In Which Weeks Pass As We Carve Your Epitaph

The Week in Review

We all have an image of ourselves that we keep in our mind. Usually I look like Tom Brady; sometimes I look like Jeff Garlin, but usually when I'm drinking I feel a lot like Christy Turlington. After a tough week you want to kick back and be someone else for awhile. Eventually virtuals will allow us to experience things we never could before. I've been looking to find out what it feels like to be 30 IQ points lower and hitting my head on the pavement didn't seem like the best option. Soon I will become Christy Turlington, sooner probably than you think.

Until then, enjoy being these people, and consider adopting their opinions as your own.

I wonder what Christy's doing now. Not like in her life, more what she's doing right now at this moment. Sometimes when I'm peeping into Tom Brady's inner life I realize that it's not that different from mine, which scares me to my core. We both wanted to knock up Bridget Moynahan; only one of us got the job done.

• Eleanor asked if Funny People was actually funny.
• Georgia reviewed Charlyne Yi's Paper Heart.
• Yvonne chronicled the drought's effect on Texas.

Christy to me is the perfect model because she's not so attractive that I couldn't imagine settling down and watching three or four episodes of How I Met Your Mother with her. By the way, I heard they cast Kat Dennings as those kids' mom. Sorry kids.

• Eleanor tackled the brilliance of Jules Dassin.
• Molly mourned the passing of John Hughes in his own words.
• Steven educated us about the vicissitudes of Berlin.

Christy also aged very well, which can't be said of the vast majority of her peers. Have you seen Cindy Crawford lately?

• Owen Roberts discussed Robert Ware and literary forgeries.
• Alex reviewed the import of Michael Swanwick.
• Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne drank of one another deeply.

Yeah, Cindy doesn't look so great, but she had a terrific run. Remember when she let one of the Baldwins get all over her in some TV movie? That was the most erotic 90 seconds of my life at the time.

• Almie introduced you to the wonderful world of Mad Peaks.
• Molly reviewed the devastating enviromental impact of the summer wind.
• Eleanor's journey with In A Lonely Place.

You can find the last Week in Review here.

"My Boys" - Taken By Trees (mp3)

"Anna" - Taken by Trees ft. Panda Bear (mp3)

"Tidens Gang" - Taken By Trees (mp3)

"Greyest Love of All" - Taken by Trees (mp3)

In Which It Was A Week Where We Didn't Know

The Week In Review

That's enough about the Moon, what about the Earth? The Earth is also a celestial body, or so I have heard. Did you know apes can't swim? If there is coincidentally a question about that when I appear on Jeopardy! , that would be advantageous for my chances. This Recording could fire hire that foot-washer I've been complaining our office doesn't have.

On second thought, I'm not terribly keen on going on Jeopardy! ever since I found out about the article this guy's local newspaper ran on his third-place appearance:

Lakeland's John Munson achieved something on 'Jeopardy' Friday night, even if it wasn't money.

The 27-year-old, who now lives in New York, had tried out to participate in the competition as a tribute to his late sister, who'd wanted to appear on the show. Munson came in third Friday. Five-day champion Stefan Goodreau of Los Angeles placed first. After a rocky start, Munson shot up from $200 to $4,600, excelling in a Bob Dylan-themed category.

By the final round, he was still in third place but up to $8,200. His earnings dropped down to $3,200 after he incorrectly guessed 'Cher' as the woman who was 'on a world tour at age 69 when Jeopardy' premiered in September 1984,' and 'had the world's no. 1 hit.' Goodreau correctly guessed 'Tina Turner,' clinching his win.

But let me get back to the Earth, a subject worth returning to. I have spent my entire life on Earth, so I feel I know a great deal about it. I like the local gravity here, and the blogs. Here are some of my favorite Earth blogs: Apocalypstick, Ellen Copperfield, The State That I Am In, Rise!, Salad and Candy...there's others I'm sure. I don't read the internet as much as I should.

• Ben Arfmann explored the legend of Keanu Reeves.
• Joan Didion kinda blew us off.
• Molly explored the life of the man whose penis was three sizes too big.

It's a little bit Earth-centric to post pictures of the Earth. I don't want to brag about all our fresh water. Sometimes it's hard to fathom where all the water comes from, or why Poland Spring seems intent on hogging it.

• Meredith went to see (500) Days of Summer.
• Duncan Jones and Sam Rockwell took Alex to the Moon.
• Marco explained the appeal of Torchwood.

Kurt Vonnegut once opined that "In the water I am beautiful", inciting about 16-20 seniors at my high school to place that quote on their yearbook page or scrawl it above a sketch of a colostomy bag. In the water you are more wet than beautiful, I thought that was supposed to be the point. Enjoy these articles from The Week That Was:

• Chloe showed you her photography.
• Molly explored new places and ppl.
• Alex looked back at this week's True Blood.

I would like a strong Burgundy.

• 25 things Becca can't handle right now.
• Marlon Brando met Truman Capote for real.
• Bob Creeley nattered on about Franz Kline.

You can find last week's Week in Review here.

"You Are Never Alone" — Vic Chesnutt (mp3)

"Fodder on Her Wings" — Vic Chesnutt (mp3)

"Splendid" — Vic Chesnutt (mp3)

This Recording: Without It There Is No Future

In Which If I Become Cheap Will You Respect Me

The Week in Review

It's been a hot week. Temperatures seem to be rising everywhere. On the train I saw two dudes look at each other sweating and remove their shirts. It was a special moment of craziness, and I didn't forget it one ride on the 6 train later. If there is one thing I'm tempted to do in this heat it's pack up and go someplace better. That's not the advice Paul Gauguin took:

By 1890, Gauguin's career was in crisis: Matte had forced him from the family home, his paintings were out of favour and he had been dropped by the city's best art dealers. 'By the end of the year, Gauguin was like a cornered dog,' said Mathews. 'He was harrying friends for cash and desperately proposing one new money-making scheme after another.'

Eventually, in 1891, he hit on the idea of travelling to Tahiti to paint illustrations for the most popular novel of the day, Pierre Loti's The Marriage of Loti . He held a banquet for the cream of the literary and artistic world and explained how the primitive, erotic living conditions on Tahiti would revive his muse.

'He portrayed the natives as living only to sing and to make love,' said Mathews. That's how he got the money from his friends and raised the public's interest in his adventure. But, of course, he knew the truth, which was that Tahiti was an unremarkable island with an international, Westernised community.'

'I stand at the edge of the abyss, yet I do not fall in,' Gauguin wrote to a friend on the eve of his departure.

Tahiti was more sexually liberated than turn-of-the-century Paris and there is no doubt that Gauguin revelled in the opportunities it offered, but his time there was not nearly as extreme as he claimed. Unfazed, Gauguin transformed his prosaic experiences into titillating erotic adventures.

'The island [and the realities of Gauguin's life there] are virtually unrecognisable in his representations, carefully calculated to intrigue the French audience,' said Mathews.

After two years, Gauguin returned to France, expecting a hero's welcome. But what should have been a triumphant return turned into a morass of misunderstanding and disappointment as his paintings remained unsold.

In a final attempt to spark the public's interest, Gauguin wrote Noa Noa, his autobiographical account of his life in Tahiti. 'Writing the book was the beginning of Gauguin's writing of an erotic life for himself,' said Mathews. 'He created a life for public consumption as part of his campaign to make his exhibitions - and therefore his future - a success.

Gauguin's efforts failed, however, and less than a year later, he was making plans to return to Tahiti. 'Gauguin seems to have fallen for the myth of Tahiti he created,' said Mathews. 'He returned expecting the erotic idyll that was only ever a figment of his imagination. Of course, he didn't find it and the disappointment was profound: he died a twisted and bitter man, having alienated everyone both at home and in Tahiti. It's a sad story of a man who believed his own fiction.'

Now you know what not to do. Go forward. Multiply.

• Belle and Sebastian were appreciated as the cultural titans they are.
• Joan Didion wondered what Eleanor Morrow's deal was.
• This was the first time we really felt like Liz Lemon.

• Julian Schulman expanded our reach into architectural photography.
• Alex covered True Blood as it rolls on through its second season.
• Yvonne was with the cockroaches.

• Wes Anderson told us all about his favorite songs.
• This is how Georgia O'Keeffe lived her life.
• Eleanor Morrow brought Larry Sanders back to life.

• Molly finally got around to joining Woody Allen Week.
• Hermione and Harry Potter done set us up the bomb.
• The moon grew larger in our telling of it.

You can find the This Recording tumblr here and the This Recording twitter here.

"Power Trip Again" - Atlas Sound (mp3) highly recommended

"So Many Bodies" - Atlas Sound (mp3)

"Recent Bedrooms Again" - Atlas Sound (mp3)

It feels like an important time in the world right now. Did you enjoy these posts?