Retirement playlist

Music to leave work by -- retirement songs on my iPod:

• I Shall Be Released - Wolverine Willy & the Blues Toads
• A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
• Changes - David Bowie
• Truckin' - Grateful Dead
• Ripple - Grateful Dead
  
• I'll Fly Away - Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch
• Everybody's Talking - Harry Nilsson
• When I'm Sixty-Four - the Beatles
• Secret O' Life - James Taylor
• Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Sandy Denny
• On the Road Again - Willy Nelson
  
• Unfinished Life - Kate Wolf
• Walk - Burning Spear
• If I Had Wings - Peter Paul & Mary
  
• I'm Ready - Muddy Waters
• It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) - R.E.M.
• Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
• I'm So Glad - Cream
• The Honor of Your Company - Barbara Hoffman
  
• Der Abschied - Gustav Mahler
  

Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free

Just finished listening to the Full Cast Audio production of Kathleen Karr's Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free. I think it is one of the best done audiobooks I've heard. Based on the true events, it is the story of a women's prison that put on Pirates of Penzance in 1914. We hear the story told by a young prisoner, Libby Dobb, of how a new chaplain comes to the prison and starts a choir. After their first performance, of Handel's Hallelujah chorus, is successful, the chaplain decides to put on a full scale production of Pirates of Penzance.

The book draws you in, as Libby and the other women struggle with not only prison life, but also the issues of the day: i.e. oncoming war, a woman's position in society, birth control. The characters feel real, and are made all the more so by the talented actresses that have each role. Along with the full cast there is music, and that really brings the book to life. Snippets of Gilbert and Sullivan and Handel play through out the book, taking the place of page breaks, and of course the women actually sing.

This is a wonderful audiobook for any library to have, or even to own for yourself if you like Gilbert and Sullivan. I have yet to listen to a bad Full Cast Audio production, and there probably won't ever be one. This is a company to trust. They are also the ones making Heinlein audiobooks, but that's a different post.

-Gillian

Black Book / Zwartboek

My expectations about this movie went up and down. When I first saw a trailer in the theater, it looked intriguing. Then when I saw it in Netflix and put the DVD in my queue, I was reminded that it was a Paul Verhoeven film and my expectations dropped -- a lot. I've seen a few Verhoeven films: liked a few a bit and disliked more. But even the ones I liked, I liked more than I respected. Movies like Basic Instinct, Total Recall and Starship Troopers are strictly guilty pleasure films. Robocop was pretty bad, I've never been able to bring myself to watch Showgirls, and Hollow Man was solid crud. Maybe his Dutch movies are better than what he's done in Hollywood.

So I lowered my hopes -- and was pleasantly surprised. This is the most respectable Verhoeven I've seen, even if not totally respectable. But it's an exciting and action-packed World War II story about Jewish refugees and the Dutch underground. Even with a bit of sexual pandering, a couple of cop-out stereotypes and a whole string of unlikely plot coincidences that would strain credulity if we had time to stop and think, the movie keeps drawing the viewer in. Well researched sets & costumes combined with excellent cinematography believably recreate occupied Holland.

A lot of the story's success depends on strong performances by the leads. Carice Van Houten is consistently riveting as the Jewish singer living through terrible trials and forced by circumstances to aid the Nazis. She essentially carries the film and won awards for her portrayal. In another strong performance, German actor Sebastian Koch -- who also starred in the Oscar-winning Lives of Others -- portrays a somewhat sympathetic Nazi officer.

The seriousness of the subject, high production values, the suspenseful and fast-moving narrative, and the strong humane characterizations make this movie worth watching.

Michael Smith takes you there

It's been a long time since an album grabbed me the way this one does. It took me a listen to get used to the bigger pop/rock band sound -- a different sound -- or different set of sounds -- for Michael Smith. But then I found that as soon as it ended, I was starting it again.

I wish more people were familiar with this music, but outside the midwest folk scene, he doesn't seem well known; maybe that's what you get for living in Chicago. His biggest hit is arguably "The Dutchman", recorded by Steve Goodman, Liam Clancy and many others. But his songs range from poignant to hysterically funny. His latest work was a stage production of "The Snow Queen."

There (2002) may be his best album. From the pulsing Egyptian opener "Alexandria", to the more familiar title song "There", "Kill the Buddha" and all the others, the album is listenable, enjoyable and surprising, but always rewarding. Michael Smith has always seemed like a songwriter's songwriter. His lyrics may be comparable to Randy Newman or Bob Dylan. I think he's the Cole Porter of folk but with more heart, he astonishes with insights and images. And despite the heavier instrumentation, his beautiful guitar work comes through.

Leonard Cohen Anthology

The 43 songs in this book cover Leonard Cohen's work up through 1988, with his I'm Your Man album being the last one represented. While the 1969 book Songs of Leonard Cohen contained an essay and many photographs with vocal lines and guitar tablature from his first two albums, there are no photographs or extras in this collection.

This book presents vocal lines, guitar chords, and a grand staff for piano arrangements. The typography and layout are excellent, though the piano arrangements cause a number of songs to be run out for six, eight or ten pages. The 43 songs included represent a good cross-section of Cohen's most prolific period of songwriting.