Time once again for an after-the-fact look back at another year done gone. How they fly, these annual planetary circumnavigations of the sun. Not to mention that, with the passing of 2009, the “aughts,” as they say, have seemingly run their course. A consequential decade if there ever was one and certainly one beyond this mindset’s ability to dissect.
Of course, once one’s unit of time measurement has been converted from days, weeks, and months to books, films, and concerts, the mental landscape becomes somewhat more manageable. And, in that context, the year past has been quite tolerable.
My most enjoyable fiction reading this past year and a book I reread immediately upon finishing it for the first time was actually, although certainly multi-leveled, relatively light fare. Especially considering it came from that master of the obscure depth charge, Thomas Pynchon. Future immersion into the text, however, will no doubt reveal an additional dimension or two.
What I mean, I suppose, is that “Inherent Vice,” a hardboiled gumshoe yarn set in the psychedelic South Bay of 1960s L.A., could be read as nothing more than a tribute to Raymond Chandler’s classic-noir tales. Pynchon’s private investigator, Larry “Doc” Sportello, certainly flaunts an attitudinal debt to Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. And, as I mentioned earlier, the prose is just too delicious not to go back for seconds.
Although “Totem Salmon” came out ten years ago and was recently lent to me by a longtime friend, the mystical journey into man’s contemporary relationship with the natural world easily topped my nonfiction reading list for the year. The “life lessons from another species” flowed with an exhilaration that kept the pages turning like fish racing upstream.
It really doesn’t seem like I spent all that much time sitting in the dark for film-fixes this year, but a few titles appear to have stuck to my ribs. “Barking Water,” “Sin Nombre,” “It Might Get Loud,” and “Adventureland,” from last year’s Sundance Film Festival, all easily, for quite different reasons, drew me in.
I caught the thoroughly engrossing “Precious,” which screened as “Push” at the 2009 Sundance Fest, only recently in its general release. A remarkable film that proved beauty can also be sub-dermal, it was even more compelling than the hype.
Some of the other films from the year that I remember with fondness are “Two Lovers” (Joaquin Phoenix in his advertised “final role”), “Public Enemies” (Johnny Depp as John Dillinger), “Inglorious Basterds” (Quentin Tarantino rides again), “Pirate Radio” (flawed but with pushing-the-envelope character studies), and “Invictus” (rugby can change lives! I knew that!).
As far as the film reaction that surprised me most, however, it wasn’t even close. I flat-out came away from “This Is It” as a born-again Michael Jackson fan. There, I’ve “outed” myself! What a performance artist and what a show he was planning on taking on tour — each song a full-on production number featuring an array of wonderful young talent with stars in their eyes.
The irony is that I never would have experienced his brilliance had he not died. No way I would have forked over the loot required to attend one of these shows in person prior to seeing this film. This cat had just never been on my radar, even during the “Thriller” phenomenon. That being said, what a waste that this tour never happened!
Reaping the fruits of being at the crossroads for many live music acts touring the country lent itself once again to both Salt Lake and Park City hosting some memorable shows.
At the top of the heap had to be Bob Dylan’s virtually-biennial Utah stopover out at Saltair on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. If you heard mixed reviews, just talk to those who had enough sense to show up early. It wasn’t much more than the tightest-knit virtuoso-rock ensemble touring today performing another set-list of poetic masterpieces for the faithful.
Other performers who got me out of the house during 2009 were Loudon Wainwright III (who is performing with son Rufus and daughter Lucy at the Eccles Center tomorrow night), Leo Kottke, Alejandro Escovedo, The Arc Angels, Madeleine Peyroux, Chuck Berry, Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Asleep at the Wheel, and, at least a few times each month, my own personal honky-tonk heroes, the Barfly Wranglers.
So, even though it’s often difficult to tell one from the other, it’ll be out with the old and in with the new tomorrow night. Happy New Year, shipmates! May your grog rations be doubled!
Jay Meehan is a culture junkie and a free-lance writer with a background in commercial and community radio, among other pursuits. He has been a columnist and feature writer for various Park City publications going back to 1973.