Monday, March 05, 2012

All that's left is the titling

I can't stop listening to Judy Garland.

I'm not talking about one of those "Judy's Greatest Hits" albums, or "Judy Does Carnegie Hall while Drug-Addled, Desperate for Something Akin to Love"--if that's the name of the album I'm thinking of. No, I'm talking about a mid-career Judy, backed by the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, just singing songs in, honestly, the loveliest way. It's called "Judy in Love" and released in 1958, when I was five and she was thirty-six.
Who cares about Judy Garland? Let's talk about Alan Greenspan. I thought "Naked Greenspan" was the title.
That's the working title. One thought is to have no title, but I'm not sure that's how I operate.

I'm not sure either. What are the alternatives?

Well, "Former Fed Chairman" is the one that sticks in my mind. Another possibility is "The Myth of the Rational Market II")
Regardless of that, here is this:







Really, I'm awfully fond of the whole thing. I love, in no particular order, the ambiguity of his left arm (which is hardly rendered at all, hence the ambiguity); the deformity of his right shoulder; the lovely diagonal progression of his testicle, his penis and his left thigh; the question of whether he's handcuffed or not; the dirt on his feet; and his entire head, if you can believe that. All that's left is the titling.
The 7-Eleven graphics came out great too. Show us that picture again.
Okay.

Manoman, I'd kill for a grape Slurpee right now.
I hear you.
I'm not done with this whole Judy Garland thing, though. Likewise, Mel Torme. I mean, I don't want you, dear reader, to think I'm just an old fart (I say this with a level of pathetic desperation that would have made Judy herself proud). I'm also listening to quite a bit of trip-hop, which should re-establish my coolness credentials. Portishead, Mazzy Star, Tricky. All quite something, in that kind of a Oh, so this is what taking heroin is like sort of a way.

But really, this woman's voice. Just singing. Without having to be Judy Garland, all Caps. Absolutely amazing.
I'm not sure that Judy Garland at age 36 wasn't already rendered in all caps.
Just listen to the album, man.

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