The hottest part of This American Life is the flexibility of the program to roleplay in any position and provide us with pleasure resourcefully-from interviews to live performances, Ira is like a madame who introduces you to his sweet delights for a (suggested) price. Of the betraying airwaves this week, Ira says, "When you’re really in love and other people overhear you, I think it’s hard not to sound a little over the top. That’s what I like about these recordings-the feeling in them is so direct." The sheer intimacy of the classic episode rerun this week, Recordings for Someone, exposes unwavering humanness stripped bare to nasty meanderings and sweet nothings.
Act 1: Men envied him for his ability to inspire that much raw transparent hostility in his mother
I feel fortunate to have come across the "pure gold" that marks the first act I had ever heard of This American Life. Aired is the best phone message of all time, which was recorded in the early nineties at Columbia University and afforded "campuswide celebrityhood" for a man and his mothah. The enticingly fanatical act is brought to you by producer Jonathan Goldstein, who aside from sounding confidently strong in the pants, also distinguishes the story with his alpha narration, editing, and wise loyalty to his companions’ neurotic tipoffs. I’ll neglect the details as the pleasure center resides in the plot’s unraveling-to tickle your gray matter, some enticing quotations:
Pure Gold Quotes of Act 1:
"Each one teasing you with the tantalizing proximity of the main stage about to be bathed in the spotlight"
"This is clearly another example of the failure of your imagination"
"He was not a hit with the ladies, Fred."
"When he sent me the recording of the little mermaid message he also included burnt incense and a CD of his band’s soundtrack for a film about cannibalism called Eat Me."
"I diggy-don’t give a rat’s ass"
The ecstasy inspired by Columbian neurosis, smarts, and bitchsqueals is what drives the piece and I couldn’t get enough.
Act 2: That is what you want, isn’t it?
Idaho homeboy Kevin Murphy sticks it to the pizza man. "I’ve edited out all my stutters and pauses to make it easier for you-that is what you want, isn’t it?" To put a stuttering man on the radio is really a brilliant thing, Ira. Being exposed to a facet of life that is generally gagged and thrown in the closet like a gimp is freeing. It’s kind of like when you find out Kandy is not only a stripper on Saturday nights, but holds more degrees than you do in the hand that isn’t holding you. A man with a stutter is still a man-believe me.
Act 3: If I felt like I had murdered people on the battlefield, I couldn’t live with myself
Ira interviews John Brasfield about notes he recorded for wifey during his missions in the Persian Gulf War. He explains the emotional rollercoaster of being victimized by war as a soldier. "I think it’s the not-knowing by the family members that’s the bad thing about it." Offering closure if he were to die, these tapes would have brought his wife to the moments—while some people aim for feel-good all the time, I admire John’s commitment to providing revealing truth, the most valuable gift you could give a lover. Meanwhile, of rationalizing away reality for the self he says, "It brings back a lot of aspects that the mind has kind of forgotten and has done that for a reason." Self-dillusion and surreality might be the best opiate for the scarred soldier’s sanity.
Act 4: He’s so in love with you on this cassette
New Yorker David Cossin woos his Italian special lady friend with whom he had spent a magical week in the boot à la tape recordings. While it’s easy to raise an eyebrow as an outsider, to take on the role of la italienne manifests a sort of artificial connection. "It was tender, it was really feeling again the presence of somebody," says Alessandra. The intensity on magnetic tape rejoined them, like two reels of a cassette.
I was not surprised that they replayed such a classic beauty that will never cease to amaze and alarm, like the other classic Marilyn who said, "It’s not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on."
Needless expenses, life doesn’t necessarily value your self-esteem, life count on you feel good about by themselves before you can want becoming successful. A lot more no longer realistic, get accustomed to them.
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