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Archive for the ‘Funny (ha ha)’ Category

Doug TenNapel–Cardboard (2012)

Posted in Boxing, Children's Books, Death, Doug TenNapel, Fantasy, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Greed, Marriage (Happy), Mary Halvorson Quintet, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert on February 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

cardboardSOUNDTRACK: MARY HALVORSON QUINTET-Tiny Desk Concert #267 (February 25, 2013).

maryI had never heard of Mary Halvorson before.  And that makes sense because she is an avant-garde free-jazz guitarist, a sound I like (sometimes) but one which I do not follow.  So a little background is in order:

As a sidewoman, [Mary Halvorson] is often tapped to play in open improvising situations….  Among her sonic signatures are craggy distortions, bent strings and delay-pedaled blurts through a hollow-body guitar….  Halvorson has now recorded two albums with her quintet, one with alto saxophone (Jon Irabagon) and trumpet (Jonathan Finlayson) up top. (The rhythm section is also among New York’s finest, with John Hebert on bass and Ches Smith on drums.) From the way her songs balance order and entropy, you can hear that she’s studied how golden-era hard bop blended those voices, and how later generations morphed, rephrased and imploded those ideas.

The Quintet plays two pieces.  I would have guessed they were improvised but not only do they have titles, they have sheet music!

“Love In Eight Colors” (No. 21) starts out as a slightly dissonant mellow jazz piece.  Then about 45 seconds in, Mary throws in an unusual guitar lick—a slightly weird note.  And then a minute later things get noisy until a simple trumpet solo takes over.  When the music resumes, Mary is playing some strangely discordant chords over the solo—everyone seems to be doing their own thing.  Around 4 minutes in, it turns into something new with an interesting, mesmerizing guitar solo riff.  When the band resumes, the sax takes over and the trumpeter literally stands stock still like a statue staring forward–it’s almost creepy.  At 8 minutes, they introduce a two-minute drum solo.  It’s fun to watch all the strange things he does—elbow on the drum head, vibrato with his hands changing the sound, clicking the sides of his drum.  Then the band resumes until the end.  And it’s more dissonance.

She introduces “Hemorrhaging Smiles” (No. 25) without smiling.  There’s a lot more melody in this song–the sax and trumpet sound groovy.  Even the guitar is pretty. Then she throws in a bizarre scale which cycles throughout the song.  It’s strangely addicting and I enjoyed hearing it every time it came back–even though it wasn’t exactly pretty.  The guitar has a lot of vibrato on it, although about six minutes in she switches the sound of her guitar to a bit more conventional sound and she plays a wicked solo. The second listen through made me appreciate what was happening a lot more.  Even if the song is pretty out there.

Mary Halvorson’ Quintet is not for everyone.  It might not be for many at all, but if you like your jazz free, check her out.

[READ: June 19, 2016] Cardboard

I’ve had mixed feelings about TenNapel’s books.  I loved Ghostopolis, and didn’t love Tommysaurus Rex.  So I picked this up with some hesitation.

But I found that I really enjoyed this weird book a lot.

For a kids’ graphic novel it’s actually quite long.  And, for a kid’s graphic novels there’s a few adult themes (like unemployment and widowhood) that a kid may not get or care about all that much (or maybe they would, what do I know).

As the book opens we see Mike, a big burly carpenter, begging for work.  But he gets nothing.  And as he walks away we see a very strange-looking man (TenNapel’s book are chock full of weird-looking characters) who offers to sell him a gift for his son.  Mike has no money, so he can’t buy the cool gift.  But the man says that for 78 cents (the exact amount in his pocket) he can have this giant cardboard box.

Mike is appalled at the idea of getting his son a box (even if it can be a creative play toy–ha!), but he’s got nothing else.  So he drives home with this box muttering “worst present ever.” (more…)

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Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Squish: Deadly Disease of Doom (#7) (2015)

Posted in A.R. Rahman, Advice, Cantus, Children's Books, Franz Biebl, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Hoax, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Science, Short Books, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Tiny Desk Concert, Twinkies, Ysaye Barnwell on February 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

squish-7SOUNDTRACK: CANTUS-Tiny Desk Concert #264 (February 4, 2013).

Cantus is an a capella cantusgroup of nine men with beautiful voices.

The blurb tells that there are many choral groups all over Minnesota (I had no idea):

Is there some kind of weird vocal vortex in Minnesota? The state turns out so many excellent choral groups — at the school, church and professional levels — that it can arguably be dubbed the choral center of the U.S.

Cantus went professional in 2000 and has cut 15 albums on its own label. Unlike some choral groups who specialize in one style of music, Cantus prides itself on diversity. Just take a look at the three songs its members chose for this concert.

“Wanting Memories” is a song steeped in African-American culture, written by Ysaye Barnwell from Sweet Honey in the Rock. “Zikr,” composed by A.R. Rahman — the same guy who scored the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire — has roots in the Sufi tradition, where deep chords and repeated phrases signal a slow burn toward religious ecstasy. And the group closes with German composer Franz Biebl’s gorgeous “Ave Maria,” a signature piece for the group that blends traditional plainsong (or chant) with delicate melody and voluptuous harmonies that ascend heavenward.

I was really impressed with this set.  “Wanting Memories”was very pretty all the way through.  From what I can tell there are two “bass’ singers who hum the melody while the others sing different parts with various harmonies.  (There’s also a shaker keeping rhythm, but that doesn’t count against the acapella in my opinion).  In the middle of the song, the basses stop the humming and sing along (in a fugue style).  The absence of those droning sounds is a dramatic change in the song. They resume the hums and end the song like it began–beautifully.

“Zikr” has incredibly low bass notes–they are genuinely impressive.   There is an occasional drum that adds some Sufi authenticity–but the sound like they have been singing in this style their whole lives.  It’s really impressive that they are doing something that seems so unlike the Minnesotans that they are.  The end of the song speeds things up a bit which is a very cool sound added to a very cool song.

In introducing “Ave Maria” they explain that they started in 1995 with four guys.  They expanded to 7 so they could perform this piece.  This turns out not to be the traditional Ave Maria.  It is very different indeed–with a traditional Latin (not Latin America, but Roman Latin) feel.  And here again there is the amazing deep voice of the bass and some amazing tenors.

It’s amazing how different they sound in each of these three songs–their range is tremendous.  There’s a comment in the blurb about the beauty of the human voice and that is really the case here–their voices are pristine and beautiful.  It’s a marvelous Tiny Desk.

[READ: July 20, 2013] Squish #7

I love the Squish books.  They’re funny and quick and often teach you a thing or two.  I also love that most of the characters are named after real microbes.  And each issue also has a Super Amoeba comic book scattered throughout.

As this book opens, we see Small Pond, where Super Amoeba lives.  Something flies out of the sky and crashes into the pond.

As with every time Squish reads this book though, he is interrupted,  This time it’s to go to school.  His friend Pod is drowsy walking down the street.  He was up late working on his top-secret project.  Squish asks is he can help, and Pod says yes–give him Squish’s Twinkie.

At school the teacher is showing them about acids and bases. The kids are bored until he pours vinegar into baking soda and they all wake up.

The next day on the way to school, sneaky Squish takes a bite out of his Twinkie.  So that when he offers it to Pod, Pod refuses.

But when Squish gets to school, his stomach starts to gurgle and he turns green (literally). (more…)

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Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Squish: Fear the Amoeba (#6) (2014)

Posted in Advice, Allison Miller, Boom Tic Boom, Children's Books, Fears, Film & TV, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Science, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Walter Salb on February 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

squish-6SOUNDTRACK: ALLISON MILLER’S BOOM TIC BOOM-Tiny Desk Concert #223 (June 7, 2012).

boom I hadn’t heard of Miller–who is a drummer primarily in jazz circles.  Although the blurb says that she has also played live with Ani DiFranco so it’s very possible that I saw her play a decade or so ago.

But this band is all about the jazz.   The quartet has an upright bass, piano, sax and of course Miller’s drums and percussion.

And yet for a band which has her name in it, the drums and percussion are not very prominent.  This was a little disappointing as I wanted to hear some wild percussion, it also makes sense since she’s writing these tunes with melodies in mind.

They play three songs. “Big And Lovely” is primarily a sax song with a few moments of piano playing by itself.  The drums are certainly present but they don’t seem like the centerpiece of this song (and I gather they are not meant to).  It is fun to watch Miller play, though—jazz drummers really do seem to smile a lot more than rock drummers.  This was written for Miller’s friend, musician and activist Toshi Reagon.  During the end of the song—when it’s just bass and piano, Miller breaks out all kinds of bells and percussion which is neat.

“Spotswood Drive” is where a man named Walter Salb once lived; “he was a beloved and respected drummer, and by most accounts a larger-than-life character.  His 2006 Washington Post obituary ran with the headline ‘Drum Teacher Was Scurrilous, Rude — and Greatly Admired.'”  Salb was her drum teacher.  She says he was a “mentor and great guy… sometimes great guy.”  The blurb tells us that “Salb’s mentorship remains so important that Miller started a scholarship fund in his name, and recently dedicated a new tune to him — a searching, slow-burning meditation with lots of percussive coloring between the lines.”  It’s a slow song with lots of interesting percussion which sadly doesn’t really make it to the forefront in the song.  There are gongs and bells and other interesting things—its fun to see Miller scrambling around back there to grab different items.   A few minutes in, there’s a cool bass line (which I’d also like to be louder) that rides under the sax.

She introduces “The Itch” by saying “There’s a story behind this too, (laughter) it’s a little personal…”  Bob says you can stop there.  This was my favorite of the songs.  It opens with a Miller playing the floor tom—but the floor tom has all kinds of things on it—a cymbal, bells, a gong of some sort and she hits them all while keeping rhythm on the tom.  Then she gets to do some really snappy drumming—nice paradiddles and whatnot.  It was a little funny to watch the sax player just standing there watching her for the first minute and a half before joining in. After she gets a rhythm going the bass joins in.  The sax and keyboard lines are interesting and a little wonky sounding.  There’s some piano soloing and then a dissonant section with the sax and the keys playing off of each other.

Overall, this was an enjoyable set.

[READ: March 18, 2016] Squish #6

This book is about admitting to your fears.   Everybody in town wants to go see The Water Bear, a scary horror movie–with a great scary poster.  It’s all anyone can talk about.

When they finally get to the movie, I love that the first scare is a cat jumping out at you (classic horror movie trope).  But then everyone is terrified by the genuinely frightening Water Bear.  A footnote informs us that the Water Bear is entirely real.  Fortunately, it is also only 1 mm long (click if you dare)

The movie is super scary and Squish is terrified for days afterward. However, his friend Pod thought it was cool and Peggy thought the kitty was cute (Squish notes that it was cute until it got eaten). (more…)

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Carol Weston–Ava and Pip (2014)

Posted in Advice, Carol Weston, Children's Books, Daniel Bachman, Friendship, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, Jealousy, Library Related, Palindromes, Regrets, Short Books, T., Tiny Desk Concert, Word usage on February 9, 2017| Leave a Comment »

pipSOUNDTRACK: DANIEL BACHMAN-Tiny Desk Concert #256 (December 9, 2012).

dan-bach Lars Gotrich, an NPR music dude, loves metal and weird music but also amazing Americana folk guitarists.  Daniel Bachman was an early-twentysomething when he recorded this Tiny Desk Concert.  And he is very impressive indeed.  Lars explains:

His approach to the American Primitive style of acoustic guitar — a sonically vivid fingerpicking technique developed by John Fahey and expanded by the likes of Robbie Basho and, later, Jack Rose and Glenn Jones — is conversational and uplifting, much like the man himself. After a rousing performance of “Honeysuckle Reel” from a forthcoming seven-inch single, however, Bachman turned beet-red in the NPR Music office and said, “I’m not going to lie. I’m pretty nervous.”

He only plays two songs, although each one is about 7 minutes long.  Lars says, “Strap on a pair of heavy boots and “Honeysuckle Reel” becomes an ecstatic dance tune or, at the very least, a foot-stomping good time.”  And he’s right.  It’s really amazing to watch him playing.  He uses a thumb pick and the low notes are constantly going–an incredibly fast rhythm, in contrast to the slower melody he’s playing on the higher strings while finger picking.  It’s a very pretty melody.

The second piece, “Seven Pines,” is slower and more reflective.  It comes from one of two albums he put out in 2012). The simple melody “dives in and out of low-string chord crashes and tumultuous swirls of dizzying fingerpicking.”

The sound he gets from his guitar is really fantastic and while I don’t tend to listen to guitar music like this, I really enjoyed this a lot and would like to hear more from him.

[READ: February 3, 2016] Ava and Pip

Since Tabby and I loved Ava and Tacoocat so much, we knew we had to read the prequel Ava and Pip as well.

This book is set up exactly as Tacocat is (I know that this book came first but since I read the other one first I’m comparing things backwards).

There are diary entries and it starts with Ava on her first day of school.  When she gets home she says that she is the only Ava in her class (which is frankly shocking as there are about 5 in my daughter’s grade).  Then we learn all about the Wren family and their love of palindromes.

Bob and Anna Wren had two daughters named Pip Hannah and Ava Elle.  And her diary entries wind up being chock full of spelled out palindromes (some obvious, others not). (more…)

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Carol Weston–Ava and Tacocat (2015)

Posted in Advice, Carol Weston, Cats, Children's Books, Friendship, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, Jealousy, Johann Sebastian Bach, Library Related, Luther Henderson, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Palindromes, Regrets, Short Books, T., Tiny Desk Concert, Word usage on February 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

tacocaoSOUNDTRACK: CANADIAN BRASS-Tiny Desk Concert #220 (May 26, 2012).

brass I hadn’t realized that Canadian Brass part of the institution of Canadian Brass.  They’re not only part of it, they are it.  Indeed Canadian Brass

led by its avuncular tuba master (and sole original member) Chuck Daellenbach, essentially put the idea of the brass quintet on the map.  Then there are the recordings — more than 100 of them, selling more than two million albums total.  Daellenbach and his fresh-faced players, each with red-striped sneakers and matching outfits, strolled into the NPR Music offices, took their places behind Bob Boilen’s desk and started blowing as if they’d played this peculiar gig a hundred times.

They began with a version of J.S. Bach’s intricately woven “Little Fugue in G minor,” an impressive staple that stretches back to the band’s first recording. In those days, precious little was available for brass quintet (two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba), so the band relied on making arrangements of existing music. Since then, Canadian Brass has transcribed and commissioned more than 200 works, including “Tuba Tiger Rag,” Luther Henderson’s lighthearted tribute to Dixieland jazz. It’s a showpiece for Daellenbach, who twirls his tuba (while playing) and lands on a final note of such subterranean depth that you feel it more than hear it.

The players closed with another favorite, Rimsky-Korsakov’s dizzying “Flight of the Bumblebee,” in an arrangement by Canadian Brass trumpeter Brandon Ridenour. Although the music buzzes past in less than two minutes, players get plenty of opportunities to shine — as in the lightning-fast runs negotiated by trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos, the newest member of the group.

The band consists of   Christopher Coletti, trumpet; Brandon Ridenour, trumpet; Eric Reed, French horn; Achilles Liarmakopoulos, trombone and Chuck Daellenbach, tuba.

The band sounds amazing playing these familiar songs in a way that is–unexpected–but still right on.

J.S. Bach: “Little Fugue In G minor” is probably one of my favorite classical pieces.  I really enjoy Bach’s fugues a lot and this one is just perfect–and the arrangement here is great–everyone gets a chance to explore the phrasing.  It starts with the tuba and then the trombone and then the horn and finally the tuba.

Luther Henderson: “Tuba Tiger Rag”  Introducing this piece he says that in Bach everyone is equal, but he felt they needed a tuba song.  He says that while this song might be low art for other instruments it is high art for a tuba.  And yes he does spin it around while playing it. He uses that instrument to make roaring sounds and incredibly deep notes.  This is a medley, I think, because while the trombone and tuba play, the other three sing “hold that tiger / tuba tiger.”  How on earth does he reach that super low note?

Before the final song Bob says that his tuba doesn’t look brass.  And Chuck replies that there’s an old joke: “How old do you have to be to play the tuba and the answer is old enough to be able to carry it but young enough to still want to.”  He still wants to so he’s been  so he;s lightening the horn with carbon fiber.

For the final song Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: “Flight Of The Bumblebee” he tells us that the two trumpets play very fast–it must be easy for them. But the trombonist Achilles didn’t know what was coming when they had him play along.  Chuck says you’ll never see anyone play this song this fast on this instrument.

And it is amazing.  The song flies past–a blurry of fingers.  And I love that at the end, one of the trumpets sings the triumphant final high note.

You wouldn’t expect a band as old and legendary as Canadian Brass to be so funny and good-natured, but they sure are.  And that makes these familiar songs even more fun.

[READ: February 7, 2016] Ava and Tacocat

Sarah brought this book home, in part because Clark’s reading group called themselves tacocat which is a palindrome.  Turns out that Clark wasn’t interested in the book, so Tabby and I got to read it together, which was really fun.

The whole book is a language lovers’ dream, chock full of big spelling words and all kinds of palindromes littered throughout.

It was a few chapters into the book before we realized that this is actually the second book of a series (the first one is called Ava and Pip) and that this book references things that happened in book one without exactly explaining what happened.  That’s a little annoying for us, but it certainly made us want to read the first book.

The book is set up in diary form with Ava writing in it on most days.  I like that she loves palinromes so much (S-E-N-I-L-E-F-E-L-I-N-E-S) and every time she mentions one in the book, they spell it out like that. (more…)

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James Kochalka–Dragon Puncher Island (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Brian Jagde, Cats, Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Giacomo Puccini, Graphic Novel, James Kochalka, Joyce El-Khoury, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert on February 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

dragonpunchis SOUNDTRACK: JOYCE EL KHOURY AND BRIAN JAGDE-Tiny Desk Concert #196 (February 20, 2012).

joyceI don’t listen to opera, although I don’t dislike it.  I’m amazed at the power of these singers’ voices.  It was interesting to watch this duo up close like this because you could really see them emote the story (especially in the duet).  So even if I had no idea what was going on lyrically (which I didn’t), I could get a sense of how they reacted to each other.

Here’s some background:

Soprano Joyce El-Khoury and tenor Brian Jagde are young, fresh-faced opera singers at the dawn of promising careers. El-Khoury has already appeared at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, while Jagde has sung roles in smaller houses here and in Europe.  Miloš Repickný joined the two singers at our trusty electric piano.

For this Tiny Desk performance, she reprises her role of Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi by singing the hit aria “O mio babbino caro,” in which she pleads with her father to let her marry her boyfriend. Listen for El-Khoury’s immaculate control of dynamics. Her soft, pianissimo notes are silvery and well-supported by the breath.

Jagde steps up next for a number from Puccini’s Tosca — the opening tenor aria, “Recondita armonia” — in which he muses about Tosca, his “dark-eyed mistress.” It takes a lot of work to sing it right, and Jagde produces the requisite drama and decibels.

The two hard-working singers end with the deliciously romantic duet which closes act one of Puccini’s La Bohème. “We’ve just fallen in love,” Jagde notes. “It happens really quickly in the opera.” As their two powerful, love-struck voices intertwine, the sounds of Puccini reverberate off the walls of the entire fifth floor — a good day in the office.

The first piece [Puccini: “O mio babbino caro” (from Gianni Schicchi)] is sung by Joyce and her voice is wonderful.  Its starts a little quiet but really soars by the end.  It is only 2 minutes (which is something of a surprise).  It’s amusing to hear her speak in such a plain American voice after wailing in Italian like that.  Brian then speaks.  He begins with a wonderful Italian pronunciation of the song they will sing and then reveals himself to have a standard American accent as well.  He tells us a bit of the plot of the song [Puccini:” Recondita armonia” (from Tosca)].  He is painting in a church–a beautiful blonde goddess.  And he compares her to Tosca, who is completely the opposite.  And then that quiet voiced guy opens his mouth to sing.  The power in his voice is incredible.  And just before the end, he wails an amazing note.  This piece also lasts only 2 minutes

The final piece [Puccini: “O soave fanciulla” (from La Bohème)] is a duet. He says that they are in love and about to go out together but they have to look at each other one more time. They sing beautifully together.  I can’t imagine his big powerful voice singing right next to her ear (and being romantic at the same time).  They act it out very well.  There’s even a moment where they look about to kiss but she pulls away to keep singing—it’s good convincing acting.

[READ: February 12, 2016] Dragon Puncher Island

This sequel to Dragon Puncher is just as funny as the first.  The Kochalkas got a new cat who takes a starring role.

The story opens up with Dragon Puncher and Spoony-E by the seaside (filmed in Maine).  Spoony-E is bragging about his spoon-wielding abilities (even though his spoon is broken).  Finally Dragon Puncher tells him to be quiet.  And also to stop calling him mister as she is a girl cat.

But when Spoony E stats saying “who’s my pretty little kitty,” Dragon Puncher gets mad and punches Spoony-E!  Spoony is caught by the new kitty, a green bubbly creature called Monster Slapper.  And Monster Slapper doesn’t take kindly to this small, furry and, frankly, smelly creature. (more…)

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James Kochalka–Dragon Puncher (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Cats, Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, James Kochalka, Joan Soriano, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert on February 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

dragonpunch SOUNDTRACK: JOAN SORIANO-Tiny Desk Concert #195 (February 16, 2012).

joanJoan Soriano and his unnamed partners play bachata music (which I’d never heard of before).

Bachata is that sweet, syncopated, lovesick music full of guitar plucks, bongos and güiras that you hear blasting from cars and Latin clubs today. But as recently as the late 1980s, it was frowned upon in its native Dominican Republic for being rustic and vulgar. But it grew anyway, and was championed by Dominican artists like Anthony Santos (one of the first bachateros to go mainstream) and Juan Luis Guerra.

Joan Soriano is a reminder of that. “El Duque De La Bachata” (“The Duke Of Bachata”) is an example of the earthy, unpretentious, undiluted bachata that was forced into a corner so long ago in favor of more “sophisticated” sounds. Whether he’s talking about having his heart broken or about falling out of love, Soriano sounds honest and to the point, and so do his guitar licks. The seventh of 15 kids and an exceptionally talented musician whose music moved him from the countryside to Santo Domingo at 13, Soriano is an essential piece of bachata’s story.

Today, we consume pretty-boy bachata: It’s polished, calculated and, by mainstream standards, photogenic. But when you hear Soriano’s raw interpretation of bachata, you can’t help but wonder how such a beautiful sound was kept quiet for so long, and marvel at its resilience.

They play three songs:

“Me Decidí A Dejarte” Joan sings.  he has a beautiful voice and really interesting and enticing guitar picking style.  I get a kick out of the backing vocals with go “Pero no” “No!” in a rather high, almost girl-group sound.

“Aunque Sea A Escondidas” The woman with his sings lead on this.  She also has a pretty voice and this song is much more mellow than the other two.  Joan stands in the back and sings harmony vocals.

“Cuanto Lloré”  One more shift of locations as the second guitarist moves to the mic.  His voice is a little deeper but just as lovely.  Joan sits next to him.  This song is heavier than the other two.  It has a really catchy happy guitar riff.  The other guitar plays a kind of rapid chugging style.   When he and Joan duet on vocals near the end of the song it sounds really amazing–their voices are in perfect sync.

[READ: February 11, 2016] Dragon Puncher

I love James Kochalka.  I love his deceptively simple artwork. I love that he does his very cartoony style for both his kids books and his highly-inappropriate-for-kids adult books–DO NOT GRAB THE WRONG BOOKS BY MISTAKE!

But I think of all of the things he’s done, the Dragon Puncher series is my favorite.

For this series, he takes photos and integrates them into his story.  But in addition to drawing crazy cartoons on top of wonderful photorealistic backgrounds, he also integrates his family members as characters.

For instance the Dragon Puncher’s face is the face of Spandy, the family cat.  Meanwhile, the other main character, Spoony-E’s face belongs to Kochalka’s son Eli (he was 3 at the time).  And the dragon’s face is that of Kochalka himself.  They are hilarious.

tfaw_dragonpuncherp1Most of Kochalka’s stories veer to the absurd side, and this one is no exception.

Dragon Puncher struts through the landscape seeking the sneaky dragon.  Then he trips over a brown hairy thing whose name is Spoony-E. He carries a wooden spoon everyone (evidently Eli loved spoons at the time).  Dragon Puncher is angry and shouts everything “I WILL DESTROY YOU!” (evidently Spandy was a nasty cat and would hiss at kids, so this makes it even funnier).

Spoony-E is a sweet little creature and he wants to help.  He shows off what a good fighter he is with his spoon (and almost loses to a butterfly).

Dragon Puncher finds some dragon drool and then the ferocious dragon comes along (Kochalka is suitably hilarious as the dragon).  They fight (watch out for the tail).  And the fight only brings our two heroes closer (maybe).

I’ve read this book many times and it never fails to make me laugh.

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Stephan T. Pastis–The Croc Ate My Homework : A Pearls Before Swine collection (2014)

Posted in Children's Books, Crocodiles, Ducks, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, Jealousy, Pearls Before Swine, Pigs, Rats, Red Baraat, Stephan T. Pastis, Surreal, Technology, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert on February 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

crocs SOUNDTRACK: RED BARAAT-Tiny Desk Concert #194 (February 14, 2012).

redbaraatBob Boilen opens his blurb about this band with high praise indeed:

Red Baraat is the best party band I’ve seen in years. The group plays rollicking funk music steeped in Northern India’s wedding celebrations, with a dash of D.C. go-go beats and hip-hop. It’s all driven by Sunny Jain’s dhol, a double-sided barrel drum that hangs down low around his body.

But the music is not all about drumming

If the drum is the messenger, the brass is the message. Uplifting melodies emanate from baritone and soprano saxophones, bass trumpet, trombone and sousaphone. This is a band that jazz lovers can appreciate and rock fans can dance to.

They play three songs.  And the musicians are quite diverse.  Its fun to see a trumpeter (who totally wails) wearing a Sikh turban.

“Chaal Baby”  is really dancey with a simple, bouncy horn melody and all that percussion. In addition to the snare and the dhol, there’ s a percussionist making some great sounds, too.  And all through the song–which really swings–people are shouting “hey ho.” It’s a lot of fun.

“Shruggy Ji” opens slowly but after a few second the whole band kicks in with a kind of minor key feel (and a very Indian sound on the saxophone.  There’s some chanting–although I can’t tell what they’re saying.  The two note melody is great for shaking your hips to.  In the middle of the song there’s a call and response of “oh my may” and then he raps—he’s a little hard to hear (because he’s unmic’d and the rest of the band is so loud) but the gist is there and it’s fun (I believe he name checks Biz Markee).  As this song ends you hear Stephen Thomson shout “can you guys hear in the back?”

On “Dhol ‘n’ Brass” the guy with the dhol opens this song with a fast chanted opening that sounds a lot like the rhythm of the drums.  When the rest of the band jumps in, the song is really fast and a lot of fun

This is indeed a great party band and there’s plenty of diversity in the music to keep it really interesting and unexpected.

[READ: February 1, 2016] The Croc Ate My Homework

I knew of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine but had never read it before.

This book was published by the same folks who introduced me to Liō and I thought it might be funny.

From what I gather, this collection is actually a collection of the most kid-friendly strips from this series.  This I find very strange indeed, but I see that the actual strip is fairly adult and has been controversial on my occasions (although it is published in newspapers, so it’s never too dark).

I got a kick out of this collection, although I didn’t think it was all that great.  Of course, knowing that these strips are the somewhat watered down strips does make me want to read the real thing to see if these strips ware funnier in context.

The strip centers around a bunch of animals Rat (who is mean–unnecessarily mean, I felt, in this book, but again, without context), Pig who is a good-natured but naive. The Crocs (who are incredibly dumb–and very funny) and the Zebra who outsmarts the crocs–although that’s not very hard. (more…)

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John Stanley–Melvin Monster Volume 3 (1967) [The John Stanley Collection 2011]

Posted in Children's Books, Drawn & Quarterly, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, John Stanley, Melvin Monster, Oddities, Pranks, The Creole Choir of Cuba, Tiny Desk Concert, Vampires, Witches, Zombies on February 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

melvin3-cover_SOUNDTRACK: CREOLE CHOIR OF CUBA-Tiny Desk Concert #192 (February 6, 2012).

creoleThis concert was something of a surprise for me.  The blurb seems to think that it should be a surprise, especially if you are familiar with Cuban music.  I’m not, so I’m even more surprised.

Just when you think you know Cuban music, along comes the Creole Choir of Cuba. This group sprang from the ashes of Grupo Vocal Desandann, a small vocal outfit created in the late 1990s to celebrate traces of Haitian culture in eastern Cuba.  That history dates back to the late 18th century, when slaves from Haiti were delivered to Cuba to harvest sugarcane after successful slave revolts in Haiti. A long-lost culture was revitalized by the group through music performed largely a cappella and entirely in Haitian Creole.

As with other forms of music associated with the African diaspora, The Creole Choir of Cuba’s work resonates with songs of resistance and celebration of community life, which offered hope and relief from the bitter realities of slavery.

The choir sings three pieces.  And it’s cool the way it is a choir for certain, but that they throw elements into it that are not normally associated with choirs.  For “Marasa Elu” their voices are beautiful, with a great bass voice underpinning the soaring lead voice.  It’s fairly astonishing that she starts to cry at the end of the song (whether fake or not it’s hard to tell).

“Ayiti Krye” has a different lead singer with a very different voice.–although the rest of the choir still sounds great with her.  It comes as quite a surprise about half way through the song when the drums and percussion come in–it really changes the feel of the song and of this choir.  Suddenly the piece is a more dancey song, especially as the percussion picks up speed.  A guy with a wonderfully raspy voice takes over lead.  And the rest of the group really starts to get into it–dancing and singing a beautiful backing vocal that sounds much less like a choir and more like a Cuban dance song.

For “Lumane Casimir” the first singer is back.  There are quiet congas keeping the beat.  While the backing vocals sound a lot like a choir, the lead singer sounds more like a conventional singer.  By the end, they are having a ton of fun and she invites two of the audience members to dance with her (including Felix, the host).  And as any music like this should, the end of the song introduces a whistle keeping a beat.

This is a very different kind of choir–at once sacred and fun.

[READ: January 22, 2016] Melvin Monster Volume 3

Last year I really enjoyed the Moomin books which Drawn & Quarterly reprinted.  Another artist that D+Q has reprinted is John Stanley.  And they have made the appropriately titled The John Stanley Collection.  This collection is somewhat confusingly labelled because there are collections of different characters (Nancy, Tubby, Melvin) each with multiple volumes, and it seems like maybe they are supposed to go in a certain order.  And really it’s not that hard to figure out once you know the way it works, but it’s a but of puzzle if you see only a few books on the shelf at the library.

These books were originally printed as comic books.  This book contains the final Melvin Monster comics.  The title page says “Collected from the issues seven to nine of the Dell comic book series”  And D+Q has retained that look perfectly.  Even the paper that they have used for this beautiful book looks like comic book paper (although it is very heavy stock).

In the first issue of the book, Baddy tries to get Melvin a job as a babysitter.  The baby is actually a huge giant which leads to all kinds of amusing scenes of Melvin fleeing from the giant.  Although Stanley was never concerned about being PC, the fact that he set his strip in Monsterville certainly allowed him to get a way with a lot of rather un-PC dialogue.

I’m not sure why Stanley only made nine issues (if it was Dell’s decision or his), but there’s a lot of repetition in the premises.  Melvin trying to go to the school and Ms McGargoyle not allowing him in is a very common joke.  Although in fairness, she does think up many new ways to keep Melvin away.

Little Horror is always a fun character.  In this one she does a spell which turns Melvin into a half frog.

There’s a joke about Cleopatra, the family’s alligator, trying to eat him. And the one with Damon constantly giving him bad advice would be funny whether they were monsters or not.

“Blackout” is an interesting strip as it shows Baddy getting ready to watch wrestling –“the first four rows of human bean lady fans armed with cement filled handbags an shish kabob skewers.”

Book 8 opens with “Supermonster” in which a huge monster living nearby is getting ready to destroy Monsterville.  And it’s up to Melvin to help out.

I enjoyed seeing him integrating snow into a few of these strips (although not sequentially in any way).  There’s a good one that involves digging to the school.  There’s a short one that involves Little Horror breaking ice with her high-pitched shriek and another short one with a giant snowball (that I don’t quite get).

Speaking of un-PC, there’s an entire story that involves a Native American totem pole monster–I guess since it’s a monster its okay, although the way it talks is pretty awful.

Book 9 starts with a monster that frightens Baddy.  I enjoy that Baddy is actually quite a coward despite his size and demeanor).

Little Horror returns with a broken magic wand which is pretty fun.  The punchline where a tiny Baddy is afraid of Mummy is outstanding .

I also really enjoyed the way that McGargoyle got rid of Melvin in the final schoolhouse joke–by having him learn C-A-T and B-A-T and then telling him he graduated.  Of course Melvin redefines high school for us all.

The final strip in the book is the one I knew from the D&Q 25th anniversary book.  In it, Melvin drinks a potion that turns him into a normal-looking boy. Which would of course freak out the whole family.

I also like that the final pages of this book include all of the original covers from the Dell comics (12 cents each!)

I’m fascinated at the publishing schedule of these issues

  • Apr-Jun
  • Jul-Sept
  • October
  • December
  • July
  • October
  • January
  • Apr
  • May
  • August

Perhaps the most interesting thing of all though is his biography which states that John Stanley “bitterly left comics sometime in the late 1960s never to return.”  Woah, I want to hear more about that!

Maybe when I read the Nancy books.

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John Stanley–Melvin Monster Volume 2 (1966-67) [The John Stanley Collection 2009]

Posted in Children's Books, Drawn & Quarterly, Funny (ha ha), Glenn Jones, Graphic Novel, John Stanley, Melvin Monster, Oddities, Pranks, Tiny Desk Concert, Vampires, Witches, Zombies on February 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

melvin2-cover_SOUNDTRACK: GLENN JONES-Tiny Desk Concert #188 (January 23, 2012).

glennI’d never heard of Glenn Jones.  The blurb says that he only recently took up the banjo (which I assume means he has played the guitar for a long time?).  Also, how funny is it  that there are two banjo players in a row.

Jones plays 3 instrumental pieces  “Tinka Marie” is a very pretty banjo instrumental (although I can’t help but feel that his high string is slightly out of tune—I find it a little jarring throughout the song).  The banjo also sounds very compressed or tight or something.  It’s unusual especially when compared to the expansive sound of the guitar in the other two songs.

Before “The Great Pacific Northwest,” he says that if he plays it right, “Mt. Rainier should burst right through the floor of this room.” He has a very interesting playing style.  He has capoed the three bass strings, but not the higher strings.  He then plays chords up and down the fretboard (leaving the capo where it is).  The beginning of this song is a series of slowly played chords, which allow each individual string to sound.  Then it picks up as he begins playing fast finger-picked (with a  thumb pick for the bass strings) melodies.

“Of Its Own Kind” continue with that half capo style and finger picking.  It has a really lovely melody, as do all three.

[READ: January 17, 2016] Melvin Monster Volume 2

Last year I really enjoyed the Moomin books which Drawn & Quarterly reprinted.  Another artist that D+Q has reprinted is John Stanley.  And they have made the appropriately titled The John Stanley Collection.  This collection is somewhat confusingly labelled because there are collections of different characters (Nancy, Tubby, Melvin) each with multiple volumes, and it seems like maybe they are supposed to go in a certain order.  And really it’s not that hard to figure out once you know the way it works, but it’s a but of puzzle if you see only a few books on the shelf at the library.

These books were originally printed as comic books.  The title page says “Collected from the issues four to six of the Dell comic book series”  And D+Q has retained that look perfectly.  Even the paper that they have used for this beautiful book looks like comic book paper (although it is very heavy stock).   (more…)

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