RIP, JB

I'm sorry to hear that some of you are stuck in offices this week. Bummer. That makes me feel obligated to crank out some material, but the longer stuff I need to post will take a bit more time. For now, my friend Tim sent along this link to a New Yorker piece from a few years ago about the recently departed James Brown. Soak it up.

Even in his earliest, wildest days, when his determination to kill an audience was such that he would swing from the rafters, cut flying splits from atop a grand piano, and even leap from a theatre balcony into the orchestra pit, his outrageousness was carefully calculated to convey that, while he cannot be contained, he is always in control. In contrast to the appearance of effortlessness that so many performers strive for in their quest to exhibit mastery, James Brown makes the display of effort one of the most striking features of his art.