Chris Whitley passed away from lung cancer this past Sunday. He was only 45 years old. My brother Evan first got me interested in CW by introducing me to his first album, Living With The Law. With its hard pounding tempos, raw and viceral lyrics and southern twang; it was refreshing when music had seemed to hit a boring streak. I would rediscover CW years later when my friend, Mark Stracka, tried to recommend him to me. I caught up with CW’s releases and enjoyed them all. When I later got heavily into Daniel Lanois, I was delighted to discover that DL had played guiter on Living With The Law.
Recently, Mark asked me if I had kept up with CW’s releases. Sadly, the answer was “No”. We both agreed that we needed to pick up his latest album. I’ll be filling in the gaps in my collection right after I get back from Thanksgiving.
I checked my email this morning to find the sad news. I feel, in some strange way, a loss. I can’t explain it and I won’t try right now.

We went to see the movie Prime. The story about a woman who is dating her therapist’s son seemed entertaining from the trailers we’d seen. The trailers didn’t do the movie justice. This is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time. The humor is quite dry. If you’re looking for Stripes or Animal House, this isn’t them.
I haven’t liked anything Uma Thurman has done in a long time. I really liked her performance in this film. She really has gotten in touch with her vulnerable side. Maybe her divorce from Ethan Hawke had something to do with that.
Meryl Streep stole the show! She was cast perfectly as the therapist who wants her son to marry a nice Jewish girl and is then horrified to find out that not only is he dating a Gentile; but it’s one of her patients. She plays it straight and the performance is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.
Some people tell me they don’t like Meryl Streep in previous movies. I actually think they don’t like the character she is playing. She thoroughly becomes the character. If you don’t like the person you’re seeing on the screen; it’s the character you don’t like, not her.
