Sunday Shuffle #210

I hope everyone had a great Christmas yesterday - we certainly did. I did get some new music, though all in a physical form. Haven't listened to any of it yet but I will very very soon. Meanwhile, let's get the last Sunday Shuffle of 2010 going!

1. Destroyer/King Khan And The Shrines (2)

2. If You Let Me Be Your Anchor/Dawes (5)

3. The Ballad of Bjorn Borg/Pernice Brothers (4)

4. Moby Octopad/Yo La Tengo (1)

5. Without a Heart/Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (7)

6. The Game Gets Old/Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (8)

7. I Can See Your Future/Belle and Sebastian (8)

8. Chasing After Deer/Midlake (3)

9. My Pretend/Apples In Stereo (2)

10. Nobody/Shearwater (2)

Comics Catchup

A couple weeks ago I decided that it was time to make the change back to only trades. I had a bunch of comics I've bought over the last year or so that I would trade in for some credit but I let the pile sit here for a while to make sure I wanted to go that route. Finally, I wrote the note to the owner and took in the comics. After about a week-and-a-half, of course, I decided I was wrong. Luckily, he hadn't gone through them yet and I was able to take them back. I don't know who I'm kidding at this point - my love for comics is as strong as it's ever been; I'll sort out the monetary and space issues one way or another.

I have managed to read a handful of comics and some trades over the last few weeks...

Adventure Comics #521 - This is the issue where the title becomes what I thought it would be when it switched from focusing on Superboy to focusing on the Legion - a second Legion title. Okay, it has been one but the stories Paul Levitz were telling took place in the past and not current continuity. I was so disappointed by that fact that I didn't even pick up the book. I know, I know. Anyway, now that it is set in current continuity I am picking it up. This story is a little scattered between the selection of a new Green Lantern and various Legionnaires getting things done but it was solid enough. The Atom backup was part six and didn't make much sense. It's done now anyway as DC scales back to $2.99 titles and only 20 story pages.

The Flash #7 - This is a patented Geoff Johns look at the lives of the Rogues, this time focusing on Captain Boomerang. While the look back at his history is solid, the most interesting bits come from his chat with Reverse-Flash - clues for the next big story event. This issue is drawn by Scott Kolins, who tweaks his current style to be more in line with regular artist Francis Manapul with better success than his art on Justice Society of America.

Superboy #1 - A comic where The Phantom Stranger shows up on pg. 4 is a comic I will read. I was a big fan of the previous Superboy series when written by Karl Kesel but the character is tonally different these days. That said, I enjoyed this introductory issue by Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo enough to pick up the second (maybe today).

Thor the Mighty Avenger #7 - This is the penultimate issue of this cancelled-too-soon series by Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee. Seriously, why can't we get more of this fun comic? I'll probably do a longer post on this series after next issue.

The Unwritten #20 - One of my favorite comics on the shelves, hands down.

Fables Vol. 14: Witches - You should be reading this book.

Chew Vol. 2: International Flavor - You should also be reading this book, if you like things that are funny and awesome.

Superchunked II

On Dec. 2 I took my first trip to the Metro in Chicago to see Superchunk for the first time (exactly 2 months after seeing The National in Indy). I came late to Superchunk, so late that they'd been on hiatus for a few years already and only doing occasional shows. During the months before their fantastic new album Majesty Shredding came out in Sept., I started hitting up their catalog and fell head over heels. When I found out they were coming to Chicago I just knew I had to go. I was not disappointed.

The members of the band are only a few years older than I am and they just had so much energy, particularly Mac McCaughan. He was jumping all over the place while ripping off great solos. Jon Wurster kept the beat going and Laura Balance was doing some pogoing while holding down the bottom end. Jim Wilbur plays it more cool but you could tell he was enjoying himself.

I had no complaints with the set list, a mixture of new songs and old favorites with some solid tracks from the middle years thrown in. I couldn't pogo for a whole song but I did some work on many many songs. You could see my head bobbing up and down during "Precision Auto" in a video shot by a guy who wasn't standing far behind me but it looks like he took it down.

The Metro is a cool place to see a show - it isn't a big room and the stage is up higher than everyone. I'd definitely go back.

It was an awesome night and one of the highlights of my 2010.

Set list:

Learned to Surf

My Gap Feels Weird

Punch Me Harder

Cursed Mirror

Crossed Wires

Rosemarie

Detroit Has A Skyline

Song For Marion Brown

Watery Hands

So Convinced

Digging for Something

Late-Century Dream

Hyper Enough

Slack Motherfucker

Everything at Once

Encore:

Driveway To Driveway

I Don't Know (Naked Raygun cover)

Precision Auto

Throwing Things

Asimov's June 2010

In my never-ending quest to catch up on reading my SF mags, I recently tackled the June issue of Asimov's. Here are some quick thoughts.

Allen M. Steele continues to impress with "The Emperor of Mars," a sweet ode to Mars SF over the years and the story of how a man deals with the loss of his family. This is a complete departure from his Coyote stories but just as engaging. I think maybe I should delve into his catalog a bit further in 2011.

Chris Beckett's "The Peacock Cloak" was an interesting exploration of how people go about helping a brand-new world...by making the same mistakes that humanity has been making for years.

Stephen Baxter's "Earth III" is a continuation of a series of stories but I don't remember reading "Earth II," to be honest. It's a story of power, exploration, and challenging the predominant views of the world. I enjoyed it.

The rest of the stories were solid enough but nothing else jumps out as worth mentioning here.

I have started the next of the now 11 magazines I have stacked up, so I'm sure I'll be writing about it soon.

Sunday Shuffle #209

It's the last Sunday Shuffle before Christmas, which is hard to believe but here we are. Christmas music has been eligible for the shuffle the past few weeks but nothing's come up. Maybe today. I know for a fact that I'll be at my parents' house frosting sugar cookies this afternoon - a yearly tradition that I love.

1. What I Mean to You/Justin Townes Earle (5)

2. My Lovely Jezebel/Elvis Costello (5)

3. Changing Partners/Elvis Costello (1)

4. Philippians 3:20-21/The Mountain Goats (2)

5. Sunshine State/Superchunk (3)

6. Fallen Idol/Imperial Teen (1)

7. Islero/Crooked Fingers (5)

8. Won't Want For Love (Margaret in the Taiga)/The Decemberists (4)

9. Useless Switch/Portastatic (3)

10. Modern Art/Art Brut (4)

Sunday Shuffle #208

It's been a rough week and this upcoming one won't be much different. Music helps, though, so let's get to today's ten...

1. Play The Part/Little Joy (1)

2. Theme to Wendel Stivers/Spoon (3)

3. Sleepin In/The Morning Benders (7)

4. Floating Vibes/Surfer Blood (5)

5. We Can Work It Out/The Beatles (3)

6. Beautiful Machine Parts 1-2/Apples In Stereo (1)

7. You Don't Have To (If You Don't Want To)/Gentleman Jesse (3)

8. Linda Blair Was Born Innocent/The Mountain Goats (2) - 2 weeks in a row!

9. Nomenclature/Andrew Bird (2)

10. Gwen, Now and Then/The Broken West (1)

Sunday Shuffle #207

I'm in a work mode today, in part because I couldn't find the motivation to get much done yesterday. Accordingly, we'll jump right into the music...

1. 1 Samuel 15:23/The Mountain Goats (3)

2. Shame Shame/Sloan (1)

3. Northern Lights/Bowerbirds (1)

4. Black Hole/She & Him (4)

5. Linda Blair Was Born Innocent/The Mountain Goats (1)

6. The Angel's Share/Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (4)

7. Sensory Deprivation/Sloan (2)

8. I Fought Piranhas/The White Stripes (1)

9. What I Mean to You/Justin Townes Earle (4)

10. It Ain't Easy/Robert Forster (1)

The Pile #2

Here's an updated look at the to-be-read pile to my right, from top to bottom...

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume 1 - We have been reading selections from here for the past 2 weeks of class, which has been just fine with me. This week we will be discussing "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Five Orange Pips" to close out our semester (outside of the paper due Wed. and our final the following Wed.). At some point, I would like to read everything in this and the second volume.

Asimov's June 2010 - Yes, I'm still many months behind on my SF magazines but I have at least started this one, which got off to a great start with Allen M. Steele's "The Emperor of Mars."

The Passages of H.M. - I just read about Jay Parini's novel based on Herman Melville's exploits and decided to request it at the library. It came in and I picked up it today. For some reason, my 19th century Brit Lit class has me thinking of the same period in American Lit and Melville is a biggie.

Masked - This has not been touched since the last picture of the pile. It will be at some point.

Chew Vol. 2 - The same can be said about this.

Fables Vol. 14: Witches - This latest volume of the long-running series just came out Thursday and I can't wait to dive into it. I really should finish the paper before that happens, though.

Superchunked I

I have lots to write about Superchunk over the next month or so and to kick it off, here they are from The Current the other day.

Batman's Back

Today I finally caught up on Batman. Well, Grant Morrison's Batman anyway. And by caught up I mean only on recent developments; I still haven't read most of his run. For today, though, I'm going to set aside all those comics, as well as the final issue of Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne and Batman: The Return. Why? I'd rather talk about the awesome Batman Inc. #1, "Mr. Unknown Is Dead."

The premise behind the new book is that Bruce Wayne has decided to take his war on crime global. He's leaving Gotham City in the hands of Dick Grayson and Bruce's son, Damian, who will continue as Batman and Robin (as will that title). Bruce has picked up the mantle of Batman back up as well and this issue has him traveling to Japan with Catwoman after a little B&E at Dr. Sivana's lab.

Japan is the home of Mr. Unknown, about whom I know nothing - brand-new character or has he been seen before? No matter, as the title of the issue suggests he is no longer among the living, having been killed by Lord Death Man, who has a skull for a head and dresses in a long black robe. Mr. Unknown's sidekick (?) survives and confronts him at the end of the issue. Meanwhile, Bruce and Selina chill out by working out and bantering sexily before getting involved with the goings-on at the end of the book.

So, we have new mysteries and new directions. The book is a ton of fun and is helped tremendously by the art team of Yanick Paquette and Michel Lacombe. The visuals of Lord Death Man and his henchmen are creepily cool and his Catwoman is as curvy as you would want her to be.

This is a great starting point for anyone interested and I can't wait to see where the book goes from here.