T-shirt #177 - KUDL2009Green-Seeing Sigur RósI know this is another KUDL shirt, and I am not writing about KUDL. But what's the good of having all these Ultimate shirts if I cannot use them to write about other things? After all, I want to write about Sigur Rós, but I only have just one Sigur Rós shirt (seen again here just for fun because I happen to be wearing it today as I work on this blog).
Liesel and I are at the Laneway Music Festival today seeing a whole bunch of bands, culminating in seeing Sigur Rós for the second time this year. What can I say? We love them.
I am hopeful that the experience is as transforming and paradigm shifting as the one in April.
Did you investigate Sigur Rós last time I shared? Are you new to my blog? I will share a sample of just three videos, but you could also dial back to T-shirt #12 and check out the video there, which is one of my favourite Sigur Rós songs.
No videos yet. First, food.
Liesel and I had dinner last night (Friday the 13th) at an Ethiopian restautant: the Blue Nile in Ferndale (545 Nine Mile Road). There was a funky art fair going on (literally, the Ferndale Funky Art Fair). This was not the full platter. This is the second helping of a single serving just for me. I loved the green lentil salad and the cabbage. The meal was very enjoyable as was the visit to Ferndale. We both agreed we got a good vibe.
The first video is from the new album Kveikur, and it features more of a hardline, heavy metal style, unlike some of the other Sigur Rós music.
The second song/video (sorry for the Vimeo advertisement that precedes it) comes from the band's fourth full-length studio album Takk... and one of the band's best songs. The video is also wonderful and worth watching. I am not going to ruin Sigur Rós with a lot of text on the blog. I am going to let the music and the imagery of the videos speak for themselves.
This is officially track #1 with no name, but the Wikipage for ( ) gives the name as "Vaka," named after one of the band member's daughter. The album ( ) is song entirely in "Hopelandic," a made-up gibberish language.
Can't embed this one.
A FEW MORE RANDOM THINGS TO SHARE TODAY
THE BIG IDEA: PAOLO BACIGALUPI: ZOMBIE BASEBALL BEATDOWN
I love John Scalzi. Previously on this blog, I have promoted his book Redshirts, which just won the Hugo Award for Best SF Novel, SF's most prestigious award as it is voted on by members of the WSFS: World Science Fiction Society, and it is th eoldest of the two SF awards. It's a peer award and not a public award, like the difference between the Academy Awards and the People's Choice Awards.
For more on Scalzi's Redshirts (which was even worth reading before it was legitimized by the Hugo), check out T-shirt #13 - The Unlucky Red Shirt.
I came across this "goofy middle grade book" via Scalzi's blog WHATEVER. Scalzi is very active with his blog, which daily draws thousands of readers. One of his regular features is something he calls THE BIG IDEA, in which authors discuss the big idea behind their latest works in their own words. Scalzi uses his notoriety and popularity to give lesser known authors a platform and increase sales of their books. Again: THE BIG IDEA: PAOLO BACIGALUPI: ZOMBIE BASEBALL BEATDOWN
I already knew about Paolo Bacigalupi because I had read The Wind-Up Girl on the advice of my good friend Chris Dilley (see T-shirts #54 and #136). The Wind-Up Girl is a fantastic novel that won both the Hugo and the Nebula because of how excellent it it. I have linked several reviews below plus an article about the upcoming Hollywood film and a great Deviant Art site featuring original art by a fan related to the The Wind-Up Girl. It is great to find good fan art on the Internet. I have included one image below.The Wind-Up Girl is so dense and complex that I plan to read it again at some point, though right now I have two other books on my re-read stack: Dune by Frank Herbert and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
In the post on Scalzi's blog (he uses Word Press not Blogger, just felt I had to point that out as a loyal Blogger/Google user), Paolo Bacigalupi describes WHY he wrote a zombie book for kids when he is so well known for writing "serious" books. The explanation is really edifying and thought-provoking, especially for writers, especially for writers like me who are currently at work on BOTH serious books and humorous books (in secret and yet this is a subject that I will continue to turn to on this blog because it's my ultimate destination).
Paolo Bacigalupi work is definitely worth checking out. I plan to read his other books -- Ship Breaker and Drowned Cities -- soon as well as Zombie Baseball Beatdown, which looks immensely fun and enjoyable. Plus, I like zombie stories, though not as much as vampire stories... well, SOME vampire stories. Twilight did not really "grab" me.
If you wish to know more, check these links.
See you tomorrow.
INTRIGUING WIND-UP GIRL LINKS
THE WIND UP GIRL -Hollywood Adaptation
SHARKS DEN - DEVIANT ART
LITTLE RAVEN'S REVIEW OF THE WIND-UP GIRL
ONE METAL REVIEW OF THE WIND-UP GIRL
STRANGE TELEMETRY REVIEW OF THE WIND-UP GIRL
- chris tower - 1309.14 - 11:34 - from the Mariott in Troy, Michigan
edited 1605.06
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