quickie reviews

recent Netflix rental: Flight of the Conchords
We happened upon one of these episodes the Sunday after Collegium. Maybe our exhausted, post-event brain-dead state had something to do with us falling over laughing hysterically. Or maybe it was the dead-on David Bowie parodies.

Plot, such as it is: New Zealand folk duo moves to New York to boost music career. Various things happen, to the bemusement of their one stalker fan.

It's a lot better than that sounds. There are several musical numbers per episode and part of the fun is figuring out the parody - "Pet Shop Boys, West End Girls"! Not so good that I want to buy the series, but I haven't ruled it out either.

Book: Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew
The wife and I are fans of Ursula Vernon's work. I routinely read her webcomic Digger and we both enjoy her odd blog. She's a funny writer and a distinctive artist. The wedding and bridal shower presents we gave semy_of_pearls and shadowwalkyr were from her; I own a print of her "Mammoth Garlic" for tolerably obvious reasons. So it was somewhat foreordained that I would buy her first real book, a short work aimed at the 8-12 set but worth reading even as an adult. I would highly recommend it for young people and it's quirky enough to appeal to adults.