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David Sedaris – “Holidays on Ice” and “Calypso”

Hachette Australia

David Sedaris is many things – accomplished author, radio host and humourist but first and foremost a master when it comes to observation of the human condition and the often comical side-effects and faux-pas, which he sheds light on in his own idiosyncratic cheerful yet oftentimes subtly dark and misanthropic ways. Needless to say that Sedaris has entered the canon of mainstream literary culture a long time ago and subsequently draws large crowds wherever he holds court.

Since it has been a while since I read Sedaris’ excellent first emissions, it was time to check in to see how his approach has evolved with his recent books.

With a telling title, “Holidays on Ice”  has its foci firmly set on the Christmas season and the mindless consumption and blind indulging it comes with along with the emotional baggage that sooner or later is bound to find its way to the surface during family gatherings.

While Sedaris Christmassy explorations do not necessarily unearth anything groundshakingly new, but his strength has always been that he realistically positions himself smack bang in the middle of the action as not merely a critic but a participant – in for a penny, in for a pound.

“Holidays on Ice” is infused by Sedaris’ dry wit and smart observations, which specifically works when he sets his aim at anything American. Having relocated to France quite a while ago, his writings about European customs and occurrences, however, are more that of an amused travel reporter dispatching snapshots back home – in so far my impression of “Holidays on Ice” was very much in line with what I derived from his early publications.

“Calypso” constitutes Sedaris’ tenth collection of essays centred around his family and close circle and I found it an interesting departure from his usual style as there seems to be an added layer of empathy that elevates his musings and makes them rawer, realer and at times a bid sadder than what he scripted in its predecessors.

“Calypso” shows how Sedaris has mastered his craft and that he can expertly pull the strings and levers with very minimal effort to elicit reactions when he exposes foibles with surgical precision, which in many instances must resonate with the recipient, especially if they belong to the target group of being middle-aged.

Things get raw when Sedaris examines the impact of his sister’s suicide and its impact on his identity both as a person and a writer, which is where growth shows that goes beyond the realm of mere comedic impact – Sedaris is transcending the persona he has established for himself and not only plays with emotions but does so in a manner that feels more real and truthful than before.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer – Holgate Hopinator + Yarra Valley Big Cat Beer Co’s Fable IPA

Despite still having potential to gain more visibility, Holgate Brewing has established itself as a veritable heavyweight in the Australian craft beer landscape and after its initial success and a fulminant reception by connoisseurs, 2020 sees their old school exercise par excellence in hoppiness, i.e. the American DIPA Hopinator re-merge.

While the original incarnation was heavy on the malts and with a nice bitterness derived from Vienna and Crystal malts, the 2020 variant sees those features being married with an added flair of citrussy, piney notes and a light zestyness.

Not unlike with peat and smoke in the realm of whisky, dank and spicy notes get me going when it comes to IPAs and in that regard Holgate’s 2020 Hopinator delivers in spades, as the aromas of Chinook and Columbus hops are further enhanced by the addition of Amarillo and Ahtanum hop blends, which help to dial up the juicy fruit notes to eleven, before culminating in a delicate bitter and moreish finish.

The result is a nice riffing on the classic American Double IPA that beats the already exquisite Millennium Falcon in terms of hoppy and resinous deliciousness.

Talking of exquisite breweries that produce outstanding IPAs, let’s have a look at a new one entity from Victoria that goes under a fulminant and full-bodied moniker, i.e. The Yarra Valley Big Cat Beer Co.

Passionate about channelling their alchemy in the creation of a premium craft beer range, the common denominator of YVBCBC’s emissions is that taste-wise, things are dialled up to eleven.

Case in point: Their Yarra Valley Big Cat Beer Co’s Fabled IPA.

Clocking in at 6.6% ABV and thereby only being moderately alcoholic, bold flavours reign supreme which are crowned by delicate citrussy highlights.

Yarra Valley Big Cat’s Fable IPA is an expertly calibrated exercise in showing how hops can work in symmetry without running danger of overpowering each other, with the result being a wonderful IPA that makes one curious about the brewery’s future emissions.

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images from company websites

Italian Film Festival 2020

Palace Cinemas

Sydney, Australia

Founded two decades ago by Cav. Antonio Zeccola, who also started with his brothers the Palace Cinema franchise, and being de facto the biggest celebration of Italian movie making outside the confines of “Bel Paese”, the Australian incarnation of the Italian Film Festival has firmly established itself not merely on the cinematic but the cultural calendar on terra australis.

Due to the implications of the current COVID-19 malaise, i.e. social distancing, the opening night, which is usually a grandiose affair of epic proportions, was as expected much more subdued yet still all class with the live-action adaptation of Pinocchio having been chosen to start proceedings with.

Directed by Matteo Garrone, Life is Beautiful lead Roberto Benigni stars in this slightly darker and borderline nightmarish take on Carlo Collodi’s source material, which puts emphasis on the more grotesque parts of the tale counterpointed by Benigni’s idiosyncratic warm and whimsical performance that in this instance is rooted in melancholia.

Garron’s take on Pinocchio made me curious and revisit the original book, only to discover that it is much more aligned than the less cruel depictions that were the children friendly versions over the years. Special effects-wise the 2020 adaption is quite something with its finely calibrated melange of CGI and real-life action, seamlessly going back and forth.

Highlights of this year’s festival not only include the Marco Bellocchio’s handsomely shot investigation of Tommaso Buscetta, the man who brought down the Cosa Nostra, i.e. Il Traditore (The Traitor), but also a segment dedicated to new Italian cinema showcasing emerging talents both in front and behind the camera as well as a segment focussing on family friendly films.

Not unlike with previous incarnations of the Italian Film Fest, no matter what your cinematic preferences are, you would be hard pressed to not find something charmingly classic or refreshingly new.

September: Swift, Silent, Deathly

Thanks for checking out this installment of Search/Play/Repeat. If you didn't see, I skipped last month's playlist, so this playlist is actually from the past two months. This resulted in a pretty bizarre playlist that covers a lot of genres.  I'm also getting this up later than intended simply because the news cycle's been a whirlwind lately, so I've been a little distracted. Let's hop into it!

There were a few artists on this playlist that I listened to more than one album from, but I prefer keeping it to one song from each artist. It got difficult trying to whittle it down to one track from Zeal & Ardor. Zeal & Ardor is a band that I'd been seeing getting a lot of praise and attention from friends of mine. They had recently released a new song, and I had decided to finally check them out and it's great. It's a combination of Black Metal and Southern Spirituals that is self-described as, "what if American slaves had embraced Satan instead of Jesus?" I listened to both of their albums, Devil is Fine and Stranger Fruit, back-to-back and bought their first record that same night. Another artist I gave more than one album a spin from is Ho99o9. This is another band I've been seeing brought up a lot from a friend of mine and has been speaking highly of. They're a blend of Hardcore-Punk and Hip-Hop. It could seem jarring to be rapping one moment and then the next song is just straight thrash-metal, but they make it work.

Back with a new album in 8 years is Death by Stereo, and I couldn't be happier with their release, We're All Dying Just in Time. Death by Stereo is an important band to me and one of those bands that I've lost count of how many times i've seen live with my first being their Day of the Death record release. They've gone through so many line-up changes and gave a taste of their collaboration with an EP back in 2016. This is their first full length with their current line-up, and it's one of their best. The album has a re-recorded version of "I Sing For You" from their 2009 release, Death is my Only Friend, with a much better mix and performances in my opinion. They even get a little experimental with their final track "We Sing They Die" that sounds like if DBS had asked for input from Danny Elfman.

It's not all Metal and Hardcore-Punk. Orville Peck released a new EP entitled, Show Pony, with a really great cover of Bobbie Gentry's, "Fancy," which I was very familiar with from Rebe McEntire's version in the 90s since Pop-Country was all my mom listened to when I was a kid. Gave Taylor Swift's surprise album, Folklore, a listen as well. I don't dabble in Pop often, but I was curious after all the hype. Earlier in the month of September, Toots Hibbert passed away due to complications from Covid. Admittedly I had never heard the name and wasn't familiar with any of his music. I put on Funky Kingston and really enjoyed it and will definitely be checking out more.

Before September came to an end (only by hours on the West Coast), Laura Jane Grace surprise released her new solo album, Stay Alive. It's some of the most intimate sounding songs she's released. A friend of mine's son said it sounded like lullabies and I've gotta say he's not far off. It was exactly the kind of album I've been looking for to calm my nerves and it's a contender for my top 5 of the year. Rounding out the playlist is a track from Bright Eyes' new album. I was really looking forward to Bright Eyes' reunion album, but it didn't quite click as much as I was hoping. I need some more time with it. I wasn't into Cassadaga when it was first released, but I've come around since. I will say that Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was does have my favorite album cover of the year so far.

That's just a few things I've listened to over the past couple of months. Like I pointed out in my last post, I've been brushing up on earlier releases from the year. I'm going to be taking a vacation soon, so I hope to listen to more music this month. Thanks for checking in! If you're in the U.S., there's an important election coming up, so please be sure to vote! If you need information on deadlines, voter status, or whatever: https://www.usvotefoundation.org/

Pornotopia: An Essay on Playboy’s Architecture and Biopolitics

Hugh Hefner, the creator of Playboy magazine and the media and entertainment-industry giant it became is no longer with us. No matter what is your stance on what started as an anachronistic alignment with the sexual revolution and as a counterpoint to the post-War narrow minded new world, there are undeniably a lot of facts to what it became and the fact that it for better or worse coined the imagery of America.

Beatriz Preciado’s Pornotopia is an examination of the that goes far beyond shedding light on what became multi-format cultural institution Playboy became known for and the attitudes it spurned. Preciado angle is about architecture physically controlling and constructing “techno habits”, i.e. the influence architecture exerts on the modification of gender roles and how interior spaces become sexualized topos. By forensically examining what became known as the stereotypical Playboy pad, Preciado illustrates how a forcefield was created that had exerted a tangible influence specifically on the male psyche.

It is astonishing to realize the effects Playboy and its aftermath had on the Western culture – not merely on its aficionados but society at large, which is exactly Prediado’s point as being a transgender and queer activist, she also thought that Playboy had no impact on her personal life before.

Using Hugh Hefner’s antics and his relationship to architecture as a lens, Preciado does not merely revisit the porn-exploitative versus porn-empowering debate, but tackles the subject from the angle of taking it seriously as societal phenomenon and the hegemonic heterosexual masculine space it constructs within a capitalist society it enables, manifests and the new version of a masculine soul, i.e. the hedonistic indoors man it helped to sculpt, which stripped feminine features off the walls of what became known as the utopian bachelor pad and stereotypical “Playboy home”.

Preciardo brilliantly makes her point by observing the features of a haven that shielded the single male from both the demands of domesticated women as well as a heterosexual obsession with technology to counterpoint the merits of what was previously held in high esteem about outdoorsy men: The post-domestic abode of aged teenagers.

Based on this approach, Preciado ventures on to vividly portray the impact Playboy’s pornotopia had on technology and the inner workings of society to this day and age, no matter if it was openly followed as a way of life or merely lived through by purchasing the magazine.

An in-depth and rigorous analysis that covers much more ground and goes deeper than the architectural title suggests as one cannot help to question the origin of things that might have been considered status quo ever since.

Ghostly Apparitions: German Idealism, the Gothic Novel, and Optical Media

Zone Books

Ghostlike appearances in a genre of fiction that is intrinsically characterized by an atmosphere of mystery and horror along with a medieval setting sound like an integral ingredient and stylistic device. No surprises here, especially if you are familiar with the more prominent representatives of the gothic novel.

Where it gets interesting with this tome is when parallels are drawn to modern times and the applications of modern media, where apparitions are no longer merely rooted in superstition but become part of a new reality that results from the merging of the known and the invisible.

Andriopoulos examines the intersections of literature, occultism, philosophical thought and technology to extract what forms the foundation of modern imagination.

Stefan Andriopoulos makes some interesting connections observations, especially regarding his deconstruction of the philosophers Schopenhauer and Kant, and sheds light on both historical as well as developments in the world in literature that have been spurned by philosophical revelations as well as the development of technical devices like the emergence of radio and television, there are some brilliantly deduced insights.

What would have rounded out Ghostly Apparitions: German Idealism, the Gothic Novel, and Optical Media, would have been a more coherent conclusion that the tome culminates in.