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- The Rocks at Rock Bottom
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- Hillary Frank
Jerry McGhee was living in Spain, near a beach full of flat rocks, when he and his wife spilt up. He started taking daily walks on the beach and hurling rocks into the water in anger. Throwing the rocks hard and watching them skip made him feel better. He thought of his rock skipping as a solitary activity -- until one day he skipped a stone over 50 times -- and found that had an audience of hundreds of people. This is the story of how Jerry McGhee became a world champion rock skipper...by accident. Originally aired on This American Life's "Desperate Measures" show.
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Piece Description
Jerry McGhee was living in Spain, near a beach full of flat rocks, when he and his wife spilt up. He started taking daily walks on the beach and hurling rocks into the water in anger. Throwing the rocks hard and watching them skip made him feel better. He thought of his rock skipping as a solitary activity -- until one day he skipped a stone over 50 times -- and found that had an audience of hundreds of people. This is the story of how Jerry McGhee became a world champion rock skipper...by accident. Originally aired on This American Life's "Desperate Measures" show.
3 Comments
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Review of The Rocks at Rock BottomThis is such a gratifying portrait and it does what all effective portraits do: use one pixle of someone's being to create a larger, more textured picture. In understanding Jerry's compulsion to skip rocks we get a renewed understanding of psychology, a renwed appreciation for the good old human spirit and renewed faith in the mysterious ways in which this world works. The simplicity of the production is nice. This is elegantly edited: we are allowed to take in a lot of profundity without being told that it is profound. If you have the time broadcast this, it's timeless. |
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Review of The Rocks at Rock Bottom
Definitely TAL-ish -- I heard it on TAL a couple of weeks ago. So, obviously a piece with those credentials is pretty good. I will probably always remember this piece, too, because of what drove the guy from where he started skipping rocks, why he started, and specifically because he became so good at it. I thought to try to contact him because I have a secret rock-skipping place, now about 1500 miles away, with loads of flat, circular, smooth rocks and best of all, an up-river angle that serves as a cheat. You can skip rocks almost in place.
But I digress. I think PD's are safe with anything Hillary Frank feels comfortable putting out there, and especially if it's aired nationally on TAL. So you could go in blind here and be okay, but don't, it's an excellent piece that is fun to listen to. |
Transcript
HOST: THIS IS THE STORY OF A MAN WHO HIT ROCK BOTTOM WHEN HE WAS ACTUALLY SURROUNDED BY A WHOLE LOT OF ROCKS. HE WAS LIVING IN A SMALL VILLAGE IN SPAIN AT THE TIME -- IN A FORMERLY VOLCANIC AREA. INSTEAD OF SAND, THE BEACHES ARE ENTIRELY MADE UP OF SLATE AND SEDIMENTARY STONES THAT HAVE BEEN WASHED BACK AND FORTH BY THE SEA. HILLARY FRANK TELLS THE STORY.
Jerry and his wife had split up and he moved to this little village, leaving everything behind ? his young son, his home. He was about as low as he'd ever been.
Tape ? [:30] thoughts were running around in my head wouldn?t stop ? like broken record ? and when I lay down at night and tried to sleep the most absolute ridiculous little thing going around in head and couldn?t divert my attention from it. And I found that walking on beach, hunched over looking for flat rocks, picking up a handful, throwing them, the motion, and the f...
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Timing and Cues
story length -- 9:17 + :13 music bed
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Charles McGuigan
Posted on April 26, 2009 at 06:58 AM | Permalink
Review of the Rocks at Rock Bottom
Hillary's got a great voice and I don't just mean her vocals. The intro is beautifully crafted, setting us up for the actualities. I think the music was just a little too new agey, but that's personal preference. "Ripple" would have worked well.
That beach in Spain with all those flat rocks comes to life with Jerry's easy going narrative.
Skipping stones. Great piece.