Short Takes
January 19, 2010
Kate McGarrigle: Sadness Descends
Kate was sister to Anna, mother to Rufus and Martha. She died, age 63, on January 18, 2010. Here she and Anna perform a song Anna wrote, “Heart Like a Wheel.”
January 18, 2010
‘An Education’ — Your Next Movie?
I’m trying to remember why I didn’t rush to see "An Education" the day it opened. The reviews were raves, and the idea — an English girl on the verge of applying to Oxford meets an Older Man — was compelling. (Now I remember. We have a daughter. The idea creeped me out.) Well, we finally dragged ourselves to see it, and it’s astonishingly good. The less you know about it, the better. Just go. And bring a hankie, because people — especially the girl, exquisitely played by Carey Mulligan — Go Through Things in this movie. Then, to your surprise, they change. And so will you.
January 18, 2010
Are You Ready for the Country?
Before many of you were born, Western Massachusetts was dotted with communes founded by city kids who’d decided that back-to-the-land was the best idea going. At that moment, farming seemed like a reasonable use for my English Lit degree, so I grabbed a chilly bedroom overlooking the back 40. Turns out I like central heat and a favorable male/female ratio, so I moved on. Patty Carpenter and her old man — I think that’s what I’m supposed to call my pal Chuck Light — stayed. And she’s spent decades making music about her life. Now, writing with Verandah Porche (no, not a typo), she’s released a 12-song CD that’s wood smoke and open fields, long dinners with friends and cold mornings by mountain streams. Feel free to Come Over — and to be surprised: Patty’s a grown-up pro who just happens to live far from the bright lights.
January 8, 2010
The Best Wedding Entrance Ever?
Well, surely the happiest — hang in for the entrance of the bride at the 4-minute mark. Now that is joy! (Views on YouTube: 38,600,000.)
