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Archive for the ‘Animals’ Category

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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Nell Zink–The Wallcreeper (2014)

Posted in Birds, Environmentalism, Jonathan Franzen, Nell Zink, Paul Weller, Sex, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert on August 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

zinkSOUNDTRACK: PAUL WELLER-Tiny Desk Concert #457 (July 28, 2015).

wellerPaul Weller is a highly regarded and well respected elder statesman of rock.  Some of his songs with The Jam are my favorite songs from the 80s.  Weller hops from genre to genre quite a lot, and I did not care for The Style Council at all.  So even though he’s been making music forever, I haven’t really paid him much attention.  In this tiny Desk, he brings a fairly large band (6 people (4 guitars!)) to sing an acoustic collection of songs. There’s a drums (just a snare) and a percussionist too. And everyone sings.

His voice sounds fantastic—older but still really strong.

They play four songs. Three are from his new album Saturns Pattern.  Like “Dusk Til Dawn” which is a delightful folk song.  The band sounds really loud, or not loud but big, like there are really 6 people out there.   This is especially true on “I’m Where I Should Be” which also has some great harmony vocals and percussive guitar techniques.  I love how much the harmonies contribute to the song and the general song structure is great.

“Out of the Sinking” goes back to Weller’s most popular album Stanley Road (which I don’t know). It’s a wonderful song.  It showcases Weller’s gruffer vocals and nice finger picking. There’s some more great harmonies from the bongo player.  And the song has a real nice campfire song feel (it reminds me a bit of Van Morrison’s folkier songs).

For “Going My Way” Weller switches to piano. It’s a simple song with some great backing vocals and harmonies, (and hand claps), although I prefer the middle two songs.

I hadn’t really given much thought to Weller in the last few decades, but this set was really enjoyable.

[READ: August 7, 2015] The Wallcreeper

This is Nell Zink’s first published novel (she has another novel, 1998’s Sailing Towards the Sunset by Avner Shats) which I read about that I would love to find, but I don’t think it has ever been published).

I really enjoyed Zink’s Mislaid and wanted to see what her earlier work was about.  There was an article in the New Yorker which gave an interesting background to this story which involved a long correspondence with Jonathan Franzen and resulted in a book that I would suggest is not completely unlike something he might create–expect that it is way shorter and slightly more erratic.

Zink does not follow conventional story structure exactly.  This is not to say that the story is weird or avant garde, not at all.  She just doesn’t like to set things up conventionally.  For instance, the first sentence of the story is: “I was looking at the map when Stephen swerved, hit the rock, and occasioned the miscarriage.” (more…)

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My Morning Jacket (Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ, July 25, 2015)

Posted in Hippos, Jim James, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, Neil Young, Roger Waters, Set in New Jersey!, St. Vincent on July 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 25, 2015] My Morning Jacket

2015-07-25 22.10.21I had made a list of bands that I really wanted to see.  My Morning Jacket was pretty near the top of it.  My friend Jay and I marveled over singer Jim James’ use of a cape (which sadly he did not wear at this show).  Of course, it wasn’t just the cape we wanted to see, it was the whole band.

So when they were announced to headline the XPNFest, I knew I had to get tickets (the fact that St. Vincent was co-headlining was a huge bonus).

While the crowd was good for St. Vincent, they were ecstatic for MMJ.  Everyone was on their feet the whole show.  And what a show.  The band played for 2 and a half hours, running through much of their new album as well as classics from their past few records.

I had heard that MMJ were a big time jam band, and indeed they were.  In fact, even though Neil Young did some amazing jamming and soloing during his recent set, this was the first real “jam band” show I’ve been to.  Where the band takes a song in different directions, wending through different moods and styles like the 20 minute “Deodato”–more on that later.

2015-07-25 23.27.05In fact, each song was extended by some impressive soloing.  Interestingly, Jim James took a number of solos that were just himself on stage.  And I felt like his solos weren’t really that impressive.  There was a bluesy one that was very cool and one or two others that were more textural than “impressive.”  It’s clear that lead guitarist Carl Broemel can solo amazingly, but he didn’t get any features, just wailing solos during the songs.

I was pretty excited that they started with “Off the Record” which had some pretty impressive jamming in the middle.  Jim James was wearing an awesome jacket with neon stripes all over it and a pair of sunglasses that he never removed.  It was 90 degrees out that day.  How did he stand it? (more…)

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Doug TenNapel–Tommysaurus Rex (2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Death, Dinosaurs, Dogs, Doug TenNapel, Fantasy, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jason Vieaux, Pallbearer, Short Books, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert, Yolanda Kondonassis on June 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

rexSOUNDTRACK: JASON VIEAUX AND YOLANDA KONDONASSIS-Tiny Desk Concert #443 (May 22, 2015).

yolandaTypically, the Tiny Desk doesn’t have performers back after they have played once.  But occasional exceptions are made, like when performers who played solo come back as a duo.  Like this.

Jason Vieuax was one of the first 20 people to play the Tiny Desk and Yolanda Kondonassis played back in 2010.  And here they are touring as a duo, which really helps to accentuate both of their skills.  And their music is beautiful together.

Vieuax is an amazing classical guitarist.  And Kondonassis plays an amazing harp that is more about singular notes than trills and “heavenly” sounds.  And in these songs, they work together doing harmony runs and fills–both instruments are lead instruments.

Apparently there aren’t very many pieces written for the combination of harp and guitar.  Kondonassis explains the origins of the Hovhaness piece (which gives some lovely context).

Vieaux explains the origins of the two movements of the Piejo suite.

The first piece is sweet, while the second one is a little more aggressive (but still lovely).  And the third one features some cool riffs and chords (especially on guitar) and percussion done on the instruments.

The three songs they play are

  • Gary Schocker: “Elysian” (from Hypnotized)
  • Alan Hovhaness: Fuga: Allegro – Andante grazioso, Canon: Allegro (from Sonata for Harp and Guitar, “Spirit of Trees”)
  • Máximo Diego Pujol: Vals, Candombe (from Suite mágica)

The pieces are familiar and yet quite different.  And 456+it is much fun to watch their fingers fly around their instruments.

[READ: January 24, 2015] Tommysaurus Rex

I brought this book home for Clark to read.  I wasnt going to read it myself but then I saw that I had read a book by TenNapel before and liked it.

But I did not care for this one.  Perhaps it was because it was marketed in my library as a kids book but I thought it was just too violent or something–the story turned me off.

Perhaps it was just that the story opens with the main character’s dog getting hit by a car and dying.  I mean, who needs that?  And the cover looks so fun, too. (more…)

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Tom Watson–Stick Dog Chases a Pizza (2014)

Posted in Bellows, C., Children's Books, Dogs, Food, Funny (ha ha), Pizza, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Tom Watson on June 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

pizzaSOUNDTRACK: BELLOWS-Tiny Desk Concert #440 (May 11, 2015).

bellows I knew Bellows from NPR playing one of their songs.  They are a new band with one album out.  Their Tiny Desk Concert is really short (under 10 minutes) but they do play 3 songs.

I’m curious if they are stripped down for this or if they typically sound this soft and simple.

The opening song “Sacred Heart” is propelled by a very simple synth riff and bass notes (the lefty bassist plays a right handed bass upside down, which is interesting to see).  Perhaps the most compelling thing about Bellows is the harmony voices (and the drummer’s hair).

Lead singer Oliver Kalb has a voice that I wouldn’t call powerful, but it is rather distinctive (and perhaps a bit unusual).  The songs work best when the unnamed keyboardist (female) and bassist (male, deep voice) all sing together, like in “Hello Morning.”

The final song, “White Sheet” is the one I knew from NPR.  It sounds just as good here.  It is easily the best of the three songs, probably because the keyboardist does more than sing harmony.  (And the ah ah ah ah section, combined with the deep breathing section is very catchy too).

I think it may be the simplicity of the melodies that makes the songs so effective–they do stay with you.  And they definitely leave me wanting to hear more.

[READ: January 5, 2015] Stick Dog Chases a Pizza

I didn’t know there was a third Stick Dog book out.  It is pretty samey compared to the first two (but since I haven’t looked at a Stick Dog book in a while, it was okay).   In the first book, the dogs were after a hamburger.  In the second it was a hot dog. In this book they are after a pizza.

The book opens with the dogs all laughing at Karen (the dachshund) trying to catch her tail.  When that is over (Stick Dog doesn’t like that they are teasing her even if it is funny), he suggests that they go the park and play Frisbee.  There is plenty of funniness as the dogs ignore him but pretend they were paying attention.  And then they all come back with what they think is a Frisbee (the results range from bottle caps to flat tires (the poor bike rider) to cardboard discs.

But the cardboard disc has red stuff and white stuff on it and it tastes delicious. I have to say I am surprise that they never tasted pizza before (all dogs root through garbage and grab pizza boxes at some pint right?). (more…)

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Bruce Kluger & David Slavin–Dog on the Roof: On the Road with Mitt & The Mutt (2012)

Posted in Augustin Barrios, David Russell, Dogs, Francois Couperin, Isaac Albeniz, Political Humor, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfunny on June 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »

roofSOUNDTRACK: DAVID RUSSELL-Tiny Desk Concert #55 (April 19, 2010).

russellDavid Russell is a classical guitar player (or “god,” as they call him).  Although I am unfamiliar with his work, apparently he is huge.

And deservedly so. When he started playing the first song I assumed he was looping the low notes while he soloed the high notes.  But no, he is playing the low notes slowly with his thumb while he speeds along the nearly pizzicato notes with the rest of his fingers.  And that’s just his right hand.

His left hand doesn’t move fast–he’s not shredding–but man, the elaborate chords, the expanse of his hand covering so much of the neck at once–are really stunning to watch. The chords are complex and the way he can play solo notes and low notes at the same time is amazing.

The Couperin piece absolutely blew my mind–there are two melodies going at once.  And the Albeniz piece is simply lovely.

It’s also fun to listen to his Scottish accent when he describes what he loves about the guitar he is playing (and his unexpectedly baudy joke about why he doesn’t name it).

The set list includes:

  • Augustin Barrios: “Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios”
  • Francois Couperin: “Les Silvains”
  • Isaac Albeniz: “Granada”

You can watch it here.  It’s amazing.

[READ: May 27, 2015] Dog on the Roof

I usually try to only read books that I’ll enjoy,  but every once in a while you get a stinker.  So this weekend is devoted to two recent stinkers.

I saw this book on a pile at work.  And I thought why on earth did we get this completely out of date book in 2015?  I see now that it was donated to the library. My goodness, thank you random person.

So perhaps you remember that in the 2012 campaign, Mitt Romney put his dog on the roof of his car or something. It was a minor scandal (or a major scandal if you love dogs).  And it was a jokey talking point for a little while.

Well, as happens in political cycles, some people decided to make a jokey book about it.  Kluger and Slavin are satirists who work for All Things Considered.  And, as the blurb on the back of the book says (not too overstate what was a minor incident) “It is the inside look at the Man Who Would Be President and the wild ride that’s sweeping and bewildering the nation.” (more…)

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Jill Sexsmith–“Airplanes Couldn’t Be Happier in Turbulence” (The Walrus, May 2015)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Horses, Humiliation, Jill Sexsmith, King Kong, Marriage Trouble, Neurotics, Rheostatics, Ron Sexsmith, Short Story, The Walrus, tagged on May 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

2015-05SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Ted’s Wrecking Yard Toronto, ON (May 30, 2001).

twyFor this final show with Don Kerr, the band played for what seems like ever.  Darrin says he edited out any quiet bits so the show could fit on two discs, which it does.  And even at that it’s still about 2 and a half hours long.

Only five songs are repeated from the previous night (and they are all from the new album, except “Stolen Car,” which Martin sings on this night) and “Take Me in Your Hand” which is pretty awesome.  There’s also no Kevin on this night, so the set is full of a few of the more rocking songs (as opposed to the Harmelodia stuff).

 After a rocking “Fat” they play two rarely played songs “Remain Calm” and “The Idiot.”  But the set list is just a perfect collection of the songs that I love most: “Aliens,” “King of the Past,” “Saskatchewan,” “California Dreamline,” “Fan Letter to Michael Jackson” and “Horses.”  Wow.

Some notes: “There’s an awkward introduction to “The Idiot” which they hadn’t played in a long time.  The “Aliens”/”King of the Past ” pair is great.  I also loved the way they run right into “Mumbletypeg” while Martin is still feed backing the previous song.  “Horses” has an angry chant from Dave (the “facts” chant) and you can really hear DB wailing on the acoustic guitar at the end of “Stolen Car.”

Don gives a nice thanks (he says he’s about to cry) and they open “Take Me in Your Hand” with a jaunty “Ob La Di” riff and lyrics about Don.

There’s a lot of banter, including an Ed the Sock joke (“Don Kerr fired by Ed the Sock.”)  It’s a wonderful ending to a wonderfully time with Don Kerr.  Incidentally, Ted’s closed in 2001 as well, and the band, who played many multinight sets there moved their Green Sprouts Week to The Horsehoe.

This is a great show, and the sound is outstanding.  And since Don is leaving to play with Ron Sexsmith, here’s a story by Jill Sexsmith (presumably unrelated).

[READ: April 25, 2015] “Airplanes Couldn’t Be Happier in Turbulence”

I enjoyed the way this story began with some very down to earth information and then ends in a preposterous and yet still strangely believable situation.  It’s about exasperation and the need to do something, anything, when everything feels out of control.

Madison (it’s hard to believe that there are grown women with that name) has wanted to scale the Empire State Building ever since she watched King Kong as a kid.  Her husband, Frank, is a grounded individual, an actuary who is full of facts and statistics.  When she says she want to go there, he says “There’s a 0.28 percent chance of getting pistol whipped” in New York City.  He also quips, I suppose you want a  pony, too.  She jokes that she does, although she is afraid of horses–especially ponies, the “kneecap biting form of the horse” (I can attest to this, having been bitten on the kneecap by my neighbors supposedly nice pony).

Madison has never taken a vacation from her job.  She is anxious at the thought of empty days in front of her.  Her boss and coworkers keep trying to get her to go.  This year for her birthday she and Frank are going to New York City.  Her boss throws a going away party even though two of the four days are on the weekend. (more…)

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Popovich Comedy Pet Theatre (RVCC Arts, Branchburg, NJ, April 18, 2015)

Posted in Acrobats, Animals, Branchburg, NJ, C., Cats, Dogs, Funny (ha ha), Popovich Comedy Pet Theatre, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, T. on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 18, 2015] Popovich Comedy Pet Theatre

popvichThis show was playing at McCarter Theater and at RVCC. It was at least $10/ticket cheaper at RVCC, so good for us!  The RVCC show was a general admission seating situation, so we got there much earlier than we normally do for shows.  Of course, so did everyone else and we wound up sitting pretty far back (I was glad that people were actually coming to an RVCC show!).

But that was okay, because we could still see all of the action and all of the pets perfectly.

Some fascinating things to note about Popovich before I even get to the show.  Despite the name, the show is not only pets.  In fact there are a lot of human clowns and acrobats and performers on stage as well.  Evidently Popovich is quite well-known and has appeared on many TV shows.  And the whole show is told as a vague kind of story.

pop tvWhen we arrived, one of the troupe was standing in the aisle with a cat on his shoulder.  T. got to pet the cat, which was sweet.  Then a man in a cool green outfit (a big flared jumpsuit) with some white face on came down the aisle eating popcorn.  He played some jokes on people in the audience and then climbed on stage.  He was a kind of warm up, doing cheesy jokes (the fingers transferring from one hand to the other joke), and then doing a bit with a balloon that he could not move.  He was a really convincing mime and that bit was great, especially when the other guy came out and tried to pull the balloon away and couldn’t.  It was all simple but when it’s done well, it’s really magical. (more…)

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Five Dials Number 34: Jokes/Not Joking At All (18 December 2014)

Posted in Alternative Medicine, Arcade Fire, Art, Astor Piazzolla, Benjamin Rachlin, Caribou, Cats, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Christopher O'Riley, Cocteau Twins, Colin Barrett, Death, Dogs, Don Bartlett, Eliza Granville, Emily Berry, Essays, Five Dials, Gillian Mears, Jody Barton, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Karl Ove Knausgård, Kit Buchan, Leoš Janáček, Ludwig van Beethoven, Margaux Williamson, Matt Haimovitz, Nick Hornby, Noir, Parenting, Philip Glass, Short Story, Sigmund Freud, Stuart Evers, Sunita Solair, The Believer, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Tiny Desk Concert, Tom Basden on April 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

5dials34SOUNDTRACK: MATT HAIMOVITZ & CHRISTOPHER O’RILEY-Tiny Desk Concert #426 (March 14, 2015).

matthThere’s no introduction or fanfare for cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O’Riley’s Tiny Desk set.  They just start right in with a romping Beethoven piece.   I don’t know these two, but the notes say the duo has a new album out called Shuffle.Play.Listen., in which music by Stravinsky and Astor Piazzolla mingles with Cocteau Twins and Arcade Fire.  There’s no contemporary music in this set, but it’s very cool nonetheless.

The Beethoven piece sounds alive and wild and very modern.  The Glass piece is slow and beautiful  The final piece is lively and playful (with hints of darkness).  It introduced as reminding O’Riley of a scene in The Unbearable Lightness of Being when Daniel Day-Lewis gets a quickie.

It’s especially fun to watch how animated Haimovitz is.  The set list:

  • Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 4 in C – IV. Allegro vivace
  • Philip Glass/Foday Musa Suso: The Orchard
  • Leoš Janáček: Pohádka – II. Con moto

[READ: April 6, 2015] Five Dials 33 Part II

After several themed issues of Five Dials we get back to the ones that I really like–random things thrown together under a tenuous idea.  It’s got some great authors and a surprising amount of large scale doodles–full page scribbles and some drawings that go from one page to the next (which works better online than in print).  Some of the giant illustrations also are fun–they are of jokey images like a memory stick that states I have only memories.  The art was done by JODY BARTON.

As with a previous issue there is a page of contributors and “The Unable to Contribute Page.”  These are journalists unfairly imprisoned (see more at cpr.org).  The Table of Contents is back, along with the FAQ: (more…)

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Ariel Cohn & Aron Nels Steinke–The Zoo Box (2014)

Posted in Animals, Ariel Cohn, Aron Nels Steinke, Children's Books, First Second :01, Funny (strange), The Not-Its!, Zoos on April 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

zooboxSOUNDTRACK: THE NOT-ITS-“Nose in a Book” (2014).

notitsIs it okay for parents to enjoy children’s music?   Like, even if your kids don’t really care about it?  I heard this song on the radio the other day and I thought it was so much fun.  My kids weren’t even in the room but I sang along anyway.

The song starts out with an interesting bass riff and feedback!  The guitar is nicely fuzzy–this is not a typical kids song.

Then the lyrics start–“Dad told me to turn out the light, but I just wanna read a couple more pages.”  The music in the verses is cool and even a little dark.  The chorus, on the other hand, is very poppy and fun to sing along with.

The bridge is a chant of Chapters 1-8, and the end of the song really rocks out.  It’s a totally great song, and clearly, I can relate.

Check it out at their bandcamp site.

[READ: March 26, 2015] The Zoo Box

As part of my decision to read all of the First Second publications (which I have been doing I just haven’t had a chance to post many of them recently), I knew that I wanted to read this book.  But I was delighted to see that Sarah brought it home to read to the kids.  And it seems like a good book to talk about for Easter.

The Zoo Box opens with two parents going out for the night.  They leave their older daughter in charge of their younger son.  There’s no fighting–the daughter is happy to be in charge, but the son isn’t upset by it.  And if they promise to be asleep when the parents get back, they will go to the zoo the next day.

As soon as the parents leave, the daughter suggests they play dress up in the attic.  I love that this is the idea she has and that he is excited by it.  And I love even more that dress up consists of full sized tiger and ape costumes.  It’s fantastic.  The kids growl and play (the attic is locked, but it seems very nice with a bed and plenty of space) and then they discover a box that says Do No Open. (more…)

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