#Laurie Stone

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

This week, the Review is publishing a series of short reflections on love songs, broadly defined.

The other night I streamed Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song, a documentary by Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine. In most of the footage, we see a Leonard who’s reflective and doubting. As I watched his Jewish man’s face age and his dark hair turn gray, I wondered what I could learn from him about drawing no conclusions. That might be the motto of his life and music—draw no conclusions. It’s a sexy, freewheeling stance. I’d like it to be the motto of my life, except I draw conclusions all the time. They happen to be wrong, which saves me.

I always wondered what women wanted from Leonard. I think they wanted what they thought the songs were about. In the songs, a man is thinking about how to get the woman, and he thinks he can get her by figuring out what she wants. Leonard is imagining what it would be like to be a woman with a man coming on to her.

This is great. This is basically the opposite of every other song written by a man about a woman. For example, in his entire life, Bob Dylan has never imagined the effect of his lyrics on a woman, or else, you know, the words would not be so sneering, and he would give us a picture of the woman and not just her effect on him. Bob doesn’t address women. He writes to men about women. He can do what he likes. But not once in my life did I think Bob would be a good fuck. Every woman on the planet has thought Leonard would be a good fuck.

There’s a clip in the documentary of Leonard singing “I’m Your Man,” the title song of an album he released in 1988. The gravel in his voice has settled. In interviews, he said he felt he could sing at that point with the “authority and intensity” the song needed. He’s trying to win back the woman. He’s screwed up in some way. Gee, I wonder how? He’s grown aloof? He’s slept around? He stands there, holding the mic like it’s her hand, and he lays himself out. He doesn’t care if he looks vulnerable. Actually, he doesn’t. He’s in control of the show. The song is the blindfold. The song is going to lead you to the party.

The music has a jaunty, Kurt Weill bounce that builds without laying on too much of the old-world schmaltz Leonard likes to play with in other songs. He’s alone, with no chorus or backup singers. Just Leonard promising anything to turn her on. The file box of possibilities, itself, is the turn-on. He’ll wear a mask for you. He’ll let you strike him down in anger. He’ll go into the ring for you. He’ll explore every inch of you. He’ll have a baby with you. He’ll drive you like a car. He’ll let you drive him like a car. He’ll move off if you want to be alone.

Let’s get back to the “I’ll explore every inch of you.” He’s been with enough women to know this is the hook. He will make you feel he could drown in you. He’s drowning in something, and in sex it’s easy to think it’s you. Until the feeling wears off.

In 2008, when Leonard is seventy-three, he hits the road again to perform. He needs to reinvent his life and he’s broke. A woman who isn’t named in the documentary has stolen all his money while he’s spent five years in a Buddhist monastery. When he plans the tour, he’s afraid of the reception he’ll get, although it turns out tons of people love him. He doesn’t know how this has happened. He doesn’t believe he has anything to say except this is the way an artist makes a life, by staying in the game. And he hopes to give pleasure.

Onstage, he tells the audience he’s grateful to perform for them. He feels honored. You think it’s authentic. He’s so sweet and also severe in his restraint. In his whole life, Bob Dylan has taken very few breaks from performing. Onstage, Bob doesn’t look at the audience or tell them more than he needs to. You want to look at me, he’s saying; well, here I am. This is what you get. With Leonard, it’s all: Take me. What is it you want that I can give you?

Laurie Stone is the author of six books, most recently Streaming Now, Postcards from the Thing that is Happening (Dottir Press), which has been long listed for the PEN America Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. She writes the “Streaming Now” column for Liber a Feminist Review, and she writes the Everything is Personal substack.

[cinader]

L&BH - Wednesday, June 14, on WPVM Asheville, NC

Martha will speak live in the WPVM studio with Asheville poet Eric Nelson about his book Horse Not Zebra. Tony Robles speaks with Christian Hanz Lozada, author of the forthcoming book He's A Color Until He's Not. Writer Laurie Stone joins as a contributo

Listen & Be Heard continues with our new two-hour format on Wednesday afternoon at 3pm, EST, hosted live by Martha Cinader from WPVMfm 103.7fm in Asheville, NC and at WPVMfm.org anywhere in the world. Martha will speak live in the WPVM studio with Asheville poet Eric Nelson about his book Horse Not Zebra. Tony Robles speaks with Christian Hanz Lozada, author of the forthcoming book He’s A Color…

[dietcokeangel2004]

Dr Robert Chase aesthetic.

No, you can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometime you’ll find you get what you need. - The Rolling Stones

[lewisossokoh]

ACTORS WHO APPEAR IN MUSIC VIDEOS PT. 3

Jennifer Lopez starring Ben Affleck in "Jenny From The Block".

The Rolling Stones starring Angelina Jolie in Anybody Seen My Baby

Bruce Springsteen starring Courtney Cox in "Dancing in the Dark".

Enrique Iglesias starring Jennifer Love Heiwitt in "Hero".

Aerosmith starring Alicia Silverstone in "Cryin".

Aerosmith starring Mila Kunis in "Jaded".

Michael Jackson starring Eddy Murphy & Iman in "Remember The Time".

Shakira & Cardi B starring Lucien Laviscount in "Punteria".

Michael Jackson starring Macaulay Culkin in "Black or White".

The Offspring starring Zoey Deschanel in "She's Got Issues".

Annie Lennox starring Hugh Laurie in "Walking on Broken Glass".

Michael Jackson starring John Travolta, Carl Weathers, Mayim Bialik, Whoopi Goldberg, Corey Feidman, Quincy Jones, Dan Aykroyd, Brigitte Nielsen, Danny Glover, Olivia Hussey, Billy Dee Williams, Paula Abdul, Lou Ferrigno, Richard Dreyfuss, Lou Diamond Philips, Don King, Jasmine Guy, Virginia Madsen, Rosanna Arquette, Steve Guttenberg, Amy Irving, Blair Underwood, Beverley Johnson, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Jackie Collins, Emily Dreyfuss in "Liberian Girl".

[kfvarela]

Next ⏩

⏪ Previous

[bluesrocknrollingstones]

Huddersfield, 1965

Photos by Brian Lawton

[musicmags]

[genevieveetguy]

. Fundamentally, people are suckers for the truth. And the truth is on your side, Bubba.

JFK, Oliver Stone (1991)

[bugsinshoes]

ok, i just came up with a couple of questions

does laurie keep in touch with sam and rudy after graduation or they also go to backupsmore? where did laurie and jocelyn end up after graduating university?

OKAY SOOO!!!

About rudy and sam:

(for context about these goofs, sam LOVES space and astrophysics and all that jazz, while rudy is a MASSIVE comic nerd)

they don't go to backupsmore, but they get accepted into THEIR dream schools! I'm actually thinking MAYBE sam gets accepted into west coast tech? cause like its all science-y and probably has an AMAZING astronomy/astrophysics course? and from there shed become a pretty well known astronomer/astrophysicist (she wrote a few books!!!)

and as for rudy, MAYBE he gets sent to some random college in idaho cause I'm THINKING MAYYBEE his parents are all like "drawing isnt a job! youll get no where in life!!" or something like that, but he SELF-PUBLISHES some comics and someone finds his work, hired him, and gets a job doing something he really enjoys :D

as for if they keep in touch... they tried. rudy and sam kept tabs on eachother during their college years but the three of them kinda just drifted apart, yk? maybe laurie and jocelyn visited idaho during the holidays or smth and they get together with sam and rudy, but probably after that initial year of being apart they just fell out... friendships are like that, sometimes. (laurie, sam, and rudy are all still bffs tho, like theres no hatred between them. They left on good terms, its just their circumstances that were put between them. laurie is super proud of them and how far theyve come, though. maybe laurie sees one of sams books for sale and shes like "wow... im so proud of her" YK???)

AS FOR WHAT LAURIE AND JOCELYN WERE DOING AFTER GRADUATION:

this is like... 1974? (if i have the timeline right) so theyre kinda like "well, what do we do now?" so i like to imagine they travel around a bit. go to different states, sightsee, stuff like that. they spent a few years in canada, probably something like 8 years? (timelines still fucky, plus im still not 100% sure on lore. its all a wip) but then around mid/late 1985, theyre on their way back from somewhere (canada makes the most sense atm) and they get LOST.

but where do they end up?

gravity falls.

[imthefailedartist]

Dance to the Music

Sly and the Family Stone have been telling us that for decades. Why'd y'all stop listening?

Someone pointed out that a lot of these new choreographers and tiktok dancers only dance to the lyrics, and now I can't unsee it, and it annoys me to no avail because why are you not dancing to the beat?!?!

I bet if you put an instrumental on, they'd spasm lost with no lyrics to guide them.

They're all scrambling to be the chosen line dance for Beyoncé's Texas Hold Em, and they are all failing because they're only dancing to her words. I don't know if you know this, but the way a singer sings is different throughout the whole song, so there is no way to repeat the steps for the whole song. Which is the point of a line dance!

You do know what is consistent throughout the runtime of a song? The beat dammit. It's pretty much the same beginning to end.

In conclusion dance to the mother fucking beat!!!

I say I didn't notice it until it was pointed out, but that's not true. I did notice I just couldn't put my finger on why I don't like certain dances and dancers from the last seven or so years. A part of it is that nothing is smooth anymore. Most are doing this jerky, pop and lock, robot, tick, tutting, krumping, and I hate it. They do that shit to r&b. Like, what? Make it make sense. No one matches the vibe of the song. Why are you krumping to 1+1 Rebecca?!

[blackcrowing]

Review of A Circle of Stones: Journey and Meditations for Modern Celts by Erynn Rowan Laurie

This book is presented as a reconstructionist and historically based look at meditative practices one can do to strengthen their spiritual life in a 'Celtic' context. I take great issue with the idea of it being reconstructionist, while it does center on 'Celtic' concepts but I find some of the research.... questionable at best... which for the original 1994 print would honestly be extremely well done and thoughtful research of the time, but is simply unacceptable in the 2011 print run (at which time it should have been more seriously reworked, especially since Laurie herself notes in her forward that so much has changed and become available in the realm of research).

If you are looking for a Neo-Celtic meditation routine, this may hit the spot for you (especially if you come from a Wiccan or Catholic background) but if you're looking for a seriously scholarly look into the cosmology and meditative practices look elsewhere.

[cinader]

Writer Laurie Stone will join Listen & Be Heard as Contributor

Writer Laurie Stone will join the weekly radio show/podcast for readers and writers at the top of the hour, with her take on women and the ways society sells them short.

She’ll focus on images of women and how society sells them short in publishing and popular culture. Greenville, SC— June 9, 2023 — The Listen & Be Heard Radio Show/Podcast is pleased to announce that writer Laurie Stone will join the weekly show for readers and writers at the top of the hour, with her take on women and the ways society sells them short—an off-shoot of her popular Substack,…

[mceproductions]

MCE Best of 2022: Honorable Mention

TV Shows: South Park (Comedy Central)

For 25 Years the quiet mountain town unexpectedly has its weekly adventures tie into real world events.

As South Park Colorado exits Pandemic life we get more classic adventures featuring a simple Pajama day, Cartman wanting to keep his status quo but inadvertently making things worse, an activity with teens, and more fun with breakout star of the last 8 years Randy.

But the shades of reality aren’t far as we get another special Paramount+ exclusive featuring the return of everyone’s favorite climate change metaphor.

The big highlight though involved a dream concert with Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Primus, and others at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater.

Pure epicness that can still be great 25 years in.

SUM 22: The TV Honorable Mention gave more of Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny with its silver anniversary.

[gonzodangerfeels]

I had forgotten about it. Like, I really was like, huh, that's a dick thing to do

*shrugs*

[americanahighways]

Music Reviews: Joe Grushecky and a Rolling Stones tribute, plus Lynne Hanson, Laurie Lewis, and Nat King Cole

Music Reviews: Joe Grushecky and a Rolling Stones tribute, plus Lynne Hanson, Laurie Lewis, and Nat King Cole @joegrushecky @plynnehanson @ironcityhouserockers @laurielewismusic @natkingcolemuic #byjeffburger @americanahighways #americanahighways #americanamusic #newmusic2024 @jemrecordings @pieroso

Music Reviews: Joe Grushecky and a Rolling Stones tribute, plus Lynne Hanson, Laurie Lewis, and Nat King Cole Joe Grushecky: Something Old, Something New Joe Grushecky, a household name in his Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hometown, has never achieved the sort of fame enjoyed by such similarly styled artists as Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, and John Mellencamp. He has lately been getting a…

[lovesickhotel]

Come on famous people. Use your power

Well done everyone, it’s working! I’m so proud of this fandom today. Keep using #swiftiesforpalestine 💜