Flashback Friday: Last of the Independents

~ lobablanca

Loba plans and life laughs. And it’s the cruelest sound in the world. I honestly had every intention of coming here with far more frequency. Febrewary February was nice, right? Seems that it was not meant to be for March. If only I could have come up with a clever beer-related portmanteau for March.

DAMN MY INABILITY TO BE CLEVER ALL THE TIME.

Anywhoodle. March is now almost over, and I’ve only done one Flashback Friday. But it was a good one, right? So I’m back, once more mining my music loves. This time, it’s the 1994 Pretenders album Last of the Independents.

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As I have confessed many times, music isn’t really my strong point when it comes to obsessions, so if I’m into a group it’s because they’ve finally become popular enough for me to notice them…or the pastor in the “Rock music is all from the Debbil, mmkay” videos that they made us watch in high school mentioned them as specifically evil, which meant in my mind that I needed to listen to them STAT (you think I’m kidding, but that’s how I learned about Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Dio, GWAR, Alice Cooper…see? Great groups!).

The Pretenders were never called out for specific sins by these videos, so my discovery of their music came with the repeated play of the single “I’ll Stand By You” on the radio, MTV, and VH1:

//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/J5pECaW-VMI

Yeah, I know. Power ballad. Shut up.

Still, this was the first time that I had ever seen Chrissie Hynde, and I found her mesmerizing. It’s the voice. And the bangs. But mainly the voice. After seeing this video a few times, I knew two things: I wanted to know more about this group and I wanted this album. Not a bad sell from a power ballad.

Of course, I’ve since learned all about the band’s British roots and Hynde as their Yankee front woman and powerhouse song writer. In fact, she either wrote or co-wrote every song on Last of the Independents (as well as the majority of the band’s entire oeuvre). One of the things that I love the most about this particular album is the incredible sociological commentary on womanhood at this point in time. Not feminism or femininity. Womanhood. Hynde basically wrote a musical treatise on her thoughts about being a woman, a mother, an unfairly classified “lesser” gender. Her songs are stories of support, survival, sexuality, stigma. Love and hate, birth and death, success at what cost? Family, fate, and tequila. Hynde’s musical personas through this album all struggle with wanting the fully realized life that men take for granted, sometimes at the expense of these heroines. Frailty. Strength. Admirable. Playful. Pitiable. Seductive. Loathsome. Hynde embraces all aspects, presents them on equal footing, lets us decide.

Also? She turns a phrase like a fiend.

I have to say, I don’t think there’s a dud on this entire album. However, my favorite song actually comes quite late in the playlist, toward the back where weaker songs typically go. This, however, is one of the most beautifully crafted songs

BookBin2014: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

~ LobaBlanca

peregrine

Every time I flew anywhere throughout the past year, I would see Ransom Riggs’s novel, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, on all the best seller shelves. Of course, by the time I returned from wherever I’d gone and made my way back to the library, I’d forgotten that I wanted to look for this book.

Until now.

The funny thing is that I didn’t realize that it was a young adult book until I couldn’t locate it in any of the places with which I was familiar at our library. I finally had to ask a librarian, who led me into a section I’d never gone to before…the children’s section. Needless to say, I immediately began to give serious reconsideration to my decision to read this book. Not because it was a young adult book, mind you. I have several young adult series in my library, from the classic Narnia tales to Harry Potter to the His Dark Materials trilogy.

But the last time I tried a young adult book? It all ended in tears. And broken molars. And a deeply seared hatred for vampires. And a severe disdain for popular young adult fiction.

Luckily, however, Miss Peregrine and her peculiar children are far and away superior in every way to Bella Swan and her gag-worthy gaggle of shimmery emo-pires. Plus, Riggs gives readers honest-to-goodness actual strong female characters. For that alone, he deserves much praise.

This also wasn’t a bad book. I can understand why it remained on the best seller list as long as it did. It’s a tale of adventure and fantasy and, although it admittedly takes a bit of time to set up the story and the subsequent action, the setup itself is enjoyable. Plus, Riggs adds an interesting new dimension to his novel by using real photographs from many moons ago, writing them into his tale as if they were taken of these actual characters. I really liked that aspect of this novel. I thought it was clever and refreshing and brought the characters that much further off the written page and into true existence.

Surprisingly, I didn’t really feel a great connection with this story world. I don’t know why, but it never drew me deeply enough into its world to make me want to return. I think it was because I realized as I neared the end that the first novel was setting me up for a sequel, and I balked mentally at that. Again, just like I didn’t realize this was a young adult novel, I also didn’t realize that it was the beginning of a series. I guess I should have automatically assumed that though. These days, you gotta have a sequel!

(Thank you, Stu.)

I see that Hollow City, the second novel from this series is now out. I also see that Hollywood has picked up the first novel for movie-fication. According to Riggs, Jane Goldman is writing the script and Tim Burton will direct. I’m intrigued by Goldman as screenwriter. She did botch The Woman in Black a bit, but I enjoyed her take on Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and her script for X-Men: First Class was, indeed, first class. As for Burton directing…Helena Bonham Carter will make a lovely Miss Peregrine (you know I’m right…she’s in every damned Burton movie!).

Final Verdict: I don’t know if I want to keep reading this series of books. However, I also feel an obligation to support a young adult book series that features strong female characters. I’ll probably keep an eye out for this to hit the library and give it a go.

Flashback Friday: Poe

~ LobaBlanca

No, not Poe as in Edgar Allan…although he was the inspiration for this particular nom de plum, as he was the favorite author of Annie Danielewski when she was young. This young Poe would write, but her poetry would come with a beat as strong and persistent as that wicked, wicked Tell-Tale Heart.

poe

I loved Poe. I still pull up her two albums on my iPod whenever I want to relive those angry, grungy college days. I remember how subversive and naughty her song and accompanying video “Angry Johnny” was…how MTV would only play it late at night because it was too sexeh for prime time:

//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/lrygAv93Ick

Admittedly, this was pretty risque…for 1995. Now, it exudes a dated innocence…the puerile adolescent exploring the newly discovered joy of the double entendre while experimenting with all variety of musical genres. Little bit of grunge. Little bit of jazz. Dash of electronica. Smidgen of hip-hop. Poe’s musical stylings could best be described as eclectic. Nuanced. Different.

Oh, but that voice. Pure as a church pew, sultry as a new religion that’ll bring you to your knees (if you please). I will listen to Poe sing anything in the world. Sadly, however, she only released two albums, the 1995 Hello and 2000’s Haunted. Interesting fact about Haunted is that she found the inspiration for all the songs from brother Mark Z. Danielewski’s debut novel, House of Leaves. I’ve mentioned this book here just recently; it’s an amazing debut. It’s also one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read. You must be willing to commit more than a month to wading through the density of this epic. However, if you want an interesting glimpse into some of the aspect of the tale, take a listen to big sister’s complementary CD. Probably the most famous song from this second album is “Hey Pretty,” which Atlantic released as a remixed version for radio and video, interspersing the song with snippets of Mark reading from his novel:

//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/h_lhspmjCJ4

You might have also caught this song on a Ford commercial. Because why not?

Another bit of trivia about this album is that Poe found another source of familial inspiration, thanks to the discovery of recordings that her father had made throughout his life. She interspersed snippets of these recordings all throughout the album, often with…haunting effect.

Apparently, when Atlantic merged with AOL Time Warner, Poe’s contract became a casualty of war. Instead of heading into the studio to record her promised third album, she ended up spending her time fighting Atlantic for her music and her release from her contract. In the interim, she also did some writing and recording for Conjure One, an electronic project fronted by Delerium artist Rhys Fulber. She appeared on the group’s first two albums (which I own).

I’ve heard Interwebz rumblings that Poe finally won her war against Atlantic and is once again ready to record. Of course, those rumors are from 2012. It’s been two years since and still nothing. I’d love it if she did finally return to singing in venues that I can access. Until then, I revisit my love affair with 90s alt-rock quite often through her two solidly strange albums. I’ll just leave this here. It’s my favorite song from Hello, and the song that I think perfectly exemplifies that quirky melange approach she had for musical genres. I give you “Fingertips”:

//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/q3_mLghxado

BookBin2014: Vampires in the Lemon Grove

~ lobablanca

vampires

I was already going to write a laudatory review of Karen Russell’s short story collection Vampires in the Lemon Grove. After only three stories, I was completely in love with Russell’s rather idiosyncratic storytelling style. Her characters inhabit worlds that are recognizable in certain ways, completely foreign in others. She chooses periods and places that you might assume at first glance won’t be at all interesting, and then she does beautiful things with words that make it impossible not to fall deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of her curious mind.

Yes, I was already going to praise this book and declare that I needed to add it to my own library. Then I arrived at the story “The New Veterans” and I realized that I loved Russell and needed to read everything she has ever written. Why? Her protagonist in “The New Veterans.” Her protagonist’s name, more precisely.

Beverly McFadden.

I literally laughed out loud. If you’re a dork like me, I hope you’re laughing out loud, too. Or at least smiling in a knowing way.

Yeah, beyond the nerdy joy of that unexpected gift, Russell delivers stories that are equally unexpected. If you like stories that offer neatly packaged resolutions with every ending, then this is probably not going to be your cuppa. Many of the stories have delightfully open-ended conclusions, leaving you to ponder the next scene. I personally like stories like that. It allows me a deeper level of engagement as well as a wonderful freedom to unleash my imagination to play in other worlds.

All in all, Russell is a wondrous surprise of a discovery, her stories showcasing an obvious adoration for linguistics and a penchant for peculiarity seasoned perfectly with a pinch of humor and a pinch of horror. I can’t wait to read more from her.

Final Verdict: Finally, a library discovery that I have happily added to my own wishlist.

BookBin2014: Duncan the Wonder Dog, Show One

~ LobaBlanca

duncanwonder

If ever you wanted to find a graphic novel to dismiss anyone’s assumption that they are “easy reads,” then this is the book for you, denizens. At more than 400 pages of tightly packed storytelling pleasure, Adam Hines’s Duncan the Wonder Dog, Show One is a visual storytelling blackout of a novel.

To be honest, I wasn’t quite prepared for this level of engagement. I only did a precursory flip-through before adding it to my pile of library books. Once I started in for my first serious session with this story, I realized that it was one of those rare beasts of a book that pulls you into a dazzlingly complicated world, where the story is not confined to the traditional spaces that “normal” tales occupy. The only other book that comes to mind as a fair frame of comparison is Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves (although his follow-up, Only Revolutions, might be similarly constructed; I’ve yet to read that one). Like Danielewski’s labyrinthine debut novel, Hines’s novel bleeds into the margins, weaves through the backgrounds, trickles down the spine, and floats outward into any space it can infiltrate. It whispers tangential tales along the outskirts of the main story, sometimes making their connections readily known…sometimes making you work to unlock the cipher.

Not only does this novel not occupy the traditional spaces of storytelling, it also does not occupy the traditional parameters of “reality.” For Hines’s characters, animals can speak, philosophize, create, destroy, love, and harm with the same pernicious zeal as humans. In some regards, I could imagine Gerry Alanguilan’s graphic novel Elmer fitting quite well into Hines’s graphic world.

As for the artwork, Hines is quite talented at manipulating a monochromatic color scheme, but his true skill lies within his mastery of shadow and light. Especially light. Natural light. Fluorescent light. Light caressing a weary face. Light piercing a stentorian darkness. Light unrestrained by a two-dimensional depiction. Hines’s rendering of light throughout this novel was a magnificent thing. His complexity of shadows against shadows was almost equally captivating, but it was the light that continued to draw me into this murky, muddled, contrasting world in which humans and animals try to coincide amidst prejudices and long-suppressed hatred that triggers terrorism, investigation, salvation, and damnation, all in pounding waves of stunning line work and shading.

Final Verdict: Even though this book is called “Show One,” and I read that Hines had planned to take the series up to nine volumes, I don’t see any new volumes out there yet. Of course, with this level of detail both in artwork and storytelling, I imagine these things will each take quite a bit of time to produce. So far, I would have to say they are worth the wait. This was well worth the read, and I will happily keep watching for the next show to start…

Febrewary: Shiner Holiday Cheer

~ lobablanca

15-febrewary-shc

Brewer: Spoetzl Brewery
Location: Shiner, Texas
Type: Dunkelweizen
ABV: 5.4%

Has it really been 28 days since I started Febrewary? I suppose so. Doesn’t feel like it. Also doesn’t really feel like I accomplished what I set out to do, which was reduce the number of singles that I’ve recently purchased. Instead, I took this as an opportunity to drink some of the beers that I have been aging…make room for new beers to age. And so it goes with my final Febrewary entry.

I’ve had this bottle of Shiner Cheer in my aging collection for slightly more than three years. It was another one of the oldest in my collection. The rare thing about it is that it’s only a 5.4-percent ABV beer. Some believe that you shouldn’t really waste your time aging anything under 8 or 9 percent. However, I sometimes will make exceptions for beers that have a flavor that I think aging will enhance and showcase.

First, if you’ve never tried a freshly bottled Shiner Cheer, and you’re not averse to fruit-flavored beers, then I would highly recommend this Dunkelweizen (another new beer type for the lair!). Here’s a little bit more about this beer, from the label:

Happy Holidays from the “Little Brewery” in Shiner, TX. We hope you enjoy your Shiner Cheer, an Old World Dunkelweizen brewed with Texas peaches and roasted pecans. The malty flavors of this dark wheat ale are enhanced through the use of malted barley and wheat. And Kr

Febrewary: Pendulum Pilsner

~ LobaBlanca

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Brewer: Baltimore Washington Beer Works USA
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Type: German Pilsener
ABV: 4.5%

We’re not finished with Baltimore yet, hon. Let Loba tell you a tale. Once upon a midnight dreary…Baltimore Washington Beer Works decided to build a line of beers with names based upon the works of Edgar Allan Poe, one of Baltimore’s most famous residents…who, subsequently, was also a lifelong alcoholic. Regardless of this bit of oversight (or irony), as a one-time student of Poe’s works as well as a lifelong fan of his writing (and a lifelong fan of drinking), I deeply approve of their line-up, which includes: Raven Special Lager, Pendulum Pilsner, Tell-Tale Heart IPA, The Cask Double Bock, and Annabel Lee White.

Here’s a little secret I’ve never shared with you all before. As much as I don’t like most light-colored beers, I actually have quite a fondness for some pilseners. Some are a little jarring, which is why I have to be in a mood to try a new one, but I’ve found several that I really enjoy as an alternative for when I cannot find any darker options. I don’t typically buy them because…well, once I finished pillaging the dark beer section, I’ve not got much energy (or money) left to buy anything else. However, I am not averse to pilseners as gifts. Especially ones that come emblazoned with the image of my favorite author (and a really groovy label; I don’t know if you all can tell, but the label has little razor-sharp pendulums at each bottom corner).

With a beautiful golden color and a subtle, almost floral nose, Pendulum is a readily accessible beer. It’s tangy but not too sharp, fizzy but not frothy, light but not watery. Not quite as quick a drink as the Balt beer, but still something easy to down with a nice thick slice of pizza. I don’t really consider light beers to be something that I would drink on their own, so I would definitely want to drink this with some kind of food. Something naughty. Something fried. I can’t really pontificate much on this beyond what I’ve said, since light beers are kind of not my bag, baby, but sometimes a beer is just a beer, right? Right.

I’d be interested to find this on tap somewhere…again, perhaps at a pizzeria or a burger joint. Maybe even a seafood place. I could see this going nicely with some fresh clams or mussels. Have I made you hungry enough yet? Quoth the Raven…feed me now.

Febrewary: Balt Altbier

~ LobaBlanca

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Brewer: Union Craft Brewing Company
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Type: Altbier
ABV: 5.5%

As if I haven’t been localized enough, today I bring you Balt Altbier, from the Baltimore-based microbrewery Union Craft. The guys at Union Craft have only been doing the brewing since 2012, and while they have made a few beers since their start, they only have two permanent brews at the moment: Duckpin Pale Ale and Balt Altbier. For those of you who have no idea what “duckpin” is, it’s a weird bowling variation that started in Baltimore in 1900. What else would you name your pale ale if you’re a Baltimoron, hon?

[Loba Tangent: Personally, I’m holding out hope that their next beer is called something like Pink Flamingo Porter or Serial Mom Saison. John Waters, woot!]

Since I have made it very clear that I don’t like hoppy beers, I’m not that fond of Duckpin. However, I find Union’s Balt beer strikingly good. (I saw what I did there.) This is also the first time I’ve written about an Altbier here at the lair. It’s a German-style brown ale that carries smooth, refined flavors thanks in part to a longer conditioning period. I’ve honestly never had an Altbier before that I can remember, so I don’t have a frame of comparison for this one. However, I can tell you that, on its own, Balt is a supremely satisfying beer.

Again, not too thrilled about the can, but this is the beer I mentioned in yesterday’s review as being one of those canned beers that does not bother me with any “can” flavor. I can pop the lid on one of these and just start drinking, or I can pour into a glass to pick up this beer’s bouquet of baking breads, freshly ground wheat, and the subtle sweetness of slowly caramelizing brown sugar. As you can see, this beer is a beautiful chestnut color with a delicate froth. I might have been able to get a better head had I poured a little more vigorously. I don’t like foam mustaches, though, so meh.

Tasting this beer is always a pleasant surprise to me. Considering how young Union Craft is, I’m always delighted when I take that first pull and taste such an extraordinary flavor profile. It’s not heavy, but by no means watery, with a medium mouth feel that’s packed full of toasted, oaty sweetness. Surprisingly, I don’t find this beer’s sweeter elements to be cloying at all, although perhaps a bit more hops as a balance would be an interesting experiment. However, I would hate for them to tamper with something this delicious right out of the can. Literally!

Febrewary: Penn Quarter Porter

~ LobaBlanca

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Brewer: DC Brau
Location: Washington, D.C.
Type: American Porter
ABV: 5.5%

Minus a couple of forays into Scottish brews and a trip out to Colorado and Hawaii, I realize that I’ve been keeping it pretty close to home for my Febrewary picks. I would apologize, but I’m not that sorry that I live in an area surrounded by some really amazing craft brew happenings. Tis a grand time to be an East Coast Beer Snob.

My latest beer comes from the Capitol City itself (although not from Capitol City Brewing). DC Brau is the first packaging brewery within city limits since 1956. So sayeth their Web site. They’ve been around for a few years now, slowly building a name and a reputation. I’ve not had a lot of their beers, because it’s taken them a little while to move out into the suburbs. However, I can say that they make a fantastic Imperial Pumpkin Porter. One of the easiest growlers I’ve ever made my way through.

At first, they only offered their Penn Quarter Porter as a draft beer. However, it quickly became one of their more popular brews, so they slowly moved into bottling and now offering it in cans. I’ve already talked about my feelings toward canned beer. I’m sure that I’m just being persnickety or even excessively snobby, but I don’t like that tinny can taste that I can detect right after pouring. It’s not there with all beers, true. In fact, the next beer to appear here is one of those that I can drink right from the can and not be bothered (ooh, previews!). Maybe it’s the darker beers that somehow interact with the aluminum in bad ways? Who’s to say.

Anyway, DC Brau writes on the Penn Quarter Porter can that they recommend pouring this beer into a goblet. I have one (from Flying Dog, natch), but I completely forgot. Besides, I love my LobaBlanca Brewing Company glasses. How could I not? As you can see, this porter forms a luscious head of foam…thick and luxurious and lacey all the way down the glass as you drink.

There is, however, a slight problem. Perhaps one of you can help me, denizens. I’ve talked about this problem before, in my review of Evolution’s Lucky 7 Porter. When I take a deep breath of the Penn Quarter Porter? I smell soap. It’s not quite as prominent as the Lucky 7 soap scent, but it’s there, sort of haunting the perimeter of earthy, loamy smells that conjure the more traditional porter bouquet.

With the Lucky 7, I thought that perhaps something went wrong with that particular batch. However, detecting the same soapy smell in another porter is making me wonder if this might be a case of me reacting to a particular hops variety the ways some people react to cilantro. I tried to figure out what type of hops both these porters include, but I didn’t have much luck with a cursory Web search. So any of you lovelies know what type of hops they use? If they both use the same variety, I’m going to go with this theory that it’s me rather than the beer. If not, however, that might mean that this is another bad batch of beer.

The happy news is that I couldn’t taste soap when I finally took a sip. Instead, that loaminess, that deep earthen richness like freshly tilled soil was the predominant sensory sensation. This is quite an elemental porter in that regard. Not really all that sweet or heavy, but rather rich and hearty, with a slightly dry finish. Peat bogs and mulched leaves after a cold autumn rain. This is a…hiking beer. A fireside beer. Something that evokes flavor complexity but in a savory, slightly ascetic way. Similarly, it’s a solid mouth feel, but it doesn’t stay longer than it needs to. This is not a clingy porter.

Still, that soapy smell detracted several points for this beer. I realized halfway through that I was holding my breath each time I took a drink, which was a definite downer. The reason I pour my beers into a glass is because I want that full sensory experience. I want to see it, smell it, and taste it. Fearing the smell of this beer was a major bummer.

I bought a six-pack when I treated myself to my Flying Dog Cinnamon Porter, so I’ll be giving this batch at least one more shot. After that, though, it might be a while before I revisit Penn Quarter. It’s not really that safe a place to go anyway. Just ask Mr. Lincoln…

Macabre D.C. historical humor, FTW.