Tuesday, September 30, 2008

THE INTERNET NEEDS MORE PHOTOS OF WONDRICH

LUCKILY, there is Sachs, aka "My Uncle, Traveling Sachs."

That is all.

Monday, September 29, 2008

THIS POST IS FOR JOEL LOVELL

SORRY I'VE BEEN AWAY SO LONG, Joel.

AS PER OUR conversation this morning on the streets of BROOKLYN,

AND IN ANSWER to your request for more political blogging,

(A REQUEST YOU ARE ALONE IN MAKING)

HERE is a much better assessment of why my TWITTERING about the debate was ALL WRONG.

THAT MY COME-UPPANCE should come at the hands of PAT BUCHANAN is appropriately shaming.

AS I SAID IN FRONT OF THAT COFFEE SHOP, what we who refresh political blogs all day long forget is this:

THERE ARE A LOT OF DEMOCRATS who like but are still wary of Obama--FOR WHATEVER REASON--and are waiting for a cue that it's OK to support him.

CERTAIN FORMER PRESIDENTS are not giving them that cue, but apparently, on Friday night, OBAMA DID.

WHAT'S MORE, since I am used to McCain's unnerving blinkyness and weird, mad smiles, the fact that he did not end up screaming obscenities just made him seem like a statesman to me.

BUT I GUESS TO THOSE WHO DO NOT REFRESH POLITICAL BLOGS ALL DAY, his angry condescension seemed surprising, and unpleasant.

ALL THE MORE REASON we should step away from the blogs and get out into the world, especially those parts of the world known as battleground states.

I ALSO STAND BY the other statement I made in front of that coffee shop: I NEED SOME MORE COFFEE

That is all.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

A SECOND SHADOUT TO KING, BOINGBOING

I HAVE BEEN OUT OF TOWN, visiting the celebrity enclaves of LOS ANGELES and now ORLANDO FLORIDA, so please forgive the non-existent posting.

COURTESY XENI, here---FINALLY---is the corrected embed of the famous "KAKI KING" episode:



AND COURTESY XENI AGAIN, here is a link to Kaki's astonishing DUNE NERD-DOM, which makes me love her all the more.

AND COURTESY XENI and all at BoingBoingTV in the future, stay on the look out for "SPAMASTERPIECE THEATER" and other MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE.

That is all.

Friday, September 19, 2008

ASK KAKI KING ABOUT THE SHADOUT MAPES

LOOK, XENI did another perfect interview.

BUT YOU HAVE NOT LIVED until you hear Kaki King recite the opening monologue from DUNE in front of a FULL ROCK BAND.



AND YES: this embed may break the borders, but it is worth it!

That is all.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I HAD LUNCH WITH JOHN SELLERS YESTERDAY

I HAD LUNCH with my former editor/former client/former DONKEY KONG CHAMP/and always pal John Sellers yesterday.

AND THEN HE SENT ME this curious internet video from THE PAST:



OF COURSE, YOU ALL KNOW MY DREAM of being called "Mr. Intellivision" some day.

BUT CAN ANY OF YOU EXPLAIN the child's weird, gape-mouthed stare at the end of this commercial?

IS THE JOKE HERE supposed to be that neither George Plimpton nor Henry Thomas of recognize each other?

REALLY? Were there really that many TV watchers in 1980 who loved both ET and The Paris Review enough to find this little screwball mix-up so hilarious that they would then run out and buy INTELLIVISIONS?

IS THAT REALLY THE POINT of this ad?

OR IS POOR HENRY THOMAS JUST CHOKING ON SOMETHING?

ANSWER=unknown.

The whole thing is so weirdly paced, opaque, and odd. It reminds me of ANOTHER COMMERCIAL YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN RECENTLY.

That is all.

Monday, September 15, 2008

!

IT WAS POTTS who first instructed me to read David Foster Wallace's article on cruise ships in the January, 1996 issue of Harper's.

IT WAS MY FIRST exposure to his brilliance and his many beautiful footnotes.

INCLUDING THE SHORTEST, MOST BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTE of all time.

BEGIN quoted text:

But it turns out that, of these six guys [a group of skeet shooters DFW has encountered on a cruise ship].... the last has not only his own earmuffs, plus his own shotgun in a special crushed-velvet-lined case, but also his own skeetshooting ranger in his backyard (130) in North Carolina.

(130): !

END quoted text.

IT WAS JUST A LITTLE PUNCTUATION JOKE, but in it I found so much to aspire to: the cynicism undone by fearless wonder, the formal playfulness, and the utter and inspiring freedom...

THESE ARE THE THINGS that make his work so challenging, and yet also so gracious. By reading him, we all got better.

I AM NOT ONE OF THE SAD ONES who have the privilege to miss him personally. But I do miss him.

NO ONE HAS EVER INVENTED PUNCTUATION MARK that can contain all the shock and sadness we felt when we learned the news,

AND NOW THAT HE IS GONE, I am afraid that no one ever will.

That is all.

BOINGBOING and BOING again

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, here is last week's BoingBoing TV episode featuring Xeni, a hotel, and my socks.

NOW FULLY EMBEDDED:



That is all.

PRETTY CHILLING

OBVIOUSLY one doesn't know the full context and all the small legalities of the moment.

BUT ON ITS FACE, this does not leave one with a good feeling.



STILL: DID WE REALLY NEED the guy dressed up like a pea pod?

That is all.

Friday, September 12, 2008

WHAT SAM DOESN'T LIKE ABOUT SOFTWARE


ONE SURPRISING FACT that came out around all the color scheme hoopla:

SAM POTTS has a secret blog.

AND ON THAT BLOG, he inadvertently provides YOUR FIRST GLIMPSE into the pages of MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE, which he designed.

HE ALSO swears a lot.

That is all.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

#543930 IS THE NEW BROWN

THANKS TO POTTS, we now see a brown more closely approximating:

THE ACTUAL BOOK THAT WAS JUST SENT TO ME,

and which I am now holding in my ACTUAL HANDS

That is all.

YOU MAY NOTICE I RARELY POST ABOUT MY FILM AND TELEVISION ADVENTURES

YOU MAY NOTICE I RARELY POST ABOUT MY FILM AND TELEVISION ADVENTURES

THAT IS BECAUSE I usually do not believe they actually happened.

BUT THIS IS SOMETHING I am extremely proud to be associated with:



VERY WISELY, they did not end up using my own singing. That's JOHN LINNELL, who wrote the song.

(REALLY? I got to at least pretend to sing a TMBG song? In a Neil Gaiman/Henry Selick movie? Did that really happen?)

(I DIDN'T THINK SO)

That is all.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

SAM POTTS WRITES FROM THE NEW OFFICE

SAM POTTS,

WHO IS designer of both BOOKS 1 and 2...

NOT TO MENTION the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company...

AND A FORMER RESIDENT of actual Boston (not just fake Boston like me),

AND PURVEYOR OF SAM POTTS INC, now of Union Square (Manhattan)

WRITES IN with a color correction, displaying the attention to detail and surprisingly long memory FOR WHICH HE IS KNOWN.

BEGIN QUOTED TEXT!

Is it too much change to foist on your readers?

This would be closer:

BROWN: color="#543930"

GOLD: color="#deb406"

The brown is darker and the gold is golder.

Also, Sam Kolb is originally from the South End, I believe. We're the last generation to have grown up thinking people could actually disappear from our lives once we changed schools or neighborhoods.

END QUOTED TEXT

Jh HERE AGAIN SAYING: Thank you, SAM. For your many years of friendship and collaboration.

I shall make the color change VERY SOON, OR WHEN I GET AROUND TO IT.

That is all.

WHATEVER IT TAKES BY PAUL TOUGH


PAUL TOUGH's important and amazing new book, WHATEVER IT TAKES, is now on sale in Mississippi, according to his blog.

I ENCOURAGE YOU to go and buy it.

IF YOU ARE THE SORT OF PERSON who fears that nothing can be done about poverty and public education in this country (THE USA), then Jeffrey Canada's story, as told by Tough, will at once reassure you.

BUT IT WILL NOT "INSPIRE" YOU, the way so many mushy books about education do. Instead, it will challenge you to think differently, and do more.

And that is why it is important and amazing (IMPAZING is the term I use).

I ALSO HAVE EVIDENCE that the book is being sold OUTSIDE of Mississippi as well.

BUT IF YOU ARE THE SORT OF PERSON who either lives in Oxford or loves geographical inconvenience, here is some more information on that bookstore in the photo, which is pretty amazant in itself.

That is all.

PS: Paul also blogs about education for Slate, and tumbles at tumblr. He also has pretty much the coolest e-mail address ever.

Monday, September 08, 2008

WELCOME, BOINGBOING TELEVISIONEERS

LAST FALL, XENI and her crew interrupted my work* with their cameras.

*(NOT REALLY: I was actually taking a suit nap)

IT WAS A LOVELY VISIT, and I am very grateful that they have chosen to reveal more of my private life on BoingBoingTV today.

SEE HERE for the previous visit, including Ape Lad's early, inaccurate illustrations of A SMALL PARLOR OF MOLE-MEN.

YOU CANNOT BLAME Ape Lad, though. He did not know at the time that the mole-men are:

LUMINOUS
BLIND
FANGED
and COVERED IN LUMINOUS MUCUS

(to paraphrase Hobbes)

...or that they always wear powdered wigs.

BUT SOON YOU WILL ALL KNOW THIS AND MORE, and in much greater detail than you probably need.

THAT IS ALL.

GREETINGS FROM 664444

AS ONLY THE MOST OBSESSIVE OF YOU WILL NOTICE, we have a new background color scheme (#66444) here today,

ONE DESIGNED TO BARELY APPROXIMATE the jacket of my new, actual book.

WHICH JACKET, may be viewed here, thanks to the efforts of Potts and Connor.

AND WHICH BOOK is, or will be, discussed HERE.

FROM TIME TO TIME in the coming weeks, I will mention news pertaining to this book, its publication (Oct 21), and the tour of US cities that will follow.

I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND why I must do this.

I PROMISE it will not be intrusive, and I will return to regular blogging of FREESTYLE CANOEING as soon as possible.

That is all.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

GREETINGS KOLB

GREETINGS, KOLB, once of Brookline.

HOW ARE YOU? I am fine.

I DON'T BELIEVE we really had a chance to discuss JAGGED EDGE after we saw it in 1985.

DO YOU THINK the killer was really Jeff Bridges?

OR WAS IT A CAMEO BY BEAU BRIDGES?

Either way, SPOILER ALERT: I AM ALWAYS WATCHING

That is all.

I PROMISED I'D QUIT READING COMMENT SECTIONS FOR A WHILE

BUT WHEN A BLOG hasn't updated in 5 minutes, what else are you going to do.

IN ANY CASE, I did feel the need to highlight this comment, from a supposed "JOHN D", on a recent Ben Smith post.

"Jesus was a community organizer."

AND OF COURSE, I always read YOUR comments.

That is all.

ALERT: AMY RADFORD TO ATTEND MAXFUNCON


DOES THIS LOOK LIKE MAXIMUM FUN to you?

IF NOT, then you are incorrect.

FOR FURTHER re-education, please visit MAXFUNCON.

That is all.

OH, I SEE: IT'S A CULTURE WAR

FORGET ISSUES, if those elitist "community organizers" win, they're going to tax our babies!

NONSENSE.

That is all.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

HERE'S A SURPRISING BIT OF MORAL CONSISTENCY THAT I DIDN'T EXPECT

WHILE IT MAKES MY fingerpads burn a little bit to link to her, Dr. Laura is at least consistent.

I am extremely disappointed in the choice of Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Republican Party.
NOW I WILL ADMIT: I used to listen to Dr. Laura in the car on my way to and from therapy. And so, perhaps for that reason, I still find her particular brand of sanctimonious know-it-some-ness to be strangely soothing.

That is all.

RE: THE CANOE-EWS

PHOEBE writes:

"LOVE THE THROWING OF THE MASK--BUT COME ON, AT LEAST DO ONE STANDING MOVE."

She raises a good point.

That is all.

ALL SNIDENESS ASIDE

I SUSPECT PALIN is going to do very well tonight.

ANY HOPES that she might crumple, stumble, or just melt like a water-soaked witch are pure fantasy.

SHE IS SMART, ACCOMPLISHED and professional. She will give a good speech. Obviously her supporters with laud it as a triumph. And I suspect much of the media will as well.

THAT IS ALL

NEWS YOU CAN CANOE-EWS

IN OTHER NEWS, Christine Connor shares this:



MY FAVORITE COMMENT comes from user "N757FR":

"What kind of canoe are you useing and what made you choose it?"

(A="It's a loon works nakoma. It's 13.5 feet long I believe and it i made especially for the sport however you don't need a special canoe to participate")

THAT IS ALL.

WATCHING THE REVELS LAST NIGHT

I THOUGHT FOR A MOMENT that it might be nice to be a Republican delegate.

YOU GET to make up your own reality in which a conservative activist is actually a centrist, your leader's craven decision is actually a mavericky one, and where a refueling stop-over in Ireland actually counts as foreign policy experience, and issues don't matter.

IT IS LIKE THEY HAVE MADE UP their own little, self-contained universe in the Xcel center. One big flag-y LARP.

That is all.