Aug 11, 2009

Thought of the Day and Bad Astronomy

From David Mitchell, in the Guardian: "The media like nothing more than to be contrarian about their own manufactured consensus on which the paint is still not dry..." The best part is that he's talking about a survey in which women are alleged to have professed a preference for guys who are a little bit overweight and smell like beer. Casual brilliance, in the way that a newspaper column allows you to be casually brilliant if you are capable of it in the first place.

Also, if you're not stopping by the Bad Astronomy blog at Discover.com, you really should be.

Aug 7, 2009

Pynchon Sells Out

Not really. At least, Inherent Vice isn't any kind of sellout. I refer, of course, to the question of whether the great man himself broke his self-imposed silence by narrating this book trailer. I kind of hope he did.



The book is pretty good, I think. It traces a lot of the same trajectories as Vineland and Lot 49, but in a much less thinky way. It's almost as if Pynchon, in his seventies, has decided to leave the coming generations of readers with a book that will serve as a zippy, fun gateway drug leading to the rest of his oeuvre.

Aug 4, 2009

Comic Book Club

I regret and apologize for the lengthy hiatus. To get everyone back up to speed and encourage them to healthful activities tomorrow night, I will note that I am going to be the August 4 guest at the Comic Book Club at the Peoples Improv Theater in NYC, hosted by Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage. I'm not sure what I'm in for, but whatever it is will happen tomorrow, August 4th, in the evening, on 29th Street between 6th and 7th. Hope to see you there in the live audience that has the chance to pepper me with unanswerable questions in between the gibes and sallies of the show's hosts. Topics sure to arise include Daredevil Noir, Buyout, the writing of comic books, and an enrapturing blend of pop-cultural and comic-book-related conversational moments. If you've listened to the show's podcast, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, stop by tomorrow night or catch the podcast. See you there...