What If We Stopped Pretending: I’m sorry to sour your morning/evening with such sobering truths but Jonathan Franzen’s latest article for The New Yorker needs to be digested and debated by one and all. For my money, Franzen is one of the most engaging and enlightened voices in the global literary community with his 2001 novel The Corrections opening my young adult eyes to the depths of humanity and familial ties. Franzen doesn’t pull any punches. With the current state of affairs, our little planet will continue to undergo some terrifying changes in the coming years. It was deeply unsettling to be reunited with familiar thoughts and feelings from the past, fears that had once surfaced from equally damning articles and which I’d buried in favour of living for the now. As Franzen makes plain, we’re all guilty of warping the truth, putting off the inevitable in favour of feeling good. As our global leaders continue to kick the can down the road, devoting tax-payer resources to inane pursuits like Brexit, peace in the Middle East and the ramifications of 5G technology it’s easy to lose heart. Though before we embrace pure nihilism, perhaps Franzen’s final thoughts on ‘doing our part’, resetting the imbalance in our own lives, holds the answer to this existential riddle. Amazing Grace: My lady and I went to a Sunday session of this film, a visual accompaniment to Aretha Franklin’s legendary 1972 live album Amazing Grace, captured at the New Baptist Mission Church in Los Angeles. After digesting this article in the Guardian, it became clear why the original footage took close to fifty years to see the light of day. When Franklin made clear her intentions to record a live gospel album, Warner Bros hired a young Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa), to oversee the visual accompaniment which was originally intended for release on TV. Unfortunately the production was one giant shit-show, with no synced sound or recorded set list. The film would sit on the shelves for close to forty years until Alan Elliott, a protege of Jerry Wexler (Franklin’s longtime music manager) would be tasked with syncing and itemizing the footage. With this process finally completed in ‘08, the film was once again relegated to purgatory with Franklin herself unwilling to grant its release. It was only with her recent passing last year that allowed Elliot to finally receive the green light. Watching the film itself was a special kind of revelation. To witness Franklin pouring her heart out on a big screen was the kind of full body experience that helped me to remember the golden rule: life is what you make it. Kinky Boots: I came across this film while half-heartedly browsing my lady’s Netflix account and became intrigued at the notion of Joel Edgerton playing a Limey (and Chiwetel Ejiofor made up in drag!). The whole film revolves around the true story of a young man inheriting his father’s ailing shoe factory and contemplating whether to love it or leave it. As it happens, Edgerton somehow finds himself mixed up with a group of drag queens on a trip to London and is soon hit with a Eureka moment. While I was completely unaware of this film’s existence (including a musical adaptation of the same name) I found the story deeply heartwarming, allowing myself to transcend its deeply depressing setting (English urban planners really knew how to build metropolitan eyesores). It’s always nice to watch a movie whose message is both enlightening and empowering, offering up characters who have the courage to turn their fear into love, their ignorance to wokeness. The Sound of Silence: On a drive back from Newcastle this week I plugged into On Being featuring Krista Tippett’s conversation with Gordon Hempton. The 2012 conversation, pulled from the archives, is a fascinating look at one man’s quest to capture and protect the sounds of the natural environment for the sake of posterity. Hempton is an audio ecologist, a man who has devoted much of his life to inspiring audiences on the dangers of noise pollution and its endless encroachment on the natural world. Thanks to the podcast’s sampled demos, I’ve discovered his extensive recordings on Spotify this week, playing them over my Bluetooth headphones while burning the midnight oil. After sitting in the calming sounds of the forests and jungles for hours on end I’m happy to report my demeanour is more balanced than ever. The whole acoustic experience has got me reflecting on my recent European travels. After spending less than a week in London last month, its incessant noise and constant hustle left me drowning in anxious energy and reminded me why Sydney is so bloody special. Hempton’s beautiful collection of recordings are the perfect antidote to a busy week and are pure nourishment for the soul.
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