Fat Man Down: Difference between revisions

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*A washed-up musician tries to fill time.   
*A washed-up musician tries to fill time.   
*As an old man, he's in a hospital, but imagines he is in a resort.   
*As an old man, he's in a hospital, but imagines he is in a resort.   
*As a college student, he steals brownies from Howard Johnson's restaurants.   
*As a college student, he steals brownies from Howard Johnson's restaurants on road trips between home and school. He fills his trunk with themLater then put them back.
*In New York he gets a job as a janitor at a church and dates a German waitress.   
*In New York he gets a job as a janitor at a church and dates a German waitress who he makes love to on the alter of the church, and his caught by a priest.   
*Stealing sunglasses, cafe meals.   
*Stealing sunglasses, cafe meals.   
*Telemarketing for an opera company.   
*Telemarketing for an opera company.   
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== Music ==  
== Music ==  
{{Alone Again So (Kid Loco) }}
{{Alone Again So (Kid Loco) }}
 
{{Kontakte (Les Rythmes Digitales) }}


== Commentary ==
== Commentary ==
{{commentary}}
{{commentary}}
=== [[User:Shiro|Shiro]] ===
=== [[User:Shiro|Shiro]] ===
This is classic Joe Frank material.  It's one of my favorite programs, and also works as a great introduction piece for those new to Joe's work.  The writing is brilliant, the program contains both humor and sadness, and the sound mix is perfect.  It is one of the most polished shows you'll find.  The entire program follows a single story, and the narrative structure is fairly straightfoward (if bimodal), which makes it a gentle introduction for those used to more tranditional media.
This is classic Joe Frank material.  It's one of my favorite programs, and also works as a great introduction piece for those new to Joe's work.  The writing is brilliant, the program contains both humor and sadness, and the sound mix is perfect.  It is one of the most polished shows you'll find.  The entire program follows a single story, and the narrative structure is fairly straightfoward (if bimodal), which makes it a gentle introduction for those used to more traditional media.


== Music ==
=== [[User:Pete|Pete]] ===
A young guy who's clever, likable, and smart, fails to keep up in life and rewrites his interpretations of the world into a narrative that flatters him, growing antisocial, miserable, and ultimately isolated, physically and mentally ill.  He carries deep unresolved issues with his parents, even conflicted over whether and how to grieve upon his mother's death, and is never able to surmount his internal obstacles and connect meaningfully with the world.  While trying to grow up from being a young contrarian I would listen to this show and think, "There but for the grace of God go I."


{{Kontakte (Les Rythmes Digitales) }}
To me it is among the most well-structured hours of radio of Joe's I've heard.  Sometimes an hour gave him a lot of time to wander far, or piece in a lot to make a coherent whole.  But this is a beautifully and soundly constructed story, stepping back and forth from timeline to flashback at an even and and compelling pace.  Lots of solid little scenes, with tear-jerking used judiciously enough to work.  Probably my favorite of Joe's work, and one that informed my life.


== External Links ==
== External Links ==

Revision as of 16:15, 20 January 2018

"Fat Man Down" or "Fat Man Down (remix)" is the name of a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series Somewhere Out There.


Synopsis

  • A washed-up musician tries to fill time.
  • As an old man, he's in a hospital, but imagines he is in a resort.
  • As a college student, he steals brownies from Howard Johnson's restaurants on road trips between home and school. He fills his trunk with them. Later then put them back.
  • In New York he gets a job as a janitor at a church and dates a German waitress who he makes love to on the alter of the church, and his caught by a priest.
  • Stealing sunglasses, cafe meals.
  • Telemarketing for an opera company.
  • Subway stations as an underground world.
  • His mother tries to kill herself.
  • His mother sings The Linden Tree at a restaurant, talks about wanting to become a singer.
  • Playing music in a bar.
  • Walking in central park and becoming ill.
  • Dream of about being lost and leading a child through a strange city, trying to call his mother at the phone company from a booth. Hiring prostitutes.
  • A woman whispers in German.

Interesting Facts

  • This program shares most of its text with Dreams of The River, but includes hospital scenes in place of the scenes from a boat going downriver, persistent background music, and no sound effects. This is not a remix, but a recording of the same text with small changes. Also contains a third person version of the telephone booth story from Islands.
  • Much of the text in this program also appeared in the short story Fat Man, published in The Queen of Puerto Rico.

Music

Commentary

Please see guidelines on commentary and share your personal thoughts in this section.

Shiro

This is classic Joe Frank material. It's one of my favorite programs, and also works as a great introduction piece for those new to Joe's work. The writing is brilliant, the program contains both humor and sadness, and the sound mix is perfect. It is one of the most polished shows you'll find. The entire program follows a single story, and the narrative structure is fairly straightfoward (if bimodal), which makes it a gentle introduction for those used to more traditional media.

Pete

A young guy who's clever, likable, and smart, fails to keep up in life and rewrites his interpretations of the world into a narrative that flatters him, growing antisocial, miserable, and ultimately isolated, physically and mentally ill. He carries deep unresolved issues with his parents, even conflicted over whether and how to grieve upon his mother's death, and is never able to surmount his internal obstacles and connect meaningfully with the world. While trying to grow up from being a young contrarian I would listen to this show and think, "There but for the grace of God go I."

To me it is among the most well-structured hours of radio of Joe's I've heard. Sometimes an hour gave him a lot of time to wander far, or piece in a lot to make a coherent whole. But this is a beautifully and soundly constructed story, stepping back and forth from timeline to flashback at an even and and compelling pace. Lots of solid little scenes, with tear-jerking used judiciously enough to work. Probably my favorite of Joe's work, and one that informed my life.

External Links

Somewhere Out There

Arena (Remix) | At The Dark End Of The Bar | Bible Salesman | Bible Stories | Black Light | Blues Singer | A Call In The Night (Remix) | A Death In The Family | An Enterprising Man | Escape From Paradise | Eye In The Sky | Fat Man Down | Five Part Dissonance (Remix) | God Only Knows | I'm Not Crazy (Remix) | Joe Frank Live - Women Police Officers | Journal | Just Get Me Out Of Here | Justine | Last Show | Lost Soul | The Loved One (Remix) | Mountain Rain | The O.J. Chronicles | Obsessions | The Other Side (Show) | Pathology | Philosophy | Phone Therapy | Pledge Drive, 1996-02-12 | The Policeman's Ball (Remix) | Red Sea | Rent A Family (Remix) | Reprise | The River | The Road To Calvary | The Sacred | Soul Mate (Remix) | Talk To Me | Three Shingles | White Moon