Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–A Very Babymouse Christmas (#15) (2011)

December 25, 2011 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: THE BIRD AND THE BEE-“The 12 Days of Christmas” (2011?).

I’ve heard this version of the 12 Days of Christmas twice.  Once in Ulta and once on the show New Girl (in the Christmas episode, where Jess and her friend are (ew) sitting on the floor in the bathroom, you can hear it faintly behind them).

This is a very intriguing version of the song.  It sounds like the Cocteau Twins–a kind of lush, waves upon waves sound.  There’s a female singer (who sounds like Liz Frasier) and as the song progresses down through the numbers it almost seems to be done in a minor key or something.  Of course I’ve only heard snippets of the song so I don’t have any major moments to report about.  Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it.

The problem is I have no idea who sings it! (circa 2014: well now I do).

Obviously the people in Ulta were useless, and I’ve been trying to find out from TV song sources, but I still don’t know who it is.

And you know, the internet is a wonderful thing, but trying to find a song that has been covered at least 100 times and using a search term like “new girl” is not going to give you results that you want.

If anyone wants to give me a Christmas gift, tell me who sings this!

[READ: December 22, 2011] A Very Babymouse Christmas

I have caught up with the Babymouse books!  And look, I finished the Christmas one for Christmas Day!  Hosannah!

I set little goals for myself, most of which I never meet.  But one of my little goals was to read all the Babymouse books by the end of the year (not a difficult task, admittedly), and I did it!

I really enjoyed the series (the end of the book says there’s a new one due out in August 2012 (wow, serious withdrawal) so the series isn’t over or anything.  It’s funny to me that she never made a Christmas book before (the series has been around for years), but it wraps up my reading nicely.

My favorite part of the story has been the growing depth of the narrator.  We find out that the narrator has parents! (although I’m still not sure if it’s a man or a woman–I assume a woman).

But really Christmas is all about the presents and the big present this year is the Whiz Bang™.  I love this conceit–the Whiz Bang™ is a Kindle/iPod/techie product that does everything–it even has a calculator!  And when the moment of truth comes, there’s even a surprising surprise twist.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Cats, Children's Books, Christmas, Christmas Album, Consumerism, Cupcakes, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Holidays, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Mice, New Girl, Set at School, Short Books, The Bird and the Bee | Leave a Comment »

John G. Richardson and Carl H. Simpson–“Children, Gender, and Social Structure: An Analysis of the Contents of Letters to Santa Clause” (Child Development, 1982, Issue 53)

December 24, 2011 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: JOHN ZORN-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (2011).

Wild skronking horns, screamed vocals, chaos chaos cha–.  No.

Piano and vibraphones with some gentle guitars thrown on top.  This is a beautiful, gentle jazz rendition of this song.  What makes this so strange is well, frist, because John Zorn loves death metal and all things noise.  But also because John Zorn revels in Jewish culture.  So what’s up with this holiday album?

Evidently he always wanted to make a holiday album.  And he’s using most of the same guys who have played with him for years. 

That’s a real Christmas miracle! Read more about it here.

[READ: December 16, 2011] Children, Gender, and Social Structure

Our director sent us a link to this article to get us in the holiday spirit (you have to subscribe to JSTOR to read it).  Although he spoiled it in his email (boys and girls are different), I still enjoyed reading the contents here.  At least somewhat.  The article was really quite dry and relied on some scientific terminology which I found confounding.  Nevertheless, the results were easy enough to follow, and that’s what really matters.

The most interesting thing was the setup.  They read all of the letters mailed to Santa that were received in the Seattle post office in 1978.  (I wondered why it was so long ago before I confirmed that this was written in 1982, so that makes sense).  They received 855 letters that year.  And I found this breakdown as interesting (if not moreso) than the rest of the article: 63% were from within the state; 29% were from out of state (how did they get there??); and 8% were from out of the country (what?? how, why?–no answer is given, sadly).  31 letters were illegible, so they were out.  The rest were assessed by gender of the names based on a baby naming book (from 1966!).  This yielded 359 from boys, 391 from girls, 46 gender ambiguous (what percentage would there be today??) and 28 with no name. 

I was also fascinated by  the age breakdown: 24%: 5 or under; 41% 6 or 7; 29% 8 or 9 and 7% were ten or older! Continue Reading »

Posted in All Songs Considered, Carl H. Simpson, Child Development, Essays, Holidays, John G. Richardson, John Zorn, Scholarship, Toys | Leave a Comment »

Frederic Miller–“The Tragedie of Frosty the Snowman” (Mississippi Review, Summer 2001)

December 23, 2011 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: COCTEAU TWINS-“Frosty the Snowman” (1993).

Cocteau Twins released Snow, a “holiday” EP in 1993.  Their version of “Winter Wonderland” is quite sublime.  This version of “Frosty the Snowman” on the other hand is a bit…off.

I don’t know if the tempo is too fast (I think that may be it), or if the lyrics are too silly (even if the Twins weren’t filled with gravitas, most of the time you couldn’t hear what they were saying anyhow) or if they just can’t get their brand of lush to envelope the song, but it just doesn’t quite work for me.

[READ: December 13, 2011] “The Tragedie of Frosty the Snowman”

My work director sent this article around as an amusing academic piece for the holidays.  It’s a short article (one and a half pages) but it does a good job of analysing the real tragedy that is Frosty the Snowman: “Frosty’s tragedy is not simply that he must melt, thaw, resolve into etc.–this is merely the common fate of all men, persons, who are made out of snow.”

The tragedy of Frosty is personal, for he has an inner greatness.  When he encounters the magic hat he claims to be coming “back again someday.”   But can he every really understand that?  [We watched this special just the other day, and it must be said that Frosty, who seems to be quite naive and unaware (what’s a traffic light?) is also quite savvy about a lot of things that he should not know–winter flowers, frozen boxcars]. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bad Brains, Cocteau Twins, Essays, Frederic Miller, Frosty the Snowman, Funny (ha ha), Holidays, Mississippi Review, Oddities, Scholarship | Leave a Comment »

Nathan Englander–“What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” (New Yorker, December 12, 2011)

December 22, 2011 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA-Angry Birds Theme (2011).

My son, Clark, loves Angry Birds.  I’ve played it a few times and found it enjoyable, but he is obsessed.  He is absolutely the target market for this song.  And who knows maybe it will get him to like classical music.

I wasn’t sure if I’d recognize the tune, but it is already ingrained in my head.

This version is wonderful.  It sounds like it might be from a Tim Burton movie. 

The full CD is a collection of video game themes.  We don’t have a console, so I don’t know any of the other songs on the disc. But I do rather like this one.  I can’t wait to see his face when he hears it.

Check it out on NPR!

[READ: December 15, 2011] “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank”

This story went from being a (rather) funny piece about Hasidic Jews to being a (rather) emotional story about marriage, religion and self-preservation.

As the story opens, Mark and Lauren are visiting the narrator and Deb.  Deb and Lauren grew up together.  But after school Lauren met Mark and they moved to Israel where they became Hasidic (and took the new names Shoshana and Yerucham).  As the story opens, the narrator (a non-observant Jew) is trying to hold his tongue while these religious folks are well, kind of judging  them.  It’s wonderfully summed up by this comment:

“Jewish to you?” I say.  “The hat, the beard, the blocky shoes.  A lot of pressures, I’d venture, to look jewish to you.  Like, say, maybe Ozzy Osbourne or the guys from Kiss, like them telling Paul Simon, ‘You do not look like a musician to me.'”  [Is there a joke in there since the guys from Kiss are indeed Jewish, or no?]

The narrator and Deb has a son, Trevor, who is sixteen.  The scene where he comes into the room to discover the Hasidic couple is hilariously subtle (very well written).  Then we learn that Shoshana and Yerucham (which Deb calls them) have ten children–all girls.  Yikes.  But the narrator continues to refer to them (at least in his story) as Mark and Lauren.  And the more questions he asks the more we find out that although they keep Holy the traditions, they are a bit lax about some of the rules (maybe?)  I actually don’t know the rules so I don’t know if what they’re doing is “wrong” or not.  And, amusingly there’s a bit in the story in which Yerucham complains about non-Jews giving them shit for what they do–“Can you eat in there?” kind of questions.

So, when the narrator asks if they can drink, Yerucham says he can make the whiskey kosher.  And that starts them on their way. Continue Reading »

Posted in All Songs Considered, Angry Birds, Drinking, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Holocaust, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Nathan Englander, Nazis, New Yorker, Racism, Religion, Short Story | Leave a Comment »

Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Babymouse Burns Rubber [#12] (2010)

December 21, 2011 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: WOODY GUTHRIE-“The Car Song” (1944).

Several years ago when I was first buying music for our kids, I found a number of Woody Guthrie discs.  I always liked Woody Guthrie in theory (this guitar kills fascists and all that).  But I was unfamiliar with his children’s music.

I was surprised by his stuff for one major reason (Besides the fact that he looks like Sean Penn).  This was later confirmed by his son Arlo when Arlo tried to work with his father’s masters: Woody didn’t really believe in rhythm or conventional timing or anything like that.  And that’s fine, but when it’s combined with the primitive recording equipment that Guthrie had access to, these songs sound, shall we say, rough.

Of course, Woody is mostly known for his excellent lyrics (This Land is Your Land).  So it’s especially funny to hear “Car Song” in which the first verse (according to Woody’s official site) is:

Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brm, brrrm b’ brrrm,
Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brrrm b’ brrrm,
Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brrrm b’ brrrm.
Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brrrm.

Arlo has said that Woody wasn’t exactly a good dad, but it’s clear that Woody expressed his love for his kids in song.  And this song is a fun and silly one that any kid can enjoy (as long as they don’t mind the really raw recording quality).

[READ: December 4, 2011] Babymouse Burns Rubber

This is the last Babymouse book that I had to read before getting caught up with all of the books (except for 2011’s Christmas book, which is the most recent release!).  It’s number 12, and it continues the later book’s excellent streak.  I was a bit concerned about the book when it opened because it begins with a NASCAR fantasy and I don’t watch NASCAR.  But as with most of the opening fantasies, it doesn’t bear on the actual plot of the book.

This book features a lot of screen time for Babymouse’s friend Wilson (it’s always good to see him and nice to see him get so much attention).  We quickly learn that Wilson is the go-to man when something breaks.  More to the point, he’s the go-to man (or ferret, I guess) that Babymouse goes to whenever she needs something (homework help, fixing a bicycle, whatever).  And Wilson is happy to help (what are friends for?).

When Wilson fixes Babymouse’s bicycle (again–Babymouse is a terrible driver) Wilson shows off his new car!  This car is one for the downhill derby–he’s wanted to race for years and he’s finally old enough to participate.  When Babymouse hears that there’s a race which she could actually enter she gets very excited and wonders what she’ll wear.  Wilson points out that she actually has to build her car first.

Of course, Babymouse can’t build anything, so she asks Wilson for “help.”  And more help and more help.  But now Wilson’s car needs work of its own.  Oh, and let’s not forget that in this year’s race is three-time derby winner Chuck E. Cheetah (nice) who is likely going to win again this year.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Cars, Cats, Children's Books, Cupcakes, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Mice, Short Books, Star Wars, Woody Guthrie | Leave a Comment »

My Most Favorite Christmas Songs [Updated and Expanded for 2011]

December 20, 2011 by Paul Debraski

I used to not like Christmas songs very much.  Mostly because they;re unavoidable at the holidays but also because if you subject yourself to radio and mall versions, you get a really really bad selection of tunes.  The lowest common denominator of low denominators.

Sarah is a huge fan of Christmas music (even intentionally putting on Magic ninety-eight point threeeeeeeeee) during the holiday season (which may indeed be 50/50 when it comes to music and commercials and which tends to play quite a bit off my least-favorite song list, but they at least mix it up).  And, buying some of our own Christmas music (including alternate versions and new songs) has really helped get the monotony out of our mix.

This is a list that I created in 2008 and I see that it hasn’t really changed much at all.  There are some albums that we have recently acquired which I haven’t digested enough to see if they rank here or not.  But perhaps by the end of the holiday I’ll have a new post about new favorites.

Sarah’s comments are in red.  And, interestingly, she has created her own favorites list on her site.  Let’s see if anything has changed for her.

So, here’s my favorite Christmas songs circa 2008. Continue Reading »

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Brian Wilson, Canadian Music, Christmas Album, Consumerism, David Bowie, Paul Debraski, Radio, Toys, War, Weekend Edition | 1 Comment »

My Most Hated Christmas Songs [Updated and Expanded for 2011]

December 19, 2011 by Paul Debraski

Sarah suggested that I update my most hated and most favorite Christmas songs list as it has been THREE YEARS (!) since I last posted it.  I haven’t changes the list at all, but I have updated the comments (with one retraction!).

In my original post, Sarah chimed in with her two cents.  And I’m going to leave her original comments.  If she has changed her mind (she told me yesterday that she liked a song that she never liked before, she’ll have to do the updating herself).

Here’s my two new additions for this year.  Oh and by the way, in the original post, I mentioned a couple of songs that I didn’t include in my list because we don’t own copies of them.  And while that is fair, I feel compelled to mention them this year.  Continue Reading »

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Arthur Christmas, Beck, Bible, Canadian Music, Children's Books, Christmas Album, David Bowie, David Sedaris, Eartha Kitt, Holidays, Johnny Cash, Judas Priest, Lauren Hill, Run D.M.C, The Beach Boys, The Flaming Lips | 2 Comments »

Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Babymouse: Mad Scientist [#14] (2011)

December 18, 2011 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS-“Science is Real” (2009).

Indeed, I do love They Might Be Giants.  I love how their Here Comes series went from letters to numbers to science.  When you hear news of science being questioned from all sorts of places, it’s nice to have some super catchy songs to reinforce science fact.

“Science is real. From the Big Bang to DNA.”  It’s a great way to open an entire album full of interesting scientific knowledge (from the band who covered “The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas,” which gets updated here into a more accurate lyrical song).  My kids love this album, and it makes me proud when they sing along to the great catchy, short songs contained within.  I especially love that the lyrics don’t eschew fun for truth:

I like the stories
About angels, unicorns and elves
Now I like those stories
As much as anybody else
But when I’m seeking knowledge
Either simple or abstract
The facts are with science.

This is a rocking guitar song, fun for the whole family.  Sing it with me…  “Science is real!”

[READ: December 4, 2011] Babymouse: Mad Scientist

I’m almost caught up to the Babymouse series!  This one even came out this year!!  There’s only the Christmas one left–wonder if I’ll be able to get it from the library in time.

This book also introduces a new character, Squish.  I actually found out about Squish before Babymouse, because I received a prepub of the first Squish book.  And now I get to see Squish’s origin story.

This was a really enjoyable book.  After reading the two music-themes ones, I was wondering if the Holms could keep up the interest for 14 books, but they really brought it back with this one.

After some funny jokes about science experiments (and the state of her room) we get a good fantasy sequence set aboard the USS Cupcake (with an unexpectedy funny Star Trek joke from the homeroom teacher).

And now they have a new science teacher (after the experiment went awry with their previous science teacher).  Mr Shelldon is obsessed, and I mean obsessed with molds.  He wants the class to enter the science fair (and encourages them to do research on molds!) Continue Reading »

Posted in Cats, Children's Books, Cupcakes, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Mad Scientists, Matthew Holm, Mice, NASA, Sci-fi, Science, Set at School, Short Books, Star Trek, They Might Be Giants | Leave a Comment »

Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Babymouse: Rock Star [#4] (2006)

December 17, 2011 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS-“John Lee Supertaster” (2002).

I love They Might Be Giants.  And I love their kids’ records.  This was their first one, No!.  It’s got that awesome craziness of TMBG but lyrically, it’s more “educational.”  Unlike the Here Comes series, No! is not overtly educational (I mean, check out the nonsense that is “Violin”), but the themes are all smart.

“John Lee Supertaster” is about a supertaster.   Supertasters are people whose tastes buds are crazily sensitive and so everything tastes even more powerful than what most people taste (that can be good and bad).

The song opens with an introduction that tells about Supertasters and about a real life supertsatser who John Flansburg met.

The song is a cool, funky song, with funk bass and a great guitar solo.  It’s a short song (two minutes including all of the introductions) but it’s a very cool one.  It’s catchy (I dare you not to sing along) and informative.

I also just learned that it’s all true.  According to the TMBG wiki: “The real John Lee is a man from the band Muckafurgason, whose album was produced by John Flansburgh.”

(And it rocks, too).

[READ: December 10, 2011] Babymouse: Rock Star

This Babymouse book came before Babymouse: The Musical and it’s possible that the Holms used up all of their great music ideas in this plot.  I enjoyed it quite a bit (maybe it’s because I like rock more than musicals?).

The story opens with a fantasy of Babymouse as a rock star with everyone chanting her name…until it is revealed that the chanting is actually coming from her brother Squeak.  When Babymouse gets to school, we learn that she plays flute in the school band.

She is in the second to last seat (because the screech from her flute cracks the polar ice caps and causes elephants to stampede).

After a cool Pied Piper dream sequence, Babymouse learns that Penny, a poodle who was embarrassed earlier by Felicia Furrypaws on the bus, will happily teach Babymouse how to play better (especially if it embarrasses Felicia).  The next several pages show Babymouse in her full-on fantasy mode as a music video star (which includes a Tori Amouse cover version of her hit song–nice touch).

Penny teaches Babymouse to relax.  She has practices it enough so she knows the music, she just has to feel the music (good advice).  Suddenly the hills are alive with the sound of music.

Babymouse appears in the next school band performance and she has a small victory for herself (which is always nice to see in a Babymouse book).

This was an enjoyable continuation of the series.

Posted in Cats, Children's Books, Cupcakes, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Mice, Muckaferguson, Set at School, Short Books, They Might Be Giants, Tori Amos | Leave a Comment »

Michael Dahlie–“The Pharmacist from Jena” (Harper’s, January 2012)

December 16, 2011 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: THE SWORD-Warp Riders (2010).

I have heard some great things about this disc from The Sword–that it was old school metal who usually sang about swords (duh) and sorcery but were warping into the future on this disc.  I put the disc on and was blown away by the opening track, the instrumental “Acheron/Unearthing The Orb.”  It sounds very 80s metal: heavy guitars, and great riffs coupled with tremendous solos.  The second song opens just as strong but then something weird happened.  I hated the lead singer’s voice (my discussion of their previous disc came to the same conclusion).  It doesn’t do ANYTHING that 80s metal should do–it’s neither growling nor yelly nor operatic.  In fact, once the vocals kick in, the song takes on a distinctly non-metal feel.  More specifically, it feels like heavy classic rock from the 70s.  The guitars are still heavy as anything, but the melody and vocals change things.

I really didn’t like the album all of a sudden, until I listened a few times and accepted that this blend actually worked.  Once I acknowledged that it wasn’t what I thought it would be, I wasn’t disappointed by it anymore, and I was able to really enjoy it.  “Tres Brujas” has a simply wonderful sing along chorus that I can’t get out of my head.  And it continues in this vein–heavy riffs (the guitars on “The Chromancer 1: Hubris” and “The Chromancer II: Nemesis” (love the names!) are really heavy) and surprisingly catchy choruses. 

The biggest surprise comes with the song “Night City” which sounds like, well, like Thin Lizzy.  The macho riffs, the swagger, the lyrics, it’s all Lynott.  And once I realized that, I really understood what The Sword was all about, and the disc has been in heavy rotation ever since.  I don’t mean to say that I had to analyze the disc to “get” it, but once it all clicked, it clicked really well.

[READ: December 13, 2011] “The Pharmacist from Jena”

This is my first story from Michael Dahlie and I have to say that I was hooked from the start. 

The story is set in 1912, when the narrator was sent from his home in Stockholm to Winslow, Indiana.  He was sent to work with his uncle as a pharmacist’s assistant. 

It’s in the second paragraph, after the exposition, that things take off: “My uncle was a passionate lover of cocaine and had situated himself in such a way that he supplied nearly all the nearby interested parties.”  He was also renowned as a great “voluptuary and eroticist.”

There is a real plot, which gets established late in the story, but in the beginning, the story is all about the narrator’s adjustment to this life.  How his aunt seemed to believe he was a girl and decorated the room accordingly.  How his uncle had a fight with a bear (long story) in that very girl-themed room (long story) and how the room was soon, no longer girl-themed.

One thing I really liked about the story was the narration.  Like: “At the time I was living in Winslow, it was fashionable for wives of wealthy men to suffer from mental disorders.”

His uncle experimented with shock therapy, but he mostly used it for erotic experimentation.  The end of the shock experiments occurred when a local husband found out what the good doctor was doing (from the burns that his wife received at the doctors hands).  Continue Reading »

Posted in Adventure, Concept Albums, Death, Drugs, Harper's, Marriage Trouble, Michael Dahlie, Sex, Short Story, Suicide, The Sword, Thin Lizzy, Violence | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »