The first image he told me about was of three children on a road in Iceland, in 1965. He said that for him it was the image of happiness and also that he had tried several times to link it to other images, but it never worked. He wrote me: one day I’ll have to put it all alone at the beginning of a film with a long piece of black leader; if they don’t see happiness in the picture, at least they’ll see the black.
Willie threw some stuff my way.
First was an article something about Bret Easton Ellis and how the writer was a big, sort of pathetic fanboy. I say pathetic because, first, fanboyism is pathetic and, second, the writer did not detail a few of the ways in which a reader should recognize that Ellis sucks:
1. He cannot write good thriller material.
2. The meta shit he pulls with framing the narrators perspective and removing credibility (or something) doesn’t make alot of sense or at least confuses more than anything artistically effective. I’m speaking about Glamorama here.
3. Glamorama kinda sucked. Maybe even really sucked.
So whatever; I will gladly point out the writer’s ability to find something meaningful in Ellis’ meta-ness and accurately describe Ellis’ substantial humor.
Second was a novel: the average american male by chad kultgen, published in 07. Things didn’t look good from the beginning when the three reviews lauding the novel are authors from NYT bestseller list, a list I don’t give a great deal of credit to. Worse, one of these authors is Maddox, a man that appears to be an internet nerd tool.
The book also claims to have inspired viral videos, which I though was weird because viral videos are defined by the quantity of stupid people referring you to the stupid video.
The viral videos can be found by on the author’s homepage and are marketing made rather than the usual stupid person posting stupid thing on YouTube. They’re are also videos advertising kultgen’s new novel, “The Lie,” which is something about college. None of the videos are clever or all that funny. But I did like this one because it depicts pegging.
It should be quiet clear by now that I don’t have much to say about the novel itself and kultgen’s writing. Willie told me he asked around for a novel with similarities to my favorite, Ellis’ American Psycho. Unfortunately, kultgen isn’t as funny as Ellis, his satire is uneven and never very cutting or illuminating, and none of kultgen’s prose suggests any beauty/truth achieved through the use of language, something Ellis has, at times, succeded in doing.
Here are some other YouTube videos you should watch.
Angry preacher using words like nigga and beotch
Same guy without an undershit doing a funny dance
I guess the NYT should be congratulated for honest journalism, that they can make a social liberal and newbie political skeptic feel sorry for Sarah Palin.
So I’ve recently been a broad; I didn’t mind the panty hose but brassieres are a bitch/ I’m just kidding.
Really now, folks, London for a month, Prague for two nights, Paris for 5; keep in mind some of all that is running around trying to catch trains, metros and flights etc.
But my philosophy on casual drinking is constant moderation, that is to say moderate drinking constantly. I highly enjoy strong, appropriately served spirits; I am trying to teach myself to enjoy the subtleties of wines; however, beer, sweet beer, is a beverage of surprising versatility and therefore the usual drink to choose.
So drinking beer in Europe. As one considers the stereotype of American beer drinking, the American golden ales and lagers of Bud, Miller, Mich, Coors till nausia overtakes like a piss warm shower.. er so, yes, American beer as ostentatiously advertised has little going for itself. The best an American can hope for, very inside the mainstream, is a vaugely acceptable local brew (Minnesotans have Summit, for instance) or okayish overpriced imports (Heini, Stella, Pilsner sometimes). One would think that even an admittedly short and limited survey of Europe might give a thirsty American something to write about.
Unfortunately no.
London:
Pubs in London are cozy and casual with an emphasis on politeness. It was explained to us that barhands would rather have a ‘please’ than a tip; I’m fine with that. After all, London is an expensive city, even if you’re going out of your way to avoid the most notable and pricey areas. Go into a decent serving pub and be happy to pay under 3 lb for a cask ale. And cask ales are the best taps beers you’ll get. Guinness is the only draught stout I found in a month (though I think I saw some bottled Young’s); otherwise, somehow, the British have been dirtied by an influence that I might as well blame as American (cause everything wrong with every other country seems to be America’s fault): alot of English drink alot of crappy lagers. Specifically I saw Foster’s more commonly being imbibed. I assume no one but me wanted to pay for a Stella. I don’t want to be too harsh now, my inquires assured me that few people actually paid for an American Budweiser and a variety of ciders were seen. Yet, the British reputation for higher levels of dignity and taste in everyday beer consumption did not live up to the positive stereotype of warmer, flatter real ales with smooth and simple but full, rich flavor. Only some Brits went for the goods and not as many as I’d hoped. So much for England.
Prague:
Every city has parts and some of these parts are shitholes and Prague is no exception. Well maintained areas, beautiful areas or areas thriving on tourist season can vary the price of a Pilsner type beer from 26 to 70 Czech crowns (roughly 1.50 to 4 dollars). Well I do like Urquell and Staropramn is fine enough there isn’t much variety out there besides Pilsners and, well, darker Pilsners. Eh. Hop around and fine a nice clean bar in central Prague for a cold Pilsner or venture into the areas that are a more noticeably decayed and you’ll likely find a cheaper place. Don’t expect to communicate in English.
Paris:
If you like drinking beer only, don’t go to Paris. Beer prices in the desirable, affluent areas are shocking to an American student’s wallet; 5 Euros (7 dollars) for a pint of nearly anything (even shit beer) and 3.80 Euro something in the 25 cl size. You’d have to dig harder in American to find a decent beer or just something new, I felt; so no fucking point in even trying to drink beer in Paris. Just buy a corkscrew and drink cheap wine in your hotel room. Probably better than most wine in the States, anyway…
New news out on SciFi wire: Frank Darabont is ready to work on a film adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 again. The production is waiting on the confirmation of one person, presumably a potential cast member. io9 suggests George Clooney and I pray it isn’t Zack Efron. You already know my choices for dream-team cast; maybe the answer we’re waiting for is Daniel Day Lewis . . . to confirm his role as Captain Beatty.
Darabont also suggested that he wants to get the show on the road before Bradbury, 88, kicks the bucket and all of the libraries he is trying to save go the way of the home in “There Will Come Soft Rains” without his patient stewardship. Let’s do it right this time, Frank.
The legislature was warned. Individuals had over a month to contact their respective representatives demanding what Lori Sturdevant called an intrinsic trait of government in Minnesota: compromise. Yesterday, Tim Pawlenty unveiled how he would personally pare down the Minnesota budget to ensure the state wouldn’t increase its deficit; nearly three billion dollars in “unallotments” and accounting tricks. Most of the money came from public education funding and money granted to city governments across the state.
Pawlenty said yesterday that “nearly every state in the union is facing the same or similar budget situations. Minnesotans and people all across this country have faced this economic crisis by tightening their belts. . . . I think it’s very reasonable for the state of Minnesota to do the same. That means living on a little less for a while.” The motivating force behind the uproar is the debate between which method of governance will reinvigorate the economy more thoroughly and speedily. Prominent liberals espouse neo-liberal economics (creating demand by injecting borrowed money into the economy), tactics similar to those pursued by President Obama, more fiercely by NY Times columnist Paul Krugman and, generally, ex-President George W. Bush. On the other side of the aisle, fiscal conservatives admonish unbacked spending and tighter regulation. They argue that, in the face of larger debt and fewer opportunities for free-market capitalism, the upturn of the economy will take much longer and be devastating to the average citizen’s financial endurance.
Pawlenty has, admirably, made a name for himself by doing one simple thing: keeping a campaign promise. In all of his years as governor he has not raised taxes (except one minor cigarette tax) and conservatives at the national level love the heck out of that.
While many hard-line Democrats in the legislature are essentially denouncing Tim Pawlenty as a conservative autocrat, the response from many is that, all in all, it could have been worse. People like myself, however, have probably been hit the hardest. University of Minnesota funding has been dropped by $50 million. Although tuition hikes aren’t necessarily planned for the next school year, with greater reduction planned for 2010 I know I’ll see a high bill soon. Also, part of the budget revisions will reduce the amount I receive for my Renter’s Credit tax rebate, decreasing my refund by up to 30%. Ouch. Watch out college juniors! You just got owned.
Notice the humility that Obama begins with, by acknowledging first the sovereignty of Iran and the Iranian people; America’s opinion (which he then reasonably adds to) is not and should not be the ultimate description of Iran’s internal conflicts.
McCain, however, doesn’t seem to sense the general mistrust and and regret that many people express over the Cold War; there were complex and compelling reasons for the political posturing that occurred then, I’m sure, but significant doubt remains.
McCain should be reminded that damning language comes off as hubris; we feel that same every time Osama throws off criticism upon us. We should not be criticizing the events of Iran without making room for the autonomy of the Iranian people.
