Today I was able to spend a little time in the library, and because I have been watching so much television lately, I was able to devour this little book by Edmund White.
Continue reading “A Boy’s Own Story – Edmund White”
Category: Classic Posts
‘Meh’st Week Ever – April 12, 2009
This week has been killer. As will be the next two weeks. Here’s some more of the internet flotsam and jetsam that you come here for:
A super funny daily web cartoon made with the super cool software found at xtranormal which is fun and easy. You should all go there and try it out.
Somehow, the wooden actions and computer generated speech makes it even funnier.
2. Firefighter dresses up as Spiderman to get autistic child down from ledge
Never fear, Thailand – Spiderman to the rescue! A young boy was saved from a third floor window ledge by a fireman dressed as the comic book superhero after the autistic lad refused to come down.
The eight-year-old ran out onto the ledge of his special school in Bangkok after he had a panic attack and neither his mother nor teachers could coax him back inside.
Even firemen couldn’t bring the boy to safety – until his mother remembered his passion for Spiderman.
Fireman Sonchai Yoosabai pulled on a Spiderman outfit which was kept by a school guard for alarm practices.
And even though he couldn’t actually spin a web, it still worked a treat!
The boy came back inside as soon as he saw his hero at the door of the classroom and threw himself laughing into his arms.
3. Mentoring
More in the next coming weeks, I promise.
Tuesday’s Top Tune – Kiss the Sky
Without going into too much detail, often my epiphanies and, er, bodily functions come at the same time.
I don’t know what it is about the bathroom, possibly the soothing white noise of the industrial fan, the sterile surroundings, or maybe it is just the solitude, but often I get caught up in my own thoughts. I tend to use the single handicapped bathroom, as I am somewhat poo shy (a condition which usually happens only in women, according to Jezebel).
A couple of days ago upon my porcelain throne, I was hit with a flash of a song I used to listen to. I couldn’t remember anything about it. I just remembered that the artist had an Asian name, but that he was Canadian. That wasn’t really a lot to go upon, but I googled around until I found it. It turns out that the song was “Kiss the Sky” off of the album Voices and Choices by Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra.
And it turns out to be rather good. I really like songs in this vein; like others by artists like Cee-Lo and TV on the Radio, they incorporate elements of classic soul songs and techniques while looking forward, rather than back. They resemble the oldies in spirit far more than the cold stylings of modern R&B divas that all wanted to be Aretha.
When I started this feature, I thought I would be writing long analyses of the songs. As I become more regular about blogging, I realize that I can just let the songs speak for themselves. Here it is:
‘Meh’st Week Ever – March 8, 2009
I was too conflicted about Watchmen to provide an objective review, and was in too much of a sleep deprivation induced-coma for the next two days to do much blogging. But I know all four of you that read this blog really enjoy my Sunday posts, so here goes. This is what I found on the internet this week.
2. Mall Ninjas
These are excerpts from posts by either a delusional 13 year old or an extremely mentally disturbed mall security guard. I think it’s extremely funny, but I must caution you, it’s extremely internet humor-y. You’ll either find it hilarious or a complete waste of time.
3. Henry Makow- A real live 21 Century sexist:
I know it’s probably not good to laugh at this, because there are probably some people out there who take this seriously, but it’s so offensive, I can only chuckle at the extreme crazy that is this man. And what a lonely existence he must live; alone in a world where people believe that men and women are equally capable at any number of professions and that domestic violence should be prevented by the police. Here’s an exerpt:
How can we fight the New World Order?
Let’s begin by reaffirming our distinct male or female identities. Perhaps this personal manifesto from a happily married male frog who finally jumped out of the pot will serve as a reference for some:
The essence of masculinity is power.
Isn’t it obvious? It’s what women respond to. Similarly, men are drawn to vulnerability in women. We want to protect them.
To equalize power is to eliminate sexual distinction. This doesn’t mean that woman are not powerful and effective as women, but not by becoming like men.
Men — steer clear of any sexual relationship where you are not in charge.
I wish I could embed this video on this blog, but WordPress is stupid and restrictive so I have to encourage you to click on the link. It’s a short video about a man who builds a virtual world for his wife, and it has some of the coolest computer graphics I have ever seen, which is more amazing because they are all homemade.
5. Bad Paintings of Barack Obama
I swear it’s not on purpose that every week there’s something about BHO. These are really funny.
6. John Fetterman and Braddock, Penn.
This man is John Fetterman:
He is the mayor of Braddock, PA, a former steel town that has lost 90% of its population and wealth in the last 25 years. Now, anybody that can afford to leave does as soon as possible, and there are few enough businesses in the community that you can count them on one hand. The median house price is $6,400. Not $64,000. $6,400. Fetterman has been trying a radical new approach, attracting businesses and artists and artisans who want space and low rent to try and revitalize the town. It’s in ideas like this that I betray my age, but everything about this project sounds unbelievably cool and romantic. I’m trying to see if I can persuade my father to buy something there. He’s a general contractor with a tendancy to wander, so I may be able to succeed. Articles about the town found here here and here.
Tuesday’s Top Tunes – Watchmen Soundtrack & New Contest
Now that it’s only a couple of days away, I am really excited for the release of Watchmen. Last night, my brethren and I (the men and women of the Mediaphilia dorm) had a great time picking apart various early reviews, including this stinker from Anthony Lane of the New Yorker. Now, I haven’t seen the movie and it’s entirely possible that the movie is merely ok or even bad, but a review that lambasts the movie for being pseudo-intellectual and pretentious is really ironic coming from the New Yorker.
Lane manages to load the review with comic book reader stereotypes (“leering 19-year olds” “whose deepest fear [is]… meeting a woman who requests intelligent conversation”) that are so tired they’re laughable, all while missing the point of the comic and movie so completely that it led a fellow Mediaphiliac to smirk, “It’s so much fun to see a New Yorker writer completely outsmarted by a comic book.” Lane claims that, “Whether [the] Watchmen have true superpowers, as opposed to a pathological bent for fisticuffs, I never quite worked out” and that “The problem is that Snyder, following Moore, is so insanely aroused by the look of vengeance, and by the stylized application of physical power, that the film ends up twice as fascistic as the forces it wishes to lampoon.” No shit. Congratulations, you recognized the two things about the comic book that made it stand out from the genre when it was published and for which it is beloved, and yet completely failed to understand them.
All of that was a long preamble to this discussion about the soundtrack to the film.
I think it’s an incredibly interesting, bordering on weird, selection of songs. I’m going to guess that “Ride of the Valkyries” is going to be used in a Comedian Vietnam flashback, considering how that usage in Apocalypse Now is so firmly ingrained in the popular culture. The Philip Glass track from Koyyanisqatsi was used in a trailer and I can see it being used in the film. Because its a cover of a classic Dylan track and that its from the only artist of the 21st century, I think “Desolation Row” will be playing over the credits. As you can see from the lyrics here, “Pirate Jenny” is the Kurt Weill song that narrates the story of the Black Freighter (which we have been promised will appear on the DVD).
Taking those songs out of consideration, we are left with a collection of songs from classic 20th century songwriters. I am a little concerned that some of these songs will be used a little too heavy-handedly. I am already imagining a wince from the line “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” in “Me and Bobby McGee.” But, in keeping with the original goal of this series, all are top tunes.
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Now, the contest. In Anthony Lane’s review, he uses the phrase “cod mythology,” a Google search of which brings up only references to literal cod mythology and message boards trying to figure out what cod mythology means in reference to the review. I will give a digital blue ribbon, and a place on my new contests page, to the person who comes up with the definition of cod mythology or the most entertaining attempt. Here’s the original context:
The world of the graphic novel is a curious one. For every masterwork, such as “Persepolis” or “Maus,” there seem to be shelves of cod mythology and rainy dystopias, patrolled by rock-jawed heroes and their melon-breasted sidekicks.
hammer & jack 