (mathematics is the language of science) and is being broadcast from distance aliens with hidden instructions to build a machine. They don't know what the machine is, a Trojan Horse perhaps. It takes about a decade to build in the book, but it doesn't seem that long in the movie. The world builds two in the movie, but three in the book because the USSR had to build one as well. Written in 1985 after all, the Cold War is still raging in Sagan's future. The book's machine has five seats while the movie's only has one for Ellie. In the book, her trip across the galaxy takes place on New Year's Eve 1999; there is no mention of the Y2K bug. The trip takes 20 minutes Earth time while the movie has it taking just a few seconds. 

The oddest thing about the book is the terrorist attack. This is a big moment in the movie. Ellie recognizes a religious fanatic at a testing of the machine and he has a bomb on him. It goes off and destroys it. It is quite a spectacle. While reading this in the book, I was reminded that Sagan is not a novelist, but a scientist. It only took place in one paragraph that ended the chapter. I wasn't even sure it had happened so I reread it. It was there, but very vague. The next chapter started with Drumlin's funeral so it was there. I don't think I would have known what happened if I hadn't seen the movie. 

I am a non-believer. I call myself an Atheist but at times, I found this to be extreme. Atheism seems to be fundamentalist approach to science. If I had to come up with a name for what I am, in regards to the whole God question, I would have to call myself an Agnostic leaning strongly towards Atheism.  I have always wondered what I would need to convince me that there is a God, any god. I've never been able to come with anything. What I love about the end of Contact, is that it answers this question. The movie didn't come near this. When Ellie talks to the alien (in the guise of her father), they talk about the number π (aka pi). They talk about how it goes on and on, never repeating, but somewhere in there, the alien says, is a string of ones and zeroes. In this string of binary digits is a message. The book ends Ellie spending her time looking for this message. A message being discovered in pi would do it for me. It is interesting that a book by a great scientist, helped me figure out what I'd need to believe in God. 

Picks of the Year 2021: Television

I have been watching my share of the tube during this pandemic.  I usually do, but now it seems to be its own pandemic. The escape seems addicting.  I could cancel all my streaming services (Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, PBS) and survive on HBO only.  A lot a good content is on these other services but they are few and far between, while almost everything is amazing on HBO.  

What is still good? Sex Education season 3 was still very good which is unusual on Netflix. Succession on HBO is still an amazing drama.  The Roy's may be my favorite fictional dysfunctional family. Big Mouth on Netflix seems to have jumped the shark.  It has been taken over by the imaginary characters leaving little room for the pubescent character's stories. It seems to be more about shock value now than anything  Star Trek: Discovery season 3 might be the best season yet where we get a look at the Federation in the 31st Century ... hint: things aren't good, not at all.  

This post isn't about those shows, the stand-bys, but the new ones that I've discovered last year. I've tried to rank them in order my favorites to least, but this is always an impossible task. 

Raised By Wolves (HBO): This one truly surprised me. I knew nothing about it going in. I just discovered it on HBO while clicking around. I didn't want to see because I thought someone was "raised by wolves" but fortunately, these wolves are metaphoric. They are androids who accompany babies from Earth to a distant planet, Kepler 22b, to start humanity anew.  What's this? Sci-fi, real sci-fi on television. Most television that claims to be sci-fi is actually just an action shows or soap operas taking place in space. Raised By Wolves is real sci-fi and it is fantastic tackling issues like religion vs. science, love, survival, hope and the nature of humanity. Season two just dropped and I'm loving it. 

Dopesick  mini-series (Hulu) - This is another badly named show that might turn off a few viewers. It is in reference to a stage in addiction where you are no longer sick from what caused you to take a drug, it is now the drug making you sick. The withdrawal is making you sick. The show is a drama showing the opioid crisis from all angles, the doctors, addicts, pharmaceutical salespeople and the Sackler family. It is based on the 2018 book by Beth Macy with the same name. It stars Michael Keaton as an Appalachian doctor who becomes addicted himself. My life has been personally impacted by this crisis so I watched this one with particular skepticism but it was very well done. I didn't see any major problems with it. It is entertaining, moving and educational. 

Station 11 (HBO) - This is a show about a pandemic. Imagine that! But it is much worst than our current real pandemic. It kills about 90% of the planet's population quickly leaving our protagonists struggling for survival. The narrative bounces back and forth between pre-pandemic, to the few days into it, to ten years later. It centers around a group of actors and a graphic novel ... it is confusing at times but truly captivating. I hear the book, by Canadian author Emily St. John Mandel, is even better. 

Mare of Eastown (HBO) - Kate Winslet plays a police detective in suburban Phillie investigating the murder of a teen mother. Great writing and acting brings this one home. I didn't figure out the entire mystery until the last episode. This was a seven episode limited series that they are talking about a second series but nothing is planned yet. 

The Landscapers mini-series (HBO) - This is a short series about a pleasant elderly British couple who kill her parents and bury them in their suburban garden. It is based on actual events. It is not gruesome as it sounds.  You barely see the crime. It takes place a few years after the event actually happened and after they confess to the crime. The narrative has a phenomenal mix of reality and delusion.

30 Coins (HBO) - Here's another surprise. I am not a huge fan of horror, but if it is well done, it can be a real treat. This is a Spanish horror series based in the tiny town of Pedraza, Segovia, where one of the 30 silver coins that Judas used to betray Jesus are found. Apparently, if you possess all 30, you can summon demons. The setting in beautiful and I found it to be a lot of fun. 

The Investigation mini-series (HBO) - This is another one based on real events. It is Danish and it is a drama about the murder of journalist Kim Wall, something I knew nothing about before I watched the show. Six episodes long, it keeps you engaged the whole time. 

White Lotus (HBO) - This is a sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes cringy drama about a resort in Hawaii. It does a great job tackling class issues and the dividing line between the guests, locals and staff. It is scheduled for a second season which is hard to believe due to the Shakespearean tragedy like ending. 

Squid Game (Netflix) - This Korean show was very popular, probably the most successful Korean show ever in America. I enjoyed it but not as much as a lot of people. It is gruesome and it doesn't have a lot of likeable characters. They all seem to get what is coming to them. It reminds me of the original Star Trek episode The Gamesters of Triskelion where the wealthy place bets on the poor while they kill each other. Very dark! Most Netflix shows really taper off after the first season. Hopefully this isn't the case for Squid Game.  

Search Party (HBO) - This show is a lot of fun and it gets more outrageous each season. It is about a group of four self-absorbed millennials trying very hard to be good people and failing miserably. 

The Head (HBO) - This might be the worst named series ever. It is a mini-series thriller based in the South Pole. The plot revolves around a severed head. 

Beforeigners (HBO) - This is a Norwegian sci-fi buddy cop show about time refugees that keep showing up in the Oslo harbor. They come from three eras, Vikings, 18th century and the stone age, and they try to integrate into 21th Century culture. Murder ensures. 

Hacks (HBO) - This is about a Joan River type of comedian trying to rekindle her image. 

Beartown (HBO) - Norwegian hockey team ala Friday Night Lights 

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX via Hulu) - This is based on the real events that lead to the assassination of the fashion designer, Versace, something I knew nothing about

Bridgerton (Netflix) - This is a fun period piece about a couple pretending to be in love to get their family off their case and then they accidentally fall for each other. This premise gets old fast, the B plots really don't hold it up.

Stargirl (HBO) - This is based on the DC comic and it has the same problem that most comic book shows and movies do, it stops being interesting after the origin stories. Teenagers may love this one. 

You (Netflix)- This is told in the first person by an obsessive stalker. It suffers from what many Netflix series does. The first season was decent but the second is horrendous. I couldn't get through it. 

Titans (HBO), Superman and Lois (HBO) and Doom Patrol (HBO) - all have the same problem as Star Girl. They are entertaining until they aren't.

The Nevers (HBO) - I am sick of superpowers. 

Call the Midwife (PBS) - If you are into woman screaming in pain each episode, this is your show. It is fine if not for that. I lasted about a season. 

Dr. Who - I give up trying to like Dr. Who. I don't get it. I never have. Whatever doctor, whatever series, I just don't like it and I am going to strop trying. 

The Sex and the City reboot was so bad, I only watched one episode. It might even be worse than the movies. 

2022 has been great so far, I've discovered Pennyworth and Y: The Last Man. If there is no baseball this year, you can expect this post to be very long next year. 

Picks of the Year 2021: Music

Due to COVID, I only saw one show this year, Modest Mouse. It is amazing how great it felt being out seeing a show. It seems we took this sort of stuff for granted. If anything this pandemic helps us to put things in perspective. It was a phenomenal show, but I think I may have felt that way just seeing anyone up on the stage playing tunes. We were an easy crowd. It was a beautiful summer night the Essex Fairgrounds here in Northeastern VT.  I had just bought their new album. I hadn't seen them before.  They played "Float On," one of my favorites, in the encore. It was nice have some normalcy back. The only show of the year was, obviously, my pick for the best show of the years.  Lets hope that 2022 has a lot of shows to choose from.

I bought 12 full length albums in 2021 and one EP.  I listed them below in order of favorites, most favorite to the least, but I have to say, it was a good year because I liked all of them. This was difficult to do and I will probably change the order many times before I hit publish.  There are some great new discoveries this year that I am very pleased with as well, like Bob Schneider, The Weather Station, Iceage and White Horse.

Bob Schneider - In a Roomful of Blood with a Sleeping Tiger

I never heard of this guy until this year. I don't remember how I discovered him. Perhaps he just appeared on one of my Spotify lists.  When you listen to online services like Spotify and Pandora, the artist doesn't get a lot of money per play (like pennies), so I like to buy the songs I like.  

Bob is an Austin, Texas based musician from Michigan. He used to be the lead singer of a band called Ugly Americans. His latest album has some real gems on it, like "Thor," "Lord of the Flies," "I Love Life" and "The Sun's Coming."  His lyrics are very tender and poignant without being trite. "Thor" instead of being a Norse god, he is a suburban white guy who has anger issues and a very touching song. 

I'm looking forward to checking out his back catalogue. 

Aimee Mann - Queens of the Summer Hotel

I usually buy Aimee's new albums when they come out. Few song writers alive can turn a phrase or an image like her. What I love about this new album is that it mostly piano based. My favorite songs on it are "Burn It Out," "Suicide is Murder" and "At the Frick Museum."

The Hold Steady - Open Door Policy

The Hold Steady is one of the better rock bands around these day. They are from Minneapolis but seems to have a New York City sound reminiscent of The Velvet Underground or The Feelies. This is their eighth album. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Craig Finn writes all the songs in collaboration with the other members of the band. Their lyrics just take me away. Here are the opening lines of "Feelers":

    It was an early morning meet-up at the mansion up the mountain

    The Maestro still had glitter on his face

    They led us to the office and once my eyes adjusted

    I took a little look around the place

    On the mantle was a portrait of his father and the fortune

    He'd amassed from being ruthless but polite

    And a bottle with a model, a specific British clipper ship

    On his desk there was a pistol and a pipe

This is an album full of stories and atmosphere.  

The Weather Station - Ignorance

The Weather Station is a Canadian folk rock band from Toronto. They are very jazzy and remind me a little of Steely Dan if they had a female singer. You may be familiar with the single "Robber" if you listen to a rock station rock station. 

The War on Drugs- I Don’t Live Here Anymore

This Phillie band is so hot. Everything they do is so good, they are almost an automatic buy for me these days. The title track is probably my favorite song on the album. References to Dylan in any song goes far with me. 

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise the Roof

This is their third album together and they seem to be getting better.  It seems like an odd combination of the Led Zepplin lead singer with a blue grass musician, but they make it work. I am not sure how. "Can't Let Go" is my favorite song on this album. 

James McMurtry - The Horses and the Hounds

James is the son of novelist Larry McMurtry and I think of him as a leftist cowboy. His politics are always clear in his songs and they are usually biting and direct. 

Foo Fighters - Medicine At Midnight

I think I might like the Foo Figthers more than Nirvana. I don't listen to much music that is this hard these days, but this one is quite good.  I love the song, "Waiting on the War." 

Modest Mouse - The Golden Casket

I've had two of their songs on my hard drive that I have been loving for years, "Missed the Boat" and "Float On."  I've wanted more from this band for a while so I finally just bought their latest album in preparation of their live show. I like it, but don't love it.  It is a bit uneven. "Back to the Middle" is a great song. 

White Horse - Modern Love

Another new discovery for me. This band is from Hamilton, Ontario. Canadian rockers just seem to have their act together. "Relic in a New Age" is a beautiful song. 

Peter Frampton - Peter Frampton Forgets The Words

Peter Frampton is not a great song writer but he is an amazing guitarist. So when this classic rocker puts out an instrumental covers album, my ears perk up.  On this album he covers Roxy Music, Bowie, George Harrison, Sly Stone, Radio Head, Lenny Kravitz among others. My favorite is a song called "Maybe" originally by some country musicians I never heard of. 

Ezra Furman - Sex Education: Songs from Season 3 - EP

Season 2 of the Netflix show "Sex Education" wasn't as good as season 1.  One of the contributing factors is it didn't have an Ezra Furman soundtrack. Season 3, he is back and so is the show.  It is too bad it is only an EP ... not enough Furman. 

Iceage - Seek Shelter

This band reminds me of The Hold Steady, the Danish version. 

Other Favorites:

Here are my favorite songs of the year that aren't on any of the albums I bought:

"There You Go Again" and "Take Me Back to Tulsa" by Asleep at the Wheel

"Time and Trouble" by Bob Weir, Jay Lane & Dave Schools

"Wake Up Romeo" by Caro Emerald

"Jazz On the Autobahn" by The Felice Brothers

"Miami Sun" by Iguana Death Cult

"Rock Paper Scissors" by Jah Sun & The Rising Tide

"Laurie Rolled Me a J" by John Craigie

"Medicine Man" by Keb' Mo' 

"In There" by Liz Phair

"Squid Tattoo" by Sean Rowe

"Chaise Lounge" by Wet Leg

"Genuine Hesitation" by Matthew E. White