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Archive for the ‘Oddities’ Category

Maurice Sendak–Where the Wild Things Are/Dave Eggers–“Max at Sea” (New Yorker, August 24, 2009)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Dave Eggers, Faith No More, Fantasy, Fantômas, Maurice Sendak, Mr. Bungle, New Yorker, Oddities, Short Books, Short Story, Slayer, Supernatural, The Melvins, Threats, Where the Wild Things Are on August 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

wild thingsSOUNDTRACK: FANTÔMAS-Suspended Animation (2005).

fantomasIf you know Fantômas, then you know what you’re in for.  If you don’t, well, it’s a surprise!

Fantômas are the brain child of Mike Patton (Mr Bungle-era more than Faith No More with help from Buzz Osborne from The Melvins and Dave Lombardo from Slayer).  Suspended Animation is designed as a soundtrack to April, 2005.  There are thirty tracks, and each one corresponds to a calendar page.  The limited edition (which is apparently still in print as I got one last month) is a calendar with art by Yoshitomo Nara.  Nara’s work combines cuteness and menace, just like the CD.

A piece by Nara

A piece by Nara

Although, really the CD is more menace than cute.

This disc seems to combine Patton’s favorite things: cartoon music (many ‘toons are sampled here), death metal, short sharp blasts of noise and his fascinating vocal deliveries.

This write-up makes the disc sound very intriguing, but before you rush out to check it out, do know what you’re in for: short, noisy blasts of utter chaos.  It is not for the weak of heart or the queasy of stomach (or for the lover of melody).  It’s not even a case of , oh the songs are short, the next one will come along soon.  While there is diversity, it’s diverse within it’s own little world.  Of noise!

Be afraid.  But if you’re still interested after that caveat, then by all means check it out, if only for the calendar!

[READ: August 23, 2009] Where the Wild Things Are/”Max at Sea”

Because of Dave Egger’s story “Max at Sea” (which is basically a retelling of Where the Wild Things Are I felt I needed to re-read the original.  So thank you Dave Eggers for that.

The original is a fun story which seems to be more visually based than word based.  The drawings are sublime and indeed there are several pgaes with no words at all.  And, so, the filmmakers’ question remains: how to you make a film out of a 48-page book, many of which don’t even have words?  Stills from the movie do look pretty awesome.

And thus, Dave Eggers’ story was born.

I’m not actually going to reveiw Where the Wild Things Are, because, well, it’s a classic, and it’s  awesome.  What more can I say about it?  But I did want to reevaluate Egger’s piece having re-read Sendak’s.

It is quite clear that Eggers is in no way trying to re-write the story.  He has fleshed out a lot of details that are absent from the original (which the original in now way needs, but again, if you’re going to make a film, you need some kind of backstory). (more…)

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Dave Eggers–“Max at Sea” (New Yorker, August 24, 2009)

Posted in Boredom, Children's Books, Dave Eggers, Dischord Records, Funny (strange), McSweeney's, Meta, New Yorker, Oddities, Short Story, Sonic Youth, Spike Jonze, Threats, Violence on August 19, 2009| 2 Comments »

nyorkerSOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-TV Shit (1993).

tvshitThis is a funny little addition to the SY catalog. It is essentially four covers of a song by Youth Brigade called “No Song II” (which is from Dischord records, Possible EP here).

The original song is one second long, with the band shouting “No”

So, covers of it are obviously absurd.  There are 4 tracks in total on the disc, the last two are each over three minutes long (!)

The band is in full noise/freak out ensemble, complete with maniacal screamer/lunatic  Yamatsuka Eye from the Boredoms (and elsewhere).

Obviously it’s a bit of fun, and little more. It’s only for super-die-hard fans or anyone who might like the Boredoms-style of noise rock.

[READ, August 18, 2009] “Max at Sea”

Since I just finished Eggers’ How We Are Hungry, I was delighted to find a new story by him in the New Yorker. The picture next to it looks like a still from the upcoming film of Where the Wild Things Are (Eggers cowrote the screenplay). So, when the story started and Max put on a bear costume, I thought, huh, that seems very familiar.

As the story progressed, well, it seemed really really familiar. Now, I admit I don’t know Where the Wild Things Are by heart, but I sure recognized a lot of it. And then I confirmed with Sarah that indeed, this short story IS the story of Where the Wild Things Are. Eggers has fleshed it out (presumably for the screenplay) and added some details and things, but the whole plot of the story is Maurice Sendak’s.

And I’m not sure how I feel about releasing it as a short story. It is acknowledged in the Eggers bio in the front of the magazine that it does come from Sendak’s work, but somehow it seems wrong to take up a fiction spot in the New Yorker (that most venerable of fiction locations) with a story that is a retelling of someone else’s story. (more…)

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Periodical: Wired

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Consumerism, Danger Mouse, Dark Night of the Soul, David Lynch, Esquire, Funky Web Sites, Guillermo del Toro, Hive, Oddities, Outer Space, Sci-fi, Slaughterhouse Five, Sparklehorse, Stephen Colbert, Technology, The Future, The Hobbit, Tiny Masters of Today, Video Games, Wired on July 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

wiredMany many years ago (1995), while I was in Boston, I bought my first copy of Wired magazine (how could I forget the absurd cover to the right (yes, there IS a picture there) [And I’m very impressed that you can easily link to all of their back issues, just as I did with the link above].  I’m not sure how long it had been in print , but I think it was still young and buzzworthy. [Research shows that this was its 3rd year].  I remember thinking the magazine was very difficult to read.  Literally.  Text ran across pages, the colors were all wild.  The ads blurred completely with the content (by design).  And it was very “techie.”  I don’t remember if I subscribed exactly then, but I did subscribe eventually.  And then I stopped (sometime in 1999).

Recently I got an offer to re-subscribe, for a dollar an issue.  (This is where my idea that I will cancel a magazine once I stop getting a dollar’s worth from it).  I wasn’t sure if I should subscribe, but I figured what the hell.

Not a resounding chorus of cheers for this publication, huh?

Well, since I’ve subscribed I have been pleasantly surprised by the magazine.  And interestingly, the cover story almost never interests me.  In fact, and my brother in law Tim first pointed this out: the cover stories and the big articles take themselves very seriously.  Everything is always The Future Of This.  The New That.  Don’t Be Left Behind!  It’s over the top in its wanting you to take them seriously. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #31

Posted in Anachronisms, Barzum, Biji, Bill Cotter, Books about writers, Charlie Chaplin, Consuetudinary, Corporate skewering, David Thomson, Death, Digression, Douglas Coupland, Duan Chengshi, Dystopia, End of the World, Ernest Hemingway, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Barr McCutcheon, Graustarkian Romance, History, James Hannaham, Jessica Anthony, John Brandon, John Cusack, Joy Williams, Legendary Saga, Mary Miller, McSweeney's, Meta, Miguel de Unamuno, Minnesota, Nicolas Chorier, Nivola, Oddities, Orson Welles, Pantoum, Plato, Poetry, Religion, Say Anything, Senryū, Sex, Shelley Jackson, Short Story, Sight & Sound, Smarty Pants, Socratic Dialogue, Supernatural, Susan Sontag, The Replacements, Threats, Violence, Virginia Woolf, Virginity (Loss of), War, Whore Dialogue, Will Sheff on June 12, 2009| 2 Comments »

31SOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Hootenanny (1983).

hootThis is the second full length from The Replacements.  For a band that just released two punk albums (one’s an EP), naming your new one Hootenanny is pretty ballsy.  As is the fact that the first track sounds like, well, a hootenanny (even if it is making fun of hootenannies.)

However, the rest of the album doesn’t sound like hootenannies at all.  In fact, the rest of the album is all over the place.  I don’t want to read into album covers too much, but the design has all 16 titles in separate boxes in different colors.  It suggests a little bit of stylistic diversity inside.

Just see for yourself:  “Run It” is a one minute blast of some of the punkiest stuff they’ve done. (It’s about running a red light).  Meanwhile, “Color Me Impressed” marks the second great alt-rock anthem (after “Go”) that Westerberg has put on record.  “Willpower” is a sort of spooky ambient meandering piece that, at over 4 minutes is their longest piece yet.  “Take Me to The Hospital” is a punky/sloppy guitar song.  “Mr Whirly” is sort of an update of the Beatles’ “Oh Darlin.'”  “Within Your Reach” is technically the longest Replacements song to date.  It starts with a cool flangy guitar sound that swirls around a fairly mellow vocal track (this song was featured in the end of Say Anything.  John Cusack cranks the song up past the red line).  “Buck Hill” is an (almost) instrumental.  “Lovelines” is a spoken word reading of personals ads over a bluesy backing track.  “You Lose” is the first song that sounds like another one…a sort of hardcore song.  “Hayday” is a fast rocker like their first album.  And it ends with “Treatment Bound” a sloppy acoustic number that sounds like it was recorded in a tin can.

As you can see, this album is all over the place, and almost every song sounds like they may not make it through to the end.  Yet, despite all of the genres represented, the band sounds cohesive.  The disc just sounds like a band playing all the kinds of music that they like, and the fact that there are a couple of really lasting songs on the disc makes it sound like more than just a bar band.

I feel as though not too many people even know of this disc (it was the last one I bought by them, as I couldn’t find it for the longest time).  But in reading reviews, I see that people seem to really love this disc.  I enjoyed it, and, like other ‘Mats discs, it’s certainly fun, but I don’t listen to it all that often.

[READ: June 9, 2009] McSweeney’s #31

The latest issue of McSweeney’s has a totally new concept (for this journal, anyhow):  They resurrect old, defunct writing styles and ask contemporary writers to try their hands at them. I had heard of only two of these defunct styles, so it was interesting to see how many forms of writing there were that had, more or less, disappeared.

Physically, the issue looks like a high school yearbook.  It’s that same shape, with the gilded cover and the name of the (school) on the spine.

Attached to the inside back cover is McSweeney’s Summertime Sampler. As far as I know this is the first time they have included a sampler of multiple upcoming works.  There are three books sampled in the booklet: Bill Cotter’s Fever Chart; Jessica Anthony’s The Convalescent & James Hannaham’s God Says No. I enjoyed all three of the pieces.  Fever Chart has stayed with me the most so far.  I can still feel how cold that apartment was.  The Convalescent begin a little slow, but I was hooked by the end of the excerpt. And God Says No has me very uncomfortable; I’m looking forward to finishing that one.

As for #31 itself:

The Fugitive Genres Recaptured (or Old Forms Unearthed) include: pantoums, biji, whore dialogues, Graustarkian romances, nivolas, senryū, Socratic dialogues, consuetudinaries, and legendary sagas.  Each genre has an excerpt of an original writing in that style.  Following the sample is the modern take on it.  And, in the margins are notes in red giving context for what the author is doing.  I assume these notes are written by the author of the piece, but it doesn’t say.

I’m going to give a brief synopsis of the genre, but I’m not going to critique either the old piece or whether the new piece fits into the genre exactly (suffice it to say that they all do their job very well). (more…)

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Periodical: Wholphin

Posted in Adventure, Art, Bob Odenkirk, Daniel Handler, David O. Russell, Eagle vs. Shark, Evany Thomas, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), John Cleese, Led Zeppelin, Married...with Children, McSweeney's, Michael Cera, Michael Chabon, Miranda July, Oddities, Patrick Marber, Paul Rudd, Political Humor, Puzzles, Roddy Doyle, Rubik's Cube, Scott Prendergast, Short Films, Sour Death Balls, Spike Jonze, Taika Waititi, Wholphin, William S. Burroughs, Zooey Deschanel on June 10, 2009| 2 Comments »

wholphinThis is a periodical I haven’t mentioned before.  Wholphin is a “DVD Magazine of Rare and Unseen Short Films.”  So yes, the reason I hadn’t mentioned it is because it is a DVD and not a book.  However, as I have been watching Vols 1-8 over the last few months, I have noticed that a few writerly names keep cropping up in the credits.  Plus, it’s got that whole McSweeney’s connection.

So lets look at some of the folks who have turned up on these videos:

  • Spike Jonze with an amazing documentary about Al Gore (that will make you weep all over again about the 2000 election).
  • Miranda July with a short film.
  • David O. Russell (with a post-Three Kings documentary).
  • Bob Odenkirk has several entries on several DVDs
  • A short film by Taika Waititi who did the crazy New Zealand film Eagle vs Shark.
  • There’s a Japanese version of Bewitched with bonus subtitles by Daniel Handler (among others).
  • Daniel Handler also “revoices” a short film Darling Darling starring Michael Cera and a horse-headed man. (John Cleese does another “revoicing”).
  • Michael Chabon’s short story “House Hunting” adapted as a film (starring Paul Rudd and Zooey Deschanel).
  • Evany Thomas (and others) rescripted the subtitles to Schastlivy Vmeste the Russian Married…With Children.  And hers is extremely enjoyable.  She gives up on the show about ten minutes in and then just starts riffing on all manner of things.  I laughed harder at this than I had any right to.
  • “New Boy” is adapted from a Roddy Doyle short story.
  • “Love You More” an adaptation of the short story “Peter Shelly” by Patrick Marber.
  • “The Discipline of De” is adapted from a William S. Burroughs short story.

There is also (from Vol #1) my favorite short deliciousfilm possibly ever by Scott Prendergast called “The Delicious” which you can watch, and I encourage you to, here.

Although “Stairway at St. Paul” is also awesome, and that’s available here.)

There’s also “Heavy Metal Jr.” a great documentary of a metal band made up of pre-teens–available here.

Oh wait, and there’s an amazing documentary about Rubik’s Cube that will blow your mind (if you haven’t played with a cube in a decade), called “Piece by Piece.”

Oh yeah, and “Sour Death Balls” is hilarious and available here.

Even though these films are available online, it would be best to purchase the DVDs from here at http://www.wholphindvd.com.  There’s even a Best of, which features most of the films I mentioned above.  In fact, you should just subscribe, because that will guarantee that they keep releasing these gems on video.

In addition to the random assortment above there are international animations, short nature films, 45 minutes movies, and everything in between.  It’s a wonderful way to see short films that you never knew existed.

http://www.veoh.com/collection/documentariesonline/watch/v149037042GCQpnP9

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Sherwood Anderson–“The Egg” [from The Triumph of the Egg] (1920)

Posted in Canadian Music, Constantines, Marriage Trouble, Oddities, Sherwood Anderson, Short Story on June 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »

eggSOUNDTRACK: CONSTANTINES-Kensington Heights (2008).

kensingtonThe Constantines hail from Guelph, Ontario.  And I’m mostly pointing that out because I wanted to write the word Guelph.  While I know there are funny sounding or fun to say towns in America, I’m quite fond of many of the Canadian ones: Guelph, Moose Jaw, Regina.

Anyhow, the Constantines play a kind of classic rock with a punk edge that puts them just outside of the mainstream. Their first three albums are fast and loud and quite sparse.  And the first track off this album, “Hard Feelings” sounds a lot like those first three discs.  But the Constantines have expanded their sound somewhat on this album.  They’ve added keyboards, and where they used to have stark guitars and bass, they have filled in the sound more.  They basically sound a bit more mainstream in places.  In fact, their mellower pieces seem almost commercially viable.  And the second half of the disc has a number of mellower tracks.

These mellow tracks remind me a lot of the Replacements’ mid-period songs.  Not their ballads, but not their heavier speedy songs either.  Their singer, Bryan Webb, sounds a lot like Paul Westerberg in fact (although not the later balladeer Westerberg).

I don’t know if this was an intentional attempt at commercial success, or if the band is just maturing somewhat.  The record is still better than a lot of hard rock stuff out there–somehow Canadian indie bands keep it real even when they’re close to hitting it big–but if you want to experience full Constantines, go for their earlier discs.

[READ: June 2, 2009] “The Egg”

I read Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio (or most of it, anyhow) a few years ago for a creative writing class.  Anderson’s stories are “small” in that nothing overly dramatic happens; there is no sensationalism.  They cover ordinary people in small town America.  This is not to say that they are dull, because his writing is wonderful and he immediately sucks you int the characters’ lives.  But you’re more liked to be moved, rather than blown away by his stories.

I only read this story because in McSweeney’s #4 Rick Moody does a “cover” of it and I wanted to see how close Moody’s story was to the original.  Interestingly enough, the stories are almost identical. Moody turns the eggs from chicken into ostrich, but the major plot points remain the same.  It’s as if Moody was making a movie version of it: every thing’s bigger, better, louder, funnier. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #3 [Timothy McSweeney’s Windfall Republic] (Late Summer, Early Fall 1999)

Posted in Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Ana Marie Cox, Books about writers, Brent Hoff, Cancer as plot device, Colleen Werthmann, Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, David Letterman, David Mamet, David Steinhardt, Essays, Flash Fiction, Fresh Step, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gary Greenberg, Glengarry Glen Ross, Holidays, J. Robert Lennon, John Warner, Jonathan Lethem, Ken Foster, Komar and Melamid, Lawrence Weschler, Lucy Thomas, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Meta, Might, NYPD Blue, Oddities, Outer Space, Partisan Review, Paul Collins, Paul Maliszewski, Pearl Jam, Political Humor, Rick Moody, Sarah Vowell, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Steven Amick, Suicide, Supernatural, T.Z. Parsa, Threats, Tom Tomorrow, TRL, Unabomber, Violence, Wikipedia, Zev Borow on May 13, 2009| 1 Comment »

mcsweeneys3SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Riot Act (2002).

riotactThis album seems to get overshadowed by the anti-George Bush track “Bu$hleaguer.” Evidently many people were turned off by this track, and that may have had an impact on sales. Of course, I’m sure many other people were introduced to the band by this song, too. Regardless, the rest of the album shouldn’t be judged by this track, as it is rather unusual.

This disc is the first one to feature a dedicated keyboardist, “Boom” Gaspar.  He’s present on all of the live discs from this concert tour, and it is quite disconcerting the first time you hear the audience yell “Boooooooooooom” when he comes out.  But he plays a mean organ solo.

“Can’t Keep” opens the disc sounding unlike other PJ tracks.  It has a vibe like Led Zeppelin III–almost a world-acoustic feel.  “Save You” rocks out with the classic chorus, “And fuck me if I say something you don’t wanna hear.  And fuck me if you only hear what you wanna hear.  Fuck me if I care.”  A great fast song with a cool bassline.  “Love Boat Captain” feature Boom Gaspar’s first contribution to a song: lots of organ.  It’s a rather touching song, a gentle piece, except for a center part which rocks out. “Cropduster” features a delicate chorus after a skittery verse.  If you are familiar with Matt Cameron’s contributions to the band, you’ll not be surprised by the unusual sound of this song.

“I Am Mine” starts a section of three great songs. This one is acousticy and uplifting.  “Thumbing My Way” is a pretty PJ ballad.  Then “You Are” has a really funky wah wahed sound on almost the whole song.  Three great tracks in a row.

Not that “Get Right” is bad.  It just doesn’t quite fit the mood of the previous three.  Rather, this is a punk blast that feels more than a little off-kilter (another Cameron track, of course).   “Help Help” begins the really weird section of the disc with this peculiar song (catchy chorus though).  It’s followed by “Bu$hleaguer” a spoken word rant, with an abstract chorus.  The chanting aspect is interesting, th0ugh.  “Arc” is a short chant, no doubt reflecting Eddie’s duet with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

“1/2 Full” returns to the “proper” songs with this sloppy jam.  The verses are quiet but the choruses rock.  “All or None” is another mellow disc ender, this one has some good subtle drumming that really propels this jazzy song.

At this point in Pearl Jam’s career, we get yet another solid effort.  You more or less know what to expect on their releases although there’s always a surprise.

[READ: May 7, 2009] McSweeney’s #3

This is the third volume of McSweeney’s print journal.  This one, like the first two, is a white, softcover edition.  If you click on the cover above it will take you to the flickr page with a larger picture.

[UPDATE: September 25, 2009]

It has just come to my attention that David Foster Wallace DOES have a  piece in this magazine.  (See my comment on the Notes from the authors).  His piece runs on the spine of the book and is called:
“Another Example of the Porousness of Various Borders (VI): Projected but not Improbable Transcript of Author’s Parents’ Marriage End, 1971” (which is also available in his book Brief Interviews with Hideous Men under the title “Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (VI)”).

The piece itself is almost shorter than the whole title and is basically a funny argument about which parent would get the double-wide trailer and which parent would get him.  Pretty funny stuff, and even funnier for being on the spine.

Okay, back to the issue.

[end UPDATE]

The opening colophon on this one explains the price increase (from $8 to $10).  It’s because this is a longer issue, it has color plates (foldouts!) and because of a sad but amusing anecdote of a lost bag with $2,000 cash.
There’s also notes about some stories (the Hoff & Steinhardt pieces are true) and an apology of sorts for running a story about the Unabomber.

And an actual (presumably) envelope sent from the titular Timothy McSweeney, as a way of verifying the authenticity of the title of the journal.

The final page of the colophon shows a sample of how long it will take for them to respond to submissions (which should not be funny fake news).  And it ends with a half a dozen or so random questions, which they do answer: ARE THE RIVERS THAT FLOW FROM HOT SPRINGS HOT? They are often very warm.  DO THEY GIVE OFF STEAM? Yes, and they smell vaguely of sulfur. MARTIN VAN BUREN: He had a certain charm.  etc.

LETTERS PAGE:

JONATHAN LETHEM
Ride with Jonatahn Lethem and the Mad Brooklynite as he narrates Manhattan’s superiority complex when it comes to the other boros.  Funny stuff. (more…)

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Art Spiegelman–Be A Nose (2009)

Posted in Art Spiegelman, Funny (strange), Gangsters, Graphic Novel, McSweeney's, Memoirs, Noir, Oddities, Roger Corman, The Flaming Lips on April 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

noseSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-UFOs At the Zoo [DVD] (2007).

zooI’m not going to review the musical portion of the DVD per se…you can download the MP3s with the DVD, and I intend to give the music a good listen once I get it converted to CD.  So, this is a review of the movie itself (with comments about the music too, of course).

The movie is a concert film interspersed with interviews with Lips fans.  I’ve read that many people dislike the format of the film in which the band plays a few songs and then they cut away to the gushing fans.  In some ways, it is a bit annoying that you don’t get  the whole concert in one fell swoop.  But, you can always fast forward over the talky bits.  Someone suggested making that part a special feature, but would anyone watch it if they weren’t in it?  Well, maybe.  That said, with repeated watching, it’s probably not too much fun to hear the various punters say how much they love the Lips (although the behind the scenes parts stand up to repeated watching).

As for the rest of the set…the stage show is pretty amazing.  The set is designed to look like a UFO landing on stage which then turns into the lighting backdrop.  (And the behind the scenes on the construction of the UFO are funny and make it a little scary that people are actually inside of it. )

The concert is comprised mostly of “hits” from At War with the Mystics, Yoshimi and Bulletin.  Of course, they bust out “She Don’t Use Jelly” and the classic “Love Yer Brain (which sounds a lot better here than the on The Fearless Freaks).

What’s cool about the DVD is seeing how much fun Wayne and Steven seem to be having (Michael is always pretty stone-faced so it’s hard to know what he’s thinking).  Throughout the show, Wayne shoots rockets loaded with streamers and confetti out over the crowd in what seems cathartic and also lots of fun.  And if of course, it’s pretty amazing to watch Steven play all of the different instruments, seemingly at the same time.  When I saw the Lips they didn’t have a drummer, just a videotape of a drummer, so it’s nice to see the addition of Kliph on drums.

The only problem I had with the set, and I’ll be able to go into this more when I listen to the MP3s was that I found Wayne’s voice to be in pretty bad shape.  It seemed as if he was sick or had a sore throat.  I’ve always been amazed at Wayne’s voice, so i was surprised to hear it sounding less than wonderful.

One assumes he went on with the show even if he was sick because of the great opportunity to play an at home concert at the ampitheatre at the Oklahom Zoo.  My friend Abdallah, an Oklahoma native, says he has been to many concerts there and it’s a great venue.  So, if you’ll never get to see the Lips live, this is a decent substitute.

[READ: March 25, 2009] Be A Nose

This collection is a sampling of the sketch books that Spiegelman has been working on throughout his artistic life.  Struck by the usefulness of keeping a sketchbook, Spiegelman has attempted to do just that on several occasions.  Yet his notes indicate that he always fails to keep up with it.  Sometimes he just gives up, other times he decides it’s a waste of time.  This collection shows the three most complete sketchbooks that Spiegelman has ever kept. (more…)

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Kasper Hauser–Sky Maul: The Unauthorized Catalog Parody (2006)

Posted in Arrested Development, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Dip-in Books, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), How I Met Your Mother, Kasper Hauser, Oddities, Smarty Pants, The Cure, The Onion, The Sound of Young America, Time Travel on March 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

skymailSOUNDTRACK: THE CURE-The Cure (2004).

cureI’ve been a huge fan of The Cure since my friend Garry introduced me to them circa 1985.  I saw them twice in concert, I overplayed Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, and even got the giant Boys Don’t Cry poster.

And then I grew up.  I basically stopped getting Cure albums around Wild Mood Swings (which was only two albums before this one even though it was nearly a decade ago).  I eventually got Bloodflowers when a friend said it was very good, and I agreed.  But it took me a long time to get this one (I think I was tired of the persistent “last album ever” deal).  Nevertheless, I still like the Cure, and I do like this one.

This self-titled disc is very familiar sounding. In fact, it’s as if someone told Robert Smith: make a greatest hits album but with all new songs.  And that’s more or less what you get with this disc.  It doesn’t have a theme like Disintegration or The Top.  There are manic highs and lows all over the album.  In fact, on several songs Robert is happy and in love, and on others he will never be in love.  Rather than depression, it’s almost all schizophrenia.

It starts in a very downbeat fashion (“Lost”) with scowling, reeling vocals despite him singing about being “so happy and so young.”  The mood continues on “Labyrinth” with its sinister, somewhat Egyptian sounding guitar line.

And then you get two of Robert Smith’s upbeat songs, “Before Three” (“The happiest day I ever knew…”)  and “Until the End of the World” (“I couldn’t love you more!”).  You know they’re happy songs when he drifts into that impossible falsetto.  “Anniversary” is one of their dark songs like ” A Forest” with that great Cure drumming tribal drumming. And there’s the single “alt.end,” which is, simply, another great single from The Cure.

The sonic landscape continues with another falsetto song “(I Don’t Know What’s Going ) On.” And then we’re back to the aggrieved and angry “Us or Them” where Robert almost repeats a line from “The Kiss”  “get your fucking head out of my world” (the original being “get your fucking voice out of my head”).

The only questionable song is the final one, “The Promise”.  And the only reason it’s questionable is that it’s 12 minutes long. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for The Cure, since the aforementioned “The Kiss” is 6 minutes of delightfulness.  But I think 12 might be a bit too long.  Nevertheless, it lets the album end on an angry, bitter note, just as it began.  Symmetry, after all.

I guess I’m still a Cure fan after all these years.

[READ: March 8, 2009] SkyMaul

I heard about this catalog through a plug from The Sound of Young America.  They said it was selling cheap on Amazon, so I snatched up one of the last remaining copies.

This catalog is hilarious.  Obviously, it is a parody of the Sky Mall catalog that you look at on airplanes when you have run out of everything else to look at, and have no intention of purchasing anything from (unless you are Barney Stinson [I tried to find a link to his Sky Mall compulsiveness, but there are no official ones, so if you just Google “barney skymall” tons of things comes up].

Many parody titles don’t live  up to the hilarity they promise.  This boils down to a couple of reasons: They are so true to the original it’s hard to tell them apart; they require a deep awareness of the original in order to really appreciate the joke; most people who know they original that well actually LIKE the original, and don’t want the parody.

SkyMaul however, is that rare beast: a parody that is very funny but is also full of crazily inventive and absurd humor.  Unlike many of the very specific parodies that exist, SkyMaul allows for across-the-board humor, so it never gets bogged down in finding that “perfect parody moment.”

SkyMaul works similarly to The Onion, in that some of the items in this catalog are direct parodies of existing items (Atheist motivational posters; the first ever Milk vacuum–for when people put unwanted milk on your cereal), and others are simply utter nonsense (like the Llamacycle (a llama with a wheel for front legs, or the Air Straightener “Stop Breathing Disorganized Air!”)).

There were a number of things that had me laughing out loud and thinking of people who would love to read this (Happy Birthday, Matt).

The genius of the book is dividing the catalog into smaller subsections (just like the real thing) which allows them to diversify their products.  Some subsections include: The Image Sharpener; The Statuetory (Meeting and Exceeding Your Home Statue Needs); J. Crewcifix (Extreme Religion Since A.D. 33); Tomorrow’s Garage Sale (Filling up you home, office, and storage areas); NASCAR Stepdad; WhadjaGITme? (Toys for demanding kids…); Shemail (Doodads for ladies) [Although that’s not as good as Arrested Development’s designer Shemále]; Heavy Petter (pushing animal product on people]; The Nicest Gift (is to let people deal with stuff on their own); Coming Soon (the store 4 sex toys ‘n’ stuff).

You get the idea of where this catalog is going. And to top it off there’s even a crossword puzzle in the back.  This may have been the funniest part of the book, so don’t skip it!  Sample entry: Q: Superman’s weakness. A: Chocolate.

To see some examples from the book, click here.

Oh, and in case you’re like me, you didn’t know that Kasper Hauser is not a person but a comedy troupe.

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McSweeney’s #30 [Rejoice! Forge-Ahead/Throwback Issue]

Posted in Arrested Development, Beck, Bill Cotter, Catherine Bussinger, Drinking, Kevin Moffett, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Michael Cera, Oddities, Pregnancy, Racism, Radiohead, Short Story, Superbad, Supernatural, The Flaming Lips, Threats, Wells Tower on March 4, 2009| 2 Comments »

30SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Fight Test EP (2003).

fightThe test begins NOW!

With the success of Yoshimi, the Lips put out a couple of multitrack EPs.  The first one was for “Fight Test.”  In addition to the title track, this EP features three great covers: “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” is a slow acoustic guitar/timpani version of the infectious Kylie Minogue hit.  Despite its slowness, the “La La La” part is still catchy!  Next is a cover of the Beck song “The Golden Age.”  It’s also an acoustic guitar version.  Finally is a cover of Radiohead’s “Knives Out.”  It’s not quite as manic as the Radiohead version but it’s still very good.

The next three tracks include a 9 minute dance remix of “Do You Realize??” which is fun enough, if you like that sort of thing.  “The Strange Design of Conscience” sounds like it could have been an outtake from Yoshimi.  It fits in quite well with the music and themes of the CD.  “Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)” is a 3 and a half minute folk song relating the (presumably true) tale of a plastic Jesus that Jack White gave to Wayne.

It must be fun to be able to write a thank you song that thousands of people will hear.

Lots of times EPs aren’t really worth the time, but this is a very good one.  The covers are a lot of fun, and you’ll be La La Laing right along with Wayne.

[READ: February 24, 2009] McSweeney’s 30

This issue of McSweeney’s hearkens back to their initial three issues: a white paperback with words in a graphic design on the cover. The cover design is an homage to Obama’s presidency, and has some thoughtful as well as funny lines on it (You Can Take That Canadian Flag Sticker Off Your Backpack Now). It was also printed in Iceland once again (in a nice bid to help Iceland’s economy, which is actually worse than ours) by Oddi Printing.

The contents of the issue are also pretty straightforward: eleven short stories and some occasional art by Jason Polan which ties into the stories. (more…)

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