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Highly Anticipated Tim Minchin Appreciation Post

2011 was not a great year. I mean, it wasn't like 2005, a great year that saw me graduate culinary school top of my class, get a job at the dream restaurant I'd hoped for, and reach a level of physical fitness I hadn't seen in years. Though, it wasn't as bad as 2007, the year my best friend's stepfather killed himself, I wrecked my car, careened madly though my first job as an "executive pastry chef", and I filed bankruptcy. 2011 was just a year where consistency was the goal, and as always practicing the patience to achieve it was the primary activity. It was the first calendar year without Hopey, as well. My first whole year without dog. Which is, of course, god spelled backwards.
2011 was also the year that I became fully aware of Tim Minchin, and it was easily one of my favorite things to have happen all year.He describes himself as a satirical musician, and also as an atheist and rationalist. That was originally what brought him to my attention, a British vlogger's site (it's true, I have no business watching 20-something UK uni students video blogging about their Time Lord Rock band, but it happened, and it led to the discovery of a unique, witty, and amazingly talented musician, so, you know, pffffbt) that  had mentioned him, and initially the song "White Wine in The Sun" (which I posted yesterday) a song I'd been hearing references to throughout my....uhm, survey of British TV I'd taken to indulging in between Arsenal games.
((sidebar: hey, adorkables? My delightful team of bi-polar-footy-boys? You are, all 23 of you, including King Henry, killing me with your inconsistency! Losing to Swansea? Did you think because you were in Wales you were on vacation? It's a good thing there are some lighthearted videos by Tim Minchin available to help bring a smile back to my face after such a sad, sad performance. 10 points behind Spurs? I feel like you all need a big hug. I'd be happy to oblige. Just saying. For the team. Call me.))
"White Wine..." is a fantastic example of Minchin's talent. The song starts out as a satirical indictment of Christmas, from his atheist/rationalist perspective, for which he draws lots of attention. It is witty, and disarming, as he sings about how he genuinely enjoys Christmas in spite of the hokey religious characterizations and horrendous soul-sucking merchandising dog & pony show. As the song progresses, he begins to fill in the emotions of what christmas really means to him, and it becomes a touching, sweetly genuine song of love for being amongst the ones you love and who love you, unconditionally. As the song finishes, every time I listen, all I can think of is "yes, that is what Life is about, not all this other dreck", And also, "holy cow is he fun to watch". You see; as he explains in interviews, Tim wears eyeliner and shadow onstage, and rats his hair because he is a piano player, so isn't able to use grand physical gestures to an audience; so in order for his expressions to be easier to read (and even more engaging) he uses makeup. Regarding his "look", he talks about how when so many of his songs (I'm not sure of the percentage, but I'd be willing to say its almost at least half) are about controversial issues like religion, it is easier for the audience to be receptive to ideas if the person presenting the information is more of a "character". It makes sense, and when you watch clips of his live performances you'll see all that. I am also quite fond of  his dead-sexy intelligece. His songs are intricate  (well, mostly, that one about the Pope not so much, but hey, everyone needs an afternoon off, and really, what more is there to say about the motherfucking pope?) prose set to music (again, mostly, with a couple exceptions) which tend to start as a seemingly straightforward sarcastic toned poke, and end up a well-crafted statement of a core belief in oneself and in figuring it out for yourself. Sometimes they take the long way around, like "Prejudice", where what starts as something you think you know, a song about a subject that seems so obvious you find yourself tapping your foot and thinking, "what could he possibly say about this that hasn't already been said" and then a little flipping of letters, and it becomes a song about something else altogether, and yet not. It, for me, becomes a song about how words get turned into things that people put weight and meaning into. How words can be hurtful, and yet, in the end, they are, after all just words that people make rules for using and create cultures around. I enjoy Minchin's approach to science, writing songs dispelling new age nonsense, and hopeless religious affectations.
It seems so amazingly refreshing to see an artist present views like that - at least here in America where if you approach that sort of subject matter and try and get people to laugh and think about shit at the same time, you generally get buried. Although he's Australian, Minchin has become a huge presence in the UK, where he now lives. In the UK, 43% (or so) of the population identify as atheists. As a kid who decided on her own at the age of eight to stop saying "under god" during the Pledge of Allegiance ((look it up....oh, wait, wikipedia is down, YOU CANT...oh, the youth....)) because it made me uncomfortable, that is a huge hook. Uncomfortable how? Well, I was raised in a family that didn't go to church, for a litany of reasons. Even at that young age, perceiving how serious people seemed to be about church (even on shows like Little House On The Prairie) I felt uncomfortable referring my loyalty to this god that I didn't know or really understand how it worked. Much the same as today, and as reflected in Tim Minchin's songs, I still don't see any tangible evidence of this god that we are supposed to listen to, yet I can't hear him. How do you follow the instructions of anyone you can't see or hear? It just hasn't ever made any sense, and suddenly there's this great musician who's smart and has a great sense of humor and he writes these songs....just so very good. Plus he also writes sweet love songs with clever and even sort of snarky lyrics  like "If I Didn't Have You", or "If You Really Loved Me" and his onstage personae is so genuine, so engaging, so completely geeky (such a Rock and Roll Nerd)  that honestly, I find it futile to try and resist.
Also, he's a really versatile musician able to switch genres with grace and aplomb. Yep, I said aplomb.
I look forward to him gaining more recognition, to a US tour, and to see him more often in general, and to hear his new music. He, like Eddie Izzard, is an artist who raises the bar, who nudges you to learn as you are entertained, and for that, in a year that lacked a lot of entertainment, I am very, very appreciative.
This one is another of his sweet ones, but still though...Here's to 2012's discoveries.

So, there's this cat. I first noticed it in my back yard amongst the squirrels. Previously, I'd had a pretty regular squirrel visitor queue (look, it's dull without a dog around, squirrels are like tiny little dogs who can hang upside down on the trunk of a tree and slap their tails when they bark) ((no, seriously, they bark)) for a while - ever since I started leaving old baked goods on the fencepost for them. Squirrels, I'm sure it doesn't suprise you, love baked goods, cookies, muffins, scones. Also avocado pits. But I digress.I had been tossing stuff to squirrels for a few weeks when I noticed a squirrel perched on the fencepost chattering  so loud I could hear him in my bedroom. I peered out the window into the foggy backyard, and there was a grey and white long-haired cat munching away on a scone I had tossed out there for them earlier in the morning.
I'll type that again, just in case it's not clear: the cat was eating the scone. Not just picking at it or licking it, oh, no, that cat was scarfing it like there was no tomorrow and the squirrel was having a fit, slowly creeping down the post and towards the cat who would throw a mean side-eye and twitch its tail and the squirrel would flit around to the other side of the planter box. For the next couple days, I would specifically throw other items out - but ol' Sconey only likes scones. I assume it's the cream and butter in them that makes it so appealing - but the cat isn't starving, by any means. I see it around the neighborhood, so it's just one of those outdoor felines who wander from house to house, culling the best grub.
On Xmas when the cat appeared to be sleeping at the foot of the tree in my yard (it's funny, it's taken a year for the critters in the neighborhood to agree that the crazy grey dog who cant hear is no longer going to come skittering out onto the deck when she sees some sort of movement) I wished I'd had some catfood (I was home alone on Xmas, but totally ok with it, actually. I mean, I was a little homesick, but mostly just enjoyed the quiet day off, making tiny paperchains & decorations for my tiny little live tree and cooking a little meal to enjoy after all the requisite phone calls had been made) .
Karen had suggested just getting a cheap bag of food, if I was at all interested in making nice with the cat...which I kind of was. Anyway, I didn't have any scones left from work, nor any catfood cause I hadn't actually thought that plan through, but I wanted to give the cat something - it was the silly holiday of giving, right?
So...I opened a can of tuna, and proceeded to create Addict Cat. Addict Cat now sits on my back fence staring intensely into the window waiting for more food to be put in the dish. We haven't had as much extra stuff at work, so the cat hasn't been getting the scones anymore, but instead I've given it the giblets from chickens I've roasted, chicken, more tuna, and yeah, I did finally break down and get some cat food.
Both wet and dry - I know. So far, Addict Cat just hangs out on the deck after eating - I haven't been out there much because it's been cold lately, but I imagine if its pleasant enough one morning, I might go out and have coffee with him/her, just to see how it's going.
*coming soon, a long overdue Tim Minchin Appreciation Post, until then: