I Just Read About That…

  SOUNDTRACK: ASHLEY MONROE-Tiny Desk Concert #317 (November 3, 2013).

Ashley Monroe is a country singer.  She’s part of the new way of female country singers, most of whom I don’t really like.

But some of the folks at NPR music love country, so I’ll let the blurb do the talking for me:

The title track from Like a Rose tells an optimistic story of survival, the ambivalent ballad “You Got Me” chronicles ill-advised romantic obsession, and, of course, the Top 40 country hit “Weed Instead of Roses” functions as a playful, fun-loving mission statement. Speaking of “Weed Instead of Roses,” which closes this charming performance, Monroe says the straitlaced [Vince] Gill insisted upon the song’s inclusion on Like a Rose — even going so far as to declare it a condition of his producing the album. The guy knew what he was talking about, both in his support of the song and of Monroe herself.

“Like a Rose” is almost comical in how stereotypically country it starts out:  “I was only 13 when daddy died /Mama started drinking and my brother just quit trying.”  Good lord.  At least it has a positive message.

She says that the melody for “You Got Me” came to her in her sleep and woke her up.

“Weed Instead of Roses” is a song she wrote as a joke when she was 19.  She says her grandpappy first heard the lyric as “give me weeds as well as roses” and he thought that was right on because the weeds are just as important as the roses.

The song is definitely fun (and funny) but the whole set is way too twangy country for me.  And IO find her back up guitarist/vocalist to be even more whiny/twangy than her.  Yipes.

[READ: February 26, 2015] Gunnerkrigg Court 2 [15-22]

I was originally mixed on Volume 1 of this series, but I jumped right into this one and loved it from start to finish (even if I admit to not understanding everything that was going on).

The book, which compiles chapters 15-22 and some extras, doesn’t begin with any kind of recap, so you kind of have to catch up as you go along.

We meet the fairy from beyond the river who was turned into a girl.  She is very upset that her friend is no longer friends with her.  She assumes it’s because of her hair (which is now long).  In an amusing sequence, she believes that if she cuts her hair short and spiky she will be friends again (with some other girl).  She is delighted to learn she can cut her hair and it doesn’t hurt (then she attempts to cut off her finger).

But these cute one-off chapters are strategically placed between the more serious arc, which involves the awesome looking Muut (an owl head on a hunky man’s body) and the introduction of a short-haired woman who might be a teacher and who goes by the name Jones. She is a wise woman and an amazing fighter (she shows off by beating a man wielding a sword while she is unarmed).

There’s also the return of the ghost (named Mort) who is very funny.  Especially with the girl Parley who is terrified of him

I haven’t mentioned the two main characters, Antimony and Kat (who is somehow even more adorable–there’s something about her smile that I find really charming) is still super smart and is trying to build a robot. They find a room full of robots.  They were created by a man who is trying to remember Jeanne–the ghost by the Annan waters (of whom there is a painting).  There is a personal story about the two of them.

And we must not forget Reynardine, the spirit trapped inside a cuddly stuffed animal.  She suddenly seems to care for Antimony–sticking up for her when others make fun of her.

There’s even a brief visit from Zimmy the undead zombie girl and Gamma the Polish girl who doesn’t speak English but gets her statements (badly) translated by Zimmy.

The story moves along in Chapter 20 when Antimony meets Coyote, the trickster spirit animal.  He is outstanding–the embodiment of the myth–and he relates all of his stories.  It s a great and colorful chapter.  He is very funny, teasing everyone, and even though he is powerful, you never know if he is telling the truth.  Chapter 21 is also excellent where we learn the powers of Antimony’s blinker stone.  More importantly, we learn that she got it from Mort–who was passing it along from Muut.   The part where the girls get some revenge on Mort (when they hand him a letter) is freaking hilarious.

The final chapter of this book is a huge flashback.  It looks at all of our protagonists’ parents when they went to school and had similarity trials and tribulations.

The book ends with some hilarious black and white simple cartoons called City Face. This first series is about some pigeons.  One pigeon says he would like to impress a lady pigeon with his moves, but she is not interested in him.  There’s a brief pause in the story when Zimmy enters (and tries to eat one of the pigeons).  Finally a city fairy arrives and teaches him to be confident in himself.   I love that the final joke is “goto #1.”

For a book I was at first unimpressed with, I have really become hooked on this series.  I know that it’s a webcomic, but I’d rather read the books.