I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS: Back to Me (2005).

This is Kathleen Edwards’ middle disc.  It continues in the vein of her first, although I think her voice sounds smokier and better.  The opening two tracks are stellar, catchy, snarky/funny and just fantastic.

She has a few mellower songs on this disc (and I’m not a big fan of mellow country folky music).  But as with some of my other favorite singers, her passion and her lyrics make even a slower song interesting.

“Summerlong” is another song that seems like it was a hit long ago.  It just sounds so comfortable and catchy that I feel like I’ve known it forever.   BUt even better is the slide guitar fueled “What Are You Waiting For?”

Strange as it sounds, I think I like her first album overall better than this one; however, there are more songs on Back to Me that I like more than those on Failer.  Whatever the case, Edwards is a great songwriter with a wonderful voice.  And I certainly look forward to more from her in the future.

[READ: April 3, 2010] Echo

I have been reading Echo since Issue 1.  But my subscription lapsed, and I wound up missing an issue.  So I put off reading it until I managed to get the back issue.  Which I finally did.  Phew!

And now I was lucky enough to read a huge chunk up through issue 20.  And I have to say tit is absolutely preferable to read Terry Moore in large chunks rather than one issue at a time.  (Of course, I’ll still be subscribing and reading as I go, because missing that issue killed me!).

Several new developments have occurred since Issue 11 or so.  The most important one is that it is clear that Annie and Julie’s DNA are merging.  Julie is able to hear more and more of Annie’s thoughts.  But also, because Annie has melded with this alloy (and the alloy is, for lack of a better scientific way to explain it…magic), Julie has gained healing powers (in addition to crazily explosive powers).

There’s a lengthy backstory that explains how Annie was able to create her alloy.  And basically, rather than using a base ten in he equations, she used phi, the golden ratio, to calculate her formulas.  I have absolutely no idea how this was supposed to work or if there is any real application for this anywhere in math/science/technology, but it was fun seeing all the illustrations of the golden ratio.

Ivy is now totally on board with Julie and Dillon (especially when Julie helps out Ivy’s daughter in a surprisingly moving scene).

And through all of this, the phi, the alloy, Cain–the creepy guy who withstands the blasts and kills at will– it all seemed somewhat within the realm of possibility.  But now Terry has added a new character who is visible on the cover above.  Essentially, this guy got blown up by some kind of antimatter gun that was designed to destroy the alloy.

Despite that, he survived in a tub of liquid with tubes running into him.  And what was so unrealistic to me was that he climbed out of the tank (despite apparently only having the top of a head).

However, I’m not letting that little detail cloud my enjoyment of the book.  The drama is fantastic, the intensity of the story is growing and growing.  And I feel like the whole story must be drawing to an end soon (I mean, if they get a hold of Julie, they can blow up the whole world, right?).  But, knowing Terry, I know he’s going to be keep throwing twists and turns until this story is fully resolved.

The art is still brilliant.  Terry conveys so much with so little.  And, I love that the majority of the characters are women, specifically intelligent women who stand up for themselves.  It’s still a rarity in comics these days.

Echo is a great series (which is in several trade paperbacks at this point) and is totally worth reading.  Terry’s also got a blog where you can keep up on what he’s doing.

Can’t wait for issue 21!