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Archive for the ‘C.’ Category

Alex Brian–Diary of a Minecraft Creeper (2015)

Posted in C., Minecraft, Unfinished series, Unfunny on January 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

creeperSOUNDTRACK: TOP 20 MINECRAFT SONGS [Youtube link] (2014).

tntI genuinely didn’t know what to pair with this terrible book.

So, why not pair it with 20 Minecraft parodies.  In keeping with the terrible quality of this book, this link on YouTube counts down from 10 to 1 and then repeats songs and labels only some of them.  It’s a mess.  But it’s obviously made by a fan who wanted to string stuff together and isn’t trying to sell anything.

I will say that in general I really like the quality of the music that the parodists produce for these parodies.  They actually do try to recreate the sounds.  And they do a good job.

And C.  and T. love the TNT parody.  They have listened to it so much that when I heard the real song (Taio Cruz’ “Dynamite”) recently I thought I can’t believe they are playing that Minecraft song in this store.

And no I didn’t listen to the entire hour of this video.

[READ: January 3, 2016] Diary of a Minecraft Creeper

I saw this book in the library catalog and decided to get it for C.  since he loves Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Minecraft.  And as you can see from the cover this book is clearly appealing to fans of both (by ripping off both, obviously).

I picked up the book and was shocked to see the that the font was I would say 22 pt double spaced on every page.  There are basically 11 lines of text per page with some blank pages between chapters. You could, literally, read this in 3 minutes.  Which C. did.  And then he said. It is terrible.  Well, but I guess it is funny.

So he asked that I read it.  And it is terrible.  And maybe funny if you are 10.

I can only hope that it was written by a ten year old and that his parents vanity published it for him.  (more…)

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Danú: An Nollaig in Éirinn (RVCC Arts, Branchburg NJ, December 18, 2015)

Posted in Branchburg, NJ, C., Christmas, Danú, Irish Writer, Patrick Kavanagh, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, Solas, T., The Clancy Brothers on December 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 18, 2015] Danú

2015-12-18 21.01.52Two years ago we saw Danú play at RVCC.  They came back again this year.  We weren’t sure if we were going to go.  There were other possible plans in the works and should we bring the kids?  Well, S. and I had enjoyed it so much last time that we wanted to go again, and we decided to bring the kids.

It was the last night of their North American tour and while they were selling the same CD we bought last year (and most of that show was similar to the CD), they mixed it up a bit and played a bunch of different material.  And both kids enjoyed it.

Like last time, the six members were the same:

  • Benny McCarthy–button accordion
  • Dónal Clancy–guitar and storyteller (he’s the son of Liam Clancy of the Clancy Brothers and was in the band Solas).
  • Oisín McAuley–fiddle
  • Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh–vocals, flute and whistle.
  • Éamon Doorley–bouzouki
  • Martin O’Neill–bodhran and piano (more…)

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Mark Tatulli–Desmond Pucket and the Mountain Full of Monsters (2013)

Posted in C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Mariachi El Bronx, Mark Tatulli, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Vampires, Yuck! on December 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

 puckettSOUNDTRACK: MARIACHI EL BRONX-Tiny Desk Concert #226 (June 21 2012).

bronx Mariachi El Bronx is an L.A. based band which plays Mariachi music.  They wear the full mariachi outfit (suits with great designs on them) and have traditional instruments.

According to Felix Contreras, NPR’s Alt Latino dude, their mariachi is quite authentic.  The biggest surprise to me is that the band started as a punk band.  So the lead singer is a bald Caucasian fellow and the accordionist has red hair!  That obviously doesn’t matter, it’s just surprising, especially since their music feels like the genuine article.

They play three songs,

  • “Revolution Girls”
  • “Everything Dies”
  • “Norteño Lights”

And they have trumpets playing, a great violin solo on the first track and the big fat bass instrument on all the songs.  Mariachi is pretty much always fun, and this is no exception.

[READ: December 5, 2015] Desmond Pucket and the Mountain Full of Monsters

This sequel to the first Desmond Pucket book pushes Desmond’s love for scaring people (and making monsters) to a logical extreme.  But it also adds a romantic interest and a back story for his nemesis, Mr Needles.

I said that the first book surprised me with its ending, but there weren’t too many surprises in this one.

The book begins with Desmond showing us his Top Secret Master Plan, which involves giving Tina Schimsky a note asking if she’ll go on the Mountain Full of Monsters Ride during the school trip.

But before he can get her the note, class bully Scot Seltzer steals it.  We get a brief story about how Desmond and Scott used to be good friends and how they became enemies (which is pretty funny).   He gets the note back, but when he gets to Crab Shell Pier and is ready to put his plan into action, he is grabbed my Mr Needles, the school disciplinarian. (more…)

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A Christmas Carol [McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, December 10, 2015]

Posted in 19th Century, A Christmas Carol, Acting, C., Charity, Charles Dickens, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Greed, McCarter Theatre, Play (Drama), Princeton, NJ, Short Story on December 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 10, 2015] A Christmas Carol

xmasLast night we attended McCarter’s production of A Christmas Carol for the second time (first time was two years ago).  We went specifically because it is the last time that they are doing this particular performance of the show (it has been the same for 16 years).  Next year they will be doing something entirely new.

We were pretty staggered by the pricing (last time we got super cheap seats but they were pretty far into the corner which ruined some of the magic).  But there was a Black Friday special and we had awesome seats (the woman next to me was mad that we paid literally half her price, muhahaha, Scrooge alert!).  But wow, what seats!

The show felt more magical and more moving than last time (I was a blubbery mess by the end).  It was awesome to see that the entire set was crooked (a great, disconcerting effect).  And to really see the sets come forward and the spirit of Christmas future as soon as he came out, those were very cool moments.  T. asked if we can sit in the front row next year.

2015-12-10 20.47.46It was also interesting to see who was different in the cast this year.  I recognized a few returning members–James Ludwig is awesome as Fred, Scrooge (Graeme Malcolm) was the same (and was awesome–I loved the way he did little things, like kick a rug into place, which were “accidents” but were totally in character).  And there were clearly some new faces and new actors.   You can see the whole cast at the McCarter site.

And I just read (in New Jersey Stage) that apparently many in the cast are quite well known:

Boasting a gigantic list of Broadway, regional and international credits, the cast of A Christmas Carol includes Leah Anderson, Allison Buck, Billy Finn, Kathy Fitzgerald, Nike Kadri, David Kenner, January LaVoy, James Ludwig, Bradley Mott, Anne O’Sullivan, Sari Alexander, Gabriel Bernal, Andrew Clark, Jean G. Floradin, Heather Gault, Michael John Hughes, Sophie Lee Morris, Gregory Omar Osborne, Patrick Roberts, Daniella Tamasi, and Arielle Taylor.

I just re-read what I had written two years ago and found that I felt exactly the same.  So for the rest of the post I am going to keep everything the same (with a few updates).

It’s like a Christmas tradition. (more…)

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George O’Connor–Olympians 1-6 [Zeus, Athena, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Aphrodite] (2010-2014)

Posted in Adventure, Aphrodite, Athena, C., Children's Books, Cyclops, Death, End of the World, Fears, Feminism, First Second :01, George O'Connor, Graphic Novel, Hades, Hera, Heracles, Homer, Minotaur, Myths, PJ Harvey, Poseidon, Religion, Series, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Torres, Violence, Zeus on November 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

olymmp SOUNDTRACK: TORRES-Tiny Desk Concert #461 (August 10, 2015).

torresI’ve really enjoyed a lot about Torres’ music this year.  Mackenzie Scott has an interesting delivery which reminds me of certain aspects of PJ Harvey, and her songs are angry but measured.

Her songs seem to have a lot of low-end in them (without being bass heavy exactly–in fact in this Tiny Desk, there is no bassist).  And her singing voice is often rather low (and sometimes growly).  There’s a moment in the first song “New Skin” in which the music drops out and then Mackenzie Scott starts playing her guitar anew and it’s a sound unlike any in the song before (even though she has been playing all along).

Guitarist Cameron Kapoor adds cool sounds to what I think is her best song, “A Proper Polish Welcome.”  Erin Manning provides wonderful harmony vocals along with keyboards on this song which is as powerful as it is understated.  The song gives me chills.

“The Harshest Light” is a slow song that has glimpses of light as she sings slightly higher notes in the chorus.  And when her voice breaks near the end, you can hear the intensity in her singing.

It’s a great three song set that only leaves you wanting more.

I had resisted getting this album, but realizing just how good these songs are might tip the tables to a purchase.

[READ: Summer 2015] Olympians 1-6

While I imagined that I might read all of the First Second books this year, I paused about mid way through (more for me next year).  But one of the last things I read from First Second was this series of outstanding mythologies about the Greek Olympians.  It also turned out that a few years back I got these books for C., not realizing they were under the First Second imprint.  I was intrigued by them then, but I’m really glad that I read them now.

George O’Connor is a massive geek and Greek scholar.  He has done lots of research for these books, including going to Greece and visiting sites and antiquities as well as comparing all manner of ancient stories to compile the most interesting pieces. He explains that since these stories were orally passed down, they were modified over the years.  He doesn’t change the myths, he merely picks the story lines that are most interesting to him.  And then he adds a lot of humorous modern touches (and dialogue) which keep it from being at all stuffy.

O Connor’s drawing style is also inspired by superhero comics, so his stories are presented in a way that seems much more like a super hero than a classical hero, which is also kind of fun.

Each book ends with an author’s note which is hugely informative and gives plenty of context.  It also has a bibliography, but more importantly, it has a list of notes about certain panels.  Do not skip these notes!  In addition to providing a lot of insight into the myths of the characters themselves, there are a lot of funny comments like “Greeks raced in the nude (point and laugh)” which really bring new depths to the stories. (more…)

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Tom Watson–Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream (2015)

Posted in C., Children's Books, Dogs, Ethan Long, Food, Funny (ha ha), Ice Cream, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Neil Innes, Short Books, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Rutles, Tiny Desk Concert on August 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

sticiceSOUNDTRACK: NEIL INNES-Tiny Desk Concert #127 (May 11, 2011).

innesNeil Innes is one of the musical voices of Monty Python and The Rutles.  He is also the creator of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.  I was delighted to see that he did a Tiny Desk concert.

In addition to creating clever songs, he is big into wordplay.  So, he has some great statements before starting:

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen here and viewer.”

“It’s wonderful to be.”

“You know, not so long ago and its been very lucky for me.”

He plays his perhaps most well-known song, “I’m the Urban Spaceman” on guitar.  It is wonderfully surreal (at the end he describes it as a medley of hit).

For “Democracy” he play a tiny ukulele.  This song is not funny (well a little).  It is political, straightforward and pointed.

For the final song, he play The Rutles’ “I Must Be In Love” (with appropriate accent).  He tries to get everyone to sing the really high Ooooh note and then gives up.

And then he’s gone.  It’s delightful.

[READ: August 10 2015] Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream

By this point (the fourth book) the Stick Dog series has gotten a little predictable.  I mean, basically the dogs want to get food right?  But Watson still manages to keep the stories funny.  I see that for this book the illustrations are “by Ethan Long based on original sketches by Tom Watson”  I have a hard time believing that Watson was too busy to draw these very simple figures, but whatever.

I also find it hard to believe that these dogs have never tasted ice cream before–surely they have scavenged a wrapper somewhere.  But best not to think too carefully, right?

because it is summer time and it is very hot.  The dogs are all looking for something to cool them off.  They go out in search of a nice cool water source.

But the best parts of the story are when the dogs get distracted.  On the way for water, Poo-Poo smells something.  They hope it is hot dogs or pizza, but it is…a squirrel.  Stick Dog is afraid of this because Poo-Poo will be not let the squirrel go.  But Stick Dog convinces him to leave it.  And they are off. (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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“Weird Al” Yankovic (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, June 16, 2015)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bethlehem, PA, C., Eminem, Funny (ha ha), Michael Stipe, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, T. on June 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 16, 2015] WEIRD AL YANKOVIC-Live at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center.

2015-06-16 19.58.17This is my sixth “Weird Al” concert, and this was the best one yet.  Indeed, this may have been the best concert I’ll ever see because I had third row seats, and I am certain I will never get the like of that again.  It was also T.’s first rock show.  (And C.’s second).  We used the big yellow ear muffs from the Monster Truck show and protected our precious kiddies’ ears.  S. and I opted not to wear plugs.  I decided not to because although it was loud, the sound was much better (and less painful) than when we saw Al in this venue two years ago.

I was supposed to get seats for my friend Matt and his family and I, but when I got the order in, I could only get 4 tickets, so he had to fend for himself.  He wound up getting VIP tickets, so although he was a few rows behind us, he did get a pretty cool pre-show extravaganza.  So we each had a win there. (more…)

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Mike Maihack–Cleopatra in Space: Book One: Target Pratice (2014)

Posted in Becky Stark, C., Children's Books, Egyptology, Graphic Novel, John C. Reilly, Lavender Diamond, Mike Maihack, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Soul Coughing, Tiny Desk Concert, Tom Brousseau, Unfinished series on April 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

cleoSOUNDTRACK: JOHN REILLY & FRIENDS-Tiny Desk Concert #418 (February 3, 2015).

johnI started this show without observing who it was (it was just next on my queue) and I listened without watching first.  At first I thought, hmm, interesting old timey songs.  And then the guy spoke and I thought, wow, he sounds a lot like actor John C. Reilly, I wonder if he’s from the same place.  And then I clicked over and saw that it was John C. Reilly, in full beard and hat playing old timey, spiritual songs.

A lot of actors have vanity music projects, but there’s nothing vain about this. It’s all old music (they use an old timey microphone) and they’re clearly not looking to top any charts.  Rather, Reilly plays acoustic guitar and sings—he has a great, solid voice. And his backing group is full of great musicians who all have careers doing other things: Tom Brousseau on guitar and harmony vocals, Becky Stark from Lavender Diamond on harmony vocals, Andru Bemis on banjo and fiddle, as well as Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg.

I didn’t recognize any of the four songs they played–which is probably the point.  He explains that Tom is their archaeologist and he uncovered a number of these songs.

The second song references Jesus and after the song Reilly talks tells everyone that he’s a lapsed Catholic but it seemed a shame to ignore all these beautiful songs because of religion.  So when they say Jesus you can think Buddha or… Satan or… the ocean. Becky Stark comes across a bit more, um, something, with her comment “we are advocates for deathless bliss.” (Reilly deflates the silence by saying “deathless bliss” is their other band).

It’s a charming group of songs and would not sound out of place with some tracks from O Brother, Where Art Thou.

[READ: January 8, 2015] Cleopatra in Space Book One

I brought it home for C. but it looked really fun so I read it too.  I enjoyed this book so much that I can’t wait for the next part.

I love Maihack’s artistic style, it’s simple and very clean, and his drawings of the people and aliens are cool and expressive

The basic setup here is that Cleopatra, yes, that Cleopatra, is about to have her 15th birthday.  This means she is about ready to rule the country.  But in the meantime she is stuck going to school and taking Algebra, ugh.  She gets her friend Gozi out of class (by hitting him with a pebble and making him yell).  So they sneak out.  I loved the joke when he asks where she got the slingshot since her father confiscated them all–“It’s not like they’re hard to make, Gozi.”

While they are shooting rocks at things, they uncover a giant tomb door.  When it opens, they see all kinds of cool artifacts.  One of them is a panel of some sort.  And when Cleo (she prefers Cleo) reads it, she is sucked into a portal to a new planet generations into the future.  The great great great great grandson of her cat is there (and he can talk–in fact all the cats can talk).  And they inform her that she is the prophecy sent to defeat the Xerx.  The Xerx are a race of brutes who are ruled by Xaius Octavian, a power-hungry dictator.

He evidently sent out some kind of EMP to destroy all of the electronic records in the world but also managed to keep copies for himself.  So he has all the knowledge in t universe.  And it was written that Cleopatra would come and save them from this terrible scourge. (more…)

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Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan and Pascal Dizin–City of Spies (2010)

Posted in C., First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Laurence Klavan, Nazis, Pascal Dizin, Phox, Susan Kim, Tiny Desk Concert on April 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

cityspiesSOUNDTRACK: PHOX-Tiny Desk Concert #423 (March 2, 2015).

phoxtinyPhox play pretty, quiet music (quiet for a six piece anyhow). There’s a 12 string guitar, banjo, bass drums and piano al held together by the lead vocals of Monica Martin.  Her dusky voice is quite lovely (as are the high backing vocals of the piano player).

“Kingfisher” is bright and chipper and that little trill at the end of the verses (and the song) is really catchy.

It’s always fun when artists are nervous about being in a small room–closely scrutinized.  Monica notes, “It’s so bright in here.”

“1936” is chock full of great harmonies (both backing vocals and when the whole group sings together).  It has an olde quality, especially when they start doing the “bum bum bum” in lovely harmony.

The final song is also lovely—the harmonies again, and the delightful times when the music drops out and its’ just piano or glockenspiel are really dynamic.  There’s even whistling!  I wonder if this is what the band sounds like live or if they are usually more rollicking.

This was a very (to quote Monica) “dreamy” show.  Watch it here.

[READ: December 24, 2014] City of Spies

I have dozens of posts about books I’ve read over the last few months that have been pushed back because of other things that I wanted to write.  So I’m going to start publishing these older posts–most of which are about comic books!

I had also decided to read all of the First Second Graphic Novels. There are a lot, and I got a whole bunch from the library all at one time.  I kind of burnt out on them so I haven’t read too many lately.  But now its time to see what I’ve been reading.

I had literally no idea what it would be about (spies, obviously).  So imagine my surprise to find out that it was also about the Nazis infiltrating America in the 1940s.  C. had read it a few days before me, and he said he liked it but after reading it myself, I have to find out just how much he understood.

It’s a clever book in which two kids (who are drawn rather simply–like Sunday funnies kids, which I liked)  try to bring down a secret Nazi spy ring in Manhattan in 1942. (more…)

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