Snow Patrol’s new album came out on the 9th. “Eyes Open.” I guess we know what tonight’s iTunes purchase is going to be…
Monthly Archives: May 2006
A quote for this dreary Monday.
Some measure of generality must be present in any high-class theorem, but too much tends inevitably to inspidity. ‘Everything is what it is, and not another thing’, and the differences between things are quite as interesting as their resemblances. We do not choose our friends because they embody all the pleasant qualities of humanity, but because they are the people they are. And so in mathematics; a property common to too many objects can hardly be very exciting, and mathematical ideas also become dim unless they have lenty of individuality.
–GH Hardy “A Mathematician’s Apology”
Wow.
Really great interview with Gina Frangello, author of “My Sister’s Continent” a very intense book that kept me awake all the way to Australia…, here. Some great info about the publishing industry.
I am such a good cousin. And – Boys Suck. As usual.
Here’s an email response I wrote for one of my cousins who has a jackhat sending her the most ridiculous emails on earth. The items in bold = those are where I am quoting him back at him.
Dear [name removed to protect the GUILTY],
When I said “I won’t meet up with you for dinner”, I was being honest to where my feelings were at the time, but not entirely true of my overall feelings about you. I did not mean “I won’t meet up with you for dinner next week”, I meant “I do not want to see you, speak to you, or get emails from you ever again.” By “next week”, I meant “for eternity.” By “I won’t meet up with you,” I meant “I do not want you in my life.” I just thought you should know that–however hurtful it may be. I just have a difficult time understanding when there are what I perceive as conflicting desires. I’m sorry for how I’ve interpreted my feelings.
I hope they are clear to you now.
Sincerely,
please do not contact me ever again, stupid moron,
[name removed to protect the INNOCENT].
DangerMouse Does It Again
The mixmastered Grey Album was magnificent. Much better than the Black Album (Jay-Z). (Altho, of course, not QUITE as good as the White Album (do I need to tell you whose album the White Album is? If so, this may not be the blog for you…).)
I am in the midst of my first listen to the latest DangerMouse work: Gnarls Barkley “St Elsewhere”…and I love it. So much fun!!
Read Me Like A…
I think we all know how I feel about books. So it should be no surprise that I enjoyed this article (found via Gaper’s Block). Slightly academic toned; still enjoyable.
Cable: Godfather 1-3.
Why will I lie comatose on the couch watching HOURS of movies complete with commercials and all, when I own those very same movies on DVD and could just get up and put those in and actually a) not have to watch commercials and b) watch the entire series in a considerably shorter time frame?
Have seen #s 1 and 2 about a zillion times of course. Had only fully watched 3 one time a zillion years ago. On rewatching, I think to myself “What is everyone always crying about? 3 is not THAT BAD.” In fact, I think it is almost satisfactory. It shows how things have fallen apart, how Michael’s lack of emotion and connectedness to others (which Vito had but Michael doesn’t) has caused the disintegration. It has crazy nutso unstable Andy Garcia’s character coming in and eventually taking over (further disintegration). And I frankly don’t see anything wrong with Sofia’s acting in it.
I think everyone else is just a) bitching about nothing or b) going along w/ the party view. Fie on them. I might not think 3 is AS GOOD as 1 and 2. But there are MANY many movies out in this world that aren’t as good as 1 or 2, aren’t there.
It’s so crazy to watch this now. Anyone who was ANYONE at the time was in it. And so many of them went on to amazing careers. Not just Pacino and DeNiro (DeNiro as the young Brando — a stroke of genius) but Diane Keaton, James Caan, Michael Duvall… the list goes on and on.
KCRW’s Bookworm: Octavia Butler.
This was recorded before she died and focuses mainly on her last novel “Fledgling”, a new take on vampires. Although I have not read anything of hers, I really enjoyed listening to what issues she’s interested in exploring in her writing in general and the way in which she came around to writing this novel specifically. (The review on Amazon rhetorically asks: “How many of our happy relationships involve a degree of dominance or dependence that we can’t acknowledge?”) But, man, this book sounds NUTS. (In a good way.)
Beyond exploring Butler’s oeuvre, thinking about this type of book in general really makes me want to reread old stuff like Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley, which I haven’t read since…the early 90s sometime I think, in grad school.
DVD: Just Like Heaven.
I liked this more than I thought I would. Mark Ruffalo is really cute in it, the interactions are funny & sweet. And really the only thing keeping me from outright raving about it is the unreality of the concept. Unlike say this movie that I am (albeit abashedly) raving about, the “plot” of Just Like Heaven couldn’t actually happen TO ME and that’s really what I’m looking for in a rom-com. I guess it could happen TO YOU, if you believe in Napoleon Dynamite and seeing spirits. Neither of which turn me on.