This American Life

This American Life is truly one of my favorite things in the entire world. Its on the same list as the Brooklyn promenade, my sisters, and snow. Just to be clear, I am talking about the radio show, not the television show. No disrespect to the television show, but I've only seen it three times and each time it was the SAME episode. The one with Improv Everywhere and that weird bull with the hanging skin. You know what I'm talking about.

The radio show is many, many kinds of brilliant. Its a very simple concept. As stated at the start of each episode, each week they chose a theme, and tell a variety of stories on that theme. Its a pointed look at the everyday and not-so-everyday people and places and things observed by smart minded people. Its an escape to a different way of looking and thinking, and we are better for it.

If you don't listen to This American Life, its probably because you don't think you like radio. I suppose there is a giant leap that goes into listening to radio for the first time (although its also a podcast) and if you aren't an NPR fan (you should be!) you don't understand how fantastic it is. Most New Yorkers claim that they don't listen to radio because they don't drive. Well, you can get all of the episodes online and listen on your ipod on the train-- best thing EVER. Not only is it escapist, but its a completely zen experience.

Radio allows a state of relaxation by combining the best aspects of reading and watching. It encourages imagination by not giving us any visuals, yet doesn't ask us to put in any effort during the process. In that way it is a completely indulgent and decedent experience. Have you ever sat across from someone on the subway smiling and laughing to herself with an unfixed gaze? She is absolutely listening to This American Life.

Start listening to the radio, America. You will be better for it. Below is my list of the best episodes, although its much more extensive than this. Start and the top and work your way down because I have thought about the list a lot and its the way to go. Like I said, its one of my very favorite things in this world. And, like every other liberal-arts-influenced-twenty-something-female in North America, I have a huge crush on Ira Glass.

Best of This American Life

Kid Logic- I think about this episode a lot in terms of how our brains function and how absurd it is to think that we, as humans, believe that we have it all figured out. That we can have it all figured out. The tooth fairy story is amazing. It is the first This American Life story I came across on NPR and was thrilled beyond belief that I had discovered a radio show that told stories. This is where it all started for me.

Break-up- The Phil Collins story is my FAVORITE ever to be told on This American Life. Its so funny and sadly quite autobiographical in my life. But Starlee Jones helps me take myself less seriously and her song really does heal. The story of the young girl asking the mayor for advice is also heartbreakingly raw and real. This is a great episode.

Switched at Birth- SHOCKING. Its just how it sounds, this episode tells the story of two girls actually switched at birth who find out as adults. Everything about this episode is crazy-interesting, I think about it often.

What I Learned from TV- Sarah Vowell has a fantastic essay on Thanksgiving episodes of sitcoms, and Ira Glass talks about The O.C. and makes me MELT. The story on the guy who doesn't watch TV and laughs hysterically at America's Funniest Home Videos is hilarious. This is one of the all-around best episodes... every story is amazing.

Notes on Sleep- This is where I first heard Mike Birbiglia. SO FUNNY. The last story about understanding death through sleep also unfortunately rang true for me. I had no idea that other people had experienced this before, its super interesting and incredibly scary.

A Little Bit of Knowledge- Fascinating look at how our minds and worlds are formed and what happens if something is randomly missed. Like a normal, smart, educated twenty five year old asks one day at a party if unicorns are extinct or endangered. The story of the gay couple raising the young boy is also crazy-interesting.

Allure of the Mean Friend- We've all had one. This episode offers an inquiry as to why this bizarre phenomenon is so common.

Notes on Camp- This is Lauren Hoffman's favorite episode. You can always trust her taste.

Dreamhouse- The story of the father who decides to build his house stuck with me for a long time. It is told in a similar tone of The Glass Castle, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Its about trust and dreams and how far both can stretch and how far both should stretch.

Going Big- Touches on big social ideas like bettering entire communities in Harlem through babies and tells the story of a daughter going to prison to be with her mom. Heartbreaking and beautiful.

How to Talk to Kids- Similar to Kid Logic, but told in a more serious, anthropological tone.

Act V- Inmates at a high-security prison rehearse and stage a production of the last act -- Act V -- of "Hamlet." It's a play about murder and its consequences, performed by murderers living out the consequences. (I stole that description from itunes, but its wording was much better than mine.)

The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar- I wonder if The Changling with Angelina was based on this story. Its a similar idea, and equally terrifying and unbelievable.

Ruining it for the Rest of Us- Mike Birbiglia is back for this episode- YAY. He tells the story of why comedy is bad for cancer benefits. Cracks me up.

There are many, many more but thats a start. I love you, Ira.

Freemans

Go here. My favorite New York restaurant. Katie, Kim, Al, and I had a fantastic meal at Freeman's this evening. Our conversation was admired by many and absolutely proved why reality television exists... Good, juicy, conversation has the ability to hold interest no matter the relevance. And the banana's foster was amazing.

I wish he were my boyfriend.

I can't figure out how to add video, but just click here, it will take you to YouTube. Nothing else to say other than I wish Josh Lyman were my boyfriend.

Revolutionary Road

Ever since I saw Pocahontas at the Beatrice Holly Theater in the sixth grade, I have been a little on edge with movies that bounce from the present to the past and back again. I was super excited for Pocahontas at the time that I didn't think anything of the fact that John Smith and Pocahontas were having really deep conversations about the river and the wind BEFORE they met. I was still confused when all of the lights came on mid-movie and the movie theater manager came out and told us that we would be refunded our ticket money because the film strip was out of order... it was somehow cut wrong or something. I had to wait an entire week before I could see the movie in its correct order entirety. I've been on edge ever since, because, who knows! This could happen again at anytime without our knowledge!

I was a little worried and distracted by the thought that this had happened in Rev Road until the second quarter of the film, as it opens mid-story and then back tracks throughout the film explaining Frank and April's journey up until this point. Because of my unique Pocahontas experience, I was probably the only person in the audience to feel this way... because this was a PHENOMENAL film. Phenomenal. As my new friend Katy said at post-movie drinks at Pete's Tavern, run, don't walk to see this film.

Revolutionary Road tells the age old tale of discontentment. We know the story before the story begins... starry-eyed boy meets starry-eyed girl, boy and girl plan a life of adventures, accidentally (yet happily) have a child, put adventures on hold, then suddenly find themselves stuck and unhappy in a life of monotony. American Beauty, anyone? Titanic, perhaps? Nope, not at all. Mendes, DiCaprio, and Winslet leave these ghosts behind and retell this already told tale with an earth shattering freshness.

This film is different as it begins with the discontent. Rev Road doesn't waste anytime with anticipation. It opens with conflict, and reaches its peak of happiness and what we would normally deem conclusion at its mid-point. Everything we know has already happened at this point... its deeply satisfying. Mendes then shocks us with an unparalleled dramatic crumble that Kate and Leo absolutely nail. We were trembling.

Revolutionary Road's strength is matched by its supporting actors as well. The couple next door (Milly played by Kathryn Hahn, cousin to my friend Alex Hahn) work not only as the stereo-fifties cheese, but also hold a terror just beneath the surface that we can read softy. They hold normalcy without blankness.

The Dickens's character, Truth, is embodied by John, the crass neighbor recently released from an insane asylum. Truth shatters all false hope in both Frank and April, and releases the emptiness with a scream. The characters even voice this irony... isn't it interesting that the only person to understand us is certifiably insane? says Frank? I don't care, even if that makes us crazy too, answers April with a smile.

The film isn't anti-suburb, nor is it anti-children. This is where Mendes departs from American Beauty. It doesn't preach a ridiculousness, as anticipated. Instead, it unveils the terror of finding oneself at a place of inescapable discontent, no matter the situation. And it was terrifying. Most of us will relate to Winslet's character. Not that we are proud of it. At one lurching moment we see her as crazy, and the next as the villain. But it is April that we understand and will walk away knowing this with our tails between our legs.

Both DiCaprio and Winslet should be nominated for this film, although again, what do I know? I know that DiCaprio made us believe that a man with dreams of Paris and an understanding of suburban entrapment will suddenly wake up one day to a perfectly prepared breakfast made by his deeply unhappy wife and will actually believe that she is changing. That she is sincere in her wifely duties. I know that Winslet tapped into a crazy that we could feel, and not only judge. I know that this film twisted my stomach into a firmly settled knot and I could do nothing but gasp at its perfection. Run. Don't walk.

Happy New Year. :)

Marley and Me

I've become a crier. For sure. Never used to be, but these past few months have done me in. Marley got to me, as to be expected, but I did not expect to like it as much as I did. Holly asked this morning if I would blog about Marley and Me, knowing that I would say no. Its not my standard blog-type movie, nor the type of movie that I would choose to go to these days. But I'm at home in Beatrice and the whole Butler fam loaded up and went to the Holly Theater tonight and came home crying and laughing together. Its just a great movie.

We have a lab, Bella (or Belle, we call her both. And I call her Belly.) We chose her because of the white spot on her forehead and she loved us because that's what dogs do. I named her after the movie we were watching that night, La Vita e Bella, or Life is Beautiful. We told our Dad that we were naming her after Cabelas, his favorite store, so it worked out for all of us. There is nothing better than a lab puppy and that was a fantastic summer because of it. Before Belle we had Sport, a chocolate lab, who we had to put down when he was about 13 and was very sick. Needless to say, this movie touched the Butler's because we too have had a couple Marley's.

Marley and Me is predictable just as life is predictable and unpredictable because life is unpredictable. There isn't a huge plot nor a grand climax, and the film moves along smoothly and completely enjoyably. Its a movie that chronicles the life of a dog as told through his family. Jen and Owen were totally believable in this story, especially in their interactions with a dog who is forever in their face. If you have a dog, specifically a big dog, you understand the annoyance of the jumping, the chewing, the wet nose.

The movie is also about making plans and watching your life unfold anyway. Up until this point, I've pretty much navigated my own way in this world. I've done exactly what I've wanted to do and have purposefully avoided situations that may cause anything other than a happy ending. But like Jen says at the end, what you end up with, no matter the outcome, its better. A good lesson for those who prefer complete control.

It didn't preach family verses job, although that was of course a central conflict. The best friend role turned out happy as well, as a forty year old bachelor living in New York and writing for the Times. John and Sebastian took different paths and each ended up settled in a true happiness, one with the family, the other with the career. There isn't one way, the movie taught us. But there is your way, and that way is perfect too.

It was also a story about dogs. Obviously. It was about unconditional love because that is the great goodness of dogs. As told at the end of the film, they don't need expensive cars or nice clothes. They don't care if you are rich or poor or smart or dull. Even when you yell at them, or leave them alone with a babysitter for the weekend or don't always have time to play. They will always be there to welcome your love back and give it hurriedly in return. They love you unconditionally the moment you take them in. Because you feed them? Sure, haters. But I think its something more. Its an innate sense of unrequited loyalty that we could all benefit from observing.

I want a dog, I do. I love them. New York City has done that to me, maybe because without yards, we see dogs more. They are out and about with their owners and bounce around like Muppets on leashes. They breathe a little extra life and spunk into the city. Good for the soul, that's what I say. But I'm smart enough to know that I'm too selfish and too busy in my life to have one in the near future.

Marley and Me is simple, uncomplicated, and true. Well done with the Christmas release, and well done with the laughter and the tears. Go see this movie before the New Year brings new business and the chance passes you by. You'll like it too.

Sweet Land

Ali Selim screened Sweet Land in Northfield, Minnesota during my senior year of college. It is a film about Minnesota and was filmed in Minnesota and we were granted the golden tickets to see this film for the first time. It may not have been the most unbiased of audiences, as this film struck a cord in each of us for that very reason. It was close to us.

I watched it again this weekend in the car on our way home from Grandma Butler's home in Minden, Nebraska. Its a beautiful film. And despite my grandiose New York gal proclamations, it is the film closest to my history, the one about my people. Its a film about the prairie.

Inge comes to Minnesota as a mail order bride. Yikes. It was completely common in the days of the New West, despite its curious connotations. Men settled the west but missed companionship. So they sent away for a bride from the east coast, from Canada, and from Europe.

Inge came from Germany, an obvious slip, we soon learn. Germans weren't welcome due to the looming war, and Inge was assumed to be Norwegian, the preferred race. (Um Ya Ya.) She didn't speak English and Selim left out the subtitles, which I loved. The wedding scene is painful, as she rattles off excited German to a horrified congregation. Its her stubbornness that prevails

in the end, demanding her place in Olaf's house as promised.

The love story is nothing of the sort. Inge and Olaf aren't in love and don't try to be. But they fall into a sort of comfort and respect which is more than enough to sustain a lifetime of contentment. It was the story of so many. Which is kind of the point. This is one story, but everyone has something to tell. It wasn't epic nor particularly exciting. It was quiet and hard and good. They did love each other in the end, undoubtedly.

The best scene is the pie scene. Am I right? So good Emily and I pulled out my famous apple pie with gingersnap crumble from the backseat during our watching and ate it with our fingers, you can't blame us. Alex Kingston and Elizabeth Reaser make it look so very rightfully indulgent. That's some smart film making, Selim. Barely a word exchanged and so much understood.

As I drove through the flatness of Nebraska I again noticed the big skies and obvious beauty. If you ever have the chance to drive the highways toward Minden, do so. Its lovely. There isn't a billboard in sight, and the towns don't even have gas stations. Its hours of fields laced with a few streams and a few farmhouses. The trees give both away, as Nebraska is solid prairie. Only corn fields, I was often reminded of as a child with a small bladder and stubborn soda habit.

My parents lived in Michigan for a few years when they first were married and often talk about what it was like to come back to Nebraska after a five year absence. The skies, my dad always said. They are so much bigger here. Well, if Michigan brought out that shining difference, imagine what they look like coming home from New York City. The blue is breathtakingly large and overwhelmingly surrounding.

Sweet Land took advantage of the skies (though in Minnesota, not Nebraska, I know) with lovingly framed farmhouses, fields, skies, and farmers. The film stills could easily be turned into Rothko's or Mondrian's. Its that kind of separation, that kind of distinction. Parallel lines and solid colors. Few have noticed this beauty, and I'm so glad that Selim is one of them.

Sweet Land is a quiet film that didn't ask for glory or recognition. In fact, I'm unsure of how big its release was and how well known it has become. It took Selim fourteen years to make and at the time of the screening he wasn't sure that it would even end up in theaters. He made it because he wanted to tell this story, not even his own. In my circle, Sweet Land is spoken of with true appreciation and absolute heart. And I know that Willa Cather would be beaming.

Reasons To Love New York (especially right now.)

New York Magazine dedicates their last issue each year to reasons why we love New York. And I, obviously, love it. It is Christmastime in New York City and before I head home to the Heartland for the holidays, I thought I'd reflect a little and post my own list. Because, yes, Virginia, I do love this city.

1) It finally snowed.
Just as we were all getting a little Grinchy at the Art in America offices on Broadway (myself included), quarter-sized snowflakes started slowly dropping from the sky. If you live here, you remember them. I kept hearing the word 'snowglobe' said around Soho, no joke. Because it absolutely looked like one. A cheesy Christmastime New York snowglobe. And we ate it up.

2. Rockefeller Center still uses colorful Christmas lights.
I don't know about you, but I get really sick of all-white lights. They look nice in certain situations, like in Aspen year round, but at Christmastime I wanna see some big bright C9 bulbs like my dad always used. Rock center, Christmas central, does not disappoint.

3. The Anthropologie Christmas Windows
Better than Macy's and better than Bloomingdales and better than Bergdorf's. The three main themes this year: tinsel, big C9 lights, and paperchains. You can see why I was struck... It looked like my apartment.

4. This snowman on Gates Avenue

And that a dude was standing on top of his car kicking off the snow on the next car over. New Yorkers don't really know how to handle snow that well. They kind of panic, lets just be honest.

5. The "The Economy Sucks but We Don't" sales
Alison and I Christmas shopped all day on Saturday and encountered the best sales we've ever seen. Bloomberg got on the news to encourage Christmas shopping and to remind us that we are all in this together and that businesses really do need us this year. The mood was nothing but merry on 5th Ave, and the employees so very helpful. The later was definitely a Christmas miracle.

6. The homeless subway entertainers have switched to Christmas Carols.
And they probably get more money that way, so its a good thing all around! (I'm dying for an entire train car to join in one of these days, but this is still New York, after all. And even though it is Christmastime, we are usually still pissed off on the train. Its tradition.)

7. Because Robert Moses would have a coronary if he were to see our streets now.
(Yeah, I stole this from the NY Mag list but it is deserving.) New York is reverting back to a pedestrian city. Strips of street have been painted tan, flanked with planters and benches. Bikers, walkers, and observers have taken over traffic and everyone seems to be okay with it. If there is one reason I love New York right now, this is it... and Jane Jacobs would be oh-so-proud.

8. Because New Yorkers still understand the concept of a lazy Sunday.
I had this discussion with friends today... only in New York will people drop all of their plans to sit in a cozy apartment or bar with a fireplace and a glass of wine for the entire day without a second thought. In the summer, Sundays are spent doing as much as we can, hopping from one Brooklyn activity to the next. But in the wintertime, we sit around and talk all day and never go outside because its just too cold. That's exactly how I spent my day today. An older coworker of mine once hinted at this and told me to enjoy it while I am single and young... 'there is simply nothing more decedent than drinking all day on a winter afternoon,' she said. I completely agree.

9. Because people actually stop working between Christmas and New Years.
Well... maybe just in the art world.

10. Because when you are single and 25 and working a 9-5 job in New York City, you can do whatever the hell you want from 5pm to 9am.
I totally stole this from last year's list, but I've been thinking about it for the entire year. The point is that there is so much to do in New York--anytime, all of the time-- but especially at Christmas. And people actually get out there are do it! That's the major difference between New York and middle America... people share in community activities and aren't dead set on being at home. Perhaps small apartments might have something to do with it, but whatever the reason, New Yorkers absolutely take advantage of all that the city has to offer. People get excited, parties are thrown, everything is holiday themed. I haven't been home after work in months. I find myself with plans every single night, usually multiple engagements to choose between. And while my laundry has suffered, my spirit is all the better for it.

Happy Christmas, everyone :)