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Archive for the ‘Short Books’ 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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Bryan Lee O’Malley–Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (vol. 2)

Posted in Adventure, Books about music, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Oni Press, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Sex, Short Books, Sonic Youth, Supernatural, Threats, Video Games, Violence, YA Books on August 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

scott2SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 2: Slaapkamers Met Slagroom (1997).

syr2The second SYR release is like the other side of the coin from SYR1.  The premise is the same, the players are the same, but the result is rather different.

The first track is nearly as long as the previous disc (17 + minutes) and it seems to run through a variety of song styles (including noise experiments) before settling down into a noisy improv.  The third track features the first “vocals” on these discs–rather unsettling sounds that Kim spits out.  (Online lyrics pages say that there are actual words here so I’ll take their word for it; I just like to think of them as vocal stylings).

While SYR1 was a smoother listen, this one is more jagged.  Not quite the noisefest they are capable of but not exactly easy listening either.

For this disc all of the titles, liner notes etc. are in Dutch.  (SYR1 was in French).  Each volume in the series is in a different language.

[READ: August 9, 2009] Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

The second volume of the series, (and the one the film is named after) continues the exciting saga of Scott Pilgrim and his band Sex Bob-omb.

This second volume introduces us to The Clash at Demonhead, the band that Scott’s ex-girlfriend took to stardom, after they kicked Scott out of the band, of course.

But before we get to the Knives Chu’s new favorite band,we learn about the origins of her former favorite band: Sex Bob-omb.  We see how Scott and Kim first met and why she acts so strangely around him.

But more importantly, plotwise, we get to meet Ramona’s second evil ex-boyfriend, Lucas Lee.  He is a broody actor who also just happens to be in Toronto filming a new picture.  And fight they do.

But they’re not the only ones who do battle in this volume.  There’s a rip-roaring battle scene between Knives and Ramona that takes place in the beautiful Toronto Reference Library.

But the book is more than fighting and music: there’s a cooking lesson for making vegan shepherd’s pie.  Veganism will loom large in Vol 3!   And there’s even more fun asides (with captions and comments about various characters) in this volume.  I especially enjoyed the ones that give the characters’ states of mind.

While the first volume was certainly fun, it feels like he is having even more fun with volume two.  It’s a very fun series, and the books are very fast reads (for better or worse…often worse.)

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Bryan Lee O’Malley–Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life (vol. 1)

Posted in Adventure, Books about music, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Oni Press, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Sex Bob-omb, Short Books, Sonic Youth, Supernatural, Threats, Video Games, Violence, YA Books on August 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

pilgrimSOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH -SYR 1 Anagrama (1997).

syr1

After Washing Machine, Sonic Youth began recording a series of EPs (that gradually grew into longer discs) in which they explored their improvisation/longer piece needs.

And so SYR1 was released.

It contains for tracks and runs about 25 minute.  It’s not simply guitar feedback or waves of distortion.  Rather it is songs built around themes which are followed to their logical ends.

Thee EPs aren’t for everyone. There’s no lyrics, there’s no choruses.  It’s sort of like how the end of “The Diamond Sea” was a chance for SY to let loose and see what happened. I can’t even say that the songs and motifs are necessarily memorable (although I’m led to believe that some have cropped up on the proper albums).  I don’t listen to these a lot, but they are fun to put on from time to time, if you’re in an avant garde mood.

[READ August 9, 2009] Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life

I had read this book a few years ago.  But I had read it in bits and pieces over several weeks, and so I didn’t feel like I had a real grasp of the story.  This is especially true because the story begins simply enough and then turns into a wild hallucinogenic story that is very funny, very very funny, in fact, but also incredibly surreal.

When I was at BEA in New York this year I ran into the guy from Oni Press who told me that they are making a film of Scott Pilgrim, which is pretty fantastic.  I’m rather looking forward to seeing it.  But because there are so many interesting visual things going on in th graphic novel, I can’t help but wonder how they will transform them.  And also, Book 6 of this series may be written with a different ending from the film, so that should be fun, too.

But speaking of the visuals….

O’Malley’s style is utterly fascinating.  When I first started reading, I felt like the artwork was “sloppy” in that sort of stylized sloppiness that people take some time to achieve.  (I think mostly this is because of the character’s eyes.  They are a refined sort of manga but the pupils are so large that i found it disconcerting.)  But when reading it through this time, I realized not only is it not sloppy, it is meticulously designed in a very cool way.  Take Scott’s hair, which is commented about through the series.  I’m not going to go and spout on about how long he must have spent getting his hair just right, but clearly there was effort and planning in the length and style, even if it is primarily drawn with a  few broad triangles. (more…)

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Kurt Vonegut–A Man Without a Country (2005)

Posted in Books about writers, Corporate skewering, Death, Essays, Free Speech, Funny (ha ha), In These Times, Kurt Vonnegut, Old Age, Poetry, Political Humor, Prison, Religion, Short Books, Smarty Pants, Sonic Youth, Technology, The Future, Threats, War on July 27, 2009| 1 Comment »

kvmanSOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-EVOL (1986).

evolAh, EVOL.  Here’s where Sonic Youth became Sonic Youth.  Who knows how much Steve Shelley had to do with it, but he shows up and the band becomes amazing.  The cover art is pretty darn scary and yet the music inside is amazingly beautiful.  While by no means a commercial album, the album is chock full of melody.

And yes, I believe it is mandatory to type the title in all capitals.

“Tom Violence” opens it up with a fantastic chord progression and words that are sung almost delicately.  And “Shadow of a Doubt” is amazing!  Guitar harmonics drift around while Kim whispers about a dream.  An astonishing leap from their past records!  “Star Power” seems like their attempt to right a catchy hit.  It would certainly never be one, but it’s pretty close.

“In the Kingdom #19” is a lengthy spoken piece by Lee Renaldo.  My friends Lar, Aurora and myself saw Lee play a show with Mike Watt in the city on Bloomsday.  We have a  special affinity for Lee’s songs.  I’m going to try to remember to point out all of his vocal turns on SY discs, but on those first few, it’s nigh on impossible.

“Green Light” seems like it could have been a Velvet Underground song.  “Death to Our Friends” is a pretty instrumental, while “Secret Girls” morphs from a noisy abstract soundscape to a delicate piano backed poem read by Kim.

I tend to think that SY’s early stuff was all noise and bombast, and yet only three albums in and they produce a masterpiece like this.

Known as “Expressway to Yr Skull,” the originally titled “Madonna Sean and Me” shows just how much SY knew about catchy tunes.  And maybe that’s the key to longevity, having a catchy tune somewhere underneath whatever layers of nonsense you throw on top (and SY throws the best nonsense I know).  Admittedly, “Expressway” kind of devolves into a few minutes too many of fading notes. The disc ends with “Bubblegum” a surprisingly rock and roll song.  I especially like Kim’s “hit it girls” comment.

EVOL marks the beginning of a staggeringly fantastic collection of discs.

[READ: July 16 2009] A Man Without a Country

I hadn’t been planning to read any of Vonnegut’s book out of sequence (except for the collected stories which I figured I’d read in their own sequence).  But when I went to join my local library’s Adult Summer Reading Program (in mid-July, how punctual!), I received a coupon for a free book from their free book shelf. Largely they were books that I didn’t want.  And just as I was about to give up, I saw this small Vonnegut book poking its spine out from the rest.

I grabbed it and brought it home. (more…)

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Georgi Gospodinov–Natural Novel (2005)

Posted in Books about music, Dystopia, Foreign Books, Funny (strange), Georgi Gospodinov, Marriage Trouble, Meta, Minnesota, Natural Novel, Postmoderism, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs, Short Books, The Replacements, Toilets, Unreliable narrator on June 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

gospodinovSOUNDTRACK–THE REPLACEMENTS–All Shook Down (1990).

shookAnd here we come to the end of the recorded history of the Replacements.  7 albums (and an EP).  4 and a half hours of recorded music.  And a steady maturation from drunken punks to elder statesmen.  Or really statesman (Paul Westerberg at the ripe old age of 31!).   All of the reviews state that this was originally designed as a Westerberg solo album, and that the band barely played together on it at all. And it shows.

To me, this album just isn’t very good.  It’s not that the songs are bad…I ‘ll always admit that Westerberg is a great songwriter.  I’m just not inspired by them.  The single, “Merry Go Round” is the most (there’s that word again) mature sounding rock tracks that Westerberg has written.  And “Nobody” is a decent acoustic type rocker (although the drums are kind of boring).  “Bent All Out of Shape” shows promise but never lives up to it.

“Sadly Beautiful” is another of Westerberg’s solid ballads.  But it doesn’t stand out because the rest of the album isn’t that radically different.  “Someone Take the Wheel” and “When It Began” are decent rockers, but the rest of the album is just sort of…there (except for the awful duet with Johnette Napolitano (whom I used to like but who i just find annoying all these years later).

Westerberg went on to do about a half dozen solo albums but I haven’t heard any of them.

There’s nothing wrong with a songwriter maturing, especially if you get to mature along with him or her.  It’s just such a surprise to see it happen so quickly.

[READ: June 15, 2009] Natural Novel

My coworker and I were experimenting with our library’s catalog.  We started searching for books in specific languages.  We noticed that Bulgarian was one of the languages, and were surprised that our branch had anything in Bulgarian.  It turned out that there was one book that was originally written in Bulgarian but which had been translated to English.  It was this book. It sounded bizarre and fascinating.  And it was only 136 pages.  How could I pass it up?  And what would it be about?

Well, that’s hard to answer.

The premise of a “natural novel” is that it is meant to be a man’s attempt to deal with the dissolution of his marriage.  He starts to talk about the divorce several times, but he can’t really come to terms with it, and so, rather, he gets involved with other things. (more…)

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Gene Luen Yang & Derek Kirk Kim–The Eternal Smile (2009)

Posted in Derek Kirk Kim, Fantasy, First Second :01, Gene Luen Yang, Graphic Novel, Minnesota, Scrooge McDuck, Short Books, Short Story, Snappy Cola, The Replacements, Violence, YA Books on June 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

eternalSOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Don’t Tell a Soul (1989).

soulWith this disc, the ‘Mats finally scored a hit.  “I’ll Be You” actually made the Billboard charts!  And why not, it’s a delightfully catchy, far more mature version of the ‘Mats now-adult-alternative music.

In my head, this is where the ‘Mats sold out entirely.  But, I listened to the disc the other day and I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed it.  I was probably still really into Pleased to Meet Me when I first got Don’t Tell, so the trip from point A to B isn’t quite as drastic. I guess maybe grown up me enjoys it more than college-aged me did.

The allmusic review is very harsh about the disc, especially the production.  I can’t say I noticed anything about that.  I was just listening for the songs.  And, in addition to being their longest disc to date, it only features 2 songs shorter than 3 minutes!

What you see is Paul Westerberg maturing as a songwriter, for better or worse.  And, as far as his craft goes, it’s certainly better.  As for indie rock, well, not so much.

The songs still maintain the rocking style of older Replacements, but they have more proper structure  (verses and choruses, repeat).  They also play with the loud/soft dynamic that would really come to the fore with Nirvana…although The ‘mats version was more of a rocking/acoustic juxtaposition. Almost all of the tracks on this disc feature an acoustic guitar somewhere in the mix. In fact, I thought that the disc was a lot less rocking than it actually is.

There’s a couple of clunkers on the disc, “We’ll Inherit the Earth” seems a bit off somehow.  But for the most part, the songs sound like a grown up version of the teenage ‘Mats from just five years ago.

By comparison to general pop music, “I’ll Be You” still maintains some indie cred. And, it’s really hard to resist the catchiness of it (from the break to the slightly off-kilter guitar solo that ends the song).  “Achin’ to Be” is another coulda been a hit, although perhaps more on a folk/country side of things.  And “Talent Show” and “Back to Back” are sort of gentle rockers that speed up at a few points. Only “Anywhere’s Better Than Here” has the really distorted rock sound of yore.

Even though I did enjoy listening to the disc, it suffers from a lack of fun.  As I said, it’s a pretty shocking maturation over the span of eight (or even five) years.

[READ: June 12, 2009] The Eternal Smile

Sarah received a copy of this book, and as soon as I realized it was by the guy who did American Born Chinese, an amazing, amazing graphic novel, I was excited to read it.

This is a collection of three short stories: “Duncan’s Kingdom,” “Gran’pa Greenbax and the Eternal Smile,” and “Urgent Request”  I’m not sure if Kim and Yang collaborated or if one did one story and not the others.  But regardless, the art is fantastic in each.  I love the effortless style shifts in “Duncan” from the simple lines in the fantasy sequence, to the very very dark style in the nightmares.  “Gran’pa Greenbax” is so cartooney, so “childlike” in its style, that the violent avarice in the middle comes as quite a shock.  And “Urgent Request” is simply beautiful from start to finish.  It’s a great looking collection. (more…)

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Les Claypool–South of the Pumphouse (2006)

Posted in Chuck, Drinking, e.e. cummings, Fishing, Les Claypool, Marriage Trouble, Oysterhead, Phish, Primus, Ra Ra Riot, Racism, Rasputina, Sex, Short Books, The Futureheads, The Who, Vampire Weekend, Violence, Wikipedia on May 31, 2009| Leave a Comment »

pumphouseSOUNDTRACK: RA RA RIOT-The Rhumb Line (2008).

raraI have a hard time describing this album.  It has a lot of ingredients that don’t make sense individually, yet which work very well. I would almost resort to calling them pretentious rock, but that seems so derogatory.  Vampire Weekend falls into this category of highly literate pop too, and we know how much  I love that album!

Ra Ra Riot play catchy indie pop, but their main instruments are cello and violin. And yet they’re not anything like Rasputina’s string-laden goth music.  Rather, they write catchy poppy songs that are punctuated with strings.  I even wanted to say they don’t have a  guitarist, (they do) but I guess that just shows how well his licks meld with the rest of the music. And, indeed, on some tracks, the guitar is up front and wonderful.

They also get labelled pretentious because one of their songs (and one of their catchiest) has lyrics from e.e.cummings, or rather, they use his poem “dying is fine)but Death” as the lyrics for the song “Dying is Fine.”  They also cover Kate Bush.  Now the Futureheads covered Kate Bush a few years ago, so perhaps Kate is the next go-to artist for covers.

Ra Ra Riot wins extra points for covering a fairly unknown, and utterly bizarre song, “Suspeneded in Gaffa.”  This happens to be one of my favorite Kate songs, so I’m a bit critical.  However, they do a very good job of making it a pop song (There’s enough weird stuff in Kate’s version to never give it mainstream acceptance).  And the strings work very well for it.

Ra Ra Riot was also featured on that paragon of good taste: the show Chuck [And since I have mentioned the  music of Chuck on many occasions, I would be remiss if I didn’t send a shout-out to this site which lists all of the songs in Season One–gotta update Season Two fellas].  Chuck played “Can’t You Tell” in a romantic scene, and it worked quite well.

So, after all that, what can I say about the band.  They may be too commercial for some, but I think their combination of strings, intelligent lyrics and good vocals is pretty great.  Incidentally, in case you were wondering, a rhumb line  (or loxodrome) is a line crossing all meridians at the same angle, i.e. a path of constant bearing. Following a rhumb line requires turning the vehicle more and more sharply while approaching the poles (thanks Wikipedia).

[READ: May 26, 2009] South of the Pumphouse

So this book is by Les Claypool, lead singer and bassist of Primus.

Claypool’s lyrics are typically stories, full of weird characters in weird situations.  Oh, and fishing.  Lots of fishing.  And that sums up this book pretty well.

The book is set in El Sobrante, California, a redneck haven that has not progressed along with the rest of the state.  Earl is a fisherman and meth addict.  In that order.  Fishing is Earl’s life.  His father fished every weekend, and Earl and his brother Ed went with him.  Rain or shine. (more…)

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Shalom Auslander–Beware of God (2005)

Posted in Belle and Sebastian, David Sedaris, Funny (ha ha), Gods, Humiliation, Marriage Trouble, Nazis, Neurotics, Peanuts, Red Dwarf, Religion, Shalom Auslander, Short Books, Short Story, Simon Rich, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, The Velvet Underground, Thin Lizzy, Threats, Woody Allen on May 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

bogSOUNDTRACK: BELLE AND SEBASTIAN-BBC Sessions & Live in Belfast 2001 (2008).

bsbbcVirtually every review of the BBC Sessions says the same thing: these tracks barely differ from the original recordings.  And, for better or worse, that is very true.  In fact, even the trumpets and other instruments sound so perfect, you tend to forget it’s a live recording.  Clearly this sends a positive message about their live playing.  But if that’s the case, why would you buy this?

Well, clearly Belle & Sebastian devotees will buy it even if there’s only marginal differences.  But really the selling point is the last 4 songs, all of which are brand new (at least to me). It’s also amazing to me how on the first batch of live songs from 1996, the band sounds so delicate it’s as if they would fall apart just by looking at them.  The opening songs are soft, and Stuart’s voice is barely a whisper.  And yet through all of that the choruses are still catchy, and the songs are amazing.

But really the main hook for this set is the Live in Belfast disc.  It comes from 2001, and is a surprisingly rollicking set.  I saw B&S several years ago at a small club in Manhattan. It turns out to be one of my worst concert experiences.  Not because of the band, but because it was so overcrowded (B&S were the “IT” band at the time) that I had to keep moving back to stop getting crushed.  I eventually spent time in the lobby trying in vain to hear the set.

So this is the next best thing for me.

The set is an interesting mix of covers (and surprising ones at that–“The Boys Are Back in Town!”) and B&S rarities (with a couple of popular songs like “The Boy with the Arab Strap” and “Legal Man” thrown in as well).  There’s also a fun rendition of The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for the Man” by a fan named Barry who requested the song and then came up on stage to sing it.  The band is loose, a little shambolic and apparently having a lot of fun.

It’s a remarkable collection of tracks for any fan of the band and certainly overcomes the similarities of tracks on the first disc.

[READ: May 24, 2009] Beware of God

I read this book exclusively because of my authority as a librarian. I received an email saying that the person who had put this book on hold no longer wanted it (her book club was last week and she had to buy the book…that’s a book club I want to be in, actually).  When I took it off the hold shelf, I saw who it was by, and since I have wanted to read his stuff (and this book was fairly small) I thought I’d take it home with me.  When we canceled the hold, I learned that someone else had a hold on it, so technically I couldn’t take it.  However, I broke a rule. Since it was Saturday and Memorial Day weekend this book wouldn’t be shipped out to the net person on line until Tuesday morning!  Surely I could read this in time with no one the wiser.  Well, imagine my surprise to have read it by Sunday night…it could have gone back even if it wasn’t a long weekend!  Huzzah!

I hope that doesn’t get me fired. (more…)

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George Saunders–The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip (2000)

Posted in Children's Books, Fables, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Saunders, Lane Smith, McSweeney's, Short Books, The Airborne Toxic Event, WRFF 104.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA, WRXP 101.9 FM--New York on May 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

frip1SOUNDTRACK: WRFF 104.5  FM & WRXP 101.9 FM.

1045The CD player in my car died.  I have been listening to the radio these last few days.  At first I was a little rxpexcited at the thought of listening to these stations that I so recently discovered.  But let me say, when working outside in the yard, you don’t mind what the stations are playing as much as you do when confined in a car.

Everyone hates commercials.  True.  But I never really noticed how all stations play commercials at the exact same time.  So you can’t even switch back and forth between the two stations without someone yelling at you to buy something.

But the real problem comes with the music.  Now, these are stations that I like and the bulk of the music they play is very good.  However, after being stuck in the car for more than three hour with these two, I’m ready to strangle them.  WRFF based in Philadelphia seems to have copped its set list from the venerable Boston radio station WFNX circa 1995.  I loved the Toadies back then and was thrilled to hear them again.  But I don’t need to hear them every other day, now.  And, WRFF loves the Police, almost obsessively.  Now, I like the Police quite a lot, but for RFF, The Police seem to be their go-to band.  Hey, we’ve got a slot to fill, let’s throw on “Message in a Bottle.”  Again.  I like the Police, but come on!  And, of course, there’s Airborne Toxic Event.  I think every time I turn on that station I hear “Some Time Around Midnight.”

And WRXP is just a little too fixated on the classic rock.  When I first started listening I was pretty excited at the mix of classic rock and alternative stuff.  But at this point, I’ve grown tired of the classic rock, especially since it seems to be all second-tier classic rock.  You know, I don’t really need to hear “Money for Nothing” anymore.

And so, I am left scanning the dials.  And, I am ashamed to say that it took me a few days to search to the left of the dial, where I know good music normally resides.  In my defense, where I used to live didn’t have much access to those stations.  But now that I live within shouting distance of Rutgers, there is much to be joyous about.

[READ: May 5, 2009] The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip

frip2I had read this short book about six months ago, but decided to read it again before posting on it.  The second time through was a much more satisfying read for some reason.

This story is about a small town called Frip.  Frip is on the edge of a cliff above the sea.  Lurking in the sea are a multitude of gappers.  Gappers are small orange urchin-like creatures.  Gappers love goats.  Not to eat or to do anything evil to, they just love them.  Goats make them happy.  Conveniently for the gappers, the three families who live closest to the edge of the cliff all keep goats.  Unfortunately for the families and the goats, hundreds of gappers climb on the goats and shriek with delight whenever they cling.  This is rather disconcerting for the goats, who stop eating and stop producing milk.

The three families are:  our heroine Capable and her dad, her neighbor Mrs Romo and her two boys (who spend their non-gapper moments practicing singing), and Mr & Mrs P and their two girls (who practice looking pretty for boys).  The children are employed to go out to the goats eight times a day, scrape the gappers off the goats and throw them back into the sea.

One day, the gappers realize they can go to just one house, instead of all three.  So, they choose Capable’s house (which is closest).  Now her neighbors have no gappers, but Capable is overwhelmed by them.  Capable asks for help but the neighbors tell her that the gappers are her problem now. (more…)

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Erik P. Kraft–Miracle Wimp (2007)

Posted in Erik P. Kraft, Funny (ha ha), Jeff Kinney, Quatte.f, Set at School, Short Books on March 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

miracleSOUNDTRACK: QUATTE.F- “I’m So Glad” from My Space (2009).

Quatte.f is a patron at my library.  He had asked me to help him transfer some photos and eventually to help him upload his demo song to his MySpace page.  He told me that he was in a local group of some sort–I don’t recall who they were–and this was his chance to go solo.

I’m not much of an R&B fan (NO!), but after we uploaded the track, he asked me to listen and I did.  And I have to say I really liked it.  It’s catchy as heck.  And his voice is really strong.  He also avoids most of the histrionics that I dislike so much about R&B.

So, I wish him much success, and since I doubt he’ll ever see this, if you click on his link and listen to his song he’ll be pretty psyched that he’s suddenly gotten all of these listens to his song.  And if you’re from a label, he’s currently unsigned.

Check it out.

[READ: March 22, 2009] Miracle Wimp

Sarah got a copy of this in the mail.  She said, hey, this looks like something you’d like.  So I read it, and finished it in like three hours.

At first, I was afraid that it was  just jumping on the bandwagon of the Diary of Wimpy Kid phenomenon.  But when I checked the release dates I found that the first Wimpy Kid came out in 2007 and so did this book.  We got a pre-released copy of the paperback edition (which is soon to be released in 2009) so no complaints about riding on coattails!  (Although, the online cartoon started in, I believe, 2005).

The book is about Tom Mayo, a junior in a high school set in the boonies of western Massachusetts.  The book details the ritual humiliations that come with being a wimp in high school.  There aren’t diary entries per se, but each page has a title and about a page worth of stuff that happened about that topic.  There’s also some rudimentary drawings (not as charming as Wimpy Kid’s, which is especially weird since Tom wanted to be in art class) that convey what happened in that “entry.” (more…)

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