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What I’m…
(October 2022)
Welcome to my newsletter. As you will see, my newsletter is not like others you are probably familiar with. I don’t do a lot of self-promotion. If anything, it is the opposite. Rather, what I’m attempting here is to create a little community of like-minded people who share the same interests as me and who will find some inspiration in what I’m sharing on a semi-regular basis through my newsletters.
So if you are passionate about the 1960s (or more precisely, that mid-century aesthetic that stretched from after the war until the 1980s), if you are politically progressive but culturally conservative (which is to say, you vote Democratic but have an appreciation for tradition, for doing things the old way whether it is reading a newspaper’s paper edition or valuing manners), and are stimulated by wit and intelligence we’re going to get along just fine.
Think of this as an invitation to chat and share, and with no further ado, here’s what I am…
Listening to:
Music
“I Dig Rock and Roll Music” Peter, Paul and Mary
YOUTUBE link
Whenever I used to hear this song it would immediately elicit a smile. It was pure, unadulterated comfort food for my ears, as if there were an audio equivalent of macaroni and cheese. I always assumed it was by the iconic 1960s group The Mamas and the Papas, especially since they are so prominently referenced in the first verse. But recently while I was listening to an Apple music playlist and it came on unexpectedly, I glanced to see who the artist was and it was in fact, a different iconic 1960s group: Peter, Paul and Mary.
“Oh, I didn’t know it was them!” I said to myself, and then did a quick Youtube search to watch them sing this bouncy, infectious song. What is immediately striking about watching them sing this is how much fun Mary has when singing this. Her harmony and ability to mimic Mama Cass and Michelle Philips from The Mamas and the Papas is a joy to behold, and once I focus on the actual lyrics I realize that what this folk trio is actually doing is celebrating the music of the day.
First up are fellow folk/pop singers, the aforementioned quartet The Mamas and the Papas, who Peter, Paul and Mary parody to great success. The trio achieve the beautiful harmonies that made the Mama Cass such a huge sensation. They even added the Mamas and the Papas signature “yeah” at the end of the verse. Next they do an homage to the British singer Donovan who is largely forgotten today except for his hit “Mellow Yellow,” but his breath-y style is captured by Paul during the second verse. Finally, the trio wrap up their tour with a quick reference to The Beatles and the emerging psychedelic scene following their success with “Sgt. Pepper.”
Overall, the feel-good romp that Peter, Paul and Mary create with this song is reminiscent of the joy I feel each time I watch the wonderful Christopher Guest 2003 mockumentaryA Mighty Wind,which features various folk bands inspired by the likes ofPeter, Paul and Maryas well as others of the era. If you’ve never seen this film, add it to your list (it has both Jane Lynch AND Parker Posey, I mean come on!).
Podcasts
“The Murdaugh Murders Podcast” hosted by Mandy Matney
What does the unsolved mystery of a gay teenaged boy murdered along a rural highway one summer night, the reckless boating homicide by an underaged drunken teen, the strange death of a trusted housekeeper, and a shocking double murder shot by close range of a woman and her son all have in common? Oh, and not to mention a complex web of financial fraud, theft, and money laundering. All of this and more (a bizarre suicide attempt, for example) is part of one of the biggest criminal cases currently taking place in the United States, and it so happens that it is in South Carolina, my home state and the locale for my novel The Last Good Republican.
Unlike my novel, which is historical fiction with a charming romance at its core, this true-life saga centers on Alex Murdaugh (pronounced inexplicably as “Alec Murdock”), a powerful white attorney in one of the poorest regions of the state, if not the entire country. The podcast began a couple of years ago by an intrepid local Low Country reporter named Mandy Matney, a woman with no podcasting experience, but who is tenacious in her pursuit to find the truth about these crimes that all lead back to Murdaugh. While the early episodes of the podcast demonstrate a charming amateurish quality, including self-deprecating references to her significant “vocal fry,” the pace of the events quickly pushes her to up her game as she uncovers the lies and deceit surrounding Murdaugh and his cronies.
At its core, however, this podcast is a commentary on the corrupt, good ol’ boy system of the powerful rural white elites who continue to exert disproportionate influence that has managed to keep them in power for generations. There are few answers regarding the mysterious deaths and murders, but with each episode we seem to be getting closer to the truth, and to justice.
People
“Lady Bunny” Insta: @Official_Lady_Bunny
Interesting that sometimes it takes a middle-aged drag queen with a penchant for song parodies and enormous teased out wigs to speak truth to power. But then again, hasn’t that been the traditional role of these cultural and societal court-jesters over the course of generations? What I find refreshing in reading Lady Bunny’s hot takes regarding the Biden presidency is her honesty in pointing out the hypocrisy of certain pundits when it comes to the Democratic party leadership’s incapacity to advance the timid progressive agenda promised by Biden (and Harris) during their 2020 campaign.
For instance, she recalls that it was none other than Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who waved off demands from the millions of college educated voters who were seeking tuition debt relief by saying that the president didn’t have the authority to do any such thing. Until all of a sudden he did. Each day brings a new micro-outrage, and not a parroting of media friendly politicians who sputter talking points, or who endlessly try to rile the Democratic base with another Trump scandal (I’m looking at you Rachel Maddow).
Instagram post from Official_Lady_Bunny
So between tasteless jokes and casting shade at Bianca Del Rio, Lady Bunny is actually a surprisingly astute analyst of American Democratic politics. Plus she’s got great taste in not only music, but bars in Paris (her visit to our very own Imprévu Café was particularly riotous). Check her out.
Ideas
Anybody who knows me knows that I am a huge lover of all-things trains. From simple streetcars and trams, to cross-national high-speed carriers such as Trenitalia’s FrecciaRossa (from which I am writing this inaugural newsletter), train travel is really the only environmentally responsible way to travel. And it is certainly the most civilized as well. Arriving half an hour before departure to the train station, one can be seated in one’s first-class car with a bubbling coupe of champagne minutes after pulling away towards adventure in another city, in another country, in another culture.
The possibilities of traveling overnight, however, have become largely a thing of the past. Aside from very niche, very expensive trains such as the storied Orient Express, which still runs on a much-reduced schedule and trajectory primarily between Paris and Venice as opposed to its glory days in the 1930s when it was the train of glamour, royalty, and spies traveling between London and Istanbul, there are few options for normal overnight train service between major European cities. In recent years there has been a rebirth of sorts for this type of voyage. France’s national train company has reinstituted its Paris-Nice night train, and there is also a Paris-Vienna train provided by the Austrian national carrier.
Entering into this re-emerging market is a French start-up called Midnight Trains. Currently it is still just a concept, but the company is raising the capital and building out the rolling stock it will need to eventual conquer and dominate the growing demand for overnight train. Their idea is to reintroduce a bit of glamour and sophistication for the business traveler who would otherwise be flying and staying in a hotel for business trips within Europe. Midnight Trains will offer a private bed cabin, with full bathroom, as well as a restaurant, a bar car (with mini-grand piano), and meeting room space for corporate clients. Of course, the train will be available to the public at large as well, but the creators of the company envision their bread and butter will be the business sector. Leaving Paris, or London, or Berlin late in the afternoon and enjoying a delicious dinner before heading to bed, the traveler will awaken relaxed and ready the next morning at any number of eventual destinations.
Check out their intriguing website and follow their story as they get closer to launching in the near future.
Watching:
Series
Okay, so here’s the thing. I live in France, and I don’t use one of those VPN tools to stream content. I’m old school, and while a lot of my friends back in the States spend a couple hundred dollars a month with their Hulu-Showtime-HBO-Amazon Prime-Netflix subscriptions, we only get Netflix. So most likely when I’m watching “tv” it is whatever is available on Netflix. In France. Having said that, there are some decent programs available. Two that I recently enjoyed was a crime drama called “The Lincoln Lawyer,” and a short documentary series called “Bobby Kennedy For President.”
“The Lincoln Lawyer” is adapted from a Michael Connelly novel and stars Mexican actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as a Los Angeles lawyer who is a recovering alcoholic. The first (and as yet) only season revolves around his character, Mickey Haller, rebuilding his reputation and law practice as he takes a high-profile murder case where not everything is as it seems. The cast includes a couple of terrific performances from not only Garcia-Rulfo, but also Neve Campbell, and Jazz Raycole. It’s comfort food as entertainment, but sometimes I just want to eat macaroni and cheese and watch something like this.
The documentary on RFK was enjoyable for a different set of reasons, not the least of which it gave fans of the 1960s such as myself a wonderful videography of that tumultuous decade through beautiful vignettes of his time as Attorney General, his U.S. Senate race, and his run for the Democratic nomination in the 1968 presidential election. With anecdotes and interviews provided by those who knew him well, this short three-episode series is worth checking out.
Movies
Also on Netflix, I watched the remarkably enjoyable The Gray Man starring Ryan Gosling. I say that it is remarkably enjoyable because sometimes the anticipation for a Netflix project exceeds the actual experience (exhibit A: Emily In Paris, which I could only make it through one episode). Apparently this is the most expensive movie ever made by Netflix, and it shows with blockbuster chase scenes (the extended sequence that takes place in the center of Prague is over the top fun) as well as sumptuous locales including the Chantilly chateau in France and Baku, Azerbaijan. From a purely eye-candy perspective, Gosling has never looked better, and his nemesis in the film played by Chris Evans rocks some great 1960s vintage shirts and achieves an overall sexiness despite how odious his character is as a no limits assassin.
Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it yet.
Youtube
Dana Gould as Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes
Comedian, former writer for “The Simpsons,” podcaster and hard-core Planet of the Apes fan Dana Gould has put together a Youtube channel called “Hanging With Dr. Z.” I first heard the comedic stylings of Gould in the late 1980s/early 1990s when I lived in the San Francisco Bay area between my undergraduate and graduate years. Since this period was the cultural peak of Generation X’s influence in television, music, and film, as a fellow member of that demographic group I was an avid listener to the modern rock station KITS “Live 105.” Hosting the morning drive time on that station was host Alex Bennett who brought in comedians during his show. Dana Gould was a regular, and soon I was a fan of his intellectual but quirky humor. He could do spot-on voice impersonations ranging from Hollywood movie icon Vincent Price (done with an over-the-top gay lisp) to 1960s/70s television actor Don Knotts’ “Barney Fife.” Roughly the same age as me, Gould has a fascination for late 1960s and 1970s television, but his true adoration is saved for the 1968 cult classic, “The Planet of the Apes.” It came as little surprise during one of Gould’s eponymous titled podcast episodes, The Dana Gould Hour, he announced he was self-financing a tribute to his favorite character from the movie series, the self-absorbed “Doctor Zaius.”
In Gould’s version of Dr. Z, Zaius is now a host of a Johnny Carson styled late night talk show. His character is still living somewhere between 1965 and 1975, making references to obscure personalities from that era such as Lindsay Wagner (“…”) and Charlton “Chuck” Heston, his co-star from Planet of the Apes. The short ten-minute episodes are a lot of fun, and he always has a guest whom he interviews. With friends like Andy Richter, Penn Jillette, and Janet Varney, Gould has created a perfect mash-up of mid-century American pop culture with 21st century celebrity.
Enjoying:
It’s the end of summer in Paris, and we bought a picnic basket. The “fancy” kind that is a wicker basket and then inside there are four sets of real glasses (for wine, bien sûr), and white china plates, and tableware, a corkscrew, plus a cold storage space for keeping items chilled. One of the first nice days we had off together we walked over to an Italian trattoria we like on rue Rambuteau and loaded up on munchies ¾ grilled vegetables, focaccia, stuffed grape leaves, and some pasta ¾ as well as a chilled bottle of dry Italian wine from Veneto. Along with the current edition of the Economist and that day’s Le Monde which we purchased at a kiosk along the way, we headed over to Luxembourg Garden and found our spot for the afternoon. Under the shade of a plane tree, we basked in the ambiance of Marie de Medici’s glorious palace gardens.
What about you? Join the conversation on my author page, www.monsieurbuckjones.com/blog and let me know your opinion, and what your recommendations are. I look forward to hearing from you.