Episode 175: Does the Name Grimsby Do Anything to You?
Ever since 2007 I related to Eliot’s succinct line, “Old men ought to be explorers”. Not that I was exactly an old man, but the line gave me hope. Notwithstanding the end of something, there was something hopeful I could still do. I could try to understand.
Could I become the first man on the moon, like ‘Major Franklin Grimsby’ in Rod Serling’s short story? If I were, would anyone care? (“Does Anyone Know What Time It Is?” – Chicago) Well, at least I’ve tried to try. Lo, a polyptoton.
In this cast, episode 175, we’ll take in the vibe of Armando Trovajoli’s “famous last word” on the power of romance: his title music to “Dramma della Gelosia” (1970). It is ironic that this remarkable composition was created for a film that was released in the USA under the title “The Pizza Triangle”. So cruciform is great art, and great popular art.
Categories and identities will get you nowhere. They’ll actually just bind you! One-to-one engagements, one-to-one immediacies: with those you can make a little progress.
Oh, and don’t forget ABBA, no matter what you do, no matter who you think you are.
Episode 176: Everything Is Tuesday
Whenever you’re confronted by ideology, ideology of any kind, ask the person first, “But haven’t you ever been in love?” And if that doesn’t work, say “But what about Beach Music?” (You could also say, “But what about Motown?”)
Ideology cannot get even one inch inside the door if romantic love is on the other side. Moreover, ideology melts, like the Wicked Witch of the East, with just one bar of almost any Beach Music song you can name. (I usually start with “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy.”)
This cast takes a quotation that almost has to be seen and read out loud to be believed, yet finds in it the soul of truth — sojourning truth, master-truth, the one thing really worth having. Morgan Forster saw it — I’m thinking of Howard’s End. The Four Tops saw it — I’m thinking of “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” General Johnson saw it (twice in one cast!), and Marilyn Friedman saw it (but gave it a different meaning).
This is the last word, at least for a while, on the subject of romantic love. Tho’ maybe next week.
COMMENTS
