This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
Like we always do at this time: the Short Story Advent Calendar is back for 2022. We had such a great time last year working with our first-ever guest editor, the one and only Alberto Manguel. This year, however, we’re bringing things back to basics. No overarching theme or format, just 25 top-class short stories, selected in-house, by some of the best writers in North America and beyond. It’s December 10. Mathilde Merouani, a writer and translator in Paris, never splits infinitives.
This is a very sad story about a girl who has moved to France with her mother. Continue Reading »
[DID NOT ATTEND: December 9 & 10, 2022] Strand of Oaks / Pat Finnerty
Somehow I missed that this show happened and only found out about it tonight in 2023.
It was the same dates, Dec 9 and 10, although on Fri and Sat. Pat Finnerty opened both nights.
I have no idea how I missed it so completely.
There’s some clips on you tube from these shows. Here’s one
~~~~
In 2015, Timothy Showalter played his first Strand of Oaks Winter Classic at Boot and Saddle.
Every year since then he has played two to four shows around Christmas time to a small but rabid fan base. Obviously he didn’t pay one in 2020. And now Boot & Saddle is closed
I have been to three of these fun winter events.
When he announced December shows at Johnny Brenda’s, it just didn’t occur to me that these would be Winter Classic shows. I’m not sure why it would have made a difference, but had I realized, I would have gotten a ticket before they sold out. Even S said, you love those, I can’t believe you didn’t go.
When I’m looking for it now I see that it was clearly stated that this was a Winter Classic, but I guess I was looking in the wrong places. Continue Reading »
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
Like we always do at this time: the Short Story Advent Calendar is back for 2022. We had such a great time last year working with our first-ever guest editor, the one and only Alberto Manguel. This year, however, we’re bringing things back to basics. No overarching theme or format, just 25 top-class short stories, selected in-house, by some of the best writers in North America and beyond. It’s December 9. Diane Schoemperlen, author of Forms of Devotion, remembers not to pit stop at the Lake of Indifference.
This story is accompanied by collages that go with the story.
It is told in eight parts (with eight pictures). I wonder if you could see the pictures in a larger (and color) format if they would be more impactful.
I didn’t really get a lot out of this story, but I feel like the author is right in this comment about her story:
A curious combination of text and image that meanders and circles back on itself again and again with repeated motifs including knitting, maps, New York City, patience, fortitude, and darkness. I like to think that each reading of the story will reveal something new as the words and the collages intersect and intertwine on various levels.
In part two she takes a night flight to New York City. Part three discusses the New York Public Library.
Parts four and five discuss maps. As with many stories that I don’t like in total, in parts, I found this wonderful. Like these lines: “Maps are so noncommittal. This can either be infuriating or liberating.”
And
“Think of everything that you have ever lost, by accident or on purpose…. They are still back there somewhere, like trail of bread crumbs stretched out behind each and every one of us.”
[DID NOT ATTEND: December 8, 2022] Autumn Defense / Nels Cline Duo / Eucademix
When this show was first announced, I grabbed a ticket immediately.
Two of my favorite members of Wilco are Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche.
So to be able to see them do their work solo was incredible.
Then all of a sudden, when I looked at the show poster it looked like this —>
instead of the one at the bottom of the post.
Where was Glenn?
There was no word or information. A day or so before the show I discovered that Glenn had hurt his arm (or something) and wasn’t going to be there. Continue Reading »
[READ: December 8, 2020] “Parnassus on Wheels” [excerpt]
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
Like we always do at this time: the Short Story Advent Calendar is back for 2022. We had such a great time last year working with our first-ever guest editor, the one and only Alberto Manguel. This year, however, we’re bringing things back to basics. No overarching theme or format, just 25 top-class short stories, selected in-house, by some of the best writers in North America and beyond. It’s December 8. Christopher Morley, author of The Haunted Bookshop and Parnassus on Wheels (from which this story is drawn), died in 1957 and was unavailable for comment.
As I started this story I thought, why do people write stories in an old-fashioned dialect? It seems weird and out of character with contemporary writers. I didn’t realize until a bit of the way through the story that was, indeed, an old story (over 100 years old!).
It is also an excerpt from what I expect is a long book, so it was frustrating to have it build up and then just end. However, it does end in a strangely satisfying way as well. Continue Reading »
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
Like we always do at this time: the Short Story Advent Calendar is back for 2022. We had such a great time last year working with our first-ever guest editor, the one and only Alberto Manguel. This year, however, we’re bringing things back to basics. No overarching theme or format, just 25 top-class short stories, selected in-house, by some of the best writers in North America and beyond. It’s December 7. To officially kick off the 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar, here is a story about faith and carbs from the author of The Prince of Mournful Thoughts.
This story had interesting components but overall I felt uncomfortable about it. Continue Reading »
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
Like we always do at this time: the Short Story Advent Calendar is back for 2022. We had such a great time last year working with our first-ever guest editor, the one and only Alberto Manguel. This year, however, we’re bringing things back to basics. No overarching theme or format, just 25 top-class short stories, selected in-house, by some of the best writers in North America and beyond. It’s December 6. To officially kick off the 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar, here is a story about faith and carbs from the author of The Prince of Mournful Thoughts.
I really like this kind of story that seems very grounded in reality but which ha a kind of fantastical element.
Essentially the narrator of the story is a wet nurse. She has been the wet nurse for every baby in the King’s castle for decades. Continue Reading »
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
Like we always do at this time: the Short Story Advent Calendar is back for 2022. We had such a great time last year working with our first-ever guest editor, the one and only Alberto Manguel. This year, however, we’re bringing things back to basics. No overarching theme or format, just 25 top-class short stories, selected in-house, by some of the best writers in North America and beyond. It’s December 5. To officially kick off the 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar, here is a story about faith and carbs from the author of The Prince of Mournful Thoughts.
I really enjoyed this story of familial conflict. The conflict is between two sisters. One who has done everything correctly and one, Nikki, who, has been digging a hole for herself her whole life.
Nikki has come to live with the narrator. She has also stopped drinking (sober for the first time in thirty years). But the narrator is not perfect either (far from it). She is divorced and her daughter is not talking to her.
The narrator, Sisi, is, to be blunt, really uptight.
They’ve even got the CN Tower decorated with ridiculous multi-coloured lights now, and every night they shine as a beacon for degenerates and deadbeats.
[DID NOT ATTEND: December 4, 2022] Bit Brigade / Standards
I saw Bit Brigade in 2018 and really enjoyed the show. The premise of their live show is terrific.
The band plays the soundtrack to a video game while their resident gamer plays the game. The band is heavy and the sound is amazing.
I can’t believe they were here in May and are back now in December and I didn’t get to go to either show.
For this show they were playing MegaMan II and Ducktails, two games I don’t know at all, so maybe that had some impact on my decision.
Standards opened the set. Once again, I had not heard of the opening band for a Bit Brigade show. But once again, they picked wisely. Broadway World (!!!) has this succinct review of their music
Led by ebullient guitarist Marcos Mena, the pair boast a fruitful combination of musical chops and catchy guitar-driven melodies which has garnished popularity among fans who laud standards for their uniquely danceable brand of complex instrumental rock. For almost five years, their instrumental compositions have captivated audiences all over the world.
I need to reiterate this one part: uniquely danceable brand of complex instrumental rock.
It’s a spot on description. The guitar is kind of showoffy intense and complicated, but never obnoxious and the light touches of synth and almost chiptune, make the songs really delightful and bright–almost like a video game is scrolling past.
[DID NOT ATTEND: May 14, 2022] The Dead Milkmen / MC Lars / Gibbous Moon
I wrote this opening for a concert in May.
I’ve been a fan of The Dead Milkmen’s bratty brand of punk for years–probably since 1988. I’ve never seen them live.
They sort of, but not really, broke up and then reunited and so on. I didn’t really think I’ve ever get to see them, but they announced this short run of local shows and I thought, YES! I will finally get to see them.
They seem to be popping up here and there doing shows in the area. This one at Ardmore Music Hall actually sold out before I could get a ticket (I wasn’t sure if I was free that night). So good for them.
Having watched a few videos, I’m not sure I want to see them in Philly–I feel like the local crowd is a little too drunk and rambunctious for my liking. Although the band probably eats that up.
I’d never heard of Those Troublemakers. They are an old-school Philly punk band that plays short fast songs about silly subjects.
Here’s a review of this very show from That Music Mag with a description of the opening band
To start, Those Troublemakers tore open the sky and thrashed so hard. The band, consisting of Ashley “Butters” Heitzman (Bass and vocals.), Evan Abramson (Guitar and vocals.) and William F. Orender (Drums) set a fast and fun pace for the rest of the night as they opened the show. With songs from their Beach Bod, Runnin High, and Your Problem LPs, if you weren’t a fan before you got to Ardmore, you were when you left.
And here’s what they said about the Milkmen
Whether you were a diehard lifelong fan or simply a casual listener, there was something for everyone to latch onto and make a memory from in their setlist. With Dean’s Dream to start the show, the band rolled along through a menagerie of their hits, one by one. From Bitchin’ Camaro and Welcome to Undertown to Punk Rock Girl, the audience slowly and organically began to be enchanted back to a place of reckless abandon. More and more, the audience would be wound up a bit more, move a bit more intently, and sing a bit louder until, like a powder keg erupting, the dank, humid walls of the Ardmore Music Hall would erupt with the energy of a full-blown mosh pit formed on the floor. People were jumping, screaming lyrics & bodies cackling with glee while being tossed about the room. Now, here in that moment, we were undeniably at a punk rock show. A real granular Philly punk rock show.
The band would go on to cover The Cramps’ “Human Fly,” and Rodney would even grace us with his editorial commentary on Nazi lives. (And how they do not, in fact, matter.) The Milkmen would finish with an encore of a few more notable hits like“Smokin’ Banana Peels,” “Big Time Operator,” and the reprise from the earlier-played “Life is Shit.”
Yea, I should probably go next time.
Here’s a couple of videos of The Dead Milkmen’s recent(ish) shows
SOUNDTRACK:
I Just Read About That... 