"And now for something completely different."
--John Cleese, "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
I'll start off this week with a confession. A few years back, my sister gave me an audiobook of Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror--something she listens to every Christmas. And as much as I love Christopher Moore's writing, I've only listened to about half of the audiobook. I keep saying that one year, preferably during the holidays, I'll listen to the whole thing, but I just can't seem to be able to focus on it. Maybe I should just buy the book and read it.
People frequently ask me if I listen to certain podcasts or audiobooks. I just can't seem to get into them. I mean, they sound fascinating--or I'm sure they would if I actually listened. The problem is that the main reason people like the podcasts and audiobooks is the main reason I can't get into them--one can multitask while listening to them.
Multitasking has never been something that's ever really been in my wheelhouse. When I'm doing dishes or yardwork, I can play music. But it's usually music I'm already familiar with and in some cases know backward and forward. When I'm listening to a podcast or an audiobook, I'm trying to absorb new information. That usually requires my full attention. It requires me to actually put everything on hold and listen. If I'm trying to do anything else at the same time, I feel like I'm missing something--either a vital piece of trivial information or an overgrown branch on my hedge that won't get trimmed properly and will be even more overgrown the next time I do my yardwork.
When I was younger, I would have had no problem with audiobooks. I used to just sit and listen to things like old radio broadcasts or standup comedy albums or even music--the reason I can put on such familiar music while I'm doing dishes is because I listened to it and absorbed it as a teenager.
I recently found a cheap four-disc box set of one of my favourite performers. When I got it home, I realized that I couldn't just put it on and play it--I actually had to listen to it. It's not like it's a standard album of music. It took me a couple of months before I was able to find the time to just... listen. But when I (finally) did, it made me appreciate his artistry even more than I already did.
Having grown up on his movies, I was already a fan of Peter Sellers the actor. From his performance as the inept Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies to his Oscar-nominated turns in Dr. Strangelove and Being There, Sellers was always fun to watch. What I didn't realize was that between 1958 and 1979 Sellers recorded a few albums of comedic/musical material--he even did one with Sophia Loren after they made a movie together. I don't know why this surprised me exactly. I was at least somewhat familiar with "The Goon Show" broadcasts he did for the BBC in the 1950s with Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe.
As a one-time aspiring voice-artist myself, I've always admired those who have a facility with dialects and accents and even language in general. Listening to those albums, I realized what a genius Sellers was in this area. I have a feeling that if he were alive today, he would have quite a career for himself in voice work. And even though this should have been apparent in his movies--in Dr. Strangelove alone, he played three different characters all with a different accent--it becomes even more evident when you sit and listen to his recorded works (even the ones that today would be considered "problematic").
This week, just to shake things up a bit, I thought I'd share his last album, 1979's Sellers Market. If anyone reading this happens to be fluent in Morse Code, I'd be curious to know how accurate the translation of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" is. I haven't studied it in roughly 35 years and I'm afraid I've forgotten most of it.
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock 'n' roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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