Concert Review: Iris Dement, Olympia, Washington 10/20/07

Iris Dement is a folk/Americana singer who is probably best known for her song, "Our Town" which was the song played over the closing credits over the last episode of Northern Exposure or as a duet partner for such singers as John Prine. This is a copy of the review I sent to No Time to Cry, the Iris Dement internet discussion list of which I have been a member in some way or another for over 10 years:

Iris was in Olympia, WA October 20th for a fundraiser for both the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America (the same organization that brought her to Olympia two years ago) and for the Olympia Film Society. One thing I love about Iris - at the end of the show she asked concert-goers to contribute to these organizations whereas the opening act was hawking his CDs and art prints (perhaps he needed the $).

The show was to start at 8PM; we had conflicting reports of when we could pick up our tickets (all were will-call, no Ticketmaster for this show) and when the doors would open (7 or 7:30). We got in line at about 6:25, the box office opened at 6:30, the doors at 7. We went in the right side aisle and then saw the piano over to the left and I thought- aha - that is going to be the best place (special guests already had the first 4-5 rows center) so we found seats on the aisle in the 3rd row on the left side in this auditorium that seats around 600 (and amazingly wasn't sold out!)

There was a rather forgettable, and thankfully short, opening act. After a short intermission, Iris took the stage. I chose not to keep a set list during the evening and instead within half an hour after the show tried to write down the songs that were sung (I had my iPod to jog my memory). I can say she looked better and sounded better, was more self-assured than I have ever seen her.

Other than some strange leopard-print stockings, she was dressed lovely in a velvety skirt with jacket, very nice and even her hair looked very stylish and healthy. That said, it was clear she was still Iris with her sense of humor, her stating that it still felt strange for her to be sitting up on stage with us watching her. She said she likes it, but it's still strange. She said many nice things about her mother ("I may have tired her out,I'm afraid. She'll be 90 in February") in an introduction to Mama Told Her Truth.

Other than the first song and the encore, I have no idea what order the songs were sung - and forgive me for any omissions or errors as this was done by memory:

When My Morning Comes Around - started the show

New Songs:

Mama's Truth

River of Tears - Intro'd as a happy song

Anniversary Song (we have no title, others have called it This Love's Gonna Last, but she called it an anniversary song and since we are celebrating our anniversary on the 24th, I am calling it the Anniversary Song)

How I Learned Now to Pray (I loved this)

Goodbye Party (Great old Cindy Walker song)

That's the Way Love Goes (I had never heard her to this or the above song in concert before and particularly enjoyed this one)

****Another unfamiliar song - Applause was too loud when she announced who wrote/sang it originally

IRIS SONGS:

Mama's Opry

After You're Gone

He Reached Down

No Time to Cry

Let the Mystery Be

Easy's Getting Harder

The Way I Should

Encore:Sweet is the Melody --- and the piano broke - she mentioned earlier how nice it was to have a beautiful piano as it wasn't always the case. When this happened - and truly keys weren't playing - she said,"Looks aren't everything" She tried boldly to go on before switching to the guitar for:

Our Town

Her voice was strong, but as I believe others had mentioned, most of her songs had different arrangements than what we are familiar with on her CDs and previous concerts. I have no idea why that is, but after a bit, and being somewhat prepared, it really didn't make any difference. This was Iris and it was wonderful to be in the moment. She brought me to tears more than once. We had wonderful concert partners, a coworker of mine and his wife (he has been to about as many Iris concerts as I have so is a huge fan and agreed this was huge fan and agreed this was one of the best concerts she's ever done.

My conclusion is that it WAS the best Iris concert ever; if not the best concert I've ever been to. And this is despite the fact she didn't do my favorite, Walking Home. If you haven't seen Iris live, this is her best time. Even if you have, get out to see her again. She is magnificent.

Movie & Book Review: Into the Wild

I first read Into the Wild ten years ago when it first came out after finding out that parts of it are set in Carthage, Miner County, South Dakota pop. 187, a town where my mother has family and where her cousin was once mayor. My great-grandmother is buried in Howard, the Miner county seat. So that was the book and movie’s initial appeal. I mean this town is the true “blink-and-you-miss-it” town. That is, if one would ever even happen to drive through it as it isn’t on a main road. So I wondered, how young Chris McCandless, the subject of the book and movie ended up in Carthage in the first place.

Then I read that Sean Penn was finally making a movie adapted from the book and filming in Carthage. I thought it would be really interesting to see Carthage on the big screen. The first day it was showing in our little theater here in town I Shanghaied my husband (who really isn’t a movie goer, in fact if you ask him, on a scale of 1-10, that he’d suggest going to a movie as a form of entertainment he’d probably tell you –2) into going with me for the matinee. Now John had seen the Oprah show where Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch (who portrays young McCandless in the film) were guests along with author Jon Krakauer and didn’t think too much of McCandless so he was even less excited than usual about seeing this film. If he had known ahead of time that it was 140 minutes long he’d probably had left the theater after his first carton of Milk Duds. But the trooper he is, he persevered for my sake.

The movie adequately told the story of young Christopher McCandless who after graduating from Emory University, took off on a two year road trip, calling himself Alexander Supertramp. Very early on his car was destroyed and he abandoned it, burned what little money he had left and took off on foot. Some one say he was idealist others an adventurer, but others just reckless. Everyone seems to have his or her own opinion. What is clear is that he was found two year later dead in an abandoned bus just north of Denali National Park in Alaska. However his adventures along the way and the people he met tell a very interesting story. And the just how he died is still fodder for speculation although Krakauer does give his theory. Hirsch as McCandless is wonderful – his portrayal deserves an Oscar nomination as does that of Hal Holbrook as Ron Franz, the elderly recluse who befriends him. Told mostly in flashbacks, the movie suffers from uneven editing. I was also disappointed in the cinematography—the Alaskan scenes could have been brilliant but they were just average. That said, the South Dakota prairie was breathtaking. And it was fun to see Carthage. I think the entire town was filmed.

After watching the movie, I was compelled to read the book again. At only 207 pages it’s a fairly quick read. It was even more meaningful after watching the movie. I read many passages out loud to my husband and told him I thought he might change his opinion of McCandless. He is now reading the book. I don’t have the absolutely negative opinion of young Chris as many people have. He was a bit reckless, that’s for sure. But no more than many young men. As Krakauer mentions late in the book, it’s that attribute of daring that contributes to many young men signing up for the military—particularly in times of war. Yes, he did some things wrong. But don’t we all. The only reason that we’re reading about him was that he made some little mistakes that ended up killing him. He was actually a smart kid and I found a lot in him to be admired. It was sad he had to die. Any loss of life is sad. And that is what bothers me the most. That a parent lost a child, that a sister lost a brother, that a world lost a promising young man. There are lessons to be learned here, of course, but was the price too great?

Book Review: I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

I had heard about this book for quite awhile before I ended up reading it. It wasn’t that it didn’t appeal to me. It did. Very much. I just couldn’t justify paying $20 for a 137-page book. Even after seeing the author on Oprah and laughing out loud several times, I didn’t buy the book. Les’ review almost convinced me though. I still couldn’t see how a millionaire socialite could speak to me. How could I identify with her? Eventually I checked the book out from my local library. I was sorry I hadn’t read it earlier. I found out we were alike in more ways than we were different. She is a little older than me, but I am experiencing some of the same issues she is regarding aging. However it wasn’t the essays on the physical aspects of aging that spoke to me the most. I loved her essays on life and friendships and child raising. But two of my favorite essays were the ones to do with reading --- one had to do with being unable to read, the decline of eyesight and having to place cheater eyeglasses all over the house (oh how I can relate!)

“I can’t read a word on the menu. I can’t read a word in the weekly television listings, I can’t read a word in the cookbook. I can’t do the puzzle. I can’t read a word anything at all unless it’s written in extremely large type, the larger the better. The other day I pulled up something I wrote years ago, and it was written in something so mall I can’t imagine how I wrote the thing in the first place. I used to write in twelve point type; now I am up to sixteen and thinking about going to eighteen or twenty.

And this

“Reading is bliss. But my ability to pick something up and read it—which has gone unchecked all my life up until now—is now entirely dependent on the whereabouts of my reading glasses. I look around. Why aren’t they in this room? I bought six pair of them last week on sale and sprinkled them throughout the house, yet none of them is visible. Where are they?”

My other favorite essay is one titled, On Rapture -- having to do with the spending several days in rapture with reading a book. It was then I knew, that despite her millions, her thinness, her cosmopolitaness, and her fame, that we were soul sisters.

“I have just surfaced from spending several days in a state of rapture—with a book. I loved this book. I loved every second of it. I was transported into its world. I was reminded of all sorts of things in my own life. It was in anguish over the fate of its characters. I felt alive, and engaged, and positively brilliant, bursting with ideas, brimming with memories of other books. I’ve loved. I composed a dozen imaginary letters to the author, letters I’ll never write, much less send. I wrote letters of praise. I wrote letters relating entirely inappropriate personal information about my own experiences with the author’s subject matter. I even wrote a letter of recrimination when one of the characters died and I was grief-stricken. But mostly I wrote letters of gratitude: the state of rapture I experience when I read a wonderful book is one of the main reasons I read, but it doesn’t happen every time or even every other time, and when it does happen, I’m truly beside myself.”

What avid reader hasn’t felt this way??

It was these two essays that convinced me that I had to own this book. No, I still didn’t pay $20 for a copy but I did fine a pristine used copy at Amazon.com so I can read these essays again and again. And enjoy them again and again. Maybe, as I grow even older I will find that I have even more in common with the author. Highly recommended!

Happy Birthday & A Fabulous New Gastronomic Discovery

It is AMAZING to me that after over seven years in Jefferson County and nearly four in Port Townsend we had yet to eat at the highly recommended Wild Coho Restaurant. For some reason this little restaurant in the Uptown District with only 10 tables had intimidated me. Perhaps it was that it seemed so elegant that I was afraid we'd feel out of place. The chef came to Port Townsend via two of the finest Seattle restaurants and we're lucky to have him. I was intimidated despite having been to some of the nicest restaurants in Seattle and other cities. Well tonight was John's birthday and I decided to surprise him with reservations at what proved to be an absolutely delightful and charming restaurant. On this, a Wednesday evening, only half the tables were full so we got the full attention of the server and our service was impeccable. And the meal, it was easily the best meal we'd ever had in Port Townsend. We started with Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter, Sage and Mascarpone followed by Organic Seasonal Greens, Tomato-Rosemary Vinaigrette, Roasted Tomatoes, Mt. Townsend Trailhead Cheese and Little Garlic Croutons. For our entrees John chose Grilled Lamb Sirloin with Grilled Onion-Artichoke Risotto and Tomato-Mint Relish and I had Grilled Flat Iron Beef Steak with Potato Garlic Gratin, Morel-Roasted Onion. Of course since it was John's birthday we had to top it off with desert and we chose to share the Trio of Custards--Espresso, Crème Brulée, and Cinnamon Plum Tea Custard.

One thing I love about this restaurant is that it uses local foods, from cheeses at the Mount Townsend Creamery to Berries and produce from the great Finnriver Farm, Chimacum and Greens, famous garlic, and potatoes from Corona Farms most every ingredient used is local. This is where I want to spend my money for a delicious meal. Another fun thing about this restaurant is on Thursdays they have their "small plates" where for $5, $6, or $7 diners can choose one or more plates at bargain prices. John and I have decided we're going to do this several times a month.

We have a lot of really great restaurants in this little town by the bay, The Silverwater, The Castle Key at Manresa Castle, T's, and Sweet Laurette's (our favorite for brunch) but it is clear we've found a new favorite. It was a wonderful way to spend a birthday evening.

Musical Review: The Spitfire Grill

After living in this community for over seven years we finally went to a performance by its community playhouse, The Key City Players, last night. The musical, The Spitfire Grill, is based on the movie starring Ellen Burstyn and has been a long-time favorite of mine. When we heard from our next door neighbor that he was going to be one of the performers in this musical, we knew right away that we wanted to go see it. The basic premise is this: Percy Talbott is a young woman who has just been released from prison (for reasons not revealed until much later) and takes a bus to the idyllic small town of Gilead, Wisconsin where she gets a job at the Spitfire Grill run by the crotchety Hannah Ferguson. Hannah, a widow who lost her only child in the Vietnam War, has been trying to sell her little diner (the only one in town) for 10 years without success. Hannah falls, breaking her leg, leaving the running of the diner to Percy and her nephew (Celeb)'s wife Shelby. They do a terrific job of bringing the sleepy little eatery back to life. In the meantime they concoct an idea having a raffle to get rid of the Spitfire Grill and even make a little bit of money. It isn't long before the entries come in by the mailbag loads. There are a lot of light moments as the letters are read (people have many reasons for wanting the Spitfire Grill). But a lot of questions to be answered -- who will win the Spitfire Grill? Who is the mysterious man showing up at the back of the grill every night? Will there ever be true love for Joe and Percy? And the music!!!! How wonderful to use music to give emotion to these wonderful characters. I particularly liked Percy's song "Into the Frying Pan" with sort of a country-western twang. Aimee Kelley Spencer who played Percy did a fabulous job in every aspect of this play. Other songs ranged from operatic-type songs done marvelously by Rowen Matkins to comedic relief by Deena Lien-Richards. Katherine Jensen did a fine job as Hannah Ferguson. The male actors, John Edwards as the villainous Caleb and James Milton as Sheriff Joe were no less sung and acted to perfection. And one mustn't forget the wonderful Mickey McKinney who actually speaks volumes without saying a word. As John and I both commented when we got home, it's marvelous and amazing to find that we have the talent in our small town to find actors who can so perfectly fit these roles. As much as we loved the movie, the musical was even better--the movie having ended tragically and the musical having left us with smiles on our faces. I can only hope we can find time to go see it again. Word is going to get out how marvelous this production is and the little theater only seats 45 people. Should we be selfish and see it again or let someone else have the experience???

September Reads

I had a good reading month -- most of it spent with Ruth Reichl and her foodie memoirs that I read one right after another and enjoyed immensely. If anyone hasn't read these, I would say although it isn't absolutely necessary to have read the first two before enjoying the third, it would really enhance your reading experience if you have a bit more background of Ruth's life. I followed these up with I Feel Back About My Neck by Nora Ephron and despite our vastly different backgrounds I found myself nodding in agreement throughout the book. I ended up with the first fiction in a couple of months, one of Meg Cabot's books for adults, Queen of Babble. I enjoyed the French setting and the fairy-tale feel to this book. It was a fun read.

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl - 4.5/5
Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl 4.5/5
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl 5/5
I Feel Bad About by Neck by Nora Ephron 4.5/5
Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot 4/5

A Date with My Son

It is a rare occurrence when you get to share with one’s offspring something you experienced at almost that exact same age. Last night I was able to relive a concert seen over 30 years ago, at age 27, with my son who will be 27 in April when we went to see the band Jethro Tull at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. This is a band I have loved for years – and hadn’t seen since August 15, 1976 at the L. A. Memorial Coliseum. I bought these tickets in May so have been looking forward to seeing the genius that is Ian Anderson and his band for a long time.

Our evening started out early when I picked Jake up at his home and we took the ferry over to Seattle. Since he’s the chef, he picked out the restaurant, I asked for one that uses local foods. He chose Restaurant Zoe, one the owners of the restaurant where he works as sous chef has been recommending. In fact, the chef-owner of Restaurant Zoe lives on Bainbridge Island and has dined at Jake’s restaurant, The Four Swallows, many times.

We arrived right on time for our 5:30 reservations. I let Jake pick out most of the appetizer and despite the fact I really wanted the foie gras, we had ricotta gnudi which was divine. Jake also chose the wine – and let me see if I can get this right, I did write it down: Podere Ruggeri Corsini 2004 Barbera d’Alba Armujan. One of the perks dining with my son came to light when, on overhearing a conversation our server discovered Jake was “in the industry” and asked him about it. Another appetizer arrived at our table compliment of the kitchen. We did each choose our own entrée: He had a braised short rib dish (it looked yummy) and as per my usual I had scallops. They weren’t as good as Jake does at the Four Swallows but they were unique and delicious. We ended our meal with desert and coffee, having had a wonderful meal with impeccable service.

It was then off to the beautiful Paramount Theater, one of my favorite venues in Seattle. I think the first concert I ever attended there was in late 1972 or early 1973 (Kris Kristofferson). It is a magnificent old structure and the architecture alone is worth a visit. Because I didn’t find out about this concert until tickets had been on sale for a week, our seats were in the third mezzanine, but the hike up three flights of stairs was worth it. Every seat in this venue of around 3000 is a good one and our seats in the first row of the third mezzanine were no exception.

I tried to prepare Jake a bit for the music. I explained to him that while Jethro Tull was a loud band and what we’d call hard rock back in the day, they were quite unique, taking their inspiration from more classical music. And indeed throughout the evening this proved to be the case as they played everything from Bach, to Henry VIII to a song inspired by Shakespeare. Of course they did many of the more well known Jethro Tull hits, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Living in the Past. etc. Ian Anderson, is a delightful stage presence, his foot work (prancing on stage like an elf) and this virtuoso flute playing (does anyone do this better?) has not suffered in the 40 years he has been performing. His voice still has the same quality we all remember and is instantly recognizable, albeit perhaps a bit weaker and in a different key, but it is that wonderful, delightful, sexy Ian Anderson all the same.

Unfortunately we had to cut our evening short as I was getting a migraine and Jake was feeling a bit sick to his stomach and we had a ferry to catch – not willing to wait until a much later ferry that would get me home after 2:00 AM.

Dinner at trendy restaurant - $150.

Ferry fare - $35.00

Concert Tickets - $115.00

Spending time with my son - Priceless