June 1, 2017 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: June 1, 2017] Frightened Rabbit
A number of years ago I got into Frightened Rabbit and really loved his dark-but-strangely-catchy poetic folk songs.
A few years ago he released a single “Swim Til You Cant See Land” and it was something of a minor hit. That brought them some airplay and really enjoyed that album as well.
When I saw that they were touring I thought it would be fun to finally see them live. Although somehow I didn’t realize that they had put out two albums since that single. Yipes. Continue Reading »
Posted in Frightened Rabbit, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
June 1, 2017 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: June 1, 2017] Torres
I really liked Torres’ album Sprinter and Bob Boilen had said that she was great live performer so I was pretty excited to see her live on this tour. I wasn’t exactly expecting a lot of power because while her music has a distinct intensity it never seemed like it would be huge. But man, Mackenzie Scott has an amazing presence, and her band was fantastic.
The biggest surprise for me came as the show began because Torres has new music out and it’s quite different from the songs I know. It’s much more synth heavy, with a very different vibe. The songs on Sprinter bubble under with intensity, but the new ones have a kind of sinister keyboard layer over the top. She also sings a bit more quietly on these songs.
What was interesting was that the newer music allowed her to do some interesting things on stage that reminded me of the choreography of St. Vincent (albeit much more subtle). She made small movements with her hips or shoulders. She really absorbed the attention of the audience. I loved that at times she just stood with her back to us, shadowed by lights as she waited for the songs to build.
I guess she played around nine song (there’s no setlist online). She played a couple of new songs and then a bunch off of Sprinter.
She didn’t speak much but she did say at one point I’m pleased to be here in front of you as Torres. For this music is not all about her.
Guitarist Cameron Kapoor stood in the back playing all kinds of great noises. While it was hard to take my eyes off of Scott, Kapoor was great to watch–he had a bank of keyboards and effects and his squealed and squalled some noises all the way through. Sometimes loud, sometimes just quiet textures, he really gave the songs a great sonic landscape. 
Erin Manning played keyboards and sang backing vocals. Her sound seemed much more notable on the new songs where Scot played only solos.
Drummer Dominic Cipolla play a mix of electronic and analog drums that perfectly fleshed out the rest of the songs.
As far as the setlist, there were two new songs including her new single “Skim.” I really enjoyed the sounds she squeezed out of her guitar between verses.
Then there was the dramatic change in sound for Sprinter’s “New Skin,” and that’s when it really kicked in just how powerful she was live. Her new songs may not employ the same techniques, but she hasn’t lost any of that intensity. And she plays her guitar sparingly but effectively: (I love watching her fingers in the dim light here).
Her deep powerful (sometimes vulnerable) voice really came out. By the time she got to “Sprinter,” the intensity level was through the roof.
But the song I’d been waiting to see was “Strange Hellos.” This is the first song I’d heard by her and I loved the way it started so small and simple and turned into a huge raging song. And live it’s even better.
She has the audacity to slow down that first section even further. It’s amazing to hear the lengthy pauses between notes as she just stares at the audience daring us to interrupt. And then the song proper starts and it rocks. Her voice is strained to breaking as she sings along. But it’s the end of the song–and the show–that was utterly memorable.
The show was great and I’ve just gotten a ticket for her show a the more intimate Boot & Saddle later his year so I can get another full dose of her intensity.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Frightened Rabbit, Philadelphia, PA, St. Vincent, Torres, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
June 1, 2017 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: June 1, 2017] Kevin Devine
I had heard of Kevin Devine–and his Goddamn Band–but hadn’t actually heard his music. I knew that he recently toured with Pinegrove as support–a show I wish I’d seen! But here he was solo.
Devine sang a dozen or so songs. Each one was catchy and not based on simple chord sequences. But mostly the focus was on the words. And I really liked his delivery–powerful and always spot on. It worked perfectly for a solo acoustic set but i could see it working just as well for a rocking band.
I can’t find a setlist on line, and I don’t know the names of many of his songs, so I don’t have much more to fill in here.
I recall him saying that one of the songs was the title rack of his new album Instigator. I know he also played at least one song from his band Bad Books. Continue Reading »
Posted in Bad Books, Frightened Rabbit, Kevin Devine, Kevin Devine and the Goddman Band, Philadelphia, PA, Pinegrove, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
June 1, 2017 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: GARY BURTON-Tiny Desk Concert #318 (November 9, 2013).
Gary Burton has been on a Tiny Desk Concert before with Chick Corea. I really enjoyed Burton then, and I enjoyed him even more this time.
Burton is a vibes player and he and guitarist Julian Lage play a delightful jazzy set.
I love the sounds of vibes already, but I really love the playing method—two mallets in each hand, spread to play a chord in each hand. Its mesmerizing.
The first song is called “Out Of The Woods.” The guitar is pretty and a delicate accompaniment. Half-way through the guitar gets a solo and it’s interesting that the vibes seems to fade a bit even though he’s still going strong.
The second song “Remembering Tano” is dedicated to Arthur Piazollo, the master, whose nickname was Tono. It has a very different feel with a mellow guitar solo at the end.
When Bob asks him about his playing style, he agrees that “4 sticks doesn’t look possible.” But he explains that the vibes look like a piano keyboard, but the advantage of this instrument is the visual impact it has for listeners. He says that early xylophone players in 19-teens an 1920s played with four mallets a fair amount and then it went out of style. He started playing in 1949 when he was 20 yeas old. He grew up ion a farm town in Indiana by himself and when he played, it sounded empty so he needed harmonies. Hence, four mallets.
The final piece was written for the show and is called “The Tiny Desk Blues.” And it is fun and bluesy 3 fun and bluesy with a great vibes solo in between some nice guitar solos.
Vibes are definitely my favorite jazz instrument.
[READ: July 5, 2016] Lunch Lady and the Mutant Mathletes
As forewarned in Book 6, the Breakfast Bunch is serving a punishment for bailing on a field trip (true, it was to solve a crime, but such is the life of a secret super hero). Their punishment is to join the mathletes team.
Before that we get a short episode of Lunch Lady foiling the bad guys from stealing ice cream from a family. It’s the first time I’ve had to wonder if it’s the same bad guys every time. From their reactions, I they are.
Lunch Lady feels bad that the kids are forced to join the mathletes so she makes cookies for the team.
While things are going on with the mathletes we see that angry janitor Mr Kalowski is more angry than ever. Continue Reading »
Posted in Children's Books, Fantasy, Food, Funny (ha ha), Gary Burton, Graphic Novel, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Lunch, Math, Museums, Set at School, Short Books, Sidekicks, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series | Leave a Comment »
May 31, 2017 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: SAN FERMIN-Tiny Desk Concert #315 (October 28, 2013).
When I first heard San Fermin I was immediately grabbed by the female lead voice (the song was “Sonsick”). It was so powerful and gripping. I didn’t realize then that the female leads were the lead singers of Lucius (who I also didn’t know at the time). San Fermin is the creation of Ellis Ludwig-Leone.
Since then I have enjoyed other songs by them as well, although I find that the songs sung by Allen Tate to be somewhat less exciting to me– I feel like his voice could one day hit me as amazing but it’s almost a little to understated for me. And yet musically I love the orchestration and chamber poppiness. As Bob writes:
San Fermin’s music bursts with ambition, talent and extreme joy. Its self-titled debut is charged with great storytelling and amazing vocals by both Allen Tate and Lucius singers Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe. Then there are the arrangements: little gems that turn these songs into cinematic vignettes using trumpet, sax, keyboard, violin, guitar and drums.
San Fermin is the musical vision of Ellis Ludwig-Leone, who wrote these songs with Tate’s dark, rich voice in mind. Here at the Tiny Desk, Rae Cassidy makes the album’s female vocal parts her own.
So it’s interesting that the songs were meant for Tate. I want just some more oomph from him. especially here in this set. And that’s because Rae Cassidy absolutely rules this set.
“Oh Darling” begins with a gentle piano and Cassidy’s pretty, delicate voice. After a verse from her, Tate’s voice comes in and it’s almost comically low and formal (and actually perhaps a bit too quiet). But when they all come in and sing it is just beautiful–the women in particular.
For “Sonsick” Cassidy sings lead with just drums. As the song builds there’s a great chorus where the backing vocals (including Tate) sing in falsetto. This version is quite stripped down compared to the recorded version and it really allows Cassidy’s voice to shine. When she hits those incredibly high notes with such power, it gives me chills.
In the final song, “Renaissance!” Tate sings lead over a slow piano and violin. The women sing backing vocals. I like the way that the song builds in intensity with more instruments, but his voice is a little too flat for me–although he does kick in extra at the end.
There’s a really stunning version of the first two songs with the band singing live in a street and cafe and France.
Incidentally, Cassidy has since left the band and gone solo, and I wish her much success.
[READ: December 28, 2016] Humans of New York Stories
Sarah got me this book for Christmas. I knew of Humans of New York, of course, but I wasn’t a follower of it. So while I knew of it I didn’t really know that much about it.
There’s a brief introduction to this book (which is his second HONY book) in which he explains that HONY grew from five years of experimenting. It evolved from a photography blog to a storytelling blog. His original inspiration was to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers. But then he decided to start including quotes from some of them.
He started interviewing people and found their stories became the real heart of the blog. Of course, he thanks the community of readers and participants, because without them, he has nothing.
The rest of the book–425 pages–collects the photos and the stories. Continue Reading »
Posted in Advice, Brandon Stanton, Cats, Cute, Dementia, Dentists, Depression, Dogs, Drinking, Drugs, Fraud, Freaks, Free Speech, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Greed, Huh?, Humiliation, Interviews, Jealousy, Kindness, Kissing, Luck, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Neurotics, Nicotine, Rae Cassidy, Regrets, Romance, San Fermin, Slackers, Tiny Desk Concert, Unreliable narrator, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), Waiting, Work, Yuck! | Leave a Comment »
May 30, 2017 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: SARAH JAROSZ-Tiny Desk Concert #324 (December 7, 2013).
I know Sarah Jarosz’ name from somewhere (anything spelled like tha I’ll remember), but I’m not sure where. It turns out that Jarosz plays awesome bluegrass.
Perhaps I’d heard of her because of her youth:
The singer and multi-instrumentalist first surfaced as an 18-year-old wunderkind with the release of 2009’s Song Up In Her Head, which generated the first of what will likely be many Grammy nominations; now a grizzled 22, she’s out performing songs from her fine new third album, Build Me Up From Bones.
performed with the aid of fiddler Alex Hargreaves and cellist . All
“Over the Edge” has a great riff. It starts out with Jarosz’ guitar (which is an 8-string guitar: twinned four string, so almost like a bass and yet strummed). She’s accompanied by a plucked cello (by Nathaniel Smith). And then her voice comes in: distinctive, raspy and really lovely. But it’s after the first verse when the guitar and cello both play that fast 8 note riff that the song really kicks into bluegrass territory. In the middle of the song, it’s fiddler Alex Hargreaves who throws in some great bluegrass fiddling lines. It’s swinging and rollicking and really fun.
“Build Me Up from Bones” is more folk sounding—her voice is beautiful and the melody of this song (which she plays on that 8 string guitar) is outstanding. There’s a cool alt-folk tone to the song, especially in the bridge. The cello is bowed, giving a rich sound before the violin (rather than fiddle) solo comes in.
For “Fuel The Fire” she switches to banjo. This is a great bluegrass song and that banjo sounds great. I’d love to see a double bill with her and Punch Brothers.
[READ: November 12, 2016] Gunnerkrigg Court 3 [23-31]
I really enjoyed book 2 of the series and was pretty exited to see that book 3 was already out–in fact books 4 and five have been released, too. This book collects Siddell’s online series–for frame of reference, this book ends with chapter 31 and as of May 2017 he is up to chapter 62 online.
I loved that Chapter 23 started with a totally different style–looking like a kind of sci-fi epic (and called Terror Castle of the Jupiter Moon Martians). But we quickly learn that this new look is a simulation–a kind of test for the main kids. But it’s very poorly made and they solve the mystery almost instantly. This plot leads to a couple of interesting revelations. That Parley has a thing for Smitty (everyone can tell but the two of them), and that Jones is becoming a fascinating and enigmatic important character. Reynard is also even funnier with his comeback “I think you detect a hint of shut your face” which Anni responds to with “Hah, Katerina must be helping you with your comebacks.”
The simulation room also allows for us to learn more about the origins of Reynard and Coyote. Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Alternate Reality, Boredom, Culture Shock, Demons, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Magic, Monsters, Myths, Punch Brothers, Research, Romance, Sarah Jarosz, Science, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Superstitions, Thomas Siddell, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Witches, YA Books, Zombies | Leave a Comment »
May 29, 2017 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: ASHLEY MONROE-Tiny Desk Concert #317 (November 3, 2013).
Ashley Monroe is a country singer. She’s part of the new way of female country singers, most of whom I don’t really like.
But some of the folks at NPR music love country, so I’ll let the blurb do the talking for me:
The title track from Like a Rose tells an optimistic story of survival, the ambivalent ballad “You Got Me” chronicles ill-advised romantic obsession, and, of course, the Top 40 country hit “Weed Instead of Roses” functions as a playful, fun-loving mission statement. Speaking of “Weed Instead of Roses,” which closes this charming performance, Monroe says the straitlaced [Vince] Gill insisted upon the song’s inclusion on Like a Rose — even going so far as to declare it a condition of his producing the album. The guy knew what he was talking about, both in his support of the song and of Monroe herself.
“Like a Rose” is almost comical in how stereotypically country it starts out: “I was only 13 when daddy died /Mama started drinking and my brother just quit trying.” Good lord. At least it has a positive message.
She says that the melody for “You Got Me” came to her in her sleep and woke her up.
“Weed Instead of Roses” is a song she wrote as a joke when she was 19. She says her grandpappy first heard the lyric as “give me weeds as well as roses” and he thought that was right on because the weeds are just as important as the roses.
The song is definitely fun (and funny) but the whole set is way too twangy country for me. And IO find her back up guitarist/vocalist to be even more whiny/twangy than her. Yipes.
[READ: February 26, 2015] Gunnerkrigg Court 2 [15-22]
I was originally mixed on Volume 1 of this series, but I jumped right into this one and loved it from start to finish (even if I admit to not understanding everything that was going on).
The book, which compiles chapters 15-22 and some extras, doesn’t begin with any kind of recap, so you kind of have to catch up as you go along.
We meet the fairy from beyond the river who was turned into a girl. She is very upset that her friend is no longer friends with her. She assumes it’s because of her hair (which is now long). In an amusing sequence, she believes that if she cuts her hair short and spiky she will be friends again (with some other girl). She is delighted to learn she can cut her hair and it doesn’t hurt (then she attempts to cut off her finger).
But these cute one-off chapters are strategically placed between the more serious arc, which involves the awesome looking Muut (an owl head on a hunky man’s body) and the introduction of a short-haired woman who might be a teacher and who goes by the name Jones. She is a wise woman and an amazing fighter (she shows off by beating a man wielding a sword while she is unarmed). Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Ashley Monroe, Boredom, Culture Shock, Demons, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Magic, Monsters, Myths, Research, Romance, Science, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Superstitions, Thomas Siddell, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Vince Gill, Witches, YA Books, Zombies | Leave a Comment »
May 28, 2017 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: WAXAHATCHEE-Tiny Desk Concert #321 (November 23, 2013).
Waxahatchee is pretty much Katie Crutchfield. The band recently played a show near me and I wondered if it was a band or just her.
This might be as intimate as hearing Katie Crutchfield sing in her basement. That’s where she and her sister would play guitar, write and sing songs 10 years ago, when she was 14. Katie and Allison Crutchfield had a band back in Birmingham together, The Ackleys; these days, Katie performs as Waxahatchee, while Allison’s band is called Swearin’.
The songs Waxahatchee brought to the NPR Music offices aren’t just stripped down for this Tiny Desk Concert, this is Katie Crutchfield as Waxahatchee, spare and exposed; this is what she does. Sometimes there’s a drummer (her sister’s boyfriend Kyle Gilbride) and at other times another guitarist, her boyfriend Keith Spencer (both play in Swearin’), but even on Waxahatchee’s second album, Cerulean Salt, there are plenty of bare-boned songs. This is intimate music for an intimate setting, as we got to stand in careful silence, listening intently and capturing this frail and powerful performance.
And all of that is true. These are pretty, quiet folk songs. They are so quiet it almost seems like she doesn’t have her amp on—you can hear her pick striking against the strings.
To me the power of these songs is in the lyrics, and yet the music isn’t boring or simple either. Her chords are always, if not interesting, then certainly spot on. But I keep coming back to the lyrics. Like the end of “I Think I Love You”
I want you so bad it’s devouring me / and I think I love you but you’ll never find out.
Her speaking voice is quiet too, and after the first song she admits, “This is one of the coolest things I have ever gotten to do.”
“Bathtub” has this wonderfully intense line:
And I tell you not to love me
But I still kiss you when I want to
And I lament, you’re innocent
But somehow the object of my discontent
And it’s fucked up, I let you in
Even though I’ve seen what can happen
The entire Tiny Desk Concert is only 9 minutes–which is simply too short. I know that the Tiny Desk Concerts usually have bands play 3 songs, but when they are mostly short ones like “Tangled Envisioning” (not even 3 minutes), they could tack on an extra one or two.
[READ: August 30, 2016] Science: Ruining Everything Since 1543
Zach Weinersmith writes the daily webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. I supported the Kickstarter project for this book because it looked frankly hilarious. The one thing I have to say off the bat is that I don’t love his drawing style. There’s something about it that I simply can’t get into. Even after two full books of these drawings, it just never gels for me. But that’s fine. because I’m here for the jokes. And they are awesome.
The book is comprised of the best religion-themes comic from the 13 years that SMBC has been around. There’s also a whole slew of comics that are exclusive to this book.
We are greeted with this: “For these drawings, the part of God is played by a giant yellow disc.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Advice, Allison Crutchfield, Alternate Reality, Anachronisms, Babies, Bible, Boredom, Crowdfunding, Daredevils, Death, Demons, Electricity, End of the World, Environmentalism, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Feminism, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Gender, Giants, Graphic Novel, Hoax, Humiliation, Idiots, Jealousy, Katie Crutchfield, Natural Disasters, Paleontologists, Politicians, Religion, Science, Sexism, Supernatural, Superstitions, Swearin', Technology, The Bible, Time Travel, Tiny Desk Concert, War, Waxahatchee, Yuck!, Zombies | Leave a Comment »
May 27, 2017 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: DAUGHTER-Tiny Desk Concert #313 (October 21, 2013).
Daughter is a quiet folk band (at least in this Tiny Desk Concert) in which two acoustic guitars (Elena Tonra and Igor Haefeli) and one drum (Remi Aguilella) play behind Tonra’s gorgeous, angsty vocals.
For all three of these songs, she sings delicate whispered vocals that are quite lovely, but also quite dark.
Like this line from “Youth” “Most of us are bitter over someone / setting fire to our insides for fun.” I love the way Haefeli’s guitar harmonics sound like keyboards and how powerful the martial drumming sounds when it comes in.
“Landfill” opens with thudding drums (Mallets instead of sticks) which are louder and bigger and yet still feel gentle. And yet, as the blurb says: The song is “achingly pretty and melancholy, the track builds to an absolute gut-punch of a line — “I want you so much, but I hate your guts” — that conjures a pitch-perfect mix of gloom, desire and hostility.”
They put out an EP and in 2013 released an album:
the lovely If You Leave, but Daughter was kind enough to resuscitate “Landfill” for this stripped-down performance at the Tiny Desk. As you’ll see and hear, that aforementioned gut-punch is a recurring specialty for the band: In all three of these sad, searing songs, singer Elena Tonra showcases a remarkable gift for coolly but approachably dishing out weary words that resonate and devastate.
Between these two songs, Bob asks if this is an awkward place to play, and she responds, “No, we’re just awkward people.”
For “Tomorrow” there is a beautiful ascending guitar melody and loud drums. I really like the way the guitars play off of each other–even though they are both acoustic, they sound very different and complement each other nicely. Like in the wonderful melody at the end. Despite how pretty the song was, apparently she was unhappy with it saying “a bit ropey, that one.” I hadn’t heard that before, but evidently it means “unwell…usually alcohol related” so that’s pretty funny.
[READ: August 30, 2016] Science: Ruining Everything Since 1543
Zach Weinersmith writes the daily webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. I supported the Kickstarter project for his book Religion: Ruining Everything Since 4004 BC and this book was part of my funding level.
I was more interested in the religious comics, but I am tickled by how funny the Science comics are. Weinersmith knows a lot of science (or at least scientists) and make some really funny jokes about the subject.
The one thing I have to say off the bat is that I don’t love his drawing style. There’s something about it that I simply can’t get into. Even after two full books of these drawings, it just never gels for me. But that’s fine. because I’m here for the jokes. And they are awesome. Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Advice, Alternate Reality, Anachronisms, Babies, Bible, Boredom, Carl Sagan, Crowdfunding, Daredevils, Daughter, Death, Demons, Dinosaurs, Electricity, End of the World, Environmentalism, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Feminism, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Gender, Giants, Graphic Novel, Hoax, Humiliation, Idiots, Jealousy, NASA, Natural Disasters, Paleontologists, Politicians, Religion, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Science, Scientists, Sexism, Supernatural, Superstitions, Technology, The Bible, Time Travel, Tiny Desk Concert, Unicorns, War, Yuck!, Zach Weinersmith, Zombies | Leave a Comment »
May 26, 2017 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: BLUE MAN GROUP Tiny Desk Concert #567 (September 26, 2016).
This Tiny Desk Concert is probably the most fun right from th get go.
It opens with three men in blue marching through the NPR offices. They go through backstage places, grabbing items. The go through the DJ booth and even interrupt Corva Coleman’s weather forecast.
They even pull Bob away from his desk as they set up. And then we see the blue men in action.
I remember seeing ads for Blue Man Group when I worked in Manhattan decades ago. But I never actually saw them (something i regret). And indeed, I’m not the only one who remembers their humble beginnings:
Josh Rogosin, our engineer for the Tiny Desk, first saw them in their early days, some 25 years ago at New York’s Astor Place Theatre. He told me how the Blue Men would retrofit some of their theatrical magic — including their custom-made instruments, confetti cannons and streamers — to fit this small desk space. instead of installing their entire signature PVC instrument, what ended up behind the desk was about a third of it. On the right side of the desk, their Shred Mill makes its internet debut: It’s a drum machine triggered by magnets that changes rhythm depending where they are placed on the home-made variable-speed conveyor belt. They also invented something called a Spinulum, whose rhythmic tempo is controlled by rotating a wheel that plucks steel guitar strings.
So the guys, covered in blue (closeup cameras suggests to me that they are wearing gloves and masks?) play a number of home-made instruments (you can read a full description on the instruments below). In addition to thw home made instruments, there is a Chapman stick bass guitar and a conventional drummer.
And they sure do get some cool sounds out of these items.
“Vortex” has its melody on the PVC pipes with the spinumlum and once the song really gets going in the middle, with the stick playing a cool melody and the cimbalon playing a sweet plucked melody, it’s really quite a pretty song.
For “The Forge,” the stick plays some cool scratchy melodies while two guys play the PVC tubes (I like that there’s a mirror mounted above them so you can see what they’re doing). The cimbalon is put to good use in more pretty melodies.
“Meditation for Winners” is hilarious. They play an old scratchy record with a really intense guy doing intense meditation. They play really catchy music behind it. They go into the audience and grab people to breathe in and out, and stretch. Or doing dragon breath. Then they chant a positive affirmation “I am the best at being relaxed.” The way the meditation goes from Namaste into something else is pretty great as are the confetti cannons.
This makes me wish I had seen them 25 years ago even more now.
[READ: February 15, 2017] Chew: Volume Twelve
This is the concluding arc to the amazing (and disturbing) series Chew. It covers issues 56-60 and includes Demon Chicken Poyo.
Chapter 1 begins with an introduction to Tony Chu, Cibopath. By now we know who he is and what he does–he eats things (or people) and knows the history of whatever he just ate. We are reminded that the only food that he does not get a psychic sensation from is beets.
The end of the previous book showed the death of Mason and his instruction that in order to save the world Tony must eat him. Tony does not want to (obviously) but he must. But the joke is on him because the last thing that Mason ate before killing himself was a big plate of beets–meaning he is totally blocking Tony’s abilities and that Tony will have to suffer through Mason’s long and tedious explanation of everything (this makes Colby crack up, which is quite funny). Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Blue Man Group, Chickens, Death, Delusions, Food, Food Luv, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Humiliation, John Layman, Marriage (Happy), Political Humor, Religion, Rob Guillory, Sex, Tiny Desk Concert, Violence, Yuck! | Leave a Comment »
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A number of years ago I got into Frightened Rabbit and really loved his dark-but-strangely-catchy poetic folk songs.
I Just Read About That... 