August 10, 2021 by Paul Debraski
[LISTENED TO: Summer 2021] How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge
The only thing better than finishing an awesome book is discovering that there’s a sequel and the quality and integrity of the sequel is just as strong as the original story.
Everything from the first story is in place here: the characters, the narrator, the tone, and, delightfully, Nicole Poole to read it.
Obviously, there are massive spoilers in this book for the first story. So make sure you read that one first.
But to sum up, Rory successfully avoid an arranged marriage (while not upsetting her arranged husband). She is able to shut down a coup on Urse and ultimately kick-starts a revolution. Not bad for an under age Princess.
But she is done with being a Princess. She rescinds her life and goes off to become a space pirate. She has taken her former royal bodyguards, Thorsdottir and Zhang (so yes, there’s even more time given to these two great characters!) with her. They pledge to protect Rory so they guess they just go with her? And Jaed has come along with them too, mostly because he has nowhere else to go (literally) and he crushes on Rory, too.
So Rory’s team aren’t so much space pirates as do-gooders. They are more like salvagers who might intercept smugglers (this is the equivalent of her telling her mom she’s going to follow Phish and make jewelry).
And for all concerned, Grytt is still in the story although as it starts, she is on Lanscott farming sheep (!) with Rory’s former betrothed Ivar (!!) former crow prince of the Free Worlds of Tadesh {No they are not “together” Grytt is mostly just minding the poor boy while she is “relaxing”). Grytt by the way needed more implants after the last book and is probably 3/5 mecha to human. Which she seems to prefer, honestly. Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Advice, Aliens, Assassination, Audiobooks, Deafness, Duology, Fairies, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Gender, K. Eason, Magic, Multiverse, Nicole Poole, Outer Space, Political Humor, Sci-fi, Science, Violence | Leave a Comment »
August 9, 2021 by Paul Debraski
[LISTENED TO: Summer 2021] How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse
This book title appealed to me immediately. And I loved it. The story is convoluted in the best way and Nicole Poole is an excellent reader.
The one bad thing about an audio book as opposed to reading the book yourself is that you don’t get to see how certain words are spelled (although it saves all the trouble of trying to figure out how to pronounce them).
The book is set in a futuristic world where space travel is common and war is far more common.
Rory was born into the Thorne family as something of a surprise. There hadn’t been a female offspring in the Thorne family for ten generations. The name Rory was reserved for first born males. But it was determined that the name was gender-neutral enough that the girl could also have the name, no matter how unsettled it made people.
Then Eason sets about establishing this world–with great detail and thoroughness. Some of which I’ll try to capture. The story is set on the Thorne Consortium, the planet where Rory’s father is King.
Rory’s mother is the Consort. She was from Kreshti, “a small independent and allied planet on which skill with combat training was considered both a plain necessity.”
Incidentally, the narrator is telling the story as a history lesson and she is far from neutral.
They are both served by the Vizier, a man gifted in arithmancy and scholarship. “Finding quaint, forgotten, and neglected customs was his second favorite pastime in the multiverse. Explaining to others the relevance of those ancient customs was the first.”
The Vizier discovered that it was customary to invite the faeries to bestow blessings on each new born girl. The King is annoyed by this–it never happened for any of the boys (and they had invented void-flight with no magic needed). Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Advice, Aliens, Assassination, Audiobooks, Deafness, Fairies, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Gender, K. Eason, Magic, Multiverse, Nicole Poole, Political Humor, Sci-fi, Science, Violence | Leave a Comment »
August 8, 2021 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 7, 2021] Japanese Breakfast
A few nights before this show, Union Transfer sent out this message
Japanese Breakfast have requested that all attendees for the remainder of their tour be vaccinated OR have tested negative for Covid in the 48 hours prior to attending a show.
And nothing made me happier than reading that. We arrived especially early thinking that the vaccination process would be slow, but the UT staff were efficient and friendly and I think everyone was pleased to feel safe and secure.
And anyone not vaccinated? Well, fuck em, they can stay home.
I saw Japanese Breakfast three years ago and found the show to be a lot of fun. I also bought a fun poster that proudly adorns our breakfast area. Since then, they have released a new album and S. has really gotten into them.
When it was announced that Japanese Breakfast would be playing the first post-pandemic show at Union Transfer, I knew we’d want to go. I grabbed tickets immediately and it sold out almost as fast. They added a second show and then a third show. One of those shows was actually BEFORE our show, which meant we didn’t get to go to the venue’s inaugural show, which was a tiny (very tiny) but disappointing.
She ultimately wound up selling out five nights in a row–a Union Transfer record. Go Michelle!
She also noted that the folks on our night were “spicier” than the Friday night crowd. No doubt because we were the big fans who grabbed tickets right away. Or she was just saying that. Continue Reading »
Posted in Dolly Parton, Japanese Breakfast, Little Big League, OHMME, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
August 7, 2021 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 7, 2021] Mannequin Pussy
I had tickets to see Best Coast back in March of 2020. I like them, but the primary reason I wanted to go was because Mannequin Pussy was opening. I had seen them open for Japandroids in 2018 and really wanted to see them again. Best Coast had cancelled their tour and while they are coming back early next year they had a new opening act.
So I was pretty psyched to find out that Mannequin Pussy were opening for Japanese Breakfast (whose tickets we had for a while already).
Mannequin Pussy are now officially a trio (they were a quartet when I saw them last), with the core of marisa “missy” dabice–guitars & vocal; colins “bear” regisford–bass & vocals and kaleen reading–drums. Although they were a five piece on stage with a “new” guitarist and keyboardist (not sure who they were).
They came out, the red lights went on (I forgot about those terrible-for-photos lights at Union Transfer) and proceeded to play two brand new songs. Somehow I had missed that they released the Perfect EP earlier this year. They sounded great–Missy’s voice a terrific mixture of pretty and screamy. “Control” set the stage followed by “To Lose You.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Best Coast, Japandroids, Mannequin Pussy, OHMME, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
August 6, 2021 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 5, 2021] Modest Mouse [pictures to come]
I wasn’t planning on Modest Mouse being my first show back after 500+ pandemic days. In fact, I didn’t even think they were my first show back (Japanese Breakfast on Saturday was first, I thought). I bought tickets for this show but forgot to write it on the calendar. Thankfully, a reminder email got me totally psyched to be back.
This was my fifth time seeing Modest Mouse. I laughed when I saw that last time I wrote:
I don’t ever plan to see Modest Mouse, they just sort of appear and they worm their way into my calendar. And frankly … I’ll definitely go again if I can.
Obviously that was true as well this time.
I wish that there was a vaccination and mask mandate in place at The Met, because regardless of how vaccinated everybody may have been, there were a lot of unmasked faces in the pit with my masked one.
After a year and a half it was almost comforting to se that all of the irritating people came out for the show as well. But I was in a good space, so I acknowledged their irritations bit didn’t get irritated. I was fairly close to the stage, but there were some last minute pushers who forced me a little back. I also tried my best to leave some distance between me and the others (but that was nigh impossible). There were the requisite tall boys right in front of the stage and (I had forgotten about this behavior) a short girl (woman? it was hard to tell) who barreled her way right in front of me, dragging her boyfriend (father?) with her. She also later tried to start a mosh pit but no one was biting. And of course, by the end of the night there was the very sloppy drunk woman who was falling all over herself (and her boyfriend) who had to leave early.
After a 30 minute wait between bands, Modest Mouse came out. And the crowd went nuts.
I noted last time that
The main draw for me at a Modest Mouse show is the thought that I’ll hear songs I haven’t heard live before. I didn’t know if that was possible on my now fourth show but amazingly, they played 8 songs that I hadn’t heard live before. They have over 100 songs officially released, so I don’t imagine hearing all of them, but I have heard 55 songs at four shows, which again, is amazing
That was not an issue for me this time. I just wanted to hear live music. They did play seven songs I hadn’t hear live before. But six of them were from the new album The Golden Casket. One was from the Interstate 8 EP.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »
August 5, 2021 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 5, 2021] The Districts
I was supposed to see The Districts play at Union Transfer on March 12. COVID-19 had just found its way into New Jersey and Pennsylvania and I was being very cautious so I decided to skip the show. It was a safe decision, but one that I now regret as it would have been a pretty great final show of the year. Shows pretty much completely stopped after that.
I was able to watch The Districts play at (virtual) Philly Music Fest which was fun (but not the real thing).
So I was pretty excited to hear that they were announced as the opening act for Modest Mouse. They would be the first live band I’d seen and the symmetry made me pleased.
They sounded great, but I was a little bummed that their set was only 6 songs in 30 minutes. I didn’t keep track of the songs, assuming someone out there would have updated the setlist page, so I only know four of the six songs played. And the shows around it have slightly different setlists, so I guess I’ll never know.
They opened with “If Before I Wake” and introduced their new drummer (who was really good). I feel like the crowd was a little subdued for these Philly favorites. Continue Reading »
Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Districts, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »
August 4, 2021 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: July 2021] Holding
Graham Norton is a fairly peripheral entertainer in our lives I’ve always enjoyed him when I’ve watched him, but I don’t watch him very often. He’s a good (and funny) talk show host, but who knew that he also wrote novels? And not comic ones.
This story is a mystery set in the remote Irish village of Duneen. They have one policeman (guard), Sergeant P.J. Collins who is overweight and alone. Collins is central to the story, as are Brid Riordan and Evelyn Ross.
Brid Riordan is a wife and mother and she is unhappy. She’s been drinking a lot and her husband has been getting on her case about it–even taking the kids away to his mother’s a few times.
Evelyn Ross is the youngest of the three Ross sisters–a wealthy trio of (orphaned and single) women living in a large estate called Ard Carraig. Abigail and Florence are her older sisters and they dote on Evelyn because a) she found their father when he hung himself and b) she was more of less left at the altar.
Nothing much happens in Duneen. The biggest news is the development that’s going up. And what they find when they start to dig the foundation–human bones. Continue Reading »
Posted in Death, Drinking, Graham Norton, Ireland, Irish Writer, Marriage Trouble, Mystery, Romance | Leave a Comment »
August 3, 2021 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: July 2021] Katie and the Catsitter
I have enjoyed everything I’ve read by Colleen AF Venable. This is her first middle grade graphic novel. And it is fantastic.
So much fun and so much going on!
The artwork is by Stephanie Yue who also drew her Guinea P.I. books and it is a perfect match.
In this story Katie is a little bummed because her friends are going off to summer camp and she can’t afford to go. She puts up a sign in her apartment offering her services, but she finds that she’s really not very good at anything (she can’t lift heavy groceries, she kills plants). Finally, she asks if she can work for the bodega owner downstairs. He loves Katie, but she is too young. He offers her a consolation lunch of “baby kale, blue cheese, craisins… those are basically candy.” But all she wants is a PBnJ.
It’s all pretty normal.
Except that in this world there are superheroes and super villains. The most famous superhero right now is The Eastern Screech, a guy whop dresses like an owl. Continue Reading »
Posted in Cats, Children's Books, Colleen AF Venable, Cute, Funny (ha ha), Stephanie Yue, Summer, Summer Camp, Superheroes, Unfinished series | Leave a Comment »
August 2, 2021 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: July 2021] Crazy for You
Clooney Coyle is an Irish actor on the Irish language soap opera Brú na hAbhainn.
He is vain but amusing. He is invited to his best friend Isla’s house for a party. Isla is a school teacher and she is inviting the staff over for a Halloween party. Unfortunately an insufferable volunteer named Vonnie insisted that she be invited. Isla has complained to Clooney about Vonnie many times and he is tickled to meet someone so obnoxiously self-assured and assertive,
Vonnie arrives and she is a horror show. It’s a shame, though, that O’Donoghue had to make her fat and ugly in addition to loud and obnoxious. But she walks into the party, insults the host, insults the guests, takes wine that isn’t hers (she didn’t bring anything to the party) and is a general nightmare. But Clooney is intrigued by her and decides to treat her nicely.
When he was younger, he was picked on for being gay in rural Ireland so he understands the need to shine when others put out your spark. And soon enough he pledges that they are friends for life.
Vonnie has the best line ever: “As an adult, I am an artist.” She says this all the time and everyone looks at her the same way…. wtf does that mean. She means that all children are artists, but she is an adult who is an artist. She also has a gallery which Clooney promises to go to. Her art is terrible and she charges him admission. When she insists that he sit for a portrait, and them charges him a sitting fee he still manages to say that they are friends for life.
And that’s what sets her off.
Vonnie becomes insanely jealous. And that’s when the book goes from the outrageous to the ridiculous and all believability is lost. Continue Reading »
Posted in Brú na hAbhainn, Bulls, Death, Domhnall O'Donoghue, Ireland, Irish Writer, Romance, Unlikable main character, Vacation, Violence | Leave a Comment »
August 1, 2021 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: July 2021] The Imperfects
I saw this book at work–I didn’t think I’d be seeing as many interesting books at work with my new position, but here was one that I wanted to read!
The title was interesting and the concept was eye catching right from the start.
The story seems fairly simple. There is a grandmother–Helen Auerbach–and three grandchildren. The grandchildren are estranged from their mother, who is peripherally in contact, and their father, who thy have not seen in decades. They are also kind of estranged from each other because of some bad choices each of them has made. Incidentally all of the children are Millers, not Auerbachs from their estranged father.
The book opens in Vienna 1918 with a historical moment that weighs heavily on the rest of the story. I didn’t really like the writing style of that section–it was not what i was expecting and I hoped the rest of the story wouldn’t be written in that way (and it wasn’t, thankfully). But I enjoyed the way that moment ultimately tied into the story. Continue Reading »
Posted in Amy Meyerson, Austria, Death, Diamonds, Film & TV, Funny (ha ha), History, Parenting, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »
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The only thing better than finishing an awesome book is discovering that there’s a sequel and the quality and integrity of the sequel is just as strong as the original story.
I Just Read About That... 