Conscious Choice: BOOKS

March 2008 | Art & Soul

BOOKS

Helping Me Help Myself; One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus, and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort Zone
by Beth Lisick
(William Morrow)

Attending ten “life seminars” throughout the course of a calendar year, Bay Area author Beth Lisick puts herself through a get-better-boot-camp of sorts by hopping on the self-help train and hanging with the pros. An Atlanta visit to a convention featuring John ( Men Are from Mars, Women are from Venus ) Gray turns out to be one long infomercial for Gray’s products. A Caribbean weight-loss cruise meant to jump- start Beth’s quest for healthier living instead inspires a vague infatuation for cruise host Richard Simmons.

A little bit cynical and a little bit hopeful, this book is a great read for a lazy weekend. While it probably won’t help you, it will provide pages of humor, wit and good storytelling. And who knows, you might actually end up inspired to change your own life in small ways — with or without the aid of a guru.

—Amy Pennington

DVD

Feed
76 Minutes
Directed by Kevin Rafferty
and James Ridgeway
firstrunfeatures.com

In Atomic Café — the 1982 film that became a classic nuclear-age documentary — Kevin Rafferty pieced together archival footage from TV news, advertisements and U.S. military training flicks to remind audiences how American citizens were duped into believing nuclear weapons posed no serious threat to them.

Ten years later, Rafferty made Feed, packaging the film as a “comedy about running for president.” And that it is — a series of news footage and “never before seen” satellite feeds from the ’92 presidential primaries, now on DVD. Here’s Jerry Brown sticking some kind of inhaler up his nose. Here’s the-man-who-would-become “The Governator” spouting monosyllabic movie character quotes to the audience’s maniacal cheers. Here’s Bill Clinton in the middle of some linguistic trick. Here’s Gennifer Flowers… being Gennifer Flowers.

But the film, perhaps only by accident, transcends its superficial intention to expose these politicians as flawed human beings with ridiculous haircuts, revealing a deeper, subtler meaning in the quieter moments. Here is Bush the Elder, on camera, but before on-air, waiting, waiting, waiting to give a speech we never hear. He looks nervous. Is that the weight of the world I see in his eyes or did he just have a little too much coffee? We wonder and it’s excruciating. Here’s Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, chatting up socialites and chili chefs — the camera crew following her like a trail of gruff goslings. Here’s Paul Wellstone and Paul Tsongas trying to say hello to supporters in Minnesota through faulty equipment.

This other message is barely audible. But it’s saying something about our utter dependency on media to deliver us the information with which we’ll make our most important civic decisions. It’s saying something about the talking-point politics we tend toward practicing in this country. It’s saying something about that mysterious x-factor — power, duty, control — that drives politicians. And last, in light of our emergence into what is sure to feel like an epic and crazy year of campaigning, it might be saying something about how this urgency for change we feel, no matter which candidate we’re rooting for, is impermanent. After all, in ten years, we’ll just be noticing the haircuts.
—Eric Larson

MUSIC

Umalali
The Garifuna Woman’s Project
(Cumbancha)

History teaches us that in hunter/gatherer societies, males were the breadwinners of the tribe. Then again, it is mostly men who wrote his-story. While game supplied big payoffs in protein, the bulk of the hunter/gatherer diet came from scavenging and agricultural techniques devised and maintained by the women. Producer Ivan Duran — whose Stonetree Records is the most important musical conduit in Belize — assembled this female troupe to highlight the deep and rich tradition of Garifuna folk music, recording them in streets, temples and living rooms. Utilizing astounding musical textures from guitars, bass and percussion, Duran transforms an a cappella craft into a beautiful living mythology of an understated Belizean culture. With his work on Andy Palacio’s 2007 breakthrough album (and that artist’s untimely death in December), his eleven-year-old Stonetree is testament to the power of one man with a microphone and unwavering devotion. Umalali is the continuation of this passion, and a reminder of the importance of cultural foundations in an age of globalized allegiances.
—Derek Beres

Jamshied Sharifi
One
(Ceres)

Since the early ’80s Jamshied Sharifi’s musical career has been driven by unleashed creativity. His search has led him from studying (and subsequently teaching) at Berklee to the global city of New York, where he immersed himself in various modalities of African and Middle Eastern sounds. He has played with and produced Tibetan vocalist Yungchen Lhamo and Morrocan Gnawa master Hassan Hakmoun, both of whom make important contributions to One. Lhamo’s opening invocation on the title track, alongside Malian vocalist Abdoulaye Diabaté and distinguished kora player Mamadou Diabaté, sets the tone for this international orchestral sojourn. Sharifi’s background in film scoring creates a backdrop filled with imagery as much as sound; indeed, when Paula Cole and Hakmoun meld voices on “A Charlotte Sky,” one sees as much as hears. The same holds true of Vishal Vaid on “A Ship Sails; The Ocean is Gone.” The ghazal singer’s masterful contribution befits the work of Sharifi, whose sonic craftsmanship is worthy of equal accolades.
—D.B.

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