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Archive for the ‘Mystery’ Category

Jan Van Meter, Christine Norrie & Ross Campbell–Too Much Hopeless Savages Part Three

Posted in Adventure, Books about music, Christine Norris, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Gangsters, Graphic Novel, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Jan Van Meter, LGBTQ, Mystery, No Forcefield, Oni Press, Primus, Punks, Religion, Ross Campbell, Threats, Travel, Violence, YA Books on January 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NO FORCEFIELD-God is an Excuse (2001).

I was looking up what Larry LaLonde, guitarist for Primus, had been up to while Primus seems to be on hiatus.  I hadn’t heard a word from him, so I was surprised to see that he had released two albums with a band called No Forcefield.

I looked for the discs, and found both of them used for $1.00 each.  So I ordered them without really knowing what they were about, except that they were described as “experimental.”

This is the second disc by the band which consists of Brain and Ler from Primus as well as assorted other fellows (Bob Cock) and guests.  And experimental is an okay word to describe the record.  But a better one is disappointing.

With the lineage that these guys bring to the band, it’s surprising how mundane the disc is. It opens with a phone message about Bin Laden and God which morphs into the hilarious Denis Leary bit about CDs and the silver dog bone thing.  It then becomes a fairly straightforward electronic track.  And this electronic stuff is kind of the purpose of the group, I think.  There are at least 3 long, simple instrumentals that are little more than a few notes repeated over a drum beat.

The other tracks are complete nonsense: a faux TV show with “products” for sale which is a teensey bit funny, but not really.  There’s also Billy Roz, whoever that may be, crooning “You Are My Sunshine” as well as some polkas over a drum machine (he sings like an old doddering man).  And finally a short drum solo.

It’s not even clear to me why Ler is in the band as it seems to be mostly drums and a simple keyboard chord.  The only interesting track on the disc is “How to Purify Street Heroin” which is an awesome scratchy workout which I assume is by DJ Disk from the Invisbl Skratch Piklz.  And that’s pretty much it.

I was really disappointed my first go around, as I was expecting something, anything, more than this.  On subsequent listens, I can appreciate the disc as background/comedy although really neither one is a reason to hunt this down.

[READ: January 21, 2010] Too Much Hopeless Savages

This third collection of the Hopeless Savages saga sees many new revelations.  Turns out that Nikki Savage’s mom has come under the influence of a preacher who is intent on praying at the Hopeless-Savage house trying to get them to react in some way.  (I’m a little unclear exactly what his goal is here).

At the same time, Arsenal and her boyfriend and Twitch and his boyfriend (the  boyfriends are brothers) are off to the boyfriends’ homeland of Hong Kong.  Arsenal is there for a martial arts competition and Twitch heads along so that the H-S siblings can meet their boyfriends’ great grandmother.

Hijinx naturally ensue.  In this case, Arsenal is slipped a very valuable package and she soon has numerous groups of men after her (it’s unclear if any of them are up to any good).  The rest of the family decamps for Hong Kong to escape from all the praying (and they bring grandma along to de-brainwash her).

What is surprising about the story is the emotional depth that comes out of an incident from Arsenal’s past.  (more…)

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Matthew Loux–Salt Water Taffy: The Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny: The Legend of Old Salty (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Boredom, Canadian Music, Children's Books, Dave Bidini music, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Matthew Loux, Mystery, Ongoing, Rheostatics, Short Books, Summer on December 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Melville (1991).

This fantastic Rheostatics album was one of the last ones I bought for some reason.  It came after their debut, Greatest Hits, and is quite a departure for that more simplistic disc.

It opens with the two minute “Record Body Count,” which sets the tone for the disc.  It’s quirky, with different pacings and loud/soft parts, and is quite affecting.  In fact, the entire rest of the disc is quirky and off beat, as befits a disc with a big whale on the cover.

Three great tracks on this disc are “Saskatchewan,” “Horses” and “Aliens (Christmas 1988).”  And the CD comes with a bonus track of their cover of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” which is rocking and swaying as a good nautical track should.

The CD ends with “You Are Very Star” a track that ended their live shows.  On the disc, the track is a series of hockey announcements with quiet whistles as the song fades away,

Rheostatics are definitely an unusual band.  Martin Tielli’s voice goes into high registers at unexpected times, he also sing-speaks (and you can hear the Canadian accent) at times.  Tim Vesely and Dave Bidini also have vocal duties, and their more mellow style adds for a nice contrast.  But basically, what you get is unpredictable rock.  And really, there’s nothing better than that.  Especially when, once you get comfortable with the songs, you realize just how catchy they are.

Melville, it’s in Saskatchewan, and it rocks.

[READ: December 21, 2009] Salt Water Taffy: The Legend of Old Salty

This is a delightful all ages comic set on the coast of Maine.  As the story opens we see brothers Jack and Benny (I did wonder if there is some connection to Jack Benny, but I’d have to say no) driving to their summer house in Maine.  Benny is younger and having fun playing the license plate game while Jack is absorbed in his gameboy. (more…)

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Don DeLillo–“Midnight in Dostoevsky” (New Yorker, November 30, 2009)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Contests, Don DeLillo, Mystery, New Yorker, Set at School, Short Story, Universities on December 3, 2009| 4 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Black Sabbath (1970).

I’ve talked about Black Sabbath quite a bit, so why not take a look at their records directly?

One of the fun surprises about their first disc is the stereo mix (although it was 1970, so maybe one shouldn’t be surprised).  Guitar in one ear, bass in the other and sometimes only a guitar solo in one ear with nothing else going on!  The other surprise is that even though Tony Iommi’s guitar is on fire and he has huge lengthy guitar solos (the one in “Warning” is like 8 minutes long), the other members, especially the drums, really come to the fore.

What can one says about the title track?  The opening thunderstorm (with creepy bell tolling) sets the mood perfectly and then the killer riff kicks in and Ozzy Osbourne’s weird, loud, somewhat whiny and frighteningly frightened voice asks “What is this that stands before me?”  It’s a slow song, especially for one that spawned a genre of fast heavy metal, but it sense of ominousness is tangible.

“The Wizard” undermines everything you think you know about heavy metal since it begins with a harmonica.  However, it is a pretty creepy harmonica, and the melody is certainly spooky.  What’s so fascinating about the song is the drums.  While the whole band plays the somewhat odd riff, the drums have a huge place of prominence in the song, with little snare drum solos after each line (and a prominent cowbell at one point).  There are some wild guitar solos, but you wouldn’t be crazy thinking that this was the  drummer’s band.

The next song is listed as four songs: “Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B.”  “Wasp” is a short, fairly upbeat instrumental, but “Behind the Wall of Sleep” is where the words kick in.  It’s a pretty explicitly anti-drug song (“turns your body to a corpse”).  And I’m fairly certain there are two vocal tracks, one in each ear.  “Bassically” is the wild bass solo (again, taking away the dominance from the lead guitar). Which leads to “N.I.B”., one of the great, classic Sabbath songs.  An awesome bass riff that propels the song to its climax of “My name is Lucifer please take my hand.”  Although it also features a strangely plaintive refrain of “Your love for me has just got to be real.”

“Wicked World” comes in a little preachy and kind of out of place.  But mostly because it’s got a strangely jazzy feel. It’s not out of the ordinary in concept, it’s just a little less subtle than some of the other tracks.

“A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning” is the ending trio of tracks (14 minutes in all) that are really hard to distinguish.  “A Bit of Finger” is a very short acoustic guitar solo (I assume, I mean, the “Sleeping Village” lyrics kick in pretty quickly). But I love that there’s a Jew’s harp in the background.  Then there’s a crazily long guitar solo.  Or, should I say there are two guitar solos: a different one in each ear.  I think that the solo is part of “Warning” (it’s the same melody after all) but who can tell.  “Warning” is another fantastic Sabbath song.  The bass line is great and Ozzy sings one of his oddly plaintive songs of loss: (“the feelings were a little bit too strong”).  But the middle section is an astonishingly long guitar solo, or should I say solos. This solo even stops at one point and he comes out with a whole new melody/solo after that.  And then another solo.  Most of the soloing is in the right ear, which leaves the left ear struggling in vain to hear what’s going on (it’s fun to listen with just the left ear phone in).  With about a minute to go, the song proper returns.  It’s pretty bizarre.  And maybe that’s when Tony Iommi’s ego was placated.

Despite this being one of the first really heavy albums, it still retains a bluesy/jam feel to it.  The songs are long, there’s wild freewheeling guitar solos, and the sound itself isn’t a constant bludgeoning (like later heavy metal), it comes in bursts, which somehow makes it more ominous!

It’s really tremendous.

[READ: November 27, 2009] “Midnight in Dostoevsky”

Although I don’t know where this story is set exactly, I can totally picture the scene.  And I am superimposing it directly onto a location from where I went to college.  I realize that’s totally wrong, but I couldn’t resist.  This story had very weird overtones to me and actually inspired me to want to write a story that has apparently been percolating in my head for years.  We’ll see about that.

Anyhow, as for the story itself, I confirmed my suspicion that DeLillo doesn’t write short stories too often.  According to his Wikipedia site, he wrote one short story in 2002, another in 2007 and then this one.

DeLillo is a postmodern master, which leads one to think that his stories will be convoluted and difficult.  But this story is pretty straightforward.  Two college kids, walking around on a cold winter day spot an old man walking toward them.  They create a backstory for the man and, in the end, attempt to confirm or deny what they have concocted.  Fairly straightforward.

But as with any great story, the real action happens in the characters’ heads, or in this case, in the narrator’s mind and his spoken dialogue with his compatriot. (more…)

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Pseudonymous Bosch–This Book is Not Good For You (2009)

Posted in Chocolate, Funny (ha ha), Kate Bush, Magic, Marriage Trouble, Mystery, Nature, Pseudonymous Bosch, Smarty Pants, Summer, Technology, Threats on November 21, 2009| 1 Comment »

boschSOUNDTRACK–KATE BUSH-The Dreaming (1982).

dreamingThis disc focuses Kate’s intensity somewhat.  I was just reading that it was nowhere near as popular as her previous discs in England (where she had been number 1 many times), although, interestingly it made the charts in the US because of college radio airplay.

The disc is still experimental (there’s all kinds of weird things going around) but it feels kind of claustrophobic.  The disc opens with the manic percussion of “Sat in your Lap” (this song also features the gamut of Kate’s diverse vocal talents: whispered verses, shrieking bridges and bellowing chorus).

“There goes a Tenner” is about a robbery (and is sung with an East End accent).  There’s also the weird and wonderful “Suspended in Gaffa” (recently covered by Ra Ra Riot).  “The Dreaming” is about Australia (and is sung in an Aussie accent).

Meanwhile, “Houdini” breaks briefly from its raging vocals into a mellow string-filled middle piece (with more of that gorgeous fretless bass). The cover of the disc shows a “scene” from the song (she’s slipping a key into Houdini’s mouth).

The disc ends with the outrageous “Get Out of My House.”  It is a scary, crazy song with Kate shrieking like a madwoman and the male vocalist turning into a donkey (hee-hawing as he goes).

I have always enjoyed this disc.  It is a wonderful step between the all-over-the-place crazy of Never for Ever and the gorgeous controlled beauty of Hounds of Love. It’s not afraid to showcase Kate’s crazy side (okay, really crazy side), and yet it still keeps a sense of humor (and has some wonderful melodies as well).

[READ: November 13, 2009] This Book is Not Good for You

I’ve been a fan of the Pseudonymous Bosch books since the beginning.  I love the whole concept of the series (that even the author is being persecuted by the bad guys and can’t give out any real names, not even his own).  This book is no exception.  The mystery concerns the adventure of our heroes: Cass, Max-Ernest and Yo-Yoji in their fight against the Midnight Sun, who….   Well, I have to be honest, I’m not entirely clear exactly what the Midnight Sun are up to.  I’m not even sure that not knowing is a bad thing.  We know that  they are mysterious, that they are all very old (they have gained knowledge of a formula for eternal youth), and they really don’t like our heroines or the Terces Society that they belong to.  But aside from that I’m not sure what their long term goal is.  It may have been mentioned in the previous books, but at this point, I just know they’re bad.

This volume has an added element of fun in that the author himself is under attack from the Midnight Sun in the very pages of the book!  (They drug him and at one point even slip an extra piece of paper into the book (which tells the reader that the Midnight Sun is being misrepresented by Bosch).

But really, the story is all about chocolate.  Bosch himself is a chocolate gourmand (he disdains milk chocolate and especially white chocolate, although he doesn’t have a problem with vanilla per se).  There’s a thorough guide to chocolate in the index.  There’s even chocolate recipes! (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–“/Solomon Silverfish/” (Sonora Review no. 16, Fall 1987)

Posted in Cancer as plot device, David Foster Wallace, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Infinite Summer, Marriage (Happy), Mystery, Nénette et Boni, Neurotics, Short Story, Sonora Review, Threats, Tindersticks on October 27, 2009| 2 Comments »

sonoraSOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Nénette et Boni [soundtrack] (1996).

boniAfter releasing two albums of atmospheric brilliance, Tindersticks were called upon to score the music for the film Nénette et Boni.

And this disc answers the question of whether it is Stuart Staples’ voice that is the driving force behind the band.  And the answer is, indeed not.  This disc is almost entirely instrumental (except for “Tiny Tears” which is a different version from the second disc and is here titled “Petites gouttes d’eau”).  The band brings the same atmospheric/noir quality to this disc that they bring to the ir previous works, but you get to hear it in all of its glory (since you’re not trying to figure out what Stuart is talking about).

I haven’t seen the film, so I can’t say how well it works for the film.  But I feel like I know the film quite well from the tone and music (and what I think may be sounds from the film) that are present.  If you like the band musically, you absolutely cannot go wrong here.  There’s not a bad track on the disc.  Even the half dozen or so tracks that are only about a minute (this is a soundtrack after all) are quite evocative.

I read a brief description of the film online, and I’m not entirely sure I want to see it.  But I sure do enjoy listening to the music.

The reissued disc comes with a bonus disc called Marks Moods.  Marks Moods was a promo disc sent out to film producers to showcase just what the band could do (again, without Stuart’s vocals).  So this is another moody instrumental disc.  The difference is that there are many songs from other discs that are done (or re-done, I can’t be entirely sure) as instrumentals.  The four tracks with vocals are “Sleepy Song,” “Don’t Look Down,” and “Buried Bones” which is actually a duet.  And then there’s “For Those…” one of my favorite songs which seems to crop up all over the place but never on an actual album.

This appears to have been something of a find back in the day.  I’m not sure if it was really worth hunting down, but it is a nice bonus to this disc.

[READ: October 18, 2009] “/Solomon Silverfish/”

The last few uncollected DFW stories that I read were a little less than satisfying.  So I wasn’t looking forward to this one very much.  But man, was it good.  It seems to be a hearty precursor to Infinite Jest (without the endnotes).  It even has a character named Wardine!

The story is typographically a little odd.  The title and “section” headings are in backslashes.  (I have no idea if that signifies anything other than a typographical choice of DFW or the magazine).  The section headings are the names of the character whose point of view the section is.  So, when the story opens we see /Solomon/.

But aside from that, the most unusual thing in the story is that it is written in the voice of a very Jewish individual.  For Solomon Silverfish speaks in an almost stereotypical Jewish vernacular.  Solomon is married to Sophie Shoenweiss, a Jewish woman who is dying of breast cancer.  As the story opens, Solomon is fielding a phone call (at 2 in the morning) from Sophie’s brother Ira.  Ira has just been caught with his third DUI and he’s begging his brother-in-law, a fine public defendant, to bail him out (again). (more…)

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Periodical: American Libraries

Posted in American Libraries, Art, Authors, Canadian Content, Children's Books, Comedians, Essays, Free Speech, Graphic Novel, Mystery, Research, Technology on October 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »

al1You get American Libraries magazine if you’re a member of the American Library Association.  So you can see that the audience is rather specific.

A lot of the magazine is advocating for librarians (and for librarians to attend the annual ALA conference).  (The word advocacy appears about 200 times in each issue).

The magazine opens with letters from the editor and the president as well as letters from the readers.  Librarian letters are usually pretty enjoyable because those who write are usually pretty passionate.

alaAnd then there’s news about ALA, the organization (like their endorsement of the Public option in the Health Care debate).  As the news items continue there’s a lot of items for librarians, but there’ also a lot of news about books and media in general.  So, here we learn that J.D. Salinger won his lawsuit against Frederick Colting who wrote an unauthroized sequel to Catcher in the Rye. (more…)

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Andi Watson-Glister, Issues 1-3 (2007)

Posted in Andi Watson, Books about writers, Children's Books, Deerhunter, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Magic, Mystery, Oddities, Short Books, Supernatural on September 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

glist1SOUNDTRACK: DEERHUNTER-Microcastle/Weird Era Continued (2008).

deerSomehow, I can never remmeber what this disc is going to sound like when I pop it in.  Once it gets going the songs are all familiar and very good, its just that initial listen, where I forget that the band is rather delicate and poppy.  I tend to forget this because well, the bands name doesn’t sound delicate, and the album artwork has skulls all over it.  So, to put it on and hear pleasant keyboard songs is alwaya  bit of a surprise.

The guitarsd are jangly and have an almost 60s folk rock sound and yet the drums are very electronic  (I presume its a drum machine) and the vocals stick out as rather unlike the 60s style.  There is also a wonderfully low budget/hazy quality that pervades the disc.  It sort of envelopes the disc in a layer of cotton keeping the sound consistent and sometimes narcoleptic.

And yet despite that sort of sleepy feel, the catchciness of the songs shines through.

The last few songs of Microcastle especially provide a really strong set of songs.  And they lead into Weird Era very nicely.  For although it is clearly the same band, Weird Era is a very different disc.

It is a far more rocking/noisy affair.  And although there area  number of very short instrumental pieces, for the most part, the songs are catchier and a bit more fun.  Ideally, mixing the two discs together would provide an overall more well rounded listening experience.

[READ: September 15, 2009] Glister 1-3

This is a strange little series from Andi Watson.

I’ve enjoyed just about everything he’s written/drawn, mostly for his artistic style, but really because of his off-kilter and wholly fascinating sensibilities. So what makes this series so odd is the rather almost-sloppy style he uses for the backgrounds and other characters.  Maybe it’s not sloppy so much as “fuzzy” which lend an air of spectralness to this supernatural tale.

The other thing that is odd about the series is that everything suggests that this will be a long running story.  The story has a convoluted set up and a weird plot (and Issue #1 even includes an unrelated sub-story).  The inside back cover also has all manner of things that suggest we’re in for the long haul: a letter-writing address, a contest to design a teapot, etc.  But no, the series ends after three issues. Weird. (more…)

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Jonathan Lethem–“The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear” (Harper’s, October 2009)

Posted in Books about writers, Boredom, Death, Harper's, Jonathan Lethem, Meta, Mystery, Smarty Pants, Sonic Youth, Violence on September 17, 2009| 2 Comments »

harperoctSOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Murray Street (2002).

murray stAfter NYC Ghosts and Flowers, I put off getting this disc.  I was getting a little bored by the meandering, somewhat glacial pace of the last two discs, and figured that was the trend they’d be continuing (especially since there are only seven songs on here!).

And yet when my friend Lar told me I absolutely had to pick it up, I consented, as he’s rarely wrong.  And he was not wrong here either.  Murray Street continues in a vein  similar to the last few discs, but it includes what the others were missing: amazing melodies!

It opens with “The Empty Page,” a reasonably upbeat sounding song with some wild choruses.  “Disconnection Notice” is one of their slower pieces, also cooly catchy, which doesn’t meander as it gets to where it’s going.

“Karen Revisited” is an eleven minute piece from Lee.  It begins, typically, as a beautiful Lee song.  However, the last six or so minutes are taken up with a deconstructing noise mess.  (There’s cheering at the end of the song leading me to suspect it was recorded live).  I don’t so much mind the noisy end part, but it’s so disparate from the first part that I wish they were two separate songs.

“Radical Adult Lick Godhead Style” is an absurd free form piece of lyrical nonsense which rocks tightly.  “Plastic Sun” stands out for being sung by Kim, by being very dissonant, and by being only two minutes long.

The album closer, “Sympathy for the Strawberry” is another long, slow, expansive piece, and yet the melody grabs you right from the start and won’t let you go.  Fantastic.

This reigning in of styles forecasts good things ahead on their next few discs as well.

[READ: September 13, 2009] “The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear”

This short story is quite short and quite surreal.  And I am amazed at how much time I spent with it.

As it opens, there is a weird an unsettling scene about a man who has killed someone in his blog.  I felt that the story was trying to be deliberately surreal by having this person get killed online, and yet that doesn’t seem to be the case.  The story remains weird and deliberately confusing until you get about 2/3 of the way through.  Then it all becomes clear and warrants a second read through. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 9] Infinite Jest (1996)

Posted in Big Books, Boston, Canadian Content, Dave Eggers, Death, Demons, Drinking, Drugs, Eschaton, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Humiliation, Infinite Summer, Meta, Millennial Fizzy, Mystery, NASA, Neurotics, Postmoderism, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Soiled Underpants, Sonic Youth, Sports, Suicide, Supernatural, Tennis, Threats, Universities, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), WYYY 109 FM: The Largest Whole Prime on the FM Band, Yuck! on August 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

ij9SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH: A Thousand Leaves (1998).

1000This CD actually ties to the book because the crossed out title on the CD is “mille feuille” and the first song is called “Contre le Sexism.”

This opening song is weird and lets you know that this disc is not going to be a friendly listen.  Over some feedback and scratchy noise, Kim whispers and hollers, most notably that “it’s just a kitten.”  But just when you think that the disc is going to be a crazy noise experiment, the next track “Sunday” proves to be another one of Thurston’s supremely catchy singles.

The back and forth continues with Kim’s abrasive “Female Mechanic Now on Duty” and Thurston’s delicate “Wildflower Soul.”  But the pattern is broken with Lee’s spoken-word over simple guitar lines piece, “Hoarfrost.”  It lacks Lee’s usual catchiness, although his later song “Karen Koltrane” more than makes up for it.  Then Kim surprises us by giving us the catchy “French Tickler.”

To me, “Hits of Sunshine” is the centerpiece (literally and metaphorically) of the disc.  It’s 11 minutes long and ranges through the main stylistic feelings of the disc.

The whole disc is over 70 minutes long and it feels meandering.  This is not to say that it has no focus, it’s just not full of pop gems.  And yet for all of its wandering, it hasn’t lost the tunes.  Mixed reviews abound for this disc with everything from 1 to 4 stars coming from the pros.  And, I think depending on my mood, my overall rating could be just as diverse.

I admit that at the time I was starting to lose my adoration for the band.  These longer, more abstract pieces were less enticing than the noise of yore.  But now that I’m a bit older, I can appreciate what they were doing.

[READ: Week of August 17] Infinite Jest (to page 651)

I was planning on starting this week’s write up with a bit about J.O.I’s filmography, which I delved back into and found some fascinating information.  But this week’s write up is pretty long already, so I’m going to do a mid-week (but still spoiler line approved) retrurn to the filmography shortly.

So until then, let’s get back to the book:

This week’s reading gets off to some detailed viewing of the Incandenza men’s psyches before launching into an adrenaline fueled rush.

Mario is still freaked out about Madame Psychosis not being on the air.  He’s not sleeping well at all, and when the insomnia hits him, he goes for walks (even though he knows, and is worried about, how much it freaks out the Moms).

Mario is slowly turning into the absolute heart of the book.  He absolutely and without question loves Hal, and he is concerned for him because he’s been acting differently lately (Mario himself never changes).  He also prays nightly, and in a serious way, talks to God (although he doesn’t expect any one to answer…he’s not crazy).  And, in a very touching scene, which seems to resonate so well with late 1990s America, he is troubled that no one can talk about things sincerely without it being ironic.  (Pemulis wants to set up a prayer hotline for atheists that would just ring and ring). (more…)

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Lauren Child–Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now (2006)

Posted in Adventure, Boredom, Children's Books, Lauren Child, Marriage Trouble, Mystery, Ralph's World, Set at School, The Decemberists, They Might Be Giants, Threats on July 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

dont lookSOUNDTRACK: RALPH’S WORLD-Peggy’s Pie Parlor (2003).

peggyWhen my son Clark was born, Sarah and I made a conscious effort to find music for him (really for us) that wasn’t, well, Raffi.  Not that there’s anything wrong with Raffi per se, but well, he’s kind of annoying.

In the 4 years since he was born, there’s been an awful lot of cool bands making kids records.  And I’m all for that (sometimes it’s nice being in tune with zeitgeist).  Although it is nice to hear one of the guys who started the whole movement.  Ralph himself was a member of Bad Examples a fairly forgettable band, nowhere near as fun/clever as Ralph’s World.

This was the first Ralph’s World disc we bought.  And it’s still in pretty heavy rotation (although, now, really, the kids just listen to what we listen to…maybe when they’re a little older and actually understand Decemberists lyrics, we’ll be playing more Ralph).

Ralph’s songs rock, they’re amped up and excitable, like a toddler.  They’re simple, easy rock songs in a multitude of genres.  He also mixes his own originals with covers and even a public domain track (“Yon Yonson”).

And so overall you get a disc that sounds like a children’s disc from They Might Be Giants, before They actually made children’s discs.  (TMBG’s children’s discs aim a little younger).  Ralph’s songs are whimsical and catchy, in the way of TMBG’s adult songs, although the lyrics skew more towards about 6 or 7.

If you don’t have kids you probably won’t enjoy these discs, although really all is takes is a silly streak to enjoy them when the kids aren’t around.

[READ: July 24, 2009] Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now

My son has just started watching Charlie and Lola, a delightful show based on the books by Lauren Child.  [And it has one of the single coolest theme songs of any show ever.  Seriously.  It’s fantastic.  Here, listen.]  When I mentioned that Clark was watching this, my friend Eugenie said, Oh, Lauren Child, of Clarice Bean!

I wasn’t familiar with Clarice Bean.  And then, as coincidence will have it, I was showing a patron some books in the Ch section, and there was a Clarice Bean book.  I grabbed it and only found out later that it is the last (or at least that latest) book in the Clarice series.  Well, it’s a kids book, I thought, I’m sure  I can join the series late and not miss anything.  And I was right.

I was also surprised by how into this book I got.

Oh, and also how eerily appropriate it was that I selected this particular book while I’m in the midst of Infinite Summer.  I figured Clarice Bean would be a nice relaxing thing to read in my Infinite Jest Downtime.  But Clarice Bean starts out: Part One: Where does infinity end?

Seriously. (more…)

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