Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Film & TV’ Category

Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang–In Real Life (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Cory Doctorow, Daniel Radcliffe, ELO, First Second :01, Graham Linehan, Graphic Novel, Greed, Huh?, Jen Wang, Joe Elliott, Matt Berry, Michael Penn, Neil Finn, Neil Hannon, Pugwash, Set at School, Stephen Fry, Technology, The Divine Comedy, The Duckworth Lewis Method, The Future, Thomas Walsh, Threats, Video Games, YA Books on November 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

irl  SOUNDTRACK: THE DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD-Sticky Wickets (2013).

stickyThe cricket-loving songwriters are back with their second disc.  Although I bought their first disc because I love Neil Hannon, I found myself enjoying the songs by Pugwash’s Thomas Walsh even more.  (Which led me to get some discs by Pugwash, a great, sadly unknown band).

I’m inclined to say I like Walsh’s songs better on this disc as well–his title track has a groovy classic ELO-inspired guitar riff and Walsh’s great falsetto vocals.  But I also love the bouncy fun of “Boom Boom Afridi” (written by Neil Hannon). So maybe I just like the two of them together.

These are followed by the amusing “It’s Just Not Cricket” which features a group of rowdy indignant cricket fans singing along. See the awesome accompanying picture below which shows the kind of sort of naughty but not really way the sport is portrayed on the disc.  cricket“The Umpire” gives some real sympathy to the Cricket umpire (who eats his eggs and soldiers) as his position is taken over by machines.

I don’t know much about cricket, so I don’t claim understand what most of these songs are about, but the awesomely bouncy and catchy “Third Man” is a total mystery to me.  But that doesn’t stop me from singing along. It’s like a classic lost Pugwash song.  It even has a (weird) narration from Daniel Radcliffe.  “Chin Music” is a pretty, carnivalesque instrumental.

“Out in the Middle” is a slower Walsh song which is also very pretty.  “Line and Length” is a silly song which (in spoken word) explains how line and length are used in cricket. It has a very discoey chorus which differs nicely from the formality of the verse. “The Laughing Cavaliers” is a march with a big choral vocal line. “Judd’s Paradox” has a lengthy spoken section by Stephen Fry (at his most formal). It’s a very enjoyable song with an interesting perspective on cricket and history.

“Mystery Man” is a pretty, sixties-sounding song with bouncy jaunty keyboards and a catchy chorus–except that the verses are all about how he’s a tough bowler.  It’s also got a hilarious spoken word section read by Matt Berry “trod on wicket.”

“Nudging and Nurdling” ends the disc and is more or less 5 minutes of people saying the words “Nudging and Nurdling” set to a boppy silly melody.  The list of contributors is extensive, although I’ve only heard of Daniel Radcliffe, Neil Finn, Joe Elliott, Matt Berry, Graham Linehan, an Michael Penn (!) who sounds so American. I love they way they build something so simple (and kinda dumb) into such a big song by the end.

Hannon and Walsh know how to write gorgeous songs (even if they can be rather silly).  This is a great collection–even if you don’t know anything about cricket.  You too will soon be shouting along with the Laughing Cavaliers.

[READ: November 9, 2014] In Real Life

I was pretty excited when I saw this book.  I really like Cory Doctorow and here was a comic of his published by First Second, one of my favorite graphic novel publishers (I need to make a category for them…there, done).  I didn’t know Jen Wang’s artwork, but that hardly mattered as the cover was gorgeous.

So the story is an interesting one.  It begins simply enough with Anda, a young girl who has moved from San Diego to Flagstaff (of course, we don’t learn that she moved to Flagstaff for a few pages, so the fact that we are introduced to Flagstaff by a snowfall was confusing to me–I assumed she was on the East Coast).  However, this was not as confusing to me as the other character in the book who doesn’t know where Flagstaff is.  What high school aged person doesn’t know that Flagstaff is in Arizona?

Anyhow, we see Anda in school and her class is given a presentation by Liza the Organiza, a woman who is introducing the class to an online virtual game called Coarsegold (I’m also confused as to why this woman would be allowed to give this presentation in school, but maybe I’m too nitpicky here?).  Incidentally, I really enjoyed most of the art in the book, but the picture of Liza the Organiza on this same page is quite disturbing to me.  In fact, a few pictures in “real life” seem a little “off” to me, and I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy the visual aspect of the book.  But when we get into the game, the pictures are simply fantastic, so I don’t know what that’s all about. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Dave Bidini–For Those About to Write: How I Learned to Love Books and Why I Had to Write Them (2007)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Dave Bidini, Keith Maillard, Nelly Furtado, Paul Quarrington, Peter Golenblock, Rheostatics, Rush, Score: A Hockey Musical, Shades, Short Books, Sunshine News, YA Books on November 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

writeSOUNDTRACK: NELLY FURTADO-“Time Stand Still” (2010).

scoreI stumbled upon this cover of a Rush song when I learned about Score: A Hockey Musical (which I stumbled on when looking for information about Dave Bidini).  I hadn’t heard of the movie, but i was sure intrigued by it (the parts I’ve seen have terrible songs but since it’s all jokey, it’s okay).

This cover song is presumably an end credits song.

I don’t really have an opinion of Nelly Furtado, but, man, I really don’t like this cover.  I’m of course delighted that she covered Rush at all (and it makes sense in a Canadian hockey movie to have a Rush song) but she basically strips away all of the music and adds a very simple synth riff and drums.  It’s painful for a Rush fan to hear all the music taken away from this song.

Furtado’s voice actually works pretty well (especially since Aimee Mann does the backing vocals on the original) and she sings it quite nicely.  I think I might like it if I didn’t know it was a Rush song, originally (the music is good, eh?).  It just hurts my sense of righteousness to hear this weird lite version of Rush.

[READ: February 24, 2014] For Those About to Write

After reading Pseudonymous Bosch’s writing guide for young people, I figured I’d compare it to Dave Bidini’s writing guide for young people.

It’s interesting to see how two writers can try to accomplish the same thing in such vastly different ways.  Bidini doesn’t really write fiction (he has written some, but not much), so unlike Bosch, he doesn’t try to get the young writer involved with a made up story.  Rather, he presents his own life as an example of one way to become a writer.

Bidini talks about how he loved books as a kid–stapling together stories, or loving the feel of cardboard binding books together (he fondly remember his first writing project for school and how it all felt so official).  He was also fortunate to have parents who could appreciate his artistic needs–so if he needed to write or to play music, they were supportive. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Pseudonymous Bosch–Write This Book: A Do-It Yourself Mystery (2013)

Posted in Adventure, Advice, Anachronisms, Children's Books, Despicable Me, Fantasy, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Horror, How to, Marriage Trouble, Mystery, Noir, Pseudonymous Bosch, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Time Travel on November 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

writeSOUNDTRACK: THE MINIONS-“Banana” (2014).

Ibanan really enjoyed both Despicable Me movies, and the minions crack me up.  So how did I not know that bananas are a big deal for them?  At Universal Studios, bananas are a huge part of the Minion gear that they sell, but I had no idea why.  When we watched Despicable Me recently, I saw them fighting over a banana, but it seemed like a minor thing.

Well, anyhow, the minions have done a cover of “Barbara Ann” as… well, you get the point.

And man, is it irritating, especially in the two hour version I present you with below.

I honestly can’t wait for the next movie though.

[READ: November 9, 2014] Write This Book

I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while.  I didn’t want to read it until I finished the Secret series.  And since I did, I decided to read this right away.  (You don’t need to read the Secret series to enjoy this book–especially for the h ow-to elements which are outstanding whether you know his work or not)

I wasn’t really sure how this would work–there was an excerpt at the back of the You Have to Stop This paperback.  He sets up the story for us and has us finish it, was it just going to be blank pages?  No, it is not.

Indeed, it is a very clever book because it accomplishes two things very well.

1) It creates a simple yet compelling mystery (with Bosch’s typical flair for twisting things around on their heads) and

2) It teaches young writers a ton about how to write.  In fact, I hope Clark reads this soon, because I think it will really help him with his storytelling. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Pseudonymous Bosch–You Have to Stop This (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Anachronisms, Children's Books, Despicable Me, Egyptology, Fears, Marriage Trouble, Mystery, Pharrell Williams, Pseudonymous Bosch, Smarty Pants, Supernatural on November 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

stopthisSOUNDTRACK: PHARRELL WILLIAMS-“Despicable Me” (2010).

meAfter coming back from Universal, we watched Despicable Me again.  I had totally forgotten that Pharrell Williams, that “Happy” guy, had written this song about “having a bad bad day.”

Now since this is an open credit sequence, I think he can be forgiven for repeating the two verses FOUR TIMES.

Of course, that makes it insanely catchy (I’m havin’ a bad bad day), and the melody is a nice combination of bouncy jingle and suspenseful spy type movie.

It’s nice to see Williams run the gamut of emotions in these two songs (“Happy” comes from Despicable Me 2).

[READ: November 7, 2014] You Have to Stop This

This is the final book in the “Secret” series.  It has been quite a while since I read book four, so I was a little worried that I wouldn’t remember what was going on.  And I really didn’t, but that didn’t matter too much, because I immediately jumped right back into he plot and figured out the details as I went along.  And I flew through this (it was a great vacation book).

One of my favorite things about this series is the way that Bosch plays with the conventions of storytelling.  I’m not even sure if young readers can appreciate the jokes at this level (have they read enough to know what is being spoofed?).  So when chapter one begins with a pick your own beginning, it made me laugh because of the types of opening lines you can choose, but also because of what the answer is.

And then in chapter 2, the narrator promises to reveal the Secret right away… (more…)

Read Full Post »

Universal Studios Florida (2014)

Posted in Butterbeer, C., Despicable Me, Harry Potter, Revenge of the Mummy, Rides, S., Shrek, T., The Simpsons, Universal Studios, Vacation on November 6, 2014| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 6, 2014] Universal Studios

usfS. and I had been to Universal Studios about a decade ago during a library conference.  It was super fun–we were there after the park closed and got to ride all kinds of things.  Despite that, we didn’t remember much about the park, and so much had been added since then, that we were very excited (for The Simpsons Ride and especially the whole Harry Potter experience).  As we approached S. said that it felt so much more commercial than Disney, and then we realized that Disney is the most commercial place in the world, so it wasn’t that exactly.  And then we decided that Universal is like Disney’s tacky cousin.

The set up of entering the park is quite unusual, especially compared to Disney.  You park in a parking garage (which is certainly more convenient than the Disney lots) and enter the CityWalk portion. This is an aggressively neoned area with every conceivable chain restaurant you have ever imagined–mostly larger ones (the kind that we assume people who don’t live near a city a very excited to eat at) which I won’t name, but they are usually associated with a TV show, movie or Hollywood in general.

Here’s what’s so unusual about Universal Studios.  The entrance is shaped kind of like a Y.  You come in via CityWalk and then you go left for Universal’s Island of Adventure or you go right for Universal Studios Florida (the older of the two parks).  Unlike Disney, both parks are right next to each other.  But like Disney, if you pick to go in one, you can’t go in the other.  Unless you buy the Multi Park Pass.  Then you can leave one and enter the other through the front, or you can go via the Hogwarts Express (recommended).

Universal also has a FastPass type deal, but unlike with Disney, you have to pay for the FastPass experience.  And the prices are something like $70-$90 per person on top of park admission.  So the heck with that.  The good news was that when we were there there were very few lines for anything, so it didn’t matter too much.

We entered the park and realized right away that the big attraction at Universal is Despicable Me’s minions–they are the Mickey Mouse of Universal.  But Universal is also super proud of The Simpsons, and as we entered the park, there were Homer and Lisa, and we jumped on line and got our pictures taken with them.  What a weird thing!

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Walt Disney World–Epcot (2014)

Posted in C., Phineas and Ferb, Rides, S., T., Vacation, Walt Disney World on November 3, 2014| 1 Comment »

epcot[ATTENDED: November 3, 2014] Epcot

For day two we planned to go to Epcot.  We figured there is a lot of walking (the World Showcase is apparently a one mile loop in and of itself).  And we figured we would go in the morning and do a few things, return to the hotel in the afternoon and then go back to the park at night.

And then T. threw up.  She had a stomach virus that started at 1AM.  We felt terrible.  But at he same time, we also knew that we had paid a lot of money for this trip.  So, we pressed on to Epcot anyway.  Clark was especially looking forward to seeing the big ball (not even sure if he knew what it was), so we made poor T. schlep out to Epcot.  And she repaid us by getting sick in the park twice.

We didn’t have a lot planned for Epcot.  We knew we wanted to do Soarin’ (which we had never done because the lines are always so long).  We had just read about the people dying and getting sick on Mission: Space, so we quickly nixed that.  We had a FastPass for the Nemo show, but opted against it.  So, it proved to be a pretty quiet day after all. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky–Sex Criminals: Volume One: One Weird Trick (2014)

Posted in Barton Fink, Chip Zdarsky, Cocteau Twins, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Joanna Gruesome, Joanna Newsom, Masturbation, Matt Fraction, My Bloody Valentine, Ongoing, Riot Grrrl, Sex, Supernatural, The Cure on October 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

criminalsSOUNDTRACK: JOANNA GRUESOME-Weird Sister (2013).

joanna  I love this short rocking record from this Welsh band whose name is presumably a pun on harpist Joanna Newsome (a fairly obscure joke, no doubt).  In fact I really can’t stop listening to their blend of smooth noise and pretty/screamy vocals .  Lead singer Alanna McArdle has several distinct styles of singing, from pretty and sweet to screamed and scary.  She’s accompanied by a stellar lineup of guys who can do punk and a lot more: drummer Dave Gruesome and  guitarists George and Owen Gruesome (also vocals).

The album reminds me of My Bloody Valentine with splash of riot grrl and occasional old school punk thrown in.  There are elements of pure MBV shoegaze (and even of MBV noisy distortion), but without the meticulous layering that Kevin Shields spent years of his life mastering–this album feels largely spontaneous..

“Anti-Parent Cowboy Killers” opens with a descending guitar riff, switches to some shoegazey type verses and then jumps into some loud screamed choruses, before starting the whole thing over again.  I love the dissonance at the beginning of “Sugarcrush” and how it morphs into a strangely catchy song midway through. And then it shifts back into raw dissonance.  I also get a sense of Cocteau Twins in the vocals on “Madison” (and other songs).  The opening riff is pure dissonance but the verse is just bliss (the “head on the door line of course makes me think of The Cure even though they don’t sound like them at all).

“Wussy Void” slows things down with some actual individual notes and audible lyrics (I’m told the lyrics are very feminist, but I honestly can’t hear too many of them–which isn’t really a shame because her voice is perfect for this band and just knowing that she’s singing about meaningful things is enough of a bonus.

“Lemonade Grrl” starts shoegazey but quickly speeds up with some pummeling drums behind her delicate voice.  “Secret Surprise” is probably the “prettiest” song of the bunch–the dissonance is at a minimum, and yet it is still noisy and punky.  “Do You Really Wanna Know Why Yr Still in Love With Me?” is the sweetest song on the album, with a pleasant guitar riff and a catchy and understandable chorus–until the raging blast of punk at the end.

At 4 minutes, “Candy” is the longest song on the disc.  It slows things down and has a fairly conventional structure.  “Graveyard” starts as a punk blast but gets softer for the chorus.  And the album closer “Satan” belies its name and the album by opening delicately and having the first notices of a large bass sound and then after 2 minutes it abruptly ends.

I really love this record (all 28 minutes of it).  And I can’t wait for more.  I just found out that they have a few singles and E.P.s streaming on their bandcamp site.  Most of these recordings are earlier, rawer version of songs on the album.

[READ: October 19, 2014] Sex Criminals

This intriguingly titled comic is intended for mature readers (as you might expect).  But before we get to the criminal aspect of the story, we’ll back up to meet the characters.

First there is Suzie.  Her mostly amusing story begins with a pretty awful tragedy. A man killed Suzie’s father when she was a little girl (the story promises that things will get funnier as we learn her story). This all ties into the big banks that she rails against later, but I’m not exactly sure that this back story is even necessary (yet).

But this incident makes young Suzie delve deeper into herself.  And when she discovers what kind of pleasure can be had by herself she discovers something…peculiar.  It seems that whenever she climaxes she enters into what she calls The Quiet.  In a nutshell, everything around her stops, but she is able to move–this later led to some fairly awkward moments with guys.  She tried to talk to girls at school about this–of course they looked at her like she was crazy. Although one girl proceeds to show her about a dozen sex positions (by drawing them on the bathroom wall–this may be the funniest thing in the whole book as they are so outrageous yet so cartoony, and I’ve not heard of half of them).

She tries talking to her doctor–he basically tells her that her husband will help her when she’s older.  And then she tries her mother who is still grieving about Suzie’s dad.  So, three strikes, she’s out.

So, how does a plot develop out of this? (more…)

Read Full Post »

Fall TV 2014

Posted in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Andrea Anders, Black-ish, Bob's Burgers, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Drunk History, Elementary, Face Off, Fargo, Forever, Halt and Catch Fire, Manhattan Love Story, Married, Marry Me, Modern Family, Mulaney, New Girl, Parenthood, Parks and Recreation, Selfie, Sleepy Hollow, The Big Bang Theory, The Goldbergs, The Simpsons, TV 2014, Welcome to Sweden, You're the Worst on October 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

fallFall has traditionally been the time when the networks unveil their best news shows.  And, amusingly, within two weeks one or two are usually cancelled.  This Fall has been something of an exception with the first show not getting cancelled until after four whole episodes!  What staying power the networks have! I also have to wonder if now that the first domino has fallen if other shows will get the axe next.  I also wonder why American networks don’t simply do what the British networks do and ask for 6 episodes in a season so that if a show doesn’t get renewed at least its story is finished.

I have imagined that people wonder why we don’t watch all the shows that get huge raves from people In the Know, and the primary reason is that we don’t have any premium channels and can’t be bothered to watch things on our computer.  So, yeah, someday we’ll binge watch Veep or maybe Game of Thrones (actually, Sarah will never watch that), but for now, we’re still a broadcast TV family.

To follow-up on a couple of shows from the summer: we actually never even watched Fargo, despite my being excited to watch it.  I read about how violent it was and just decided to give it a miss.  And Halt and Catch Fire was mildly intriguing, but not enough for us to watch more than two episodes.  Two shows that we did enjoy quite a lot were Married (terribly uninspired name, guys) and You’re the Worst.  They were both shockingly raunchy.

Of the two, You’re the Worst was much funnier.  In addition to the two main characters, who were just so unpleasant, the supporting cast was awesome.  I haven’t heard if the show was renewed, but I hope so.  Oh, I see it was, hooray.  Married was a bit more problematic for me, as I love Judy Green and Nat Faxon, but the show just wasn’t all that funny.  It certainly had moments, again mostly from the great supporting cast, but the main plot lines between Greer and Faxon were just so negative and hopeless that it didn’t really inspire much humor.

Two other great comedies that we saw this summer were new to us.  A Comedy Central show that we missed last season but loved this season was Drunk History.  Holy cow is that show funny.  The reenactments are simply genius, and I am so curious to know if these people actually know the history that they are talking about or if they are given scripts or what.  We need to find Season 1 to see what we missed.  And Garfunkel and Oates is a fantastic show starring the great comedy team of, well Garfunkel and Oates.  I’ve enjoyed their music videos a whole lot and was delighted by their show as well.  Hooray for Kate and Riki.

We also watched Welcome to Sweden which was pretty dreadful–so much potential but no chemistry and no comic timing.  I assumed it had been cancelled, but I just read that it was renewed.  Huh.

Anyway, on to the Fall and new shows:

So last time, I did a tally of networks.  Let’s see who wins this time:
ABC: 6 FOX: 5 NBC: 4  CBS: 3  SyFy: 1 Comedy Central: 1

ABC has finally surpassed FOX.  I find that somewhat hard to believe, but they did it.  CBS and NBC just can’t seem to boost those averages.
(more…)

Read Full Post »

John Brandon–Further Joy (2014)

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Canadian Music, Death, Football, Huh?, Humiliation, John Brandon, Marriage Trouble, Marry Me, McSweeney's, Mystery, Oddities, Pet Shop Boys, Short Story, South, Steven Page on October 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

joySOUNDTRACK: STEVEN PAGE-Page One (2010).

pageoneThis is the first proper solo album for Steven Page, former Barenaked Lady.  He did have a side projet while he was still a BNL guy, called The Vanity project, but this comes after he left the band.  As a lead songwriter for  BNL, this album sounds an awful lot like a BNL album.  But he does branch out a bit for better and worse, on a couple of songs.  I like that the record is designed sort of like a book.  And that there’s a library check out sleeve and that one of the names who checked out the “book” is Leland Palmer (ha).

“A New Shore” sounds like classic Barenaked Ladies, with a big chorus (and Page’s great voice), strings and even a whistling section.  If you imagine the harmony vocals are by Ed Robertson, this could easily fit on a BNL disc.  “Indecision” sounds like latter BNL with the “whoo hoos” and the way the verses really slow down the craziness of the chorus.  The big difference is the female backing vocals.  “Clifton Springs” opens with a ba da da section and a very catchy melody that sounds like a sitcom theme song (hey sitcoms, check this out!).  It’s a mellow song that really highlights Page’s voice.

“Entourage” is a kind of dance song.  It has a kind of Pet Shop Boys feel (or else I’ve been listening to the Pet Shop Boys too much).  It even has a line “I only love you when I’m drunk” which echoes Pet Shop Boys’ “You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk.”  But I love the way Page says “Alright” at the end of the chorus and it could possibly have been a dance hit.  It ends with a minute or so of a jazzy coda.  “Marry Me” could also be a theme (to the new show Marry Me, duh).  It’s energetic and poppy.

“All the Young Monogamists” has cello and violin and in some places, little else.  It’s quite a different sound for the album, like a minor orchestral piece.  It works mostly.  “She’s Trying to Save Me” is a great return to the bouncy single that BNL did so well.  “Over Joy” has a very sixties feel (the way Page’s voice is processed).  I believe it is also the same melody as the Barenaked Ladies song “Hannukah Blessings” which Page wrote.  And why not?  It’s very catchy.

“If You Love Me” has a very synthy 90s pop feel.  I can see it being on the far end of Page’s fun zone, but I don’t really like it.  When the song ramps up to the next notes around 2:50, it is excruciating.  On the other end of the spectrum is “Leave Her Alone” which opens like a big band number (and stays that way in the chorus) but has verses that are very electronic.

“Queen of America” is a big bouncy song, that I wish I liked more.  The final song, the five and a half-minute “The Chorus Girl” is a sad ballad (the kind that Page also writes very well).  The song seems to want to be an epic (with horns an extended coda), but I think it drags on a bit too long.

Anyone who misses Page in BNL will certainly like this album.  And those who are a little disappointed in the Page-less BNL newer records could easily mix half a dozen songs from this and some of the best songs from the newer BNL records into a very satisfying BNL+Page disc which would sound totally coherent.

[READ: April 25, 2014] Further Joy

This is Brandon’s first collection of short stories and I enjoyed them all quite a lot.  Brandon specialized in disaffected protagonists, settled and settling in the South.  And there is a nice amount of diversity in these stories.

The Favorite
In this story, Gardner returns to his home town after ten years of being away.  he was quite a success when he left, but his return is less than exciting.  He lives in small town that was big into high school football and he was glad to be away from it.  But now that he is back he goes to games with his mother. The locals are happy he’s back, they think it’s great that he returned to be with his mom and to look after her.   But he is miserable.

The only thing that makes the return palatable is seeing Ainsley.  They dated in high school but didn’t have a bad breakup when he left.  She is divorced now and single. She works in a doctor’s office and tells him stories about patients (despite it being against HIPPA–although she ever gives names).  Since he is short on cash, he uses some information that she gives him to bet on an upcoming football game (he was able to figure out one of the players from the injury she described). Now the question is, could he go through with the scheme.  He calls on a favor from another former friend who has never had much success.  It could all go horribly wrong, of course.  I really enjoyed this story a lot, and I loved the way the title played into the story unexpectedly.
(more…)

Read Full Post »

Alexai Galaviz-Budziszewski–Painted Cities (2014)

Posted in Alexai Galaviz-Budziszewski, Death, Do the Right Thing, Fire, Gangsters, Grateful Dead, Humiliation, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Pranks, Short Books, Short Story, The Decemberists, The Smiths, Threats, Violence on October 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

paintedSOUNDTRACK: THE DECEMBERISTS-Long Live the King EP (2011).

220px-The_Decemberists_-_Long_Live_the_KingLong Live the King is an EP that was made of outtakes from their previous (and so far final) LP The King is Dead.  In the style of that album–straightforward folk songs with country tinges, this EP makes a fine companion.  “E. Watson” is a classic storytelling Decemberists song.  It has a great chorus and really wonderful harmonies.  There’s a pedal steel guitar on “Foregone,” which adds a neat sound to this really catchy song.  In fact, the chorus is one of the catchiest things they’ve done, and it’s hard to believe they tucked it away on this EP instead of the album.

“Burying Davy” (which I had been mishearing as Burying Babies, such is the darkness of Colin Meloy that that was a real possibility) is a much creepier song.  The melody is dark and minor chord and yet it’s somehow still catchy and strangely fun to sing along to.  “I 4 U & U 4 Me” rumbles along with a great Smiths-esque bass line.  This version is a home demo (although there’s no non-demo version that I know of).  “Row Jimmy” is a cover of Grateful Dead song that I do not know.  It’s the slowest and most shambolic song on the EP.  I don’t especially like it, but I do like the way he sings “Get Down and” before some choruses.  “Sonnet” is a pretty straightforward folk song.  It’s done on acoustic guitar and features Meloy’s falsetto at certain times.  But just as the song seems to be a pretty standard acoustic guitar ballad, a whole bunch of horns blast in and play along.

Even though this is an EP of predominantly folk songs, there’s some cool headphone stuff going on in this album as well (especially the guitars on “Burying Davy”), so turn it up and tune out for 25 minutes or so.

[READ: October 18, 2014] Painted Cities

Painted Cities is a collection of stories (I assume they are all short stories although the early ones read a bit more like essays) that are all set in the Pilsen district of Chicago.  Evidently AG-B grew up there and these stories are about the people and gangs in this largely Latino neighborhood (the fact that his name is Alexai Galaviz Bidziszewski, which conjures up so many different nationalities, although few of them Latino has certainly confused me, although I have no doubt that these are all based on reality).

There are fifteen stories in the book.  I enjoyed the first couple, then I got a  little tired of the gangland/macho tough guy aspect of the stories.  But just as I was a bout to give up on them, he threw in one with magical realism that I really loved, and the rest of the book was equally interesting.   I will say that this region of the country is completely unknown to me and while I don’t typically like gang related stories, these stories did not dwell in the heartache of gangs, but used them as a periphery around which to establish the stories. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »