Currently Reading

Here's a snapshot of what books are currently on my bedroom's end table - unread or partially bookmarked, but eagerly waiting to be read/returned to.

Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children and Other Streets of New Orleans by John Chase
I borrowed the second edition - from 1960 - from my mom awhile back and it ended up on my bookshelf. I pulled it down last week because our next Supper Club's theme is New Orleans Streets. I have until February 2013 to come up with an idea.

Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
I bought this version - published in 1966 - from the New Orleans Symphony Book Fair a couple of years back for $1.00. NPR had a story about him recently which reminded me to delve back into his stories. I'm more fond of his stories than his poems - "The Tell-tale Heart", "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" being my favorites.

Hotel California by Barney Hoskyns

Subtitled "The true-life adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and their many friends". That's enough of a recommendation from me. Plus, the back cover has positive quotes from Anthony DeCurtis and Alan Light, two of my favorite music critics.

My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love, and Laughing Out Loud by Kevin Clash
I caught his appearance on NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me..." in October 2012 and bought his book - originally published in 2006. Since his appearance, he's been outed. Not a surprise. Nothing to see here. Move on.

Here's an interview with Kevin Clash on NPR's Fresh Air from December 2011.

Murder in the Bastille by Cara Black
Subtitled: An Aimee Leduc Investigation set in Paris
Apparently, Cara Black is working her way through the arrondissements, with this being her fourth novel. There are 11 books so far; I thought I'd start with this one.

Once I read those books, I'll give y'all my reviews - and my new list of end table books.

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What are you reading?

Connecting The Dots

Even in this age of mostly shitty music, I am always trying to find good new music to listen to. Here is the story of how I recently discovered one song.

In February 2007, Rolling Stone magazine featured Panic! At The Disco on their cover. (Yes, the “!” is part of their name.) Six months later, that magazine made it to the top of my To Read pile. After reading the article about the band, I downloaded some of their songs from LimeWire. I narrowed down my favorites and played those for Carlos – “Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off”, “Disconnect The Dots”, “The Only Different Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage”, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, and “I Constantly Thank God For Esteban”. The length of their song titles is a bit annoying, but the actual songs are quite melodic.

He and I both agreed that “Disconnect The Dots” was our favorite of the bunch, though Carlos did like the time signature changes in that last (“Esteban”) one.

I found their album on Amazon, but didn’t see our favorite song listed.

On further research, I figured out that Panic! At The Disco didn’t actually sing that song. A band called Satanic Panic In The Attic did. The LimeWire member who uploaded the song had misnamed it.

That was the end of the story until I was preparing this blog entry. Looking for the song’s video on YouTube, I found out that the band’s name is NOT Satanic Panic In The Attic. That is the name of the album. The band’s name is Of Montreal.

They are from Athens, Georgia – home to REM and The B-52’s. Satanic Panic In The Attic is their sixth album, released in 2004. Carlos and I sampled most of the songs from the album and they’re all really good. I recommend buying this one. (It’s on my Amazon Wish List if you’re looking for something to buy me for my birthday.)

And that is the story of how Carlos and I got turned on to “Disconnect The Dots” by Of Montreal.



Lagniappe: Panic! At The Disco’s "Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off".