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Archive for the ‘Threats’ Category

McSweeney’s #11 [It Can Be Free/We Are as Surprised as You Are/Bring Light/…And [x] is free] (2003)

Posted in A.G. Pasquella, Alison Smith, All Songs Considered, Antlers, Ben Greenman, Benjamin Lytal, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Books about writers, Brent Hoff, Culture Shock, Daphne Beal, David Means, Death, Decadence, Demons, Denis Johnson, Doug Dorst, Dow Mossman, Emilio Oliveira, Environmentalism, Essays, Excerpt, Fears, Ian McDonnell, Jeffrey Rotter, Joyce Carol Oates, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Military, Political Humor, Politicians, Robert Olmstead, Russia, Samantha Hunt, Sean Warren, Short Story, Stephen Elliott, T.C. Boyle, Threats, Tom Bissell, Trevor Koski, Violence, Yuck! on December 19, 2012| 2 Comments »

11SOUNDTRACK: THE ANTLERS-Live at the Black Cat, Washington DC, May 11, 2009 (2009).

antlersI mentioned that I was uncertain about my appreciation of this band.  And I wondered how they would hold up to a longer show.  The answer is surprisingly well.  The sound quality of this set isn’t great–the levels seem way too loud (not sure if that’s the band or the recording) and I really can’t understand the words, but the music is very moody and evocative and I like it quite a lot.

This set comes from the album Hospice, which is a concept album about a person dying of bone cancer (with lyrics like “they told me that there was no saving you” and song titles like “Kettering”).  Earlier descriptions made me think the album was a major drag to listen to– I mean the subject alone is exhausting–but musically it’s a different story.  There’s lush strings and interesting guitars.  And, at least live, the band can make a holy racket.

I’m a little surprised by the number of keyboard errors in “Atrophy.”  I mean an occasional bum note is fine, but there’s a bunch in that track.  It’s very weird.  But that is made up for by the vocals which are angsty and impassioned, especially on the final song “Cold War.”  The NPR site has three tracks available for viewing and I must say that watching the band is more exciting than just listening to them.  But I have really gained an appreciation for The Antlers.

Check out the show here.

[READ: December 16, 2012] McSweeney’s #11

This crazy title for this Issue/Post comes because the cover and spine of the book are all text.  Indeed, the book is gorgeously bound in black leather(ish) with shiny gold print.  Each author gets a summary of his or her work and a note that he or she is free (see each story below).

I did not read Issue #10 yet because it came out as a thrilling paperback, and I’ve been putting it off for a reason even I can’t quite fathom.  I anticipate reading that one last.  Again, no idea why.  In some ways, Issue #11 picks up where Issue #9 left off.  There’s lots of text on the cover, there’s letters and everything else that makes it look like McSweeney’s.  But as I said this one seems more somehow.  It’s the hardcover.  And, it’s also the DVD that accompanies the book.  I have a hard time believing I’ve owned this book for almost ten years and never watched the DVD but I finally got around to it.  More on that soon.

This issue contains letters, fiction, non-fiction and a play that picks up from Issue #9 (more…)

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Marisa Silver–“Creatures” (New Yorker, December 17, 2012)

Posted in Antlers, Death, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Marisa Silver, New Yorker, Short Story, Threats, Unreliable narrator, Violence on December 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_12_17_12Sorel.inddSOUNDTRACK: ANTLERS-Live at MusicFestNorthWest, September 10, 2011 (2011).

antlermfnwIt took me a few listens to really appreciate this band.  The initial problem is that I thought they were someone else when I downloaded the show.  I was expecting something a bit more chaotic.  But Antlers play rather pretty alt rock–mildly orchestral with soaring vocals (especially on “Hounds,” which really showcases the singer’s range).  But their music is also kind of somber, not my favorite style.

This concert was recorded during MusicfestNorthWest and comes from The Doug Fir.  All of the songs are from their 2011 disc Burst Apart.  Their previous album Hospice was critically acclaimed, but I didn’t want t listen to a concept album about a person with bone cancer.  Anyhow, this set has a retro 90s pop alt rock feel, and any one of these songs could have a been a slow dance hit at goth clubs.

The set is 28 minutes and I have grown to like it quite a bit.  You can check it out here.  I also have a full length concert that I downloaded from them.  I’ll have to see if their music holds up for an hour as well.

[READ: December 15, 2012] “Creatures”

This story was really well done.  When the reveal is finally given at the end I was genuinely shocked.  And not because the author didn’t earn the shock but because of the wonderful way the story was foreshadowed as well as obfuscated.  There were several possible outcomes, but  I didn’t expect the one we received.

This story is about guns and children (I know, the timing is terrible).  As the story opens we learn that a couple’s little boy is being violent in school.  He’s three and he is in preschool, but he is running around “shooting” at people with a stick.  He in particular seems to pick on one boy (who he ultimately winds up biting).  The parents feel that the school is overreacting, because they don’t allow their child to play with toy guns and they have never see anything but sweetness out of him. (more…)

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Adam Blade–First Hero [The Chronicles of Avantia #1] (2010)

Posted in Adam Blade, Adventure, All Songs Considered, Children's Books, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Magic, Mates of State, Short Books, Supernatural, Threats on December 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

first herpSOUNDTRACK: MATES OF STATE-Live at the 9:30 Club, Washington DC, April 4, 2009 (2009).

mos930I enjoyed the Tiny Desk show from Mates of State quite a lot.  And this concert which is a full band (and occasionally just the husband and wife duo) was equally fun.

They play 15 songs in about an hour, some are short but there are a couple longer ones as well.    The band plays big songs with large hooks–a couple of listens and you are singing along with them.  They perform a kind of orchestrated synth pop, and while the songs are sweet-sounding, there is more to them than just hooks.

Most of this concert comes from their 2008 album Re-Arrange Us.  There’s a few tracks from  2003’s Team Boo as well.  All in all it’s a great show.  There are a bunch of songs on here that should be huge, they’re so catchy.  But Mates of State remain under the radar.  Discover them here.

[READ: November 3, 2012] First Hero

After finishing the available Beast Quest books, I learned that there was another Avantia series called The Chronicles of Avantia (four books so far).  Since Clark enjoyed the Beast Quest series so much, we decided to check this one out, too.

Well, wow is it a different beast altogether. First off, the book is much bigger.  Second, the words are more complicated and third, the action is much more violent.  This is not your second grader’s story of trudge, trudge, trudge, defeat (but not kill) the beast and then gain a prize.  Rather, our hero must avenge his father’s death before the villain literally destroys the cities of Avantia looking for the Mask of Death.

The action takes place long before the action of the Beast Quest series–so long before that they may as well not be related except for the land (although we haven’t heard of these towns either).  Even the beasts are different.

The main character in this series is a boy named Tanner.  He is the Chosen Rider of a phoenix-Beast called Firepos.  What’s interesting is that some of the story is told from Firepos’ point of view.  The main bad guy in the story is a guy named Derthsin.  Derthsin killed Tanner’s father (when Tanner was 7) and also kidnapped his mother.  There’s nothing too explicit about the death (except that Tanner witnessed it–yipes!)  The death is revisited and is certainly uncomfortable reading to a  7-year-old.   Tanner was raised by his grandmother Esme.  Esme, too, is killed by Derthsin (this one of a bit more graphic and Tanner is present) and boy was that awkward. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Echo #27-30 [end] (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Death, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Mad Scientists, Military, Smarty Pants, Strangers in Paradise, Supernatural, Technology, Terry Moore, The English Beat, Threats, Violence on November 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE ENGLISH BEAT-Live at Bumbershoot, September 6, 2010 (2010).

I’ve always loved ska.  So to see that the (English) Beat were playing shows and playing them for download on KEXP was  a pretty grand thing.

I’m still trying to figure out if these short sets from Bumbershoot were KEXP-only shows (in which the band plays a brief set and then they play the actual show later), but I believe so. Anyhow, the band sounds great, singer Dave Wakeling is a great frontman, telling amusing stories about the songs and generally charming everyone (his singing voice still sounds great, too).

Wakeling has a nice little diatribe about Target.  It begins with him saying how he never was asked to be in a commercial before Target asked him for “Tenderness.”  And now it’s everywhere.  But he’s upset that Target supported the  anti-gay candidate in Minnesota.  He promises that if he ever gets the money from the ads, it will go to support the candidate’s opponent.  He also says that “Mirror in the Bathroom” was not about cocaine–they couldn’t afford it bcak then.

I’m not really sure who is in the band on this tour.  Ranking Roger is apparently running another English Beat band in the U.K.  Sigh.  But regardless, this was like a wonderful flashback to the long lost art of ska.  The set is a collection of highlights from their 80s career.  I mean look at all the great songs they wrote: “I’ll Take You There,” “I Confess,” “Save It for Later,” “Never You  Done That,” “Tenderness,” and “Mirror in the Bathroom.”

Listen for yourself here.

[READ: November 27, 2012] Echo #27-30

The problem with a comic book that comes out every six weeks (especially if you stopped going to the comic books store) is that it’s easily forgotten, no matter how much you like it (my rave of issues 25 and 26 leave me stunned that it has been almost two years since I last read the story).  But I recently went to my local shoppe and scored these last few issues (#30 even signed by Terry himself).  And I immediately got back into the story.

So as #27 picks up, we see that the climax is almost at hand.  Ivy, the hardened agent is growing younger and younger and is forgetting more.  Meanwhile, Julie is almost completely covered by the alloy and is now a giant.  And Annie is surfacing more and more in Julie (Annie is in the alloy’s DNA) which means Dillon is allowed a degree of closeness and closure.

#28 was awesome because it tied this universe back to the Strangers in Paradise world even more.  They are still using Tambi, the bodyguard, (from SiP) who worked for Darcy.  In this issue she interrogates another member of Darcy’s team (with the telltale tattoo).  By the end of the book Ivy is a mere child (the fact that Moore can draw this–keeping her Ivy and yet now looking like a little kid with such few lines is amazing). (more…)

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Adam Blade–“Stealth the Ghost Panther” [Beast Quest: The Amulet of Avantia #24] (2012)

Posted in Adam Blade, Adventure, Children's Books, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Magic, Short Books, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert on November 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MATES OF STATE-Tiny Desk Concert #163 (October 5, 2011).

Mates of State is another band that I only know of because of NPR.  I hadn’t heard them at all before this set (and another concert that they recorded for download).  I like them, although they haven’t totally blown me away.

Mates of State make delightful music.  I don’t know if there’s a better word for it–it’s poppy and upbeat without being cloying or treacly and it seems so happy.   The founders of Mates of State are a husband and wife.  They sing quite loudly and often in a high register.  Indeed, the write-up that accompanied this show says that the band is quite scaled back–that they are usually much bigger and louder and that they had a hard time in this small setting.

But it’s a very good set and a nice sample of the kind of music they play.   The set features keyboards, acoustic guitar and a trumpet.  They play two songs from their album Mountaintops, “Sway” and “Desire.”  They also play “My Only Offer” from Re-Arrange Us, their previous record.  Mates of State have released a bunch of stuff on Barsuk records, a wonderful indie label, so they get respect from me.

I was also amused when Kori Gardner commented that this was “the earliest concert they’ve ever done.”

[READ: November 3, 2012] Stealth the Ghost Panther

The final book of this arc has just come out and Clark was very excited to read it.  I’m torn about what to do if Scholastic releases the next story arc.  The books seem to come out every six months, but I don’t think I want to wait six months to read book 26 after reading book 25.  But then do I want to wait three years to read the next arc all at once?  No I do not.  Not since Clark will be ten!  I hope Scholastic picks up the pace here.

Anyhow, this six book arc ended with Stealth the Ghost Panther (the most fearsome beast yet!).  [The one thing I dislike about the series is that every next beast is “more fearsome” than the last, which somehow undermines the fearsomeness of the previous beasts, no?  Honestly, how could that be quantitatively true.  Having said that, this one is pretty scary.  The panther is scary, but worse, if it simply scratches you it turns you evil. (more…)

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Adam Blade–Beast Quest Special Edition: Spiros the Ghost Phoenix (2009)

Posted in Adam Blade, Adventure, Animaniacs, Children's Books, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Magic, Supernatural, Threats on October 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: ANIMANIACS-“Nations of the World” (1995).

I was a little too old for Animaniacs when it was first on.  And boy am I mad I missed it then, because it is hilarious.  And, astonishingly, educational.

Check out the countries of the world as sung by Yakko.

Genius lies within.

Incidentally, this isn’t the cleanest version of the video I’ve seen, but it has closed captioning so you can see all the countries!  For a clearer picture click this link.

[READ: September 2012] Spiros the Ghost Phoenix

After reading Book 12, Clark noticed on the back cover of the book that there was a cover for a book we hadn’t read yet.  So I looked it up and it was this one, a Special Edition.  There are several Beast Quest Special Edition books just like in the Droon series.  I never quite understood the purpose of the Special Editions in Droon–they were bigger, but you had to read them in sequence or the series didn’t make sense, and if you skipped them, you missed out on a huge plot development, so it was just an odd thing to do.

So I wasn’t surprised to find out that there were Special Editions in Beast Quest  but I was surprised to find out that the Special Edition has no relation to the sequence at all.  Indeed, they work fine as introductions to the series. (more…)

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Adam Blade–Beast Quest: The Golden Armor #7-12 (2008

Posted in Adam Blade, Adventure, Children's Books, Dan Zanes, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Magic, Short Books, Supernatural, They Might Be Giants, Threats on September 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: OUT WITH THIS KIDS MUSIC MONTHLY PODCAST (2012).

I am bummed to have literally just discovered this cool podcast.  Each month Out with the Kids plays some ten songs that are kid-friendly.  They’re not all “kids songs” but they are kid friendly.  And it’s a fun way to learn about new music that kids may like.

The blog was started by Jeff Bogle, and he does proper DJ intros and outros (fortunately no “Morning Zoo zaniness”).  The songs are often connected thematically, and he plays a diverse collection of music (for his October podcast, I’d heard of none of the artists before, which is great if all of your kids music awareness comes via Dan Zanes and They Might Be Giants (nothing nothing nothing wrong with them, I love them both) or, heaven forbid Kidz Bop.

So, check him out, and subscribe via iTunes.  What have you got to lose?

[READ: August 2012] Beast Quest 7-12

I wasn’t all that excited to continue this series.  I liked some of the things in the first books, but I was on the fence about whether to continue.  But Clark enjoyed the series, so I figured I’d continue (but hopefully not do all 72 books).  Well, I was pleasantly surprised by this next series.  Although the formula is still in place, Adam Blade played around with the ideas a little bit and made them much more interesting.  Rather than having to rescue beasts who were turned evil, this time, Tom, the 12 (!) year old hero, must go in search of pieces of the golden armor.

But a step back first.  After competing the first 6 quests, Wizard Aduro shows Tom and Elenna the beautiful golden armor that resides in a special room in King Hugo’s castle.  But when they get there they discovered  that the armor has been stolen (in the prologue we see how the  armor was stolen and we know it was Malvel’s doing).  As Book 7 takes off we learn of Tom’s new quest–to find all of the stolen pieces of the armor which are now being guarded by beasts that Malvel has created.  It was kind of fun wondering what the six pieces of armor would be.  They turn out to be a helmet, chain mail, a breast plate, leg armor, boots and gloves and each one gives Tom a special power. (more…)

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Adam Blade–Beast Quest #1-6 (2007)

Posted in Adam Blade, Adventure, Children's Books, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Magic, Norsewind, Short Books, Supernatural, Threats, Tony Abbott on September 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NORSEWIND-“Landvaettir” (2011).

On September 2, we went to ScanFest, a festival of all things Scandinavian.  We had a wonderful time (despite the downpour).  The food was great, the stalls were selling cool wares and the entertainment was stellar (I loved the wife carrying contest–win your wife’s weight in beer!).

There were also musicians.  We were only able to see a couple, but one was Norsewind, a folk band from Berks County, PA, who play traditional Scndinavian music (and Irish pub songs).  I don’t know any of the songs they played that day, but I happened upon their reverbnation site, where you can hear 11 tracks.  And I chose this title because I have no idea what it means.

Live, the band was loud and really dynamic.  I especially enjoyed what I think was the intro to a song–three members on stage pounding the hell out of traditional drums–it was very cool.  These studio recordings are a little anemic–at least compared to their live show.  But they do display a nice range of sounds and styles and I enjoyed them very much.

[READ: August 2012] Beast Quest 1-6

When we finished Droon we wanted to move on to a new series.  Beast Quest was heavily advertised in the back of the Droon books, so we thought we’d give it a try.  Adam Blade (really?) has created a vast world in Avantia.  As of this writing, there are 72 books in the series (not including several special edition).  Yes, that is eighty-three books in total.

Sadly I just learned that Scholastic, the American publishing company of Beast Quest has only released 24 books (plus 2 special editions) in the United States.  A brief rant here.  I think Scholastic books is really wonderful.  They have released  some amazing books over the years.  I can’t even count the number of awesome series that Scholastic has picked up.  HOWEVER, Scholastic has a horrible track record of starting to release series and then ceasing in the middle.  The biggest crime has been Ulysses Moore, which they have ceased after 4 books (even though the series is up to Book 10 or 11 in their native Italy AND they are releasing the author’s newer series now.  Now we have this.  As you’ll see in the post, I’m the first to admit that the first six books in the series aren’t very good.  But now that we’re up to 20, the books and plots have gotten so much better.  And just as we’re getting really into it, the plug has been pulled?  I understand the economics of publishing and that if something isn’t selling you give up on it.  But seriously, you’re heavily advertising a series that you’re not going to finish?  How expensive can it be to produce these series of kids books?  It’s so disappointing.

End rant.

Begin review. (more…)

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Craig Thompson–Habibi (2011)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Babies, Circle Takes the Square, Craig Thompson, Death, Disease, Fears, Harper's, Hollywood Squares, Marriage Trouble, Pg. 99, Religion, Sex, Sexism, Threats, Virginity (Loss of), Zadie Smith on September 14, 2012| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: CIRCLE TAKES THE SQUARE Live at Black Cat Washington DC, August 31, 2011 (2011).

I had never heard of Circle Takes the Square before seeing the link to this show on NPR (Thank you, Viking!).  I like the band name (Hollywood Squares reference), and couldn’t imagine what they sounded like.

Song titles like “In the Nervous Light of Sunday” and “We’re Sustained by the Corpse of a Fallen Constellation” and even “Non-Objective Portrait of Karma” lead one in many possible directions.  But it turns out that the band is sort of pigeonholed as screamo, a post-hardcore style that allows mostly for screamed vocals.  And yet these guys also incorporate intricate playing, odd time signatures and some beautiful instrumental passages.

Even though the band plays fast, they don’t play only short songs.  The shortest songs run about three minutes but they have two songs that are over 6 minutes, with several different sections.

I listened to this show a few times and I confess I never really got into it.  I liked some of it but I was never fully able to grasp what was going on.  It could have been the recording quality.  Usually NPR shows are crystal clear, but this one was a bit muddy–which may have been intentional from the band as they are pretty raw sounding.  I did like  the split male/female vocals which added a cool depth to the songs.  But mostly I was impressed by the kind and almost sweet attitude of the lead singer.  He was polite and thankful to the audience (thanking them for braving the weather–the show was during Hurricane Irene–thanking them for coming from both far and near and talking about how excited he was about Pg. 99, the headliners.  It’s funny to hear polite thankfulness and then screaming lyrics like: “Embrace the sweet sound of self-destruction.”

I’d like to hear a studio release before passing final judgment, because there was a lot to like here.

[READ: August 29, 2012] Habibi

I saw this book in a review by Zadie Smith in Harper’s a while back.  I didn’t realize at the time that the author was the same person who did the wonderful Blankets.

This book is an amazing piece of art.  And the story is very good too.

So this massive book (almost 700 pages) is the story of  a woman born into a fictional Middle Eastern country called where the Qur’an is studied and women are more or less chattel.  As the story opens Dodola is sold by her father to a wealthy man who becomes her husband.  The scene of her deflowering, while not graphic at all, is very disturbing nonetheless.  She is afraid of this man and cowers in the fear until they gradually start to see each other as human beings.  And although their age difference is substantial (and yes, gross), she learns to appreciate him.

Until he his killed by the king’s men and Dodola is taken away to the king’s palace to be sold as a slave–her hair is tied to another girl’s hair so they cannot escape.

Through a series of events, she does escape, and when she is hiding out she manages to save the life of a black baby named Cham.  She calls him Zam after the Well of Zamzam (Arabic: زمزم‎) in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam.  And while she is only 12, she takes care of this 3-year-old boy and raises him as her own child. (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) (1974)

Posted in Bombs, Book Reviews, Books about writers, Carl Sagan, Cigarettes, Communists, Culture Shock, Dan Wakefield, Death, Drugs, Essays, Fears, Herman Hesse, Hunter S. Thompson, I.S. Shklovskii, Kurt Vonnegut, Ladies Home Journal, Morality, Of Monsters and Men, Play (Drama), Playboy, Rita Rait, Threats, Travel, Violence on September 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: OF MONSTERS AND MEN-Live from Iceland Airwaves (2011).

This brief set was recorded at KEX hostel in Reykjavik, Iceland (how on earth KEXP in Seattle was there I don’t know).  This set was performed before the release of their debut EP, although “Dirty Paws” which they play was not on that EP.  “Little Talks” their (reasonably) huge hit them was on the EP and is on their full length album–it’s a great duet (and reminds me a bit of Stars).

There’s an amusing fail in the horn solo on “Lake House,” which is kind of surprising, but not terribly tragic or anything.  The band sounds great, especially in front of a home country crowd (I love hearing them say “Takk” at the end of the songs).  There’s five songs in all, and by  the final one, they feel  sound like they’re really enjoying themselves.

[READ: September 1, 2012] Wampeters, Foma & Granfaloons

This collection contains essays reviews and speeches.  So it’s non-fiction.  Except that, ever the contrarian, Vonnegut includes one fiction piece–a short play.  The title of this book comes from three words from his novel Cat’s Cradle: “a wampeter is an object around which the lives of many otherwise unrelated people may revolve.  The Holy Grail would be a case in point.  Foma are harmless untruths, intended to comfort simple souls.  An example: ‘Prosperity is just around the corner.’ A granfallooon is a proud and meaningless association of human beings.”

That all comes from the preface.  The preface also says that there are people who have collected everything he has ever written (even stuff he has forgotten about) but he will not let most of that see the light of day.  Here he has whittled down the least embarrassing stuff for publication.  He also explains that at some point (supported by reading this) he decided to stop giving speeches; to stop “talking” and to concentrate on writing.  So he did.

The final straw for this was a comment from the President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  Vonnegut had prepared a speech.  The president reread it and hated it, but the president told Vonnegut that nobody would actually listen to the words: “People are seldom interested in the actual content of a speech.  They simply want to learn from your tone and gestures and expressions whether or not you are an honest man.”

While Vonnegut’s essays are powerful and effective, it’s the Preface that really tells it straightg.”Not nearly as many Biafrans were butchered by the Nigerians at the end of the war as I had thought would be.  At a minimum those damaged children at the exact middle of the universe will be more honorable than Richard M Nixon.  [Nixon] is the first president to hate the American people and all they stand for.”

Get ready for a happy collection. (more…)

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