HIGHLY RECOMMENDED W/ MR. SAM & THE PEOPLE PEOPLE
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is Mr. Sam from Mr. Sam & The People People — a music-maker out of New Orleans, Louisiana who recently dropped a pleasingly groovy album called ‘People People People People!’ back in September (and you can catch the track ‘Get Along’ on the recent update to the YOUR WEEKLY 9(to)5 EH mix cd playlist)
#1 - WHAT IS THE ONE ALBUM (OR EP OR SONG) THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE THE VERY NEXT MUSICAL THING THAT EVERYONE PRESSES PLAY ON THE NEXT TIME THEY FIND THEMSELVES THINKING “WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NOW”?
My day has never suffered from putting on the album “It’s Time For” by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers.
If you allow yourself to recognize that he means every word he’s saying, you start to reconnect with that part of you that really knows how to love on a big and small scale in equal measure.
#2 - WHAT IS THE ONE MOVIE OR TV SHOW THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE NEXT IN EVERYBODY’S NETFLIX QUEUE (OK, DOESN’T HAVE TO BE NETFLIX, WE’RE ALL INTERNET ADULTS HERE AND KNOW HOW TO FIND ANYTHING ONLINE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER)?
I was just hit with a head cold last week that knocked me flat on my rear for about five days, and after I had exhausted all of my interest in Mike Meyers movies I felt my brain needed something of more substance than slapstick. [I was just as surprised as you are.] I cast a net out into the internet asking for documentary recommendations and a friend suggested “Strongman” the 2009 documentary about Stanless Steel, the “strongest man in the world at bending steel.”
It is an eerily well told story with a strong narrative arc, incredible character development/depth and it all really happened. You won’t learn much other than that people need each other because we aren’t perfect, but you’ll walk away with a bit more tenderness than you arrived with.
#3. I (AND BY “I” I MEAN “THE PERSON THAT IS READING THIS”) AM GOING TO THE LOCAL BOOK STORE (OK, MAYBE THE LOCAL LIBRARY FIRST) TO FIND THE VERY NEXT BOOK THAT I WILL BE PUTTING SOME EXTREMELY VALUABLE ‘ME-TIME' ASIDE FOR. WHICH BOOK WOULD YOU GET, IF YOU WERE ME (AND, I SUPPOSE, YOU HADN’T ALREADY READ WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SUGGEST)?
Well, I said I wasn’t going to do this, but I’m going to cheat and give three recommendations. I think book recommendations are best when the books are short, that way nobody’s upset for too long if they don’t like it, and they might read the whole thing on their way to the trash can. Here are some brilliantly brief pieces of writing.
Non-Fiction - “How to Love” by Thich Nhat Hanh
Fiction - “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
Poetry - “Bus Poems” by Sasha Pearl
Each of these are short and impactful, charming and disarming.
#4 - WHAT IS THE ONE WEBSITE (OR JUST ANY OLD INTERNET THING: APP, GIF, SERVICE, WHATEVER) THAT YOU WOULD GET REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS ABOUT IF IT WERE TO SUDDENLY GO AWAY?
Clips of late night talk shows on YouTube. It’s like time travel to how people sat around and joked with each other any time in the last 70 years. I don’t know what I’d do without it.
Wanna know what Kirsten Dunst had for lunch in 1999 and how silly her interaction with the server was? The answer is out there.
#5 - AND FINALLY… PLEASE GIVE ONE COMPLETELY UNAIDED RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD START DOING / USING / WATCHING / EATING / THINKING / QUITTING / ETC-ING TO MAKE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE BETTER AND/OR BEARABLE.
I think more people should talk on the phone to their loved ones more often. If you can, make that call you keep forgetting to make. It will probably make somebody’s day.
OK folks, there you have it. Things that Mr. Sam (& The People People) think you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go give a loved on a ring, make sure to follow Mr. Sam on the Facebook / Instagram and then also give ‘Get Along’ a listen/watch below…
