Steve Hyden on Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose

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My appreciation of Nirvana, and grunge in general, is one of the things that really sets me apart from most of the writers that I read on the internet. It’s an outsiders appreciation. I was born (barely) in the 90’s, and so much of the cultural hallmarks of that decade: Nirvana, The Simpsons, Daria, Fight Club, are things that I came to later. Even though I’m less than a decade apart in age from the people that were teenagers then, the 90’s are in their own way as remote to me as the 70’s or the 30’s. As the old adage goes, there’s no time more remote from the present as the recent past.

It is partly because of this distance that I’m fascinated by Steve Hyden’s (fairly) new series for the A.V. Club on the ascendency of Nirvana and the Seattle sound, “Whatever happened to alternative nation?” Each column looks at one aspect of that zeitgeist, dancing around Nirvana. The most recent column, “What’s so civil about war anyway?” looks at the relationship between Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose. It’s electric. It’s obviously personal territory for Hyden, and he writes both as a fan, and as a person trying to understand the psyche of their younger self. I highly recommend it.

Home Again

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I’m visiting home for a week during my fall break. This theoretically means that I’ll have some posts up. I will also be reading/listening to some of these things:

  • Alex Ross’ new book Listen To This.
  • My biannual reading of The Count of Monte Cristo.
  • David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet.
  • Finishing up Andras Schiff’s lectures on the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas.
  • Catching up with some of the recently released pop.

Draper Daniels

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I just recently came across this article in August 2009’s Chicago Magazine, a brief tribute by Myra Janco Daniels to her late husband, Draper Daniels, who was the primary inspiration for Mad Men‘s Donald Draper. It’s interesting to see where fact and fiction diverge, and it’s also the touching story of a reluctant romance. Here’s how he (first) proposed:

One day, after he had been with us for about two years, Dan came into my office with a card in his hand. By this time, the firm had been through several buyouts and mergers and I had a funny feeling that he was about to tell me of another one. I asked, “Are you going to sell me with the next merger?”

“Not exactly,” he said.

He showed me the card. On one side, he had written out his own best character traits. Then he turned it over. On the other side he had written out mine. Mine were better than his, so I knew he wanted something. I thought, What in the world has got into him?

“I’ve been thinking about this for nine months, Myra,” he said, “and I think we would make a great team.”

I said, “I think we are a great team. Think of what we’ve accomplished so far this year.”

He said, “I’m talking about a different sort of merger.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, I’ve decided I’d like to marry you.”

I lost my voice for a moment, because I had never thought of the man that way before—and had no idea he had thought of me that way. Dan was twelve and a half years older than I and had been married before. I was against divorce in those days. But more importantly, I was happy with my life. I told him that.

“All right,” he said. “Let’s talk about it again tomorrow.” And then he walked out whistling—which, to me, was one of the most maddening things anyone can do, particularly under the circumstances.

My assistant said, “Did you get another account? Mr. Daniels seems very happy.”

I went home early and called Len, my fiancé, back in Washington. I told him what Dan had just said.

Len laughed. He knew Draper Daniels. “Come on,” he said. “He’s pulling your leg.”

The next day I wrote out a note and had it placed on Dan’s desk. “Merger accepted in fifteen years,” it said. “Today, let’s get some new business.”

 

Elmo wants this tape!

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GOOD magazine posted a list of the “Nine Best Sesame Street Appearances.” While all of them are good in their own way–there’s something about Sesame Street that lets born entertainers cut loose–this interview with Ricky Gervais and Elmo cracked me up. It never ceases to amaze me that Sesame Street books consistently high quality guest stars. This video reminds me that there is a whole team of professional comedians manipulating the puppets on the show. Just look at Elmo’s posture and look of shock after being asked, “Do you know what necrophilia is?” Also, catch the sly reference to the famous exchange between Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier.

Another great video on their list is this appearance by Paul Simon:

If that doesn’t make you want to get up and dance, you have a heart of stone.

New Addition to the Blogroll

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One of my dear friends, Rachael, is now blogging at http://rachaelreviewsmovies.blogspot.com/. She has informed, eloquent, and idiosyncratic opinions on movies and, though I rarely completely agree with her assessment of a movie, I’m glad that she’s blogging.