Okay, it's not that the freezing rain out there actually amounts to an ice storm or anything, but when you (by which I mean I) are standing at a bus stop on a completely level stretch of road, and the bus is stopped at a light, and when it finally comes through the intersection it still goes into a wheels-locked slide up to the bus stop...

Well then, my friends, she is icy.

And don't even talk to me about that big hill that leads from Clayton Park down to the harbour. Yikes!

But here I am, so here we are.

I meant to mention that, over the weekend, I borrowed my brother's DVD of Classic Albums--The Band. Which I gave to him in the first place after Adam from Gloryhound told me it was very good.

And. It was very good.

I've mentioned before this that watching The Last Waltz is sort of a mixed experience: the performances are great and overall it's a really good movie, but the mixed emotions and anger are close enough to the surface to sense in some places. And I'll admit, because I read Levon's book and liked it, that I was prejudiced in favour of Levon's point of view so I may not have been totally fair to Robbie while watching The Last Waltz. You will not be surprised to learn I sometimes think bitter, snarky thoughts as I watch movies.

You may be considerably more surprised to learn that I did not think bitter, snarky thoughts--not even once!--while watching this DVD.

A big factor is, it was filmed in 1997. We're talking twenty years after The Last Waltz. So everyone has had a chance to calm down and get some perspective on the remarkable work they did.

Levon and Robbie do the majority of the talking. Rick, who doesn't look great but can still sing like crazy, offers some comments and manages to still sound like the gently loopy guy who was such fun on Festival Express. And Garth... well, I don't think Garth ever had a whole lot to say, but there are a few wonderful present-day shots of him playing keys, all bent over, with his hands like deranged giant spiders with minds of their own--he looks like he has no control whatsoever over them, like he might have an extra brain concealed in the back of each wrist and he's as surprised as anyone at what they come up with.

Levon and Robbie are both excellent company as they offer insights on Music from Big Pink and The Band. Along with their producer they bring out the old tracks and highlight what everyone was doing at any given time--"This one is Richard playing drums, and ever'one else sort of fittin' in where they could"--"I could never get over how Levon could play and sing at the same time... It just didn't mix him up"--"That's Garth playing that great piano on the way out... ain't it easy when you know how?"

Despite the never-resolved feud between the two most famous members of the group, it's obvious that both Robbie and Levon are now able to look back with pride and affection on the wonderful music they made together, and it's beyond delightful to listen to them, as a couple of cool old coots, talk about how it all came together.

Rick died a couple of years later, so it's a good thing this film was made before it was too late.

Definitely worthwhile on its own, and also a nice companion piece to The Last Waltz.

Last night's Adam and Rob set at Tribeca had a particularly relaxed feel, even for them. I am a little pressed for time at the moment but it was a really nice set. I may come back to this one later but for now here is the set list.

Set List
Set #1--Rob and Adam

Leanin' On the Wind

Star (Stealers Wheel)

Empty Streets (I think)

No Stone

Means To Fly

"Sun don't shine anymore

"Fell in love with Mother Earth"

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Break
Set #2--Adam, Rob, Mike, Brian

Desperately Dreaming (which may illustrate one potential peril of not having a set list--this is one of those songs that kind of puts the cap on the night, so it feels funny to start the set with it. I wasn't the only person who thought that. Adam: "Sorry, folks, that's about as good as it gets.")

Walks Away

Can I See You Again

Dark End Of the Street

The Shape I'm In (The Band, and at this point the band onstage sounded like more of them then there were)

Drive (The Cars, for Dave and Kathy, and there might have been dancing)

Lady In the Cold

Break
Set #3

Won't Back Down (Tom Petty, with a guest bass player whose name I didn't catch)

The Weight (The Band, with guest bassist)

Hey Joe (Jimi Hendrix, Mike on bass, former guest bassist on vocals)

"Take a look at yourself" (bluesy thing I cannot identify off the top of my head, Evan: guitar and vocals)

Hoochie Coochie Man (Muddy Wayers/Willie Dixon, Evan: vocals)

Colours of the World (really pretty version)

Maybe

No Telling When

Desperately Dreaming (which we've already noted would be a good note to end on. So they did)

I LOL'ed.

To go with the picture I just posted:

I just renewed Richard III for another week and am wrestling with myself over whether I should order the whole Henry VI cycle from this series. Reviews I've dug up have generally indicated that this version of Richard III is actually the weak link in the Jane Howell-directed War of the Roses cycle, which makes me gape in wonder at the idea of how great the Henry plays must be. I mean!

Also, I put The Sunne In Splendour on hold at the public library and it's in, so I'll pick that up tonight or tomorrow. Reviews I've read indicate that it treats Richard as a good but flawed man, which should make him eminently readable. I mean, I'm sympathetic and everything, but I draw the line at perfect heroes. I mean, it occurred to me this morning that Johnny Cash (a good man who tried hard to be a good man) was enormously flawed himself. And if Johnny can be a flawed hero...

I may have more to say on this front with reference to inept vampire fiction, but that's enough for now.

...for your convenience, a link to all the commentary.

And a few thoughts of my own. (Snarky, uncharitable thoughts. I has them.)

I posted about this piece of dreck when sucrelefey brought it to my attention (for which I don't know if I owe her undying gratitude or colourful revenge, but I digress.) I posted about the fact that it's terrible (not the commentary, the commentary rocks, but the terrible terrible source material) and then I commented that the writer seems to think her teenage-girl-dismembering vampire is a romantic lead.

Which is all kinds of fucked up, but then I got thinking about it.

( My vampiric thoughts. Let me show you them. )

At a minimum, the inept vampire story linked above is a good illustration of the perils of just not thinking your story through adequately. Because, dear God! It's painful to read and worse to think about.

But thank goodness for the brave souls who read and comment for the edification of other less brave but much nastier types.

I'd probably be a real bitch of a vampire, you know?

My most recent post has gotten me thinking about my own current protagonist, who I do not want to be a Gary Stu. I think we can take it on faith that he possesses no heroic flaws and also no heroic virtues. Pretty well everything about him is written lower-case. And once I get through this latest draft, I guess I need to decide whether his small virtues and equally small flaws actually add up to enough for a reader to care about him.

Hmm. Serves me right.