Cynics Need Not Apply

van the man

Van Morrison - Starting a New Life

Why Van Morrison’s “Starting a New Life” (from the album Tupelo Honey) hasn’t been on a million and a half movie soundtracks, I’ll never know. You know the storyline: The protagonist/anti-hero beats his head against a figurative wall for the first half of the movie, continually denies the calling of his soul; eventually has his moment of clarity; achieves redemption; now enlightened, he walks into a beautiful sunset while this song plays and the credits start to roll and, we are left to assume, begins to live a life markedly different from the one he’d previously been living. We all know the story and it’s easy to be cynical whenever we hear a story that follows the same arc. So, excuse me if I spare you mine because I’m a little wary about telling it only to have a bunch of cynical citizens of the blogosphere throwing rocks at my glass house (the torrent of mixed metaphors have returned! Yes!). I’m a sort of optimistic realist and I realize I’m already setting myself up for failure, but I haven’t done enough of that lately (the setting-up, I mean), so I figure I’m due…

But, lucky for you, what I do feel like telling you all about are my moments of folly, ineptitude, humiliation, embarrassment, and easily my worst ever day in a foreign country. Those stories are more interesting anyway. Stay tuned for a knee-slapper of a story that some who are in-the-know enough would describe as a “typical koopa” moment (which it most definitely is) and others less familiar with those moments have described as a minor miracle (which I won’t rule out). It’s all about perspective.

So, if you can imagine this whole trip of mine as a movie and this is the song playing while the credits roll, please wait patiently while I do the behind-the-scenes featurette on the scenes of interest. My brain feels pretty mushy from jetlag after spending 24hrs yesterday in a bunch of planes, trains, and automobiles trying to get home…so it could be a day or two…

Dude, bonus!!: Because I love Van Morrison (If you don’t have Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” album, shame on thee) and it might be awhile before I post more from him, here is another song that would have played in a montage during the movie of my last two weeks…mmm mmm mmm!

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Simply sublime, no?