I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: KRISTIN CHENOWETH-A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas (2008).

Last year I thought about doing a Christmas CD every day in December as my soundtrack.  But I forgot until a week or so in.  But this year I remembered.  Yuletide joy!

Since Sarah and I have a lot of Christmas CDs from over the years, I decided to just pick some at random this year.  And we start with this one which I got for Sarah I thought last year, but if it’s from 2008, perhaps I got it earlier?

I knew Chenoweth from her great role on Pushing Daisies.   I didn’t know she was a singer then.  She has since done some amazing runs in various roles and her voice is great.  This disc features a mix of traditional songs, a few more religious songs and a number of unexpected “mashups.”  It works pretty well, although it tends to cross the line into cheese a bit too much for me.

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” has her in great voice.  Although I hate the cheesey sax solo.
“Christmas Island” is a new favorite song for me.  Her version is fun (although the original Hawaiian version is much more fun).
“The Christmas Waltz” is a song I don’t know.  It is probably best song on the disc.
“Do You See What I See” also suits her voice very well.  It’s the first song to mash in another song (“Angels We Have Heard on High“) which is quite pretty
“Sleigh Ride/Marshmallow World” I like her part, I’m not sure about the blend.  I don’t know who John Pizzarelli is, but he sings it too clean.  The original of “Marshmallow World” is sung in an almost drunken fashion which makes the weird lyrics better.   Nevertheless, the two of them have a good vocal chemistry.  And there’s some goofy fun at the end.
“Sing” (you know, sing, sing a song).  It’s a really weird inclusion here.  But she sounds great.
“Silver Bells” also sounds great.
“Come On Ring Those Bells” is another song I don’t know.  This version is way too pop country for my liking.
“What Child is This” is also perfect for her voice.
“Home on Christmas Day” is another song I don’t know (who knew there were so many unfamiliar Christmas songs?), and it works well “Born on Christmas Day” is a rather dull more religious song, which seems somehow out of place.
“Sleep Well Little Children/What a Wonderful World” is another mash up. It works pretty well and I kind of get why she chose it to end the album, but it’s another weird non-Christmas related song.

So overall this is a decent Christmas album. There’s some lovely traditional songs, some odd choices, and a few clunkers.  But her voice is really fantastic throughout.

[READ: November 29, 2014] Aama

I’m surprised and delighted with how many unusual, translated graphic novels are being published in the States these days.  There’s always something about the art that screams “not American.”  So when I get books like this (especially if the author’s last name is Peeters), I immediately look for the translator to confirm my suspicions.  This book was translated by Edward Gauvin.

While translated childrens book often seem slightly weird to my family (fun, but always slightly askew), the graphic novels don’t usually seem as weird to me.  (Maybe the childrens authors just expect more existential thought from their kids).

Having said all of that, I found that I really couldn’t get into this story.  There were some great elements to it, in both storytelling and character creation, but, and maybe more will be explained in future books, but the main plot was a little too vague to me.

But I loved the way it was constructed.  We open on a man face down.  As he comes to, he realizes that he has no idea who he is.  While he tries to get himself together, a weird looking ape comes up and calls him Verloc.  The ape has no hair on his legs (so they look human).  The ape is named Churchill and he is a custom built robot.  As Verloc tries to come to grips with what’s happening, Churchill gives him his “memoirs” to read.  The book is “real paper” which Verloc appreciates.  And they started just a week ago.

Pretty cool opening.

So we see that Verloc was seriously down and out. In the gutter, high on “Shia,” having lost his wife, his daughter and his business.  He is found by his little brother Conrad, “who was a little prick.”  [I’m confused as to why his name is the odd Verloc and his brother’s name is the conventional Conrad]. Conrad is a little superior, sure, but he helps him up. Verloc wonders what Conrad is doing on Level 1 (where the drugs and whores are) since he clearly has a ton of money.

Turns out Conrad is visiting their old friend Elias. Elias’ face has turned into a dog’s face.  And Conrad is very comforting and kind to him.   Elias was swept away in the Great Crisis and got Bern’s Disease (there’s a character on the front cover who also has an animal’s face). As they are commiserating, guards see Verloc and a chase ensues.  They escape in Conrad’s (very cool looking) ship.

Conrad works for the Muy-Tang Corporation, which Verloc says is responsible for the Great Crisis.  Conrad says he does the devils’ work for them, greasing wheels to make sure things move smoothly.  He is heading to Ona(ji), the last inhabitable planet.

The other aspect of Verloc’s diary is his missing daughter Lilja.  He has been dreaming of her since his wife made him leave.  We also learn how Verloc lost his parent’s store (a shocking story).  And we see that Verloc has been recovering from his hungover condition over the week on Conrad’s ship.

When they finally land on Ona(ji), they are not welcomed. But Conrad smooths things out (with some of the inhabitants).  They are all terribly mistrustful of what Muy-Tang has done to them (in a nutshell abandoned them for five years).  And are concerned about the presence of the robots on the planet.

During the meeting of all the people on the planet, some plot points about Muy-Tang are given.  But I feel like this part of the story was the weakest.  I preferred that some weird things happen. The most unusual is the appearance of a girl who looks just like Verloc’s daughter (but clearly isn’t).  There is also a woman (a doctor) whose appearance is very peculiar.  I think she’s supposed to be pretty, but she looks more crazy (not sure what Peeters is going for there).  I was a little disappointed to see how quickly sex happened between the two of them, and I didn’t think it was a very good “cliffhanger” since there were so many other interesting aspects it could have ended on.

Nevertheless, I am curious to see what else is going to happen here.  There’s so many cool threads up in the air.  I especially want to learn more about Churchill.