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Archive for the ‘Fears’ Category

David Petersen–Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Alex Kain, Alex Sheikman, All Songs Considered, Children's Books, Christmas Album, Craig Rousseau, David Petersen, Death, Fantasy, Fears, Garfunkel and Oates, Guy David, Jason Shawn Alexander, Jeremy Bastian, João M.O. Lemos, Karl Kerschl, Katie Cook, Lowell Francis, Mark Smylie, Military, Nate Pride, Scott Keating, Sean Ruin, Short Books, Ted Naifeh, Terry Moore on December 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

legendsSOUNDTRACK: GARFUNKEL AND OATES-“Year End Letter” (2010).

gandoGarfunkel and Oates are a wonderful comedy team.  I’ve enjoyed so many of their songs, but this was the first time I ‘ve heard this Christmastime ditty.

We always enjoy reading people’s year end letters with an eye towards the attitude in this song–slightly mocking and yet also thinking:

“You’re right, your family’s better than mine
And it seems you make a lot more money.”

But now with the advent of Facebook, people post their year end letter info every day.  And I am very sad to see that we got virtually no year end letters this year.  So even though we tease, now we miss what we once mocked.  At least G&O can remind us what they all contained.

And since I cannot figure out how to embed a vimeo video, you’ll have to click this link to watch it.

[READ: December 20, 2013] Legends of the Guard

This book is a collection of short pieces written and illustrated by some of the greats in independent comic books (with a shocking number of them being from Michigan).  Evidently many writers contacted Petersen and wanted to work with him.  He didn’t want to mess up the arc of his story so he devised this idea.  Set in June’s Ale House, all of the mice are tasked with telling a story.  The one who tells the best will have his bar tab erased (for some that is quite a deal).

And so, these stories or legends are set at any time in the past and do not impact the chronology of our Mouse Guards.  And man, are they good. (more…)

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David Petersen–Mouse Guard The Black Axe (2013)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Children's Books, Christmas Album, David Mead, David Petersen, Death, Fantasy, Fears, Garfunkel and Oates, Harvey Danger, Military, Short Books, South Park on December 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

blacaxeSOUNDTRACK: HAVE YOURSELF A SULLEN LITTLE CHRISTMAS–NPR (December 19, 2013).

charliebrown_wide-ac0b12e7fc8f83eb302cc221a37ba8592ccc2e63-s40-c85NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson and Travis Larchuk hop onto Morning Edition to talk about Christmas songs that are melancholy sad and downright sullen (which is quite a lot of them, if you really listen to the words).

They talk about some new(ish) songs that are depressing  Like David Mead’s “The Smile of Rachael Ray” (which would be bad enough, but that’s just a lead in to the bummer within), Harvey Danger’s “Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes),” Garfunkel & Oates’ “Year End Letter” (which is quite funny) and the song “Dead, Dead, Dead” from the South Park holiday album Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics.

Of course, dark Christmas songs are nothing new.  There are plenty of dour holiday standards that originate in the 1940s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “Blue Christmas”  are major downers.

When I try to compile Christmas mixes I try to leave off the bummer songs, but it’s really hard.

Stephen Thompson gives an excellent summary of the season: “Christmas is the one day a year when we’re all supposed to be happy, and so you’re hyperaware when you’re not.”  I hope everyone has a Happy Christmas this year.

[READ: December 10, 2013] Mouse Guard The Black Axe

This book features a preface by Terry Jones.  It doesn’t say a lot, but it’s worth a mention.

The Black Axe begins after the events of Winter 1152 (it is set in Spring, 1153), but the bulk of the book is a flashback to the origin story of the Black Axe.

As the book opens we learn that Lieam, one of the Mouse Guards has been missing for the last three months.  We also learn that even though the Winter was a dangerous time for the mice, the Spring proves to be equally treacherous as all of the predators are awaking from hibernation. But despite the current crises, Gwendolyn’s thoughts turn to Spring 1115 where the story of Celanawe begins.

We see Celanawe on an island building a house.  Suddenly a crow approaches.  On the crow is Em, a mouse who can communicate with the crows and who reveals that he she has been looking for him. (more…)

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David Petersen–Mouse Guard Winter 1152 (2009)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Children's Books, David Petersen, Death, Fantasy, Fears, Matt Wilson, Military, Short Books on December 15, 2013| 1 Comment »

mouse winterSOUNDTRACK: MATT WILSON-“You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” (2010).

mattwiklsonI don’t know who Matt Wilson is, (surprisingly, he is the drummer of the trio and the album is called the Matt Wilson Tree-O (ha)).  Man, I love this version of the Grinch’s theme song.

What’s fun about it is that the main vocal line is played on the upright bass.  While the harmony lines are played on what I suspect is a baritone saxophone.  There’s also some simple snare and brush work for drums.

It’s really simple and it’s pretty much guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.  I haven’t heard anything else on the album, and I’m not entirely sure I need to.  This song ranks up pretty high on my Christmas music list now.

[READ: December 10, 2013] Mouse Guard Winter 1152

Winter 1152 follows on the heels of Fall 1152.  The Mouse Guard have traveled off to various cities to find supplies for the winter.  While they have dispersed in different directions, we are following only our friends from the previous book: Kenzie, Celnawe, Lieam, Sadie and Saxon.  Through tremendous snow (for a mouse) they make it to Sprucetuck, where they seek the elixir which Mistress Gwendolyn needs.

Although offered rest and comfort the mice are on a deadline and must make it back home with their supplies.  But on their way home they are attacked by an owl.  Sadie gets off a great shot that blinds the owl and the mice are free.  But just as they feel that they are safe, they walk into a hole in the snow.  And three of them fall through.

Saxon, Kenzie and Sadie find themselves in an underground tunnel which proves to be a (presumably) abandoned weasel tunnel.  They are nervous of course, but press on in the direction of home as there is no easy way for them to get above ground.  Meanwhile, Lieam and Celnawe proceed above ground.  There is talk of allegiances and who is rightly in charge of these missions (Celnawe, as the elder axe wielder, is testing Lieam’s mettle).  Then both parties encounter some trouble  The underground team finds a bat roost–and the bast (I love the way they speak as a kind of collective) are none too happy to see the mice down here. Meanwhile, as the snow continues to pile on the above-ground mice, they decide to settle in for the night by making a burrow and starting a small fire.  But something awaits them at their opening. (more…)

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David Petersen–Mouse Guard Fall 1152 (2007)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Amiina, C., Children's Books, David Petersen, Death, Fantasy, Fears, Lee Hazlewood, Military, Short Books on December 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

mouse fallSOUNDTRACK: AMIINA-“Hilli” (2006).

220px-HilliThis song (and the single version which features a spoken word track by Lee Hazlewood) was featured in NPR’s 2007 Holiday Music special.  I’m not exactly sure that there’s anything particularly Christmassy or Holiday about it, but it is certainly pretty.

Amiina are an Icelandic band who are known mostly for their strings.  They have played string accompaniment with Sigur Rós on albums and on tour.  I had known about them as a string quartet so I was surprised by this beautiful song which has no real strings (at least quartet strings).  The “strings” sound more like hammered dulcimers and plucked violin strings.  It has a very simple melody played delicately.  And then the voices–layers of sweet female voices–sing notes over the music.  It is calming and a perfect antidote to hectic Christmas time and treacly Christmas music.

I still don’t know if it has anything to do with the holidays, but it’s part of my holiday music collection now.

[READ: December 5, 2013] Mouse Guard Fall 1152

I saw this book in the library and decided to get it for C.  But I also thought the artwork looked amazing so I decided to read it for myself.  I feel like he may be a tad young for the book (it’s kind of slow and vaguely “political”), although I’m sure he’d like the artwork (and some of the fighting).  But I thought the book was absolutely gorgeous and I enjoyed every page of it.

The story itself is quiet simple (and feels like it could be much much longer).  It covers six books (and an epilogue) and is all about the mice of Lockhaven as they struggle for survival in the Fall of 1152.  Now these are normal sized mice—their homes and mansions and everything are hidden from view inside trees and ivy, but their problems are very real.  And very dangerous.

So dangerous that they have formed the Mouse Guard.  The Guard is there not only to fight off intruders but also to assist citizens as they wander through the territories.

This book follows three of the Guard: Lieam, Saxon and Kenzie as they become aware of a traitorous plot that threatens all of Lockhaven. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–original articles that comprise Both Flesh and Not (1988-2006) [a comparison]

Posted in Apostolos Doxiadis, Book Reviews, Books about writers, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, David Markson, Essays, Fears, Fiction Writer, Funny (ha ha), Might, Philibert Schogt, Premiere, Rain Taxi, Research, Review of Contemporary Fiction, Roger Federer, Salon.com, Science, Sigur Rós, Smarty Pants, Spin, Tennis, Terminator 2, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, War, Waterstone's, Wittgenstein's Halloween, Word usage, Zbigniew Herbert on December 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

bothfleshSOUNDTRACK: SIGUR RÓS-Von brigði [Recycle Bin] (1998).

recycleAfter releasing their first album, Sigur Rós was approached by Icelandic musicians to remix the album. And thus came Recycle Bin.  I realized too late that I really just don’t like remix albums all that much–they’re mostly just faster drums plopped on top of existing songs.  And such is the case here.  Despite the interesting musical pedigrees of the remixers, there’s nothing anywhere near as interesting as on Von itself.  There are ten tracks, but only 5 songs.

”Syndir Guðs” gets two remixes:

Biogen keeps the bass but adds some more drumlike sounds.

Múm removes the bass, adds some wild drums and trippy textures and reduces the 7 minutes to 5.  It is quite pretty but very far from the original.

“Leit að lífi” gets three remixes

Plasmic takes a spacey 3 minute wordless noodle and turns it into a heavy fast dance song with speedy drums, big bass notes and with spacey sounds.

Thor brings in some fast skittery drums and keeps the spacey sounds (which sound sped up).  And of course bigger bass noises.

Sigur Rós recycle their own song into a dance song by adding funky bass and drums.

“Myrkur” gets two remixes.  the original is a fast-paced groovy track.

Ilo begins it as a spacey non-musical sounding piece.  After two minutes they add a beat of very mechanical-sounding drums.  It’s probably the most interesting remix here.

Dirty-Bix adds big, slow drums.  It keeps the same melody and vocals as the original but totally changes the rhythm and texture of the song, (removing the guitar completely).

The remaining three songs get one remix each.

The original “18 Sekúndur Fyrir Sólarupprás” is 18 seconds of silence.  Curver turns it into “180 Sekúndur Fyrir Sólarupprás” and makes a muffled drum beat and some other samples from the album, I think.  It constantly sounds like it is glitching apart until the end where it practically disintegrates–an interesting remix of silence.

“Hún Jörð” 7 min Hassbræður increases the drums and adds a more buzzsaw guitar sound and makes the vocals stand out a bit more.

“Von” has delicate strings and Jónsi voice.  The remix by Gusgus adds low end bass and drums making it a thumping rather than soaring track.

I prefer the original, but I much prefer their next album to the first one.

[READ: end of October to early November 2013]  original articles that comprise Both Flesh and Not

As I mentioned last week, I decided to compare the articles in Both Flesh and Not with the original publications to see what the differences were.  I had done this before with A Supposedly Fun Thing… and that was interesting and enlightening (about the editing process).

This time around the book has a lot more information than the original articles did.  Although as I come to understand it, the original DFW submitted article is likely what is being printed in the book with all of the editing done by the magazine (presumably with DFW’s approval).  So basically, if you had read the original articles and figured you didn’t need the book, this is what you’re missing.

Quite a lot of the changes are word choice changes (this seems to belie the idea that DFW approved the changes as they are often one word changes).  Most of the changes are dropped footnotes (at least in one article) or whole sections chopped out (in others).

For the most part the changes were that the book version added things that were left out or more likely removed from the article.  If the addition in the book is more than a sentence, I only include the first few words as I assume most readers have the book and can find it for themselves.  The way to read the construct below is that most of the time the first quote is from the original article.  The second quote is how it appears in Both Flesh and Not.  At the end of each bullet, I have put in parentheses the page in BFAN where you’ll find it.  I don’t include the page number of the article.  And when I specifically mention a footnote (FN 1, for example), I am referring to the book as many times the articles drop footnotes and they are not always in sync.

Note: I tried most of the time to put quotes around the text, but man is that labor intensive, so if I forgot, it’s not meant to be anything significant. (more…)

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Breakfast on Mars: Your Favorite Authors Take a Stab at the Dreaded Essay Assignment (2013)

Posted in Adventure, Advice, Alan Gratz, Alane Ferguson, Angels of the Universe, April Sinclair, Biography, Birds, Books about writers, Boredom, Casey Scieszka, Cecil Castellucci, Chris Epting, Chris Higgins, Clay McLeod Chapman, Craig Kielburger, Daisy Whitney, Elizabeth Winthrop, Ellen Sussman, Essays, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gigi Amateau, History, Jennifer Lou, Joe Craig, Joshua Mohr, Khalid Birdsong, Kirsten Miller, Laurel Snyder, Léna Roy, Lise Clavel, Maile Meloy, Margaret Cho, Marie Rutkoski, Mary-Ann Ochota, Michael David Lukas, Michael Hearst, Myths, Nature, Ned Vizzini, Nick Abadzis, Ransom Riggs, Rita Williams-Garcia, Sarah Darer Littman, Sarah Prineas, Scott Westerfeld, Sigur Rós, Sloane Crosley, Steve Almond, Steve Brezenoff, Steven Weinberg, Technology, The Future, Time Travel, Travel, Wendy Mass, YA Books on December 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

bomarsSOUNDTRACK: SIGUR RÓS-“Ný batterí” (2000).

nyThe single opens with “Rafmagnið búið” a kind of brass introductory piece.  There’s lots of horns building slowly, growing louder but not really playing a melody.  By the end of five minutes, it segues into “Ný batterí” which opens with horns as well.  Then the bass comes in, a slow, deep rumble of simple melody.  After 4 and a  half minutes, the drums are a powerful counterpoint to the sweet melody.

“Bíum bíum bambaló” is a slow piece (aren’t they all) that is mostly percussion.  Apparently it is an Icelandic lullaby.  The final track, “Dánarfregnir og jarðarfarir” was a theme used for death announcements on Icelandic radio.  I love the way it builds from a simple melody into a full rock band version and then back again.  It’s very dramatic.

Both tracks were used in the film Angels of the Universe (and appear on the soundtrack).

That certainly makes this single less interesting than the first one (although I’m not sure that the soundtrack was readily available at the time).

[READ: December 1, 2013] Breakfast on Mars

This is a collection of 38 essays (and an introduction by Margaret Cho).  It also includes an introduction geared toward teachers–an appeal that essays do not need to be dull or, worse yet, scary.  The editors encourage teachers to share these essays with students so they get a feel for what it’s like to write compelling personal nonfiction.  The introduction proper gives a brief history of the essay and then talks about the kind of fun and funny (and serious) essays that are included here.

This was a largely fun and largely interesting collection of essays.  When I grabbed it from the library I didn’t realize it was essays (I was intrigued by the title and then looked at the author list and immediately brought it home).  I know it says essays on the cover, but I chose to ignore that apparently.  When Sarah saw the authors (she knows more of them than I do) she had to read it first.  This proved to be a great counterpoint to the very large novel that I was reading at the same time.

The essays each take on different topics.  And what I liked was that before each essay, they include the question that inspired the essay.  I have included the questions here. (more…)

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Tahar Ben Jelloun–“By Fire” (New Yorker, September 16, 2013)

Posted in Anarchy, Fears, Gilmore Girls, Lisa Moore, New Yorker, Rita S. Nezami, Sam Phillips, Short Story, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Tiny Desk Concert, Vic Chesnutt on November 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_09_16_13Tomine.inddSOUNDTRACK: SAM PHILLIPS-Tiny Desk Concert #3 (June 25, 2008). 

Isamt took a month and a half to get the second Tiny Desk player in, but it took only 20 days to get Sam Phillips to come in after Vic Chesnutt.  Sam Phillips plays four songs (in what is sauna-like conditions apparently) all from her then new album Don’t Do Anything.

Phillips has had a couple of incarnations as a performer (first as “Leslie Phillips” Christian singer).  This incarnation sees her as a kind of folky troubadour with dramatic flair.  She played a lot of the music on the Gilmore Girls (she does the la las), so of course I’m a fan.

Sam is a funny performer, introducing herself (and then asking is she is allowed to talk) and later playing Bob Boilen’s cow in the can (and even questioning the way to say This is NPR).  She is accompanied by Erik Gorfain, who plays a Stroh violin which you can sort of see in this picture (there’s a better one below) and which Phillips suggests is plenty loud enough thank you.

Her first song, “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us” opens with big strumming guitars and a bouncy melody.  It’s a great song that is a lot of fun–that violin brings great counterpoint.  “No Explanations” is a bit more rocking (with Gorfain on electric guitar).  It has a catchy chorus.  “Signal” returns to that kind of bouncy tin pan alley style which she does very well.  “Little Plastic Life” ends the set with… a screw up, which she handles wonderfully, and which makes the song seem all the better when she plays it again.

I really enjoyed this Tiny Desk and am going to have to listen to more of her work.

Check out what a Stroh violin looks like:

stroh

[READ: September 25, 2013] “By Fire”

Here’s another story about unemployment.  I had intended to post this back in September, so when I originally typed that this story is more dramatic than “yesterday’s,” I meant Lisa Moore’s story from September which was also about unemployment.

I wasn’t sure where this story took place (it was originally written in French).  The story is about Mohammed.  He graduated from University a few years ago with a degree in history.  It has been useless thus far.  When his father dies, and he is once again incapable of getting a teaching job, he gives up and burns all of his paperwork.

Then he sets out with his father’s fruit cart, determined to make some money selling fruit so he can move out of his house and in with his girlfriend.

There is ample back story in this piece.  We learn about Mohammed’s family—his mother has crippling diabetes, his brothers work but not very hard (one is downright lazy).  And we learn that the person who Mohammed’s father bought his fruit from was a crook who demands more and more money from Mohammed.

But the bulk of the story shows the daily life of Mohammed.  He is routinely harassed by the police for not having the proper paperwork or for being in the wrong place or just for being.  They start with simple harassment, but soon they turn to beatings.  Mohammed refuses to bribe anyone, even when the police give him the opportunity to turn in his former students. (more…)

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Lucy Worsley–If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home (2011)

Posted in 18th Century, 19th Century, Architecture, Babies, Death, Disease, Drinking, Environmentalism, Essays, Fears, Food, Funny (ha ha), Gideon Lewis-Kraus, History, If Walls Could Talk, Lucy Worsley, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Masturbation, Morality, Phish, Plague, Poo, Pregnancy, Privacy, Religion, Research, Santana, Sex, Technology, Toilets, Yuck! on November 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

wallsSOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Round Room (2002).

round After Farmhouse, Phish went on a hiatus.  No one knew it would be quite so brief, but there was really a feeling that they were done.

And then they quietly released Round Room in 2002.  And it bursts forth with an 11 minute song.

“Pebbles and Marbles” has an interesting riff—complex and pretty.  And when I listened to it again recently I didn’t really quite recognize it.  But that’s because it’s nearly 12 minutes long and the really catchy part comes later in the song.  At around 5 minutes, the catchy chorus of “pebbles and marbles and things on my mind” announces itself.  And it is a good one.

“Anything but Me” is a pretty, mature song that is slow and piano heavy.  “Round Room” is a boppy little ditty (clearly a song written by Mike).  It is sweet and a little weird.  “Mexican Cousin” sounds a lot like a cover (maybe an old song by The Band) except for the solo which is very Trey.  It’s a funny, silly ode to Tequila.  “Friday” is a slow six minute song with two sections.  The verses are spaced out a bit, delicate riffs that are mostly piano once again.  The middle section is sung by Mike (which makes it more mellow somehow).

“Seven Below” is an 8 minute song.  It has another great riff (and the intro music is cool and bouncey).  When the vocals come in, it’s got gentle harmonies as they croon the sweet song).  Most of the 8 minutes are taking up with a guitar solo.  “Mock Song” is another of Mike’s songs.  This one seems to be a random selection of items sung to a nice melody.  Then when the chorus comes it’s quite nice, how this is a “just a mock song.”  The first verse is sung by Mike, then Trey does a kind of fugue vocal with different words in verse two.

“46 Days” opens with funky cowbells and turns into what seems like a classic rocking folk song—few words but a great classic rock melody (complete with 70s era keyboards).  “All of These Dreams” is a mellow piano piece, another mature song.  “Walls of the Cave” has an interesting piano melody that opens the song. The song is nearly ten minutes long and the middle part has a nice flowing feel to it.  There’s also a few sections that are separated be drum breaks—something that doesn’t often happen in Phish songs.  When the third part opens (to almost exclusively percussion, their vocals all work in a very nice harmony.  It’s a long song but with so many parts it always stays interesting.  “Thunderhead” is another piano-based song with some guitar riffs thrown on top. But it is largely a slow, mellow piece.

“Waves” is an 11 minute song with long instrumental passages.  It also begins with a kind of Santana feel to it, but it is a largely meandering song, with a simple melody that they stretch out for much of the song.  So this album proves to be an interesting mix of long jams and mellow ballady type songs.  It seems like Phish had a big mix of things to let loose.

[READ: November 1, 2013] If Walls Could Talk

This book reminds me of the work of Mary Roach—exploring a topic in great detail and including lots of amusing insights.  The two big differences here are that Worsley is British and that she goes back very far in British history to give us this fascinating information about the development of certain rooms of the house.

Worsley begins with the bedroom.  She looks at the furniture—the history of the bed from lumps with straw to fantastically ornate full poster beds that were made for kings who might never actually use them.

Then she moves on to more personal matters—sex (including deviant sex and venereal disease); breast feeding (for centuries mothers felt they were not equipped to take care of and nurse their own children, hence wet-nurses) and knickers (royalty had an entourage designed specifically to assist with underthings).  Indeed, privacy was an unknown thing in olden times.  Even royalty was expected to receive people in all of the rooms in the house.  Initially the bed chamber was for their most intimate friends, not just for sleeping.

The section on old medicine was also fascinating, they believed that it was vaporous miasma that did you more harm than say, excrement-filled water.

The section on Sleep discusses what was also in a recent article by Gideon Lewis-Kraus—that there were two sleep times at night.  With no electricity there was no artificial light to keep people up late so they would go to sleep early, wake up in the middle of the night (the best time for conception of children) and then sleep again. (more…)

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Yu Hua—“Victory” (New Yorker, August 26, 2013)

Posted in Allan Barr, Fears, Garth Brooks, Kiss, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Short Story, Yu Hua on October 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_08_26_13Drooker.inddSOUNDTRACK: KISS “God of Thunder” (country version from MTV Unplugged) (1996).

unpluggedIn my post about Kiss Unplugged, I mentioned that there are videos online of the entire uncut show.  There’s also a video of this–a country version of “God of Thunder”

Three things: One, it’s weird how hokey Gene gets at the end–for a demon he’s quite goofy.  And two, it’s amazing how good this song sounds when turned into a country song.  On the Kiss covers album Kiss My Ass, I was surprised how much I liked Garth Brook’s rendition of “Hard Luck Woman and now I see that maybe all great Kiss songs are just country songs at heart.  And three, it absolutely does not sound like Gene singing–he does an impressive falsetto.

[READ: September 18, 2013] “Victory”

This is a simple story of infidelity.  The fact that the characters have such similar names bothered me a bit, but it wasn’t terribly confusing.  Lin Hong (the woman) finds a key which her husband Li Hanlin has secreted away in a drawer.  He is away on business, and she tries to figure out what the key is for.  Eventually she realizes it is for a drawer at his office.  I actually would have preferred that the story was mostly about the searching, which I think would have been more interesting.

When she opens the drawer she finds evidence of his infidelity—photo and letters from a woman named Qingqing.  One of the letters includes a phone number.  So she calls it.  She tells Qingqing to leave her husband alone and that she has ruined their marriage.  But Qingqing says that they wouldn’t have gone any further anyway and that she’s not really interested in Lin.

Li calls some of his friends but they deny any awareness of an affair.  Finally, she calls one of her fiends to complain and the friend gives some advice about how she should behave when Lin gets back. (more…)

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The Walrus: Tenth Anniversary Issue (October 2013)

Posted in Adventure, Andrew Coyne, Biography, Books about music, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Corporate skewering, Culture Shock, Dan Rubinstein, Death, Edward Burtynsky, Essays, Fears, Harper's, History, Katrina Onstad, LGBTQ, Matthew McKinnon, Melissa Fung, Michael Harris, Nostalgia, Parenting, Poetry, Political Humor, Religion, Ron Graham, Russell Peters, Sex, Sexism, Short Story, Technology, The Future, The Walrus, Violence, Voivod on September 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

2013-10SOUNDTRACK: VOIVOD-The Best of Voivod (1992).

bestvoivodMost Best of records promise you a selection of popular songs from a band.  Voivod never really had any popular songs, so this is an interesting choice to start with.  This may also be the only Best of compilation of a band where people who like some of the songs almost assuredly will not like other songs.

As my posts about the band have indicated, Voivod changed drastically over their first six records (which is the  period this collection covers).  And so in twelve tracks and 50 some minutes you get the very diverse history of this very unusual band.  I’m not going to talk about each track (already done that), but I will list the songs

  • Voivod [War and Pain] classic screaming metal.

  • Ripping Headaches [Rrröööaaarrr] brutal, but I must say sounds a ton better than the original CD.  I wonder if this was remastered for the compilation).

  • Korgull the Exterminator [Rrröööaaarrr] hard to believe they used two songs from this album.

  • Tornado [Killing Technology] heavy but quite catchy.

  • Ravenous Medicine [Killing Technology] signs of complexity enter the heaviness.

  • Cockroaches [EP] a strange inclusion, almost a rarity.

  • Tribal Convictions [Dimension Hätross] very complex with some heaviness.

  • Psychic Vacuum  [Dimension Hätross] I’m surprised they didn’t pick other songs though from this album.

  • Astronomy Domine [Nothingface] their hit.

  • The Unknown Knows [Nothingface] very hard to choose just two songs from this masterpiece.

  • Panorama [Angel Rat] Their newest single and quite a departure from everything that has come before.

  • The Prow [Angel Rat] their prettiest number ever.  If you buy this CD for this song you’ll hate the early stuff.

Although Voivod fans (like Dave Grohl)

are diehard, anyone who would buy only a Best of record from the band is sure to be disappointed. There are so many phases of the band and they are so radically different from “Voivod” to “The Prow” that it’s almost not even the same band.  I’m very curious as to what sales for this album were like.  (Even the cover isn’t that inspired)

[READ: September 2013] The Walrus: Tenth Anniversary Issue

It’s hard for me to believe that The Walrus has been around for ten years (even they seem a bit surprised).  I still remember hearing about the magazine on Book TV from some Canadian channel that I just happened upon.

When I heard about it The Walrus seemed interesting–kind of like Harper’s and elements of the New Yorker but all about Canada.  I’ve been a Canuckophile for decades now, so it seemed like an interesting prospect.  And over the ten years of the magazine, while I haven’t written about every issue, I have read every article.  I have written about all of the short stories that they’ve published.

This issue eschews some of my favorite elements (the short articles in the front and the arts section in the back), but they make up for it with an oversized issue (twice as long as usual and the articles are all packed with content) and some fascinating articles.

And while there are none of the short articles from the front, there are “Time Capsules,” one page articles about things that have happened in the last ten years: The iPhone, Sports Concussions, Armed Drones, The Residential School Apology, Justin Bieber, Foodies, Hand Sanitizer and Cyberbullying.  It’s interesting to read about these phenomena from a slightly different perspective.  We know that Canada and the U.S. share many similarities but there are, at heart some core differences.  And it’s these differences that make you rethink a subject.  (more…)

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