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Archive for the ‘Children’s Books’ Category

Tony Abbott–Wade and the Scorpion’s Claw [The Copernicus Archives: Book One] (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Art, Beck, Bombs, Children's Books, Death, End of the World, Fears, Greed, History, James Blake, Moses Sumney, Murder, Museums, Nicolaus Copernicus, Religion, Research, Revenge, Scholarship, Sci-fi, Short Books, Sufjan Stevens, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Tony Abbott, Travel, Violence, War, YA Books on December 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MOSES SUMNEY-Tiny Desk Concert #678 (November 29, 2017).

I had never heard of Moses Sumney before this show.  And the blurb seems to anticipate this:

If you don’t know this Los-Angeles-based force of nature, and haven’t heard him on tour with James Blake or Sufjan Stevens or perhaps on albums by Beck or Solange, then this is your chance to watch one of the most thoughtful talents of today as he makes music that is outside the box but easy to relate and connect to.

I’m very curious to know what he did with Beck.

I found Moses’ voice to be mesmerizing–a gorgeous soaring falsetto that he seemed to effortless get to rise higher and higher.  But beyond that, the blurb talks about his lyrics:

Moses Sumney puts a great deal of thought into the heartfelt music he creates. On his debut album, Aromanticism, he was inspired by everything from the works of Plato and Aristophanes’ account of the origin of humanity to the Bible, particularly Genesis and the story of creation. It’s all in an attempt to understand human relationships and the sorts of couplings we tend to be drawn to.

He plays 3 songs in the 20 minute time frame.  I wanted to describe the first song, but Bob’s description is too good:

The concert opens up with Moses not behind my desk, but at the piano we keep in our office. As his team of sax, harp and guitar players set up, Moses sat at the piano and began to play “Doomed.” He had instructed the band, which had already perched behind my desk 40 or so feet away, to create a transition for him to walk from piano to desk, continuing one of the most inspired 8-minute stretches I’ve witnessed here at the Tiny Desk.

So he plays the pretty piano melody and sings with those gorgeous falsetto vocals for about a minute and a half.  Then he strolls (in his cape) to the desk.  He activates some looping pedals.  He plays a beat on the microphone and then Sam Gendel plays a cool modified sax solo.  After 2 minutes of set up, he sings again.  The beats are in full and Brandee Younger is playing some simple gorgeous harp and Mike Haldeman has some echoed guitar on top.  Meanwhile, Sam has switched to a synth and Moses is also playing some kind of synth.  The song builds beautifully and he sings in a  higher and higher register.  It starts to sound otherworldly with the harp and his voice and the loops going faster and faster.  And then the wall of noise abruptly ends and the final minute is delicate and lovely.

He introduces the band and then says “we’re going to keep making noise.”  And then “hopefully no one’s printer goes off” (wonder if that happened).

“Quarrel” opens with him looping his own voice and then playing it faster and faster so it sound like a skipping CD.  Sam has picked up a guitar to pluck out notes (the head of his guitar is fascinating and I want to see it better).  Throughout the song Moses hits that looped vocal section for one or two seconds to add texture–it’s pretty cool.  The mix of that harsh(ish) electronic sound and the angelic harp is wonderful.

For the final song, “Plastic,” he removes his cape.  Everybody else leaves and he says “I want to make more room… for me!”  He picks up a guitar and says, “This is the end.  The bitter end.  Although for some of you, it will be sweet because it’s ending.”  It’s interesting how self-deprecating he is when his voice is so gorgeous.

This final song is much more jazzy with him playing interesting chords and singing to the guitar.  Overall it’s a bit less exciting than the other songs possibly because the last minute or so is just him repeating the line “my wings are made of plastic.”

But overall, Moses Sumney really impressed me with this set.  Right up to the end where he sinks slowly below the desk, to much laughter.

[READ: March 6, 2017] Wade and the Scorpion’s Claw

The Copernicus Legacy is a four book series.  But, in an interesting diversion, there are also two “extra” books inserted between the first two.  They are smaller and do not exactly affect the continuity of the main story, but they seem to delve into one character a little further (and there is some plot advancement).

Interestingly, Book One of the main series ends with Kaplans and their friends leaving Guam for New York.  The second book of the series opens with them in New York.  But this book, the first of the The Copernicus Archives, takes place between Guam and New York.  The big difference is that unlike the main books, this is told entirely from Wade’s Point of view.

En route to New York, the family has to stop in Hawaii.  They are in the airport for a while and they trust no one.  They are waiting for the flight to San Francisco when there are two notable people in the airport around them.  There’s a German man (you can tell by his shoes, Lily whispers) in a leather coat.  The kids don’t trust him and call him Leathercoat.  And then there’s a Chinese man doing acrobatics and other tricks to amuse some children while they wait. (more…)

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Tony Abbott–The Forbidden Stone [The Copernicus Legacy: Book One] (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Art, Big Books, Bombs, Children's Books, Death, End of the World, Fears, Frank Zappa, Greed, History, Murder, Museums, Nicolaus Copernicus, Phish, Religion, Research, Revenge, Scholarship, Sci-fi, Stevie Wonder, Supernatural, Talking Heads, Threats, Tony Abbott, Travel, Violence, War, YA Books, ZZ Top on November 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Phish Downloads 12.7.97 Nutter Center, Dayton, OH (2007).

This concert included five covers out of a total of nineteen songs.

The show opens with a fairly slow “AC/DC Bag,” but there’s a seamless segue into an excellent cover of Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer” (only the second time they’d played it).  There’s some spacey sounds in the jam which then segues nicely into ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” a groovy blues.  The whole thing ends in a jaunty bluegrass “My Minds Got a Mind of Its Own.”

I have to admit at this point I’m pretty bummed by the setlist.  The songs are all good and the jams are fun, but if I were at this show I’d want to some actual Phish songs, you know?  I know a lot of people love the covers, but that’s not what I’m here for.

They rectify this with a fun “It’s Ice.”  There’s a lengthy piano solo and then the song segues into two deep cuts from Billy Breathes–a one minute “Swept Away” and then a one minute “Steep”–before closing “It’s Ice.”

Up next is a 10 minute “Theme from the Bottom” with a long solo and great harmonies at the end.  Then the band plays a great funky “Tube,” a non-album track with some great 70s sounding keyboards from Page.  After a pause (apparently the lights went out).  You can hear them chatting a bit and then they pick up a 6 minute instrumental called “Dayton Jam” that plays with the themes from “Tube.”

The set closes with a 12 minute “Slave to the Traffic Light.” There’s a great solo from Trey followed by a mellow section before coming to a good solid end.

Usually there’s a few really lengthy jams in the second set, but this upcoming set is full of mid-length songs.

It opens with a jam-filled 9 minute “Timber” and then a 7 minute “Wolfman’s Brother.”  This segues into yet another cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie on Reggae Woman” before settling into a fast-paced 14 minute “Reba,” the longest song of the night.  The solos in the song remind me a bit of Frank Zappa.  It’s really amazing how tight they are during these jams.

Before they begin the next song, you can hear Trey ask, “Guyute?” and they play a 10 minute jam with a really fun middle section.  The show ends with a 12 minute “Possum.”  So while there are no really super long jams, there are a number of pretty long jams.

The Encore is a great loose version of The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.”  I love how they handle the end.  The classic chord progression that ends the song is done sort of like that but more just fun noisy chaos.

[READ: March 6, 2017] The Forbidden Stone

I really like Tony Abbott books. He has tackled many different stories and I’ve found that I haven’t been disappointed by anything he’s written.  This series, The Copernicus Legacy is in the vein of The 39 Clues, although there are plenty of differences.  But as an outline, the premise is the same–some kids (and an adult) are trying to save the world from bad guys by collecting a bunch of things that cannot fall into the wrong hands.

Whereas The 39 Clues divides the family into 4 warring clans, this series seems to be basically good guys and bad guys.  The good guys are inspired by Copernicus.  This works out well because the main family loves astronomy.

So the main family is Wade Kaplan and his father Roald Kaplan.  Wade follows in his father’s footsteps and loves the stars and science. Roald is re-married to Sara (who is on a business trip as the book opens).  Sara has a son named Darrell.  Darrell is hip and cool and plays guitar.  He is also always hungry (a trait that Abbott loves to have in at least one character, although I haven’t seen it as being very important yet–and it seems to fade as the book goes on). I assume that Roald is not Darrell’s father as well, but I got a little lost in the family tree.  The crux is that Wade and Darrell are stepbrothers–and they get along really well.  The rest of the crew includes Wade’s cousin Lily and her friend Becca.  Lily is a techie girl who is able to wield a smart phone like a librarian.  And then there’s Becca  who is, interesting. Wade has had a crush on Becca (who is super smart and can speak several languages because her parents traveled so much) for a long time.

Okay, so there’s five people.  How does the excitement start? (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories (2017)

Posted in Bees, Bucks Free Press, Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Gnomes, Magic, Phish, Short Books, Short Story, Technology, Terry Pratchett, The Allman Brothers Band, The Mighty Diamonds, Threats, Time Travel, Tiny Desk Concert, Wizards on November 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Phish Downloads 5.8.93 UNH Fieldhouse, Durham, NH (2007).

This concert was recorded on my birthday.  Although I wasn’t there (and wasn’t even really a fan at the time).  This is the last show of the tour, so they thank the crew and have a lot of fun with that.  This is a great 3 CD set because there’s a lot of strong bonus material at the end of disc 3.

The set opens with a rocking “Chalk Dust Torture” and segues into a really tight “GuelahPapyrus”—I love how they can start and stop in total synch.  There’s great harmonies on “Rift” and a perfect tempo-change into “Mound.”

Then comes a jamming 12 minute “Stash” with a lot of bass sections.  It segues into the delightfully bizarre “Kung” and then returns to “Stash” for another minute before switching to “Glide.”  “Glide” has more great harmonies with a very long pause (over a minute of silence, which gets the crowd excited) before ending the song. It’s followed by a great version of “My Friend, My Friend” that segues into a 13 minute Reba.”  Trey thanks the crew and everyone for the tour after which they play a very jazzy “Satin Doll.”

The first set ends with a blistering “Cavern.”

Set Two opens with a minute of “David Bowie” before Page turns it into a cover of The Allman Brothers’ “Jessica” (including a Simpsons’ “D’oh”).  “David Bowie” returns with a 10 minute jam–no solos, just the band rocking–before mellowing out into a reggae version of “Have Mercy” by The Mighty Diamonds.   That two-minute slow down is followed by a scorching soloing conclusion to “David Bowie.”

They take a kind of break with “The Horse,” an acoustic guitar piece for Trey (It’s very pretty and one of the few times I’ve heard him play acoustic).  It turns into a great “Silent in the Morning.”  There’s a nearly 10 minute “It’s Ice” in which each player really stands out—Mike’s bass, Fish’s drums, Page’s keys—everyone is highlighted in this quirky staccato version which segues perfectly into a 16 minute “Squirming Coil.”

There’s a great jam in this song with a lengthy piano solo.  The ending is wildly erratic and weird (and I suppose is technically a “Big Ball Jam”) as they continue to jam for a few extra minutes before launching into “Mike’s Song.”  Like “Bowie,” “Mike’s Song” is broken up to include a bluesy cover of “Crossroads” with lots of piano soloing.  It segues back into the end of “Mike’s Song” which doesn’t really sound like an end to the song.  But it’s followed by a pretty “I am Hydrogen” which launches into a great, funky bass roaring “Weekapaug Groove.”

Towards the end of “Groove,” Page stars playing “Amazing Grace and as it softens up, the band sings a quiet a capaella version of the song.  And then the launches into a jamming version to end the set.

The encore is a loose “AC/DC Bag” for a nice end to the tour.

The Bonus songs include “Shaggy Dog” from the 5/8/93 soundcheck. It’s just guitar and voices with good harmonies.

“Tweezer” and “Tela” come from 5/6/93 Palace Theatre – Albany, NY.  “Tweezer” is totally rocking and 19 minutes long.  There’s a bass-filled jam in the start and it gets dark and a little crazy in the middle.  It slows way down to just one drum and one bass note and then segues nicely into a very pretty “Tela.”

The final bonus track is a crazy 32 minute “You Enjoy Myself” from 5/5/93 Palace Theatre – Albany, NY.   It features special guests Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit as well as the Dude of Life.  There’s a funky middle section of 3 to 5 note motifs repeated.  There’s a lengthy bass solo—just Mike.  It segues into a series of descending riffs until more percussion comes in and someone (Dude?) is talking (incomprehensibly) into the microphone.  Then comes bongos and horns.  I believe there’s even a vacuum solo.  The end of the song has a jazzy scat sing along with the guitar and some rally heavy drums at the end.

On many of the discs, the bonus material is sort of interesting to have but on this one, the “Twezer,” “Tela” and YEM” are outstanding in and of themselves.

Here’s a longer essay about this show by Kevin Shapiro.

[READ: May 8, 2017] The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories

It’s always weird to read posthumous stories, especially if you’ve been a fan of the author for years.  But like the previous collection Dragons at Crumbling Castle, this book collects stories from when Terry was a young lad (between 1966 and 1973) in the Children’s Circle of the Bucks Free Press. He says that they are as they were except that he tinkered here and there with a few details and added a few lines or notes, “just because I can.”

There are 13 stories in the book, and they explore variations on Pratchett’s themes like that the unfamiliar is not the enemy (necessarily) and that people can and often will be surprised by how others react to things.  He also has  a story idea that would blossom into the Carpet People stories later on.

“The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner” (1970)
This begins with a great premise: “Uncle Ron Swimble, the magician, enjoyed performing at parties. He did lots of simple tricks and the kids enjoyed him.  But when he went to his most recent party, things went awry.  But in a way that the kids loved: when his hat fell off, three rabbits jumped out.  And when he bent over a flock of pigeons flew out from under his coat.  The kids were delighted.  But Ron was the most surprised because he had no rabbits or birds in his act.  Every time he moved his hands something vanished or appeared.  It was crazy.  Then they figured out that Uncle Ron had knocked over Mrs Riley’s vacuum cleaner.  And as all the kids knew (but the adults didn’t seem to ) Mrs Riley was a witch.  The resolution to this story was really delightful. (more…)

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Doreen Cronin–Dark Shadows: Yes, Another Misadventure [The Chicken Squad #4] (2017)

Posted in Birds, Chickens, Children's Books, Dogs, Doreen Cronin, Funny (ha ha), Kevin Cornell, Math, Mystery, Pinegrove, Stephen Gilpin on November 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PINEGROVE-“Intrepid” (2017).

Pinegrove frontman Evan Stephens Hall just announced that, because of indiscretions, he was cancelling the band’s winter tour.  I had tickets to two of these shows, so that’s certainly a bummer.

I can only hope that whatever the details of his trouble, he can work it out amiably, get the help he needs and get back on the road in a better place.

Before this all happened, the band released their first new single since Cardinal took off.  “Intrepid” opens with a quietly strummed guitar and Hall singing quietly, including an unexpected falsetto note.  The song threatens to get big and loud but then seems like it might just end.

But after a minute and a half the rocking guitars and backing vocals come in and the song lifts off.  It strikes me as far less catchy than anything they’ve done so far, but it feels a lot more complex, as well.

The end of the song drops in volume, with one more little rocking guitar part before it fades out quietly with the same part that sounded like the end earlier.

It’s really well crafted.

[READ: May 7, 2017] Dark Shadows

This fourth book is once again Illustrated by Stephen Gilpin.  It also has an introduction by J.J. the search and rescue dog whose current civilian job is to look after the Chicken Squad.  I would love to see what the humans think of these chickens acting this way, I think that would be a very funny insight.  But maybe it’s best if it’s left unknown.

The family, including J.J. and the chickens are in the car going to a farm to “See things you’ve never seen before.”  Sugar says she has seen everything there is to see.  J.J. counters that she has never been out of the backyard.

Their mom, Moosh, explains that this will be a family reunion–they’ll meet all of their aunts, uncle and cousins.  And when they arrives there are hundreds and everyone expects them to lean all of their cousins’ names. (more…)

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Doreen Cronin–Into the Wild: Yet Another Misadventure [The Chicken Squad #3] (2016)

Posted in Chickens, Children's Books, Dogs, Doreen Cronin, Funny (ha ha), Kevin Cornell, Ledisi, Mystery, Rabbits, Stephen Gilpin, Tiny Desk Concert on November 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LEDISI-Tiny Desk Concert #675 (November 21, 2017).

Even though I don;t follow R&B, I’m always surprised to discover an artist whom I’ve never heard of.  Especially when she is described as “a veteran R&B queen…with nine Grammy nominations and an impressive discography.”

So, yes, I’ve never heard of Ledisi, but she earns her accolades. Her voice is powerful and her attitude is wonderful.   She opens with “Let Love Rule” where she hits some really impressive notes.  It’s interesting to hear R&B done on a simple box drum (James Agnew) and an acoustic guitar (Kerry Marshall).  But Ledisi is clearly an R&B singer and the way she and her (amazing) backing vocalist Sara Williams really get cooking their vocals are really impressive.

She introduces the next song: “This next song is from my last album.  I figured we do some up tempos to keep you awake.”    She’s so funny.  When she says the title, “I Blame You” and people react, she gets excited and says you know it.  “Everybody like (dances).”  In the middle of the introduction, her make up artist comes out.

In person, what’s just as impressive as her exquisite artistry is her radiant spirit of contentment and grace. You can see it when Terrell, her makeup artist, goes behind the desk between songs to powder her face. (It was an exceptionally hot day.) Ledisi responded to the interruptions not like a diva, but with humor, humility and gratitude (“Oh, you again”).

“I Blame You” sounds like a 70s song (and she has a major Whitney Houston thing going on).  Although  as the blurb notes, she’s not just about the high notes:

Classically trained, Ledisi is also celebrated as a jazz artist, which she clearly demonstrated when she broke out into a effortless scat outro on her second song, “I Blame You.”

She switches into the “New Orleans” style of scatting, which is pretty enjoyable.

I loved her introduction to the third song, “Add To Me,” which is about having self-confidence and ensuring self-care in any relationship.  She says women want to know, but all people should ask anyone new who comes into your life: I know what I can add to you but what can you add to me?  She was feeling sassy that day as she sang lyrics like

Clothes, rings, all of that means nothing to me I need more than what you’re offering me.  ….

I can be good on my own, but I don’t want to be alone.  But you gotta have it all together ….

Tell me all your dreams and your goals / I’m paying all my bills on my own
I made a lot of money last year / I plan to make more this year.

And then comes the final song, “High,” a tribute to Prince with even more positive messaging. She says that “High” is about being high on life.  That no matter what the circumstance around you, find one good thing in a day… be high off of that one good thing.

Ledisi’s an impressive musician.

[READ: May 5, 2017] Into the Wild

I didn’t love the second book in this series, but this one was really funny.

Interestingly, this book has a different illustrator.  While Kevin Cornell continues to do the covers, the interiors are now illustrated by Stephen Gilpin.  The pictures aren’t noticeably different.  (I didn’t realize it was a different illustrator), but on closer inspection I can see slight changes (mostly in style rather than quality).

What I found more fun about this one that the previous one was that the mystery was a more interesting.  The chickens’ back yard has been invaded by a box.  The human Barbara has put a rather large and worrisome box in their yard.  Sugar immediately suggests that whatever is in the box must be dangerous–what else would she keep in the box but something that is wild and dangerous?  (Even though they live in a box).

And then Sugar lays out the facts: (more…)

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Doreen Cronin–The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken: The Next Misadventure [The Chicken Squad #2] (2014)

Posted in Benjamin Booker, Birds, Chickens, Children's Books, Dogs, Doreen Cronin, Funny (ha ha), Kevin Cornell, Mystery, Tiny Desk Concert on November 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BENJAMIN BOOKER-Tiny Desk Concert #673 (November 17, 2017).

Benjamin Booker has a lovely soulful voice with a distinct “accent” or enunciation.  He sounds more mature than his 28 years.

It’s interesting to watch the video because Booker seems so laid back and calm singing while backing vocalist is much more impassioned with her gestures and look.

“Believe,” seems like a happy song, but there is emptiness at its core: “I just want to believe in something, I don’t care if its right or wrong.”

For the second song, “Witness,” Booker plays the lead guitar riff while Saundra Williams (who sang alongside Sharon Jones on a previous Tiny Desk Concert) sings the opening chorus.  The verses are faster and Booker’s delivery is a bit rougher.  The song swings, but as the lyrics are serious: “The song reflects on two main questions: Will we be a witness to the wrong in the world and is that enough?”  It also “bears witness to both the racism he’s experienced and the hatred still prevalent in our culture and reflected in the daily news.”

 It’s amazing that his speaking voice is so different from his singing voice as he introduces Mikki Itzigsohn on bass, Sam Hirschfelder on drums and Matthew Zuk on guitar.

The final song, “Carry” picks up musical intensity a few times as the bridge seems to build and build before returning to the slow pace of the music.  Booker has a quiet intensity that is hard to resist.

 

[READ May 7, 2107] The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken

For Thanksgiving, why not do some Chicken Squad books?

This is the second book in The Chicken Squad series illustrated by Kevin Cornell.

I had fondly remembered the first book in the series.  I saw what I thought was the second book at the library but it turned out to be the fourth! So I waited till the 2nd and 3rd came in so  could read them in order (which is not necessary).

I remembered enjoying the first book quite a bit but I didn’t love this second one as much.

One of the things I liked about the first book was that it was basically narrated by J.J. the dog.  This one, while having the dog as a sort of bookend, didn’t follow that formula exactly.  And maybe that’s why it wasn’t as funny?  It also felt really insubstantial. (more…)

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Falynn Koch–Science Comics: Bats: Learning to Fly (2017)

Posted in #10yearsof01, 10cc, Bats, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, Burl Ives, Cheap Trick, Children's Books, Falynn Koch, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Hall and Oates, Jen Foster, Jon Bon Jovi, Kevin Hearn, Led Zeppelin, Nature, Neil Young, Non-fiction, Peter Appleyard, Ramones, Research, Rheostatics, Roy Orbison, Rush, Science, Scientists, The Beatles, The Buttless Chaps, The DeFranco Family, The Imponderables, YA Books, tagged on November 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Fall Nationals, Night 9 of 10, The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (November 19, 2004).

The Rheostatics, live at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, November 19, 2004. This was the 9th night of their 10 night Fall Nationals run at the Horseshoe. This is the final night with a recording.

I compared all of the setlists from the nine shows and was somewhat surprised to see just how much repeating they did (you can see the grid at the bottom with all of the songs for each night).

Kevin Hearn joined them.  And this 2 hour and 45 minute show ended with a Twist competition and a “Whole Lotta Love” jam which went on for 19 minutes followed by Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.”  Two versions are available – Mark Sloggett’s soundboard recording and 8-track files provided by Steve Clarkson.  As with the other shows with these two recordings, the Clarkson one is audience recorded and louder, but with audience noise.

The show starts with a song by Martin and a song by Tim.  There’s no Dave for a full ten minutes!

“Self Serve Gas Station” has loud keyboards that fill out the introduction.  In the middle of the song, when Martin sings “worry about their son?” Tim asks “which one?”  And Martin sings, “What went wrong with Johnny, is he dumb?”  “What about Doug?”  It’s followed by Tim’s “Soul Glue” which sounds great.

Tim seems to be having a lot of fun this night.  When Dave sings “Me and Stupid” Tim is full of backing vocals, including chanting “Gabba Gabba,Hey!” when Dave mentions the Ramones.

“The Tarleks” has a bit of a rough opening, but after a quick tuning, all is well.  “Claire” opens with some interesting washes of keys before the familiar guitars come in.  Tim is still goofy this time singing “horrify me, Claire, roto-till my hair.  Let me see you say a line that isn’t there.”

Tim says they’d like to send “Power Ballad For Ozzy Osbourne” to The Buttless Chaps.  Thanks for coming and rocking.”

During “Four Little Songs” Dave says, “Kevin, Sing us a song.”  He sings his song “This Is It” “There was fresh butter melting on a waffle…”  As the song moves to the fast part Martin sings “who stole the kishka,” a nod to the previous night. It ends and Tim yells, “Someone call the cops” and Martin plays a siren on his guitar.

Dave introduces the Bastard Brass who will play with them for three songs.  They are Brian on trumpet, Alexi on trumpet Alain on the ‘bone and good ol Seth on the saxophone.  Unlike some of the horns they have play with them, these guys are the real deal and they sound great.

They bring a lot of depth to “P.I.N” and I love when they play the riff of “Mumbletypeg.”  However, there is an interruption during the song, which I assume is real.  Tim sounds very concerned, asking if “you know that guy.”  Then he calls for Security.  When the song is over, he says, “It’s okay to have a good time but don’t be gross about it.”   Then…  “This guy’s gotta go.”  Then “Well okay, you can stay.   But seriously mind the person next to you.”  even Mike gets in on it: “You know you’re gonna get turfed it you keep it up, buddy.”  Then quieter: “Granted not by me.”

Things must settle down, because they play “Marginalized” and Tim thanks the guys “that was worth listening to all the practicing in the dressing room.”

They play a beauty couple of songs: “Shack in the Cornfields” and “Try to Praise this Mutilated World.”  Dave explains that “Pornography” is another song about America.

And then Martin says that they are the Rheostatics, but Tim says, “We are the Toronto casts of the Rheostatics.  That’s Mike’s line.  I thought it was good.”

They send “Making Progress” out to Mike Dunne who named the band back in Grade 11 (or earlier).  Thanks, Mike its all your fault.”  Mike: “very new wave.”  Tim: “This goes out to the city of Bolton, Ontario.”  Why is that?  That’s where Mike lives.”  “Well, somebody’s gotta.”

For “My First Rock Concert” they bring back Kevin Hearn.  The Kevin Hearn Revival.  Him and his fancy T-shirts.  Dave says that Kevin and Dave will interweave their songs.  This is Dave and Kevin’s journey of rock and roll awakening.  Dave sings his parts and Kevin’s first shows include: Mr Dressup, Peter Appleyard;   Then Santana (where the guys in front and behind him threw up).  Then playing a gig between Bon Jovi and Cheap Trick.  At the after party, the guys who sing “Everybody Wang Chung Tonight” showed up.  Kevin sings a few choruses and then segues into “Surrender” (with nice harmonies from everyone).

Dave asks if Kevin has any Joe Jackson stories.  Tim interrupts and says he took a full bottle of Heineken off of the stage at a Joe Jackson show, wondering whats in that green bottle.

Kevin follows that with: Once I went to Burl Ives’ house for chocolate cake and he looked out the window and it was almost a full moon and in that Frosty the Snowman voice he said, “Oh look someone’s taken a bite out of the moon.  It’s true.”

When the song is over Dave says, “I imagine the UN General Assembly sitting together with the world on the brink of war and deferring to Kevin and he will tell that Burl Ives story and save the world.”

Tim continues, Dave and I, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, Disneyworld in Florida.  Dave and I were both in the crowd.  We did know each other but we were both there.  My first show.”  Dave: “Five seconds of complete bewilderment.  What the hell is that guy going there?”  Martin: “Who is Bo Donaldson.”  Tim: “Remember ‘Billy Don’t be a Hero?’ The greatest protest band ever.  Or was that The DeFranco Family?”

Tim continues, “We’d like to celebrate our ethnic heritage with this next song.”  Jennifer Foster is back on accordion for “Who is that Man, and Why is he Laughing?.”  It’s followed by “Yellow Days Under A Lemon Sun” with verses from Kevin, Tim and Dave.

They play “Aliens (Christmas 1988)” and before the final verse, when the song gets mellow, Tim starts singing “ABC, 123” and then Dave picks up “Michael Jackson.”  But then he says, “Why don’t you just give us some “It feels good to be alive.”  Tim asks what kind?  Phoning it in?”  Dave: “Oh no, big sale. ”  And after doing some of the song in a slightly different way Martin says now I feel like doing the riff, so they rock out.   At some point, Mike asks, “Are we still playing aliens?”  They get into some jazzy chords–merch chords.  Jazz and merch sales go together so well.  Jazzy Swag.  Martin comes out of the jazz with some blistering punk chords to open “RDA.”  They’re having crazy fun now, Dave starts singing “They don’t give a fuck about anybody else.”  After they wail, Mike asks, “Where’s the no solo sign?”

At the end of the song, they thank The Imponderables, and The Buttless Chaps.

After the break, they play “Legal Age Life” and jam it for 13 minutes.  The middle of the song features the Fall Nat’ls annual Twist competition.   Tim asks for gaffer tape to tape up “Wendell.”  It’s gonna be a really great bit when it’s ready.”  Tim: “I want to give Martin a laugh when he comes out.”  When Martin comes out, Tim asks, “Martin is that a Steinberger hockey stick?” (It doesn’t seem to go over well).

When the Twist competitors come up, Tim asks, “You’re not obnoxious drunk guy, are you?”  “No he knows all the words.”  The audience votes for Ann.  And Mike says, “Make that guitar talk for me Martin.”  he does and they have a “conversation.”

Tim asks, Do you know “The Things We Do For Love?”  I just wanna hear it.  Is that Hall and Oates?  It’s 10cc (Mike then explains the origin of that band name).

Martin starts “Record Body Count” by speaking the ending: “Joey stepped up on a block of ice, put a rope around his neck and fell asleep before he fucking died.”  Mike: “What a goof!”

Dave says, “We’re here tomorrow for one more night.  Good night!”  And yet, there’s 25 more minutes of music!  There’s some general jamming fun–in fact this jam (the Whole Lotta Love jam) runs about 19 minutes.  Someone takes a “Vegas walk off.”  And then Dave I think plays the Green Sprouts Theme, but there are washes of chords overwhelming everything.  Then people just start jamming song riffs: “Cat Scratch Fever,”  a Led Zeppelin riff or two, “Daytripper” “Tom Sawyer” Martin does the zooming sounds from “Bullet the BLue Sky” (or “Whole Lotta Love”).  And then someone starts jamming “Whole Lotta Love.”  About 7 and a half minutes into this, Tim says “We’re gonna do this all night long, so you might as well go home and gets some sleep.”  While “Whole Lotta Love” is playing, Kevin begins singing “In Dreams” by Roy Orbison (“Candy Colored Clown”).  Then Tim says, “I’m serous, this shit’s going on all night.  Get the fuck out of here!”

Dave says, “On that note, Good night.  I gotta go to St. Catherine’s Ontario in the morning.  I’m reading in the mall.”  Mike: “Two Vegas walk offs.”

There’s a sample played from Colonel Sanders “This is Colonel Sanders here to tell you about my exciting new chicken..  in addition to herbs and spices there’s  shampoo and dish soap in it, so while you’re eating, you’re cleaning.”

At about 12 minutes, Kevin starts singing “Whole Lotta Love.”  Martin mocks the “every inch of my love” part and Mike and someone else do the moaning.  Then Kevin starts singing “I’ve Been Everywhere” while samples galore play.  Finally Kevin sings a mellow version of “Like a Hurricane.”

And then a proper start to “Powderfinger” which makes up for the depravity of the previous night.  When they finish someone asks, “Hey are you still here?”

It’s not the final night of the residency, but it’s a really fun and kind of loopy night.  Some great playing mixed with some real silliness.

[READ: April 12, 2017] Bats

This has been my favorite Science Comic yet.  I love bats and this was great way to learn even more about them.

The book begins with Little Brown Bat flying through the night sky.  But he is lost.  And he happens upon a group of people in the desert hoping to see the Mexican Long-Tongued Bat and the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat, two nectar eating bats who help to pollinate flowers.

While the nectar bats do their things and the people enjoy it, one of the bats talks to Little Brown Bat about whats’ going on.  Finally the bat convinces Little Brown to dive down to eat all the bugs that the light is attracting–the humans won’t mind.

We learn about bat predators–foxes and snakes (which is why they stay off of the ground), but they can’t do much about owls. (more…)

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Matthew Loux–The Time Museum (Book 1) (2017)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Adventure, Anachronisms, Boredom, Canadian Music, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Dave Bidini music, Dinosaurs, End of the World, First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, John Wojewoda, Justin Rutledge, Ken Babcock, Matthew Loux, Mystery, Ongoing, Rheostatics, Sarah Harmer, Science, Short Books, Summer, Technology, The Buttless Chaps, The Imponderables, Time Travel, Unfinished series, tagged on November 16, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Fall Nationals, Night 6 of 10, The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (November 16, 2004).

The Rheostatics, live at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, November 14, 2004. This was the 6th night of their 10 night Fall Nationals run at the Horseshoe.  It was a free night and they still played for over 2 hours.

Two versions are available – Mark Sloggett’s soundboard recording and 8 track files provided by Steve Clarkson once again the Clarkson download is crisper and louder but with more crowd noise.

Not a lot of unusual stuff happens in this show.  “P.I.N.” is perfect.  On “Mumbletypeg,” Dave plays a new opening with some sliding notes. It’s a nice changeup, but it seems to mess up Tim–although he falls into place pretty easily.  After the song, Martin notes: “one guitar down, four to go.  Good thing we have a reserve.”  Then he introduces “this next song we’re gonna do is called “Marginalized” by Tim Vesely.”  Dave says,”And we have Chris Stringer on keyboards for the duration.”  Mike: “He’s on everything, it just looks like keyboards.  He’s just as equally on Jews harp.”  Dave: “And very close to being on drums tonight.”

Once again, Martin really into “The Tarleks” especially the loud ending part.  Then he says “More songs about invasions,” as they play “Aliens (Christmas 1988).”  In the quiet part Dave starts singing “Artenings Made of Gold” and then Kevin Hearn comes up on stage to sing “Monkeybird.”  There’s some wild noises and guitar nonsense in the middle.  And as “Monkeybird,” ends as Dave is introducing Kevin Hearn, Martin finishes up “Aliens” right where the song left off.

In the second version, you can hear a request–a big shout “Shaved Head” and a smaller shout for “Record Body Count.”

Dave says “Try To Praise This Ordinary World” which “features a poem by Ken Babstock.”  There’s no accordion this night and once again, you can’t hear the poem n version 2.  Then a surprise of “The Midnight Ride Of Red Dog Ray” which features Chris Stringer on the mandolin with a nice solo mid-song.
Time says “Here Comes The Image” is a song from 2067.  The year.” There seems to be a little trouble with the keyboard at first but it comes back and there’s a lovely solo.

Dave says “here’s a plaintive reading of ‘My First Rock Concert.'”  he also ups the line to “Michael Stipe was distant, he was nice (he wouldn’t let me touch his dog).”  Then he commends: “totally a Saturday night crowd on a Tuesday.  That’s was the Argos going to the Grey Cup will do to a Toronto crowd, I tell ya.”

Whether you listen to our new album in the comfort of your own home or a car or … a boat.”  Tim: “the comfort of your own boat.”  “For those of us who have boats.”   This is the first song you’d hear.  Tim says canoes the best boat.  Dave: “I don’t t know if it’s safe to have a portable CD player in a canoe or kayak.  Tim: “I took my canoe to Hot Rod Jimmy’s and had it decked out.  The subs are so… the ripples are just you don’t want to be camping next to me.”  The first song on that album is “Shack In The Cornfields,”  During the middle Dave says, “Stringer, stop stealing my tambourine or Jews harp.”  Mike: “Crank it” (Jews harp solo).  “Little Bird, Little Bird” has some slide guitar on it and “Pornography” is short and sweet.

Dave says “‘Loving Arms’ was sung by Sarah Harmer on the album and then she went on to be a big star.  So we take full credit for her career.  How many people were here for Jessie Harris and Justin Rutledge?  Thanks for donations tonight for Tim’s childrens’ and my son’s school Alpha Alternative Public School.  Mike: “Martin and I’s unborn children get nothing.”

“Saskatchewan” “reprising his starring role in Green Sprouts Music Week 1980 something: Justin Rutledge.” Justin: “It’s my first time playing the Shoe it’s very cool.”  He sings it with a nice drawl although the song is incredibly slow.

“Dope Fiends And Boozehounds” has a middle section of “Alomar” after which Tim says “wow, I think the sun shone for a minute there.”  After Martin sings “dark side of the moon,” the audience does the howling for him.”  Towards the end, Martin starts playing a lovely “Song of Flight.”

Dave says, “we don’t want to keep you out too late.  It’s a Tuesday night.  We all have cartoons to watch in the morning.”  And then they play almost 30 more minutes of music.

“Making Progress” opens with spooky trippy keys to open.  It’s followed by a really harsh and aggressive “Feed Yourself.”  There’s a long solo section with some spooky keyboards and them Mike says “play the big thing, frighten us, make it do scary shit.”  And there’s this huge build up.  “This is gonna be good. Wait for it.”  Martin:  “I hope it doesn’t blow up.”  Someone jokes: “Can you do any Tragically Hip on that thing.”  But there’s no pay off to whatever was happening.

During the encore break you can hear someone enunciate “Sweet.  Rich.  Beautiful.  Mine.”  But instead, Tim comes out to do “First The Wheel” solo.  Tim says, “personally I’d like to hear “Satan is the Whistler,” Dave if you’re listening.  “When he finishes, he says, “I’d like to welcome back the Toronto cast of Rheostatics.”

Dave mentions “the special guest vocalist night tomorrow with 28 different singers.  And Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckle opening.”  Tim: “That’s definitely worth coming for.  Martin: “Rheo-oke.”  Dave says more like we’re the Blues Brothers band backing up these great people.

Thursday night, Danny Michel is here for a double bill and Mike’s brother John Wojewoda and Bluegrass Nightmare.  Friday night The Imponderables and The Buttless Chaps.

They honor Tim’s request and play a Rocking “Satan Is The Whistler.”  They do it justice and the ending really rocks. The night ends with “Soul Glue.”  Martin still has his robotic voice thing and keeps saying “Soul Glue” as an intro and they play a fun, spirited version of it, with Tim really vamping by the end.

[READ: April 22, 2017] The Time Museum

The story opens with a man traveling through time.  He is with a group of people whom he tells to flee when he sets off the machine.  Cut to 8 months later as the crew is looking for evidence of the man’s success or failure.  They don’t see anything.  Until the man (known as The Earl) appears from behind a rock with a glowing object which he declares “is TIME.”

Then we meet the main character, Delia Bean.  Delia loves science and is a nerd.  The other kids don’t love that so much.  But summer is coming so that’s okay.  And the summer means a trip to Uncle Lydon’s place.  He is the coolest because he is curator of the Earth Time Museum–a place outside of normal time where Earth’s wonders are displayed.

When they get to Uncle Lyndon’s house Delia is in heaven (her brother not so much).  He winds up going to the town pool but Delia does some research in the neighborhood.  While walking round she discovers a (quite frankly adorable) kiwi bird.  It licks her and then runs off.  By the time she catches it (and names him Tammany), it has led her right to the Museum.  The museum is amazing with sights and sounds and smells from the history of the Earth.  And that ‘s when Lyndon reveals a secret.  Yes, he is from Hoboken, but he is actually from the year 5079.  He’s a time traveler. (more…)

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Scott Christain Sava and Alison Acton–Animal Crackers (2017) [originally written in 2011]

Posted in #10yearsof01, Acrobats, Adventure, Alison Acton, Animals, Bears, Children's Books, Chimpanzees, Circus, Clowns, Elephants, Fears, First Second :01, Fish, Graphic Novel, Magic, Monkeys, Rheostatics, Scott Christain Sava, Split Enz, XTC, tagged on November 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Fall Nationals, Night 4 of 10, The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (November 14, 2004).

The Rheostatics, live at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, November 14, 2004. This was the 4th night of their 10 night Fall Nationals run at the Horseshoe.  It was an all ages show and ran about 90 minutes.

There are two recordings available for this show.  The Sloggett version is from the soundboard, but the Clarkson recording sounds a bit bigger with more bass and stage noise.   Although you can’t hear the spoken word part of “Mutilated World” at all.  You can hear Dave’s daughter Cecelia chatting you can hear her at one point say “Hi, Tim!”

The start off saying they’ll do a coupe of songs from The Story of Harmelodia to start us out, get us in the mood.

They open with “Home Again” which sounds appropriately cute–Martin has fun with it.  Then for “It’s Easy to Be with You”, they “invite Don Kerr up on stage for this next number on the tenor guitar.  A man of many talents, above all growing a handsome mustache (MPW: or perhaps partially shaving a fanatic beard).  Don says: “Somebody called me papa smurf the other day because I had a cap on.” Dave: “I think Papa Smurf was a little rounder around the middle.”  The song sound nice with that extra guitar.

You can hear on the Clarkson recording “When is my song?”  Dave: “Gonna be maybe in about 5 songs?  Maybe in about 4 songs?  Wanna do it now?  well.  alright.  Does your brother wanna sing too?”  Cecilia (who is like 4 years old, maybe) does an amazing job with Dave Edmund’s “Almost Saturday Night.”  She has a great sense of melody and really gets the feel for the song.  At the end Mike says, “It’s a perfect song to sing on a Sunday.  That’s optimism.”  As she walks off you hear Dave say, “Good job, Cees.”  And she replies, “Good job, dad.”

Then it’s on to a solid version of “Claire” which they send out “to Paul Quarrington, Gillar nominated, should have won.”  Tim says, “co author of this song.”  Mike: “At least on the SOCAN form.” Dave: “A man who launched 1,000 careers.”

“Aliens (Christmas 1988)” opens with a kind of rocking rhythm.  Martin starts singing a weird version of Split Enz ‘ “I Got You” before doing the “whoo hoo hoo” and launching into an incredibly fast paced version.  When it slows down in the middle, Martin says, let’s bring it to normal speed.

For “Try To Praise This Mutilated World,” they also shout out to Chris Stringer on keyboard “bringing down the mean average age of the band.”  I normally can’t hear the spoken parts, but you can hear someone speaking polish I believe.  Each version of this song sounds better and better.

To continue this mellow middle section, Jen Foster is back on accordion for “Who Is This Man, And Why Is He Laughing?” and then comes “Making Progress.”  However, they start in wrong key.  As they get situated, Martin asks Dave why no one is showing minor league and jr league hockey.  Dave says that the CBC is complicit with the NHL in holding back younger players.  Once they get the song going, it sound perfect.

As an introduction to “Take Me In Your Hand,” Martin plays a quick guitar lick from one of his solo songs (“Waterstriders,” I think) and then segues into a very delicate version of the song.

Dave asks if any of the horn players from the Hebrew School Dropouts are still around (they opened the show).  Up come Adam and “Fedora guy” to play horns (including solos) for “Legal Age Life At Variety Store.”  Dropping out of Hebrew school is the best thing you guys ever did.

“Northern Wish” is a very pretty, very mellow version.  It’s followed by a really lovely slow version of “Stolen Car.”

After the encore break, Tim comes out to play a special request “all the way from California.”  He starts “Row” and asks if it’s the right song (it is).  He forgets a few lines but is otherwise quite pretty.  When it’s over, the requester shouts, “Thank you!”  Someone else shouts “Saskatchewan” but Tim says the Hebrew School Dropouts are going to school in Etobicoke so we’ll do a good Etobicoke song for them.  That song is “Self Serve Gas Station.” Martin changes a line to “What went wrong with little Jimmy, is he dumb?”

It segues into a wild, upbeat “Song Of The Garden.”  It’s rollicking and crazy and sort of segues into a slapdash cover of XTC’s “Radios In Motion.”

And that’s it.  It’s short show for the band, but probably perfect for an All ages crowd.  Speaking of All-ages, it’s pretty kid friendly, but not entirely (with some of Martin’s songs).  It would have been really fun to see though.

[READ: July 7, 2017] Animal Crackers

The origins of this story are confusing to me.  It was originally written in 2011 (and published by a different publisher (with a different cover, of course).  But there’s not much you can find out about it.  There’s also a prequel (also originally released in 2011) which came out by First Second around the same time, but that’s for another post.

This book bears the sticker that says “Now a Major Motion [Animated] Picture (due out in Fall 2017).”  Given how short this book is, I wonder if the movie is based on both books or what.  Guess we’ll see.  Since I first wrote that, I have seen that the film has been released, but not in the States.  And, it has major stars associated with it.  I still can;t imagine how they stretched this premise out to 94 minutes.

This story is cute and fun with some good humor.  The problem is that the entire plot is given away in the blurb on the inside cover (so don’t read that). (more…)

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Gene Luen Yang & Mike Holmes–Secret Coders: Secrets & Sequences (2017)

Posted in Better Than Ezra, Canadian Music, Children's Books, Clark [Canadian band], Fears, First Second :01, Gene Luen Yang, Graphic Novel, Hebrew School Dropouts, John Tielli, John Wojewoda, Kevin Hearn, Mike Holmes, Paul Linklater, Paul Quarrington, Robots, Science, Selina Martin, Series, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Technology, The Buttless Chaps, The Imponderables, Threats, Unfinished series, tagged on November 13, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Fall Nationals, Night 3 of 10, The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (November 13, 2004).

The Rheostatics, live at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, November 13, 2004. This was the 3rd night of their 10 night Fall Nationals run at the Horseshoe.  This show was exactly 13 years ago!

I compared all of the setlists from the nine shows and was somewhat surprised to see just how much repeating they did. Most of the repeated songs are new ones–they played a lot from 2067, which makes sense.  But for a Fall Nationals, there’s really not a lot of “popular” or “rare” stuff.  But the band is in terrific form for all nine shows and the recordings are consistently great.

Over the PA, they’re playing some good music, which Martin says, “That was my brother’s [John Tielli] band, Clark, on the PA there.  We’re the Rheostatics project.

They open the show with “It” which is a fun way to start.  Martin is feeling a little silly and sings “I grew up on dinosaurs” and the rooooars to the delight of all.

You hear Martin say, “Woodstuck?”  They play and Dave sing a line and says “That’s wrong.”  But the rest of the song is right on and at the end after “hippie child,” Martin says “waah.”  Tim tells the story of someone bringing them a 24 track master of that song in Vancouver.  But he felt it was too heavy to bring home.  Although someone (Martin?) says that it is in fact in his basement.

“Happiness” seems to rock along really nicely.  After which Martin says, “It’s Saturday night in Bonertown.  The city where you can’t.” Dave: “But you can, its’ ok to have a boner.”  Mike: “Yeah, but can you smoke it?”

“Mumbletypeg” sounds a little sloppy at the beginning and Dave doesn’t sing the first line.  But they pull it together.  It’s followed by “Marginalized” which opens with a groovy drum before the funky bass and then an introduction of Chris Stringer on the keyboards.

Mike comments, it’s such a lovely extended summer up here.  Holy french fry lights, designed to beautifully bake us.

On “Four Little Songs,” each guy takes his verse: Martin, Tim, but when it’s Mike’s turn, Chris plays some crazy trippy synth noises.  Dave gets his verse and at the end, the fast riff devolves into utter chaos with Martin and Chris just making all kinds of weird ass noises.  They end the song with the bass thumps and state “By Mennen.”

Dave introduces “The Tarleks,” “here’s a song about a super salesmen”  Once again, Martin has a lot of fun singing it.

They play a zany version of “I Dig Music” and in the middle where Mike has to do his slow part (which he seems to really dislike), he says, “For the longest time I’ve been thinking Dave’s ideas were so gay and then he offered me a martini.”  After a sip MPW sings the Seymour Stein line and then they rock the end of the song.   I really enjoy Tim singing the “too bad.” backing vocals.

AS they start “Here Comes the Image” Dave notes the “double keyboard attack, eh?”  It’s really evident in the solo section as the one keyboard plays the solo and the other plays trippy sound effects.  Then up comes Jen Foster on accordion to join them for “Who Is This Man, And Why Is He Laughing?”  Martin is singing something in his robotic voice thing but I can’t tell if it’s just sounds or actual words.  At the end, Martin says, ”That’s a nice walk in the park, doncha think?”

Tim notes: “our heritage gets to shine in that song.  A little bit of Czech, little bit of Italian, little bit of French, little bit of Polish.  No English.”

“Pornography” opens with synths which is a nice change.  coincidentally, Dave says to someone: “You put your shirt back on, I see.  Good idea, sir.”

“We Went West” continues the rather mellow middle section of the show.  At some point Dave, I think says, “while you’re there check out the place mats they’re hilarious.”

Next up is “California Dreamline.”  Dave announces, “We’d like to invite Paul Linklater up for the next song.  He sang this song with us last year on guest vocalist night and we have guest vocalist night next Wednesday.  His rendition is pretty painful.

The next guest is during “I am Drummstein” Ladies and gentlemen, the star of stage and sound in Belleville, Ontario, Mr Anthony Fragomeni:  “Too bad that you quit Vebron, wasn’t working out?  They kind of sucked.”  While they are in the middle grooving section, Tim says, “This is the Better Than Ezra part of the evening.”  In a real coincidence, on this same day in 2017, Barenaked Ladies announced a summer tour with Better Than Ezra opening.  I haven’t thought about them in ten years.

“Satan is the Whistler” is quiet and menacing to start.  Martin gets the fast guitar riff pretty well this time.  But he’s still being a little silly singing “moose away aroo aroo arroo” and then “Satan is the Whistler, Satan Live in Whistler, arooo!!!”

During the encore, they raffle off an item with a ticket.  When Tim reads out the number, someone whoops and Dave says, “There’s always one guy who claims he has won when he hasn’t won.  I wonder what void you’re trying to fill in your life.”  Then after a pause.  “Just kidding.”  No one claims the prize, so Dave says anyone can go to the merch table with it later.

“Little Bird, Little Bird” is insane.  It starts with some silliness when Dave mocks Tim for his hat and then says, “Tim you have to bring popping and snapping to country music.  It hasn’t happened yet.”  They play the song and then midway through the it stops with much laughing.  Dave says, “there’s no room for karate in this song.  Cant believe you re always trying to sneak your karate in there.”

Time retorts, “Wait a second, you guys made that “ho ha”part while I wasn’t in the studio and now it comes time to do it live and I’m the only one doing it?  Dave says: “We’re not going hoo ha and laughing in the middle of it.”
Tim asks the audience, “Who won the debate, Tim or Dave?”
Dave: “There was no debate because you’re not gonna do it any more.”
They compromise: “everybody ho ha and nobody karate.”
Tim mutters, “I hardly even karate’d I can’t believe you saw it.”
Dave: “I couldn’t help but see it, you almost took me out with one of those chops.”
Martin: “He’s feeling sensitive like a little bird.”

They finish the song and then Martin says, “okay we’ll do ‘PIN’ for ya.”  But before the song starts we get a run down of all of the opening acts for the next few shows:

Sunday matinée: Hebrew School Dropouts on at 4.
Monday night Selina Martin with the Formidable Forces of Bigness (Mike: Close enough Faceless Forces of Bigness).
Tuesday is free.  We’ll give about 61%.
Wednesday night Kevin Hearn is opening and it’s guest vocalist night.  Tim: “I’m definitely coming on Wednesday.”  Martin: “I’m going to come for every single night (get the bonus pack).”
Thursday is Killer Thursday Danny Michel.  And apparently John Wojewoda will do some Bluegrass Nightmare.
Friday the Buttless Chaps are flying in from Vancouver.
And Saturday, The Imponderables will be back.

After “PIN,” “Ozzy” sounds even more maudlin with the mandolin and backing vocals, but there’s a pretty wild solo.  There’s a special shout out to Chris Stringer: “you can’t tell but he’s actually playing all our parts for us. “

They end with a lovely ending “Making Progress” which has a wonderfully smooth ending.  Thanks to all the out of towners, out of country-ers and out of mind-ers.

Then the guys come back out to try to get rid of the raffle prize.  Tim runs through a bunch of numbers.  Come on, people get with it.  I wish I had money to burn. I remember when 50 cents meant something.  Finally he says, “Well come and get the fucking t-shirt, Oh. He’s a liar.”  This is so embarrassing… anyone show me half a ticket?

[READ: April 14, 2017] Secret Coders: Secrets & Sequences

Secret Coders 2 ended with a pretty big cliffhanger.  Tabitha and I were a little bummed that there wasn’t more of a recap at the beginning of this book.  We sure hope that book 4 has a bit of recap because we’ll never remember the ending of this one when its time for that book (which just came out).

The kids are able to use the repeat function of the turtles to scare of the mean old rugby players.  In the commotion, it sure looks like the Professor’s nose falls off (what?!).

The next day in school, one of the rugby players calls for a truce, he never realized that Principal Dean was such a bad guy.

The kids learn about parameters–how you can use the same code, but just change a variable to make a bigger object (in this case, triangles). (more…)

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