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Something Wild – just as much a “hero’s journey” as Star Wars

Thank God I missed this movie when it came out!

I say thanks, because it was such a pleasure to see a classic movie from my adolescence, but as a grown man.  It was a time machine for me, but — instead of reminding me of the first time I saw it — it reminded me of who I was when it was made.

Like True Romance and Risky Business, this is a movie about a lonely, mild-mannered man who — led by a woman — escapes his humdrum existence and taps into power he didn’t know he had — his wits, his sexuality, his capacity for violence, she urge him to react to use accessories as a small anal vibrator and to try more things.  Like a mythic hero out of Joseph Campbell, he emerges from his journey ready to take on the responsibilities of adulthood.

Yes, these movies are myths. Wonderful, subversive myths.

Also, it’s another American story about two misfits on the run.  Somebody should write a dissertation comparing the journey of Charlie and Lulu to that of Huck and Jim.

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She loves a Monkey’s Uncle

 

Such a delightful find yesterday.  Came up on a Spotify playlist that my wife Simone was listening to.

Well, I don’t care what the whole world thinks
Call us a couple of Missing Links
Love all these monkeyshines
Every day is Valentine’s
I love the monkey’s uncle
And the monkey’s uncle’s ape for me.

I should have recognized those harmonies for the Beach Boys.  And written by the brothers who wrote “It’s A Small World”!

UPDATE:  The Sherman Brothers also wrote all of the music for Mary Poppins AND the 1974 musical adaptation of Huckleberry Finn.   Apparently, everything in life leads — eventually — back to Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn.  Here’s their song “Cairo, Illinois” performed by Paul Winfield (as Jim) and Jeff East (as Huck):

 

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My new book coming in May 2019 on the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Ed

I’m very pleased to announce that my new book will be released next May on the 65th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.  This is the culmination of several years of work with my good friend and mentor Gloria Romero, who is the former Democratic majority leader of the CA State Senate.

Gloria is so passionate about ending the link between where a child lives and what public school the child is allowed to attend, and she has convinced me that this is one of the primary civil rights battles of our day.  My book is about the state laws that allow (and often require) school districts to discriminate against you based on where you live.  These policies keep most middle-class and poor kids out of the best public schools, encourage residential segregation by class and race, and drive up housing costs.  We can do better.

This is not a Left vs. Right issue.  Liberal writer Malcolm Gladwell has advocated for opening up the best public schools to all-comers, and the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a Republican, once called for an educational system “in which parents are free to disregard neighborhood-school assignment, and to send their children (with transportation paid) to whichever school they choose.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is right that a child’s fate should not determined by their zip code, and school assignment is the place where all of it starts.

As I finish up writing this book, I’m looking for your stories about how you’ve been affected by attendance zones (or school district boundaries).  Has your child been blocked from attending a quality public school because of where you live?  Have you lied about where you live in order to get the best possible education for your child?  Have you paid $200 thousand extra for a house in order just to gain access to a public school… only to learn that the school isn’t a good fit for your kid?  If so, please email me at tim [at] timderoche.com.  I’d love to hear your story (confidentially, of course).

This is one of two new books that are coming out in May 2019.  This is the more serious one, the other one being a bit more playful and even silly.  More on the other book, later.  But I’m very eager to get each of them out into the world.

(Cover design by the incredible @printgonzalez, of course.)

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Recording the audiobook for Huck & Miguel

All this week I’ve been in the studio recording the audiobook for Huck & Miguel.  Surprisingly fun.  I love Huck’s voice so much that it’s a pleasure getting into his head again.

And narrating an audiobook is a distinct craft.  I got some wonderful coaching from pros PJ Ochlan and Pat Fraley.  Such a challenge to bring the story to life for the listener.

Did you know that the leading independent audiobook production company is right here in Los Angeles?  Deyan Audio has won 5 Grammies and 25+ Audies.  These folks are pros and are going to make the book sound great.  They operate 5 recording studios out of a beautiful house in Northridge.  They were founded by engineer Bob Deyan, who died of ALS in 2014, and the company is now run by his wife Debra.

A great week with this book that I love.

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Rebecca De Mornay and the Cat in the Hat

What do they have in common?  (besides red stripes, of course!)

They are both agents of chaos.

Has anyone else noticed that Risky Business and The Cat in the Hat are basically the same story?  Bored, obedient boy is left alone by parents.  Agent of chaos arrives and injects all sorts of fun into boy’s life…. and creates a big mess to boot.  Big mess is cleaned up just in time!

(Note: Sally’s a really underdeveloped character in Cat, right?  Her main purpose seems to be to make the rhymes work.)

Oh!  I just Googled, and at least one other person has noticed.  Here is Marc Spitz in Salon back in 2014:

Like the Cat in the Hat [De Mornay’s character Lana] creates havoc when the parents are away, jars a man-child out of his torpor, and exits just in time to leave everything safe and sound by the time the adults return.

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