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Archive for the ‘Threats’ Category

Jason Shiga–Double Happiness (1999)

Posted in Gangsters, Giacomo Puccini, Graphic Novel, Jason Shiga, Joseph Calleja, Paolo Tosti, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Short Books, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Violence on June 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

doubelSOUNDTRACK: JOSEPH CALLEJA-Tiny Desk Concert #344 (March 24, 2014).

Jcallejaoseph Calleja is an opera singer.  This puts me at a huge disadvantage in that I have nothing really to say about him.  I like some operas and have even been to one, but I have no real experience with the tenor voice.  And his is quite amazing.

So I’ll just include what NPR does.  Calleja is from Malta (although his English is perfect).  He is 36 and is one of opera’s biggest stars.  Evidently you can hear that his voice has matured since his early recordings.

The one thing I can include is that he makes a very funny joke in which he says that instead of playing the third song, they are going to do two hours of Dutch and Flemish operas.

What he really sings is : Tchaikovsky: “None But The Lonely Heart” ; Tosti: Ideale ; Puccini: E lucevan le stelle (from Tosca).

[READ: June 25, 2014] Double Happiness

I read this book several hours after reading Fleep and didn’t realize it was the same artist (I hadn’t noticed the name on Fleep).

There are some similarities in style between the two (Fleep looks a  little more “professional.”).  But Double Happiness had a lot more characters and a much more complicated plot.  Nevertheless, the main character bears a passing resemblance to the guy from Fleep (his head is a circle and his hair is much the same).

The main character is Tom, a Chinese American living in Boston.  He takes the bus to San Francisco (ugh that sounds awful) where he meets his “cousin” Jackson.  Jackson lives in San Francisco (they’re not really sure how they are related) in a rent-free establishment.  So Jackson tells Tom to absolutely stay with them while he’s in S.F. (it’s something to do with a business trip, but those details aren’t too important).

When they arrive at he flat, Tom meets Jenny, Jackson’s girlfriend, and her sister Ji Lian.  Everyone is super nice to him.  But soon they start laughing at his Chinese failings–he can’t use chopsticks very well and he doesn’t speak Cantonese or Mandarin or whatever they are speaking.  (It turns out to be Hokkien).  Tom has a minor breakdown as he explains that he has never fit in anywhere.  In Boston he was the only Chinese person in tiny suburb and now he can’t even fit in in a Chinese community. (more…)

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Orphan Black–Seasons 1 and 2 (2013-2014)

Posted in Acting, Adventure, Disease, Orphan Black, Sci-fi, Tatiana Maslany, Threats, Violence on June 28, 2014| 2 Comments »

orphan[BINGED: June 15-24, 2014] Orphan Black

Last year when Orphan Black came out, we taped a bunch of episodes, but it aired at an awkward time in our viewing schedule.  We watched the first episode but we picked a bad night (for me) to watch it because I dozed off and didn’t get absorbed in it.  Then the Tivo deleted an episode or two and that was the end of that.

As Season 2 was amping up, the press about the show was a little ridiculous, but everything made the show sound so good that we decided to give it a try again.  Of course, it started before the Fall season shows ended, but SyFy kindly aired a marathon of Season 1.  By the time we had time to watch it, we had 17 episodes in our queue.  And that was an awesome way to watch this show–no delays between episodes, just one show a night until we were totally hooked.

Sure, some of the details of the show are confusing and sure there’s some weird sciencey mumbo-jumbo, but when the characters are this intriguing, and the actual story grows more compelling, you can forgive confusion (especially since a surprising number of those questions were answered in the Season 2 finale).  The acting is superb and each clone’s storyline is detailed and rich.  Even the characters that were despicable have become enjoyable (how many murderers are we going to root for on this show?). (more…)

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Linda Sue Park–Trust No One [The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers: Book Five] (2012)

Posted in Adventure, Death, Domenico Scarlatti, Eliot Fisk, Fears, Greed, History, Paco Peña, Roland Smith, Sabicas (Agustín Castellón Campos), Short Books, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel, Violence on June 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

parkSOUNDTRACK: ELIOT FISK AND PACO PEÑA-Tiny Desk Concert #364 (June 14, 2014).

eliotIt may not be correct to say that these two guitarists rock, but man do they rock.  I have a  couple of Eliot Fisk CDs but nothing prepares you for watching his fingers fly on that big old classical guitar.  And Paco Peña plays an amazing flamenco guitar.  Watching them play together is really something magical.

It’s especially fun to see Fisk so clearly enjoying himself as his hands fly all over the neck of the guitar.  It’s also interesting to compare Fisk’s guitar with the flamenco guitar, just to see how differently the instruments sound.  There’s little more that I can say about this except that it is really amazing.

Together, they play four pieces:

Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in D Major K.33; Bach: Prelude in F major, BWV 927; Sabicas: “Farruca” and
Peña: “El nuevo día (Colombiana)”

Watch below:

[READ: June 17, 2014] Trust No One

All along through this series I felt that perhaps it was too old for my nine-year old.  And this book really felt like it pushed this book clearly into the YA realm.  It opens with a talk about the Twin Towers’ destruction, which I realize is before a nine-year old was even born, but it still feels very sensitive.  But, most intense of all, a beloved character dies.  I won’t say which one, but suffice it to say I was really shocked.  In the first series, people got hurt, but this time people actually die.   It’s pretty rough.

As for plot, this book really brings a lot of plot threads out into the open.

First, we learn who the mole is.  Second we learn who Vesper One is.  And third we finally see what’s going to happen with the serum that Dan has been collecting ingredients for.

I haven’t mentioned the serum in the other reviews.  It has been going on throughout the books, but was never near the forefront until now.  Because the mole tries to sneak it away from Dan.  And by the end of the book, Dan has mixed all the ingredients together.

But first we go back to New York where the kids have hired a cab to take them to Yale (for $600).  On the way there they are stopped by a motorcade, which they assume is the Vespers.  But it proves to be a far more shocking piece of information.  After fleeing the scene (and Amy getting a chance to use some of her physical training, they make it to the Yale library where they see out the Voynich manuscript.  One thing I love about this series is that all of the locations and artifacts are real.  like this Voynich manuscript (which you can certainly read about on Wikipedia). (more…)

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Dinaw Mengestu–“The Paper Revolution” (New Yorker, January 13, 2014)

Posted in Africa, Dinaw Mengestu, New Yorker, Phish, Racism, Set at School, Short Story, Threats, Violence, War on June 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

CV1_TNY_01_13_14McCall.inddSOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Bait 7 (2012).

bait7This free sampler from 2012 is practically a greatest hits collection for me.  There are 8 tracks on the collection and none of them is shorter than 15 minutes.

It opens with a 1995 concert in which “Wilson” segues into “Tweezer” (for a combined total of 30 minutes).  Then there’s a 13 minute version of “Stash” from 2010 and an 18 minute version of “Split Open and Melt” from 1999.  The songs meld very nicely together with just the slightest change in recording sounds making any notable difference.

“You Enjoy Myself” comes from way back in 1992, and it ends with an extended vocal nonsense section–all four of them mouthing crazy sounds in a rhythmic pattern.  The only song of the set that I don’t love is “Runaway Jim,” but the jam section is great in this one.

“Reba” from 1996 works perfectly with “Gumbo” from 1998.  And the set closes with another 1992 recording.  The band opens with “All Things Reconsidered” which Trey explains is a reworking of the NPR theme.  But he then tells the audience that they can sing along to the next song, David Bowie” (which opens with a little nod to the Simpsons).

There’s no sign of a Live Bait 10, unfortunately, but having 9 free releases of highlights from live shows is still pretty sweet.  If only their show in Philly hadn’t sold out.

[READ: June 12, 2014] “The Paper Revolution”

Dinaw Mengestu’s first story (in the 20 under 40 issue) was about a refugee which I felt was more than a stereotypical refugee story.  This new story is about student revolutionaries, and it looks at them in a different (and somewhat confusing) way.

The narrator, who is eventually called Professor Langston by his friend Isaac, is at the University in the capital city, Kampala.  When he first meets Isaac, he finds him an interesting fellow–a man studying politics, because what else is there to study in Africa?  When the narrator says he’s studying literature, that’s when Isaac calls him the professor.

Isaac is full of information that he loves sharing (starting his sentence with “Did you know?”) He lectures about the British rule and their plan to turn this city into a new London if they lost the war.  Isaac fills him with political theory, and the university was the ideal place for it “Every aspiring militant, radical and revolutionary in Eastern and Central Africa was ran to the university.”

He and Isaac watch the “radicals” and can tell from their shoes which ones are truly poor. But there is one boy–so rarely seen as to possibly be invisible–who was the genuine article.  And soon enough there is graffiti on the walls which everyone attributes to him.  But the graffiti is whitewashed and a sign is put up admonishing: “It is a Crime against the country to deface our University walls.” (more…)

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Roland Smith–Shatterproof [The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers: Book Four] (2012)

Posted in Adventure, Death, Fears, Greed, History, Iestyn Davies, John Dowland, Morrissey, Roland Smith, Short Books, Thomas Dunford, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel, Violence on June 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

shatterSOUNDTRACK: IESTYN DAVIES-Tiny Desk Concert #357 (May 17, 2014).

falsettoIestyn Davies (pronounced YES-tin DAY-vis) is a countertenor, which means he sings in s striking falsetto (especially when you hear his deep speaking voice).  Davies sings three songs from  Elizabethan composer John Dowland. Joining Davies is Thomas Dunford, who has been affectionately dubbed “the Eric Clapton of the lute” by the BBC.  They play this early music and it sounds amazing (I am super impressed by his voice, but the lute blows me away).

The songs are very melancholy about lost love.  Like this wonderful line that would make Morrissey jealous: “I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die/In deadly pain and endless misery” (all done is in a staggering falsetto in a beautiful ascending melody).

He plays three songs (none of which had I heard before) “Come again, sweet love doth now invite,” “Now, O now I needs must part” and “Can she excuse my wrongs.”

I loved listening to these and to watching the lutist wail on that instrument.

[READ: May 25, 2014] Shatterproof

Much to my discomfort, this series is getting darker and darker.  I’m almost not sure if my 9 year old is ready for the intensity (and the death) in this book.

While there was real danger in the first series, people we know have actually died in this one.  And there is another (shocking) causality in this book as well.

As soon as the four kids (Amy and Dan Cahill and their friends Atticus and Jake Rosenbloom) land in Germany, they are set upon by police.  Since the four of them are wanted by Interpol, they assume that they are caught, done.  But it turns out that these are not real police, they are employed by Vesper One, to let them know that he knows exactly where they are.  And to give them their next clue.

Which is that they must steal a diamond from a heavily guarded museum that is about to close in two hours.

Meanwhile Hamilton and Phoenix are still tailing Luna Amato.  They are being assisted by Erasmus who is really calling the shots and using the boys as a kind of decoy.  Luna seems oblivious to the pursuit, which makes Erasmus even more suspicious.  So while the boys follow her, Erasmus sneaks in to what he believes is a Vesper stronghold.

The other real plot in the book coes from the prisoners.  The clever Cahill clan has devised a way to get out of their prison cell.  And it works–at a price.  Although their story evolves over the book, suffice it to say that they do escape, but at the risk of losing one of their number and at Nellie getting bitten by attack dogs.  By the end of the book, some of them have been brought to new facility where the consequences are all the more severe.

But back to the diamond heist. (more…)

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Peter Lerangis–The Dead of Night [The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers: Book Three] (2012)

Posted in Adventure, Death, Fears, Greed, History, Peter Lerangis, Short Books, The Roots, Threats, Travel, Violence, Yo Gabba Gabba on May 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

39SOUNDTRACK: THE ROOTS-“Lovely, Love My family” (2009).

miaThe Roots are known for many many things–most recently being the house band for Jimmy Fallon.  They do intelligent hip hop, but they also play “neo-soul” and this fun sorta-ska-like sweet song from the first Yo Gabba Gabba Music is Awesome CD.

It’s 2 minutes of poppy happiness. It’s fun to see ?uestlove bopping along, and to see the whole band in front of these bright colors.

This song is utterly catchy, with smart fun lyrics that are easy to sing along to And unlike some of the Yo Gabba Gabba songs it’s not terribly repetitive.  It’s even got a tuba solo.

Check it out:

[READ: May 6, 2014] The Dead of Night

I was pretty excited to get into this third book of the series, but something about this book burnt me out a bit.  It may have been because it was increasingly dark.  Or maybe that Atticus was in trouble from the get go and had to do a lot of work by himself–that seemed somehow more difficult to read than Dan and Amy working together.  It also seemed to have a bit less humor than the other books–like this one was all down to business, or that the stakes were higher or something.

Indeed, the book opens with Atticus in the back of the truck being taken away by the evil Wyoming kids.  They know he is a Guardian, even if he doesn’t know quite what that means. They are taking him somewhere in secret–which involves an airplane.  How is he ever going to notify anyone of where he is?  But it turns out that Dan and Amy aren’t the only techie kids, and soon Atticus has a way of signaling his friends that he has been taken to Turkey.

Meanwhile Amy is feeling especially guilty for everything that has happened–she’s supposed to be the senior family member in charge.  And Jake isn’t helping with that.  At the same time Dan keeps getting texts from AJT–the man he believes to be his father.  And they are making his mood even darker. (more…)

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T. Cooper–Real Man Adventures (2012)

Posted in Chris Pureka, Dynasty Handbag, Eminem, Fears, Geo Wyeth, Girls Against Boys, Hem, Indigo Girls, Marriage (Happy), Marty Cooper & The Rifters, McSweeney's, Memoirs, Our Lady J., Peg Hambright, Rick Moody, Rocco Katastrophe, Sarah McLachlan, Scott McCloud, Scott Miller & The Commonwealth, Sexism, Short Books, Soce the Elemental Wizard, T. Cooper, The Julie Ruin, Threats, Thunderegg, Transgender, Violence on May 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tcoop-realmanSOUNDTRACK: REAL MAN ADVENTURES: A Collection of (Mostly) Original Songs by (Entirely) Original Artists–All Inspired by the Book. (An Album! A Book! A Shark!) (2012).

realcdThis soundtrack came with my copy of the book, although it can be ordered separately as well.  It is a varied collection of music in many different genres.  The one thread is that many of the performers are either transgendered or are openly gay or some variation in between.  And lyrically the songs are based on chapters from the book (some literal and others use the book as a jumping off point).  No one can be expected to enjoy the whole disc (the musical styles are just too different), but there’s some really enjoyable and interesting music here.

 OUR LADY J. “Picture of a Man” (live)
I’d never heard of Our Lady J., but she is a transgendered classical singer and has worked with some of the greats in theater. The song opens with a piano solo for one minute.  It acts as an introduction to this theatrical piece (with big backing vocals) about what a man “really” looks like. I love the diversity in this song. It gets really big and quite over the top.

RICK MOODY-“The Closest I Ever Came to Writing a Poem”
Yes, writer Rick Moody wrote this thoughtful song. The music is simple, stark piano with Moody singing gently. It’s quite pretty.

SOCE, THE ELEMENTAL WIZARD-“He Will”
This is a rap song (in the style of Eminem), which addresses Cooper’s troubles with  getting a passport (the lyrics are taken mostly from the book). The rapper has fast flow and the lyrics are complex and interesting, although I don’t really like his delivery that much.  Still, it’s a great lyrical song. Soce is one of the few openly gay rappers.

T. COOPER & PEG HAMBRIGHT-“Interlude: high School”
A 34 second piano, well, interlude with words from the book.

HEM-“The Beautiful Sea”
This is a pretty song, reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan. Hem have a bit more oomph than Sarah, but are equally as pretty. This song was way too short.

THUNDEREGG-“The Guest Star of the Rest Stop”
This is a country(ish) song, with a vaguely out of tune guitar and slow droning vocals. I’d not heard of them before but I see they have dozens of records out. At 5 minutes, I found this one a little long.

T. COOPER & PEG HAMBRIGHT-“Interlude: College”
Another simple piano melody with words from the book.

SCOTT MILLER & THE COMMONWEALTH-“12th Man”
Another country song, this one about (not) playing football (always being the 12th man). It’s a sweet and sad song. Miller also has a number of albums out even though I’ve not heard of him either.

GEO WYETH-“Target Practice”
This song starts as a weird electronic track with sampled voices and then it morphs into a spare keyboard track with Wyeth’s kind of high vocals. It reminds me a bit of the Mountain Moats, but with keyboards instead of guitar. And I don’t like it as much.

CHRIS PUREKA-“Old Photographs”
Pureka has a lot of albums out too (and I thought I knew music). She is a delicate folksinger (until she really starts belting out the words at the end) reminding me of one half of the Indigo Girls. This was a really good, rather dark song.

DYNASTY HANDBAG-“One Man”
This is a sinister electronic/rap song detailing the fears of violence in the trans community.  Dynasty Handbag seems to be a loose cannon with some very interesting videos out there.  Definitely check her out.

T. COOPER & PEG HAMBRIGHT-“Interlude: My 20s”
This interlude is done on accordion.

THE JULIE RUIN “Girls Like Us” (Vag Vocal Version).
This is Kathleen Hannah’s band The Julie Ruin with special guest Vaginal Crème Davis (possibly not her given name) on vocals. Davis’ vocals are way over the top, but surprisingly not that different from the originals’ mocking tone (and cheesy synths).

SCOTT McCLOUD-“On My Darker Days”
McCloud is in Girls Against Boys.  This song is dark electric guitar (very processed) with virtually no percussion. The vocals are whispered as well.  I enjoyed the beginning but then felt it was a little samey and felt a little long even though it’s only 3 minutes.

ROCCO KATASTROPHE-“F.E.A.R.”
Katastrophe is a rapper (one of the first openly transgendered). His flow is strong and his lyrics are great. I don’t care for his backing music that much.  For although it is appropriately ominous, it feels a bit anemic.

MARTY COOPER WITH THE RIFTERS-“May You Always Ride in the Sunlight”
This sounds like an old timey cowboy song (I can’t find much else about Marty Cooper).  It’s a sweet song that would fit well at the end of any mix cd of good feeling songs. Even if you don’t like the genre, it’s hard not to like this song.

So this proves to be an interesting mix of songs, with a lot of ne (to me) artists.

[READ: May 1, 2014] Real Man Adventures

I didn’t know T. Cooper before receiving this book from McSweeney’s.  Cooper has written several novels although I didn’t recognize any of them when I looked them up (Lipshitz 6 sounds familiar though).  This book is a memoir.

What’s interesting is that Cooper talks about trying very hard to avoid reviewers referencing his past, and yet with this memoir he has completely outed himself.  I was going to try to not write about his past out of deference to his preferences, but since this memoir is all about his past it’s impossible not to.

So, if you know T. Cooper’s writing and you don’t want to know anything about his past, stop reading this and don’t read the book.

I know that I’ve made that enticing, which I didn’t mean to do.  And who knows, maybe fans of his writing already know this. (more…)

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Jude Watson–A King’s Ransom [The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers: Book Two] (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Biz Markee, Death, Fears, Greed, History, Jude Watson, Short Books, Threats, Travel, Violence on May 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

ransomSOUNDTRACK: BIZ MARKEE-“Pancakes and Syrup” (2012).

awesome4Never really sure what to make of Biz Markee, it is nevertheless very hard to resist this anthem to a delicious breakfast.

Biz has one verse (the last two lines rhyme tummy with yum yum yum yum yum yum yummy) with some actual lyrics (I like that he rhymed syrup with Europe).  And another verse which is basically him saying “eat em up” and “yummy” over and over.

But the real sell (as if that wasn’t enough) is the super catchy, utterly fun-to-sing-along-to chorus “Pancakes and Syrup…It’s breakfast time!”

You have to be pretty curmudgeonly to dislike this son , especially since it is only a minute and 16 seconds long.  Although I’m not sure why he seems so mad at the end….

[READ: May 6, 2014] A King’s Ransom

As I said, I was totally hooked by Book 1 of this new series and I started book two before the first one was even cold. I had to know what was going on!

Because the new task for Dan and Amy Cahill is to steal an ancient map that no one has seen for generations.  And there’s no clue as to where it might even be.  And if they don’t find it ion four days one of their kidnapped relatives will be killed.  Not to mention, they are being followed by Interpol and they have alienated Dan’s only friend.  And as the story starts, they learn that one of the new enemies that they knew about (Caspar Wyoming) has a twin sister, Cheyenne.  And she spends the first few chapters of the book spying on them.

It turns out that Cheyenne has been promoted to V-6 in the Vesper hierarchy (her brother was V-6 but he was dropped down and he is super angry that she overtook him).  And with Caspar angry at the Cahills and at V-1, who know just what he’ll do.

So Dan and Amy are on their way to Lucerne, Switzerland to find the de Virga World map which was created in 1411.  Their lead is an auction house where it was last seen–over fifty years ago.  This search leads to a history of Nazis and a woman (who turns out to be related to someone on their team) who fought the Nazis in her own way.  The auction house is a funny, chaotic scene–especially when a fax from Interpol comes in and shows their passport pictures. (more…)

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Gordon Korman–The Medusa Plot [The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers: Book One] (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Death, Fears, Gordon Korman, Greed, History, Michelangelo Merisi (or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, Peter, Bjorn & John, Short Books, Threats, Travel, Violence, War, Yo Gabba Gabba on May 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

medusaSOUNDTRACK: PETER BJORN & JOHN-“I Wish I Was a Spy” (2012).

awesome4Yo Gabba Gabba has always been a source of interesting music–very cool bands devote time and music to this, frankly bizarre kids show.

This song from Peter Bjorn and John is fantastic.  While the lyrics are kid friendly, there’s no reason that this song need be played only for kids.

The song opens with a good vibrato “spy” guitar lick and vocal breaths.  The unusual percussion really shows how much this song sounds like a PB&J song even if it is of a very specific genre.  When the vocals come in (sounding very PB&J), the lyrics simply state that he wishes he was a spy, and then he gives some great examples of what he would do as a spy.

But the big surprise comes from the chorus which s bright and bouncy and talks about how we can all pretend we are all agents.

The Yo Gabba Gabba version ends at 2 minutes, but the extended version has more instrumental surf/spy guitar work.  It’s kind of an extraneous coda, but the sound they capture is really cool, so it’s fun to get the extra minute of guitar work.

[READ: May 6, 2014] The Medusa Plot

When I finished Vespers Rising, I said I would pace myself because the Cahills vs. Vespers series was six book which would conclude in March 2013.  Clearly I paced myself too slowly because here it is May 2014, Cahils vs. vespers is long done, and they are on the next series already.

But hey, I’m not playing the online game so there’s no time constraints for me.

Also, Clark started reading the original series so I wanted to keep a little ahead of him.  It seemed like a good time to start this middle series.

And man, once I started reading I was immediately brought back into the exciting world of Dan and Amy Cahill.  I had forgotten about the short story in Vespers Rising (about the ring that Amy now has) and about the Vespers in general.  But that didn’t matter, because it was quickly set up that the Vespers (led by the unknown V-1) in particular are bad and they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal (which we don’t know yet).

It has been two years since the end of the 39 Clues.  As the book opens, several members of the disparate Cahill family clan are kidnapped: Fiske Cahill, Reagan Holt, Natalie Kabra (who, with her brother is now poor since their evil mother disowned them for not being evil enough), Alistair Oh (no!) and Ted Starling (his brother Ned escaped), Phoenix Wizard (Jonah’s little cousin) and, gasp, Nellie Gomez!  They are taken to an undisclosed location, given jumpsuits and left in a small cell with nothing to do and minimal food on a regular basis. (more…)

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Adam Rex–The True Meaning of Smekday (2007)

Posted in Adam Rex, Aliens, Big Books, Cats, Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Happy Smekday!, Home, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Super XX Man, Technology, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel on January 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

smekdaySOUNDTRACK: SUPER XX MAN-Tiny Desk Concert #12 (January 27, 2009, recorded Oct. 22, 2008).

superxxI included the recording date because this is the first one that actually mentions the recording date.  I had always known that the shows were recorded before they were posted, but i had no idea they were so far apart.

Super XX Man is another “band” that I only know about because of NPR.  Scott Garred is Super XX Man (pronounced Super Double X Man), and he has recorded most of his albums at home.  Interestingly, he is also a music therapist in the maximum-security wing of the Oregon State Hospital—the location where they filmed One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  His job is helping psychiatric patients cope with drug addiction, severe mental illness and other assorted disorders.

I’m not sure exactly what his recorded output is like (he has been recording for 15 years and had recently recorded with a band for Volume XII: There’ll Be Diamonds), but this solo venture is just him with a guitar.  He has a very nice voice and his melodies are simple and catchy.

“There’ll Be Diamonds” is a very nice catchy song—very positive.  The second song, “Big Balloon,” is for the newly admitted patients at the hospital.  It is a very tender look at people who are dealing with something quite traumatic.

“Collecting Rocks” comes from Volume VI, and is based on a story his grandfather told him a while ago.  It’s an incredibly sweet song about two people in love.  But it’s also fun how he gets the room to sing along at the end.  I imagine that NPR employees are more docile than his usual audience.

[READ: January 5, 2014] The True Meaning of Smekday

I have known Adam Rex first as an illustrator.  Then I knew him as a children’s picture book author.  And now, the other day, I saw that he also wrote larger children’s books.  In the library I saw Unlucky Charms. I was going to grab it but then I saw that he was “the author of” other books.  So, being the kind of person I am, I decided to read his first novel first, which was this one.

This novel combines art (photographs—which are drawn by Rex), comics (as drawn by an alien) and a school story written for a time capsule (as such, the font is in a weird sans-serif that I found bothersome to read (man I am really getting old)).

Anyhow, I thought this book was very very funny on so many level.  There were pop culture jokes, there was great dialogue and there were fun internal jokes.  There were some sophisticated jokes and some really juvenile jokes.  And they all combined to make for a very good read.

The only problem with the book was that it was so damned long.  No one needs to write a 422 page book about an alien invasion.  The story could easily have lost 100 pages and not been harmed at all.  And I say that because I loved the beginning and I devoured the end, but I felt rather adrift in the middle. (more…)

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