how to react to sad news

There’s never a good time for terrible news.

I was alone in a hotel room when I found out my cousin Arthur Bruce died. My brother Art called to deliver the news and I didn’t know how to react. I was traveling for work and running late, and it felt like I was in shock; my body was on autopilot while my head was trying to figure out how to emotionally process the unexpected news. I wondered if I’d get to the office in time. I didn’t want to (and never did) tell anyone at work about it, because I don’t know what to do in these situations. I don’t know how to react to tragic, unexpected things. I don’t want people to see me sad, and I never want to burden anyone with my sadness.
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Kumar, Mr. LittleJeans, Pagoda

My friend Dan from The Yellow Dress delivered the sad news that Kumar Pallana, also known as Kumar (Bottle Rocket), Mr. LittleJeans (Rushmore) and Pagoda (The Royal Tenenbaums), passed away. He always played lovable and memorable characters, and he adds so much to Wes Anderson’s movies with such subtlety. I planned to someday visit the Cosmic Cup in Dallas in the hope of meeting him.

While looking for a sound bite of a Pagoda line I’m constantly and poorly imitating, “Oh shit, man,” I found this fantastic YouTube montage of his lines from The Royal Tenenbaums. (After I found it, I noticed the A.V. Club also included it in their post. Sometimes details escape me.)

Goodnight, Mr. LittleJeans.

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Rhode Island, Moonrise Kingdom, and Cthulhu

Rhode Island, home of Moonrise Kingdom and the recently resurrected Cthulhu.

In August, Carrie and I met up with my brothers and their families for the first elder Fountain brothers reunion in at least a couple years. I met a new nephew, Arturo Nikola, and my niece, Stella Marie. My nephew Joshua and I had some good bonding time and built a super awesome tent-fort hybrid. We are unstoppable.

We made it in time to attend WaterFire in Providence, a festival in which large torches are lit along the water after sunset. Small boats and gondolas glided by with fire-breathers, fire-dancers, and large H.P. Lovecraft-inspired creatures. WaterFire ended (at least, when we left) with a strange ceremony in a different language; the only two words we could make out were “Cthulhu” and “sushi,” and we reached the conclusion that Cthulhu will give everyone sushi before destroying humanity. Still waiting on the sushi.

Moonrise Kingdom is my favorite Wes Anderson movie since The Royal Tenenbaums. It’s a wonderful love story full of action and adventure, irresponsible adults and precocious children. We visited the sets of some scenes and took photos: The meadow where Sam and Suzy rendezvous, the beach where they set up camp, and “St. Jack’s” church.

"I will meet you in the meadow."

The meadow scene – with a temporarily constructed windmill – was filmed at the Watson Farm in Jamestown, RI, established in 1789 and maintained by the wonderfully hospitable Minto family. I love them. (The 52 of 28 song “to get lost” is partly about about visiting their house, built in 1796.)

Moonrise Kingdom camp site

The beach at Fort Wetherill was beautiful; if you face away from the boat ramp and park entrance, it seems like the perfect secluded place for two young runaways to camp.

Don't park too close to St. Jack's.

We visited Trinity Church at night (St. Jack’s in the film), with its scaffolding and strange green glowing lights. The church bells sounded as we approached, and I was just waiting for Cthulhu’s hurricane of evil.

It was a great five days. We drank lots of coffee (seriously, a lot), ate apples straight from the tree, and had some much needed family bonding time.

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Dinosaur Disc’s Folk Music In America

Late 19th/early 20th century American folk music is endlessly fascinating to me and a major source of inspiration for my music, especially in my choice of musical instruments and the sonic nuances I’m always trying to reproduce. When I first listened to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, I felt like I had a glimpse into a vastly important piece of history that was simultaneously fading away and fighting to be remembered.

WFMU shared Dinosaur Disc’s transfer of Folk Music In America earlier today. From what I’ve heard so far, Dinosaur Discs did an awesome job converting this LP series to digital format, including PDFs of the extensive liner notes. Dinosaur Disc also has a great history of recorded American music, technical information on digitizing recordings, and a great selection of downloads. Here’s to keeping American folk music history alive.

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don’t pay for free music

Earlier today I found out that a site called legalsounds[dot]com is selling my music (written, performed, and recorded by me and people very close to me, at our own expense) without my consent and when that particular album is available for free. Reading through some posts by others on their Facebook page, it looks like they are going out of business or at least can’t currently accept payments.

If you’re buying music, especially from an independent/DIY artist, please look for an artist’s official website or find them on bandcamp.com, amazon MP3, or iTunes. You can make direct contact with DIY artists on a number of social networks, so if a website ever looks weird or you have any questions, please try reaching out directly.

I don’t really care if third-party sites host free downloads of my music, although I always like to be aware of them. It’s not all about the money, unless someone’s being sheisty.

Speaking of free music, the album the site has for sale is 52 of 28, my song-a-week project from 2010/2011. I have it set up so you can name your price; $0 is perfectly fine with me, especially when compared to giving some jerk(s) your hard-earned money.

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