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Archive for the ‘Film & TV’ Category

The Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency (2013)

Posted in Alyssa Lang, Andy Bryan, Anthony Sams, Babymetal, Ben Jurney, Billy Joel, Bob's Burgers, Christopher Mah, Christy Vannoy, Colin Nissan, 王蓉Rollin, Dan Kennedy, Deadwood, Ellie Kemper, Elton John, Eric Hague, J.M. Tyree, Jason Roeder, Jesse Eisenberg a, John Flowers, John Frank Weaver, John K. Peck, John Moe, John Ortved, Jory John, Josh Freedman, Kari Anne Roy, Kate Hahn, Katie Brinkworth, Kristina Loew, Luke Burns, Matthew Duverne Hutchinson, Megan Amram, Melinda Taub, Meredith K. Gray, Michael Ian Black, Mike Lacher, Mike Sacks, Oyl Miller, Pasha Malla, Rachel Klein, Rebekah Frumkin, Rong "Rollin" Wang, Ross Murray, Sarah Schmelling, Sarah Walker, Sean Walsh, Star Wars, Teddy Wayne, The Sound of Music, Wendy Molyneux on November 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

internetSOUNDTRACK: 王蓉Rollin-小雞小雞(Chick Chick) [RONG “ROLLIN” WANG-“Chick Chick”]. (2014)

chickchickDon’t call it a novelty! You must watch it.

Is it a kid’s song?  I have no idea.  But it is mesmerizing.  I have now watched it about a half a dozen times and somehow it gets better each time.  Not as awesome as Babymetal (who are Japanese), but awesome in a wholly different (Chinese) way.

So far it only has 8 million views, the number must be increased!

[READ: November 15, 2014] The Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

Although I have been a fan of McSweeney’s from the very beginning, I have never faithfully read their online Internet Tendency.  Of course I have read the often circulated ones, and a few years ago I said I would read the old posts from the beginning (I didn’t).  Now I discover that in the years since I said that, the Internet Tendency has 283 pages of archives (with something like 30 entries per page).  Get moving on that.

Having these best pieces in a book form is nice, as is anything with “It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers” printed on the cover.  Since I haven’t read all 8,000 entries, I can’t say what qualifies as the best.  Although I have to wonder if some of these were picked more for their contributors than their actually bestness.  (Take a look at some of the heavy hitters represented below).  Regardless of how these were chosen, it is an excellent collection of funny stuff.

When I finish reading all of the online pieces (in about two years), I will have more authority to say if these 50 are the best, but in the meantime, I’m just going to enjoy this very funny selection. (more…)

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Alessandro Baricco–Silk (1996) [translated 1997]

Posted in Alessandro Baricco, Guido Waldman, Morality, Romance, Short Books, Silk, Stars, Translation, Travel on November 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

silkSOUNDTRACK: STARS-Heart (2003).

stars I found out about Stars with their second album but I like their debut quite a lot too.  There’s a few songs that i don’t love, but overall the album is really solid.

The opening synths belie the beautiful guitar (and nice bass work) of “What the Snowman Learned About Love.”  Singer Torq’s voice is low and muted while other singer Amy Milan has gorgeous  harmony vocals.  “Elevator Love Later” features’ Milan on lead (for some verses)–the album really comes to life with this song.  It’s got a great chorus and a cool bass line that elevates the song above typical pop fare.

“Heart” has a melancholy piano riff (something Stars excel at) and some wonderfully poignant lyrics: “Sometimes the TV is like a lover, singing softly as you fall asleep.”  And yet it, once again, has a really catchy chorus (with lots of “All rights”).  “Woods” is mildly orchestral and has a plaintive vocal line and a sampled spoken word section (which I can’t identify).

“Death to Death” is one of my favorite Stars songs.  A slinky discoey song with Torq’s cool verses and Milan’s sultry “I am destroyer I am lover” chorus.  I love the sound of the next song (synthy flutes and the very clear guitar) that play throughout “The Vanishing” even though I don’t love the song.

“Romantic Comedy” surprises with its baritone guitar sound (instead of the sprightly synths), but the chorus is once again super catchy.  There’s some great lyrics in this song as well: “You’re not bad, but you were just badly raised,” and the chorus “don’t walk away then turn and say I love you anyway.”  “Time Can Never Kill the True Heart” is a beautiful song with a lovely sentiment.  “Look Up” is a pretty Amy Milan sung song.  I love the way the chorus’ words don’t pause for breath even though the song itself is not very fast.  “Life Effect” is pretty song sung by Torq (I really like when the guitars come to the fore even though I think of Stars primarily as a synth band).

stars other“Don’t Be Afraid to Sing” is the final song on the album,.  It’s a simple ballad, and once again the bass line is great–nothing fancy but it’s a great melody behind the guitars and vocals.  It’s got a great ending of an album sentiment: “We all come to an end / And we all end together.”

There’s a “bonus” track on my version of the album (cleverly hidden about 20 seconds after the previous song).  It has a with a great hidden bonus track title–“The Comeback.”  It actually sounds perfect with the album–an instance where a bonus doesn’t really feel tacked on.  It’s a nice addition if you can’t get enough of the band.

Incidentally, the American version has the reddish cover above, while the original cover is this black and white one down here.

[READ: November 17, 2014] Silk

I enjoyed Mr Gwyn so much that I wanted to read more by Baricco.  And when I saw that many of his books are so short, it  was easy to grab them and devour them.

I didn’t know anything about Silk–somehow I missed it when it came out.  It was even made into a movie, so it must have been a big important book (and it was a huge best seller).  So imagine my surprise to see that the book is 91 pages and that each chapter is basically one page (sometimes half a page).   And Baricco creates this beautiful, taut story that is really compelling, in what is really only about 70 pages of text.

I’ve admired Baricco’s ability to write gorgeous novellas, and this must be where it all started (his earlier books are somewhat longer than this).  The fact that none of his stories are about similar things is also pretty amazing.

This story is about a Frenchman who makes his fortune buying silkworm eggs and the lengths and distances he is willing to travel for them.  But it is also about something much more poignant. (more…)

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M.T. Anderson–The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen (2006) M. T. Anderson’s Thrilling Tales (Pals in Peril Book 2) [audiobook 2006–Marc Carrman]

Posted in Adventure, Anachronisms, Audiobooks, Children's Books, Fears, Funny (ha ha), M.T. Anderson, Mad Scientists, Marc Carman, Meta, The Sound of Music on November 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: November 16, 2014] The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen

linoWe enjoyed Whales on Stilts so much that we were really excited to listen to this second book in the series.  However, this book, while featuring the same main trio, was actually quite different.

The gang has decided that they are going on vacation.  They’re a little bored (Katie’s mom has been doing things like cutting off her own hand just to freak out Jasper), so they take Jasper’s latest gadget and head up to the mountains for a little r n r (and a free dinner with the coupon that Jasper received).

When they get to the hotel (the Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort), they realize that they can’t afford a room, so Jasper’s gadget attaches to the side of the hotel and looks just like it is supposed to be a part of it (apparently).  Of course, when they leave their invasive bubble, they have to go out through someone else’s bathroom and he is terrified by the calamitous sound that Jasper’s gadget made while attaching to the building).  They also learn that the coupon for a free dinner was fake.

When Jasper reveals to the hotel clerk that he is indeed Jasper Dash, boy technonaut, the clerk reveals that he is but one of many literary super sleuths in residence that night.  The Manley Boys and the Hooper Quints are there, and so is Eddie Wax and the Cutesy Dell Twins.

Who?  (more…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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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…)

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