…where it lists what I’m listening to, is proof that I’m still alive.
Right now I’m listening to the new album that Loretta Lynn recorded with Jack White. It’s country-tinged roots rock and not unwelcome in that right now. Unfortunately, I’m plugged into my iPod, so the song probably won’t show up over there, although Audioscrobbler does pick up iPod plays from time to time.
Last night, we watched Fellini’s first film, Variety Lights, which is as boisterous and irreverent and sentimental as any of his firms through La Dolce Vita. Giulietta Masina supports and appears much older than she does later in, say, Le Notti di Cabiria–it probably has to do with weight. She’s a bit heavy in Variety.
Plot synopsis: Checco Dal Monte is a small-time Vaudeville star with great acting ambitions. Liliana Antonelli, Miss Beach in her village and dance-contest winner, pushes her way into his troupe and soon becomes the lead attraction. Checco abandons his cast, including fiance Melina Amour (Masina), to start anew on the stage with Liliana. But she’s got other ideas.
Fellini’s touch is deft throughout. The ridiculous and the heartrending are balanced and in close proximity, and his real affection for eccentricity is already evident.
Angharad says that she hates the ingenue, as a concept.
Contrast Variety with 1978’s Orchestra Rehearsal, one of his later films. It concerns union tensions within an orchestra as a documentary (meta-”Fellini’s”) is being filmed. How very meta. How very boring. Given the date, one can perhaps understand Fellini’s attraction to the subject matter, but aside from a few entertaining character sketches as the musicians describe themselves to the documentary crew, the film’s a snoozer.
Connected to the iPod (with an air-free 6-inch mini-cord) is a Headspace Airhead Total battery-powered amplifier. And plugged into that are my trusty Grado SR-80s. Of course, I’m using the iPod pedestal’s output jack–as part of some bizarre design compromise, Apple put a separate DSP in the base, but powered by the iPod, that offers exceptionally clear and flat output. Why did they do this, at, one presumes, much greater cost, instead of rerouting the signal in the iPod? This is so irrational that it must have been a Jobs design decision, which lends to my admiration for him: this is a bit of an obscure thing. Anyway, the sound out of this rig is nearly the best I’ve heard. Total cost: well, not nearly as much as I would have expected to get this kind of sound. Niggling complaint: the sound out of my Powerbook is terrible, no matter what I do.
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