I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: THURSTON MOORE-World Cafe Studio, November 16, 2007 (2007).

This World Cafe set is a nice contrast to the all-acoustic performance mentioned yesterday (even if it was recorded earlier).  Thurston has a full band with him (including Steve Shelly on drums).  Samara Lubelski from the other session is here too.  The band brings new dimensions to what are mostly the same set of songs.  Both sets included “The Shape is in a Trance,” and “Fri/End” but this one also includes “Honest James.”  The contrast is striking though.  The songs are bigger with the band (and allow for more intricacies) but they are still intimate.

  The interview is also interesting.  David Dye is a fantastic interviewer and he gets some great (and funny) answers out of Thurston. The whole description of how the lyrics to “Fri/End” came about is really cool (if unlikely).

Thurston and NPR: perfect together.

[READ: April 15, 2011] The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis.

This was a wonderful Christmas surprise from Sarah this year.  It is a beautifully packaged (slipcase with a cut-away opening) hardcover edition of the 2002 & 2005 Simpson/Futurama crossover comics issues.

Despite all of my fondness for The Simpsons and Futurama, I never really got into the comics (gotta draw a line somewhere).  But they have Matt Groening’s seal of approval, and they play jokes with things that the show never really touches (not to mention, the shows never tries a crossover event–I can’t even imagine how that would work).

The conceit behind these stories is that Fry reads Simpsons comics and he can be sent into their fictional world (a great way to avoid any “timeline conflicts,” should anyone care about that sorta thing.

In the first part, the brains that terrorize everyone in New New York (except Fry who is immune to their brain waves) make fictional characters come alive (much fun is had with that).  And since Fry has a Simpsons comic, all of the Springfield residents come to New New York and mayhem ensues.

The interlude is all Simpsons but it has a lot of fun with the pesky second amendment. Lisa claims it was put in place to prevent a British invasion, so she removes it from Springfield’s charter (when she is the de facto voice of new mayor, Snowball II).  Of course that’s just what the Brits (including Johnny Rotten and the Spice Girls) have been waiting for!

The second part sees Homer grow to monstrous size and destroy New New York.  There’s also an (unfinished??) possible joining of forces between Futurama’s “Mom” and Simpson’s Mr Burns (shudder).

The second interlude is about Chief Wiggum and some magic chili (trippy!).  It’s really insane and very fun.

The back pages include the obligatory cover drawings by other artists and a collection of rough sketches (the equivalent of the DVD bonus feature storyboarding).

Best of all, tucked into the back is an official copy of Simpsons Comics #1!

This is a fun way to experience the humor of The Simpsons in bite sized chunks.  A good way to waste your brain cells!