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Archive for the ‘Digression’ Category

Laurence Sterne–The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1769)

Posted in 18th Century, A Cock and Bull Story, Digression, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Humiliation, Irish Writer, Laurence Sterne, Meta, Pearl Jam, Pregnancy, Smarty Pants, Steve Coogan, Unreliable narrator on May 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

tristramshandy2SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Binaural (2000).

binauraBinaural bursts forth with the rampaging “Breakerfall” and “God’s Dice.”  The latter pauses only briefly for a chorus break.  They are followed by “Evacuation,” a song that sounds a bit off kilter in this studio version but which blasts off on the live version. It’s got a great shouty chorus too.

“Light Years” is another wonderfully singalongable PJ track. The verses are delicate and, while the choruses don’t build, they are still very catchy.  “Nothing as It Seems” is a haunting track that is dark and fantastic.  The opening guitar riff sounds like it’s coming from the middle of a desert, and the rest of the song is great and great sounding too.  “Thin Air” is another mid- tempo song that doesn’t wear out its welcome, and is fun to sing along to as well.

“Insignificance” is one of the great stop/start songs in PJ’s history. The staggered guitar work builds and stops, builds and stops and just gets better as it goes along.  “Of the Girl” is one of those moody pieces that on previous discs sounded kind of throwaway, and yet this song has enough interesting nooks in it that it never gets dull.  It doesn’t really ever bust out into big chorus, but the subtle changes are just as powerful.  “Grievance” is also fantastic. Another staggered type of song with powerful lyrics and rocking verses and choruses. And when played live, this song is a behemoth.

“Rival” is one of those weird little songs that PJ throws in.  An experiment that works more than some of t heir others.  Followed by “Sleight of Hand” one of their more impressive ballads.  Even though the chorus isn’t dramatically different, it’s still very powerful. “Parting Ways” is one of their best album enders in a long time. It’s another slow one, yet it doesn’t meander. There’s some nice guitar interplay that keeps the song interesting.

And then there’s “Soon Forget” a little number played on a ukulele.  For another band this would be a gimmick yet Eddie’s sincerity pulls it off quite nicely. There’s also a hidden track at the end (evidently called “Writer’s Block”) which is the sound of a typewriter typing.

This was the disc that got me back into Pearl Jam, and it really is a great album. Most of their first barrage of live discs came from this tour, which may explain why I like these songs so much (I heard them all about 70 times, right?), but it’s a great place to start for latter-day Pearl Jam.

[READ: April 2007] The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

I read this book a long time ago, in college, based on the recommendation of my friend Gene.  I really enjoyed it and found it quite funny.  Then, last year, I watched Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, which is sort of a film adaptation of Tristram Shandy.  A post about this movie could be just as long as the movie itself, but the short version is that the hilarious Steve Coogan is an actor in a production of the film of Tristram Shandy.  As they are filming Tristram Shandy, the camera follows Coogan, the actor, as his neuroses get the better of him in both his professional and personal life.  This Coogan stuff has absolutely nothing to do with the book, making the whole proceeding weird and wonderful. (more…)

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My Wikipedia Entry

Posted in Digression, McSweeney's, Paul Debraski, The Collins Library, Wikipedia on February 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

wikiI finally decided I had something worthwhile to add to Wikipedia.  Since I have been writing so extensively about McSweeney’s Books, I decided to create a more or less comprehensive list of all of the books that they have published.  (I once asked a McSweeney’s rep if he had a list and he said he didn’t think anyone there did, which was somewhat surprising).  Anyhow, I used my librarian access and knowhow to create the chart on THIS WIKIPEDIA PAGE.  I’ve never felt such POWER!!

If you see any errors, please correct them!

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What I learned (26)… Eartha Kitt

Posted in Digression, Eartha Kitt, Funny (strange), Harold Pinter, Paul Debraski, Supernatural on December 26, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Eartha Kitt died yesterday.  And, yes, I trashed her song “Santa Baby” just days ago.  Andrew pointed out in a comment to that post that, no doubt, it was the last thing she read, and it was the end for her.  And for that I am truly sorry.  It also explains why I have had the song stuck in my head for two days.  It seems that everywhere I go for the last two days…even though I have listened to about a dozen different Christmas CDs without that song on it…it keeps coming back.  To haunt me.  Eartha, I meant no offense.  Please rest easily, and allow me to as well.

Oh geez, and Harold Pinter died, too.  I wasn’t plagued by Pinter, but he was influential to a lot of the authors I enjoyed.  And he was an amusing punchline in Red Dwarf.

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Barack Obama–The Audacity of Hope (2006)

Posted in Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Constellation Records, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Digression, Feu Therese, History, Kraftwerk, Le Fly Pan Am, Memoirs, Political Humor, Politicians, Shalibi Effect, Smarty Pants, The Walrus on October 22, 2008| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: FEU THÉRÈSE-Ca Va Cogner [CST049] (2007).

I struggled ever so much over what disc to attach to this book review, thinking that any disc would be seen to have some correlation to Obama.  So, why not just go all out: a Canadian indie band that sings in French!

This is Feu Thérèse’s second disc.  It comes from Constellation records, home of noisy, lengthy, downbeat records.  In fact, Feu Thérèse is chock full of some of the big names in the Montreal underground: Alexandre St-Onge plays with noisy bands like Shalibi Effect and Jonathan Parant comes from noisy bands like Le Fly Pan Am.  So, how did all of these factors possibly unite to make this disc?

Ca Va Cogner sounds like a analog synth party from 1980!  The whole ensemble would be completely and utterly cheesy if the secret ingredient (which I cannot identify) did not make the whole thing work so well.  The whole disc seems to be washed over with these groovy synths. I want to make comparisons to Kraftwerk, but that seems a little too cold.  All of these songs are warm and soft, there’s even a children’s chorus on one of them.  Other songs are instrumental, or have minimal singing.  And “Le Bruit Du Pollen La Nuit” has a wonderfully smutty sounding spoken word track that recalls, of course, Serge Gainsbourg at his naughtiest (although I have no idea what this song is actually about).

I think what saves the disc from just being an 80’s French Europop band is the guitar and bass interplay.  Those two guys take a lot of the sounds that they’ve mastered in their respective bands, and play them beneath all of the synths.  It undercuts the intentional cheesiness of the keyboards with some awesome textures, and really brings everything to a remarkable whole.  This probably won’t be anybody’s favorite disc, but it is very enjoyable, and worth tracking down, especially if you’re a Francophile.

[READ: October 15, 2008] The Audacity of Hope

Since I’ve been for Obama since the beginning, I figured I ought to read his book.  It seemed especially apt now, since the McCain campaign is saying that we don’t “know anything about” Obama. Well, if you read this book, or, I suspect his OTHER autobiography, you could learn quite a bit about him.  Unlike some other people who don’t grant interviews, hmmm.  Okay, I had thought I would be able to review this book without referencing the current campiagn or the upcoming election, but it is simply impossible.  Please deal with my Partisan Review. (more…)

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What I learned (25)… Airline “security,” a scam and a sham

Posted in Airlines, Digression, Threats, TSA on October 16, 2008| Leave a Comment »

When I was a kid, airplanes were pretty awesome.  They were luxurious, exotic and wonderful.  I remember one of my first flights when I was a kid, 7 or 8 years old, and being invited up into the cockpit.  I also remember getting “wings” for being a young traveler (thanks Eastern Airlines, RIP).  There was also something exotic and sexy about being a stewardess or a pilot or anyone associated with the airlines back then.  We watched The Bob Newhart Show recently, and Howard the neighbor leads a glamorous life as a pilot with hot stewardesses clinging to his arms.

Even as recent as 2000, I flew to Vancouver on New Years Eve 1999 and was not only one of about 6 people on the flight, I was given a glass of champagne (and was introduced to couscous on my in-flight meal).  Flying was fun.  Stewards and stewardesses were nice, they actually seemed to care about you, and offered a smile when you talked to them.

Now, I realize that September 11, 2001, as they say, changed everything.

This past week my family traveled to the Virgin Islands.  We flew into San Juan and then to St. Thomas. Our port of departure was Newark International Airport.  I’ve noticed this before, but it has become painfully obvious the more we fly (and sadly, we’ve had to fly more lately): Newark Airport looks just like what it is: a cobbled together, half-assed, transparently bad attempt to band-aid a problem. And this same scenario is global, as far as I can tell.

Before the terrorist attacks, an airport was a microcosm of interesting things: shops that were not necessarily the same all over the country–local flavor could be found in some of the interesting stores and knickknacks.  And, while overpriced and somewhat bland, you could get some interesting “local” foods in airports. (more…)

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What I learned… (24) Why you cannot vote for McCain if you are under 25

Posted in Barack Obama, Digression, John McCain on September 21, 2008| 1 Comment »

For reasons that are not clear to me, this upcoming Presidential election is evidently going to be very close.

Think of yourself as an employer (which is what you are in this case).  Do you hire the 72 year old man who thinks things in your company are going great and should continue on the track they’ve been going, or do you pick the 47 year old man with energy, ideas and a plan to make your company even better?  The choice seems pretty obvious…do you want to look to the past or the future.

Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother got me thinking about this election in a slightly different way, especially with his slogan “Never trust anyone under 25.”

If you’re under 25 (or even under 30, let’s be honest) and thinking of voting for McCain, you really need to double and triple check yourself.

Oh, and if you’re eligible to vote and you’re thinking of skipping this election, then this paragraph is just for you.  I’m not going to preach anything about how to run your life, but I want to impress this upon you: it will take just a few minutes to vote.  This election has the potential to impact your future in monumental ways.  You may not even give a moments thought to what your life will be like in twenty years.  But imagine how mad your future self will be if things turn out rotten in twenty years and you think, if I had only voted in 2008, I could have made a difference.  So, go vote.  Your future self will thank you.

Anyhow, there are dozens of reasons not to vote for McCain and you can find them just about anywhere.  But this particular reason is of special interest to anyone under 25:  McCain is not interested in the internet or email.  This is not recent news.  It was stated in an interview with the New York Times in July.  Read this excerpt from July 13, 2008:

Q: But do you go on line for yourself?

Mr. McCain: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need – including going to my daughter’s blog first, before anything else.

Q: Do you use a blackberry or email?

Mr. McCain: No

Mark Salter: He uses a BlackBerry, just ours.

Mr. McCain: I use the Blackberry, but I don’t e-mail, I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail. I read e-mails all the time, but the communications that I have with my friends and staff are oral and done with my cell phone.

I highlighted the parts in red that are particularly astonishing.  (And this is before one of McCain’s staffers said that McCain helped to invent the Blackberry.) (more…)

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What I learned… (22) Quarters (U.S. and Canadian)

Posted in Canadian Content, Collecting, Digression on August 28, 2008| 1 Comment »

As anyone in the U.S. knows, we’ve been releasing new quarters with state designs on the reverse side.  They’re almost done now, with just Alaska and Hawaii left.  I had started to collect them a while ago, and then I lost my cardboard container and I stopped.  A few weeks ago I saw some new quarter holders at the bookstore.  This one has room for two quarters  per state (and here is where my collecting madness ends because I don’t even care what the two different letters are supposed to be represent).  But I decided to start again, getting one set for Clark and one for Tabitha.  And then some day in the not too distant future, they’ll say, “You’re a geek, Dad,” and use them to buy ice cream or something.

Anyhow, while I was scouring our cash box at work for more quarters, I found a Canadian quarter with a skier on it…in honor of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.  Now, clearly anyone in Canada knows that this is happening, but it is shocking that it took me over a year and a half since the first one came out to find out about it here in the U.S.  I know it’s not international news when a country modifies its currency, but COME ON!

I harbor a secret desire to go to Vancouver for the Olympics (well, Vancouver in and of itself would be awesome, but the Olympics might be cool too), but I’m not sure it’s wise with a 5 and 3 year old.   So, I thought it would be really cool to collect all of these quarters just in case.  Wikipedia tells me there will be 12 altogether.

At some point I’m going to have to write to RBC (whose Olympic commercial with Mr Muffin was so charming, Sarah and I wished we could get one) and see if I can buy some.  Or, if any of my faithful Canadian readers would like to contribute to this barely worthy cause…  You can email me about sending me a Vancouver 2010 quarter with the sport of your choice on it.  Just think, it’ll cost you a quarter (and a 96 cent stamp) to make a small time coin collector happy.  (And of course, if there’s something comparable I can send you, just ask!)

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What I learned… (21) Guest Posts & Book Clubs & Sarah

Posted in Digression, Funky Web Sites on August 5, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Sarah was invited to write a guest post for Books on the Brain.  She writes a great piece about the book club she started in which…aw heck, I won’t bother summarizing, just go check it out!

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What I learned… (20) Entertainment Weekly

Posted in Constantines, Digression, Entertainment Weekly, Paul F. Tompkins, US Weekly on July 29, 2008| Leave a Comment »

I have been an off and on subscriber to Entertainment Weekly for about fifteen years. Usually I subscribe because it’s cheap and I enjoy it. Then something happens to let my subscription lapse (usually it’s when I move). And then I resubscribe some time later. I’ve been steadily subscribed now for about 5 years.

It’s been a decent magazine. I don’t really care too much about the celeb gossip or even the cover stories, for the most part. They’re just an excellent resource for stuff that is about to be released. They give release dates and lots of reviews. Even if I don’t agree with the reviews, they at least give me an idea of what the book is about or what the disc sounds like. And, even more importantly, they do lots of genres in books, independent films and even indie rock.

So, when they celebrated their 1000th issue recently, imagine my surprise to hear that their new format starting with issue 1001 would feature: MORE WHITE SPACE, and be EASIER TO READ! Now, even the people who write letters to EW (and here, you should listen to the Paul F. Tompkins “Letters to Magazines“) know that more white space means less black space. In other words, fewer of those pesky words. That’s right! For our subscription dollars, we now get not 15-20 reviews, but 3. THREE! As you can imagine, all of the indie sceen is basically disregarded now.

There’s another new feature “The Ausiello Files” with some guy who says he’s an “insider.” And we see inane questions that no one would every have really asked getting answered with “insider” information. Rather than a review of the new Constantines album, we get great stuff like “What’s the scoop with so and so’s pregnancy on NCIS??” Come on, it’s Entertainment Weekly, not US Weekly.

I am thoroughly annoyed by this new look. And one way that you know that no one likes the new look is that they haven’t even run the “I love the new look” raves that they inevitably run whenever they feel smug about themselves.

The only thing I can figure is they must have fired a whole bunch of people to be left with such a paltry, pathetic magazine. Right now the only thing keeping me subscribing is that they haven’t cut the TV section. But come fall, if they stop talking about the shows we watch, EW gets the ax for good.

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Paul Theroux–“Twenty-Two Stories” (Harper’s, April 2008)

Posted in Bathory, Black Sabbath, Digression, Eagles of Death Metal, Flash Fiction, Harper's, John Zorn, Led Zeppelin, Mastodon, Paul Theroux, Queens of the Stone Age, Short Story, The Believer, The Mars Volta, The Sword, Venom on July 25, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MASTODON-Blood Mountain (2006).

As I was in a metal/Black Sabbath kick, and Mastodon is always mentioned as a fantastic metal band, I figured I’d give them a try. As with The Sword, I saw no resemblance to Black Sabbath, and at first I was afraid it was just another sludgy death metal record.

[DIGRESSION]: I just read a great article in The Believer about the USBM (United States Black Metal) scene, and how it compares to the black metal in Norway and other European countries where the bands take the music seriously enough to burn churches and such. The article was really interesting. I knew some of the bands that he talked about, but the only ones I had heard were the “grandfathers” of the genre, like Venom and Bathory. Any of the new bands that he focused on, if I’d heard of them at all, I certainly hadn’t heard them. Regardless, it was a great read, and really got me hankering for a band like Mastodon, even though they’re not really in the genre at all.

Anyway, after two listens, I really got into the Mastodon album. I don’t know anything about their previous releases (except that they are heavy), but Blood Mountain is all over the map. It is a fascinating mix of thrash metal, hardcore, beautiful melodies, prog rock, and total chaos. In fact, the song “Bladecatcher,” is three and a half minutes of total insanity. I haven’t heard anything lie it since John Zorn’s Naked City. There’s a beautiful melody which progresses into a screaming guitar riff, which morphs into a headbanging thrash part which basically just unravels into a noisy spasm, wherein the high-pitched noises might be voices, or might by keyboards, or might just be the machine melting. (more…)

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