Short Takes
May 19, 2013
Josh Ritter: One of those nights….
It takes large stones to begin a show in a noisy, jammed New York club by coming out solo, dropping to your knees and howling like an Idaho wolf. Josh Ritter did that. He began his second song, also solo. Then, one by one, the other musicians stepped onstage and, like artists who know exactly how good they are and what it took to get that good, Ritter and the Royal City Band presented a demonstration of what adult rock music can be: smart and powerful, loud and tender, wise and innocent. I have seen Josh Ritter perform dozens of times; I’ve never seen a show like this. The arc of his new CD — from his wife’s kick-in-the-gut announcement that their marriage was over to a wish for joy to all, ex-wife explicitly included — was the spine of the show, but not more than that; Ritter curated his catalogue and delivered it with fire and precision. And the band! Not just crisp, but honed. Of course this crowd knew all the words. And not only sang along, but sang a tears-in-the-eyes-beautiful counterpoint in a favorite number. We hit the street buzzing, humming the tunes, like Broadway in the golden age. So I’m looking at you, you smart people in the cities ahead: Pittsburgh, Richmond, Charleston, Charlotte, Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lansing, Denver, Sun Valley and Lenox. Tickets here. Joy guaranteed. You find a better deal, let me know.
May 15, 2013
Crowd Funding: Garland Jeffreys and Ann Medlock
Garland Jeffreys, friend of the site, is a kickass ageless rocker who can’t stop creating. His last CD, The King of In Between, went into heavy rotation when it was released and hasn’t slipped off my personal hit parade. Now he’s raising money for his new CD. But click on his picture and let him tell you.
Ann Medlock, also a friend of the site, is the force behind The Giraffe Heroes Project, which identifies and honors people who stand up for what they believe — people who stick their necks out. Now she’s launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund "Two Tall Tales," a popup book for kids that shows how the giraffe got its long neck — by being brave and caring. She’s made a terrific video to pitch her project. And, if you’re moved, help her move.
May 15, 2013
325,000,000 views on YouTube: you don’t want to be the billionth.
"Gentleman," the new video by Psy. (His last video, "Gangnam Style," now has 1.5 billion views.)
May 7, 2013
If you have four minutes…
Norah Jones. Bob Dylan’s "Forever Young." At the memorial service for Steve Jobs.
May 2, 2013
Quarterly: a small step for Jesse, a giant step for the Internet
Gretchen Rubin, Tim Ferris, Cool Hunting, Amanda Hesser — not a shabby lineup. Well, move over, kids, because there’s a new member of the team: me. It’s like this: There’s this service called Quarterly. You pick a contributor, plunk down your subscription fee, and, four times a year, you get a mystery package. (If you sign up for me, you have a pretty good idea that it will rain some sort of culture on your head, but … you never know.) Hint about my first box: When it arrives, odds are good that many will be buzzing about this subject. I give you a deeper, smarter, possibly more fun look, and from several angles. But I can say no more. Here’s Quarterly. And here’s my contributor’s page, with a photo taken, for a fee that was a bitch to negotiate, by our child.