Afterlifehacks for Ibburim
New podcast about Connie Converse, transmigration of Jews, + a bunch of links, & more
Intro
I’ve never seen The Exorcist. I was 2 when it came out, so it’s understandable I didn’t catch it in the theater. I also somehow never caught it on TV/VHS/streaming, but I’m not too much of a horror guy, so that’s understandable.
It came up in the podcast I recorded with horror writer & editor Lisa Morton at Readercon 2 weekends ago — episode coming in October, to coincide with Lisa’s upcoming book, The Art of the Zombie Movie — as part of a “no movie can freak the bejesus out of the population anymore” digression.
I mentioned that idea to Amy a few days ago, and we were hard-pressed to come up with any sorta horror phenomenon in popular culture in recent decades. I mean, recent guest Mitch Prothero did attend a preview for The Blair Witch Project having received zero advance materials and thus having no idea that it was fictional, but the balloon for that got popped within the first few weeks of release.
Anyway, Amy knows I haven’t seen The Exorcist, and proposed we fix that some weekend. “But I'm not sure it'd have the same impact on you,” she said.
“Because I'm old, jaded, and know what's coming?”
“No, because you're Jewish, and the possession is a Christian thing.”
“Well,” I said, “Jews in The Old Country [IYKYK] have stories about Dybbuks, the evil spirits that possess people. Like that short in the beginning of A Serious Man from the Coen Brothers.”
“I’d be freaked out if Fyvush Finkel showed up at our door,” she said. [I made that up; actually, she’d ask for his autograph.]
“Me, too. Oh, and some Jewish mystics believe in Ibburim, the spirits of good people who didn’t get to complete all 613 mitzvot during their lives. The idea is, if a living person is in a position to fulfill a mitzvah or two that the dead guy didn’t get to do, then his soul might buddy up with the living person’s soul so that he can fulfill it. So we’ve actually got good possession, not just the demonic stuff.” (I picked up Gershom Scholem’s Kabbalah back in college & read all the good parts.) (Here’s a podcast I did with George Prochnik about Scholem.)
“Yeah, but . . . does the living person get credit for the mitzvah, too, or does the spirit get all the points for it?”
I was stumped, glad that I married someone who thinks like this, and wondering how to put this question to my local Kabbalist.
ANYWAY
Maybe no podcast next week. Last weekend’s guest had to postpone indefinitely, leaving me with a hole for the Aug. 1 slot. So you should go listen to this week’s episode twice, is what I'm saying.
And if you’ve got ideas for people I should record with in Portland, OR, let me know, as I’ve got a trip there in August.
And now, on with The Virtual Memories Show!
Podcastery
This week, I posted Episode 548 of The Virtual Memories Show! Writer, musician and composer Howard Fishman joins the show to celebrate his amazing new book, TO ANYONE WHO EVER ASKS: The Life, Music and Mystery of Connie Converse (Dutton). We get into how he discovered the music of the enigmatic Connie Converse, when he realized her life was a rabbit hole that would take more than a decade to delve through, what it was like to write a biography around the gaps in her life, and the sheer amount of chance, happenstance, and miraculous occurrences that led to this book. We talk about how Connie Converse arose as a singer-songwriter in 1950s NYC (maybe) just a few years ahead of her time, her subsequent role as a public intellectual and progressive activist, her Cassandra-like nature, the analytical mind she brought to music, policy, and every other topic in her life, and how she vanished without a trace in the mid-’70s. We also discuss how his idea of artistic legacy changed in light of learning Connie Converse’s story, the relationship between artist and audience (and the Cat Stevens story that first brought him to my attention), what it means to renounce one’s art, and a lot more. Give it a listen! And go read TO ANYONE WHO EVER ASKS!
Last week, I posted Episode 547 of The Virtual Memories Show, recorded during Readercon weekend. Christopher Brown rejoined the show and we talked about the nonfiction project he’s working on, tentatively titled THE SECRET HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS, the surprising reach of his FIELD NOTES weekly newsletter, tribes’ creation myths and how they manage to justify dominion over the land, why the outdoors is one of America’s most segregated spaces, and why calling Washington, DC “The Swamp” is an insult to swamps. We get into the parallels between science fiction and nature writing (esp. Annihilation and Neuromancer), what it means to live in the shadow of Tesla’s Gigafactory, the tensions of child-rearing at a time of ecological disaster, what it was like to vacation in South Padre Island during the hottest week in history, and plenty more. Give it a listen! And sign up for FIELD NOTES! (And go listen to our past talks: 2018, 2019, 2020 + COVID Check-In)
Other recent episodes: Rian Hughes • Eddie Campbell • Remembering Michael Denneny • Mitchell Prothero • Joseph Monninger
Links & Such
RIP Tony Bennett . . . RIP Richard Barancik (Monument Man & dad of past guest Cathy B. Graham) . . .
Simon Callow wrote about the late Julian Sands.
Michael Dirda (2012, 2014, 2015) wrote about Readercon! (And I get a mention!)
OMG this interview with Samuel L. Jackson . . .
Sebastian Smee is back with a new Great Works in Focus piece, this time about a bewitching portrait of Archbishop Archinto by Titian.
Tyler Cowen writes about not taking psychedelics.
The NYT wrote about the Dakota on the occasion of Yoko Ono moving out for the Catskills.
I suspect I could get a passing grade for my age range in the US Army’s Combat Fitness Test, but I hope never to find out.
Last Sunday, at a get-together with some neighbors, I asked the couple 2 doors down from us if they’ve seen any bears this season, since we hadn’t. They told me they get DAILY backyard visits from a mother & 2 cubs, and thanks to a trail-cam, they’ve gotten to watch this bear family go bananas on their new deck, dragging their grill around, slapping planters like a tetherball, and (the cubs) climbing up the screen door like they were trying to get in. The next morning, on a walk with Benny, we saw the bears crossing the road, about 8-9 houses from us: one cub, then another, then the mom, who was watching us the whole time as they trundled on into the woods. Benny wasn’t aggressive or anything, but once they were gone and we walked up to where they’d been standing, he was VERY sniff-curious about the grass/dirt on that side of the road. Anyway, here’s why you may be seeing more bears in your proverbial neck of the woods.
Current reading
In Defense of Love - Ron Rosenbaum
Ravage & Son - Jerome Charyn
Gravity’s Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
Art
I got an idea for something I want to draw/paint, but haven’t gotten started yet. I’m letting it gnaw at me, so that’s a good thing. You should go to the Flickr album of most of the art I’ve made & find something you like.
Sound Body, Fractured Mind
I managed my full 5-day weights/yoga cycle from Friday-Tuesday, so yay me. Well, Tuesday was actually this bodyweight routine, because there was a thunderstorm earlier, Benny was down here all freaked out, and when he finally conked out on his bed from a combo of gabapentin & nervous exhaustion, it was after I’d moved it to a spot where he could keep an eye on me AND keep me from setting up my bench & dumbbells. Oh, and I missed my 15-minute first-thing-in-the-morning floor exercises on Saturday because I had to get out to join The Guys for ~4 miles of their weekly Long Run. I did some pre-running stretches, so I wasn’t going in cold, but there was no time to do my regular morning routine. I didn’t beat myself up about it, and the 4 miles with The Guys was good for me.
Until Next Week
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back next week, with maybe a new podcast, some great links, maybe some art, & who knows maybe a little profundity or something.
The bees are busy / Now there's gold on the hill / The branches waving / But our hearts are wrapped up inside,
—Gil Roth
Virtual Memories
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