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Archive for the ‘WXPN 88.5 FM–Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Jeff Kinney–Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck [#8] (2013)

Posted in Babies, Children's Books, Death Cab For Cutie, Dogs, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Jeff Kinney, Kids Corner, Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, Parenting, Poo, Set at School, Short Books, Yuck! on January 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

hardluckSOUNDTRACK: LUCKY DIAZ AND THE FAMILY JAM BAND-“Thingamajig” (2013).

luckyThis song made the XPN Kid’s Corner Top ten.   When the played it on the radio, I was surprised at how ..quiet it was.  Even now listening to it, it just seems like all of the sounds are at the same level, it all kind of blends together, which is a shame because the song is really kind of fun.

Now that I’ve listened a few times I like it more.  It actually has a kind of Death Cab for Cutie feel.  The bass is particularly nice, but of course the fun part is the lyrics (a thingamajig, a whatchamacallit, who what where why).

So a couple of listens and I’m won over by the song.  I wish it was a bit more dynamic in the production, but it’s a catchy little number.  And I’m curious to hear what the rest of the album sounds like.

[READ: December 27, 2013] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck

Clark was so excited for this book!  This is the first one that he knew about before I did.  We decided to save it for a Christmas present, and man was he chomping at the bit.  He even borrowed it from a friend (because there were 100 people on the waiting list a the library).  And yet, even though he had already read it, when it arrived on Christmas, he was still really excited.  And has already read it four times.

And what was sweeter was that he really wanted me to read it.  He thought it was the best one yet.

I was surprised by this as the whole first section is about how lost Greg feels now that Rowley has a girlfriend, Abigail.  I can’t really imagine how he related to that as it’s not an issue for an 8-year-old (in fact the whole series is skewed a little old for an 8-year-old, but he still loves it).  Mostly Greg isn’t so much jealous that Rowley has a girlfriend so much as he is jealous that she is keeping Rowley from being Greg’s slave, I mean, friend.  Normally, Rowley walks in front of Greg to look out for the (newly added, I think) Mingo kids who threaten anyone who comes close to their wood (which is on their way to school) or for dog land mines–the scene where the dog figures out how the electric fence works is so funny.  And speaking of dogs, Clark absolutely cracked up about the joke with the little dog Sweetie who sniffs herself if you make a raspberry sound near her. (more…)

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Maxwell Eaton III–The Flying Beaver Brothers: Birds vs. Bunnies (2013)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Adventure, Allan Sherman, Children's Books, Dan Zanes, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Kids Corner, Maxwell Eaton III, Ratboy Jr., Sara Hickman, Short Books, The Board of Education, The Doubleclicks, The Plants, Trout Fishing in America on January 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

bbbSOUNDTRACK: KIDS CORNER Top Ten of 2013 (2014).

kidsEvery year I’m curious to see what the kids who vote for Kids Corner music will pick as their top ten.  It is usually reliably silly.  But this year I have to say I was a bit disappointed in their selections.  Here’s the Top um, Eleven (two were tied of tenth) from 11 to 1.

  • Allan Sherman – You Went The Wrong Way Old King Louie
  • Dan Zanes – Turn Turn Turn
  • The Plants – Aziphrale
  • Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band – Thingamajig
  • Shine And The Moonbeams – Bully Bully
  • Trout Fishing In America – My Sister Kissed Her Boyfriend
  • Weird Al Yankovic – The Saga Begins
  • The Doubleclicks – Worst Superpower Ever
  • Ratboy Jr. – Champion Of The Universe
  • Sara Hickman – Radiation Man
  • The Board Of Education – Why Is Dad So Mad?

I am especially surprised by Allan Sherman as I can’t imagine that too many kids would enjoy that song (which is funny if you know your history, but not really otherwise) and while I love Dan Zanes, “Turn Turn Turn” is not exactly a rollicking fun Top Ten song.  I actually dislike “Bully Bully” and while I love Trout Fishing in America and like “My Sister,” it’s certainly not their best song (and this list isn’t just new songs obviously).  The rest of the list is quite good, though.

And it’s a great choice for number one.  But next year, kids, more silliness!

[READ: January 1, 2014] The Flying Beaver Brothers: Birds vs. Bunnies

We were unreasonably excited to see that there was a new Flying Beaver Brothers book out!  We loved the first two quite a lot, so any return of Ace and Bub is a good thing.  But to also have the return of a nasty villain is quite nice too.

Yet it’s not all the same faces, because this time there are birds and bunnies causing havoc with our heroes.

Bob and Bob (the penguins who get a brief cameo) are rebuilding Beaver Island and Bub and Ace are heading there in a boat.  But a storm rages and makes them crash.  They walk around an island where they are quickly captured by an angry bunch of bunnies who accuse them of being bird spies (those are real?).  Indeed, the birds have been playing a  very loud sound that hurts the bunnies ears and makes them go underground.  So the bunnies are fighting back with a wind machine that makes the birds leave the sky.  Both of these machines were funded by a mysterious fellow named Wally (unbeknownst to the others). (more…)

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Tony Abbott–Goofballs #5: The Ha-Ha-Haunting of Hyde House (2013)

Posted in Adventure, C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Kids Corner, Mystery, Short Books, T., The Hipwaders, Tony Abbott, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on December 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

goof5SOUNDTRACK: THE HIPWADERS-Dewey Decimal System (2007).

hipwadersA bouncy bass line introduces this song about the Bookmobile crashing into your house.  The librarian gives him a card and teaches him how to use the library.  The bridge is very sweet, especially compared to the silly, bouncy “Dewey Dewey Dewey Dewey Dewey decimal system” part.

Then the clever song teaches you the basic categories of the Dewey Decimal System.    That section musically reminds me of School House Rock.  It’s kind of a harsh switch from the School House Rock section to the Dewey Dewey section, but that Dewey part is so catchy that it’s a fun change.

It’s an enjoyable song (and informative too).  This song appears on the WXPN Kids Corner CD.

[READ: October 23, 2013] Goofballs #5: The Ha-Ha-Haunting of Hyde House

Goofballs #5 continues this enjoyable series.  This one seemed to be even funnier than the others (more jokes per page!).  I enjoyed this joke which was if not laugh out loud funny is certainly smile-worthy: “The official Goofball definition of toddler is someone too short to reach a doorknob but not too short to reach a cupcake.”

What was also funny, but strange funny, was that lead Goofball Jeff Bunter started finding clues without evening having a case.  Jeff is heading to the library for Fun Day for the toddlers.  But when he sees a woman walking out of store with pink balloons, he deems it  a clue. How can that possibly be?  Well, he is the detective, after all.

It’s also nearly Halloween.  And of course the other Goofballs are there.  Brian is there in a tuxedo (which he imagines he can wear for Halloween.  He also has a top hat that is way too big for him (although he assumed that since he brain is so big it should have fit).  And the other Goofballs and Goofdog are there to help out, of course. (more…)

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Tony Abbott–Goofballs #4: The Mysterious Talent Show Mystery (2013)

Posted in Adventure, C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Kids Corner, Moona Luna, Mystery, Pistolera, Short Books, T., Tony Abbott, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on December 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

gb4SOUNDTRACK: MOONA LUNA-“Vamos! Let’s Go!” (2012).

Moona_Vamos_cover-300x267This song opens with a surf guitar lick and then is dominated by keyboard chords.

The first verses are sung in Spanish (by a delicately voiced woman).  The chorus of “vamos, let’s go” is super fun and easy to sing along to.  But the second half of the song is sung in English (I assume it’s the same words–my Spanish is okay).

It’s a simple song, catchy as anything and you learn some Spanish too!  And check out how cute that cover is.

I also just learned that Moona Luna is a side project of the band Pistolera whom I’ve heard of but not heard.  This one came on the Kids Corner 25th Anniversary CD.

[READ: October 23, 2013] Goofballs #4: The Mysterious Talent Show Mystery

Goofballs #4 proved to be my favorite of all of the Goofballs because the main new character in the book is a redhead named T. (just like my daughter!)  [I secretly believe that Tony Abbott read our blog and saw a picture of T. and decided to name a character after her–even if it was C. who was the one who read all the Droon books with me].

Our four goofy sleuths Jeff Bunter, Mara Lubin, Kelly Smitts, and Brian Rooney are of course present and this time they are preparing for a talent show.  This year’s new director of the talent show is T. Rinkle, a genuine goofball in her own right.  For one thing, she has scheduled the Talent Show for Friturday!  And worse yet, no matter how good (or bad) someone’s talent is, Ms Rinkle tells them that they are great.

But then things get really weird–things start happening which seem like the Talent Show will never happen.  A giant tuba goes missing, the costumes come back in all the wrong sizes and the scripts are missing pages.  What is going on? (more…)

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Tony Abbott–Goofballs #3: Superhero Silliness (2012)

Posted in Adventure, C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Kids Corner, Lunch Money, Mystery, Short Books, T., Tony Abbott, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on November 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

gb3SOUNDTRACK: LUNCH MONEY-“Ate too Much of My Favorite Food” (2009).

lunchmoneySurely everyone has experienced this horrible feeling–you love some kind of food so much that you eat too much and get sick.  My example was peanut butter Rice Krispie treats, an invention that I assume was my mothers.  They were sooooo good.  But I have never eaten them since that day (over 30 years ago.  In fairness, no one has offered them to me either).

So this is a fun song–opening with snapped fingers and a solo female voice before the horn fueled simple melody comes in.  I enjoyed the way the “ba ba ba” section turned into baba ghanoush.

There’s a shout-out section about the foods that did you right and wrong.  My only quibble with the song is that the foods that they list are really strange–foods that no one thinks of as their favorite foods–zucchini??, creamed spinach??.  Even gummy bears?  Where’s the heavy foods that kids actually overeat?

Lunch Money has another song called “I Love My Library” that I may have to check out.  This one came on the Kids Corner 25th Anniversary CD.

[READ: October 25, 2013] Goofballs #3: Superhero Silliness

This book introduced me to a word that I evidently should have known for some time: derder.  A derder is the cardboard roll inside of toilet paper or paper towels.  You put your lips up to it and go “der der der” and it’s a musical instrument.  Seriously.

But what does that have to do with Superheroes?  Well, in this case, plenty.

The kids are on line at Pizza Palace, the site of their very first mystery (which we never saw).  Luigi, the owner, had named a pizza after them for their brave deeds–cheese, garlic, pineapple and peanut butter.  And now it was one year after that deed and he was adding a new mystery topping.  Everyone was waiting to see what it would be when a lino pulled up to the line and called the Goofballs over.  It is Randall Crandall’s driver and he says that Randall Crandall needs their help.

Randall has the world’s largest collection of derders and he is afraid that someone is planning to steal it.  He is having a superhero costume party and he fears that the thief will try to steal them during the party. Will the Goofballs come dressed in original superhero costumes and catch the thief?

Will they ever! (more…)

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Tony Abbott–Underworlds series [Books 1-4] (2012)

Posted in Adventure, C., Children's Books, Death, End of the World, Fables, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Gods, Kids Corner, Myths, Ozokidz, Ozomatli, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Tony Abbott, Violence, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on November 3, 2013| 1 Comment »

underwSOUNDTRACK: OZOKIDZ-“Germs” (2013).

ozokidsThis song is also on the WXPN Kids Corner CD.  Ozokidz is related to the band Ozomatli, who I don’t know all that much about.

The music in this song is very upbeat reggae with the main melody done on kazoos (I suspect this is all one person, but i don’t know for sure).  There’s also some kids’ instruments playing along.  The beat is fast enough that I might consider this ska.

This song is a lesson about germs.  It begins by telling us how to prevent germs from causing us trouble (washing your hands, mostly).  The second half talks about how some germs—some bacteria—are good for us (bacteria is rhymed with healing ya).  But certainly the most memorable part of the song is when he rhymes food with poo (and the song stops so a tiny voice can say “ew, he said poo”).

The message is a good one, and the delivery method is more fun than anything else.  Although it seems a little half-baked of an idea to me.

[READ: August and September 2013] The Underworlds series

I was delighted when I saw that Tony Abbott had a new series and I couldn’t wait to start reading it to the kids.  T. has been asking me to read the Droon series to her like I did for C.  But it is such a long series that I was happy to find something shorter to start with.  It turns out that this Underworlds series is aimed a little older than Droon.  It gets pretty dark, and I was a little worried about some of the concepts in it (the Underworlds are the realm of death after all–and hmm, she has been talking a lot about death lately…).  But in pure Tony Abbott fashion, this was an exciting series where nothing less than the fate of the world is at stake.  And there’s humor as well (although somewhat less than in his other series).  But what really sold me on this series was the way he uses classical mythology (accurately) to generate the basis and conflict of this story.

And even better than using these mythologies, Abbot merges them so that the different cultural underworlds run into each other and even join forces.  It is a great way to learn some mythology if you don’t know it (there are handy maps of the Underworlds) or to gain a more in-depth understanding of the mythologies.  By the end of the series, the kids will have encountered the Greek, Norse, Egyptian and Babylonian gods of the Underworld as well as some of the major scary guys that come out of the Underworld. (more…)

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Tony Abbott–Goofballs #2 The Startling Story of the Stolen Statue (2012)

Posted in Adventure, C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Kids Corner, Mystery, Short Books, T., The Plants, Tony Abbott, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on November 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

goof 2SOUNDTRACK: THE PLANTS-“Monster Under My Bed” (2013).

plantsI found this song on the WXPN Kids Corner 25th Anniversary CD (WXPN plays it a lot, and it’s a good Halloween song).

The song opens up with a lot of horns—a kind of horn solo section.  When the actual song melody starts it has a vaguely spy theme feel, although the main verse is a little sillier.

Lyrically, the song is all about the real concern that there is a Monster under the singer’s bed.  The song is fast and bouncy—especially the verses, so you know it’s not meant to be too scary.  But then the song slows down and we get the big surprise of what the monster actually is.

The song is pretty funny.  And the final verse—”monsters are nothing but make believe” is a very satisfying one.

[READ: October 12, 2013] Goofballs #2: The Startling Story of the Stolen Statue

I didn’t love the first Goofballs book, but I really enjoyed this one a lot.  It’s possible I was a sleepy dad while reading the first one or maybe it suffered from first book in a series stiffness.  But this new book hits its stride and doesn’t stop until the end.  What I especially liked about this book was that it knows its audience.  So it is a detective mystery, but the mystery isn’t too complicated, nor are there tons of impossible to figure out clues.  While I don’ think any kids would figure out who did it (I didn’t), the trial and error of figuring out the culprit is what’s fun.

It is Badger Point School’s 100th anniversary and there is going to be a huge party which includes the unveiling of a statue of the first principal.  Everyone is very excited.

Until the principal went to look at the statue and discovered that under the tarp that was covering the statue was not a statue at all—it was a stack of chairs.

Well, the Goofballs are on the case (without even the principal asking them).  They start finding clues—a broken pencil, a scrap of paper that say HEES GRATE (we had fun guessing what that could mean) and even a splash in the school’s pool. (more…)

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Sheila Heti–“Mini Ching” (Harpers, July 2013)

Posted in Advice, All Songs Considered, Beck, Canadian Content, Excerpt, Harper's, Sheila Heti, Short Story, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on July 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK: BECK-“I Won’t Be Long” (2013).

beckSo Beck has a new song out, too (on NPR they’ve been saying this is the year of the cicadas–bands are resurfacing after years of dormancy).  I’ve actually heard this a few times on WXPN, but I never realized it was Beck and it has left no impression on me.

It’s tough to say it doesn’t sound like Beck since every album is different, but this song really doesn’t sound like him.  The drums are cheesy drum machine drums (like from the early 80s), the keyboards are cheesy keyboards (like from the early 80s), and the song is really really simple (with a strange instrumental break in the middle).  And its five minutes long.  It just doesn’t make a big splash like Beck usually does.

This is all leading me to say I don’t love it.  I usually really like Beck’s gamut of music, but this is a little too bland for me (the last minute or so adds some more details which are more interesting).  I suspect if it wasn’t Beck it wouldn’t get played at all.  I wonder if this is going to be a whole album of this style of music.

[READ: July 11, 2013] “Mini Ching”

This is an excerpt from “How to Be Good When You’re Lost.”  In it, Heti interprets six of the sixty-four hexagrams that comprise the I Ching.  I don’t know exactly what the I Ching is.  I mean, I know vaguely what it is but not exactly.  I assume that there is no real explanation for the hexagrams?

The four excerpted here are #53 Gradual progress; #24 Return  #49 Revolution #33 Retreat.

Again, I don’t know how many others have “interpreted” these mystical hexagrams.  But Heti creates are wise fortune cookie-sounding advice for each one. (more…)

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Adolfo Bioy Casares–The Invention of Morel And Other Stories (from La Trama Celeste) (1940/1948) [translated 1964]

Posted in Adolfo Bioy Casares, Anachronisms, Boredom, Culture Shock, Death, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Ghosts, Jorge Luis Borges, Magic, Roberto Bolaño, Rodriguez, Ruth L.C. Simms, Searching for Sugar Man, Short Story, Translation, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on June 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

220px-The_Invention_of_Morel_1940_Dust_JacketSOUNDTRACK: RODRIGUEZ-“Sugar Man” (1971).

RodriguezcoldfactThis song was played a lot on WXPN, and when I first heard it I couldn’t imagine what new artist was talking about “sweet Mary Jane.”  So it turned out that this song was over 40 years old but it had been resurrected for a movie called Searching for Sugar Man, which is a documentary about Sixto Rodriguez and how he released two albums and then disappeared.

There’s something extremely catchy about this song–the loud down strums that stand out over the quieter strumming, the crazy high frequency sound that sails throughout the song and that hint of horns that gives more depth to this simple folk song.   All of these elements make this song more complex than it might have been.  In fact, the song seems like it’s going to end after about two minutes but there’s the instrumental section full of crazy sounds and electronics.

And even though it seems over after that there’s one more verse and chorus to go.  And then the song just drifts away echoing into nothingness.  It’s quite a catchy little number.

[READ: June 4, 2013] The Invention of Morel and Other Stories

Roberto Bolaño recommended this main story (the other ones as well, I assume).  He’s a big fan of Bioy Casaraes.  But also, Jorge Luis Borges has a prologue to the story in which he states of “The Invention of Morel”

“I have discussed with the author the details of his plot.  I have reread it.  To classify it as perfect is neither an imprecision nor a hyperbole.”

Holy crap.

I can’t say exactly that it I perfect although it is quite fine.  It deals with all kinds of interesting issues and is inspired by (maybe that’s not exactly the right word) The Island of Dr Moreau.  The funny thing is that Morel is neither the main character, nor even a major character for half the book.

The story starts on an island with the narrator writing this book down to leave a  record of “the adverse miracle.”   We learn that the narrator is a fugitive and he was told by an Italian rug seller in Calcutta that the only possible place for a fugitive like him is an uninhabited island.  And on this particular island in 1924 a group of white men built a museum, a chapel and a swimming pool.  But no one dares to go there—not Chinese pirates, not even the Rockefeller Institute because there is a fatal disease located on the island—anyone who has visited there has been found later dessicated. (more…)

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Hergé–Tintin: The Blue Lotus (1936) [translated 1983]

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Hergé, Kids Corner, Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper, Michael Turner, Racism, The Doubleclicks, Translation, Travel on February 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

TintinLotusSOUNDTRACK: THE DOUBLECLICKS-“The Internet National Anthem” (2012).

inatThe Doubleclicks are a sister duo from Portland, Oregon.  They are nerdy and fun (perhaps we can think of them as non-accordion, female They Might be Giants?).  Take “The Internet National Anthem”,” a song  with a steady four/four beat, cellos and  a suitably anthemic chorus, that’s all about the internet.

I was introduced to this band from Kid’s Corner, although I feel that perhaps their songs aren’t really for kids (not that they’re inappropriate but they seem more sophisticated than a typical kids song.  Like this song has big words and it is quite funny.  Although in all honesty it’s not laugh out loud funny, just mildly funny.  It’s got the vibe of Garfunkel and Oates, but not the big guffaws.

Check out their albums here .

[READ: February 8, 2013] The Blue Lotus

This third (technically fifth) Tintin book is the continuation of Cigars of the Pharaoh.  One of the characters from Pharaoh returns in this book, despite the fact that it is set in China.  This book also continues with Hergé’s having it both way in terms of other races.  His drawings are caricaturey and depending on your sensibilities/appreciation for drawing skills/tolerance are either really racist or simply in poor taste (although it does seem to be that the bad characters of other races are the most offensive–the good people are less crazy).

But despite the visual insensitivity, there are several section where Hergé explicitly talks about tolerance and understanding between races.  Like when Tintin saves the young Chinese boy, Chang, who says he thought all white devils were wicked.  Tintin explains that white people believe stupid things about Chinese people too  (eating rotten eggs, tons of unwanted babies in their rivers, etc.).  Chang says “They must be crazy people in your country).  As it turns out (quoting Wikipedia ), “The Blue Lotus is a pivotal work in Hergé’s career, moving away from the stereotype and loosely connected stories and marking a new-found commitment to geographical and cultural accuracy. The book is also amongst the most highly regarded of the entire Tintin series, and was the 18th greatest book on Le Monde’s 100 Books of the Century list.”  It’s quite progressive for the 1930s.

The plotlines from the previous book are continued: there is the poison that makes you crazy, the Pharaoh’s logo shows up and there are Indian characters returning as well.  And by the end Thompson and Thompson, the twin policeman who complicate each others sentences and prove to be more bumbling than we originally thought arrive to capture Tintin (although they believe in Tintin’s goodness–they’re only following orders, you see). (more…)

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