The Steve Reynolds Program - Issue #7
Hello everyb....wait! Someone just liked this two month old tweet. Why? The typo on "episode" haunts me. I tried to do a bit about this at a mic but it didn't work out. So I share it again with you. Anyways, here are this week's recs and thoughts.
This Week's Tetrad
1. Locust Avenue - Walden Street - My friends' band's fifth album and it's their best. Straight-ahead rock and you can hear Jeff's favorites in there (Big Star, Replacements, Kinks) but it sounds fresh and original. They never tour and maybe play four times a year so it's hard to get the word out but this is a definite one for Best Albums of 2018.
2. Pierre Menard, Author of The Quixote. My store hosted an event with Essex Street Cheese last week. Their Manchego, Manchego 1605, is special. The cheesemaker wanted to re-create the cheese that Rocinea gives Don Quixote in the novel. So he went way rustic (raw sheep's milk, natural rind, farmstead) and created the most delicious Manchego I've ever had. While it was being discussed, it reminded me of this great short story of Borges. The story, in the form of a literary review, of a 20th century French poet who re-creates the conditions of 17th century Spain to produce the Don Quixote anew is dense and fun. It asserts the re-creation is more impressive than the original. It made me think of Teller's documentary Tim's Vermeer where a weird tech millionaire reproduces a Vermeer. At the end, it seems a tedious and indulgent experiment. But reading Borges while eating Manchego 1605 is an incredible pastime all should enjoy.
3. Man Bites Prawn - A friend recommended this episode of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix. Not my favorite show, but one scene reminded me of this 1998 review of a Korean restaurant in Los Angeles. It was a half-mile from our apartment and its name (Living Fish Center) intrigued me. This review, my favorite food writing from one of my favorite food writers, satisfied my curiosity.
4. A Long Strange Trip - I cannot listen to the Grateful Dead. They, and the subculture they created, just frustrate (and bore) me. This is how good this six episode documentary is, I could not stop watching. Great themes, subtexts, editing and footage. I wasn't bored a second - the opposite of a Grateful Dead jam. Also, they pick the top .001% of their music so it makes you think they're a good band.
Plugs
Friday 4/20 I do comedy at New Mexico 4/20 Fest. Please let your northern New Mexican pals know. They're building a six foot high papier-mache weed leaf and setting it aflame. It really makes you think.
Saturday 4/21 I'm at Greg's Comedy Basement with old Oklahoma pals, BradChad Porter, Derek Smith, and Jack Tapestry. Please let your central New Mexican pals know. No burning large objects by high people, but still dangerous.
Sunday 4/22 I'm going to Arizona for a private thing with two of the aforementioned Okies. Being in a car after they have gorged on New Mexican food for the previous days will be like being in a basement where they are burning a six foot papier mache leaf. Pray for me.