Periodical: McSweeney’s

Many many years ago, I discovered Might magazine.  It was a funny, silly magazine that spoofed everything (but had a serious backbone, too).  (You can order back issues here).  And so, I subscribed around issue 13.  When the magazine folded (with issue 16–and you can read a little bit about that in the intro to [...]

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Pseudonymous Bosch–This Book is Not Good For You (2009)

SOUNDTRACK-KATE BUSH-The Dreaming (1982).
This disc focuses Kate’s intensity somewhat.  I was just reading that it was nowhere near as popular as her previous discs in England (where she had been number 1 many times), although, interestingly it made the charts in the US because of college radio airplay.
The disc is still experimental (there’s all kinds [...]

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Josh Lieb–I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President (2009)

SOUNDTRACK: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND-Trout Mask Replica (1968).
–Fast and Bulbous.
–Bulbous yes, but also tapered.
This is an infamous disc in the history of music.  Which surprises me, as I can’t imagine many people have ever listened to it in its entirety.  I learned about it though my Frank Zappa fascination (he produced the record).
This [...]

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Sarah Palin–Going Rogue (2009) [UNFINISHED. Heck, consider it unstarted]

[READ: Yeah, I'm not reading her book, but this parody book looks mighty funny.  Click the cover to order it.]
So, obviously I’m not going to read her book.  But I did want to point out the Webster’s definitions of Rogue.  It was pretty clear on the campaign trail that words didn’t really mean anything.  [...]

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Periodical: Technology Review

A patron asked for Technology Review to be added to our collection.  When he said it was a technology magazine published by M.I.T. I thought it was going to be way too academic for our patrons.  But when I read the sample issue, I was really delighted with it.  So much so that I ordered [...]

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David Foster Wallace–comments in The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus (2004)

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Trouble Every Day [soundtrack] (2001).
This is the second soundtrack that Tindersticks made for director Clair Denis.  This disc is rather unlike Nenette Et Boni, in that this soundtrack is much more stark.  There are several moments on the disc where there is nothing but silence for several seconds.   “Core on Stairs” features a bass [...]

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David Foster Wallace–”Order and Flux in Northampton” (Conjunctions No. 17, Fall 1991)

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Bloomsbury Theatre 12.3.95 (1995).
This is a rare and out of print live CD from an early Tindersticks show.  My friend Lar found it used for me in Ireland (thank you!).  But it turns out he found it for me about a week before it was reissued as a bonus disc with the Second Tindersticks [...]

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Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney’s Humor Category (2004)

SOUNDTRACK: ONE RING ZERO-As Smart as We Are (2004).
I had this CD sitting around my house for about 4 years.  I had received it as a promo disc from Soft Skull Press (along with several other books on CD) and I just never put it on.  Then one day I was going through all these [...]

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Periodical: Public Libraries

Public Libraries is the magazine you get when you belong to the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association.  As you might gather, this division is for public librarians.
Like American Libraries, this magazine starts with a letter from the President of PLA.    But it’s the Tales from the Front section that I [...]

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Zsuzsi Gartner-”Summer of the Flesh Eater” (The Walrus, September 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: NEKO CASE-Middle Cyclone (2009).
I first learned of Neko Case through The New Pornographers.  Their song “Letter from an Occupant” blew me away.  But when I’d investigated her solo work, I learned she was more of a country singer than anything else.  Reviewers said that Middle Cyclone broke from that mold a little into more [...]

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