Blowhard, Esq. writes:
I just threw out about 2 years’ worth of magazines that I had been accumulating but neglecting like the national debt. Wired, Bon Appetit, The Atlantic, New York, bunch of stupid lawyer mags, local business magazines, L.A. Weekly, OC Weekly — Jesus, another few weeks and I’d be a candidate for Hoarders. Every month I’d promise myself I’d read them and every month they just piled up.
So: Which magazines do you subscribe to? Which do you actually read?
Blowhard, Esq. writes:
In a recent NYT interview of Michael Chabon for the Book section, the following exchange took place:
You can suggest three books to a literary snob who believes genre fiction has no merit. What’s on the list?
“The Turn of the Screw.” “Heart of Darkness.” “Blood Meridian.”
Let’s see: a literary ghost story, a literary adventure story, and a literary Western. I guess his point is that even acclaimed literary writers have written genre-influenced works. OK, sure, that’s a valid point. But Chabon’s answer is still a cop-out b/c the Literary Snob can retort, “Well, yes, in the hands of master prose stylists perhaps these genre conventions are worthwhile, but otherwise they’re safely ignored.” To be fair, Chabon does namecheck Ian Fleming, Elmore Leonard, Ray Bradbury, and Sherlock Holmes, so that’s something.
Anyone familiar with Chabon’s novels? If so, what did you think? I gave The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay a whirl once but I made it all of 50 pages in before ditching it out of boredom. A friend says it took her three shots to get interested but she ended up loving it. Maybe it’s time to give it another try.
Blowhard, Esq. writes:
Back here, Paleo Retiree contrasted the asshole bicycle culture of the United States versus the more civilized one in Berlin. This got me thinking about the city I work in, which as I mentioned in the comments, has set itself the goal of being The Most Bicycle Friendly City in America. But this is southern California! Our motto might as well be, Give Me A Car or Give Me Death! Trying to graft a European-style bike culture here has as much a chance of success as, say, trying to put a baboon heart in a human, right?
Well, I’m happy to report that after a good month-and-a-half of observing and riding the streets of Long Beach on my own bike, the vibe here is far closer to laid-back and respectful Berlin than the too-pumped-up-American-biker/athletes described in PR’s post. Continue reading
Blowhard, Esq. writes:
OK, so it’s more like a Material We Love, but you catch my drift. This is a combo fire and police station in Belmont Shore, CA.
I know this marks me as a fascist, but I’ll brick over raw concrete any day. The handmade feel, the fragmented yet unified visual quality, and the color all put me in a better mood than gray, dull, rain-streaked slabs.
epiminondas writes:
Well, it’s Saturday again, and time for your favorite mascot to take the field. Maybe it’s one of these.
Fenster writes:
Which of these colleges courses is bogus?
1. Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame – U. of South Carolina, Columbia
2. The Phallus – Occidental
3. Joy of Garbage – Santa Clara
4. Harry Potter: Finding Your Patronus – Oregon State
5. Theatrical Fencing – U. of Wisconsin, Madison
6. DJ History, Culture, and Technique – NYU
7. Arguing with Judge Judy: Popular ‘Logic’ on TV Judge Shows – U. of California, Berkeley
8. Sport for the Spectator – Ohio State, Mansfield
9. Learning from Youtube – Pitzer
10. Geology and Cinema – U. of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Aw heck, you know the answer already, don’t you? They are all actually offered.
Which makes them all bogus.
The Question Lady writes:
What’s the worst TV ad you’ve ever seen?
Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:
Please feel free to add your own.
1. The names: Chance, Dude, Stumpy, Colorado, Feathers.
2. The bit where Chance kisses Stumpy on the head, then runs out the door like a little kid who’s just stolen a piece of candy.
3. The fact that nearly every character saves Chance’s ass at least once.
4. Wayne’s bashful underplaying whenever Chance is shown to have been wrong in his assumptions (which is often).
5. When Dude, upon reclaiming his old clothes, realizes that his silver hat brim is similar to the one worn by the guy who humiliated him at the start of the film, and then tosses it away.
6. The way Wayne’s shotgun is permanently attached to his arm, like a substitute limb.
7. The blood dripping into the beer.
8. “That’s what I got.”
9. The several moments when Dude is feeling humiliated, and Chance nonchalantly diffuses the situation by asking him to join him in a walk around the town.
10. Angie Dickinson in tights. (It comes at the end, like a reward.)
11. The flower pot, and then the supercool way that Colorado tosses the shotgun to Chance. (The toss has been aped a million times in action films, sometimes in slo-mo, but it has never been bettered).
12. The tender, ceremonial way in which Chance removes Dude’s six shooters from the cabinet where he’s been keeping them safe for the last couple of years.
13. The part where the undertaker asks Chance what to do with the bodies of the three men Chance just killed, to which Chance replies, “You’re the undertaker. Bury ’em.”
14. Walter Brennan’s teeth.
15. “I speak English, sheriff. Why don’t you ask me?”
16. Dickinson and Nelson trying to hold their own with Wayne, Martin, Bond and Brennan, mostly failing, and managing to remain incredibly likable just the same.
17. “You’ve got peculiar ways of choosing what is your business.”
18. The wordless opening sequence, which is like an homage to silent films — and Hawks’ kiss goodbye to that entire era.
19. “My Rifle, My Pony and Me.”
20. Chance kidding Stumpy about not being able to throw the dynamite far enough.
21. Hawks allowing both Martin and Nelson to sing lead on a song. Back to back.
22. The way the three leads are described on the poster: “John Wayne: The big guy with the battered hat . . . Dean Martin: Dude — the wreckage piled up by a fast woman . . . Ricky Nelson: The rockin’ baby-faced gunfisted Kid . . . ”
23. “It’s about time. I was gettin’ awful tired of takin’ care of ya.”
24. The fact that it always sounds better when someone calls it “Rio fuckin’ Bravo.”
25. Walter Brennan doing the best Walter Brennan impersonation of all time.
epiminondas writes:
This is one of the best speeches Peter Schiff has ever given. I’ve always been impressed with Schiff because of his ability to simplify political and bureaucratic bullshit that passes for thinking in the business media. This is the kind of straightforward logic that anyone can understand. If you don’t follow economics that much, just listen to this several times. It’s worth hearing more than once in any case…
Blowhard, Esq.
Callowman
Sherbrooke
Eddie Pensier
Enzo Nakamura
Epaminondas
Fabrizio del Wrongo
Fenster
Brundle Guy
Glynn Marshes
Paleo Retiree
Atypical Neurotic
Question Lady
Sax von Stroheim
Sir Barken Hyena
The Mistaken
