When her ancient Dodge went to that "great parking lot in the sky," Sarah Kobos became a serious cyclist (as serious as you can get with your pantlegs tucked into your socks) and started biking to work. She learned that when your vehicle only weighs 20 pounds, objects in the mirror are usually trying to kill you. Or as Woody Guthrie might sing today, "This land was made for SUVs..."
Piece Description
When her ancient Dodge went to that "great parking lot in the sky," Sarah Kobos became a serious cyclist (as serious as you can get with your pantlegs tucked into your socks) and started biking to work. She learned that when your vehicle only weighs 20 pounds, objects in the mirror are usually trying to kill you. Or as Woody Guthrie might sing today, "This land was made for SUVs..."




Jonathan Goldstein
Posted on January 30, 2005 at 01:48 PM | Permalink
Review of Every Day, on My Way to Work, Somebody Tries to Kill Me
The production style is, to my taste, sort of cheesy-- she says go ahead and make my day and then plays Spaghetti Western music-- but the piece speaks out in defense of bikers, which, in and of itself, is a really worth while thing. I was able to relate to many of the things she says. It’s amazing what hostility is unleashed when people get behind the wheel of a car. It’s just that the piece never manages to surprise you. It’s always just indignant and you know where it’s going. In order for it to be more than just an angry rant you’d share with friends, it has to transcend, say something about people… about why we get this way in our cars. She gets at the bullying mentality… the Darwninianess of the whole thing, but to sustain a piece of this length there should probably be some tape. That would be surprising… some tape of her riding to work and then stopping to record someone who was honking at her would have been really satisfying. Like this, it’s closer to just venting and riffing on a gag for a bit too long. It’s a really great title, though.