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Archive for the ‘King Arthur’ Category

Poul Anderson–Three Hearts and Three Lions (1961) [audiobook 2011–Bronson Pynchot]

Posted in Audiobooks, Bronson Pinchot, Chirp Audiobooks, Dwarfs, Elves, Fairies, Fantasy, King Arthur, Morgan Le Fay, Poul Anderson, Romance, Sci-fi, Science, Scientists, World War II on November 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: October 2021] Three Hearts and Three Lions

Every since I signed up for Chirp audio books, I’ve been able to really indulge my love of Bronson Pinchot as a reader.

I bought this book without knowing much about it.  I basically make sure that the books aren’t war books, because I don’t care about that subject, and if it’s not, then I’m on board.

This book was a cool sci-fi fantasy story by an author whom I had heard of but didn’t know anything about.  Imagine my surprise to find out that book was initially written in 1953 as a novella and expanded into a novel for 1961!  I was especially surprised because there is some serious science a the book opens which seemed far more contemporary.

Holger Carlsen is an engineer.  The prologue of the story shows him working in an engineering department and talking about science-y stuff.  The story is about Carlsen, but told from a different point of view.  Pinchot gets to use a Danish accent for all of his speaking parts.

The narrator talks about what happens as if it is not believable but that he is going to relate the story anyway: “Holger’s tale does not seem altogether impossible to me. Not that I claim it’s true.”  He says that Carlsen was generally well-liked and respected.  And this is his story.

Carlsen decided to join the Danish resistance in fighting Nazis in WWII.  The fighting is going well, and the American forces are known to be coming.  But Holger is shot.  He wakes up naked in an unfamiliar place.

He looks around.  Things seem normal, although he can’t explain his nakedness.  He wanders around and finds a horse who is not afraid of him.  He also finds a cottage that has clothes which fit him,  Things seem off somehow, though, and he genuinely can’t get his bearings.

Soon enough he meets an old woman who claims to be a witch. She speaks a language he doesn’t know and yet he understands her.  Through a drawn out discussion and some revelations, he realizes that he is kind of a medieval knight and he sees a shield emblazoned with three hearts and three lions. (more…)

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Thomas Wheeler & Frank Miller–Cursed (2019)

Posted in Adultery, Adventure, Alanis Morissette, Bandits, Bas, Big Books, Cursed, Curses, Death, Frank Miller, Graphic Novel, Horses, King Arthur, Kissing, Magicians, Mereba, Myths, Netflix, NPR/PRI/PBS, Pirates, Poetry, Refugees, Religion, Spillage Village, Supernatural, Superstitions, Teeth, Thomas Wheeler, Tiny Desk Concert, Torture, Travel, Trees, Unfinished series, Vikings, Violence, YA Books on November 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MEREBA-Tiny Desk Concert #916 (November 27, 2019).

Who the heck is Mereba?

Very few artists get to return to the Tiny Desk, and fewer still return twice in the same year. But after contributing background vocals behind the desk for Dreamville artist Bas in early 2019, we invited Mereba back for a solo set that puts her eclectic, major-label debut The Jungle Is The Only Way Out into sharp focus.

As with many singers I’ve never heard of, I’m not sure if these songs sound like this on the record or if they are more dancey.  I do quite like the simple, organic sounds that accompany these songs.

The stripped-down soundscape Mereba achieves live with her four-piece band is equally dreamlike here, drawing from influences as wide-ranging as the many places she’s called home (Alabama, Philly, North Carolina, Atlanta, Ethiopia). As she pulls from genres as seemingly disparate as folk, rap and spoken word, her set reflects the years she spent perfecting her craft on live stages in Atlanta cafes and clubs, where she attracted the attention of the indie creative collective Spillage Village  before joining them in 2014.

She sings three songs and recites a poem (all on the album).

When “Black Truck” started I thought she sounded exactly like Alanis Morissette.  The way she says “and I said world would you please have some mercy on me” sounds very uncannily like her.  The song is a quiet, mellow piece that starts with a simple bass line (including some harmonics) from Chris James and guitar washes that turn into a nice picked melody from Sam Hoffman.  After a minute or so, Aisha Gaillard plays a simple drum beat and the song kicks into higher gear.

Through all of this, the backing vocals from Olivia Walker were just beautiful.  The end of the song turns into a kind of rap as the guitar and bass fade out.  I say kind of a rap because Mereba is also a poet and she has more of a poet’s delivery than a rapper’s delivery.

For “Stay Tru” the guys switch instruments and the bass takes on a slightly more lead role.  But this song is also very mellow.  Mereba’s vocals sound a bit more Jamaican in his song.  Midway through, James switches to violin and Mereba plays keys which adds a whole new texture.  I didn’t like this song as much because the chorus is kinda lame with a lot of repeating of “cut the bullshit, this time” sung in a sweet voice.  It also seems to drag on for a really long time (although it is very pretty).

“Dodging The Devil” is a poem she wrote when things just didn’t seem to be going right.  After a couple of verses, a quiet guitar line fills in the background.

On the last song, “Kinfolk,” Mereba plays the main guitar line while Sam plays single soaring notes.  The song kicks into gear with a simple guitar riff and some prominent bass.

I really enjoyed this set.  I thought the music was beautifully restrained and her voice distinct enough in each song to show such a range of sounds.  It’s always nice to be surprised by a new musician.

[READ: November 15, 2019] Cursed

I saw this book in the new YA section at the library.  I was attracted by the cover and fascinated by the “soon to be a Netflix Original Series” sticker.

I have known of Frank Miller for years.  I’m sure I’ve read graphic novels by him, although I don’t know if I’ve read Sin City (maybe a long time ago?).  Mostly he drew superhero comics which is not my thing.  Turns out I really don’t like his artistic style in this book (at least for the way he draws the heroine–I rather like the way the bad guys are drawn).  If the series was in any way designed to look like the art in the book I don’t think I’d watch it.

But the story itself is petty darn good.  It took me a while to read it for some reason. I guess maybe the opening was a little slow because there’s so much going on it takes awhile to really get settled in this universe.

But the description of the story is pretty intriguing: Whosoever wields the sword of power shall be the one true king.  But what if the sword has chosen a queen?

For this is a story of Arthurian legend with many many twists.  My knowledge of Arthurian legend is surprisingly minimal.  I love the story and I know the main participants, but there is a lot of information in here that I didn’t know about–or even how much Wheeler is making up. (more…)

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Eddie Izzard–Believe Me (2017) [audiobook 2017–Eddie Izzard]

Posted in #ITMFA, #RESIST, Acting, Adventure, Advice, Africa, Astronauts, Audiobooks, Autobiographies, Chickens, Christmas, donald tRUMP, Eddie Izzard, Eddie Izzard, Food, Funny (ha ha), Gender, Hippos, History, Hospitals, King Arthur, Kissing, Macaroni in Warm Milk, Marathon, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Memoirs, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Morality, NASA, Nazis, Nelson Mandela, Non-fiction, Politicians, Racism, Religion, Running, Science, Sex, Sexism, Soccer, Spike Milligan, Steve McQueen, Technology, The Bible, The Great Escape, Transgender, Translation, Travel on September 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: September 13, 2017] Believe Me

When I saw that Eddie Izzard had a book out I was pretty interested to read it.  I have loved his stand-up since 1997 or 1998 and I was lucky enough to see him on his Circle Tour (on the date they recorded it!).  I have been keeping up with his career and trying to see him in whatever he does (although I like my comedy more than drama and he has certainly made the shift towards drama in recent years).

I thought an autobiography or memoir by him would be pretty interesting (even if he claims to be boring).  But when I saw that he read the audiobook, I knew I had to give it a listen (even if it was 12 discs)!

Amusingly, there was a long delay at the library.  The lady at the counter (who is not the librarian–we librarians know the difference) said if I knew his voice, I could just read the book to myself in his voice.  It was an amusing thought, and I possibly could do that, ….yes, but Eddie’s voice is just so fantastic that it never would have worked properly.  Plus, he throws in easily an extra hours worth of footnotes and rambles that aren’t in the print book!  That’s right, an extra hour’s worth of nonsense if you do the audio.   True you don;t get to see the pictures, but it’s a fair trade-off.

Well the book finally came in and I had plenty of driving time to make short work of this 12 hours behemoth.  And I laughed and laughed.  And cried and cried.

Because while Eddie Izzard is an action transvestite (transgender, now) and one of the best stand-ups around, he is also an extremely warm and thoughtful person. He worked very hard to become the success he is.  And he has used his fame to do some absolutely wonderful things for humanity–including raising millions of dollars.  Not bad for an atheist who is sometimes in girl mode and sometimes in boy mode. (more…)

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Edward Eager–Half Magic (1954) [audiobook 1999–Words Take Wing Repertory Company]

Posted in Adventure, Audiobooks, Boredom, Cats, Children's Books, Edward Eager, Fantasy, Fire, Funny (ha ha), King Arthur, Magic, Marriage (Happy), Time Travel, Unfinished series, Words Take Wing Repertory Company on August 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: August 2017] Half Magic

I grabbed this book at the library not realizing that Tabby had just started reading it on her own.

The selling point for me on this was that it was described as being “set in Ohio in the 1920s, yet fresh and funny now as the day it was written.”  And that was totally true.  This book was very very funny and the location and time was pretty much irrelevant.

This is the story of four (very precocious) children: Jane, Mark, Katharine and Martha. The beginning of the book has a great time creating and addressing their characters:

Jane was the oldest and Mark was the only boy, and between them they ran everything.

Katharine was the middle girl, of docile disposition and a comfort to her mother. She knew she was a comfort, and docile, because she’d heard her mother say so. And the others knew she was, too, by now, because ever since that day Katharine would keep boasting about what a comfort she was, and how docile, until Jane declared she would utter a piercing shriek and fall over dead if she heard another word about it. This will give you some idea of what Jane and Katharine were like.

Martha was the youngest, and very difficult.

The children’s’ father was dead and their mother worked full-time.  They were looked after by Miss Bick:

Miss Bick came in every day to care for the children, but she couldn’t seem to care for them very much, nor they for her.

(more…)

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Camelot (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, May 3, 2015)

Posted in Camelot, King Arthur, New Brunswick, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, State Theatre, Theater on May 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 3, 2015] Camelot

camelot2I have been raving about every show that I’ve seen lately, so it’s really about time that I wasn’t head over heels by something, right?

Sarah and her mom love Camelot, the musical–Sarah grew up listening to it.  When I saw that it was being staged at The State Theater, it seemed like a great Mother’s Day present for both of them.  Well, a last minute change of plans meant that Sarah’s mom couldn’t go. So we took Tabitha, who enjoyed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

I don’t know the Camelot story at all, in fact, despite my (what I assumed was good) knowledge of King Arthur, I was not aware of the love triangle with him Guinevere and Lancelot (I guess I just liked the fighting). I also had no idea that Arthur was trying to set up a law by court rather than a law by might.  Which is pretty interesting.  Sarah said I should read The Once and Future King which the musical is mostly based on.

The set was fascinating.  Gigantic metal “waves” on the right side that represented a forest and/or a tree and/or other things dominated the scene.  The left side of the stage had various set that dropped from the rafters–a kingly backdrop, a bed, and other items. (more…)

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