This show has an interesting technical glitch that the owner thankfully fixed. It was a soundboard recording (which is awesome), but evidently there was static in the right channel that rendered it unlistenable. So he simply removed the right channel and mixed it mono. The sound is actually excellent—one of the best early shows they’ve done. But since there is only own channel, you miss a lot of what, I think, is Dave’s guitar. When guest Tyler McPherson plays his solo, I believe you can’t hear it. Yet despite that, it still sounds great.
I feel like the band was a having a lot of fun on this Thursday night in Guelph (every night in Guelph is a weekend). They mention that their Nightlines episode was aired on the night of Lady Diana’s death (so they feel some kind of weird connection to her).
There’s a few firsts in this set as well. It’s the first time they plated “Junction Foil Ball” (from Nightlines). They seem to have finally settled in with “Harmelodia” not “California” in “Easy to Be with You.” They toss in a bit of “Tubthumping” at the beginning of “Horses,” and a bit of the Monkees, song “Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow)” at the beginning of “Queer.”
Of course there are some flubs as well. Martin messes up California Dreamline big time and Dave gets lost in the counting of “Four Little Songs” (and then says he never went to school).
But it’s the banter that is the fun part of this show. They ask the crowd not to shout out requests for a couple of songs. There’s a very funny sequence in which they try to play a Coors lite anthem. And Martin says he’s out of his mind. Dave says he’s a madman and Martin calls him a manatee. And then someone offers Dave an Islanders jersey which he says he can’t accept—it is too generous, but he’ll always remember it (and now so will we).
Before the end of the set, they offer the crowd some of the food they have backstage (if you like olives). But then they say that $18 was a bit steep of a ticket price for the show (can you imagine?). So they’re going to play extra long because the ticket price was so high. Man, how cool is that?
[READ: Summer 2013] Brief Encounters with Che Guevara
Several years ago (long before Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) I read about Ben Fountain…somewhere. I was reading an interview with a writer who talked about some new writers that he liked. Ben Fountain was one of them, and this writer specifically mentioned this collection. A week or so later I was in a dollar store of all places and saw this book on their piles of books. I couldn’t believe the serendipity. So I bought it (for a dollar). And then kind of forgot about it (so much for my theory that if I buy a book I’ll read it). But I did eventually get around to reading it and now sadly not only do I have no idea who originally introduced me to Fountain, I can’t even find it with online searching (and frankly I could have read it anywhere). Also, Fountain has since written Billy Lynn which received all kinds of praise (and which I haven’t read), so trying to find specific praise for Fountain from 7 years ago is a lost cause.
And just as I forgot to read it I forgot to write about it until now. This was his first collection of stories. There are eight in total. Even though it has been awhile, most of the stories were so powerful and well constructed that I remember them quite well. (more…)
Tabby has started taking piano lessons. She learned a few notes in the first class. Her second class is next week. I’m very curious to see if she likes it. She enjoyed the first lesson (I was especially happy about this because Clark shows no interest in playing an instrument).
However, I know from guitar lessons (which I took in 8th grade) that the first few months of lessons are kind of lame because you don’t really learn how to play anything except scales. So we’ll see how tolerant a 6-year-old is of doing this.
I look forward to hearing her play “Chopsticks.”
[READ: February 23, 2014] Little Horse & Little Horse on His Own
Sarah brought home Little Horse the other day and read it to Tabby. She said it was so surprising (she hadn’t read the blurb) that she wanted Clark and I to read it. We were equally surprised by the strange and literal way the reveal was written. And overall, there was something so charming and old-fashioned about the story that I was really surprised that it had been written in 2002 and not 1970.
So this is the story of Little Horse. He wanders away from his family and gets swept into a current where he is dragged away. He encounters many dangers and a surprising truth is revealed–and revealed so simply and in such a deadpan fashion in the book, that it made the whole story all the more intriguing.
With this revelation at hand, the end of the book becomes charming and bittersweet. It certainly set up a sequel.
And so in 2004, the sequel was delivered.
It’s not clear to me how much time has elapsed since the first book. It’s not exactly relevant, but it is certainly an interest, and it would make a difference if he was gone for a week or a year.
At any rate, the surprise is no longer a part of this book, which may be why I found it a little less satisfying. In this one, Little Horse gets away from his “captors” and makes his way back to his family. He goes through a lot of trouble, including a large and dangerous fall, but he is spared any serious injury.
I hate to spoil the book, but as it is the second of presumably only two books, it is not hard to imagine how it ends, and this book is all about the journey anyway.
I guess because there was less magic and mystery in this book it wasn’t quite as engaging. But it was a satisfying conclusion.
The illustrations by David McPhail also have a very old-fashioned feel. As with many books, the placement of the illustrations can act as a bit of a spoiler, which is kind of stinky, but overall they do wonders to convey the mystery and the struggle.
This show was recorded July 7, 2009. It’s fascinating that it didn’t get posted until four months later.
As the Bowerbirds first started I didn’t think I would like them primarily because of the opening lyrics of “Hooves” “Back to when I was born on a full moon, I nearly split my mama in two.” It just seemed an offputting way to start especially when sung over very simple acoustic guitar. But after the first verse, the band joins in with some Ahhs, which flesh out the song very nicely. The accordion and violin fill in where necessary and make this a much more compelling-sounding song.
The second song, “Teeth” opens with a very full sound–I really like it–bowed double bass, violin, accordion and guitar and when the backing vocals complement the lead vocal, it’s really quite beautiful. “House of Diamonds” is a folkie song, but the final track “In Our talons” (which comes from their first album) is really dramatic, with a some great vocals, a cool section that slows down the tempo and rousing accordion-driven conclusion. (There’s something a bout an accordion that when played right can add incredible tension to a song).
[READ: February 13, 2014] A Visit from the Good Squad
This book made many best of list at the end of 2010. I’ve wanted to read it for some time now, so when I saw it remaindered at Barnes & Noble, I grabbed it (yes, the library is cheaper, but I find that sometimes I will read things more quickly if I buy them).
I was expecting to be blown away by the book. But I wasn’t. At least not at first. And the real reason for that was because I read it over too long of a span of time. There are a lot of intricacies in this book that demand attention. It’s not a difficult book, but the structure of the book is not linear, and there are connections that are made and lost and resumed. And if you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to miss them. I enjoyed it quite a lot and I really liked the way the story filled in parts as it went along (you’ll see why that is significant shortly). And I loved the way the end tied everything together so nicely. But I found that I got even more out of it while writing this recap because it helped me to make connections I initially missed. So definitely read this, but either read it quickly or read it twice in a row.
So this book is set up that every chapter is narrated by or focuses on a different person at a different time in the story’s history. It’s a fascinating way to tell a story for the obvious reasons, but also because most of the characters are interrelated in some way (which was the clever part). And other characters arrive and disappear while still keeping continuity in the story.
There are thirteen chapters, which means 13 stories. Naturally there are more than 13 characters, so this makes for an interesting look at this world.
The first chapter and more or less the thread throughout the stories is Sasha. In the first chapter, (which is third person but in which Sasha is the protagonist), we see her planning to steal the wallet from a woman in the bathroom stall next to hers. She is on a date with a man named Alex, who is new to New York and is still kind of wide-eyed about it. He is amazed when later on he sees that Sasha has a bathtub in her kitchen (which she never uses). Sasha’s chapter is interspersed with her at the therapist’s office as she talks about her kleptomania and about her life as the assistant for Bennie Salazar–THE Bennie Salazar, record producer extraordinaire who discovered The Conduits. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: An open letter to the Rheostatics (2014).
To Dave, Martin, Tim and assorted drummers:
I’ve been a fan of the Rheostatics for a long time. I recall traveling to Toronto from New Jersey back in the 90s and tracking down Introducing Happiness at Sam the Record Man. And then later driving around the Niagara Falls region listening to the strange and wonderful album. I’ve enjoyed all of the subsequent albums.
You were a unique band with a unique sound. I was sad when you split up, even if that meant that now there were three solo projects to enjoy. Of course, there’s been a lot of bands that have broken up, it’s just part of being a fan. But the thing about the Rheostatics breakup is that you three (or four or five or six) have remained friendly. You’ve done a few reunion shows since the breakup, which I think that’s super cool. It’s especially cool because RheostaticsLive tends to post them after a while so that those of us who don’t make the shows can hear them.
I’ve never seen you guys live, and I imagine I never will. And I’m okay with that. What I’m mostly bummed about is that there will be no more new music from you. You put out approximately ten albums (there’s a few miscellaneous things that are hard to qualify). Those records include soundtracks and live albums and all manner of things, so there’s really seven proper albums (the others are great, don’t get me wrong). Anyhow, my gut feeling is that there needs to be some new Rheostatics music. I know you’ve all been doing solo stuff (and I have it), but sometimes the sum is greater, etc.
Clearly I’m getting at that it’s time for a new album from the Rheostatics. Before you scoff, I’m not talking reuniting for a grand tour, or even any tour, I’m not even talking a live show. Heck, I’m not even talking about you guys hanging out for more than a couple weeks. Just an album of new songs. A decade ago it would have been unthinkable that you would get together for the expense of an album without major label support. But now, the cost is so much lower and with your fan base expanding, I assume it would be easy to recoup the expenses.
So what do you say? Since it seems like everyone is still friendly and creative, maybe you can throw some ideas around in the email, see if there’s anything magical happening. Obviously, if there’s nothing there or you just can’t work together, then don’t continue. No one wants to hear a crappy Rheostatics album. But if there’s even a chance that you guys can throw some ideas together and pull out another “Horses,” or “Northern Wish” or “CCYPA,” or holy cow, “King of the Past,” or, hell, anything you’ve done, then it’s absolutely worth it.
I don’t imagine any of you will read this, but maybe if you google yourselves, Tim Vesely, Dave Bidini, Martin Tielli, you’ll see this and think that, yes, dammit, seven records of Rheostatics music is not enough.
Thanks for the music, Paul Debraski.
[READ: January 26, 2014] Worst. Person. Ever.
I told myself that I wanted to read this book before anyone requested it. And I did. In fact, I wanted to finish it before the weekend was up, which I did as well. It’s nice to meet a minor goal.
The last few Coupland books that I read (see last week) were very dark. Since those books, he has broadened his palette somewhat, including writing a children’s book and some more non-fiction. And then we get this. A vulgar, very funny sendup of modern culture. The introduction to the book says that it was based on a short story that he wrote for McSweeney’s #31 called “Survivior.” That story was written in the style known a biji which they described as
Biji is sort of a notebook, which contains legends, anecdotes, scientific notes and local wisdom. Accounts of everyday life mix with travel narratives as well as lists. It is meant to represent a picture of the culture at the time of writing.
I thought that this style was well suited to Coupland, because he includes all of that stuff anyway. And so he has taken that story and fleshed it out into this full novel.
The worst person ever is named Raymond Gunt. He thinks he’s Jason Bourne, but he’s really just a metaphorical extra in a Bourne movie (one who probably gets killed). Gunt is a cameraman working in England. He is divorced. His wife is a raging harpy (at least from his point of view, which is all we see). Since their divorce, she has become wildly successful in television production. He calls in on her at work and she tells him about a job working as a B cameraman on a show called Survival. He knows that the job must suck or she wouldn’t give it to him, but he needs to work. Of course, he is most upset at the thought of having to work with Americans (Americans are majorly abused in this story). Although by its very nature a B cameraman position is not as good as an A cameraman, Ray needs the work, so he agrees to fly to some godforsaken tropical island to watch beautiful people starve and try to have sex with each other.
On his way out of the building he sees a homeless guy. And since Ray is the worst person ever, he kicks him. But the homeless guy is no pushover and he chases after Ray. He catches Ray in an alley and pummels him, ultimately pushing his face into some garbage. The man is Neal and although he acts crazy, he’s actually quite sharp (why he is homeless is not addressed). After forcing Ray to sing the female verses of “Don’t You Want Me,” Neal gives him this sage advice:
“Stop being a cunt to the world and the world will stop being a cunt to you.”
Advice which Ray simply cannot follow.
When ray learns that he needs a personal assistant, um, slave, he immediately thinks of Neal. So he tracks him down, cleans him up and gives him a job. And off they jet to make some TV.
In the course of the book, a series of crazy things–the kind of things only Coupland thinks of–sidetrack them from Ray’s goal. (His real goal is to get laid, naturally). First, it turns out that Neal, despite being homeless, is a total babe magnet. And throughout the story, as he gets cleaner and fresher, he becomes irresistible This, of course, ruins Ray’s plans of bedding hot women. And as Neal gets cleaner, he becomes less and less Rays assistant and more and more Ray’s equal.
They jet to L.A., (he was supposed to be in first class, but was bumped and is super angry). He also gets in trouble with the airport bartender, Lacey, who comes back to haunt him in ways one could never predict. He gets first class seats on the way to Hawaii and he abuses the privilege. Then, because of unforeseen circumstances, they have to stay in Honolulu (with lots of Spam jokes). And because of those unforseen circumstances, they need to recast the show, which means Ray’s wife has to jet down and be around them. And Ray’s wife, Fiona, is delighted to make Ray’s life miserable. Eventually, they head to their intended island and prepare to set up for the show.
In the meantime, the U.S. has decided to destroy the Great Pacific Garbage Patch–in a very imaginative way. And ray is on hand to witness the destruction. This plan causes all manner of trouble with shipping and airplane traffic. Which has the effect of isolating everyone on the Survivor island–causing a literal survival situation.
Raymond Gunt may not be the worst person ever, but he is pretty darn close. He tries to sleep with anyone. He tries to screw over everyone else (but never seems to get anywhere). And he genuinely likes to torment others. And all the while he repeats his mantra, “I consider myself a reasonable enough citizen.” Despite Gunt’s personality, he (or at least the story) is funny enough that you want to keep reading (and maybe even to succeed in some of his designs). And that made this story a major page turner. And it was very funny as well.
Coupland really gets the feel for writing a British story. It doesn’t read like any of his other books and while it’s not full of crazy accents or overt Britishisms, his main character is defiantly not American. As I said, all Americans are fat, sweaty, stupid and prudish in Ray’s mind.
This is also the worst person that Coupland has ever written. He is such an abominable person with an incredibly filthy mouth. The above quote is just one of just many curses in the book. In fact there’s a whole subplot about how prudish Americans are about people saying “fuck” despite their cavalier acceptance of violence and other things (we say friggin, when everyone knows we mean fucking).
I have to assume Coupland had a ton of fun writing this. And it really comes through. I’m also going to guess that a lot of people’ won’t like this book because Gunt is so reprehensible. But if you can get past that, the story is funny, and makes some pointedly humorous observations about a lot of contemporary life. Like “Survival [sic] is a popular reality TV show… You’re either into this show or you’re not. It’s binary.” or “‘Come on Eileen’ was a single in 1982…What’s weird about this song is that it was so huge at the time and now you listen to it and wonder, what the hell was everyone thinking? Well, that’s pop culture for you.” It even has what seem like Wikipedia entries of things throughout in the book (and a YouTube link which is bizarre to see in print).
I really enjoyed this, and I’m thrilled that Coupland has unleashed his inner black humorist.
Watch him talk about the book with Jian Ghomeshi, a great interviewer
I found this song when I was reading an article about Chris Christie. Someone said he’s toast after his recent scandal. And someone else posted this video. Evidently it is taken from a morning radio show (ew), but the song is funny despite the morning nimrods laughing along.
I prefer the audio quality of the radio version, but I like this live version better (the dark toast intolerant joke is very funny (it’s new to this version)–as is the punchline to the Eifel Tower verse).
The excitement that he brings to this nonsense is wonderful.
[READ: September 20, 2013] Who Could That Be at This Hour?
I have a few books lingering around from last year that I have yet to write about. This is one of them. I’m not sure how a book gets neglected in my writing. Usually I feel like I need to devote some time to it and I feel like I don’t have enough time at the moment. And then it gets pushed back and back until months have gone by and then I wind up writing a half-assed review anyhow.
Alas.
So this begins a new series from Lemony Snicket. It is a prequel to A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it is a very early prequel. The main character is a thirteen year old Lemony Snicket who has just finished school and is on his way to a certain destination when all of his plans are thwarted. And the way the opening is written is confusing and funny at the same time. Like, “You’ll see her soon enough in any case, I thought, incorrectly.” Or that he is given a note from a stranger which says to go out the bathroom window. When he gets into the bathroom he finds a small package: “It was a folding ladder. I knew it was there. I’d put it there myself.” Young Snicket is sitting with his parents–they insist he drink his tea while he waits for the train. But while he is waiting, a woman breezes into the station and drops a note in his lap.
The mysterious letter writer turns out to be S. Theodora Markson. She is to be Snicket’s chaperone. Snicket uses the “a word which here means…” trick from the Unfortunate books but there’s a funny twist
“I’m contrite, I said, a word which here means–”
“You already said you were sorry,” S. Theodora Markson said. “Don’t repeat yourself. It’s not only repetitive, it’s redundant and people have heard it before.” (more…)
Every year I’m curious to see what the kids who vote for Kids Corner music will pick as their top ten. It is usually reliably silly. But this year I have to say I was a bit disappointed in their selections. Here’s the Top um, Eleven (two were tied of tenth) from 11 to 1.
Allan Sherman – You Went The Wrong Way Old King Louie
Dan Zanes – Turn Turn Turn
The Plants – Aziphrale
Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band – Thingamajig
Shine And The Moonbeams – Bully Bully
Trout Fishing In America – My Sister Kissed Her Boyfriend
Weird Al Yankovic – The Saga Begins
The Doubleclicks – Worst Superpower Ever
Ratboy Jr. – Champion Of The Universe
Sara Hickman – Radiation Man
The Board Of Education – Why Is Dad So Mad?
I am especially surprised by Allan Sherman as I can’t imagine that too many kids would enjoy that song (which is funny if you know your history, but not really otherwise) and while I love Dan Zanes, “Turn Turn Turn” is not exactly a rollicking fun Top Ten song. I actually dislike “Bully Bully” and while I love Trout Fishing in America and like “My Sister,” it’s certainly not their best song (and this list isn’t just new songs obviously). The rest of the list is quite good, though.
And it’s a great choice for number one. But next year, kids, more silliness!
[READ: January 1, 2014] The Flying Beaver Brothers: Birds vs. Bunnies
We were unreasonably excited to see that there was a new Flying Beaver Brothers book out! We loved the first two quite a lot, so any return of Ace and Bub is a good thing. But to also have the return of a nasty villain is quite nice too.
Yet it’s not all the same faces, because this time there are birds and bunnies causing havoc with our heroes.
Bob and Bob (the penguins who get a brief cameo) are rebuilding Beaver Island and Bub and Ace are heading there in a boat. But a storm rages and makes them crash. They walk around an island where they are quickly captured by an angry bunch of bunnies who accuse them of being bird spies (those are real?). Indeed, the birds have been playing a very loud sound that hurts the bunnies ears and makes them go underground. So the bunnies are fighting back with a wind machine that makes the birds leave the sky. Both of these machines were funded by a mysterious fellow named Wally (unbeknownst to the others). (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: JIM WHITE-Tiny Desk Concert #8 (November 7, 2008).
I didn’t know who Jim White was before this Tiny Desk Concert. And I’m still not entirely sure who is he. But he’s a gifted songwriter and storyteller.
Bob explains how he and Jim tried to work together for All Songs Considered, but that every time Bob asked Jim to do a 3 minute piece, he’d hand in a 15 minute piece. And then somehow Jim would edit it into a 17 minute piece. Jim admits that anything can set him off on a tangent (most of which are thoroughly engaging). He also says that he writes songs not a bout “you” but about “me.”
So with him and a drum machine, he sings some really pretty songs. “Jailbird” is a slow ballad that is quite beautiful. I enjoyed that he played his harmonica solo without playing the guitar at the same time (I don’t know if the guitar was prerecorded or looped, I think prerecorded).
Then he gives a funny story about working with the guitarist for P.M. Dawn. “Turquoise House” is a boppy little number about not fitting in. It’s a wonderful song. “Stranger Candy” is a darker song (full of lessons). He says that it took him several tries to get the music right for this one.
There’s a fascinating story about a gift that Jim sent to Bob. The story goes on about a racist incident in which his daughter rises above racism.
“Somewhere in the World” is a gentle ballad about finding the person you are waiting for. I like it (except for that falsetto note at the end). Then he talks about how for his old songs (like the previous one) he was kind of bummed. But he has grown up and is happier. And that has made his songwriting much more difficult.
The final song is called “A Town Called Amen.” It’s another boppy little song, charming and sweet. And Jim White seems about the sweetest, nicest musician in the world.
I came away from this Tiny Desk Concert really enjoying Jim White and wanting to hear more from him.
[READ: December 15, 2013] The Braindead Megaphone
This is Saunders’ first collection of essays and non-fiction. At some point, I stated that I thought I would enjoy his non-fiction more than his fiction. That is both true and not. I enjoyed his “reporting” essays (from GQ) quite a lot. But I found his shorter, sillier pieces to be a but too much. Nevertheless, he is an inquisitive reporter, looking for truth and traveling far and wide to find it (even braving the depths of FOX news). It’s a good collection and only slightly dated.
The Braindead Megaphone
This essay seemed a bit like a blunt instrument hitting a soft object. Although 2007 is seven years ago, I feel like the subjects (dumb newscasters) were pretty soft even then. However, it’s entirely possible that people who were apolitical or just simply not that interested in what obnoxious outlets like FOX were doing may not have been entirely aware that the Braindead Megaphone (ie. all news outlets) were not doing us any favors with their spouting of nonsense and being incurious about where stories are really news worthy or even accurate. I imagine this is mostly just preaching to the converted. I was a little worried that the whole book would be just as unsubtle, but that proved to be a foundless worry. This is not to say that I didn’t agree with everything he said in this essay. He was spot on. And often he was pretty funny too. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: GARFUNKEL AND OATES-“Year End Letter” (2010).
Garfunkel and Oates are a wonderful comedy team. I’ve enjoyed so many of their songs, but this was the first time I ‘ve heard this Christmastime ditty.
We always enjoy reading people’s year end letters with an eye towards the attitude in this song–slightly mocking and yet also thinking:
“You’re right, your family’s better than mine
And it seems you make a lot more money.”
But now with the advent of Facebook, people post their year end letter info every day. And I am very sad to see that we got virtually no year end letters this year. So even though we tease, now we miss what we once mocked. At least G&O can remind us what they all contained.
And since I cannot figure out how to embed a vimeo video, you’ll have to click this link to watch it.
[READ: December 20, 2013] Legends of the Guard
This book is a collection of short pieces written and illustrated by some of the greats in independent comic books (with a shocking number of them being from Michigan). Evidently many writers contacted Petersen and wanted to work with him. He didn’t want to mess up the arc of his story so he devised this idea. Set in June’s Ale House, all of the mice are tasked with telling a story. The one who tells the best will have his bar tab erased (for some that is quite a deal).
And so, these stories or legends are set at any time in the past and do not impact the chronology of our Mouse Guards. And man, are they good. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: HAVE YOURSELF A SULLEN LITTLE CHRISTMAS–NPR (December 19, 2013).
NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson and Travis Larchuk hop onto Morning Edition to talk about Christmas songs that are melancholy sad and downright sullen (which is quite a lot of them, if you really listen to the words).
They talk about some new(ish) songs that are depressing Like David Mead’s “The Smile of Rachael Ray” (which would be bad enough, but that’s just a lead in to the bummer within), Harvey Danger’s “Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes),” Garfunkel & Oates’ “Year End Letter” (which is quite funny) and the song “Dead, Dead, Dead” from the South Park holiday album Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics.
Of course, dark Christmas songs are nothing new. There are plenty of dour holiday standards that originate in the 1940s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “Blue Christmas” are major downers.
When I try to compile Christmas mixes I try to leave off the bummer songs, but it’s really hard.
Stephen Thompson gives an excellent summary of the season: “Christmas is the one day a year when we’re all supposed to be happy, and so you’re hyperaware when you’re not.” I hope everyone has a Happy Christmas this year.
[READ: December 10, 2013] Mouse Guard The Black Axe
This book features a preface by Terry Jones. It doesn’t say a lot, but it’s worth a mention.
The Black Axe begins after the events of Winter 1152 (it is set in Spring, 1153), but the bulk of the book is a flashback to the origin story of the Black Axe.
As the book opens we learn that Lieam, one of the Mouse Guards has been missing for the last three months. We also learn that even though the Winter was a dangerous time for the mice, the Spring proves to be equally treacherous as all of the predators are awaking from hibernation. But despite the current crises, Gwendolyn’s thoughts turn to Spring 1115 where the story of Celanawe begins.
We see Celanawe on an island building a house. Suddenly a crow approaches. On the crow is Em, a mouse who can communicate with the crows and who reveals that he she has been looking for him. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-“Silent Night/Lord Can You Hear Me” (2008).
The last Flaming Lips Christmas song I heard was their rendition of “White Christmas” which is creepy and just awful. For this one, they picked a much prettier song (“Silent Night”) and they don’t mess with it at all. They keep it very simple–echoed keyboards and some backing vocals with Wayne Coyne’s autotuned voice singing properly. It is certainly not the best version of the song I’ve heard, but it is at least pretty.
The song segues into “Lord, Can You Hear Me” which follows the same simple instrumentation as “Silent Night” and nearly keeps the same melody. It’s not so much a song as a coda to “Silent Night.”
This single came out around the time of Christmas on Mars and includes as the B-side “It’s Christmas Time Again.”
[READ: December 6, 2013] Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Speckled Band
Since I’m going to write about a few of these, I’ll keep up this little intro bit so I don’t have to re-write the general ideas/criticisms.
These are indeed the actual Arthur Conan Doyle stories just severely edited and truncated. In other words, a lot of the story is cut out and yet the original language is still in place (at least I hope it is, I hope contemporary writers didn’t write the dialogue), so for young kids I think the wording is a little confusing. The drawings are a little too simple for my liking as well. They do effectively convey the story, but I didn’t like the very basicness of them. I feel they make the stories seems a little more childlike than they actually are.
Having said all that however, I found the graphic novels to be a compelling introduction to Sherlock Holmes’ shorter stories (although not for my 8-year-old apparently).
This is the last book of the series that I have read–there are apparently 14 as of this writing. I don’t think I’ll be reading any more as I feel like I am getting such a small amount of the story that it would be more worthwhile to simply read the actual stories (which I had planned to do anyhow). Reading these feels like I’m getting the answer to the puzzle ahead of time. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Spiral Club, Guelph Ontario (December 18 1997). 
This show has an interesting technical glitch that the owner thankfully fixed. It was a soundboard recording (which is awesome), but evidently there was static in the right channel that rendered it unlistenable. So he simply removed the right channel and mixed it mono. The sound is actually excellent—one of the best early shows they’ve done. But since there is only own channel, you miss a lot of what, I think, is Dave’s guitar. When guest Tyler McPherson plays his solo, I believe you can’t hear it. Yet despite that, it still sounds great.
I Just Read About That... 