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Archive for August, 2015

Rebecca Stead–When You Reach Me (2009) [audiobook 2009–Cynthia Holloway]

Posted in Audiobooks, Cynthia Holloway, Madeleine L'Engle, Rebecca Stead, Sci-fi, Set at School, T., The $20,000 Pyramid, YA Books on August 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: July 12, 2015] When You Reach Me

wyrmThis book was read by Cynthia Holloway.

Sarah brought this book home for us to listen to.  It is intended for 9 year-olds and yet I thought the book seemed a bit more YA.  Although the story deals very closely with the real day-to-day exploits of three sixth graders, there s a mystical elements that weaves its way through the story.  It also deals with time travel which is what I thought the kids might have the hardest time grasping (it even hurts my head sometimes).  But I think they got it.

The story is told from the point of view of Miranda (named for the Miranda rights).  She is an only child being raised by a single mother in NYC in the 1970s (I wish the date had been given earlier or more clearly in the story).  I loved the conceit of the book that her mother wants to win $20,000 Pyramid.  And she thinks she has a chance as long as her celebrity isn’t as “dumb as a box of hair.”  As a result, all of the chapter titles are titled the way the pyramid categories would be: Things you lose: things you find: etc.  That was very cool.

Anyhow, Miranda’s mom works hard and has  boyfriend.  There’s no trouble there.  The trouble comes from her best friend Sal.

Sal lives in her building.  Sal’s mom is also a single mom.  The moms met when Miranda moved in and she and Sal have been super close ever since–going to day care together, doing everything they could together.  But lately Sal has been a little distant.  And then once the incident happens, thins change for good. (more…)

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Sorel & Seksik–The Last Days of Stefan Zweig (2011) [translated 2014]

Posted in Books about writers, Frank Zappa, Guillaume Sorel, Joel Anderson, Laurent Seksik, Religion, Stefan Zweig, Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective, Tiny Desk Concert on August 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

zweigSOUNDTRACK: TERENCE BLANCHARD FEAT. THE E-COLLECTIVE-Tiny Desk Concert #460 (August 5, 2014).

blnachAfter a few quiet Tiny Desk Concerts, it was fun to get something big and bouncy.  I don’t know Blanchard, but I really enjoyed his band set up.  Blanchard plays trumpet, and with the E-Collective, he’s got a guitarist, bassist, pianist and drummer.

In the first song “Soldiers”, I was sort of amused because when Charles Altura (a guitarist he met online) plays his 2 minute guitar solo, Blanchard isn’t doing anything.  It was  funny way to start the concert with the main guy doing nothing.  But Altura has a great sound–jazzy and interesting with a flair not unlike Frank Zappa.  It continues with a lengthy solo from Blanchard.  I like the jagged edges of this song–the funky bass and the angular rhythms.  It’s about 8 minutes long and it’s fun to watch Blanchard just digging the music when he’s not actually playing.

“Confident Selflessness” begins with a cool drum setup by Englishman Chris Bailey.  Over the great beat, Donald Ramsey, (Blanchard’s high-school classmate) lays down a great funky bass line.  And then it’s a wild solo from pianist Fabian Almazan.  I love the way the song switches back to that angular/funky sound during the refrains.  Blanchard seems to be playing the trumpet with some kind of effect on it during the first part–or he’s playing very quietly.  But later, he gets a good solo in.  Bailey also plays some wild drums fills while the rest of the band repeats the staccato motif.  This song is also about 8 minutes long.

He introduces the final song, “Breathless” by saying that there is typically a spoken word section, but he’s not going to do that.  The title references the police brutality and the dying words “I Can’t Breathe.”  This song is much more mellow, with a lengthy piano solo.  There’s a soaring, uplifting trumpet solo in the middle of the song (which is about 10 minutes long in total).  It’s a really pretty song, although I do prefer the more lively bouncy tracks.

As I was saying after the last two, quieter Tiny Desks, it’s fun to hear the audience whoop it up so much.  And Blanchard even plays a jokey riff at the end.

[READ: May 15, 2015] The Last Days of Stefan Zweig

This is one of those interesting books that I find at work whose pedigree takes some time to unravel.  This is a graphic novel.  It is based on the novel by Laurent Seksik called  “Les Dernier Jours de Stefan Zweig” (2010) which was released in English as “The Last Days.”  This graphic novel was illustrated by Guillaume Sorel and translated by Joel Anderson.

I didn’t know who Stefan Zweig was when I read this book (more shame on me, i suppose).  Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer.  According to Wikipedia, in the 1920s and 1930s he was one of the most popular writers in the world.

When Hitler came to power, Zweig left Austria for London (where he was considered an enemy because he was German). He was Jewish, although in an interview he said “My mother and father were Jewish only through accident of birth.”  Yet he did not renounce his Jewish faith and wrote repeatedly on Jews and Jewish themes.

He traveled with his second wife Lotte to Petrópolis, a German-colonized mountain town 68 kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro known for historical reasons as Brazil’s Imperial city.  And this is where the story actually begins. (more…)

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Zena Alkayat, Nina Cosford–Jane Austen (2015)

Posted in Books about writers, Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, Nina Cosford, Soak, Tiny Desk Concert, Zena Alkayat on August 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

austenSOUNDTRACK: SOAK-Tiny Desk Concert #459 (August 3, 2015).

soakSoak is Bridie Monds-Watson.  I hate to mention this, because it’s not the focus, but it is impressive that she’s only 19.  And her voice is really lovely.

I recently bought her album Before We Forgot How To Dream, and it’s really good.  The arrangements are complex and thoughtful.  And the album is beautifully orchestrated.  So this stripped down performance shows that she’s not all about production.

Her voice is pretty heavily accented and is almost a mumble, but not quite–it’s the kind of quiet voice that makes you lean in to hear.

The opening track, “Sea Creatures” (an amazing single) sounds pretty with just the acoustic guitar (I prefer the album version, but this is a really neat rendition).  For “B a noBody” and “Wait” she switches to an electric guitar.  It’s got a cool echo effect on it, but it is still quiet and hushed.

She says that she’s nervous playing at the Tiny Desk, but that looking around at all the CDs and poster it “feels like my bedroom.”  This is another delightfully intimate performance behind the Tiny Desk.

Bob Boilen did an interview with her a few weeks ago and she really won me over with her musical knowledge and sense of humor.

[READ: June 4, 2015] Jane Austen

This book also comes from the series called Life Portraits.

This is a very brief (128 pages, but mostly one sentence per page) biography of Jane Austen.  But the real “selling” points of the book are the beautiful illustrations/paintings by Nina Cosford.  They are lovely watercolors which do a great job illustrating whatever detail is listed on the page.

We get basic birth details–born Jane Austen on 16th December 1775.  She grew up on a farm with six brothers and one sister.  There’s even an illustrated family tree.

Her parents turned their farm into a boarding school so she knew lots of children.  But it was her cousin Eliza, a fantastic woman married to a European Count who spoke French and wore continental fashions who became Jane’s lifelong friend.  With Eliza around, all the girls  talked about marriage and money.  (more…)

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Zena Alkayat & Nina Cosford–Virginia Woolf (2015)

Posted in Biography, Books about writers, E.M. Forster, Katherine Mansfield, Nina Cosford, Shamir, T.S. Eliot, Tiny Desk Concert, Virginia Woolf, War, Zena Alkayat on August 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

woolfSOUNDTRACK: SHAMIR-Tiny Desk Concert #458 (July 31, 2015).

shamirShamir has an amazing voice–a high countertenor that is unsettling and pretty at the same time. He usually creates dance music, but in this Tiny Desk it’s just him and his guitar (on a stool).

The notes say that they asked the interns and staff to sit around him like at a campfire since he looked so alone up there by himself (and after the first song he says he is quite nervous).

He sings three songs. I don’t know the originals (I only know the one dance song from his record “On the Regular” which he doesn’t play here). But these versions are so different from that one that it’s quite shocking.

“In for the Kill” has a lot of intensity in his delivery and the chord structure (even if he plays he guitar rather softly).

The story of his writing “Demons” is very funny.  He was at work at Ross’ and he ran to the changing room when this melody came to him to write it down.  So he was hiding tin the dressing room plinking out notes and humming to himself while trying to get it down before he forgot.  I really like the twist in a song about demons: “If I’m a demon, you’re the beast that made me.”

I’m not sure I’d ever get his record, but I enjoyed hearing this acoustic version of such a dancey singer.

[READ: June 4, 2015] Virginia Woolf

This book comes from a series called Life Portraits.

This is a very brief (128 pages, but mostly one sentence per page) biography of Virginia Woolf.  But the real “selling” point of the book are the beautiful illustrations/paintings by Nina Cosford.  They are lovely watercolors that do a great job illustrating whatever detail is listed on the page.

Although the biography is short it is still quite comprehensive–skimming over many details in her life to get to the heart of the matter.

We get basic birth details–born Virginia Stephen on 25th January 1882.  We learn about her parents (ferociously intellectual father and philanthropic mother).  There’s even an illustrated family tree.

Then we learn that death followed her everywhere.  Her mother died when Virginia was young.  And that a few years later her half-sister and her father also died.  She remained with her sister Vanessa and her brother Thoby as companions. (more…)

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Maile Meloy–Devotion: A Rat Story (2015)

Posted in Maile Meloy, Mark Atkinson, Parenting, Rats, Rheostatics, Small Books, The Buttless Chaps, tagged on August 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

devotionSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Upstairs Cabaret, Victoria, BC (October 26, 2004).

upThis is the final show of 2004 that I’ll be doing.  (The Rheostaticslive site recently add ten shows in a row from a run in Toronto, but I’ll be coming back to that another time).

This show is the first show in Victoria for about three years for the band.  And they do not disappoint.  Although, much like the previous show, there are massive technical problems during the recording.  The recorder (Lucky) says that his DAT recorder turned into a brick that night so he had to borrow a friend’s MP3 recorder, which was low on batteries.  It’s unclear how much of the show he missed (and did he really run out to the car during the show to retrieve the machine?).  He mentions being blown away by “Marginalized” and “The Tarleks” (neither one appears here) and that the batteries run out during “Satan is the Whistler” which he says was amazing.

Nevertheless, the show is great and the sound quality (aside from a few weird moments (in an early song for a few minutes you can only hear drums)) is superb.

They dedicate “Power Ballad” to the Buttless Chaps and sing “I wish I was a buttless chap.”

“Legal Age Life” has BC native Mark Atkinson as a guest.  They tell him to come up and rock out–he’s been doing too much of that acoustic stuff.

It’s also the first time we’ve heard the new song “Shack in the Cornfields.”  They have some fun in the middle of the song by making a “hick” joke about Captain Kirk and a variation of his name “Shat’n’er”  It’s vulgar.  I have to say that the 9 minutes of “Shack” coupled with the 8 minutes of “Here Comes the Image” is some pretty mellow chilled out Rheos.  I might have been a little bored since these are both new songs.  They say that “Mike” plays the keyboards.  And that they will have to start calling him “the Wiz.”  He says he would like a cape.  (I’m not sure if this is MPW or someone else).

Then Morgan from The Buttless Chaps comes out (they toured with the Rheos on the entire West Coast) to add some trippiness to the end of a great “Stolen Car.”

Theree’s a quiet rendition of “Little Bird” and then, when Dave is unready they play a bunch of nonsense called “Tarzan Boy in China” which is pretty hilarious.  “Mumbletypeg” is great with some “I Fought the Law” thrown in.  And then we get just the beginning of “Satan is the Whistler” which has a new intro section.  Before the song someone the audience coordinates with others to shout “Lordy” and Dave seems very confused: “What does that mean?  Why would you shout that?”  “Are you Christians?”  It is unresolved as the batteries have died.

[READ: June 13, 2015] Devotion: A Rat Story

This book is tiny!  It’s only 11 cm high.  I’m not really sure why publishers release books like this.  Sure it’s cool looking, but….  So it’s 100 pages, but it’s really just a short story and can be read in no time at all.

But that’s not my concern.  I enjoyed stuffing it in my pocket while I carried it around with me this weekend.

Meloy has written a pretty broad variety of books over her career from realistic family stories to fantasy teen stories.  To this group she adds this story which is a bit of a realistic psychological thriller (with some grossness included).

The story is about Eleanor.  She had a baby without the father’s assistance (her parents are supportive, but smothering and wanted her to sue the father… among other options).  But rather, she ignored the father and raised the baby in her parents’ house.

Now, four years later, Eleanor is ready to move out of her parents’ house with her daughter Hattie. (more…)

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Haruki Murakami–The Strange Library (2014)

Posted in Chip Kidd, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Haruki Murakami, Library Related, Mark Z. Danielewski, Rheostatics, Short Story, Ted Goossen, The Buttless Chaps, The Jam, The Tragically Hip, Translation, tagged on August 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

murakamiSOUNDTRACK:  RHEOSTATICS–The Media Club, Vancouver, BC, (October 23, 2004).

media clubEvery year, the Rheostatics would perform what they called Green Sprouts Week in Toronto.  In 2004 they did a West Coast version. Five nights in a row at The Media Club (with each show being crazier than the last).  There aren’t always recording available for these shows, but on this leg there are recordings from the third, fourth and fifth nights.

This recording is the best of the 3 available shows.  Although in the notes, Tyson reveals that he had technical difficulties and was only able to record about an hour of the show.  In addition to the songs he missed for technical difficulties, there were also some quieter acoustic songs “Don’t Say Goodnight and “Joey” which he couldn’t get.

And yet, this is an amazing set of music–outstanding by any barometer, with great sound quality (aside from a few drop outs) and an amazing collection of songs. The final night of a run is usually really long, so it’s fun to imagine how much more they would have thrown into this set.

The 7 songs included are “Shaved Head” which is slow and amazing.  A raw and raging “Feed Yourself” with a dash of The Jam’s “Eton Rifles” and The Tragically Hip’s “Bobcaygeon” thown in.  “Saskatchewan” is broody but also great.  “Horses” is intense and goofy at the same time, with someone on the voice modulator doing a computerized “Play that funky music, white boy” recitation.

Torben Wilson from the Buttless Chaps plays drums on “Claire.”  “A Midwinter Night’s Dream” is one of those rare songs that the band throws out once in a while, and it sounds great here.  They invited the crowd on stage to sit around campfire style.

And “Fan Letter to Michael Jackson” is great here too.

It’s a fantastic collection of songs, leading me to think the entire show must have been amazing.

[READ: May 11, 2015] The Strange Library

I saw this book when we were in a bookstore in Denver.  I mentioned it to Sarah and she clearly bought it then and gave it to me for my birthday.

It wasn’t exactly risky because it is by Murakami with art direction and design by Chip Kidd (how could you go wrong?) but the book was shrink wrapped in the store, so you couldn’t flip through it.

Imagine my surprise when the slipcase proved to be not a slipcase at all, but a double flip cover that does not get removed but opens up like a secret document.  And every (or every other) page is chock full of art from Kidd.  My guess is that all of the art is found (rather than created) by Kidd as it appears to be old Japanese pictures and designs.  And they reflect (more or less) the action of the story.

The story itself is one of Murakami’s more surreal ones. (more…)

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Aziz Ansari–Modern Romance (2015)

Posted in Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg, Paul Myers, Rheostatics, Sting, Technology, The Clash, XTC, tagged on August 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

modernSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Media Club, Vancouver, BC (October 22, 2004).

media clubEvery year, the Rheostatics would perform what they called Green Sprouts Week in Toronto.  In 2004 they did a West Coast version. Five nights in a row at The Media Club.  This recording is from the fourth night.

Once again, the recording quality isn’t great (although it’s better than the previous night’s).  And once again the show is edited down (it’s barely 90 minutes–just long enough for a cassette).

It feels like perhaps Martin’s voice was hurting by this night.  As an introduction he says, “I’m going to try to sing a song called ‘P.I.N.'”  Even though most of the banter has been removed, there is a funny part with Dave talking via the cymbals (being very silly indeed).

They play the first version I’ve heard of “Here Comes the Image” with a very long synth solo.

They cover XTC’s “Radios in Motion” with vocals by local musician Paul Myers.  They also play The Clash’s “London Calling” and while Myers vocals are great, Tim can’t seem to get the notes on the bass right.

Strangely, for an edited show, it accidentally repeats “Aliens” twice and leaves off “Fan Letter.”

The intro to “Stolen Car” gives Dave a chance to throw in an “obligatory Beatles reference” when he starts singing the words to “Norwegian Wood.”  And the end is scorchingly good.

The final song is a fun version of “Legal Age Life.”  It starts with him asking someone to blow into his beer bottle for notes.  The song ends with a twist contest.  And the prize is the new Sting CD, which they love mocking.  They even joke that Sting has a song called “Stolen Car” but it has a parenthetical “(Take Me Dancing)” which makes it an entirely different song.

It’s another great fun night of Rheos music

[READ: July 14, 2015] Modern Romance

I was really excited to see this book in the bookstore.  Although I like to keep up with new books, I had no idea Aziz had a book out.  And since he is hilarious and other recent Parks and Rec folks have had hilarious books out I was prepared for a lot of laughing.

Well, it turns out that this book isn’t exactly funny. I mean it’s funny because Aziz wrote it, but it’s actually a sociological book about modern romance.  Really.  He has enlisted the help of NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg and they have compiled and studied all sorts of data.  They have sponsored panels and had discussions and really tried to discover how romance has changed in the last 50 or so years.

It sounds like it might be dry, but again, Aziz throws his snark and wit all over it so just as you get a little tired of statistics, there’s a funny joke about a rapper or some such. I mean any book that opens with “OH Shit!  Thanks for buying my book!” has got to be funny right? (especially if you imagine Aziz saying it). (more…)

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Salman Rushdie–“The Duniazát” (New Yorker, June 1, 2015)

Posted in Bachman Turner Overdrive, Bidiniband, Jane Siberry, Marriage Trouble, Myths, New Yorker, Old Age, Religion, Rheostatics, Salman Rushdie, Short Story, Talking Heads, The Buttless Chaps, The Who, WNYE 91.5--Radio, New York, tagged on August 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

june1SOUNDTRACK:  RHEOSTATICS–The Media Club, Vancouver, BC, (October 21, 2004).

media clubEvery year, the Rheostatics would perform what they called Green Sprouts Week in Toronto.  In 2004 they did a West Coast version. Five nights in a row at The Media Club (with each show being crazier than the last).  There aren’t always recording available for these shows, but on this leg there are recordings from the third, fourth and fifth nights.

This recording is about 90 minutes and I assume is edited (most of their GSMW shows are quite long and there’s no banter).  There’s also crazy static on a certain instrument, which mars the quality somewhat.

The band has added keyboards, although I’m not sure who is playing them.  Morgan from The Buttless Chaps guests on a nice rendition of “Claire.”  They play a great version of “Jesus Was Once a teenager Too” with a folky breakdown in the middle.  “Take Me in Your Hand” is slow but really good.

There’s goofing on “Song of Flight” with them ending the song quickly and booing and yelling “stinky” I wonder what happened).  “Marginalized” is blistering and “Record Body Count” is a little goofy.  Perhaps the highlight of the night is “Horses” which is an amazing rendition and ends with a few lines and acoustic guitars from “When Winter Comes”

The encore starts with “Pornography” a song later recorded by Bidiniband.  Then there’s some great harmonies on “Dope Fiends and Boozehounds.”

They do a rocking version of Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” which is musically spot on, even though no one really knows the words.  The last few songs are more covers.  A very fast version of Jane Siberry’s “One More Colour,” and then a perfect version of “Takin’ Care of Business” (the guitar and vocals sound right on) which segues into a sloppy/fun “My Generation.”

The Green Sprouts shows often allow the band to mess around a bit which is great for fans.

[READ: July 21, 2015] “The Duniazát”

I generally like Rushdie’s work.  This story is told in the style of a 1001 Arabian Nights tale and consequently I didn’t enjoy it that much.  Although I was interested to find out some details about those stories.  There was originally a Persian book called “One Thousand Stories” which had been translated into Arabic.  In the Arabic version there were fewer than a thousand stories but the action was spread over a thousand nights, or, because round numbers are considered ugly, a thousand nights and one night more.  Huh.

The stories featured a beautiful storyteller knows as Sheherazade, who told her tales to a murderous husband in order to keep him from executing her.

Anyone, in this story, Rushdie tells a similar type tale.

Set in the year 1195, the great philosopher Ibn Rushd (I enjoyed the play on his own name there) was a physician to the Caliph.  But when he started espousing liberal views, he was discredited (sound familiar?).  He wound up living in a village where Jews were forced to convert to Islam and could not speak of Judaism.  So he felt right at home as an outcast. (more…)

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Dorthe Nors—“The Freezer Chest” (New Yorker, May 25, 2015)

Posted in Canadian Music, Chris Brown, Dorthe Nors, Gordon Lightfoot, Huh?, Kate Fenner, Misha Hoekstra, New Yorker, Pink Floyd, Rheostatics, Short Story, Translation, tagged on August 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

nymay156SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Evolve Festival Antigonish, NS (August 28, 2004).

evolveBestThe Rheostatics do a lot of festivals, and they always seem to have a good time.  But it also means a shorter set.  Unlike yesterday’s Nova Scotia show, this one doesn’t focus on new music too much (although they mention that 2067 is coming out Oct 5).

The sound quality isn’t great in this show either–there’s a lot of rumbling which sounds like winds, but who knows.

But they are even more charming in this setting.  Dave compliments someone one on their excellent sign and says that the sign demographic has let everyone down for this show–so her request will be honored.

The show starts with a cool jam from the Whale Music soundtrack (mostly “Song of Flight”).  When they play “Four Little Songs” one of the verses is a verse from Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain.”

Later they play a great version of “Saskatchewan” and perennial festival mates Chris Brown and Kate Fenner are there to help.  During “Stolen Car” they sing a few lines from “Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2.”

There’s great versions of “California Dreamline” and “Claire.”  The show ends with the new song “Power Ballad for Ozzy Osbourne” and there’s a breakdown during the song (no way to know what happened, but they have a laugh about it).

You can see photos from the day here (although none of the Rheostatics).

[READ: July 21, 2015] “The Freezer Chest”

I found Nors’ previous story to be a little odd.  And so I find this one.  There’s something about the way it was written (or translated) that I found it very stiff to read.  It is also told in a flashback which is later revealed to be a very-long-ago flashback.

What is particularly strange about the story is that the “action” of the freezer chest is all of about three paragraphs.  And while the story isn’t long overall, it takes a circuitous route to get to that part.

The narrator is a young girl, Mette.  She is on a boat with her classmates and their English teacher. Mark is also part of the group and he has made it clear that he does not like the narrator (that happened in a previous instance).  The crux is that Mark claimed to be an amazing guitarist.  And he is trying to get the narrator to respond to this information.  She genuinely does not care although she says she believes him. (more…)

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Justin Taylor–“So You’re Just What, Gone?” (New Yorker, May 18, 2015)

Posted in Art Gallery of Ontario, Canadian Music, John Cage, Justin Taylor, New Yorker, Rheostatics, Rush, Sex, Sexting, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Short Story, The Headpins, Travel, Yuck!, tagged on August 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ny15SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Halifax, NS (August 27, 2004).

haliRheostatics are reuniting for 3 shows at the Art Gallery of Ontario in a few weeks.  And I am going to see them!

So it’s time to listen to a few shows from eleven years ago.  This show doesn’t even mention a club, but that’s ok.  It’s a fun gig in Nova Scotia.  The quality of the recording is not great–it was recorded in the audience and you can hear a lot of audience chatter (and consequently the band is not as clear as could be).

Their final album 2067 is out in just a few months from this show, and they play a few songs from it: “Marginalized” and “The Tarleks.”  Later, Martin describes “Aliens” as “The Tarleks Part 1.” They also play “I Dig Music” a fun jazzy number.  There’s a drum break in the middle and drummer MPW says that he was trying to play the intro from Rush’s “Lakeside Park.”

There’s a wild middle section in “Satan is the Whistler.”

This show has lots of banter, and there’s a discussion about an audience member mocking The Headpins.  And later when a fan says his friend was kicked out, Dave gets mad at the bouncers and seems genuinely concerned for the friend and offers to go get him.

After they play “My First Rock Show” they ask MPW about his first rock show.  The discussion devolves into a discussion of John Cage’s smell (Old man vegan smell).

For “Take Me in Your hand” a fellow named Reid does guest vocals.

During the encore they play a version of happy birthday to someone whose birthday it is which is followed by a scorching version of “Rock Death America.”

As the encore winds down Dave says “dim the lights, chill the ham,” which I assume is a nod to fellow Canadians Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and their 1991 album. Martin (I assume) also starts playing around with a voice modulator as the song ends.

If the audio was better this would be an amazing show.

[READ: July 20, 2015] “So You’re Just What, Gone?”

I’ve enjoyed most of Taylor’s stories, even though his protagonists tend to be unpleasant.  But this story felt entirely too insubstantial for me to get beyond the grossness of it.

Charity is a high school student.  She is flying with her mother to visit her grandmother.  She doesn’t want to go and doesn’t want to be with her mom.  She’s pleased when she and her mom are separated on the plane (five plus hours of freedom!).

She winds up sitting next to a guy who tries to be chatty with her.  She wants none of it, but when she wakes up mid-flight to find that she has been sleeping on the guy’s shoulder, she feels a little bad and actually talks to him.  When Mark asks her if she gets bored and then says she is pretty, you know things are creepy.

When Mark he grabs her inner thigh and squeezes it and then gives her his business card, well, you just know the guy is a shit. (more…)

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