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Archive for the ‘Funny (ha ha)’ Category

John Oliver (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, December 14, 2014)

Posted in Aparna Nancherla, Community, Funny (ha ha), John Oliver, Jon Stewart, NASA, New Brunswick, NJ, Pets, Set in New Jersey!, State Theatre, The Daily Show, Travel on December 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 14, 2014] John Oliver

oliverI have loved John Oliver for a long time.  I have been delighted to see him go from the British guy on the Daily Show (when he replaced Jon Stewart, he was really fantastic) to the British guy on Community and now the British guy with his own HBO show (which I have never seen since I don’t get HBO).  When I saw that he was doing standup in New Brunswick I had to go.  Our friends Eleanor and Liz went with us and we had a lovely night in good ol’ New Brunswick (strangely enough there was literally no one in the parking garage where we parked yet every restaurant was packed).

Sarah and I were worried that the stand up would reference his show, but it didn’t.  It was topical and funny and weird and funny and political and funny and very very funny.

The show opened with an Indian woman stand up.  Nothing is more thankless than being an opening act for a comedian.  For starters, we didn’t know there would be an opening act.  Then we didn’t find out until we saw in tiny letters on the tiny marquee in the foyer that there would be an opening act.  And we pushed through the doors so quickly that I never saw her name.  And of course they announced it, but I don’t remember what they said her name was.  And even worse I can’t seem to find it online anywhere (searching for “Indian female comedian” did not help believe it or not).  And we never got a program (if it was indeed listed in there).

[UPDATE: April 9, 2015] So I wrote to The State Theater and learned that our mystery comedian’s name is Aparna Nancherla.  You can see a clip of her on Conan where she tells the dog poop joke (and yes it is still funny).  But stay for the end to see the insane size difference between the two.

But she was very funny.  Her jokes were observational with some delightful nearly whispered punchlines that undermined her set ups.  She did an amusing but about drug store receipts.  There was a funny bit about going to customs in Australia and having to explain her occupation of “comedian.”  But a lot of her jokes were about making it in New York City.  There was a rather amusing dog poop joke and a very funny human poop joke.  The human poop joke was more about apartment hunting with a hilarious and disgusting premise that she claimed was a requirement for living in a new apartment (it was hilarious whether true or not). (more…)

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James Kochalka–Superfuckers (2010)

Posted in Alternate Reality, Christmas Album, Death, Drugs, End of the World, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, James Kochalka, Jealousy, Poo, Revenge, Sufjan Stevens, Superheroes, Supernatural, Unlikable main character, Violence, Yuck! on December 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

superSOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS Christmas Infinity Voyage: Songs for Christmas Vol. 8 (2008).

sufjan 8Back in 2008, a Vol. VIII of Sufjan’s Christmas recordings was leaked on the internet.  It was called Astral Inter Planet Space Captain Christmas Infinity Voyage-Songs for Christmas Vol. VIII and I talked about it here.  When his official release came out volume 8 was similar yet different from the leaked one.  The song tracks were almost identical, but the versions (and lengths) were rather different.

The leaked version of the disc has this track listing:

Angels We Have Heard on High  5:00
Do You See What I See  4:59
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear   :48
Christmas in the Room  4:50
Good King Wenceslas  2:15
Joy to the World  7:49
The Child With the Star on His Head 13:15

And the official version has this track listing

  Angels We Have Heard on High  4:04
Do You Hear What I Hear  9:14
Christmas in the Room  4:32
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear    :48
Good King Wenceslas  4:18
Alphabet St.  1:36
Particle Physics 1:04
Joy to the World  5:25
The Child With the Star on His Head 15:13

So what’s the difference

 

“Angels We Have Heard On High”—The leaked version has a lengthy warbling keyboard introduction and is the real song.  The official version is an original song based on the hymn.  I like the way the opening melody changes expected direction in mid line.  I also enjoyed the “oh ho ho hos.”  This is pretty much the only traditional sounding song on the disc because the rest get pretty unusual electronic treatments

“Do You Hear What I Hear”  The leaked version (with a different title) was autotuned and slow (and only 4 minutes).  The official version is also autotuned, and is filled with electronic percussion. It quickly goes weird and crazy, but I like it.  It’s 9 minutes long and the last five minutes are a crazy freakout of autotuned nonsense.

“Christmas in the Room” is a song about being alone with someone you love for Christmas—pros and cons (although there seems like a lot sadness in the song). The autoharp is pretty though. [The leaked version is a bit louder with electronic music rather than autoharp].

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” in both version this is a short (less than a minute) electronic version of the traditional song.

“Good King Wenceslas” is also crazy and electronic with lots of strange inserted sounds and lines from other songs.  [The leaked version is only 2 minutes and while still electronic is far less crazy].

“Alphabet St” continues some of the nonsense in Wenceslas—lyrics about being sexy. “Particle Physics” is also 1 minute long of space sounds that merge into

“Joy to the World” is also slightly off-sounding (with lots of different instruments). It starts kind of pretty but goes really wild with the electronics and the autotune and by the end it’s just crazy electronic freakout.

“The Child With the Star on His Head” opens the official version with someone saying “desperately seeking Santa take 3.”  Despite it being super long (in both version) the song itself is really quite pretty.  It’s very Sufjan with great falsetto and an unexpected melody.  The two versions are similar in construct but after the opening few minutes they diverge pretty radically.  At around 5 minutes an electronic sounding, totally fuzzed guitar solo begins and it adds a very strange element to it—a kind of psychedelic outer space sound, which doesn’t quite fit the mood. [Interestingly, in the leaked version, the solo is pretty much the same notes, but it is far less spacey and effects filled.  It has more of a classic rock guitar solo (kind of David Gilmour-ish]. The solo lasts longer in the new version too.   That pretty much accounts for the two minute discrepancy.  The rest of the song plays out mostly the same, although again, the leaked version is kind of pretty and sweet (with la las and a horn solo) while the official release is all electronic and gets crazy here and there.  The end of the song is a denouement–horn based in the leaked and all electronic in the official.

I’m not really sure which release I prefer, because the electronic stuff is really kind of wild and fun (although not very Christmassey).  But the leaked version is really quite nice.

[READ: December 11, 2014] Superfuckers

I know Kochalka mostly from his children’s books, which are weird and warped and really really funny.  Most of them seem to star his son’s head imposed on his weird cartoon style (so funny).

So imagine my surprise to discover a book of his called Superfuckers.

Superfuckers is a “collection” of “issues” of the “series” Superfuckers.

It opens with issue #271 (from 2005).  And within five or six panels, we get every single curse word you can imagine from our “superheroes.”  Indeed, they really don’t “do” anything.  They just sit around and yell at each other (calling everyone gay or slut or some such), get high (on a staggeringly odd number of things) and plot to take over the gang. (more…)

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Simon Rich–The Last Girlfriend on Earth: And Other Love Stories (2013)

Posted in Beer, Christmas Album, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Gods, Hitler, Humiliation, Kissing, Man Seeking Woman, Marriage Trouble, Morality, Myths, NASA, New Yorker, Religion, Sex, She & Him, Short Books, Simon Rich, Zooey Deschanel on December 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

lastgSOUNDTRACK: SHE & HIM-A Very She & Him Christmas (2011).

shehimI love the packaging of this disc (the envelope with the Christmas letter/liner notes is charming).

I really enjoyed Zooey Deschanel’s singing in Elf, I thought it was really pretty and surprisingly unaffected.  So it’s not too surprising that she stared making records herself.  And M Ward seems like a perfect accompaniment to her slow, rather old school style of singing.

I have a hard time getting into the She & Him records though.  They’re just, yes, too slow for me.  The tempo is perfect for her voice, which is naturally very pure and clean.  And she even has a good crooning style, I just need the songs to be a little peppier.  Or like on “Run Run Reindeer,” I find her version is kind of abrupt, perhaps she doesn’t really hold her notes for very long which I find disconcerting.

I like the first two songs, “The Christmas Waltz,” and “Christmas Day” because they are songs I didn’t know already, so I had no expectations.  “Christmas Wish” is really nice with Ward taking lead vocals.   As for Zooey’s leads, I like “Sleigh Ride” quite a lot.  And their version of “Silver Bells” on ukulele is just beautiful.

This collection of songs is quite nice, if not a little too mellow.  It sets a mood and follows through all the way, which is good.  I really do wish I liked it more.

[READ: December 5, 2014] The Last Girlfriend on Earth

I love Simon Rich, but sometimes I lose touch with just how many books he releases.  So when he was on Seth Meyers the other night I learned that he had a new book out, which was great.  But then I also learned that I missed his last two books!  Jeez.  One is a novel and this one is a collection of short stories.

I have said before that I love Rich’s really short pieces–he is so good with a set up and punchline.  Most of these stories are longer, and they are pretty much all very funny indeed.

The book is set up in three parts: Boy Meets Girl, Boy Gets Girl and Boy Loses Girl.  And indeed, the stories in each section do match up to that general setup (it’s quite clever) although they are not connected to each other.  Several of these stories appeared in the New Yorker and it was fun to read them again and to see them in this new context.

Incidentally, they are making a TV show based on this book, airing in the new year on FXX, called Man Seeking Woman–I hope it’s good. (more…)

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B. J. Novak–One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014)

Posted in Alternate Reality, B.J. Novak, Books about writers, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, Elvis Presley, Funny (ha ha), Hitler, Humiliation, Jealousy, New Yorker, Short Story on December 4, 2014| 1 Comment »

one moreSOUNDTRACK: OLD NAVY HOLIDAY HITS (2003).

oldIt seems that every year stores release their own Christmas mixes.  I feel like Old Navy was one of the first stores to do so (especially in their weird retro style).  What is surprising is just how much I enjoy this compilation.  It has a great mix of traditional and unusual.  There’s some cool remixes, there’s some unexpected “space-age” tracks and it’s just boppy and light and fun.  Until the end where they go for an unusual (although it somehow makes sense for Old navy) but unenjoyable song to end it with.

PEGGY LEE-“Winter Wonderland” A great, slightly space age version of this song.
ANDY WILLIAMS-“Sleigh Ride” I do love an Andy Williams Christmas song—earnest and clean and lots of fun.
HOLLY COLE-“Christmas Is” I don’t know this song that well.  It’s a fun, different Christmas song, done on a jaunty piano.
ELLA FITZGERALD-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” I love Ella, and I love the horn blasts as the song opens and closes.
PATTI PAGE-“Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” I don’t love this version, which is surprising as I love this era, but I think I don’t like her voice that much.
CAPITAL STUDIO ORCHESTRA-“Cha Cha All the Way” one of my favorite swinging weird holiday songs.
THE PENGUINS-“Jingle Jangle” has a fun “native” beat to it. It’ sa n odd song and I don’t love the singer’s voice, but the music is fun.
RAMSEY LEWIS-“The Twelve Days of Christmas” a piano instrumental that sounds nothing like the song…fun though and appropriately Christmassey somehow.
DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES-“The Land of Make Believe” I didn’t even realize this was Diana Ross—the production is so low key. And the shuffle beat and strings seems very much unlike the Supremes to me. It fits in well with these songs.
DUKE ELLINGTON-“Jingle Bells (Robbie Hardkiss Remix)” I love this remix a lot, it’s one of my favorite Christmas songs.
JACK JONES-“Mistletoe and Holly” another retro-seeming, very clean-sounding song. It’s kind of mockable but fun at the same time—like the best Christmas stuff.
MARVIN GAYE AND TAMMI TERRELL-“Two Can Have a Party” I really don’t like this song in general and it doesn’t feel holiday enough for this disc.  But it’s a harmless end to an otherwise fun collection of Christmas songs.

[READ: December 1, 2014] One More Thing

I really enjoyed Novak’s short piece “The Man Who Invented the Calendar” in the New Yorker (which is included in here). So I was pretty excited to read this collection of his “stories.”

There’s over 60 stories in this book. Many of them are really short (some are just a few lines).  And typically the shorter the pieces the funnier they tend to be (the super short ones are pretty much a perfect set up for a punchline).  But interestingly, there are several really long pieces (some over 10 pages) and these are more thoughtful and, while kinda funny, not meant to be laugh out loud funny.  It’s an interesting mix.  It’s especially interesting because at the end of the book, he has a piece called “Discussion Questions” in which he asks:

Did you flip through the book and read the shortest stories first?   The author does that, too.

If you do that, you will laugh a lot at the beginning and then have precious few laughs at the end, so don’t do that! (more…)

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Ian Lendler and Zack Giallongo–The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth (2014)

Posted in Acting, Animals, Children's Books, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Ian Lendler, Play (Drama), William Shakespeare, Witches, Zack Giallongo on December 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

macbethSOUNDTRACK: SWINGIN’ CHRISTMAS PARTY! (2002).

swingI love big band music.  It’s what I grew up listening to.  So this seemed like an ideal collection for the holidays.  I mean all of the big names in big band are here.  It’s a little less raucous than I would have imagined, but for a low key kind of swinging party, it works very well

GLENN MILLER-“Jingle Bells” starts off the collection right, with big horns and fast beats.  I don’t love the main singer (I do like the way he twists some of the lyrics), but I do enjoy the really really un-hip backing vocalists.
RALPH FLANAGAN-“Winter Wonderland” is the kind of swing I like–big horns, more horns, all louder than the last.  I also tend to like my big band as instrumental, so this one is aces for me.
TOMMY DORSEY-“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” opens with a verse that I’d never heard before.  It sounds like it is coming from a tiny transistor radio, but is fun nonetheless.
FREDDY MARTIN-“Sleigh Ride” sounds like a very traditional version of this with pizzicato violins and smooth orchestration.  When the vocals come in, it sounds like it may have been used in every Christmas TV special during the 1940s and 1950s (the “horse” whinny at the end especially).  Perhaps a little too smooth for my liking.
VAUGHN MONROE-“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” features Monroe’s deep bass voice.  They tinker with the standard melody somewhat–singing on an occasional minor note, which is interesting.  But it’s still a nice romantic version of the song.
CLAUDE THORNHILL-“Snowfall” is a slow piano instrumental. It definitely does not swing.
SAMMY KAYE-“White Christmas” is, as I’ve said, really a sad song underneath, but this one actually sounds like it could have the backing vocalists wailing in tears as Kaye sings along.  Again, there will be no swinging here.  Never have the words “merry and bright” sounded so sad.
LARRY CLINTON-“Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” is a big swingin’ horn fueled romp (it has nothing to do with the The Nutcracker).  It always makes me laugh when the first minute or so of a big band song are rollicking and wild, and then when the vocalist comes in, the horns drops out and the song becomes really quiet (that happens here).
FATS WALLER-“Winter Weather” is not really a swinging song, but Waller’s voice sounds great and raspy in this piano and guitar based song.
BENNY GOODMAN-“Santa Claus Came in the Spring” is a song I’m unfamiliar with.  It’s got a good swinging feel, although lyrically it’s a bit suspect (if not sweet).
FATS WALLER-“Swingin’ Them Jingle Bells” is a swing version of Jingle Bells, with a lot of rollicking piano.  It’s good fun until the really weird vocals come in.  I guess it was something of a novelty (Waller seems to be having a lot of fun at any rate).
SPIKE JONES-“All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” is one of the oldie songs that I really don’t like.  I love Spike Jones, and I appreciate that it was a novelty hit (my father used to say this line every year).  But at 3 minutes of that weird squeaky voice, it feels way too long–and the fact that the middle just goes on and on is so weird.
GUY LOMBARDO-“Auld Lang Syne” is a pretty orchestral version of the song–probably the one you’ve heard every year.  A nice end to the party.

[READ: December 3, 2014] The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth

I grabbed this at the library, not entirely sure what it was.  Could it really be a version of Macbeth?  Set in a zoo?  Well, yes it is.  It’s a version of Macbeth for kids as performed by animals in the zoo.

The plot is the same, but it is utterly simplified and made not only kid-friendly, but also funny.  Yes, Macbeth as comedy!

So the lion is Macbeth, a heroic figure if ever there was.  And the owl is the king.  Everything is great until th elion is hungry for…power!  Various other animals play different parts (some of them very humorously–like the blind mole as the guard).  And many other animals are in the audience (of course) and they get to comment on the performance too.   I particularly enjoyed the two tiny creatures (no idea what they are), one of whom loves the violence and the other one hates it. (more…)

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Grimaldi & Bannister–Tib and Tum Tum: #1 Welcome to the Tribe (2011) [translated 2013]

Posted in Adventure, Bannister, Barenaked Ladies, Calvin and Hobbes, Carol Klio Burrell, Children's Books, Christmas, Christmas Album, Cute, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Grimaldi, Indigo Girls, Translation, Woody Guthrie on December 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tibSOUNDTRACK: INDIGO GIRLS-Holly Happy Days (2010).

hollyhappyI know I bought this for Sarah for Christmas a few years ago (I like that it looks like a present).  Sarah and I have both been fans of the Indigo Girls (and we’ve both seen them, but at different events).  This seemed like an obvious fun record for the holidays.  But we both felt a little let down by it.

I’m not exactly sure what’s not quite right, but after listening  again, I think the record is just too much of a downer for Christmas.  I mean even the Indigo Girls’ more serious songs counterbalance with lively singing, but much of this album feels very dirge-like to me.

The main unexpected thing for me is that the record is largely bluegrass-inflected–not something I expect from the Indigo Girls–or Christmas music.

But that’s just how it opens–banjos and fiddle and whooping on “I Feel the Christmas Spirit” a song I didn’t know before.  It’s fun, just unexpected.  “It Really is (a Wonderful Life)” reminds of Barenaked Ladies for some reason (not their voices obviously). It’s folky and is another a song I didn’t know.  I like it–it’s fun having new Christmas songs.
“O Holy Night” has a very weird quality to it.  I usually love this song, but I don’t really care for the way they did this one–it feels flat or something.  Or maybe it’s the violins and folk trappings?  Actually, the middle part (with their great harmonies) sounds really good–I guess it’s just the opening I don’t like.

“Your Holiday Song” sounds more like  a”real” Indigo Girls song–great harmonies, cool chord progressions.  (This one was written by Emily Saliers, so that makes sense).  It’s the first song I really like on the disc.

It’s the middle of the disc that really loses any steam it had.  “I’ll be Home for Christmas” is certainly a sad kind of song, but their version is practically suicidal.  Oh it’s such a downer with that slow violin solo.  Who would want to listen to this version of this song?
“Mistletoe” is an Amy Ray original.  Coming right after the downer of “I’ll be Home” this one is also slow and a downer.  I find that Ray’s voice also sounds really different on this song–I would never have guessed this was her.
“Peace Child” is the third downer in a row, and you just want to give up on your festive mood after this one.

But it picks up with a rollicking bluegrass “The Wonder Song” (written by Amy Ray).  It’s the most fun song on the disc and while it doesn’t scream Christmas, it is a holiday song.

Obviously no one is making “In the Bleak Midwinter” into an upbeat poppy song.  Their version is quite pretty, and their harmonies are wonderful.

Perhaps the strangest song is their cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Happy Joyous Hanukkah.”  It feels very Guthrie, which means it should be done in a folk style (which it is).  The surprise is the full bluegrass rendition of a Hanukkah song (how many Hanukkah songs have whooping in them?  It’s fun, though.

“Angels We Have Heard on High” sounds great with their harmonies.  Although the mandolin solo kind of brings the song down to earth in a weird way.

The disc ends as it middled, with a slow, mournful song,”There’s Still My Joy.”  While I know that not everyone is happy at Christmastime, this record goes a bit too far into the darkness for my liking.

[READ: December 2, 2014] Tib and Tum Tum

Here is another translated comic.  It is done with great flair by Carol Klio Burrel who also did Nola’s World.  This story is aimed more at kids though (but is not existential at all–see yesterday’;s post about translated stories).  The biggest surprise for me with this is that it is actually a series of one page strips rather than a long graphic novel (I think).  Well, there is a long story arc, but every page seems to have a “punchline” as if the story was sequential rather than continuous.

It’s a very simple premise. The book is set in caveman days.  Tib is a small boy with a giant birthmark on his face.  The other kids make fun of him for this.  His mother is overprotective (the joke about him always being safe is very funny) and his father is an oblivious storyteller (whoppers of tales, I must say).  In that first strip, Tib runs into Tum Tum, a baby dinosaur.  He is adorable (and a little scary too, of course).  And Tib decides that this red guy is pretty cool.  Tum Tum spends most of his time chasing (an eating) butterflies.

When Tib tells the elders about the dinosaur they tell him of course that dinosaurs are extinct.  (I love that the story is set in caveman times but that they talk in a more or less contemporary way (no grunting) and are knowledgeable (there’s a sewing joke which is very funny).  When he tries to show Tum Tum to them, the dinosaur hides so no one can see him.  Eventually his mom thinks he has an imaginary friend. (more…)

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Bob Odenkirk–A Load of Hooey (2014)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, Funny (ha ha), McSweeney's, Poetry, Political Humor, Religion, Unreliable narrator on November 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

hooeySOUNDTRACK: Songs for Stuffing: A Thanksgiving Mix (2011).

turkey_wide-5d9e8a59bec66b4815045e86e4267da98ecc9263-s1900-c85There are not too many Thanksgiving songs.  But our friends at NPR created this Thanksgiving mix back in 2011.  It seems to lie dormant for much of the year but they bring it back at a seasonally appropriate time.

I have to admit I have not actually listened to it (at least not yet).  But it includes this rather broad selection of artists (designed to please or alienate everyone on Thanksgiving).

A Band of Bees • Amadou & Mariam • The Andrews Sisters • Louis Armstrong • The B-52’s • The Beatles • Ludwig von Beethoven • William Billings • Willie Bobo • Bow Wow Wow • Greg Brown • Cab Calloway • Cyrus Chestnut • Guy Clark • Nat King Cole • Joe Craven • Joseph Curiale • Guy Davis • Champion Jack Dupree • Bob Dylan • The Flaming Lips • Dave Frishberg • William DeVaughn • Rick Gallagher • Dizzy Gillespie • Johnny Griffin • Patty Griffin • Golden Smog • Benny Goodman • Arlo Guthrie • Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass feat. Ozomatli • Herbie Hancock • Bill Heid • David Holt • The JB’s • Jay & The Techniques • Louis Jordan • Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan • Paul Lingle • Lyle Lovett • Eric “Two Scoops” Moore • New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble • Harry Nilsson • Tim O’Brien • Lee “Scratch” Perry • Michelle Shocked • Dmitri Shostakovich • Southern Culture on the Skids • Spearhead • Still on the Hill • Rufus Thomas • Traffic • Bobby Troup • Jay Ungar & Molly Mason • Warrant • Ethel Waters • The Wiyos • “Weird Al” Yankovic

You can hear the mix streaming on NPR.

[READ: November 27, 2014] A Load of Hooey

Just in time for Thanksgiving, McSweeney’s has sent us A Load of Hooey.

Bob Odenkirk has been cropping up a lot lately (not as much as erstwhile partner and financially secure comedian, David Cross, mind you), and that’s a good thing.  There’s something about Odenkirk’s persona (crotchety, uptight, white guy) that is usually really funny.  He often elevates crappy sitcoms just by yelling at one of the characters.

This book is a collection of short pieces (most are 1-3 pages), including “unabridged quotations” and poems.  They cover a variety of subjects, but pretty much all upend expectations.  And, as one might expect from Odenkirk, there’s a lot of religious and political jokes as well.

The “unabridged quotations” allow Odenkirk to append something that removes the pomp from some famous quotations.  The poems are usually funny, twisted barbs at some subject or another.

But the main targets are religions and politicians. (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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Chris Grabenstein–Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library (2013) [audiobook 2014–Jesse Bernstein ]

Posted in Audiobooks, Big Books, Children's Books, Chris Grabenstein, Contests, Funny (ha ha), Games (Non Video), Library Related, Mystery, Technology on November 15, 2014| 1 Comment »

lemocello[LISTENED TO: November 5, 2014] Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

We were looking for an audiobook for a recent trip and I decided to get Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.  I didn’t know anything about it, but the title sounded fun, especially for two librarians.

Well, I had no idea how much fun it would be for two librarians (and for others, too, I assure you).

So Mr Lemoncello is a game maker.  He has hundreds and hundreds of board games and in this universe, everyone loves playing them.  In the very first scene, Kyle Keeley and his brothers are playing Mr Lemoncello’s Indoor-Outdoor Scavenger Hunt (which is just what it sounds like).  In an attempt to finally beat his brothers, Kyle tries to sneak back into his house through a basement window (thereby saving the time of going down the stairs.  He inadvertently breaks the window and is grounded or a week (although he did win, so that’s something–and it shows just how intensely they play games in that family).

The next chapter opens up on the finishing touches of the brand new library in Kyle’s town.  Alexandriaville, Ohio has not had a library for 12 years and Mr Lemoncello’s gift to the town is the coolest most state of the art library ever built.  (Seriously, it is practically every librarian’s fantasy library with books and books and books (rooms coded by dewy number) and all kinds of high tech gadgetry to go with it.  I would love to see this place built).

Kyle is bummed about being grounded.  And to make matters worse, he forgot about the extra credit essay contest “Why I am excited about the new public Library.” At the last minute he throws together a lousy essay (which consists of “Balloons. There might be balloons,” and he is laughed at by just about everyone.  But when the essay winners are announced (12 of them), he is the final winner–how could that be? (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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