“All my life's about is cracking up people and them cracking me up and trying not to think about dying. That doesn't cost very much money.”
- Norm Macdonald
A couple of this and thats:
Today is the birthday of Australian musician Courtney Barnett. She turns 39, which is hard to believe. I think of her as being in her 20s forever. I'm sure we all have bands and musicians that we can't explain exactly why we like them; we just do. Courtney is that way for me. I first learned of her back in 2015 when her first major studio album was released, Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. Right off I liked her shambling guitar style that was the stage for her stream-of-consciousness, deadpan, lyrics sung in her flat, spoken-word way. Call it millennial female Lou Reed style. The first song I ever heard, Avant Gardener, was her telling about the seemingly random events of a day that culminated in an asthma attack. Making all those elements work is a trick. She's found the key. She's a major act now. She's not for everybody, but who is? You either like it or you don't. She's also a southpaw guitar player which fits her quirky stylings. And on the subject of quirky, she teamed up with similarly-bent, Kurt Vile in 2017 on an album, Lotta Sea Lice. To me, he's a stylistically American male version of her, so it's a dandy paring. . Happy Birthday, CB.
If you're into humor, laughter and comedy geniuses, I have a couple of outstanding documentaries to recommend. The first is Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald, a fascinating look at the brilliant and complicated person that was Norm. The second, equalling compelling is Who Is Martin Mull. Mull was a man of multiple talents, comedian, actor, musician and artist. Some of the things I took from both films won't leave me alone.
That's all folks.