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Archive for the ‘Graphic Novel’ Category

Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Squish: Captain Disaster (#4) (2012)

Posted in Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Ralph's World, Short Books, Soccer, The Dickies, Trout Fishing in America on July 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

squish4SOUNDTRACK: RALPH’S WORLD-At the Bottom of the Sea [First Half] (2002).

ralph seaI’m splitting this disc in two parts because there are seventeen tracks on it.  This is one of my favorite Ralph’s World records.  There’s something about the collection of originals and covers that is always varied, always interesting and lots of fun.  (Most Ralph’s World records meet the same criteria, but this one seems to have overall a better collection of songs).  Which is kind of interesting as it is his second kids album.

“At the Bottom of the Sea” is a fun bopping song (with fast lyrics and a slide guitar!).  “Honey for the Bears” is a countryish song that is very fun to sing along to (even if it seems factually questionable).  “The Coffee Song” is also fun to sing along to (what is it about spelling songs that make you want to spell along?).  Even though none of us drink coffee in the house.  “Surfin’ in My Imagination” is, yes, a surf rock song (this album is a nice introduction to different styles of music).

I had the theme from “Harry’s Haunted Halloween Circus” in my head for days before I could remember what it was—it’s a kind of clarinet and tuba riff, slightly off but also mesmerizing like circus music.  I really like it.  I don’t think I ever really listened to the lyrics which are quite “spooky.”  “The Banana Splits Song” is always super fun, whether it’s by Ralph’s World or The Dickies (who are goofy but not really for kids).  “18 Wheels on the Big Rig” was introduced to me by Trout Fishing in America, so I always think their version is best (even if they do it live exactly the same every time). Ralph’s version is good, but just not quite as good as TFiA.  “Clean My Room” is a blues, which I don’t particularly like (I’m nt a fan of the blues, although this one is funny).  The first half ends with “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”  Ralph’s version has some extra verses and a whole new scenario as well as a very amusing (to adults) punchline.

The second half will come tomorrow.

[READ: July 20, 2013] Squish #4

Somehow I didn’t even know that there were two new Squish books out.  Hoorah!

Although this particular volume felt a little slim to me.  Not in the size, but in the content.  In this book, Squish joins a soccer team.  His team is terrible, compiled from a mishmash of players, many of whom are simply, terrible.  The coach tries to get everyone excited (blah blah blah) and then Squish is promoted to Captain of the team (because someone volunteered him).

The problem here is that in the book, it is the captain who makes all the decisions regarding the plays and players.  Which is nonsense at that age.  I realize of course that this is fiction and a children’s book and a comic book and that the story wouldn’t coalesce if he wasn’t captain, but it puts a crazy amount of pressure on poor Squish.

The other problem is that it’s a story about sports.  Sports stories always stink because you either win or you lose.  And, in an underdog sports story you lose a lot and then you win. It’s pretty unavoidable.  Although the Holms do a nice twist on it at the end.  But really, most of the book is just scenes of them losing–which sells short the usual snappy dialogue. (more…)

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Peter Bagge–Reset (2013)

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Decadence, Drinking, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Geddy Lee, Graphic Novel, Neil Peart, Peter Bagge, Rush, Sex, Technology on July 11, 2013| 2 Comments »

resetSOUNDTRACK: RUSH “Garden Road” and “Fancy Dancer” (from Fifth Order of the Angels) (1974).

I mentioned this bootleg a few years ago, but it has recently been updated to include the missing songs.  (Huzzah!).

So this set from 1974 is pretty great–rocking, noisy, screaming solos–a very heavy show (and the crowd is quite appreciative).

These two songs never made it on any Rush albums.  They were written before Neil joined the band and, when asked, he said they never made it on an album because they were written before he joined the band (bitchy!).  But evidently the songs were quite popular when they toured.

“Fancy Dancer” opens with a staccato riff and lyrics about a woman who leaves him.  The second verse allows Alex to noodle while Geddy is singing (which is why I never really notice the lyrics).  The chorus has some big chords and reminds me in some ways of “Making Memories.”  But mostly this seems like a chance for Alex to solo and solo and solo (and for Neil to play…only a bass drum!  (for a few measures)).  The song is 3:43 and the solo is over a minute and a half.  Although the end has some cool fast short chords that the band would use very effectively on 2112.

“Garden Road” has a faster riff (very bluesy), which is interspersed with some chugga chugga guitars during the vocals.  The chorus is completely unintelligible to me.  “This Garden Road is Whoa!.”

A few other things about this bootleg which I neglected to mention.  The solo in Working Man incorporates some sections of what would become “By-Tor and the Snow Dog.”  And it’s really funny hearing Geddy say, “We’d like to do something from our album.”  It’s pretty amazing how far the band progressed from these rocking beginnings.

Download the whole thing here.

[READ: July 5, 2013] Reset

I recognized Bagge’s name, although I haven’t read his previous books.  I’m sure I’ve seen his work anthologized as his style is very familiar.  His drawings are dark (some might say ugly) and his characters always seem a little pained.

So it’s unsurprising that this book’s protagonist is Guy Krause, a former actor.  (His famous line is hilarious and I love that it is revealed very late in the story and then as a running joke).  He has recently come close to hitting bottom–his upcoming shows have been cancelled and his last resort is a reality show.  And when we first meet him, he is in a drunk driving class.

And that’s where Angela Minor comes in.  She offers Guy a chance to relive his life.  He’s obviously skeptical until she explains that it is a virtual experience.  They hook him up to a machine and he gets to try to change the virtual past.  This is all an experiment in seeing how people react to being able to change things that they fixate on.  It turns out the scientists have all kinds of information on him (because he is a celebrity) so it’s not a coincidence that they found him.

Guy balks.  Until she tells him how much they’ll pay him to do it.  Then he’s in. (more…)

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Ben Hatke–Legends of Zita the Spacegirl (2012)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Ben Folds, Ben Hatke, Bob Dylan, Children's Books, Dweezil Zappa, First Second :01, Frank Zappa, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Short Books, System of a Down, The Hives, The Strokes, The White Stripes on July 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

zita2SOUNDTRACK:poodle “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC–Poodle Hat (2003).

I think of Poodle hat as a good Al album.  It won a Grammy even (the true sign of quality, right?).  But its the only one of his albums (along with Polka arty) to not even go gold!  That’s pretty amazing given that he’s usually platinum.  I read that stat before listening again and I wondered why this album tanked so bad.  Was it the title or the cover or what?  And why do I think fondly of the record?  Well, it turns out I think fondly of the record because of the final track, “Genius in France” a Frank Zappa style parody (which I assume was not terribly endearing to many people either).  But what about the rest of the album:

Couch Potato.  It’s a good parody of Eminem, but I never thought the original was that good to begin with–it’s pretty repetitive with no real drama.  And while the lyrics are funny, so as a lead off track it’s not that great.  “Hardware Store” is a weird song–lots of crazy sound effects and backing vocalists.  I want to like it more than I do–the fast singing is great the lyrics are all kinda funny but it doesn’t really resonate–the chorus, perhaps is not that great.  “Trash Day” is a parody of a song by Nelly, which I don’t know.  I’ll now show off my musical prejudice by saying that a lot of these aggressive R&B/rap songs sound very similar with no real hook, which I think makes the parodies harder to enjoy.  “Party at the Leper Colony” just seems like a bad idea (especially for Al’s umpeenth album).  It’s a rockabilly type song (a style I don’t like anyway), so another thumbs down.

“Angry White Boy Polka”is the first bright ray on the disc–mixing aggressive metal songs in the polka style is a pretty great idea, especially System of a Down, The Hives and The White Stripes.  Twisting the style of The Strokes twist is a pretty great idea too.  I really enjoyed the way the angry songs are utterly lightened with silly sound effects.  It’s very funny.

“Wanna Be Ur Lovr” is a song I never much liked until seeing him perform it live.  It’s a sexy song made up entirely of lame come on lines.  It’s petty funny but the live version utterly blows it away.  “A Complicated Song” is a parody of Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated”.  It seems like it might be just a silly parody until the first verse turns out to be about eating too much cheese.  I laughed so hard to find that the first rhyme was “constipated”  The other two verses can’t possibly live it to it but that first one is a big highlight (toilet humor it may be, but it’s good toilet humor).  “Why Does This Always Happen to Me?” features Ben Folds on piano (the piano is very good).  The song is a series of complaints about minor things within the context of real tragedy.  It’s a funny idea but the presentation doesn’t seem to work somehow.

“Ode to a Superhero” is a surprise because it uses Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” as the musical basis for a song about Spiderman.  It seems like a sure fire hit after “The Saga Begins.”  And it works quite well.  “Bob” is a series of palindromes (see the title) done in the style of Bob Dylan.  It’s very clever.  “Ebay” has been mocked for being so similar to an actual eBay commercial, but I think its very funny.  I never liked the original but I find myself singing this every time I think of eBay.  “Genius in France” features Dweezil Zappa on guitar, and beyond that it gets so many Frank Zappa things right.  It is weird and crazy and spot-on.  I love to think that it may have made some Zappa fans out of Weird Al fans.  And if you’re a Zappa fan, you must listen to this to see just how many great Zappa musical moments he throws in here (including vocals styles and potty jokes).

It’s pretty interesting how the back half of the album is so much better than the first half (that’s no way to sell albums, Al).  I can totally see why this album didn’t sell all that well. And I’m a little bummed that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

[READ: June 19, 2013] Legends of Zita the Spacegirl

I actually read this book first of the two (didn’t realize it was the second book in the series and, frankly from the title, how could I?).  But I’ll treat it like I read it second.

So this story picks up soon after the first ended.  But rather than Zita, we see a robot crawling through a junkyard.  The robot’s box says RECALLED and the name is Imprint-o-tron.  The robot sees a poster of Zita and is immediately overwhelmed by a crowd who is rushing to see her.  Imprint-o-tron paints itself to look like Zita as the crowd assembles.

And there we see, Piper introducing Zita, the girl who saved Scriptorius.  But she is nervous, and intimidated by the crowd and tells the truth, that it was Randy who blew up the bad guys.  But they aren’t buying it.  She signs autographs, gets exhausted and hides behind a rock where Imprint-o-tron sees her and immediately becomes her (but with circles instead of dots for eyes).  Zita delights in this doppelgänger and sends it out to do her singing work while she and Mouse run off to have fun.

But then the ambassador of the planet Lumponia informs them that  swarm of star hearts are heading for their planet and they as Zita for help.  Robot Zita agrees and when real Zita returns to the ship, robot Zita pushes her away and takes off with the crew. (more…)

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Ben Hatke–Zita the Spacegirl (2010)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Adventure, Barenaked Ladies, Beastie Boys, Ben Hatke, Children's Books, Chumbawamba, Eddie Vedder, End of the World, Fantasy, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Harvey Danger, Nine Inch Nails, Semisonic, Short Books, Terry Gilliam, The Rugburns on July 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

zitaSOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-Running with Scissors (1999).

Running_with_Scissors_(Weird_Al_Yankovic_album_-_cover_art)This is the first album Al released with is new look—LASIK surgery and long hair.  He looked quite different, but it didn’t diminish his song writing skills.  Running with Scissors is a pretty great collection of songs.

“The Saga Begins” is a genius parody taking the music of “American Pie” and merging it with the plot from Star Wars Episode I.  The way he retells the story is snarky and funny.  “My Baby’s in Love with Eddie Vedder” is a weird song—an accordion-based zydeco song about, well, a guy whose girl loves Eddie Vedder.  Vedder is kind of a weird person to pick (since he does make fun of him), although I guess it’s pretty mild abuse.  “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi” opens with a joke on a Def Leppard song (in Hebrew) but then moves on to “Pretty Fly for a White Guy.”  The original is pretty goofy and there’s not much Al could have done to it except this—changing it to being all about a rabbi. I like this version better than the original now.

The next track is the theme for The Weird Al Show.  It’s utter nonsense, but very funny.  And it packs a lot in to the 75 seconds that it lasts.  “Jerry Springer” is a parody of Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week.”  The original is pretty weird/funny, so this seems an odd choice, and yet Al’s specifics to the Jerry Springer show is pretty funny.  Of course I hate shows like that so I don’t love this song.

“Germs” is a style parody of Nine Inch nails (the song opens a like “Terrible Lie”, and then moves through some other songs).  The sound is uncanny in its soundalikeness (except perhaps the “microscopic bacteria” section which is a little too goofy sounding even for NIN.

“Polka Power” is one of the first medleys where the parodied songs seem utterly dated.  Like The Spice Girls, Harvey Danger, Backstreet Boys (which I only know because he says “Backstreet’s Back.” Smash Mouth.  Chumbawamba, Marchy Playground, and Semisonic.  Of course, there is also a Beastie Boys line (“Intergalactic”), but it’s a very era specific song.  “Your Horoscope for Today” is a ska song of horoscopes inspired by The Onion (which is hilarious).

Of course, nothing comes close to “Its All About the Pentiums,” Al’s first rap song about being a total dork  It is amazing—heavy guitars and lots of screaming.  It’s even more bad ass than the original.  And the smack talk is hilarious Asking about his computer: “You think your Commodore 64 is really neato.  What kind of chip you got in there, a Dorito?”).  I can listen to this song over and over.  It’s a wonderful precursor to “White and Nerdy.”  “Truck Drivin’ Song” has a remarkably deep voice for Al. It’s about driving a truck (as a transvestite).  The humor is childish but funny and with that voice it’s particularly so.  “Grapefruit Diet” is another series of jokes about being fat, but it works very well as a parody of “Zoot Suit Riot” with the jazzy horns and all.

That leaves “Albuquerque” an eleven, yes eleven, minute story song.  It’s a style parody of a song by The Rugburns which I didn’t know until recently (called Dick’s Automotive, but that song is much more “adult” than Al’s. The song is simple enough but the lyrics are wondrously absurd and very very funny.  And as it goes on and on and on you just marvel at the mind that created it.  And it’s catchy too.

Scissors is a great album which holds up quite well after 14 years.

[READ: June 23, 2013] Zita the Space Girl

I’d actually read the sequel to this book first, but I quickly found this first book and the family devoured it, too.

This is a charming and sweetly drawn series about a girl, Zita, who winds up in outer space.  As it opens, Zita is being a bit of a bully to her friend Joseph.  Not horrible but teasing in the way friends can do.  And when they find a giant meteor hole and a space-type gadget with a big red button on it, of course she threatens to push it in front to him,  He freaks out, but she does it anyhow.  And when she does, another dimension opens up and sucks Joseph away.  Oops.

So she pushes it again and winds up in the same place which she realizes is very very different from her own.  The thing that has Joseph is all tentacles in a diver’s helmet.  But that’s just one of the weird creatures here (as seen in Gilliam’s Guide to Sentient Species–which I take as a tribute to Terry Gilliam).  Like Strong-Strong, a large lumbering biped (who helps Zita), and a group of chicken creatures (who do not).  There’s also a man who plays a flute (called Piper) who may or may not be a friend.  She also meets a giant mouse named Pizzicato, but which Zita just calls Mouse.  Mouse is very sweet and communicates through a printer around its neck. (more…)

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Jonathan Fetter-Vorm–Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb (2012)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Dead Can Dance, Death, End of the World, Graphic Novel, History, Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, KCRW 89.9 FM--Santa Monica, CA, Scientists, Smarty Pants, Violence, War on April 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

vormSOUNDTRACK: DEAD CAN DANCE-“Children of the Sun” (Live at KCRW, April 24, 2013).

deadcandanceDead Can Dance are timeless.  Their music sounds ancient and modern at the same time.  And Brendan Perry’s voice has an unearthly majesty to it that never seems to age.

I’ve known the band for decades (during which time they have broken up and reunited and broken up and reunited).  And in all that time, while their sound has changed in subtle ways, the band is instantly recognizable.  I’ve never really thought of them as a live entity–they just seem like such a creation of the studio that it would be impossible to do justice to their wash of music live.  Of course that was truer three decades ago before it was easy to fit an entire orchestra on an iPod.

You can watch this song on NPR.  It’s fun to watch a band with two keyboardists (and Lisa Gerrard on…autoharp?) and see all of them making very different sounds.  The only disappointing thing about watching this is that they have so many cool instruments strewn about which do not get used on this song (you can see the whole show here and watch him bust out that bouzouki).

This song is a new one and it doesn’t have quite the ponderous nature as their older material.  Which is a bit of a shame, as they were so over the top it was fabulous, but maybe they’re just settling into New Old Age.

[READ: April 20, 2013] Trinity

Sarah brought this book home because it was on YALSA Hub Reading Challenge for 2013. I’m unlikely to do the challenge as I have so many other books to read, but I have already read 5 of the required 25.  Not too bad, although since the challenge is from Feb to June and I read a couple last year, I don’t even qualify for some of the ones I DID read.  Anyhow, she told me I’d like this and she was right (as usual).

Trinity is the story of the development of the atomic bomb done as a graphic novel.

It outlines how we came to develop and test the bomb and of course, the aftermath of its use.  What I liked about the story is that leading up to the detonation of the bomb, the quest for its discovery is presented in a fairly neutral way.  Essentially, once it was discovered that we could split the atom, it was deemed inevitable that someone would make a bomb out of it.  It stood to reason that if Hitler or the Japanese figured it out before us they would use it on us (since we were at war with them).  The intention was that America would be decent and not use it with impunity (which is not to say we wouldn’t use it at all).  The book presents that American can do spirit that the forties seem to be all about–a sort of gee whiz, let’s figure this out mentality.

I knew some of the history of the bomb, but there was a lot here that I didn’t know: that thousands of people moved to New Mexico to work on the bomb—housing was put up and families moved in, some 80,000 people in all.  And most of the people had no idea what they were working on.  It’s hard to fathom that there were thousands of people whose work helped to create a nuclear bomb and yet they can feel neither pride nor shame because they had no idea that’s what they were doing.  Weird. (more…)

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Jeanne DuPrau–The City of Ember: The Graphic Novel (adapted by Dallas Middaugh; Art by Niklas Asker) (2012)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Children's Books, Dallas Middaugh, Dystopia, Graphic Novel, Greed, Jeanne DuPrau, Niklas Asker, Trilogy on April 19, 2013| 1 Comment »

ember

SOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-“Gump” [single] (1996).

gump

This was the second single I purchased from “Weird Al”‘s Bad Hair Day album, this time it was “Gump” with six, yes six, B-sides.  The first one was “Spy Hard” the theme from the movie (starring Leslie Nielsen).  It’s a funny theme song, very Bond, but also with great spoofy lyrics.  It wasn’t available anywhere else, although it has since been released as its own single (with no B-Sides).

The rest of the B-Sides include “Since You’ve Been Gone” from the album and a karaoke version of the same song.  This karaoke version is quite funny and is probably the best B-side he’s released.  The band provides the backing vocals to keep you in place.  Which means that in the middle of a quiet bit you suddenly hear “red hot cactus up my nose!.”

Then the B-sides get even weirder–an instrumental version of “Callin’ in Sick”
which really nobody wants.  And then two more versions of “Spy Hard,” and instrumental and an orchestral mix.  I can’t really tell them apart, and frankly they’re rather useless anyhow.  So all in all, not a great single, but that karaoke song is pretty great.

[READ: April 20, 2013] The City of Ember: The Graphic Novel

I have had the City of Ember t trilogy on my to-read list for a long time, but I’ve never gotten round to it.  So I was pleased to see this graphic novel version.  I know that the novel is pretty long, so I was surprised that this graphic version could be polished off in less than an hour.  (It’s also written at a level that is more appropriate for younger kids—the dark darknesses of the novel are condensed to just one or two pages in the beginning.  Of course, how young you want your kids reading books about corruption and dystopian societies is something else entirely.  The focus is on the kids’ attempts to escape and their working together (again, I haven’t read the novel so I don’t really know how that breaks down in the book).

So the story as presented here is a simple one.  The city of Ember is the only place where there is light in an otherwise dark world.   As the story opens we see a classroom where children are set to pick their future occupation.  Lina, our heroine, picks Pipeworks laborer, which she is utterly distressed at—she wanted to be above ground. Later, Doon, our hero, chooses Messenger, but he is disdainful of the whole process— courting the wrath of the mayor who says he’s going to keep an eye on Doon.

When class ends, Doon offers to switch jobs with Lida (which I assumed would get them in trouble, but didn’t).  Lida is thrilled to work as a messenger and agrees eagerly.  Doon believes that he can cause trouble from the inside by working in the Pipeworks.  Although when he finally gets down there he sees that it is a much bigger and more daunting project than he ever imagined. (more…)

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Moto Hagio–The Heart of Thomas (1974) [translated 2012]

Posted in All Songs Considered, Big Books, Chelsea Light Moving, Death, Graphic Novel, John Donne, LGBTQ, Manga, Matt Thorn, Moto Hagio, Set at School, Thurston Moore on April 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

heartSOUNDTRACK: CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING-“The Ecstasy” (2013).

clmWhen Chelsea Light Moving played at KEXP, they went out for a break before playing live on air.  One of the DJs had a chocolate bar.  And Thurston was inspired.  According to the NPR [page:

The Sonic Youth veteran and his bandmates in Chelsea Light Moving had been jamming off-air in the KEXP studios. When they stepped outside to get some fresh air, KEXP’s DJ Sharlese followed, offering them some of her chocolate bar. At first, Moore politely declined, but as the candy got eaten away, piece by piece, a poem (John Donne’s “The Ecstasy”) was revealed underneath, printed on the candy wrapper.

“Can I have that?” he asked, and the next thing we knew, he was sprinting back into the studio, taping the tattered wrapper to a mic stand, and belting out his own version of the poem against discordant guitar chords.

The music is great.  It works perfectly with the meter of Donne’s poem and, the way Thurston delivers it, it sounds like he could have written it.  There’s some great screaming guitars, a very cool discordant chord or two and wailing solo.  I really enjoyed that Thurston doesn’t play guitar through much of the song (he leaves that to the other guitarist), he just comes in when some wildness is needed.  Awesome.

It’s a great song and hard to believe it was tossed off so easily.

Check it out here.

The lyrics are indeed from Donne’s poem, which begins:

WHERE, like a pillow on a bed,
A pregnant bank swell’d up, to rest
The violet’s reclining head,
Sat we two, one another’s best.

[You can read the rest here].

[READ: April 14, 2013] The Heart of Thomas

I brought this home from work because Sarah loves boarding school books.  But this is a manga book, and it is set up to be read right to left.  Sarah admitted that she can’t easily get her mind to work that way.  Which I understand. So I gave it a go.  I found it rough going, but after about 20 pages it became pretty natural.

The Heart of Thomas is an early example of Shōjo manga (少女漫画) which is manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10 and 18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 (shōjo), literally “little female”. Shōjo manga covers many subjects with a strong focus on human and romantic relationships and emotions.   Shōjo manga does not comprise a style or a genre per se, but rather indicates a target demographic.  shōnen-ai.  The stories were published mostly in magazines targeted at girls–which had a huge audience.  And that is where The Heart of Thomas was originally published in 1974.

The Heart of Thomas is a fascinating story—it’s set in a German boys boarding school (written by a Japanese woman!). The story opens with the death of a character named Thomas.  He falls off a bridge and the story is predicated upon wondering whether he jumped or he fell.  There are a lot of clues that he committed suicide because of his unrequited love for Juli, the prefect of boys at the school.  Juli is quite different from the other boys, he has dark hair and Greek features, he is not golden haired and blue eyed like so many of the other boys.  This makes him stand out.  Indeed, he even stands out in his own home, where he lives with his mother and grandmother.  His grandmother is disgusted by his coloring and believes him to have impure genes (yikes!).  She even tells him as much!  But Juli is a serious student and a hard worker, with no time for nonsense from his grandmother or his classmates.  He also has no time for farce.

The farce refers to a game that Thomas and Ante created in which they would both vie for Juli’s love.  Thomas pursued this heavily but was never successful.  And that may be why he killed himself (if indeed he did). (more…)

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Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Extreme Babymouse [#17] (2013)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Cats, Children's Books, Cupcakes, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Mice, Set at School, Short Books, Snowboarding, They Might Be Giants on April 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

exbabySOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-“Amish Paradise (single)1996).

amishAl took some time off between Alalpalooza and Bad Hair Day and he roared back on the scene with “Amish Paradise,” a wonderful parody of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.”  There’s a funny saga about how Coolio didn’t appreciate the joke and Al (who always asks permission even if he doesn’t need to) was really upset because he thought he had the green light.  For awhile there was an unpleasant scene between the two (not like they were in the same circle or anything) but when they finally patched things up Al admitted he could stop wearing a bulletproof vest.

The song is a spot-on recreation, (Al has totally upped his game in the studio bu this point) and while the Amish jokes are easy, they’re still funny   This single (yes, I was buying singles at the time) contains three other songs, “Everything You Know is Wrong” a great style parody of They Might be Giants and very funny song in it own right.

It also includes “The Night Santa Went Crazy (Extra Gory Version).”  I recall thinking it was very funny but now that I have kids I’d hate for them to hear it.  The extra gory part is actually the original final verse which the record company asked to tone down a bit.  So he released it here.  The last song is a very strange  an instrumental version of “Dare to Be Stupid.”  What a random song to strip words from.  Although granted, the music is pretty cool.  But still…weird.

[READ: April 7, 2013] Extreme Babymouse

I was excited to see that book 17 of the Babymouse series had come out.  This one is called Extreme Babymouse and, as you can tell from the cover, it is about extreme sports, specifically snowboarding.

What was fun about this one is that Babymouse’s fantasy dream sequence involved Sean White (for who else would you have in a snowboarding book?)  She even has crazy hair under a toque.  But what is all this extreme talk all about?  Well, everyone in her class is headed to the mountain to go snowboarding this weekend (including her locker!) and (naturally) Babymouse wants to, needs to, simply must go!  (Even if she has never been snowboarding before).

After dying inside because she can’t go, the fates align and Babymouse is able to go (her family is given a cabin for the weekend–which sounds great except that everyone else is staying at the beautiful chalet!). (more…)

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Faith Erin Hicks–Friends with Boys (2012)

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Canadian Content, Deftones, Faith Erin Hicks, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Marriage Trouble, Set at School, Short Books, Supernatural, YA Books on March 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

 fwboysSOUNDTRACK: DEFTONES-Koi No Yokan (2012).

koiThis is the disc that got me back into the Deftones.  My friend Cindy told me about an upcoming show (which just passed and which I could not attend, boo), and since I didn’t know that had a new album out, I ordered it and was really really impressed by it.  Diamond Eyes was an amazing culmination of all of their previous successes and Koi No Yokan (which means “Premonition Of Love”) takes it one step further.  They’re moving away somewhat from the really heavy sounds, and yet there is heaviness aplenty, both in Chino’s screams and in Stephen’s guitars.  Indeed, the album opens with big loud guitars–letting you know that they can still rock.

Then “Swerve City” shifts to cool swirling verses.   It’s not as extreme as earlier songs but it’s one of my favorites that they’ve done. The piercing guitar solo is great.  “Romantic Drams” has some of their more complex guitar lines mixed with a vocal line.  The bridge is bright and leads to a really catchy chorus.  There’s some really tight stop-on-a-dime moments as well.  “Leathers” pounds open with some bludgeoning chords and Chino’s screams (see, they haven’t gone soft), and then a great soaring bridge–a great hard/soft song, especially when the chorus kicks in at it’s almost inquisitive.  “Poltergeist” opens with hand claps and then some heavy loud guitars and bass.

“Entomed” presents another beautiful shimmery guitar introduction.  It’s one of their most delicate songs with the soaring chorus “shapes and colors are all I see.”  I can’t believe this song wasn’t a hit.  Why didn’t they release that as a single?  “Graphic Nature” has some great angular guitars but it smooths out into a cool song with some great basslines in it (Sergio Vega shines on this disc and even helped write some of the songs).  “Tempest” is one of those great songs where Chino sings at a different pace than the music–which I always like.  There’s a big heavy section about 4 minutes in that gives the song an extra boost.  “Gauze” has a heavy off-kilter guitar riff (with some really interesting keyboard blasts–Frank Delgado proving indispensable).  There’s a dark bridge and splashes of really heavy guitar throughout.

“Rosemary” is nearly seven minutes long and is has multiple parts.  It opens with some great echoey guitars.  And then the heavier guitars kick in chugging along while Chino’s voice soars over it.  By about five minutes the song gets really heavy and chromatic, rocking along until it suddenly stops and is replaced by a gentle guitar and keyboard  passage.  “Goon Squad” opens similarly to how “Rosemary” ends (in fact the end of “Rosemary” feels more like the beginning of “Goon Squad”) with quietly strummed guitar and swooshing keyboards.  There’s some cool weird screams that are layered in the mix of sounds.  Late in the song there’s a simple guitar solo that reminds me of Alex Lifeson.  Complex drumming (Abe Cunningham is still amazing) opens a very jazzy flavored final song “What Happened to You?”  Chino’s falsetto is in full effect and the song feels like a springboard to new styles of exploration on future records.

This album is really amazing.  It may not be as diverse as White pony but it’s more cohesive and it really highlights what a staggering good band Deftones have become.  I’m rather bummed that I missed that show.

[READ: March 13, 2013] Friends with Boys

Sarah had this book lying around for a while.  I had meant to read it because it sounded cool (and she said it was very good), but I never did.  Then she grabbed it again because it’s on a list of books she wants to read.  It was sitting on the table and I realized that the author (whose name is very very hard to read on the cover) was Faith Erin Hicks who wrote Zombies Calling, a book I enjoyed very much.  Now she’s on First Second Books (a favorite publisher of graphic novels) with this really great story.

I have one gripe I need to get out of the way.  The title is terrible for the story.  According to the drawings in the back of the book, it appears the original title was The Education of Maggie McKay which was an overdone idea at this point, but which actually makes more sense than Friends with Boys.  The title made me think that the story was about a tomboy who gets older and realizes that she can’t hang out with boys the same way.  That is certainly a part of the story, but the full story is far more complex–a girl who has been homeschooled all her life finally goes to high school, where she learns to make friends.  Oh, and there’s a ghost following her around too.  So you see, Friends with Boys, while an engaging title I think does it a disservice.

But that’s neither here nor there.  Because the story is really excellent. (more…)

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J. Torres & J. Bone–The Collected Alison Dare: Little Miss Adventures 2 (2005)

Posted in Adventure, Boredom, Children's Books, Egyptology, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, J. Bone, J. Torres, Marriage Trouble, Nazis, Pirates, Portlandia, Religion, Short Books on February 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

alsion1SOUNDTRACK: THE DOUBLECLICKS-Pirates!  The PPDXYAR EP (2012).

pdxyarI wanted to explore more of The Doubleclicks’ music, and their site showed off this EP.  It was made for Talk Like a Pirate Day (you’re already sold, right?) and EP is a tribute to the Portland Pirate crew of PDXYAR (whatever that is).  The first song is “The Pirates of PDXYAR highlights what I’ve come to understand is the real Doubleclicks sound: ukulele and cello.  But this one also has a host of backing vocals (make and female).  The song is all about the pirates of PDXYAR and how they came to be and how the represent Portland.

The second song “How Not to Touch a Pirate” is a simpler song which insists that, tempting as it may seem, you should NOT be touching any of the pirates (this seems like a real inside joke).  Its amusing and would probably be funnier if I knew more about PDXYAR.  And oops, this song even has an F-bomb at the end–watch out!

The final track is a remix of “The Pirates of PDXYAR, ”  And mostly it allows more funny backing vocals.  It’s a better, funnier track because of it.

I’m not sold on The Doubleclicks yet.  I like them, but I think more in small doses.

So it turns out that PDXYAR is a Portland-based pirate crew, which you can read about on their website.  The lyrics to the song seem to explain  the origins of the pirates (kickstarter).  Frankly, I don’t know why the pirates (and the Doubleclicks) haven’t appeared on Portlandia yet.

[READ: February 7, 2013] Alison Dare: Little Miss Adventures 2

Volume 2 of Alison Dare is just as fun as Volume 1.  Although I admit the first story was a little confusing (I was never really sure exactly how these books were published originally, so it wasn’t clear that the first few stories were connected.  Although in retrospect it seems obvious enough.

In the first story, “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” it’s obvious that Alison doesn’t have much in the way of the excitement that girls expect from her.  So she makes up an elaborate story which all of the girls (except her two close friends) find wonderful   In “The Unbelievable Truth” we see what really happened (and we see that Alison’s story wasn’t far off, but that details make all the difference).

In “The Perfect Gift” the Blue Scarab (aka Alison’s dad) searches for the perfect gift for his daughter.  But that proves harder than he thought, especially when she accidentally takes a precious jewel that he has recovered in a mission.  In “A Day at the Museum” the girls open something they shouldn’t and unleash a plague.  This ties to the previous story in an unexpected way.  And in “The Gift Exchange” the previous two stories come together for a satisfying conclusion. (more…)

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