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They Might Be Giants: 30th Anniversary Flood Show (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, January 12, 2023)–[at last!]

January 12, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: January 12, 2023] They Might Be Giants [rescheduled from March 13, 2020, September 8, 2020, April 15, 2021, March 22, 2022 and June 16, 2022]

After five failed attempts, They Might Be Giants FINALLY got to play Union Transfer.

It was only mildly anti-climactic that they played Union Transfer the night before with a show that was billed as an entirely different show but which, when setlists were compared, turned out to be almost exactly the same.

January 11 (left): note the similarly-named show title which implied something different.  From the venue:

We assume that means songs from their latest album, ‘Book’ and some ‘Flood’ “faves”, and a bunch of horns on stage. How many horns? We can’t say for sure…Maybe 5, maybe 100!?

It felt a little cheaty that this day-ahead show got the same (more or less) show as us.  But hey, who cares, at least we didn’t splurge for the second day.  Because I’d have been a little cheesed to get the same show two nights in a row, no matter how good it was.  And it was really good!

So I saw They Might Be Giants about twenty-five years ago in Boston.  I don’t remember a lot from the show, but it was the Factory Showroom tour and they played a lot of my favorite songs as well.

I haven’t seen them live since then, even though I know they put on a good show.  I’m not sure why it neve happened.  Possibly because when I try to see them a pandemic occurs.

We arrived a little later than intended, had to stand on a huge line (there was no opening act), although everyone at a TMBG show is friendly, and then wound up on the side lower balcony in Union Transfer–where I’ve never stood before.  It was actually kind of nice-we were above most of the heads and still felt a part of the mass of people.

The band also was giving out “paper crowns” that said THEY on them.  John F:  “Be sure to grab one so you can sell it later.”

The Johns came out at 8 as promised and jumped right into “Letterbox” from Flood.  But it’s not the first song from Flood.  So clearly, they weren’t going to play the album in order.  They never said they were going to, just that they were going to play the whole album.  Aha! Continue Reading »

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Tár, They Might Be Giants, Union Transfer, Whiplash | Leave a Comment »

Toranosuke Shimada–Robo Sapiens : Tales of Tomorrow (2019) [translation] Adrienne Beck (2021)

January 3, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: October 2022] Robo Sapiens : Tales of Tomorrow

I received this book at work and was intrigued to read it (Manga style right to left).  It is a collection of connected stories that form a solid plot.

The premise is fairly straightforward–it is the future and robots are now “cyber-persons” with A.I. brains with their own culture.

The story opens with a robot salvager relating Simon Chan’s case.  Chan was over 120 years old and only called on the main character because the story had to be kept hush hush.

His request was straightforward–find a robot that he has lost fifty years ago. But the realty was more difficult–in the last fifty years it was probably scrapped.  But Chan was insistent–Letitia is still alive.

The back story is that Chan and Letitia were the IT couple of the day fifty years ago.  But when he lost her to an accident, he went into seclusion. A year later he returned to the public eye with a robotic Letitia–this was long before such a thing was accepted.  The story has an interesting twist involving the true identity of Simon Chan.

The second story is one of romance between characters who believe they are robots and are visiting the site of a robotic graveyard, Robot Hill.

Story three is a nearly wordless story about chromobots travelling through time to caveman days. Continue Reading »

Posted in Death, End of the World, Graphic Novel, Huh?, Robots, The Future, Toranosuke Shimada | Leave a Comment »

Simon Edge–The End of the World is Flat (2021)

January 2, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[READ: June 25, 2022] The End of the World is Flat

I received this book at work and was instantly intrigued by the title and the blurb that described “A comedy featuring Christopher Columbus, a tech billionaire and a local delusion.”

The book opens with Christopher Columbus waiting to be given the go ahead to sail around the globe.  His flat earth sailors all believe that they will fall off the edge of the earth, but Columbus is convinced otherwise.

Then the story jumps to the present. Mel is the head of the charitable company called Orange Peel.  Mel single handedly created and developed orange peel with a singular goal in mind: to get anyone involved with maps (from teachers to Google) to stop using the Mercator map which is inherently flawed both in design and in the way it makes South America look less significant.  Rather, they should use the orange peel map projection (it looks like four small ovals attached to each other).

If you don’t know what any of this refers to, its worth looking into the history of maps to see just how wrong our standard (Mercator) understanding of the globe is.

When Google agreed to change their usage of the Mercator to the Orange Peel she feel that her job was done.  Mel had created a small but influential company and yet they had completed their goal–there was nothing more for them to do.  She intended to quietly close up shop and give everyone an excellent reference.

But the board that Mel had hired to look after things for her had other ideas.  They didn’t want to end things there, so they asked her assistant Shane to meet with a billionaire who had an idea for the next stage of the company.

While Mel was talking to Google, Shane was talking to tech billionaire Joey Talavera who is married to Crystal Vardashian.  The last name there is a non too subtle jab at someone (although Crystal turns out to have a level head and some good ideas.  But I’m not sure if Talavera is supposed to be someone or other.

Anyhow, Talavera talks to Shane, shows off his amazing house (one of his houses) and then says he wants to dump a lot of money at Orange Peel to promote his own cause.

Back in the boardroom when Mel saw the proposal (just before she walked out) she thought it was a joke,  But the board saw money in it and so, they agreed to take on Joey’s idea.  Which is that they world is flat and everyone knows it–but higher up people are working to keep it under wraps. Continue Reading »

Posted in Flat Earth, Funny (ha ha), Simon Edge, Social Media, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Joe Dator–Inked: Cartoons, Confessions, Rejected Ideas and Secret Sketches from The New Yorker’s Joe Dator (2021)

January 1, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[READ: May 2022] Inked

I loved this book of cartoons from Joe Dator.  I can’t say that I recognize his style especially, but his cartoons did look very New Yorker to me.

Indeed, this book features dozens of comics.  It’s not always obvious which ones were accepted and which were rejected (although he does mention some that were rejected specifically).

He talks bout the state of mind of the New Yorker artists: On a very good week, they will buy one of your cartoons for publication.  Most weeks they will not buy one.  It’s a little bit like having a job at which every week you get fired then you have to go in next week to re-apply and hope you get hired back.

He has a few sections called Betwixt the Punchlines in which he explains the motivation behind a particular piece  (He says the one where the coffee maker says she’ll come back, she always comes back (while he’s using a French press) is from his own habit of buying gadgets but always returning to old faithful.

I rather enjoyed the picture of the army man with medals on his chest who say “Anytime I’ve even been asked ‘What do you want. a medal?’ I’ve said yes.”

He also talks bout his drawings of God.

God is about 7’1″ You might think that seems kind of small for the Supreme Being, but its just big enough to make the average mortal say “Wow, that’s a big guy.”  God knows people are easily impressed. Continue Reading »

Posted in Anteaters, Funny (ha ha), Joe Dator, Military, New Yorker, Religion, Set at School | Leave a Comment »

Kurt Vonnegut–“A Present for Big Saint Nick” [The 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar #25] (2022)

December 25, 2022 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 25, 2022] “A Present for Big Saint Nick”

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 25. To officially conclude the 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar, we present a story about presents and surprises from the one and only Kurt Vonnegut. As always, thank you so much for reading. We hope you enjoyed it, and we’ll see you next year.

This story appears in Vonnegut’s collection Bagombo Snuff Box.  I read it a long time ago and then again a couple of years ago.

It’s an actual Christmas story, but wow is it dark (and funny). Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Kurt Vonnegut, Santa Claus, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Arthur Conan Doyle–“An Exciting Christmas Eve; Or, My Lecture on Dynamite” [The 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar #24] (2022)

December 24, 2022 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 24, 2022] “An Exciting Christmas Eve; Or, My Lecture on Dynamite”

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 24. Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, passed away in 1930. His Holmes story “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” appeared in the 2016 Short Story Advent Calendar, among other places.

This story was so surprising.  It was really funny.  But it was also technically interesting and rather suspenseful.  In short, a great story from the guy who brought s Sherlock Holmes.

Otto von Spee seeks a boring life.  He is a scientist and wants nothing more than do his work in peace.  He compares his own life to a fellow from his own school Leopold Waldenich, a scientist who professed to be a seeker of adventure.

And yet, while Waldenich studied, seeking excitement, not much happened to him.  But during those same years in school, Otto damaged his eyesight studying poisonous gas, got food poisoning, was thrown out a window during a lecture for voicing an opinion that a hotheaded student disagreed with and nearly drowned twice. Continue Reading »

Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Lucy Ellmann–“Olive Oyl” [The 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar #23] (2019)

December 23, 2022 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 23, 2022] “Olive Oyl”

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 23. Lucy Ellmann, author of Ducks, Newburyport, can count beads with the best of them.

I loved Ducks Newburyport, which was huge and hard to read and fun and funny.  This story is short and easy to read and very peculiar.  

It is a short story about Olive Oyl.  Yes, the woman from the Popeye cartoons. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bluto, Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Lucy Ellmann, Olive Oyl, Popeye, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Jessica Francis Kane–“Family Weekend” [The 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar #22] (2022)

December 22, 2022 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 22, 2022] “Family Weekend”

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 22. Lori Hahnel, author of Vermin, has practiced her scales enough for one day.

This story was utterly relatable.

A woman has moved from her home town to New York City and now her daughter is going to college in her home town.  So when she visited her daughter for Family Weekend, she stays in her old house.  Her mother has passed away, so she is staying with her father.

Her father wears jeans now.  This is new.   He has a new phone–his first smartphone–and he doesn’t like it.  He deletes texts, doesn’t see the point of the threads. 

You borrow your father’s car to drive to campus, but your daughter is in class.  So you run an errand and miss everything.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Robert Louis Stevenson–“Markheim” [The 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar #21] (1887)

December 21, 2022 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 21, 2022] “Markheim”

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 21. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, died in 1894 and would not return our emails.

Not many stories in this collection are actually Christmas stories, which is probably for the best.  Who knows how that would go if you tries to corral them into a theme.  But this one is. Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Robert Louis Stevenson, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

John Elizabeth Stintzi–“Moving Parts” [The 2022 Short Story Advent Calendar #20] (2021)

December 20, 2022 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 20, 2022] “Moving Parts”

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 20. John Elizabeth Stintzi, author of My Volcano, makes hay while the sun shines.

This was a crazy-on-the-surface story that had some lovely metaphorical reality underneath it.

When the narrator gets to college, her left pinky disappears.  At the college ice breaker she says that her second interesting fact is that “I lost my left pinky finger after I moved in.”  When her parents came to visit her father had made her a pinky out of wood to strap onto her hand.  It fit perfectly.

She went home for holidays abut every time she returned to college a new part was missing–her ear, her foot.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, John Elizabeth Stintzi, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

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