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Archive for the ‘Contests’ Category

Gabriel Tallent–“Men Against Violence” (Narrative, Winter 2012)

Posted in Contests, Death Cab For Cutie, Drinking, Drugs, Gabriel Tallent, LGBTQ, Narrative, Scholarship, Set at School, Sex, Short Story, Superchunk, Violence on May 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE-“Kicked In” from Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers (2009).

Death Cab for Cutie are immediately recognizable here.  And they take this Superchunk song and make it sound like a Death Cab for Cutie song.

This cover is the rare cover in which the band takes a song and makes it clearly their own, and yet they don’t alter it all that much from the original.  The Superchunk version is slow (for Superchunk), with buzzing, distorted guitars and Mac’s vocals riding over the top.  The DCFC version features Ben Gibbard’s voice riding over the top as well.  But DCFC make the song a bit cleaner.  Rather than distorted guitars, we get chiming guitars and simple notes.  Instead of being a kind of grungy anthem, it feels somewhat uplifting.  And in true DCFC style, the uplifting sounding song really disguises something darker.

Even though the DCFC version feels slower, it’s not any longer than the original, and I think the pacing is pretty much the same.  It’s a neat trick.  I like both versions equally.

[READ: May, 2, 2012] “Men Against Violence”

This story came in third place in the Narrative Magazine Fall 2011 short story content.  It had a very different feel from second place winner.  It is set in college.  It feels contemporary and it reads young.  This, of course, means that I liked the style immediately.  I admit I was a little confused by the opening—I felt the exposition was  little convoluted and relationships were not established effectively.  But once it got moving, the story was really engrossing.

This is a reasonably simple story.  Kyle has a Hennessey scholarship—he received hundreds of thousands of dollars over his four years of college.  As the story opens he is attending the dinner which announces the newest scholarship grant, and introduces Kyle to the latest scholarship winner, whose name is (in all lower case letters) madison pepper.

The guest speaker at the banquet is Brooke Hennessey.  She is the granddaughter of Dorothy Hennessey and is currently is Kyle’s class at the college.  She speaks eloquently about her family’s donation (of the Hennessey Art Museum).   What she doesn’t say is that she ran away at 15, spent two years living in a car in Portland and that she accepts no money from her family (and has a mountain of debt).  She also doesn’t say that she is currently dating Kyle.

Kyle has problems of his own.  He recently got into a fight with a Trevor, a fairly important person on campus and he is now on a kind of probation—if he fights again, he loses the scholarship and has to back all the money.  This is why he joined Men Against Violence.  There’s a funny (but not really) insight into the existence of MAV on the campus, which leads to many unanswered questions about gender relations.  And the subject of gender relations is all over this story.  That delicate subject is handled very well. (more…)

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What is it with Busses? The problem(s) with Reality TV

Posted in America's Next Top Model, Art, Contests, Face Off, Project Runway, Work of Art on February 5, 2012| 6 Comments »

[RANTED: January 29, 2012] What is it with Busses?

I don’t often post things that are just me blathering, but now that I’ve started swimming every day I have a lot of time to mull.

I’m more or less opposed to the Reality TV. It bothers me that writers and creative people have been given the shaft for ephemeral “stars” who are memorable only because of how annoying they are.  But hey, the genre is here to stay (I’m already like 20 years too late to complain about it, I know).  And, in fairness, there are a number of shows that I do enjoy (I still wish they were relegated to cable to get real shows back on the networks, but I guess cable is where all the real shows are now anyhow.

The shows that I like are the ones that celebrate creativity.  Even though a friend pointed out, the participants are forced into being creative, and it’s more like art school than real art, these shows are as close to art on TV as you get most of the time.  How likely are we to see craftsmen and craftswomen at the peak of their game on prime time TV (or even not prime time TV)?

So, the four reality shows that I watch are America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway, Work of Art and (newly added) Face Off.   I don’t watch Top Chef because I don’t really believe in a show that I can’t experience the final product.  If I can’t taste it, so I don’t trust who thinks it’s the best.  Having said that I loved the Japanese Iron Chef (not so much the American one) because it was crazy and theatrical and wonderfully Japanese.

I realize that these shows are more like game shows than genuine reality TV.  The real difference between these shows and game shows of old is that these shows take the Real-World approach and try to drive up drama by having them live together, or, more specifically, interact with each other in ways that are not normal.  (Face Off doesn’t seem to do this and, as far as I can tell, Work of Art seems less inclined to focus on this aspect).  But most “reality” shows seem to focus on the “drama” rather than the product, and I think that’s a real shame–leave that nonsense to Big Brother and The Real World. (more…)

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Maragret Peterson Haddix–Into the Gauntlet [The 39 Clues, Book Ten] (2010)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Children's Books, Contests, Fears, History, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Pepper Rabbit, Short Books, Technology, Threats, Travel, Violence, William Shakespeare on September 28, 2011| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PEPPER RABBIT-“Alison” (2011).

Pepper Rabbit had NPR’s Song of the Day on September 19th.  “Alison” opens with a kind of circus organ pumping out a steady, thumping beat.  The beat continues until the quieter stated chorus: “You will know my name.”  The song is, as circuses are, light and bouncy with an air of the sinister floating all around it.  By the second chorus, we learn that “it’s all a game to get you to learn my name.”

The vocals are done in a kind of 70’s piano pop style–a bit high-pitched, a bit echoey– and they help to obscure exactly what’s going on.  But it’s the music that is so charming. 

Even if it’s unclear to me what the intention of the song is (stalker or just lost love) it’s a poppy ditty that will keep your toe tapping.  I’m looking forward to hearing more from them. 

[READ: September 14, 2011] Into the Gauntlet

And so the series ends. 

Or, actually, it doesn’t.  This isn’t really a spoiler because there are more books out in the series.  And I’m not going to say what happens at the end of this book, but for those of you wondering just what the heck is going on here with a Book Eleven coming out eight months after Book Ten, I’ll summarize (with no spoilers).  Book Ten ends the hunt for the clues–the goal is reached.  But at the end of the book, it is revealed that there’s another group, another family, who is also hunting for the Answer.  They hadn’t been hunting alongside the Cahill families, they were apparently watching alongside them waiting to see what would happen before setting their plan into action.  And thus….  Series Two.  

Book 11 is a kind of transitional book that fills in some back story on each of the families and shows Grace’s life.  I’m intrigued to read it, especially since most of the writers from the series contribute to it.

So Book Ten was written by the excellent author Margaret Peterson Haddix.  And this book comes in at 326 pages (over 100 pages longer than any other book in the series).  But Haddix earns her extra pages.  She totally breaks with the set-up of the series so far by following not just Dan and Amy but all of the branches of the family.  We actually get into the heads of all of the competitors (including Eisenhower Holt–who has feelings after all, Natalie Kabra–who is not quite as dim as she appears, and Ian Kabra–who might just be as evil as his mom).  Haddix also introduces a huge surprise in the beginning of the book–a surprise that may not have been such a surprise if I’d been reading the books close together but with this much remove from the early books, I was shocked!  And later on, when she doubles up on the surprise, it’s even more shocking! (more…)

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Linda Sue Park–Storm Warning [The 39 Clues, Book Nine] (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Contests, Death, Fears, History, Jefferson Airplane, Joy Division, June Tabor, Linda Sue Park, Oysterband, Pirates, PJ Harvey, Richard Thompson, Short Books, The Decemberists, The Pogues, The Velvet Underground, Threats, Travel on September 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JUNE TABOR & OYSTERBAND-“Bonnie Bunch of Roses” (2011).

Two artists that I have heard of for years but who I have never really listened to. This was described in the NPR music review as something The Decemberists might sing.  And indeed, it has a very Decemberists feel to it (which makes sense as this is a traditional song and, evidently, Tabor has been a master of this style for years.  ( I had no idea her voice was so deep–it adds a nice level of malice to this song about Napoleon.

The band is tight as they play this rollicking, dark shanty and Tabor’s voice is haunting (do I detect a similar style to Linda Thompson?) as she sings these lyrics of loss.  The music builds and builds as the song reaches its climax, but what’s neat is that Tabor never really changes her tone.  She is matter of fact, despite how sinister the music becomes.  It’s a very cool song.

I did some research and found out that tabor and the Oysterband got together in 1990 for the album Freedom and Rain, which was a collection of traditional songs as well as covers of Richard Thompson, The Velvet Underground, The Pogues, and Jefferson Airplane (I can’t believe that album is pretty well out of print–it sounds amazing).  This collaboration is more or less a follow-up, with more traditional songs and covers of PJ Harvey, Joy Division and others.

I’m really looking forward to listening to this disc and to what will certainly be the triumphant re-release of their first disc collaboration quite soon.

[READ: September 14, 2011] Storm Warning

Book Nine in the 39 Clues series made me feel like a kid again.  I started reading it when I got home from work and I stayed up till way late in the night to finish it.  Unlike when I was a kid, though, I am really suffering for staying up so late last night.

Storm Warning was written by Linda Sue Park, the first woman to write in the series.  And, appropriately, this is a very female-centered book.  We learn a lot about Nellie (finally, her story is explained!), the story focuses somewhat more on Amy than on Dan, there’s more evilness from Isabel Kabra, but most importantly, the clues lead them to two important women in history. 

They head down to the Caribbean–although they are undecided about whether to go to the Bahamas or Jamaica (Dan wants to go to the Bahamas to go to the greatest water park in the world: Oceanus–which is really the Atlantis Water Park) but Amy believes the answer is in Jamaica.  Dan convinces her and they decide to go to the Bahamas and the water park for a few hours of fun.  But the crazy thing is that before they even bought their tickets to the Bahamas, Nellie went into the bathroom and Dan received a message that the Holts were on their way to the Bahamas too.  Could Nellie be ratting them out?

On the flight down, they grill her about what’s going on.  But what happens is that for the first time in the series, we get into Nellie’s head.  Not completely, but we get to hear her thoughts.  So we know that she’s still hiding some truths, but she reveals that she has been working for Mr McIntyre and reporting to him about all of the family’s moves.  She was well paid for her services and she knew that there would be danger, but she had no idea exactly what the kids would be getting up to.  Dan and Amy are stunned.  They are betrayed and furious.  [I have to say I think they totally overreacted–Nellie saved their asses many many times along the way].  They agree to let Nellie come along with them but they’re not going to share any plans with her. (more…)

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Gordon Korman–The Emperor’s Code [The 39 Clues, Book Eight] (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Contests, Fears, Gordon Korman, History, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Short Books, Threats, Travel on September 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BEST COAST-Crazy for You (2010).

I really enjoyed the Best Coast concert that was downloadable from NPR.  I liked it enough for me to rethink my initial skepticism about this album.  But I have to say that I fall into a minority in that I really don’t like this album all that much.  In concert, the band is loud and raucous–the songs are poppy but they have a kind of growly edge and a punk veneer, and singer Bethany Cosentino has a sneer to her cutesy lyrics that gives them a nice edge.

But all of that is missing from the album.  In fact, to me this album sounds like a long-lost relic of girl groups from the 60s.  And, blasphemy as it may be, I just do not like girl groups from the 60s.  I hate the tinny sound and I hate the “my life sucks without a boy” sentiment that most of those songs project.  (I love a good love song, I hate an insecure love song).  And, for the first few songs at least, this album conveys both of those things. 

Nevertheless, there’s a lot I appreciate about this record.  I like that it’s lo-fi.  I like that it’s just the two of them making all this music.  I even like many of the lyrics (the lyrics that Cosentino describes as “about weed and my cat and being lazy a lot”).  I also like that the songs are super catchy and super short ( no songs are over 3 minutes and that most are only about 2 minutes long). 

So even if I don’t love the record sonically, I can appreciate the simplicity and ease of singing along that the album presents.  And there are a few songs on the disc that I do like.  I especially like “When I’m with You” (the bonus song) for being a stupid pop song but somehow transcending the stupidity. 

As for the lyrics.  They are little more than teen girl diary entries, except when they turn into college girl diary entries (and then they turn funny rather than sad).  From a lyrical standpoint I am much more in tune with “Goodbye” (“I lost my job, I miss my mom, I wish my cat could talk.  Everytime you leave the house, everything falls apart”) than with “Boyfriend” (“There’s nothing worse than sitting all alone at home.  And waiting waiting waiting waiting by the phone.  I hope that he’s at home.  Waiting by his phone”).

I guess, overall, there’s just something about California pop music that I don’t like as much as my East Coast bands.  [NYHC rules!].

[READ: September 14, 2011] The Emperor’s Code

Gordon Korman is back helming the series which is set in China. Now, I have seen pictures and movies of things in China, but the real scale of things has never come across to me until reading this book.  Which is kind of sad for me, but it’s really cool for the book.  I knew that the Great Wall of China was huge, but I never knew that it could stretch from Boston to San Diego with extra room at the end.  I never appreciated the kind of training the Shaolin monks undergo (the description of the statue of  Bodhidharma as being well over 750 steps up and taking over an hour to climb really sunk in for me just how big this place is!).  In short, while I know that parts of the story disregard history, the historical parts are fascinating and informative!

Dan and Amy’s first stop is the Forbidden City, where they sign up for a tour.  Dan sneaks out of the tour to enter an area where they think a clue is.  Much like with Pee Wee Herman looking for the basement of the Alamo, Dan Cahill looks for the attic of the Forbidden City.  And he finds it.  And then he is caught by guards.  But this little preview of Dan and Amy working separately doesn’t quite prepare us for the massive change in the series that Korman is preparing for us.  

Dan and Amy start talking about what the clues means and the fact that they are Madrigals–are they (and their whole family line) really killers?  This leads to much tension which ends with Amy wondering aloud if maybe their parents weren’t good people at all.  Dan and Amy fight and Dan storms off.  And through a series of scary events, he ends up in the clutches of Jonah Wizard (whom we have not seen for a long time).

And thus, for the bulk of the book, Dan is on his own.  Amy, Nellie and Saladin work hard to try to find Dan and maybe even a Clue.  Meanwhile, Dan is with Jonah, thinking that Jonah’s father is trying to contact Amy.  Dan is still pretty angry so he doesn’t really care what Amy is up to (and he believes she is not trying to find him).  But Amy is freaking out thinking of her 11-year-old brother in the most populous, hugest country all alone.  But he’s not alone, he’s got Jonah Wizard, yo.  And for much of the book, Dan lives the high life.  He hangs out with Jonah, plays video games, lives a first class lifestyle and even gets to be backstage to see what it’s like to have tens of thousands of fans screaming at you.  (more…)

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Peter Lerangis–The Viper’s Nest [The 39 Clues, Book Seven] (2009)

Posted in Adventure, Al Atkins, Black Sabbath, Children's Books, Contests, Fears, Peter Lerangis, Short Books, Threats, Travel, Velvet Cesspool on September 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: AL ATKINS–“Victim of Changes” (1998).

Al Atkins wrote “Victim of Changes,” one of Judas Priest’s greatest songs.  And then he left Priest to get a real job.  In 1998, he released the album Victim of Changes which contained a number of early JP songs, primarily ones from Rocka Rolla, but also this title track.

This version is quite faithful to the JP version (which is interesting because the early notes say that “Victim of Changes” was a melding of two songs).  It’s fascinating, in hindsight to wonder if this is how the song really sounded (there are a few differences in it) or he is now covering the JP version.  But the big difference of course if Atkins’ voice.  In the middle, slower section he sounds quite a bit like Rob Halford.  But he just cannot hit any of the notes that Halford brought to the song.  And there’s really just no way to compete with that (even with multitracked and over-processed vocals).

It’s really hard to compare this (and other songs from that album) to the original.  I mean, he wrote them, after all.  But man, the Priest version is just so much better.  Atkins has a strong, gruff voice.  It works well for the style of the songs, but it just isn’t anywhere near as compelling as Halford’s.  The other problem is the music–the guitars are full of cheesy pyrotechnics that overshadow the songs (I like guitar pyrotechnics if that’s what the song is supposed to be about, but not when it’s meant to “embellish” a song).  It sounds like he is trying way too hard here.  Atkins has his own solo career and his own band, he really needs to get past the JP thing, especially since he left of his own accord.

This is the version of “Victim of Changes” from Victim of Changes:

But for heaven’s sake, don’t listen to the more recently recorded version of “Victim of Changes” (yes a second recording–he’s got to let it go) from his 2007 release Demon Deceiver (available on Spotify!)–his voice is lower and gruffer (almost cookie monstery) and guitar solos are just covering all of the song.

Yipes.

[READ: September 12, 2011] The Viper’s Nest

When I finished the fantastic Book Six of the 39 Clues, I put it down and immediately picked up Book Seven.  It opens with a dramatic rescue from an exploding volcano.  When the ash settles, Dan and Amy find themselves on Irina Spasky’s boat.  And in this boat they find Irina’s bag, which contains all kinds of spy stuff (like IDs for every one involved in the 39 Clues search and fake fingerprints and whatnot).

They also find a letter with what looks like lyrics.  I have to credit Peter Lerangis with the wonderful work on this clue.  The clue is a line from a song: “I’m with you and you’re with me and so we are all together.”  Nellie (who is still under suspicion, but seems to have been given a free pass) says that she never guessed Irina would be so cool as to listen to the best song ever by Velvet Cesspool (on the album Amputation for Beginners).  It’s track three, “The Tracks of My Spit” and it goes: “I’m with you and you’re with me and so we are all together….  We are marching to Peoria!”  The kids are all set to go to the exotic locale of Peoria, Illinois when, through a series of events, they realize that the song Irina was referring to was a traditional folk song called “Marching to Pretoria.”  And that they are actually headed for South Africa.  [Incidentally, I just learned that the opening line of “I am the Walrus,” “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together” is actually a reference to this folk song].  Check out this video of “Marching to Pretoria” by a guy who has not doubt gotten a lot of hits because of this book.

Anyhow, this book spends most of its time in South Africa.  And Dan, the non-reader of the family, finally finds a book worth reading.  It’s all about Shaka the warrior of the Zulu nation.  Dan reads a lot of information about the man and his military techniques.  Which is a good thing because the kids find themselves in the center of a Tomas family stronghold (the Holt family are the members, so you know their speciality is tough fighting).  The details are quite fascinating.  In the end, they are able to find a clue and to create some wonderful battle scenes in the process.  (more…)

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Jude Watson–In Too Deep [The 39 Clues, Book Six] (2009)

Posted in Adventure, Black Sabbath, Children's Books, Contests, Fears, Joan Baez, Patrick Carman, Short Books, The Allman Brothers Band, Threats, Travel on September 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JUDAS PRIEST-Rocka Rolla (1974).

Unlike Sad Wings, Judas Priest’s debut album is more of a curiosity than a cool surprise. I love this original cover–the new release has a crazy drawing on them that doesn’t make any sense with the title.  Admittedly the title is kind of dumb, but the riff on Coke works.  With the new cover, see below, the title just sounds dumb now.

The album is mostly heavy blues songs.  Although the title track has some bizarre disco elements thrown in as well (including the lyrics).  The chugga chugga in the choruses is not the chugga chugga of metal, but the chugga chugga of disco.

The biggest surprise comes with the third track, the oddly titled, “Winter/deep freeze/winter retreat/cheater.”  It’s 9 minutes long and is not so much an epic as multiple weird little pieces thrown together.

“Never Satisfied” is the closest they get to their future metal sound.  But it owes a big debt to Black Sabbath (down to the guitar sound which has the little high note in the chords that Iommi plays on parts of “Paranoid”–a sound I was always confused by but which seems to have inspired K.K. Downing).  Nevertheless is rocks pretty hard.

“Run of the Mill” has the potential to be a good rocker.  But the 8 minutes of it are rather unfocused and there’s a trippy jam in the middle.  (Again with a major Black Sabbath debt underway).  “Dying to Meet You” also has a cool sinister sound.  Both of these tracks would be well served with a better producer. The second half of this nearly 7 minute song is probably  the most metal sounding of the whole disc, although the guitar solo sound has a very Allman Brothers feel to me.

The final track “Caviar and Meths” is a two-minute instrument that is very reminiscent of trippy” Planet Caravan” style Black Sabbath.  It’s rather groovy and I’ve always liked it.  The reissue has  the band’s cover of “Diamonds and Rust.”  Because all metal bands should cover Joan Baez!

Wikipedia explains something about this album which make me feel better about it.  Apparently the band was really unhappy with the production.  Several heavier tracks were left off the album by the producer (they were later recorded for Sad Wings).  And that odd little 2 minute instrumental “Caviar and Meths” was originally a 14 minute epic written by the guy who preceded Rob Halford.  (He evidently recorded a 7 minute version of the song).  Indeed, many of the songs were written by Halford’s predecessor and Downing, so they are lacking Halford’s input. (the page was very helpful for me).

[READ: September 11, 2011] In Too Deep

Since Book Five was so awesome, I couldn’t wait to move on to Book Six.  Book Six is the first book written by an author who has written a book already (Watson wrote Book 4 as well).  At first I feared that Watson was going to squash my enjoyment of the series; it felt like there was a lot of recapping going on (I know that in a series like this a recap is necessary for people who pick up book 6 instead of book one, but it can be frustrating when you know all that backstory already).  However, at the same time, Watson also started the story in the middle of a scene, so everything was brand new, fast paced and a little disorienting.

I’m happy to say that once the story got going Watson really pulled out all the stops and this made Book Six the most exciting book so far.  In this book they travel to Australia.  As anyone who has looked into Australia knows, most of the deadliest animals on the planet live in Australia (woo hoo!) so that makes Dan quite excited.  Australia is also a much looser place to explore than some of the tightly controlled areas they have recently visited–there’s no guards in the outback.  And, when the kids hook up with an old friend of the family, Shep, they have access to tasty waves, tasty barbie, and…most awesomely, a plane.

They also have access to Isabel Kabras.  Isabel is the mother of Ian and Natalie Kabras–two teens who are rich, spoiled and ruthless.  They tried to kill Dan and Amy once, and Ian, who is a hottie, has some kind of sway over Amy–especially when Isabel tells her that Ian secretly likes her.  Isabel tells Amy that she has information about how Dan and Amy’s parents died.  She will tell her all about it if they can meet in private.   And so, for the first time in the series that I can recall, Dan and Amy are separated.  She meets the Kabras, and Isabel is looking for a trade.  Amy is suspicious, of course, and that leads to the first of many deadly animals.  It’s safe to say that Amy survives but I won’t say how–it’s very cool. (more…)

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Tyra Banks–Modelland (2011) [prepub excerpt]

Posted in Cocteau Twins, Contests, Dead Can Dance, Dystopia, Excerpt, Funny (strange), Humiliation, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Tyra Banks, YA Books on July 27, 2011| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: BRENDAN PERRY-Live at KEXP, July 26, 2011 (2011).

Brendan Perry was the mastermind behind Dead Can Dance, one of the more influential bands on the 4AD label.  I really haven’t listened to them in ages (goth is so 1990s), but I was delighted to see that Robin Guthrie and Brendan Perry performed a live set at KEXP.

There’s an interview explaining what Perry has been up to since his last solo album (in 1999)–he has a new one from 2010 that was just released in the States.  He explains a lot about his early musical career and his interests (and living in New Zealand).  But the magic really comes when he starts singing.  And sadly his set has only two songs: “Song to the Siren” and “The Carnival is Over.”

Indeed, I had forgotten what a great, resonant voice Perry has.  It is instantly recognizable and brought me back to Dead Can Dance immediately.  “Song to the Siren” is a Tim Buckley cover, which he (and others) recorded for This Mortal Coil’s It’ll End in Tears album.  This version has Robin Guthrie on guitar. 

The other song, “The Carnival is Over” is a Dead Can Dance song (from Into the Labyrinth).  This song is piano and strings and is immediately recognizable as a Dead Can Dance song.  I admit it’s not as moving as the Tim Buckley song but that would be hard to accomplish (what is it about Guthrie’s echo pedal that is so amazing?).  Nevertheless, it’s a great reunion and wonderful to hear his voice again.

[READ:  July 19, 2011] Modelland

When I was at BEA, there was a lengthy line forming at one of the publisher’s tables.  I found out that it was for Tyra Banks, who was making a “surprise” appearance.  I certainly wasn’t going to wait for her, but after a few minutes, I heard people saying that she would be coming momentarily.  So I hung out and when she arrived with her entourage, I snapped a few pictures and left.

A few days ago, my former co-worker Sandy came to work and left me a [signed!] copy of this excerpt (she had waited for Tyra and got her autograph).  I really had no intention of reading the book, but I was delighted to have a copy of it.  In the interest of embarrassing full disclosure, Sarah and I watch ANTM.  However, in our defense, we FF just about every time someone speaks.  We basically like it for the photo shoots and the final pictures.  But we both feel that Tyra is a looney-tunes egomaniac. 

But seeing the book on our table made me have to read it. 

So how good could this book possible be, especially when the main character is named (seriously) Tookie de la Crème (and her sister is named Myrracle).  Oh and holy cow Tyra’s own introduction says that this is the first book in a trilogy!  Good grief.  

The summary of the story is:

Welcome to Modelland, where every girl dreams of the beauty and glamour of the Land on the top of the mountain. Every girl but one.

Right.

Well, surprise, surpise…the story is actually quite interesting. (more…)

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Gordon Korman–One False Note [The 39 Clues, Book Two] (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Arctic Monkeys, Bad Brains, Children's Books, Contests, Foo Fighters, Frank Zappa, Gordon Korman, Nannerl Mozart, Oasis, Peter Lerangis, Pugwash, Rick Riordan, Short Books, Technology, The Divine Comedy, Threats, Travel, XTC on October 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PUGWASH-Giddy (2009).

I found this CD through a connection to The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon plays on a few of their tracks).  Pugwash (what a crazy name–it comes from a series of children’s books (and a TV show) called Captain Pugwash) is an Irish band with four CDs (and this collection).  And man, it’s hard to find their stuff over here (although their website has a wonderful collection of videos and such).

Giddy is a collection of songs from all of their albums.  Their first album is represented by two songs here “The Finer Things in Life” and “Two Wrongs.”  These two songs sound, with no disrespect intended, like great Oasis ballads.  Say what you will about Oasis’ originality, they wrote some great songs, and these two sound like the best Oasis songs you’ve never heard.

Their other three albums sound far less like Oasis and far more like XTC.  In fact, the XTC comparisons are well-founded as Andy Partridge eventually co-wrote a song with them and eventually signed them to Partridge’s Ape House records (which is how this collection was released in the U.S.).

The XTC comparison is unavoidable on a few tracks.  The opening of “Song for You” (the “when we die” part) sounds like an uncanny XTC outtake, but when the chorus kicks in it sounds nothing like them and moves into more of the gorgeous orchestral pop that overflows on this disc.  And the Partridge co-written “My Genius” is also a wonderful near-XTC outtake, clever, witty, and perfect.

And the song “It’s Nice to Be Nice” is just a wonderful cheery pop ditty.  It sounds retro and charming; if the simple lyrics (and gorgeous harmonies) don’t bring a smile to your face you must be made of stone.

Although the album is primarily orchestral pop, there’s a wonderful array of styles on here.  “Anyone Who Asks” has chipper keyboard bits in the verses, but the chorus is a wonderful mix of dark minor chords.  And then, the absolutely bizarrely wonderful “Monorail” sounds like a fantastic Beck song (with lyrics that are as decidedly unusual as anything Beck himself might write).   It even opens and closes with wonderful circa 1920s banjo.

Despite the obvious nod to XTC, Pugwash does something that XTC doesn’t.  XTC is a very mannered band.  They always seemed very rigid and formal (and were wonderful because of it).  Pugwash uses XTC as a springboard, but Thomas Walsh seems like a guy who likes to let loose with unchecked silliness, so he can move past the strictures of XTC (and sound like Beck!)

And the packaging is just wonderful. The carnivalesque appearance of the cardboard case is enhanced by not just a cardboard sleeve but also by a second cardboard half-sleeve that you slide on top.  Depending on which way you slide it on, it creates a different set of pictures.  It’s a little thing but it’s a nice nod to the fun of non-digital products.

This is certainly one of my favorite albums this year (even if it came out last year).

[READ: September 21, 2010] One False Note

I enjoyed the first book of the series so much, I couldn’t wait to get to Book Two.  In particular, I was interested to see if Gordon Korman’s writing style would differ much from Rick Riordan’s.  As I said last time, I hadn’t read Riordan before, (although I have read a few by Korman) and while I wasn’t expecting them to write in the same manner, I wondered if they would try to keep the style the same (or if it would be really obvious that they were different writers).

I have to say that I didn’t notice the difference between the two.  Korman’s seems a bit faster paced (but he had no exposition to deal with), and it’s possible that he made things seems a bit more scary/dangerous than Riordan, but not much.

The question I have with the series is three-part: Is the basic plot given to each new writer–like the writer is told what the 39 Clues are–or, possibility two, are they told very specifically, the clue is this and it is here and the writer has to figure out how to get the kids there, or possibility number three, they are free to do whatever they want.

Either way, this is an exciting series, and I’m looking forward to Book Three.

So in Book Two, Amy and Dan continue their adventure.  This time, they go to Saltzburg and Venice.  The Saltzburg trip leads them to the Mozart house.  There’s a wonderful sorta subplot about Mozart’s sister, Nannerl (real name Maria Anna), who was also a great pianist and harpsichordist, oftentimes getting top billing when they played together.  I’s never heard of her, and didn’t know of her talent, and that’s the point of the subplot–how Nannerl had to put her musical skills to the side because she was a woman.   This works nicely with the pairing of Dan and Amy and how they are both good at different things and are both very useful on the quest. (more…)

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The Guild

Posted in Adventure, Anarchy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Contests, Death, Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Fantasy, Felicia Day, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Greed, Humiliation, LGBTQ, The Guild on June 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I’m very late to this show, I know.  But then I have an excuse: I don’t like watching TV/movies/etc on my computer.  So, even when I watched the awesome Dr Horrible, and the commentary  told me all about Felicia Day’s online show, I didn’t investigate.

It took our friend Megan telling us that we could Instant Watch it on TiVo before we decided to check it out.   And the only reason I’m glad it took so long to watch is because we were able to watch all three seasons back to back (to back). (more…)

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