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Worst Band In The Universe
The Scenario On Planet Blipp, the world is ruled by music, however only the Traditional Songs are allowed; innovation is a horrible crime. (Sounds like one of my previous employers!) I found this book at Thinker Toys in Akron around the middle of 1999 and was immediately enthralled. My wife thinks I bought it for Caitlin, our then-2-year-old daughter, and I still read it to her every chance I get (to keep up the facade...).
This is the story of a young alien that just cannot stop innovating. Like all Blippians, he loves to sing and play music but he constantly finds himself Improvising when he should not be. This book chronicles his escape from Blipp just ahead of the law and his adventures surrounding an underground band contest, "The Worst Band In The Universe" where the best and most innovative --and illegal-- music would be rewarded. To me, this is a story of Innovation versus Status Quo and, yes, my blood boils as I am reminded how easy it is for Status Quo to beat down Innovation.
Of course, this is a children's book, so I dare not give away the ending.
To my daughter Caitlin this is a brightly illustrated poem that is incredibly easy and fun to listen to. It opens up a whole new set of experiences; aliens, conflict, petty authority, adventure, loud music, and new words. The art work is truly astounding. Find a copy in the nearest library, if only to look at the art work (Read the book, too, while you are there.)
What's Bad? Alpha-10 --one of the songs on the enclosed CD. The full title is "Alpha 10 (semi-instr. version 57.7)," performed by The Amazing Centrifugal Blortcrooners of Alpha 10. Do not let your children hear this song --they may very well prefer it over Barney. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little here ...On the bright side, it is only 1:30 long and causes loud squeals of delight from my child. ;-)
Seriously, though, this book depicts authority figures as being potentially arbitrary and self-serving. Those who do not wish to expose their children to these kinds of concepts would be advised to hide their copy until the kids are old enough to understand.
What's Good? Splingtwangers and a Power Axe -- these are the musical instruments du jour. Blipp is a planet that loves to rock!Inside the back cover is a CD containing nine of the songs from the contest, "The 18th Annual Worst Band in the Universe Competition." That CD now has a permanent home in my CD jukebox so my daughter and I can dance to it whenever we want. The music is surprisingly high quality and fun to listen to. Her favorite song is "Alpha 10" but I am hoping she will grow out of it. In addition, the lyrics are printed inside the back cover, which makes some songs a little easier to understand. The songs parallel the story and add another level to the experience, much like the filk songs of science fiction conventions. For example, Ancient Melody #42 (performed anonymously, as per tradition) is a haunting instrumental that simultaneously speaks to the grandeur and elegance of times past as well as to the stifling of times present. Other songs have a faster, more upbeat rhythm, with lyrics about space travel and the exciting-though-vagabond existence of an Innovator. There is a joy in this music that is hard to quantify.
The storytelling is riveting. The plot makes several surprising turns. At a particularly bleak point, a band technician (Button Pusher) steps in and nervously saves the day.
So What's In It For Me? A book with color pictures, an engaging storyline, a real plot, a cool CD with 8 excellent songs (and then some). Gosh, what else could you want?I liked this book, mainly because there is a real story here. This is not just cutesy drivel with good marketing and hype. It speaks to a fundamental conflict between "new ideas" and "the way things currently are". This story chronicles that conflict from the innovator's view which makes it a must-read for the other people in your life. But it also confronts the reader with the fear and uncertainty felt by the non-innovators and the innocent bystanders. This is a view point I often need to be reminded of.
And it is fun to read to children.
You can purchase this book from Fatbrain.
And from where can we l33ch the mp3z if you're so gentle ?
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"CmdrTaco and the Cowboy Beeboppers"
songs include:
"If it ain't Debian, it ain't gettin' on." - an upbeat party song
"Fsck me, I hate Microsoft" - this was where they branched out into GeekMetal
"Signal 11, bye bye bye" - a touching ballad
"I'm the real Bruce Perens" - a cover version
Zoom by Istvan Banyai - No words, just a pespective that zooms out of a micro scale world out to a final view of the Earth. Great art.
Charlie Parker Played Be Bop By Chris Raschka - Fantastic art and great word-play in a poem about Jazz.
pronoblem
Seriously, though. Are there many /.ers with kids? Anyone?
Free Hans!
I can remeber reading this guys stuff as a child. It has always been really interesting to me. If you are into childrens books that have incredibly cool pictures and neat, interesting story lines then i would suggest checking out two of his other books.
.2
The Sign of the Seahorse: A quasi arthurian tale told under the sea for effect. This is a good guys beat bad guys type of story. Its told in verse so if you dont dig it then dont read it.
The Eleventh Hour: This one is story about a birthday party where all of the food gets stolen. After reading the story through its your job to figure out who did it. A lot if fun, even for adults. You crypto guys might actually have some fun with this.
Just my
Lissell
Lissell (where have all the cowboys gone?)
And here I thought it was gonna be a book about the Spice Girls...
--------- Beware the dragon, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
Any chance we could have a "books for kids" section on slashdot ?
/.'ers that have children or grand children that would love to buy them books that really educate them.
/.
I reckon there must be a lot of
Perhaps I'm showing my age but after all the dreamcast/playstation non-stories of the last week
we get some stuff that really matters. Thank you
Thanks Timothy, any ideas for books to ween my kid of the Teletubbies and the Tweenies are greatly appreciated.
Depends on the kid. The religious allegories present in that series are extremely transparent, and I recall being disgusted with them when I read the books at about age 7 or 8. Kids who were raised Jewish/Muslim/Hindu/Discordian will most likely not be amused, to say nothing of their parents!
Same problem with Madeline L'Engel's stuff, though the religious content is a bit more subtle. Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley, OTOH, is excellent. However, most kids wouldn't be able to plow through it until they're 10 or 11.
Give a monkey a brain and he'll swear he's the center of the universe.
In the search for the worst band in the (known) universe, only one name comes to mind: The Tragically Hip.
Only if you live in Canada, where you're forced to endure their horrible, whiny vocalist over and over because of Canadian Content laws, can you really begin to understand the scope of the torment.
Their song "Bobcageon", played all through the summer of 1999, was marketed as rock, and since it's Canadian and was new at the time, it was one of the songs that Q107 and other Canadian radio stations had to use to fill the 40% of their airtime that has to be new Canadian music.
Bobcageon is one of those rare and special songs that makes you crave the weight of a 20 lb sledgehammer in your hands.
And, when you're heard it once on the way to work and once on the way home every day for a week, you're craving an equal-size pickaxe instead of a hammer.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.