Levon Helm: ten years later

Levon Helm died ten years ago, today. He was 71 years old. 

I dont want to sit here and mope about how he would be 81 years old if he were still here, or that he left us too soon. I'd rather just take a moment to appreciate one talented man on a sad day. 

Born in Elaine Arkansas on May 26, 1940, Lavon "Levon" Helm grew up in rural Arkansas in a musical family. He picked up multiple intruments and then while still in high school was offered a spot in Ronnie Hawkin's band The Hawks. Levon would go on to meet fellow musicians Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson. They became Levon and the Hawks, or just the Hawks. 

Meanwhile Bob Dylan was interested in playing more electric music and asked the Hawks to become his backing band. Helm, Danko, Robertson, Manuel, and Hudson would end up breaking out from behind Dylan and become The Band. 

To make a very long story short the Band would end up become one of rock and roll's greatest bands. 

Levon is well loved, well missed, and well remembered. 

 

A Review of The Portrait by Iain Pears

 

We find ourselves on the cusp of World War One on a small island of Fance's Brittany coast. Houat with a population of only a few hundred is also host to a Scottish painter, Henry MacAlpine. Henry is on a self-imposed exile from his native country and is now hosting an old friend and art critic, William Nasmyth, to sit for a portrait. 

The Portrait is written as a one long monologue from Henry to William as William sits for the portrait. It was a feature of the book that I was not aware of until I got a few pages into the book. Over the course of the book we the readers learn more and more about the relationship between the two characters. One is an artist who has never achieved the fame for his art that he would have liked. The other is a one time artist and now full time art critic who is also an ego-maniac. 

One great thing about the book is the way that Pears is able to give breadcrumbs as to how the book will play out but not ruin the ending. Other authors would possibly struggle with the abilit to tease the reader and let the reader know how this book will come to a conclusion without making the reader disinterested. About halfway throught the book I had concluded that I had guessed the ending and was still very much interested in reading. 

Houat

Pears

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

 

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven

I am a man who loves mysteries. Whether these are true crime mysteries, urban legends or unexplained events. I love them all. One type of mystery that I particulary like is when there is an indiviudal whose work people know but they do not know the person behind it. A serial killer who has still yet to be identified interests me more than one who was captured. An unknown assassin is much more interesting than a known one. An unknown author is much more interesting than a well known and loved author. 

B. Traven is one of these. Unkown. There are speculations and good guesses as to who the man behind the psydonym B. Traven is, but nothing definative. 

And that is what makes his work even more interesting. 

Is he Ret Marut? I don't know. I know I loved his book thought. 

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was a well written book about man's greed and ability or inability to control it. 

We see it uncontrolled by the oil company owners who paid slave wages for backbreaking work. We see it controlled by Curtin (my favorite characted). We see it uncontrolled by Dobbs. 

This book captures the greed, and paranoia that is brung on man in his search for riches. 

Looking forward to reading more of his works and sorry for not updating in the last 6 months. No excuse. I am doing well.