Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Time Travel’ Category

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.–Between Time and Timbuktu or Prometheus-5 a Space Fantasy (1972)

Posted in David O'Dell, Death, Funny (ha ha), Hitler, Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage Trouble, NPR/PRI/PBS, Religion, Sci-fi, Sexism, Technology, The Flaming Lips, The Future, Time Travel, Violence on September 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Dark Side of the Moon live at Hangout Music Festival, May 2012 (2012).

Recently, the Flaming Lips and friends released a version of Dark Side of the Moon that was noisy and chaotic and resembled the original in some  ways but departed from it radically in others.  When Palladia aired this concert of the band performing the album in its entirety I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised that their rendition of the album is quite faithful to the original.  There’s plenty of Flaming Lips-isms in it, but it sounds a lot closer to the Pink Floyd version than The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches version.  And that’s a good thing.

I have to admit the audio wasn’t as clear as I would have expected (which is surprising for the Lips)–it was very hard to hear Wayne when he was talking.  That may have worked well for the singing though as he sounded almost exactly like David Gilmour on most of the songs.  The stage was also filled with people.  In addition to the four band members, there was a cast of dancers dressed like Swiss maids, there were some extra musicians  and two women.  One, dressed in a gold lame body suit (with wings) sang all of the wailing vocals on the album (and did a very good job) and the other I’m not sure what she did–neither woman was introduced during the aired set so I don’t know who they were.

Many bands throw things out into the crowd during a set, well, during “Money,” Wayne Coyne tossed out giant confetti balloons that were filled with actual money, allegedly $10,000 donated by none other than Dave Matthews.  That’s pretty intense and hopefully didn’t cause any damage.

Check Palladia for when they’re going to air it again.  I just learned that there is a You Tube video of the whole concert (more than just Dark Side of the Moon) and you can watch it here:

It’s a good fun set and shows just how much Stephen Drodz does on stage (I mean, seriously, check out the guitar he plays in “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”) and that Wayne’s hands must be either very cold or have no sensation.

[READ: September 24, 2012] Between Time and Timbuktu

I have been reading a lot of Vonnegut lately. I had it in my head that I would just blow through all of his books.  But I admit I’m getting a little burnt out.  Deadeye Dick and Galàpagos were kind of numbing and Bluebeard which I’m working through now is fun, but a little exhausting.  There’s no reason I should be ordering new Vonnegut books to read now, but I saw that the library had a copy of Between Time and Timbuktu (which is hard to find) and since I won’t be using that library for much longer, I decided to order it.

And I’m glad I did.  Between Time and Timbuktu was a TV movie made by compiling a bunch of scenes from Vonnegut’s first few books.  The basic script was by David O’Dell and Vonnegut himself had a hand in working on it (like “grafting the head of a box turtle onto the neck of a giraffe”).  And as the story progresses you can see some of the best set pieces from his novels.

But the framing device is new.  A man, Stony Stephenson has won a jingle contest for Blast-Off Space Food.  The TV crew appear at his house (and meet his mother in a dressing gown (she’s a funny character)) to break the news.  He gets dragged away and a few months later we see the blast off of the rocket.  When he gets into space, Stony will launch into the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum (the Infundibulum comes from Sirens of Titan). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Tony Abbott–The Secrets of Droon: Special Edition 8: The Final Quest (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Demons, End of the World, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Magic, Minecraft, Mystery, Supernatural, Taio Cruz, Threats, Time Travel, Tony Abbott, Violence on August 10, 2012| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: “TNT” – A Minecraft Parody of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” (2011).

How do you top Clark’s favorite song?  By making a parody of it in the style of his favorite game!  This song and video are based on the game Minecraft, Clark’s most recent obsession.  The song is funny, mostly.  It’s got to be hard to think up a full songs worth of parody material–one verse is easy, Sarah and I do that all the time.  But the chorus is a good one: “I shoot my arrows in the air sometimes/saying ay-oh, creeper’s KO’d.”

The music is pretty good (although the vocals aren’t quite as strong as the original).  But the video is really quite funny, and well crafted.

So, enjoy the video:

By the way, Clark hasn’t seen this yet…I’m kind of afraid he’ll never leave the computer if he does.

[READ: mid-June 2012] The Secrets of Droon: SE8

After 44 books the saga has ended.

Will the kids rescue Eric?  Will the kids stop Gethwing?  Will the kids stop Ko?  And what will happen to the kids if they do save Droon?  Does this mean their quest, and their adventures in Droon, are at an end?

As this book opens we are reminded of the ancient prophecy that Gethwing is immortal.  Gethwing has even told of the prophecy himself:

Five shall pass away, four shall wear the crown, three shall fall, two shall rise together and one…

What about the one?

What can this prophecy mean?  Gethwing knows: The five are the cycles of Droon’s millennial calendar.  The four are  the Crown of Wizards–Sparr, Neffu, Ungast and Gethwing; The three include Ko (who has fallen to his death) and Zara (long dead).  And the two are Eric (as Ungast) and Gethwing, rising together.  But the funny thing about prophecies is that they can be read different ways (and there’s a wonderful payoff to the prophecy at the end of the book). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Tony Abbott–The Secrets of Droon: Books 35-36 and SE#7 (2009-2010)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Demons, End of the World, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Magic, Mystery, Supernatural, Taio Cruz, Threats, Time Travel, Tony Abbott, Violence on July 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TAIO CRUZ-“Dynamite” (2010).

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I love music–all kinds of music.  So how did I wind up with a seven-year old who is indifferent to music.  It took going to Cub Scouts, gym class and a friend who is far more opinionated than he is to finally get a song that he liked.  Taio Cruz’ “Dynamite.”

I don’t know anything about Cruz.  I think I had vaguely heard the song at some point (parts sound familiar but it’s not a terribly original song so it could have been anything).  I also had no idea this song was two years old.  I assumed it was a 2012 hit.  Huh.

So, it may not be the greatest song in the world, but hearing my son sing first the melody to himself while he played and then singing the lyrics when he figured them out and then even dancing around a little bit to them (showing off a bit for our friends–a major breakthrough), it makes this song pretty important to me too.

I even noticed him expressing interest in thudding bass notes coming out of a passing car (god help me).  But hey, I throw my hands up in the air sometimes saying Ay oh, gotta let go.

I just hope he doesn’t see the video for a few more years.

[READ: mid-June 2012] The Secrets of Droon: 35, 36 & SE7

These are the final few books of the Droon Series (except for Special Edition 8 which actually ends the series).  Clark and I were pretty excited to get to these two final-numbered books.  And it was worth the build up.  And, of course, it was wonderful to see a whole book devoted to Neal.

Book #35 is The Lost Empire of Koomba.  The cover drawing is really quite beautiful.  I haven’t talked about the art much in the series. It’s kind of cartoony (which works for the tone), but this cover and the next are striking in their realism. It’s very cool.  At one point I think I noticed a change in style of the art within–I didn’t like it quite as much.  But the covers, wow.

At the End of SE#6, Eric told the kids that they had 5 Droon days before Gethwing would begin his all-out assault on Droon.  So, they have five days to get the elixir that will be the antidote to his poison, they need to find the Moon medallion.  Oh and they need to find Galen, and, geez, stop every outpost in Droon from being destroyed.

So who would have guessed that this book would be located primarily in a place we’ve never seen before—the lost Empire of Koomba.  Koomba was a beautiful city in the desert.  But over the years the city disappeared and all that is left is a star-shaped dune and a small trading post.  But it’s more like the Bermuda triangle with travelers getting lost and things going missing every time anyone approaches. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Tony Abbott–The Secrets of Droon: Books 32-34 and SE#6 (2008-2009)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Demons, End of the World, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Harry Potter, Magic, Mystery, Supernatural, Threats, Time Travel, Tony Abbott on July 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: グラスハープ　ハリーポッター HarryPotter [The Harry Potter theme played on wine glasses] (2011).

I have always been fascinated by musical wine glasses.  And it’s always fun to find a glass that you can play music on (it definitely won’t happen at the diner).   And if you can find a couple, it’s great fun to play different notes with different amounts of water.

I will never have at my disposal enough glasses to do this.  I think I could probably figure it out on glasses if I had enough time (and glassware).  But since that will never happen, I will just enjoy this.  It works especially well for the fantasy genre–some wonderfully spooky sounds.

Incidentally I included this song here because I have mentioned before that people accuse this series of ripping off Harry Potter.  You know, because there’s three protagonists and magic.  I’m not going to speak to that because it’s silly.  But I did want to mention that in one of these books (and I’ve now forgotten which one, which is driving me crazy), the kids say something about “You know who” and Eric’s mom says “Voldemort?”  That had me laughing out loud (although since Clark doesn’t know Harry Potter yet–you see, some books are meant for younger kids) he didn’t get the joke.

[READ: April 2012] The Secrets of Droon: Books 32-34 & SE#6

Droon grows more and more exciting with each book.  I have high hopes that we may finish this series before Clark’s school is over (sometimes it’s fun to set little goals for ourselves, even if they are meaningless).  [Since this is being published after he finished school, I know whether this came true or not, but you’ll have to wait to find out]. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Tony Abbott–The Secrets of Droon: Books 29-31 and SE#5 (2007-2008)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Demons, End of the World, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Juliet, Magic, Mystery, Supernatural, Threats, Time Travel, Tony Abbott on July 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JULIET-“My First Hardcore Song” (2012).

Lars from NPR (I’m just going to call him Thor from now on) pointed me to this song.

Juliet is 8 years old and while she didn’t write the music, she sings all the words (and one assumes wrote the lyrics, right?).  Juliet can scream with the best of them.

And, of course when she opened up the pit, it made me want to get our pit ready at home, too….

There have been replies and haters, but none can compare to the original.  Juliet has destroyed out Old Skull as my favorite pre-adolescent hardcore band.

ooooooooooooooooooooh.  Oh.

[READ: April 2012] The Secrets of Droon: Books 29-31 & SE#5

Droon grows more and more exciting with each book.  I have high hopes that we may finish this series before Clark’s school is over (sometimes it’s fun to set little goals for ourselves, even if they are meaningless).  [Since this is being published after he finished school, I know whether this came true or not, but you’ll have to wait to find out].

Book 29 is Pirates of the Purple Dawn.  One of the fun things about Droon is that old enemies keep coming back.  In this book, an old enemy Ving, king of the hawk bandits of Tarkoom, comes back (from book 11!).  But this time, he has brought his twin sister Ming with him.  I enjoyed that although they are twins they not only don’t really like each other they’re not all that alike–Ving hates the water and Ming is in charge of a group of pirates!  They plan to bring dragons back from the past to destroy Droon.

The book opens up in a funny/tense way.  Eric is in school but he is dreaming of Droon.  And then he starts talking in his sleep–telling the whole class about Droon and even firing a fireball at the blackboard!  This gets the kids in class very excited–one even wants to go on a field trip to Eric’s house to see Droon herself!  And things grows even more chaotic when Galen’s twin Nelag shows up and confuses things tenfold.  When the kids finally get to Droon, they journey to the land of Jabar-Loo.

After this funny intro, things get more serious.  There is a Purple Dawn, which means a rift in time (which means Clark will have a slightly hard time grasping everything).  This means that they have to go see Portentia the oracle who was around for the first Purple Dawn.  Things grows even more serious when the pirates kidnap Keeah–as if  the kids didn’t have enough to worry about.  And what about that green mist and the vision that Eric had? (more…)

Read Full Post »

Ray Bradbury–“Take Me Home” (New Yorker, June 4 & 11, 2012)

Posted in Books about writers, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Essays, History, New Yorker, Ray Bradbury, Sci-fi, Short Story, Tangled, Tarkio, The Decemberists, The Replacements, Time Travel on June 5, 2012| 4 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: TARKIO-three song demo (from Omnibus) 1997.

These three songs are part of a demo released in 1997.  I actually assumed that Omnibus would have collected all of Tarkio’s releases (how many more can there be?), but I learned that “omnibus” means “a book containing reprints of a number of works.”  So there ya go.

Nearly every review of Omnibus complains about the size of the release.  Some complain that the songs are too long (which is something else entirely), but many seem to suggest that 27 songs is too many for this collection.  I don’t quite understand this attitude, because if it were the collected works, there would be no reason to complain.  As such, I suspect I am the only person who wishes there was a little bit more–like why not the other two songs from this demo?

And demo is a rather unfair name for this, because it sounds wonderful.  (I suspect a demo from 1997 could be recorded with much better equipment than a demo from say 1984).  And these three songs are really something.  I suppose also, listening to these songs in this manner–not as a two disc set but as an original demo of three songs, makes them seem like maybe there isn’t too much of a good thing.

“This Rollercoaster Ride” opens with an interesting pseudo Middle Eastern violin.  But it quickly settles down into a very catchy rock/folk song.  It sounds very Decemberists, and it’s extremely catchy.  “Following Camden Down” is a beautiful song (the reminds me of The Replacements’ “Skyway”).  Meloy’s voice sounds subdued and not as immediately notable as he normally does.  It’s a wonderful little song.  “Slow Down” is a bouncy folk number (with dominant violin).  It’s got a rocky alt feel, although it still reads as traditional folk.

True, none of these songs reach the delirious heights of the best Decemberists songs, but they’re a nice step towards the kind of music Meloy and friends would put out next.

[READ: June 5, 2012] “Take Me Home”

This issue of the New Yorker is devoted to Science Fiction (see the cover).   In addition to five stories (which I assume are science-fiction-y) we also get five (more or less) one-page pieces from masters of the genre (genre being a dirty word, we’ll find).  When I first saw the names of these writers, I thought they were each creating a cool one-page story.  So I was a little disappointed to realize that these are “personal histories” with sci-fi.  But I shouldn’t have been disappointed, because even though these are short, they are really impactful–and come on, they’re classic writers.

I’m surprised by the fact that I haven’t read more Ray Bradbury.  I know I’ve read Fahrenheit 451 and I’m sure I’ve read some of his stories, but I haven’t even scratched the surface–he has written so much!  Indeed, I was surprised to hear that he was still alive (in fairness, he is 92).

This piece begins with Bradbury’s recollections of his introduction to sci-fi with Buck Rogers (1928) and John Carter of Mars (not Disney’s creation, but a series of stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Rivka Galchen–“The Region of Unlikeness” (New Yorker, March 24, 2008)

Posted in Brewer & Shipley, Colin Meloy, Emily Bronte, Oddities, Rivka Galchen, Short Story, Supernatural, Tarkio, The Decemberists, The Future, Time Travel on June 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TARKIO-Sea Songs for Landlocked Sailors (1999).

Tarkio was Colin Meloy’s band before he formed the Decemberists.  My first reaction to the name Tarkio was that it sounded like Tarkus, the album by Emerson lake and Palmer.  And, since I heard about it during The Decemberists’ The Crane Wife album, which is proggy, I assumed Tarkio would be a prog rock band.  Little did I know that the real name of Tarkio comes from a train stop in Montana and that the real (at least to me) forerunner for this album is Tarkio by folkies Brewer & Shipley which featured the song “One Toke Over the Line.”

All of Tarkio’s music was collected in 1995 on the album Omnibus.  Omnibus contains their album I Guess I was Hoping for Something More, this EP, and various other unreleased tracks.

This EP actually came out after Tarkio’s debut album (when I decided to write this first I assumed it came first).  It seems especially surprising to me because the opening song sounds very different from anything on the LP.  Not worse, just like a direction they chose not to go in.  His voice is kind of processed and sounds, yes, funny.  Although I have to admit I rather like it—it’s much more alt sounding than the rest of the disc, which has a more folkie charm.  This disc was self released.  And I cannot believe that there are no images of it online anywhere.  Decemberists fans are crazy intense and no one has a copy of this CD?  Weird.

So as I said, the first song, “Devil’s Elbow” is full of vibrato and sounds like an alt rock song circa the mid 90s.  The solo sounds like it could be done by Robert Smith.  “Weight of the World” sounds more alt-folkie, big guitars and whatnot.  And the chorus sounds very much like a Decemberists song.  And check out these lyrics: “we hear the homeless philharmonic singing all the Charlies Angels to their heavenly convergence in the sky.” Pure Colin.

If you had any doubt that this was Colin Meloy’s band (which you wouldn’t, but if you did), this song title will tell you all you need: “My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist.”  Lyrically it is pure Meloy, although musically it’s more spare.  Decemberists fans will recognize this song from Castaways and Cutouts (that version is over a minute longer).  The Tarkio version has louder guitars as the song progresses, although the Decemberists’ version has more interesting instrumentation.  “Mountains of Mourne,” is a sad ballad played mostly on banjo.  “Never Will Marry” is a slow dirgelike song–very traditionally folk-sounding.

I really don’t know much about why Tarkio broke up.  This EP shows a band experimenting with their more ballad-y side.  Probably not destined to be a big seller, it works as a nice companion to their debut.

[READ: May 26, 2012] “The Region of Unlikeness”

This was the last short story I found by Galchen and I was really excited to read it.  It starts off a little oddly—it’s one of those stories where there are two characters spoken about and they are inseparable and it’s not always clear which is which.  Especially when the opening is as peculiar as this, “Ilan used to call Jacob ‘my cousin from Outer Swabia’”  Originally the narrator thinks it a joke, but she later decides it’s a sort of a clue.  She met the two of them by chance.  They were talking loudly and boisterously about Wuthering Heights in a coffee shop.  And that intrigued her to no end.  So she chimed in, and the three of them ended up talking for a while.  The crazy thing about them was that Jacob had a daughter. He seemed so carefree and like he had no responsibilities.   She never met the daughter, he barely mentioned his family, and yet she was always there in the back of his mind.

And she fell hard for Ilan—he seemed antiquated and resourceful like “fancy coffee and bright-colored smutty flyers.”  Of course all of her friends found the two of them arrogant and pathetic, but the narrator could not be drawn away from them.  Although really she was drawn to Ilan, who was generous with praise, while Jacob was kind of sulky and dark and was “jealous of Ilan’s easy pleasures.”  The narrator felt Jacob was pedantic.  All of this makes it surprising that the bulk of the story is about the narrator and Jacob.

And then she stopped seeing them.  Literally, they were nowhere to be found. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Posted in Anachronisms, Cole Porter, Culture Shock, Decadence, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Man Ray, Midnight in Paris, Political Humor, Romance, Salvador Dali, Time Travel, Woody Allen on March 8, 2012| 2 Comments »

[WATCHED: March 5, 2012] Midnight in Paris

I took a course on Woody Allen’s films in college and, as a result, I had seen everything he had done (and a lot of what had inspired him).  After college, I made a point of seeing everything he released.  Often on opening day.  (My double feature of Deconstructing Harry and Good Will Hunting on Christmas Day is still a highlight).

But after The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, which was okay, but just barely, I basically gave up on him.  I watched Match Point in three parts (no time at the time) and really enjoyed it, but I never really got back on track with Woody.  And then came Paris.

Despite its huge popularity, I knew nothing about this Woody Allen film.  I knew Owen Wilson was playing the Woody Allen character in this one and it was getting amazing reviews.  Now, it’s very true that critics don’t always get Woody Allen, but when they unanimously get his film it’s pretty safe that it’s a good one.

And boy was it ever. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis (2010)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Anarchy, End of the World, Funny (ha ha), Futurama, Graphic Novel, Matt Groening, Meta, Short Story, Sonic Youth, Supernatural, Technology, The Simpsons, Threats, Thurston Moore, Time Travel, World Cafe Live on April 19, 2011| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: THURSTON MOORE-World Cafe Studio, November 16, 2007 (2007).

This World Cafe set is a nice contrast to the all-acoustic performance mentioned yesterday (even if it was recorded earlier).  Thurston has a full band with him (including Steve Shelly on drums).  Samara Lubelski from the other session is here too.  The band brings new dimensions to what are mostly the same set of songs.  Both sets included “The Shape is in a Trance,” and “Fri/End” but this one also includes “Honest James.”  The contrast is striking though.  The songs are bigger with the band (and allow for more intricacies) but they are still intimate.

  The interview is also interesting.  David Dye is a fantastic interviewer and he gets some great (and funny) answers out of Thurston. The whole description of how the lyrics to “Fri/End” came about is really cool (if unlikely).

Thurston and NPR: perfect together.

[READ: April 15, 2011] The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis.

This was a wonderful Christmas surprise from Sarah this year.  It is a beautifully packaged (slipcase with a cut-away opening) hardcover edition of the 2002 & 2005 Simpson/Futurama crossover comics issues.

Despite all of my fondness for The Simpsons and Futurama, I never really got into the comics (gotta draw a line somewhere).  But they have Matt Groening’s seal of approval, and they play jokes with things that the show never really touches (not to mention, the shows never tries a crossover event–I can’t even imagine how that would work). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Ransom Riggs–Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2011) [prepub]

Posted in All Songs Considered, Anachronisms, Culture Shock, Death, Demons, Dreams, Fears, Fleet Foxes, Ghosts, History, Mental Floss, Nazis, Oddities, Photo Essays, Quirk Books, Ransom Riggs, Supernatural, Time Travel on April 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: FLEET FOXES-Live at The Black Cat, Washington, DC, July 7, 2008 (2008).

I still love the Fleet Foxes debut album, and I listen to it quite often.  One of the most impressive aspects of the band is their amazing harmonies.  So how does a band that is so vocal-centric perform live?

In an interview included with the concert, Bob Boilen asks that question.  They explain that the bigger venues are a bit harder because they have to crank up their monitors.  They also try to stay close to each other to be able to hear the harmonies clearly.  Well, they did something right because the harmonies sound very impressive here.

The main problem comes because lead singer Robin Pecknold is sick.  As in, just getting over a major cold, sick. As in, he admits that their last few shows were something of a rip off for the attendees.  Tonight’s show, he says is half a ripoff.  And that is most evident in my favorite Fleet Foxes song, “Mykonos” in which Pecknold’s voice cracks with abandon.  I would feel bad for the audience if the band wasn’t so personable and friendly and generally cool.  They make the best of a rough situation, and again, the backing vocals sound fantastic.

There are also a ton of delays in this show.  Most of them seem technical, although there seems to be a lot of tending to Pecknold’s voice, too.  But as I said, the band is engaged with the audience, telling stories (someone in the band is from DC and he asks if anyone went to high school there), and generally keeping everyone entertained.  It’s probably not their best show ever, but it still sounds great.  You can listen and download at NPR.

[READ: March 27, 2011] Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Quirk Books, publishers of mash-ups like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (as well as many other, well, quirky, titles) has published this fantastically exciting novel.

The cover depicts a creepy girl who is hovering off the ground.  But the girl herself is SO creepy that I didn’t even notice the hovering part.  She is just one of the peculiar children within the book.  And this picture is one of 50 included within the book (I’m only bummed that two pictures were not available in my copy).

So the story opens with Jacob Portman talking about his grandfather.  His grandfather (Abe) was a young boy in Poland during the 1940s.  When the Nazi’s invaded, his family was killed and he was sent to Wales, to the titular Miss Peregrine’s Orphanage (not widely known as a home for peculiar children).  But as details emerge from his grandfather’s version of the tale, things seem not right.

Abe talks about the monsters that chased him out of Poland–but he wasn’t describing Nazis, he was describing actual monsters, with multiple tongues and horrifying faces.  They followed him to Wales and were actually chasing him to that very day, in America.  And when he talked about Miss Peregrine’s house, he talked about the special kids who live there: the girl who could call forth fire out of thin air, the girl who could levitate, and the boy who had bees living inside of him.

Of course, that was all nonsense, just post traumatic stress from being attacked by Nazis, right?

That explanation works until the night that Abe is murdered.  He calls Jacob for help (they think he is going senile).  When Jacob gets to his house, he finds the screen door torn open and Abe missing.  The follow a trail and find Abe, bleeding in the woods.  Jacob thinks he can see the same kind of monster that Abe had always described lurking right nearby in the woods.  Although Jacob’s friend (who drove them to Abe’s house), didn’t see anything.

And now, Jacob’s dreams are plagued by scary monsters.  And he can’t get his grandfather’s cryptic last words out of his head.  Time to see a therapist, obviously. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »