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Thomas McGuane–“Motherlode” (New Yorker, September 8, 2014)

Posted in New Yorker, Primus, Sex, Short Story, Thomas McGuane, Violence, Yuck! on January 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ny98SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS-“Me Llamo Mud” (2010).

me llamo mudThis recording is out of chronological sequence, because it is a re-recording of Primus’ hit “My Name is Mud” done in Spanish.

The big surprise for me was just how different the song sounds–it was recorded in a very different way with the instruments sounding much crisper.  The bass in particular is recorded quite differently.  And Brain is on drums instead of Tim Alexander, although I don’t think their styles are very different on this song.  But I love that those seemingly random guitar parts from Ler are played the same (even if they are recorded differently too).

It’s also impressive to hear Les forcing all those Spanish syllables into his fast wordplay.

¿Adonde va el chico de la ciudad?

[READ: January 7, 2015] “Motherlode”

I tend to think of McGuane’s stories as dark, and this one is no exception.

We start by looking at David Jenkins.  He is in a hotel room with his stetson on.  He goes to get some lunch and while he eats, he gets the sense that a man is watching him closely.

As David walks out to his car, Ray, the man who was looking at David, pulls a gun and says that David is going to take them for a drive.  They have an awkward two-hour road trip ahead of them.  Ray uses David’s cell phone to call his girl, whose name is Morsel (I don’t know why that tickled me so much).  After about two hours of driving a man in a small plane lands in front of them on the road and says they’ve missed the turn.  David backs up and heads down the “road” to a small house. (more…)

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Joseph O’Neill–“The Referees” (New Yorker, September 1, 2014)

Posted in Dead Kennedys, Joseph O'Neill, New Yorker, Primus, Short Story on January 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

91SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS-Pork Soda (1993).

pork sodaPork soda was a surprise hit read any review and they always talk about how it’s the oddest top ten record ever).  Even more unexpected was that the first single, “My Name is Mud” was also huge.  But how weird.   The bass is really low and rumbling–sometime so low that it sounds like drums (which I thought it was in the verses when I first heard it) and the guitar is just crazy cool–buzzing noises all over the place.  And the lyrics–whoo boy–they match the video perfectly.  And yet a big hit–which got them invited to Woodstock that year.

“Welcome to this World’ reminds me of the Dead Kennedys (which is weird, I know).  Not the opening bit of course, but the way Les sings the chorus and the punky chords that accompany it seem very DK to me.   “Bob” is a really dark song about a guy who hangs himself.  The melody is an interesting and compelling one, but man lyrically it is such a downer (Ler’s sirens guitar plays that well).

It is followed by the awesome “DMV.”  Between Les’ cool tapping bass, Ler’s crazy noise-chords and wild solo and Tim’s great drums, not to mention the awesome lyrics about the DMV, this song is a major winner.

“The Ol’ Diamondback Sturgeon” has an interesting bass line and is a kind of mellow song that tells the tale of a big fish in the waters of San Pablo Bay.  Musically the bass sounds Middle Eastern–although there’s no mention in the credits of any instruments other than bass and mandolin, so how does he do it?

I love “Nature Boy” a weird song (aren’t they all) in which he talks about dancing around the house naked.  The verses are quiet while the chorus is quintessential Primus–slapped bass and stop-on-a-dime changes.  At around 3 minutes the song changes tempo into this really fast section with Ler’s insane guitar solo, and then it migrates into an awesomely catchy fast instrumental section which is over too fast.

“Wounded Knee” is a 2 minute percussion piece that Tim Alexander says was inspired by “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”  It’s followed by one of the craziest songs in Primus history–“Pork Soda.”  The bass is a bowed upright bass (but bowed in a way that I’ve never heard before) and Ler’s guitar is basically a one note ringing.  And all the while Les is rambling on about something that you can barely hear.  Until the chorus comes in and you can all grab a can of pork soda.

The next song is “Pressman” which was on Suck on This. It was my least favorite song on that disc and it’s not a lot better here.  It’s a much better sound, but I think it’s long and kind of unremarkable.  But “Mr Krinkle” changes that.  Another bowed bass song (with the weird sounds he gets out of it).  This one had a crazy wonderful video. It’s followed by the bluegrass sounding “The Air is Getting Slippery,” a banjo romp in which the obvious rhymes with luck and pluck are switched with a quiet “forgive me if I hesitate.” It’s followed by a weird banjo solo from Ler.

One of the highlights of the record is the 8 minute instrumental (yes!) “Hamburger Train.  It’s got a lot of slap bass and Ler’s crazy noises all held in place by Tim’s drums.  The biggest difference is that Ler gets a pretty normal solo and Les also does a fast solo.  This was clearly just an excuse to jam for a while and it’s a good listen.

The disc basically opens and closes with “Pork chop’ Little Ditty,” a mandolin song that is under a minute.  Although there a kind of bonus track called “Hail Santa” which is just a sort of woozy bass sound and bells.

It’s an unexpected hit, and one that I have to wonder how many people still play.  If you have it, put it on again.

[READ: January 7, 2014] “The Referees”

I’ve only read one story from Joseph O’Neill before and I enjoyed it a lot.  I also enjoyed this one.  I thought it was nicely funny and also constructed in an unexpectedly amusing way.

The story begins with the narrator talking about meeting up with his fiend Mike.  Mike is complaining about his neighbor.  The asshole known as Gus (real name Gustavus).  Gus is, well was, an alcoholic and he’s trying to make amends.  But Mike knows that Gus is an asshole and doesn’t want to be friends.

The way the story is told, the narrator describes it in the past tense, but then he interjects dialogue as if it is occurring the present.  He even interrupts himself: (more…)

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Tessa Hadley–“One Saturday Morning” (New Yorker, August 25, 2014)

Posted in Death, Drinking, Marriage (Happy), New Yorker, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Primus, Short Story, Tessa Hadley, The Meters, The Residents, XTC on January 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

824SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS-Miscellaneous Debris (1992).

debrsiAfter the success of Sailing the Seas of Cheese, Primus created this five song EP of covers.  Les had just gotten a new Carl Thompson “rainbow bass” and he used the EP as a way to try it out.

This EP is, interestingly, their most listener friendly release thus far.  In part because they are playing more conventional songs (even if in an unconventional way).  Although they are not the most obvious covers:

Peter Gabriel-“Intruder.”  This is an earlier Peter Gabriel song (when he was still kind of weird).  The Primus version is suitably spooky and weird, but it is a great version.  It sounds a lot like the original, which is creepier than you might expect from Gabriel–but he was a weirdo before he became an adult contempo sweetheart.

XTC-“Making Plans for Nigel”  One of XTC’s more popular songs, this version is faster than the original, but right on and quite fun.

The Residents-“Sinister Exaggerator”  The Residents are quite weird (and may be the one band that is closest in spirit to Primus). This version is indeed pretty close to the original (although you can hear the lyrics better on the original!).

The Meters-“Tippi Toes”  The Meters area n old school funk band.  This is a song with no lyrics.  The Primus version sounds more full than the original (which incorporates Tiptoe Thru the Tulips”)  but it is quite faithful otherwise.

Pink Floyd-“Have a Cigar”  This is clearly the most popular original on the disc.  But Primus do a great job with it (Les is under the impression that Roger Waters didn’t like their version–but what do you expect?). They have a lot of fun with this song–keeping it close to the original (except for Ler’s guitar, mostly) and the twisted lyrics that say “who the hell’s this guy they call Bob Cock?”

So while this is a great introduction to Primus, it is not entirely representative of their sound. And yet, it sort of is as well.  Hence the title.

[READ: January 6, 2015] “One Saturday Morning”

Tessa Hadley continues to impress me with her beautiful stories in which really nothing happens.  It opens with a girl practicing her piano and ends with her and her brother looking at a bug.  And in between something almost happens, but not quite.

Set in the 1960s, Carrie is a ten-year old girl practicing her piano.  Her brother is outside playing cricket and her parents are out shopping for their party that evening.  Carrie hates practicing the piano–the music just doesn’t speak o her.  She also fears that her piano tutor is mad at her because of a childish letter she wrote and may have left at her tutor’s house.

While she is thinking about this, the doorbell rings.  She doesn’t recognize the man right away but she quickly realizes that it his her parents’ old friend Dom.  Dom is a big man, somewhat intimidating but affable. Carrie is intimidated by him though, especially since her parents aren’t around.  He hasn’t been around since he moved a way a few years ago.  But he says he is in town and wanted to visit friends.  She assures him that her parents will be home shortly and invites him in.  But rather than entertain him, she runs upstairs to hide. (more…)

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César Aira–“Picasso” (New Yorker, August 11 & 18, 2014)

Posted in Art, César Aira, Chris Andrews, Foreign Books, Funny (strange), Magic, New Yorker, Pablo Picasso, Primus, Short Story, Surreal, Translation on January 7, 2015| 1 Comment »

CV1_TNY_08_11_14Mattotti.indd SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS-Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991).

cheeseHere they come, here comes the bastards again.  Sailing the Seas of Cheese was the band’s major label debut, and they were given a lot of freedom to do whatever they wanted.  Which they did.

The first two songs sort of ease you into the chaos that is “Sgt Baker” a noisy stomp that mocks the military. It’s followed by “American life” a relatively quiet song that is rather sad.  Although I like Ler’s solo at the end (which is rather conventional for him).

But the album really takes of with “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver”, Primus’ first real hit.  Which is amazing in and of itself given how weird a song it is and how noisy (and moshy) the middle section is.  Fun drumming opens “Eleven,” a rocking song done in 11/4 time–count it, its crazy!  I just love the lunacy of “Is It Luck?”–the bass is fast and so bizarre while Ler’s guitars are playing one simple dissonant note for much of the song.  “You wanna get lucky little boy?”

“Grandad’s Little Ditty” is basically Les singing in the shower (and one of the few songs I know of which use the word “flatus”).  It leads into the new recording of “Tommy the Cat.”  This time the role of Tommy is played by Tom Waits, which make a slot of sense.  The Primus book has a funny story about Waits singing this (he sent them a version without having heard the song and he sang it through a megaphone).  The bass in the middle of the song is just incredible.

“Sathington Waltz” continues the adventure of Sathington Willoughby, although this is a scattered instrumental with banjos and loud drums (and lots of guests).  “Those Damn Blue Collar Tweekers” is a stomping song with a great riff.  I never knew exactly what it was about (not that its hard to figure out), but the book explains exactly who Les was talking about.

“Fish On” is a 7 minute song (most of the songs on this record are shorter than on Frizzle Fry) with a lengthy intro and outro.  The disc ends with “Los Bastardos” a reprise of the opening bastard music with some samples from The Young Ones and all kinds of friends playing along.  It’s a really fun record with some absolutely classic songs on it.

Shut up you bastards!

[READ: January 5, 2015] “Picasso”

The ever prolific César Aira had a new short story in The New Yorker (he usually writes novella length pieces, but this appears to be an actual short story (3 pages)) which is a little different.

In the story, the narrator says he was in the Picasso museum enjoying the artwork when a genie came out of his bottle of Miracle Milk and offered him a choice: Would he rather have a Picasso or be Picasso.  I enjoyed this twist on the typical three-wishes genie (he even mention how most people are prepared to ask for more wishes), and that this was totally unexpected.

To me, the answer was obvious from the start, Picasso was a pretty unhappy guy, why would I want to be him?  Of court, as the narrator goes through the options, he says that if you were Picasso you would automatically have all the Picassos.  Plus, he says that he himself has a pretty unhappy life, so Picasso would be a step up.

The narrator reviews Picasso’s life and output, but ultimately he decides that owning a Picasso would give him the financial security to allow himself to write his novels.

As soon as he thinks that, a painting appears on the table in front of him.  It is clearly a Picasso.  He spends the next few paragraphs describing the painting and then comes upon a “meaning” for it.  It’s an interesting look at a Spanish fable or joke.  The fable involves a queen who is lame and her servants who want to tell her without actually telling her.  The punchline of the joke comes down to “Su Majestad, escoja” which translates as “Your Majesty, choose” or if the last word is broken up (into es coja) “Your Majesty is lame.”  It’s a pretty elaborate painting or what amounts to a joke (and I have no idea if this is a real painting or not).

As the story comes to an end, the final paragraph introduces a whole new aspect of the story which was hilarious and unepxetced.  It was a great twist.  I do have to wonder if this is part of a bigger story because although it feels complete, I could easily see him following this character further.

This was translated by Chris Andrews.

For ease of searching I include: Cesar Aira

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Paul Theroux—“Action” (New Yorker, August 4, 2014)

Posted in Boston, MA, New Yorker, Paul Theroux, Primus, Rush, Short Story, Threats on January 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ny ayg4SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS-Frizzle Fry (1990).

frizIt always made me laugh that this album opens exactly the same as Suck on This–with the opening drums to Rush’s “YYZ.” But it quickly bends into the propulsive bass of “To Defy the Laws of Tradition.”  For many, this was their first listen to Primus, and hearing the crazy noise of Ler’s guitar come roaring out of the speakers followed by Les’ insane bass line and Tim’s wild drumming–it’s unlike anything I’ve heard before or since.  And then later to hear the tapping of the bass notes during the chorus–it’s certainly defying laws of rock tradition.

The lyrics of “To Defy” are interesting to me (if Christmas didn’t come, who would cry more the child or the stores?).  I also always loved the lyrics of “Groundhog’s Day” (“lingering taste of toothpaste made the milk go down a bit funny”).  I like the fidelity of this recording better than Suck on This (all five re-recorded songs actually).  This song also gives Ler a lot of pace for a long solo. “Too Many Puppies” is one of the earliest song  Les wrote (although I believe it was different in speed at the time).  It is a loud song in which Ler’s guitar stays hidden for a while then bursts forth full of noise and chaos at opportune moments.

“Mr. Knowitall” is also full of great lyrics (“they call me mr know it all, i am so eloquent, perfection is my middle name and whatever rhymes with eloquent”) and a really groovy bass with interesting “lead” guitar work.  I feel like the drums get a prominent place in “Frizzle Fry” (the drums are great all the way through, but they really shine here).  Of course the fast section at 4:40 is pretty amazing, too.

The opening to “John the Fisherman” is different than on Suck on This and it is crazy the sounds he get out of that bass. The quality of this recording (and the video) are great.

“You Can’t Kill Michael Malloy” is  26 second piece that was composed and performed by Matt Winegar (according to the Primus book the song is actually much longer and Les wishes he had played the whole thing here).  It leads to the slow intro of “The Toys Go Winding Down” which features one of my favorite triplet-filled bass lines ever.  It also features some great bowed bass from Les.

I love that “Pudding Time” opens with such a great amount of noise and that the bass is actually more of a percussive instrument for the verses.  “Sathington Willoughby” is another weird little song (25 seconds) that gave them a chance to play with banjos.  It serves as a great intro to the wild drums of “Spaghetti Western.”  This is the strangest song on the disc (which is saying a lot).  It’s almost an instrumental with Les reciting a little story about watching Spaghetti Westerns on TV (the way the boots are all reverbed out).

“Harold of the Rocks” is such a great song and this version sounds great–you can really hear what Ler is doing.  It ends the album in a fun way.

Frizzle Fry is still one of my favorite albums, and it still sounds totally weird and unique all these decades later.  I was marveling at how long this album is and how long many of the songs are–quite an auspicious “debut.”

[READ: January 5, 2015] “Action”

I have basically blown off the New Yorker since last summer and have now made it my resolution to read all the issues I missed from last year in a timely fashion.  So here I’m starting with August.

I often like Paul Theroux’s stories, although I don’t really have a sense of his style overall.  This story proved to be very simple but incredibly detailed.

It is about a boy, Albert, who works for his father in his shoe store.  Albert’s father was a widower and a very economical man–he would often only speak in one word sentences, especially to Albert (“‘Where?’ meaning, “Where have you been?'”).  His father worried about him, but didn’t really show it.  Rather, he monitored everything that Albert did.  He made sure that Albert was working most of the time that he wasn’t in school (even when the store wasn’t busy).  So Albert had no social life.

Albert did have one friend (whom his father greatly disapproved of) named Eddie.  Albert liked Eddie especially because Eddie often said “I’m a wicked bad influence.”  Eddie knew all about Boston and showed Albert around to places that his father would have been very upset by.  Of course, Albert had no money so he never went in these places, he just knew of them.  Eddie also introduced Albert to his “girl” Paige, whom he described as easy. (more…)

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Anthony Bourdain–“Christmas Story” (Lucky Peach, No. 13: The Holiday Issue: Winter 2014)

Posted in Anthony Bourdain, Christmas, Christmas Album, Dorie Greenspan, Food, Lisa Hanawalt, Lucky Peach, Mark Ibold, Peter Meehan, Short Story, Travel, Yuck! on December 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

peach13SOUNDTRACK: ULTRA LOUNGE: CHRISTMAS COCKTAILS Hi-Fi Holiday Cheer from Santa’s Pad (1996).

xmastails1Because I am a total hipster, I love these Ultra Lounge collections.  Actually, I don’t think we were called hipsters when these collections first started coming out, but I have loved all of them.  And I especially love these Christmas ones.  Indeed, this may be my favorite Christmas album of all.

I’d say in part it’s because I great up listening to big band and I can totally imagine my parents being into this back in the day.

BILLY MAY-“Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer” opens with a crazy yelling of all of the reindeer names.  Then a funny, almost drunken, sounding horn version of the song with weirdly shouted phrases throughout. It really sets the mood.  PEGGY LEE-“Winter Wonderland” is a more familiar and traditional version of the song—it’s delightful although it’s hard to reconcile with that earlier piece.  RAY ANTHONY-“Christmas Trumpets / We Wish You A Very Merry Christmas” is a wonderful sorta cheesey version of “Jingle Bells” and other songs on trumpets.  LOU RAWLS-“Christmas Is” Rawls’ voice, which I don’t love in general works well for this song.  I like the big horns in the middle.  JIMMY McGRIFF-“Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town / White Christmas” this is some fun, easy listening Hammond organ instrumental.  It is 6 minutes of ice rink spectacular.

JULIE LONDON-“I’d Like You For Christmas”  The backing vocalists singing the tune of “Jingle Bells” (but slowly) and then Julie sings a slow romantic song that I’m unfamiliar with. Not my fave—too slow and I don’t care for the backing responders.  AL CAIOLA- “Holiday On Skis” but this is a zippy and fun instrumental on guitar.  KAY STARR-“(Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag” is a fun silly song and I like this version.  HOLLYRIDGE STRINGS- “Jingle Bells / Jingle Bell Rock” I love this swinging string version that is fun and a little off with the musical runs.  I would like more by the Hollyridge Strings who are known for their easy listening renditions of classic songs.

DEAN MARTN-“I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” I love this classic version.  EDDIE DUNSTEDTER-“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus/Jingle Bells Bossa Nova” a wonderful ice rink version with a bossanova flair–the best way to hear the first of these two songs (instrumentally).  RAY ANTHONY AND HIS BOOKENDS “Christmas Kisses” wonderfully cheesey and fun song about kisses for Christmas.  I didn’t know this song before this version.  JACKIE GLEASON-“I’ll Be Home For Christmas / Baby, It’s Cold Outside”  The first bit is a somber, pretty instrumental version of the song, it is strangely mingled with a wild whistling version of the second song.  Gleason is wonderfully campy.  NANCY WILSON-“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” Sweet version. I think I like Nancy Wilson a lot more than I realized.  CAPITOL STUDIO ORCHESTRA-“Cha-Cha All The Way”  The best Christmas song ever.

NAT KING COLE-“The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” I love this song very much and Nat’s version is the best. I’m not exactly sure it belongs on this compilation, but I never don’t want to hear it.  LES BROWN AND HIS BAND OF RENOWN-“The Nutcracker Suite” I love this whole version of various Nutcracker pieces (it’s clear that Brian Setzer used this as the basis for his swinging version). I love the Nutcracker in general but this is so much fun.  FRED WARING-“Ring Those Christmas Bells” This opens with various songs thrown together by a jolly group of carolers. Then a jolly version of “Ring those Christmas Bells” another song I don’t know but which I like a lot.  THE CONTINENTAL-“Violets For Your Furs”  This is a strange “bonus” track in which over soap opera music an accented Lothario comes on to a woman with violets for her furs.  Weird. PEGGY LEE/NAT KING COLE./NANCY WILSON-“Toys For Tots”  weird “toys for tots” refrain, but nice vocals from the trio asking for help with the program (who knew it was that old?).  The final track is JOHNNY MERCER-“Jingle Bells” which is a fun Christmas Card from Capitol Records–I wonder who received this?

[READ: December 26, 2014] “Christmas Story”

After reading enough Lucky Peaches I have learned that chefs are bad-tempered, foul-mouthed individuals, who relish good living and big eating (and drinking).  So it should come as no surprise that Bourdain as a fiction writer lives up to that essence in his stories (vulgarities abound and there’s lots of good food).

This is the story of Ricky, a chef whom the narrator learned from.  Ricky was a lifer in the business, having worked first in the army and then as a line cook and for the past two decades as head chef for a club.

Ricky had a sixth sense–he could look at a crowd and determine what they were going to order before they even knew it.  He would be able to determine that they needed more shrimp or if the crowd was just a simple pigs in blankets bunch just by the way they walked in.

Ricky liked the narrator and so gave him Christmas off this one year–a rarity in any chef job.  The narrator was psyched until his wife said that they should cook and serve Christmas dinner, real traditional-like, to their families.  The narrator said he could do a room of 200 easily but a dinner for 12 freaked him out.

So he asked Ricky’s advice.

And the bulk of the end of the story is Ricky’s suggestion for what to cook (it’s like a huge long recipe).  I appreciated the idea that putting stuffing in a turkey is like a breeding ground for bacteria.  But I really liked his idea that you should cook two turkeys, a big one and small one.  The small one is the stunt turkey.  When it is cooked, you bring out the stunt turkey to the table but you have already carved the larger turkey so that moments later you bring in the bird all carved up and everyone oohs.  But more importantly, with two turkeys you know you will always have enough food.

It worked for the narrator, and would probably work for you, too.

(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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Bohumil Hrabal–“Long in the Tooth” (Harper’s, June 2014)

Posted in Bohumil Hrabel, Father John Misty, Harper's, Short Story, Stacey Knecht, Teeth, Translation on November 24, 2014| 2 Comments »

harpjuneSOUNDTRACK: FATHER JOHN MISTY-“Bored in the U.S.A.” (2014).

 boredNot a cover of the Clash song (“I’m So Bored with the U.S.A”) this is a piano dirge about the materialism of American culture.

I loved Father John Misty’s debut, and the way it addressed serious topics but with beautiful songs and Misty’s wonderful voice.  But this song is a dark and dreary tale of life in contemporary America.  Father John laments about, well, just about everything:

I’ve got all morning to obsessively accrue
A small nation of meaningful objects
And they’ve got to represent me too

or

Now I’ve got a lifetime to consider all the ways
I’ve grown more disappointing to you
As my beauty warps and fades

with the staggering next line

I suspect you feel the same

Te melody is pretty, but solemn (there’s no ironic poppy chord structure for this lament).  Rather, it’s a slow minor key piano melody with Misty’s beautiful aching voice drifting over the chords: “Save me white Jesus.”

By the next verse, while the melody and singing stay at the same pace, he adds a laugh track to his life: “They gave me a useless education / A subprime loan, Craftsman home / Keep my prescriptions filled / Now I can’t get off, but I can kind of deal / Oh, with being Bored in the USA.”

If this is the single, what can the album have in store?

 Save me President Jesus.

[READ: November 17, 2014] “Long in the Tooth”

This is a Czech story (translated by Stacey Knecht) written by Hrabal (who died in 1997).  I don’t know anything about him except that he wrote “many novels.”

But this story I find quite puzzling.  It’s not hard or complicated, indeed, it is quite a straightforward piece.  I’m just puzzled by why he wrote it (unless the conceit of false teeth was so novel that it needed to be written down).

In this story, the main character (who is a woman although that isn’t revealed until quite late in the story) is marveling at how she (and her husband) have aged without them realizing it.  She says that suddenly she was sixty and then sixty-five when she contracted paradentosis (which can cause massive tooth loss). (more…)

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Gideon Lewis-Kraus–“Story A” (Harper’s, June 2014)

Posted in Cats, Culture Shock, Cute, Essays, Funky Web Sites, Gideon Lewis-Kraus, Harper's, MitchiriNeko on November 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

harpjuneSOUNDTRACK: みっちりねこマーチ – MitchiriNeko March (2013).

mitchiBecause Lewis-Kraus mentions “the most important internet cat band of our day” in this article, I did a search for such a thing and came across this.  This is an adorable cartoon of cats marching (and playing along to the music).

I didn’t look into this too hard, and I don’t really know MitchiriNeko, although the video says that “MitchiriNeko” is a cat-like cartoon character who is always in a group to hang out so closely with each other wherever they go.

I’ve listed below more stuff about MitchiriNeko, but really I just enjoyed watching the video.

Evidently there is a web comic for this fella:
Manga Box! English editions are coming soon.
https://www.mangabox.me/
https://www.mangabox.me/reader/247/

There are apps for this character:
iPhone
https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/mitch…
Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/de…

And this song “MitchiriNeko March” is now on sale.
https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/mit…

[READ: November 17, 2014] “Story A”

I enjoyed Gideon Lewis-Kraus’ previous Harper’s essay about Japan: “Sleeping Together.”  I thought it would be fun to tie it to this one which is also about Japan.

He says that for a time, he was drawn to “particular breeds of the Japanese trivial” like “the “most important internet cat band of our day” and the cafe that he describes in “Sleeping Around.”  Thus he was immediately drawn to the Japanese hole-digging contest.  He decided to go see it, which would also allow him to visit his brother Micah in Japan.

The title of the article, “Story A” refers to a journalistic practice in which “essays purport to be about one thing but reveal themselves to be about some other, profounder thing.  Story A might be about the game of Monopoly but its real role is to give cover to Story B which is about the decline of the American city.”  He imagined that the nonsense of hole digging could lead to something incredibly profound. (more…)

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