Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘B.J. Novak’ Category

B. J. Novak–One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014)

Posted in Alternate Reality, B.J. Novak, Books about writers, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, Elvis Presley, Funny (ha ha), Hitler, Humiliation, Jealousy, New Yorker, Short Story on December 4, 2014| 1 Comment »

one moreSOUNDTRACK: OLD NAVY HOLIDAY HITS (2003).

oldIt seems that every year stores release their own Christmas mixes.  I feel like Old Navy was one of the first stores to do so (especially in their weird retro style).  What is surprising is just how much I enjoy this compilation.  It has a great mix of traditional and unusual.  There’s some cool remixes, there’s some unexpected “space-age” tracks and it’s just boppy and light and fun.  Until the end where they go for an unusual (although it somehow makes sense for Old navy) but unenjoyable song to end it with.

PEGGY LEE-“Winter Wonderland” A great, slightly space age version of this song.
ANDY WILLIAMS-“Sleigh Ride” I do love an Andy Williams Christmas song—earnest and clean and lots of fun.
HOLLY COLE-“Christmas Is” I don’t know this song that well.  It’s a fun, different Christmas song, done on a jaunty piano.
ELLA FITZGERALD-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” I love Ella, and I love the horn blasts as the song opens and closes.
PATTI PAGE-“Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” I don’t love this version, which is surprising as I love this era, but I think I don’t like her voice that much.
CAPITAL STUDIO ORCHESTRA-“Cha Cha All the Way” one of my favorite swinging weird holiday songs.
THE PENGUINS-“Jingle Jangle” has a fun “native” beat to it. It’ sa n odd song and I don’t love the singer’s voice, but the music is fun.
RAMSEY LEWIS-“The Twelve Days of Christmas” a piano instrumental that sounds nothing like the song…fun though and appropriately Christmassey somehow.
DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES-“The Land of Make Believe” I didn’t even realize this was Diana Ross—the production is so low key. And the shuffle beat and strings seems very much unlike the Supremes to me. It fits in well with these songs.
DUKE ELLINGTON-“Jingle Bells (Robbie Hardkiss Remix)” I love this remix a lot, it’s one of my favorite Christmas songs.
JACK JONES-“Mistletoe and Holly” another retro-seeming, very clean-sounding song. It’s kind of mockable but fun at the same time—like the best Christmas stuff.
MARVIN GAYE AND TAMMI TERRELL-“Two Can Have a Party” I really don’t like this song in general and it doesn’t feel holiday enough for this disc.  But it’s a harmless end to an otherwise fun collection of Christmas songs.

[READ: December 1, 2014] One More Thing

I really enjoyed Novak’s short piece “The Man Who Invented the Calendar” in the New Yorker (which is included in here). So I was pretty excited to read this collection of his “stories.”

There’s over 60 stories in this book. Many of them are really short (some are just a few lines).  And typically the shorter the pieces the funnier they tend to be (the super short ones are pretty much a perfect set up for a punchline).  But interestingly, there are several really long pieces (some over 10 pages) and these are more thoughtful and, while kinda funny, not meant to be laugh out loud funny.  It’s an interesting mix.  It’s especially interesting because at the end of the book, he has a piece called “Discussion Questions” in which he asks:

Did you flip through the book and read the shortest stories first?   The author does that, too.

If you do that, you will laugh a lot at the beginning and then have precious few laughs at the end, so don’t do that! (more…)

Read Full Post »

B. J. Novak–“”The Man Who Invented the Calendar”” (New Yorker, November 4, 2013)

Posted in B.J. Novak, Funny (ha ha), Metallica, New Yorker, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Office, Tiny Desk Concert on February 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_11_04_13Brunetti.inddSOUNDTRACK: RODRIGO Y GABRIELA-Tiny Desk Concert #30 (October 19, 2009).

Iryg have seen the names of Rodrigo y Gabriela for quite some time, but I never knew what they were about.  I assumed they played world music or something (shame on me).  They are a Mexican couple living in Dublin and they have several albums out.  When the Concert opens, Bob Boilen says that the first time he heard them, he was blown away.

And I was too.

Holy crap.  Rodrigo and Gabriela play nylon string acoustic guitars, and they play them like nobody I have ever heard before.  Gabriela plays a lot of percussive sounds with her strings and the body of her guitar.  And Rodrigo is all over the map–doing heavy metal chords (they play Metallica’s “Orion” on their debut album), and flying solos in addition to flamenco notes and even sound effects.  It is a  stunning display of virtuosity and melody.

My only complaint about this Tiny Desk Concert  is that it is too short!  I need to hear more.

They play two songs in about 12 minutes and each one is amazing.  They dazzle your ears as they play, and watching them do it is even better.

[READ: January 5, 2014] “The Man Who Invented the Calendar”

B.J. Novak wrote for and acted on The Office.  This comic piece is about the man, well, who invented the calendar.

The tone of the piece is contemporary with lots of current phrasing–fun with anachronism.

But it is also a funny idea of him deciding to make the calendar starting January 1st. He says he came up with the idea way back on Day After Day After Very Cloudy Day.  His initial plan: one thousand days a year, divided into twenty-five months, forty days a month.  Easy.

At first, the man is enjoying the compliments he’s getting–a guy who says he’s going to organize his life around it.  And Alice says she doesn’t know if she’s busy, she’ll have to check her calendar (wink).

But of course, complaints start to build.  By January 30, people are sick of January.  So all the months will just have 30 days instead.  Or maybe 31.

Soon enough, Alice is his biggest supporter.  Then things get weird on February 14th.  (more…)

Read Full Post »