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Archive for the ‘Death’ Category

Gordon Korman–Flashpoint [The 39 Clues: Unstoppable: Book Four] (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Aphex Twin, Death, Fears, Gordon Korman, Greed, History, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Romance, Short Books, Sloan, Threats, Travel, Violence on September 5, 2014| 1 Comment »

39unstopSOUNDTRACK: SLOAN-“Get Out” (2014).

Sloan_CommonwealthSloan has a new album coming out next week.  It is currently streaming on Picthfork.  The album is like a small version of the Kiss solo albums (except that there is only one album) or like Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma (because it’s a double album and one side is kinda crazy). Each member of the band has written the songs for a side.  The imagery for the disc is a deck of playing card, and each member gets a suit:  Diamond (Jay Ferguson); Heart (Chris Murphy);  Shamrock (Patrick Pentland); Spade (Andrew Scott).  Even though I am a big fan of Sloan, I have honestly never been able to tell their vocalists apart. True, they do sound distinctive, but I can’t keep them straight at all.  So this album should help with that (and maybe see if there is one composer I like better–I don’t think so).

I chose this song primarily because it seemed to tie in well with this book and also because it a rocking song that last for less than 2 minutes.

The guitar comes rocking right at the start.  The verses are short and the bridge , a simple “Get out, you can get out” propels the song along nicely.  There’s a loud squalling guitar solos.  And a cool chorus with backing vocals.  And after two verses, two bridges and two choruses, the song ends.  A great soundtrack for an escape.

I’m looking forward to the release (although I won’t be getting the deluxe edition, sorry guys).

[READ: September 4, 2014] Flashpoint

In all of my time reading the 39 Clues, this is the first time I actually caught up to the series–I read this book almost in the week that it came out.  So if I was actually playing online with the clues, I may have been able to win whatever it is the online competition is.  Actually it’s quite rare that I read anything soon after it has come out, so that was fun in itself as well.

Okay, so this series has concluded with major 39 dude Gordon Korman taking over the reins.  And that made me happy, because he knows that the family working as a team is what is so important to the series.  And he got them working together again–even if it was because Amy was days away from death by the side effects of the serum.

As the story starts out (yes, I am still bitter about what happened at the end of Book Three–and I must report that that was not redeemed in any way, so yes, I am mad at the series for the senselessness of what happened to a favorite character of mine), Dan is being held prisoner by Galt Pierce.  (I love how nutty the Patriotist party is portrayed, and how easily susceptible people are to the platitudes Rutherford Pierce offers).  He and his sister Cara are trying to extract information from Dan.  Dan is given a truth serum and reveals some information, but then he takes a sleeping potion to knock himself out.

When he awakens, Galt threatens him, but Cara tells Galt to back off.  And then, unless Dan is mistaken, and he may be, she seems to help him escape from the plane that they are currently waiting in.  At the same time, Jonah Wizard’s plane is nearby (through some clever tracking by Pony), and they are able to rescue Dan.  Then they are off to Phenom Penh to find the final ingredient–the venom form a Tonle Sap snake.  Which means a trip through the amazingness that is Angkor Wat (more…)

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Natalie Standiford–Countdown [The 39 Clues: Unstoppable: Book Three] (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Aphex Twin, Death, Fears, Greed, History, Natalie Standiford, Romance, Short Books, Threats, Travel, Violence on September 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

39copuntSOUNDTRACK: APHEX TWIN-“minipops 67 [120.2]” (2014).

syroI can’t write the whole title of this because the rest of the words make it seem like it is xml code, so it is not printing properly.  Well played, trickster.

Aphex Twin videos have no business being anywhere near a children’s book (even a book as dark as this).  But the music itself is pretty safe since it’s instrumental (or unintelligible vocals if there are vocals).

Anyway, this is the opening track from the first Aphex Twin album in thirteen years (really? yes!).

“Minipops” is the first single from the album (due out later this month).

It is less aggressive than what I think of as Aphex work (like say “Windowlicker”) but it is no less warped.  It opens with some complex drums and a simple but warped keyboard riff.  Some voices come in, and there may be words but I can’t make them out.

It actually feels like a kind of verse chorus build up.  Just before the half way point the music almost drops away leaving a simple keyboard and an even more processed voice.  By the three minute mark a new voice comes in, it is deeper and scarier, and it is followed by the most clean voice of all (although it is still quite fuzzy).  Again, I have no idea if words are being spoken, but there is a weird melody being vocalized.  And the music floating around seems to slowly get more and more distorted as the song lurches to an end.

It’s not my favorite Aphex Twin piece as it’s not as dynamic as some of his others, but I’m happy that he’s putting out an albums worth of stuff.

This video has no actual visuals (except what you see), so it is totally safe for all ages.

[READ: August 28, 2014] Countdown

Book Three of this series has an aspect that I really like and an aspect that I, like less

I’m starting with the part I liked less because it involves the main plot.  As we left the Cahill family in Book Two, they were in big trouble.  Rutherford Pierce had taken the super mega strong serum and his henchmen were closing in on Amy and Dan and friends wherever they went.

As this book opens Amy and Dan are racing through an airport to get to their private helicopter, when they are spotted by the paparazzi (Pierce owns the media and sends the paparazzi after them wherever they are).  On the other side of the airport are some of his serum-fueled goons, who are looking to stop them at any cost.  The kids run through the airport and make it to the helicopter just in time.

They start flying to Guatemala, where they are looking for the next ingredient for the antidote to the serum.  Suddenly the pilot puts on a  parachute and leaps from the helicopter, leaving the kids to land the plane in the Guatemalan ruins.

This was all quite exciting and I enjoyed it very much.  What I liked less was that after what happened in the last book–Amy going off on her own to spare the lives of her family and nearly getting killed–the boys are mad at her.  They barley talk to her and consider that she has betrayed them.  One of the things I have loved about the series was the bond that Amy and Dan had.  And I hate that this series has dissolved the bond and that Amy has felt like an outcast.  I understand it builds the drama and that there are many exciting elements to this approach, but it’s not what I read this series for.  I also realize that as this book draws to and end, the isolation of Amy become almost the point of this series, but it still changes the series in a way I don’t like.

After they are nearly killed, though, the kids bond again, and set off on their quest to find this missing element. (more…)

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Jeff Hirsch–Breakaway [The 39 Clues: Unstoppable: Book Two] (2013)

Posted in Adventure, Death, Fears, Greed, History, Israel Nash, Jeff Hirsch, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, Short Books, Threats, Travel, Violence on September 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

breakSOUNDTRACK: ISRAEL NASH-“Rain Plans” (2014).

rainI heard this song on a download of 10 Songs NPR Can’t Stop Playing.  The opening chords sounded so Neil Young and Crazy Horse that I was immediately hooked.  Then when Nash starts singing, it sounded even more like a kind of CSN&Y pastiche.  After the first verse, the powerful descending chords are a great introduction to the falsettoed chorus.  (No idea what he’s saying).

Nash is lumped in with the alternative country field, but I don’t hear any of that on this song.  It comes across as pure classic (maybe folk) rock.  The solo which starts at around 2:45 has elements of Pink Floyd in it.  It is a brief introduction to the much lengthier solo that takes the song out.  But what I especially like about it is that the in between section doesn’t have more vocals, just a bunch of whoo hoos before the bombastic solo (the backing music is bombastic as well) just keeps going.

It’s not a pretentious showing off solo, it’s just a lengthy jam that keeps jamming.  Until around six minutes when the band starts rocking faster and the solo grows more intense (the song is 7:19).

I’m really interested in what the rest of this album sounds like.

[READ: July 27, 2014] Breakaway

I was so hooked on Book One that I had to jump right into book two (which is considerably shorter than book one).

This book was a little frustrating (intentionally so I believe) because Amy is trying her best to distance herself from her family and friends.  She is so afraid of anyone else getting hurt (and anxious because Dan wants to leave the family) that she keeps trying to send them away, believing that they will be safer away from her.   And yet, as they have learned in each and every mission–they work best as a team.  So while Amy starts pushing the others away they not only get more frustrated, they keep making mistakes.  And by the end, Amy’s solitude nearly gets her killed and has her alienated from her closest ally, Dan.

Of course she is under a lot of pressure, especially since the media scrutiny of them has gotten so much more intense–Pierce has amped up his attacks against Amy and Dan and has brought her family members into the spotlight (basically saying they are all her thugs).  The Pierce foundation has even gotten to Evan’s family and Evan’s parents publicly denounce their dead son’s former girlfriend as a snake, someone who draws people in and doesn’t care what happens to them.  Basically, everyone hates the Cahills.

Including Jake and Atticus’ father.  For when they call on him for a favor, he is furious that his sons are still hanging around with the Cahills.  Until he sees that the book they are carrying has information about something near and dear to their father’s heart: the lost city of Atlantis. (more…)

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Jude Watson–Nowhere to Run [The 39 Clues: Unstoppable: Book One] (2013)

Posted in Adventure, Death, Fears, Greed, History, Jude Watson, Kanye West, Shabazz Palaces, Short Books, Threats, Travel, Violence on September 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

39SOUNDTRACK: SHABAZZ PALACES-“#Cake” (2014).

cakeI don’t know much about Shabazz Palaces, although I understand their debut was pretty popular in alternative circles (they were the first rap band released on Sub Pop).  This new song is from their new (also Sub Pop) album and I think it’s really weird and quite wonderful.

There’s a loping bass line echoey and almost spacey.  There’s rapped echoey fast words all over the palce (I’m having my cake and I’m eating cake–“eating cake” seems to be the refrain).  It’s all very spacey and weird.  And then at around 1:45 a whole new sound emerges out of static, as if a jazz radio station was tuned in and someone like Nina Simone begins singing a very standard-sounding jazz song.  What?  And after about 15 seconds it drifts out and the song returns to normal.

Around 2:48 a new style of song drifts in, also kind of early jazz (but a different song with lyrics, “let it waver why not savor the flavor”), but this time a bit more faint with twinkly sounds played over the top.

When the song return, there is a list of cities rapped over a more string heavy riff (but that same bassline).  It’s pretty darn weird.  It all reminds me of the way Kanye West introduced such weird elemnst on his Yeezus album.  This is less aggressive but no less unexpected.

I really have no idea what this song is actually about, but I really enjoy listening to it, and I want to explore Shabazz Palaces a bit more.

[READ: July 26, 2014] Nowhere to Run

There’s something about the first book in 39 Clues series that is just so good.  Although I did enjoy the end of Cahills vs Vespers, the end was nowhere near as exciting as the beginning of this book.

It is six months after the events of the last series.  Dan and Amy are not in any way over the deaths of their friends and family.  But they feel that the end of the Vespers leadership must give them some peace and quiet.  And things are starting to get back to normal.  (The awesome) Nellie is back with them, cooking and being generally cool.  But there is one last detail that they must attend to: the funeral of their lawyer, Mac.  He too was killed six months earlier, but they have just gotten around to dealing with the funeral (he was cremated).

But at the funeral, they are attacked by some really tough, like really tough guys.  Uncannily tough in fact.  And as they flee the cemetery a group of paparazzi comes into the cemetary looking to take pictures of the Cahill kids. And soon enough, their photos are posted all over the internet with crazy untruths said about them–that they are spoiled rich kids looking for thrills.  What the heck is going on?

Well, it turns out that J. Rutherford Pierce has found a bit of the serum that Dan was creating.  And unlike the dose that Isabel took, he seems to have tinkered with it just enough to make him superhuman but not freakish.  Pierce has been mostly an also ran–a failure at many businesses, and a failure at much more.  But since taking the serum, he has had many successes, including taking over a media empire (hence the headlines) and making ton of money.  And he has it in for the Cahills. (more…)

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Clifford Riley–Operation Trinity [The 39 Clues: Cahill Files #1] (2012)

Posted in Adventure, Clifford Riley, Death, Fears, Greed, History, Jan Van Eyck, Mystery, Religion, Short Books, Spies, Threats, Travel, Violence, WFMU 91.9 FM--Jersey City, NJ on August 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

trinitySOUNDTRACK: GREASY KID STUFF–WFMU 91.9, New York City (1997-2006).

grekidIn my vast exploration of Greasy Kid Stuff (seriously, at least 15 minutes at work), I found the WFMU website.  It turns out that Greasy Kid Stuff, the radio show broadcast weekly from WFMU from 1997 until 2006.  Then they moved to Portland and couldn’t manage the remote connections properly, so the show ended on WFMU.

The good news is that you can hear weekly playlists of all of the shows from 2000-2006 on the playlist page.  They have playlists that date back to the beginning, but there’s only audio starting in 2000.  The bad news is that you the shows are all archived in Real Audio.  Which, I don’t know, may or may not really work anymore.

But for a historical look at a funny and weird kids show check out the archives, and if you still have Real Player, give it a listen.

[READ: June 17, 2014] Operation Trinity

The Cahill Files were a series of “books from the vault” of the Cahill family.  They were originally released as e-books and some of them have been collected as print books.  The first was Operation Trinity.  And like Vespers Rising, it chronicles the history of the Cahill Family.

The story is broken into three parts, each one chronicling the “life” of a painting.  The painting in question is Jan Van Eyck’s altarpiece (see bottom of post for picture of it). The first part is set in Ghent in 1566.  In reality, the painting was finished in the 15th century and was installed in the Saint Bavo Cathedral.

The story follows Matheus Jacobs, an ordinary, some might say even less than ordinary, boy whose family doesn’t seem to think all that much of him.  Until one day when his mother says that she wants him to become an altar boy so he can protect this altarpiece from the Vespers.  (His father doesn’t think he is worthy, but she disagrees).  He doesn’t know why his mother chose him, or what his mother has to do with anything like this, until she reveals that she can speak several languages and is well versed in the history of the Vespers.  He rides his untrusty mule to the church, where he marvels at the beautiful painting.

He soon meets Father Gerard who sends him on an errand.  While away, he hears a man inciting a mob against the church.  The mob grows incensed, as mobs do, and sets out trying to weed out the Catholics in the village.  Matheus is freaked because they are heading for his home village.  And when he arrives, he sees that the mob is trying to burn down his house.  In the fracas, one of his family members is killed, and the rest of his family insist that he head back to the protect the altarpiece because the Vespers are behind the mob and they are headed for the church. (more…)

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Patrick Jennings–We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes (2009)

Posted in Children's Books, Death, KNRK 94.7--Portland, OR, Patrick Jennings, Pets, Short Books, Supernatural, They Might Be Giants, Video Games on August 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

rattleSOUNDTRACK: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS-“Greasy Kid Stuff” (2013).

3This song was recorded especially for the Greasy Kid Stuff radio show and appears on Greasy Kids Stuff Vol 3.

It starts out like a very TMBG song–with funny lyrics (by John L) over a simple keyboard melody.  The lyrics are about his unruly hair (it needs some schooling).  But it quickly turns into a plea to the radio for songs about Greasy Kid Stuff!

The chorus sounds very “rock n roll” (with old style backing vocals).

It’s only 1:40 and it’s the kind of song TMBG seems to be able to whip out in a couple of minutes.  But it’s really quite catchy.  It’s nice to get some new fun from John and John and the Dans.

[READ: August 11, 2014] We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes

Indeed we cannot all be rattlesnakes. Even the main character of this book, a gopher snake, can’t be one, despite how much she looks like one.

The gopher snake is unnamed because even though she is the main character, she has just been captured by a boy named Gunnar.   Well, actually he calls her Crusher, but that’s not her name, and she refuses to acknowledge it (especially since she doesn’t crush her prey, she asphyxiates it).  We see everything that happens to her from her own eyes. This allows us to see everyday human items (like a video game console) as completely foreign.

Gunnar is a kinda dumb, kinda violent boy, at least that’s what the other captive animals claim (reptiles can communicate telepathically, you know).  Speedy the tortoise and Rex the lizard tell Crusher all about how things are in this house.

Gunnar plays violent video games, disobeys his mom, has dumb friends and refuses to accept that Crusher is a girl.  At first Crusher is really angry about being captured and she vows revenge.  Not only won’t she eat the dead mouse he puts in there with her, she refuses to eat the live mouse he puts in there with her.  In fact the mouse, named Breakfast, becomes quite taken with Crusher, and cuddles up next to her. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 6] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §35-§45]

Posted in Big Books, Boredom, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Harper's, Law, Memoirs, Meta, Pale Summer, Research, Taxes, Violence, Yuck! on August 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tpk5SOUNDTRACK: INTERIOR DISPOSITION-“Fornix” (2008).

Critical Injuries Five Years of RehabilitationIt was challenging to find a related song for this week’s reading, although frankly a band called Interior Disposition would fit with just about any DFW passage.  But having a song called “Fornix” paired nicely with the computer problems that the author faced this week.

From the online information, it seems like Interior Disposition is a metal band.  And yet when I tracked down their full album and listened to a bit it’s largely trippy outer space noodling, or as one of the sites labels them: dark ambient.  There’s bubbling sounds and sounds of what I think of as deep space.  It is strangely relaxing and yet with a hint of tension all the way through (so yes, dark ambient is a pretty good sum).

Okay a little more digging tells me that the band is actually a guy, Oleg Hurvatov, who is Russian and also records under several other aliases: the wonderfully named Exploplasmatic Coagulation, and the puzzling Lanceolaria Im Licht Der Laterne

“Fornix” is only 1:46 and is probably a good introduction to the band/album.  If you like the 2 minute sound, the rest is pretty darn similar, just much longer.

[READ: August 18, 2014] Pale Summer Week 6 (§35-§45)

This weeks read was mostly a series of smallish sections.  some of them are entertaining, some of them provide interesting insights into the organization of the Service and of some of the characters.  And some of the sections are just downright funny.  The more I read of this book this time, the more bummed I am that it was never finished.  I even just wish I knew how much more he had planned.  There’s potential for this book to have spiraled out to 800-900 pages, there just seems to be so many things he could have followed up on–the Sylvanshine transformation to mastering RFI; the whole business with the infant, I love it; learning more about Mr. X (although likely there wouldn’t be much more about him); and of course what led to David Wallace leaving the Service and what compelled him now to write about it (which I don’t think is really addressed).
(more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 5] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §27-§34]

Posted in Big Books, Boredom, Boredoms, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Ghosts, Law, Memoirs, Meta, New Yorker, Pale Summer, Religion, Research, Supernatural, Taxes, Today's Accountant on August 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tpk6SOUNDTRACK: BOREDOMS (various).

borepageBoredoms are an experimental noisy band from Japan.  I am completely unqualified to talk about them as I only know snippets of their output.  But I have always been intrigued by them.  Lead dude Yamataka Eye has been the main impetus behind the band.  And it seems like exactly the kind of noise/music one might play if one were horribly bored.

Yoshimi P-We is the longest serving drummer with the Boredoms.  She is the “Yoshimi” in the title of The Flaming Lips’ album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

Over the years they have gone from outright nose (listen to the track “Bubblebop Shot” from Soul Discharge or “We Never Sleep” from Onanie Bomb Meets the Sex Pistols which is mostly screams and drums) to a more ambient (but still noisy) style. They performed a live show with 77 drummers  on 7/7/07.

They’ve even changed their name to V∞redoms.

Here’s an interesting clip of the band from All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2012, being a lot less noisy but still pretty weird.

[READ: August 11, 2014] Pale Summer Week 5 (§27-§34)

There were a few things in this week’s reading that seemed to contradict other things in the reading.  This is not surprising as Pietsch says that there were things that he knew DFW would eventually change.  The notes at the back of the book (yes, I peeked, bit no spoiler here) say that there were different possible plotlines for some of the characters and even a duplication of a weird character trait.   But it’s funny to see it evolving in front of you.

In §27, Sylvanshine seems to be able to control his Random Fact Inference somewhat–and he seems to be using it rather than being inflicted by it.  This is either a big change or a cool development in Claude’s life.

There is also what I think is an actual mistake: two people have the same number: 907313433 (see §30).

In another “unfinished” issue, the surveillance in §29 is one of those situations that would certainly have been explained in greater detail (or had another scene about it).  I initially assumed they were doing surveillance for deadbeat companies (maybe for new vehicles), but there are indications (in later sections) that perhaps something else is going on, maybe to do with the Glendenning/Lehrl issue that Reynolds and Sylvanshine are talking about in §30.

One thing that I hadn’t explicitly noticed earlier, but which comes out in Cusk’s section below is the idea that “more information is not better.”  While this seems to be very true for their job, it can certainly be a debilitating world view and I wonder if that is at play as well. (more…)

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Jason Shiga–Meanwhile (2010)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Adventure, Alternate Reality, Choose Your Own Adventure, Death, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Ice Cream, Jason Shiga, Short Books, Technology, Violence on August 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

mewanSOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-Mandatory Fun #1 (2014).

way1So, yeah I’ve spent the last few weeks talking about the songs from Mandatory Fun.  What could I possibly have left to say?

Well, only that I think it’s pretty awesome that Al’s viral campaign worked and that his album made it to #1 on the Billboard charts.  (Of course, I have my disclaimer that I really don’t care about charts and usually have no idea what is number one, but I’m always pleased when a band I like can get that honor).  I think it’s pretty cool that he’s been doing this forever (and I’ve liked him since “Another One Rides the Bus”), and that he is not only still successful, but is even more successful than ever.

I’ve also enjoyed seeing him all over the media lately.  It’s interesting to see how smartly he deals with stupid interviewers and how much he enjoys the intelligent interviewers.  I met Al once and he was a very nice  person (as far as celebrities go).  He seems to genuinely appreciate his fans, and so I’m glad he’s collecting more fans.

Clearly, the album sales will plummet after this #1 accomplishment (it’s not like people are going to start buying the album as if they were unfamiliar with it), but while it lasted, it was pretty cool.  And this scene on the Tom Green Show (who even knew he had another show?) when he was presented with this plaque was quite touching.

[READ: July 29, 2014] Meanwhile

This book is like a culmination of cleverness from Jason Shiga.  As the cover states: Pick Any Path.  3,856 Story Possibilities.  And while I did not count them all, I did run through all the possibilities.  And it is a crazy, time bending, mind-swapping fun ride.

And is it really a choose your own adventure?  Indeed it is.  Each page has a tab and each panel in each cartoon has a tube. The tube runs from one panel to another, sometimes going to a tab so you go to another page.  The author’s note at the beginning of the book says it began as a series of 7 increasingly complex flowcharts, then he used an algorithm to determine the most efficient way to make each story line.  And wow, what a doozy.

The story starts simply enough with the main character getting an ice cream.  And your choices are chocolate or vanilla.  The choices lead down a series of deepening paths, bringing you to a scientist who has created the Killitron 2000 (which does what it says), the SQUID (which transfers memories between people) and a time machine.  As you can imagine each of these thing leads to very different results. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 4] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §23-§26] #palesummer14

Posted in Big Books, Boredom, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Ghosts, Law, Memoirs, Meta, Negativland, Pale Summer, Research, Sex, Taxes on August 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tpk4SOUNDTRACK: NEGATIVLAND-“Nesbitt’s Lime Soda Song” (1987).

limeThere are multiple references to Nesbitt’s soda in this book.  I am unfamiliar with Nesbitt’s except in this funny little song from Negativland (on their album Escape from Noise).  I have always liked this song, perhaps because it is so simple (and is an actual song) amidst the chaos of the album.

A simple strummed guitar introduces this quaint song about everyday frustrations:

We spent a lovely summer, my wife Elaine and me,
We bought us a great big motor home, with a shower and TV,
We was camping and having a great time, watching Brokaw on Today,
Till a bee flew into the Nesbitt’s Lime Soda, and we had to throw it away.

Now most of the time I’m a peaceful man, but I lost my temper that day,
Just one last bottle of Nesbitt’s Lime Soda, and we had to throw it away.

I’m including the second verse not only because of the sodas listed, which I find endearing, but also because of the phrase “good old Mountain Dew” which reminds me of something DFW would say:

I brought a case of Nehi, and Double Cola, too,
A half a dozen Upper 10’s, and good old Mountain Dew,
I bought a quart of cola-a, to get me through the day,
But just one bottle of Nesbitt’s Lime Soda, and we had to throw it away.

I think most of the Nesbitt’s in the story is orange (that was their big seller) but Nesbitt’s did actually did have a Lime (or I guess Lemon-Lime) soda as well

[READ: August 4, 2014] Pale Summer Week 4 (§23-§26)

After last week’s massive 100 page section inside of one person’s head, it’s nice to get back to some of these smaller sections.  I’m particularly pleased to have another David Wallace section, as I find his the most entertaining.

§23

This is a brief First person section that begins: “Dream:”  Rows of foreshortened faces, many blank doing endless small tasks. It was his psyche teaching him about boredom.  He was often bored as a child, but that boredom was not actual boredom.  Back then he worried and fretted a lot, feeling the “sort of soaring, ceilingless tedium that transcends tedium and becomes worry” (253).  It was anxiety with no object.

He was the nervous delicate son, as opposed to his brother, the gifted driven son whose nightly piano practice coincided with their father’s return from work.  I section that says “after the incident with my own son” (254) reminded me that someone suggested that “Incarnations of Burned Children” may actually fit into this book and it seems like that could be applicable here, although I shudder to think it.  In psychotherapy he realized that his family was Achilles.  His brother was the shield and he was the heel. His father was a warrior, but his mother’s role was unclear. (more…)

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