dorkTASTIC!

How did I choose to Read books 32-52??

2011-12-06T23:36:00.001-05:00

A while back I started a post not just reviewing books (since anyone can review a book), but instead explaining how I came to read those specific books. I will now finish that for the remaining books I read this year. Starting at book #32:

32. A Game of Thrones- George RR Martin 809 Pages -- A
I loved the HBO show. On a whim I bought the books on Amazon when I saw a deal where they were selling the books for approximately $20 for the first four books. I wasn't sure I'd like the books, but I figured why not. I guess you can tell, I liked them. If anyone's looking to read these themselves I recommend this cheap set: http://www.amazon.com/Books-Thrones-Clash-Kings-Swords/dp/B005CC0CMC/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1323232864&sr=8-22

33. A Clash of Kings - George RR Martin 969 Pages - A
I didn't expect to jump right into this second book in the series. I thought I would space them out and take my time, but that's not really my style I guess. I couldn't help myself. I had to know what was going to happen to the characters. Especially since reading the first book was a lot like just watching the TV show again which I had just watched a few months prior.

34. Shopgirl - Steve Martin   130 Pages -- B+
Earlier in the year, I read An Object of Beauty, Steve Martin's newest novel about a young woman. I happened to be in my laundry room and saw his earlier novel from about 10 years ago covering a similar subject matter. I had seen the movie, but didn't remember it. The book was good and smart, but I'm happy he expanded the themes of his newest novel.

35. A Storm of Swords -- George RR Martin   1,128 Pages -- A+
I read a short book, but couldn't stay away from the world George Martin has sucked me into. I went back after a short hiatus and am happy I did so since this was the best book I read this year, and one of the best books I've ever read in my life.

36. No Country For Old Men - Cormac McCarthy   309 Pages --C+
I found this in my laundry room when I found Shopgirl. I don't get Cormac McCarthy. After reading this and The Road, I have officially decided he's not for me.

37. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler   230 Pages-- B-
This was my book club book, so I ordered it from the library and read it quickly so I could run back to my world of Dragons, Direwolves and Kingslaying.

38. A Feast For Crows -- George RR Martin   976 Pages -- A
I could only stay away for one book before reading the final book in the set that I bought. I thought I would save it, but I couldn't.

39. A Dance With Dragons -- George RR Martin 959 Pages -- A
I went out with my friend Mike and he told me he had the book and said since he was a little behind me he wouldn't get to it for a few weeks. If I could promise to read it, and give it back within 3 weeks I could have it. So I jumped at the opportunity to catch up with all the other fans and then to dive into the websites for theorizing.

40. The Postmortal -- Drew Magary 365 Pages   -- B+
The newest book club book had to be read. While walking through the rough aisles of Comicon, I happened to see that the book that was assigned was being sold at the nerd-haven. Without thinking, I bought the book just so I had it

41. The Tao of Pooh -- Benjamin Hoff 158 Pages -- B-
One weekend I went over my friend Evan's house. He is a fellow lover of books and had a sweeping bookshelf of books that I was interested in reading. I told him about my challenge and he mentioned that he was sure he had a ton of short, good books. The next few books on this list come from Evan's shelf.

42. After The Quake -- Haruki Murakami   145 Pages -- A-
I got Evan into Murakami when I read The Wind-up Bird Chronicles. Since then, we have both read a few of his books. Evan had this one so I stole it before even he had read it.

43. The House on Mango Street -- Sandra Cisneros 110 Pages -- C
While going through Evan's books, Aubrey asked if she could borrow this one. He said OK. I decided to read the book simply because it was in my apartment and it was short. It bored me.

44. Techno Pulp - Arty Nelson 203 Pages -- C-
Evan recommended this book saying he enjoyed it while he was traveling through Europe when he was 20. I can see why it may have appealed to him, but reading it as a 34 year old, I couldn't relate as well. But it fit my length criteria. And the only good thing is I read it on the day my nephew was born.

45. Son of Neptune -- Rick Riordan 513 Pages -- C+
I've read all of Rick Riordan's Demi-god series of books. My brother works for Disney publishing and this is one of his biggest sellers. My brother gave this book to me and since they are quick, fun page-turners I decided to read it. And I was getting sick of reading short books.

46. Black Swan Green -- David Mitchell 294 Pages -- B-
Evan gave me this book. David Mitchell is an author that he is in love with and I find to be very smart and very good. This was not his crowning achievement (for that read Cloud Atlas).

47. Bodega Dreams -- Ernesto Quionez 213 Pages -- B+
Another book that Evan recommended to me. I had no expectations of this book which is a retelling of The Great Gatsby but in present-day Spanish Harlem. I was pleasantly surprised by this story and how well the story was told in today's day.

48. Miracle on the 17th Green -- James Patterson 195 Pages -- B
This summer I really got into golf. This book was a book about golf by an Author who I have read at least 10 novels by. I know he's a short read, and this was about golf. I saw it on the library shelf and figured I would knock it out in a day. I was right (I read it on the Friday after Thanksgiving), I just wasn't expecting to enjoy this sappy, predictable melodrama as much as I did.

49. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- F. Scott Fitzgerald   63 pages-- C-
I had seen the movie, but I had just read Bodega Dreams and didn't want to re-read Gatsby. But I figured Fitzgerald deserved some respect.   I saw it in the library and it was only 3pages long with pictures. It took 45 minutes to read.   Oh yeah--- It's also one of the rare instances where the book is better and longer than the movie. And I didn't really like the movie.

50. Piercing - Ryu Murakami 185 Pages -- B+
Ryu Mrakami's books are always next to Hiraku Murakami in the library. I've always been interested in what I see and heart his books were good, but disturbing. After reading this one, I agree. He's like the Japanese Chuck Palahniuk and that's a good thing.

51. While Mortals Sleep -- Kurt Vonnegut 255 Pages -- C+
Saw this in the libraray and being someone that needs to read everything by an author, this series of unpublished short stories by the man needed to be read. So I grabbed it off the shelf.

52. The Visible Man -- Chuck Kloserman   225 Pages -
The first book I read this year was Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman. I have never read his fiction before, but saw it in the library and thought there was something fitting about reading my 52nd book of the year by the same author that I read the first by. I'm glad I read this book. Although I'm getting sick of Klosterman's style and his obsession with what "matters and means" and if something is "important" (Seriously!!! Read anything he writes and check out how many times he uses those words Like This Article)

52 Books in 52 Weeks

2011-12-06T23:17:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry to my loyal reader. But I've been busy. It has been over 2 months since my last post, but I was a man on a mission. In the beginning of the year I attempted to read 52 books in 52 weeks. I was on a great pace and then I decided to read the Game of Thrones novels which are approximately 1000 pages each and there were five of them.
Well, I finished that, but when I did I realized I had only read 39 books and there were about 12 weeks left. That meant I had to read 14 books in that time period. So I decided to "cheat". Of course, I made up the rules, but I decided to try and only read "short" books. Now this doesn't mean there is anything wrong with a short book vs. a long book, but I normally don't plan my reading this way. But even though I wanted to read shorter books, this does not mean there was not a ton of quality in these books, nor does it mean these were not books I didn't want to read. I just chose not to read some books that are longer than some that are shorter. For example: I'm sure if I wasn't trying to complete this challenge, I would have read the newest Stephen King book by now, but since it is about 1100 pages long, I felt it could wait. The best part is that I finished a little early. I will most likely read about 55 books this year instead of the 52 I expected to read.
So now: 18,032 pages later, an average page count of 346.77 pages later, please humor me and take a look at all the books I read this year. The books breakdown as 41 Fiction Novels, 8 Non-Fiction and 3 collections of short stoies: Included is the approximate date it was read (the month), the page count and the letter grade I would give as a rating from A-F.

Enjoy:

Number	Book	Author	Pages	Rating	Date
1	Eating The Dinosaur -	Chuck Klosterman	270	B	Jan-11
2	Catching Fire -	Suzanne Collins	391	B+	Jan-11
3	Full Dark, No Stars -	Stephen King	368	B	Jan-11
4	Endurance: Shakleton's Incredible Voyage -	Alfred Lansing	280	A-	Jan-11
5	Mockingjay -	Suzanne Collins	290	B-	Feb-11
6	The Vintage Caper -	Peter Mayle	225	C-	Feb-11
7	Brains: A Zombie Memoir -	Robin Becker	182	C	Feb-11
8	As God Commands -	Niccolo Ammaniti	405	A	Feb-11
9	Never Let Me Go -	Kazou Ishiguro	288	B	Mar-11
10	Mr. Funny Pants -	Michael Showalter	250	B+	Mar-11
11	The Book Thief -	Markus Zusak	550	B	Mar-11
12	Cross Fire -	James Patterson	350	C	Mar-11
13	The Big Short -	Michael Lewis	266	B+	Mar-11
14	South of the Border, West of the Sun -	Haruki Murakami	213	A	Mar-11
15	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time -	Mark Haddon	225	B+	Mar-11
16	On Writing -	Stephen King	300	B+	Mar-11
17	Zombie Spaceship Wasteland -	Patton Oswalt	191	D+	Apr-11
18	Everything Is Going To Kill Everybody -	Robert Brockway	260	C-	Apr-11
19	House of Leaves -	Mark Z. Danielewski	710	B	Apr-11
20	20th Century Ghosts -	Joe Hill	310	B+	May-11
21	Jar City -	Arnaldur Indridason	285	D	May-11
22	The Day I Turned Uncool -	Dan Zevin	172	C+	May-11
23	Flatland -	Edwin A. Abbott	118	B+	May-11
24	Room -	Emma Donoghue	322	A-	May-11
25	A Visit From The Goon Squad -	Jennifer Egan	342	A	Jun-11
26	Super Sad True Love Story -	Gary Shteyngart	332	A-	Jun-11
27	The Red Pyramid -	Rick Riordan	516	C+	Jun-11
28	The Throne of Fire -	Rick Riordan	450	C	Jun-11
29	An Object Of Beauty -	Stever Martin	293	A-	Jul-11
30	Tell-All -	Chuck Palahniuk	179	D+	Jul-11
31	The Imperfectionists -	Tom Rachman	265	B+	Jul-11
32	A Game of Thrones -	George R.R. Martin	809	A	Jul-11
33	A Clash of Kings -	George R.R. Martin	969	A	Aug-11
34	Shopgirl -	Steve Martin	130	B+	Aug-11
35	A Storm of Swords -	George R.R. Martin	1128	A+	Sep-11
36	No Country For Old Men -	Cormac McCarthy	309	C+	Sep-11
37	The Big Sleep -	Raymond Chandler	230	B-	Sep-11
38	A Feast For Crows -	George R.R. Martin	976	A	Sep-11
39	A Dance With Dragons -	George R.R. Martin	959	B+	Oct-11
40	The Postmortal -	Drew Magary	365	B+	Oct-11
41	Tao of Pooh -	Benjamin Hoff	158	B-	Oct-11
42	After The Quake -	Haruki Murakami	145	B	Oct-11
43	The House on Mango Street -	Sandra Cisneros	110	C	Nov-11
44	Techno Pulp -	Arty Nelson	203	C-	Nov-11
45	Son of Neptune -	Rick Riordan	513	C	Nov-11
46	Black Swan Green -	David Mitchell	294	B-	Nov-11
47	Bodega Dreams -	Enersto Quinonez	213	B+	Nov-11
48	Miracle on the 17th Green -	James Patterson	195	B	Nov-11
49	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -	F. Scott Fitzgerald	63	C-	Nov-11
50	Piercing -	Ryu Murakami	185	B+	Nov-11
51	While Mortals Sleep -	Kurt Vonnegut	255	C+	Dec-11
52	The Visible Man	Chuck Klosterman	225	B+	Dec-11

Charlie Kaufman tells a story

2011-10-04T22:21:00.004-04:00

Roger Ebert tweeted this story little story that Charlie Kaufman wrote: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/03/charlie-kaufman-how-to-write

It made me think about him. Like most people, I first was exposed to Charlie Kaufman when Being John Malkovich came out in 1999. Retroactively, it seems that I've been a fan since Get A Life. But I really liked this little story he wrote about himself. Two things I liked about it:
a) I really like the exercise. Much like in his movies, he was able to break down a simple concept that I never even thought of and make it thought provoking. He seems to be the king of deconstruction a story which is what he did when thinking about the difference in how you tell a story the first time vs. the hundredth.

b) I was really surprised by how simply his story was told. What I mean is, I really liked how the words he used were simple, direct and to the point.

I looked him up on IMDB after reading this article and realized he hasn't done anything in three years and has nothing in the works. Hopefully Charlie Kaufman will work on something soon, because so fare all of his movies have been different, smart and fun. Those are three things that are very tough to merge, but he seems to find a way to make it happen whenever he writes something new.

Song of Ice and Fire

2011-09-29T23:51:00.002-04:00

I began my journey into Westeros on July 19th and now 73 days and 3,882 pages later I have caught up on the first 4 books of the series by George RR Martin. I have not been this caught up and addicted to a series of books since the first time I read through the Stephen King's Dark Tower series or watching the first few seasons of LOST. There is really nothing I can say about the plot and story because telling anything will give away too much.
The only thing I will write here is for people like me that enjoyed the HBO TV show and are worried that the remaining books/seasons of the show can't be as good as that first one I will say that after reading the rest book 1 really was just set-up and the tip of the iceberg for what comes next.

I'm impressed by how the books are written because Martin has a way of writing that almost makes every chapter a cliff-hanger with enormous cliff-hangers at the end of each novel. I know I've also mentioned this before on this blog, but I love how I cannot predict anything. Everytime I think I have an idea of the direction the story is headed something happens that makes the story go in the complete other way.

These are some of the most fleshed-out characters of anything I've ever read (I know they better be after almost 4,000 pages), but no one is really a villain or a hero. In fact, after four books, I still am not sure who the overall VILLAIN of the series is going to be (like Sauron is in LOTR or the Crimson King is in Dark Tower), or how the story can ever end. Some of my favorite characters were introduced midway through book 2 and didn't even last until the end because of one of the other reasons I love this series: No one seems to be safe. The main characters change from chapter to chapter and they are not lacking interesting people.

I am ecstatic that there is a fifth book already available, while at the same time I am already dreading the waiting that will come between book 5 and book 6, especially since there was a 6 year hiatus between book 4 and book 5. What will this mean for me over the next few years? Besides disappointment, I think there may be a chance I will have to read other fantasy series that I've stayed away from in the past due a) being overwhelmed and b) thinking I wouldn't enjoy it. If anyone has any recommendations of things I should be reading, please pass it on.

Next up, getting back to my goal of finishing 52 books this year. I am now up to 28 books. So that means I have 12 weeks to read 14 books. I know I can do it if I cheat and read some short books (and I probably will), but I really like my way of picking up books as they come to me and there are some great, long books coming out soon including Stephen King's new 1000 page tome. That along with Book 5 of this series, it's going to be tight. Wish me luck, but in the meantime please read these books. I need more people to discuss this with.

Best of the Week Mid-September

2011-09-18T21:45:00.002-04:00

Best Movie I Saw: Now that summer is ending and Netflix is super-expensive and quickly shrinking my portfolio, I have decided to get back to using it again. Over the last few weeks I've been watching a movie a week on Neflix and most have been pretty good. My two newest additions to my personal library has been Paul and Super.
Much like how Shaun of the Dead was a love-letter to Zombie films, and Hot Fuzz was dedicated to the buddy-cop flicks of the 1980s, this one was an homage to the two types of films: The early films of Steven Spielberg and the alien movies of the 1980s. This had many shout-outs to some classic movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Aliens and (of course) E.T. Paul is a silly alien movie, but if you're looking for something funny you could do much worse.

Both Paul and Super are "comic book movies", but neither have ever been comic books, but they will both be loved by people that enjoy that genre. Paul even had the beginning and ending of the movie take place at the comic book Mecca that is San Diego's Comicon. While Super takes a concept that is becoming popular of someone with no training, or powers deciding to become a superhero for all the wrong reasons. The thing that makes Super different is its realistic violence. Rainn Wilson stars as a guy that has some serious problems, and after a traumatic event decides to become a Batman type of superhero but with literally no means or skill. It leads to some pretty sick outcomes, but you should not expect anything else from a writer-director that got started with the Troma studio.
Best TV Show I Saw: Since I cannot think of anything off the top of my head that I've seen lately, I can only assume the best thing I saw on TV was the return of the NFL. I'm so happy you're back football. I missed you.
Best Thing I Read: Once again I'm on a reading kick. This week the best thing I read though was easily the newest collection of Locke & Key entitled Keys to the Kingdom. Joe Hill continues the story of the Locke kids and their struggle against the Dark Lady. This issue really was probably the best one yet since the stakes get even higher especially with the latest cliff-hanger where this story ends. The highlight though (besides the amazing conclusion) was the one chapter showing the month of February where each page correlated to one day of the 28 days that hath February. I'm surprised no one has ever done this in a comic book before since comic books have 30 pages normally. In the thousands of comics I've read in my life I can't believe I never thought of that and no one else had done it either.

I also read: No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I guess he's not a writer for me. I read The Road a few years ago and I know that people love it, but I didn't get it. I thought it was a badly written post-apocalyptic story that I've read hundreds of times before. No Country was a little better, but I really do not like his writing style. McCarthy writes in a very simplistic was that must be nice for people that don't read much, but there is no description. McCarthy just writes "He did this and He did that...." it gets very repetitious and I found it boring. Then he also chooses to not write with any quotation marks when his characters are talking. It makes for a confusing read at times when you're not sure who is speaking or if it is dialogue or just narration.
The story itself is fine and I really liked the ending of the book which was different than the movie. But the writing style was such a turn off that I've basically decided no matter how good people say any of this other books may be, I will just figure like his other books, it's just not for me.

Best Thing I Heard: Aubrey did a great thing the other day. She bought tickets to the band The National. We both were pretty huge fans of their previous CD and especially the song Fake Empire. We saw that the band was going to be playing The Beacon Theater in December and before going to that show we figured we should have their most recent CD, High Violet, which was released last year. We listened to the CD on a road-trip this weekend about 3 times. It is surprisingly great. I am not good about explaining style of music, but lately I'm most interested in music that has songs that build. Songs that start slow or deconstructed that build up until they reach an apex of sound. Other bands that I love that seem to have this style are Muse, Radiohead, Airborne Toxic Event and Secret Machines Songs like this one really make me happy and now I'm even more excited for this show in December. As always: My recommendation is to play this VERY LOUD:

Best of the Week - First Week of September

2011-09-05T22:00:00.002-04:00

Constant Reader.
It has been a few weeks since my last update, but so I will catch you up on what I've been enjoying these past few weeks.
I survived the Hurricane and loved every second of it, and with summer winding down, I'm looking forward to football and hopefully some better TV. Although, for more of an update into what has been taking up most of my time, be sure to check out my other blog chronicling the adventures of the house Aubrey and I are still renovating here

Best TV show I saw:
This season of Louie has been absolutely extraordinary. The episode where he went to Afghanistan was a great tribute to our soldiers as well as a fun little reminder of how animals can bring people together. If you're not watching this show, you made an error.
Also, while I was waiting out the storm of Hurricane Irene at my friends Bridget and Chris's apartment I got to talking about Game of Thrones. Since they had never seen it and we really had no where to go and nothing else to do, we turned on the first episode which was available on HBO On Demand. Long story short - we watched all ten episodes together back to back. What a great series this was and as you all know I've been reading the books and was able to understand everything much better this time around as well as see some seeds planted in the show that I did not catch the first time through.
Other shows I've been enjoying: True Blood, and Weeds are still not great, but have been better this season. Curb Your Enthusiasm has also been particularly solid this year as well with yesterday's Bill Buckner episode being my favorite over the past few weeks.

Best Movie I saw: No contest here. I watched a movie that I knew nothing about and was absolutely overjoyed with. The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon was a fun Science Fiction story that was really well acted and crafted. Some additional reasons I loved this movie: It takes place in New York City and really uses the city better than most movies. Additionally, I loved that they were accurate as to where the people were. For example, if someone is walking up 24th street, the come to Madison Square Park right after that. Then if they turn downtown, the next street is 23rd and then 22nd. I can't tell you how many times I watch a movie and places don't line up and I hate it. The only negative was knowing that the building Matt Damon lives in is the office building I actually work in on 24th and Madison, so I know for sure that there are no apartments in there. But because it made sense for the story, I allowed that minor "adjustment" to the story.

I also watched: Cedar Rapids which had some funny parts.

Also, and as I type this I am finishing up the Star Trek movie marathon that Cinemax played today during labor day. I watched almost all of the following movies today (with some omissions for running and eating): Star Trek II, III, IV, V, VI and VIII (First Contact) - which is just ending now.

Best Book I read: I knew my herculean task of reading The Song of Ice and Fire would slow me up and consume my life, and I was right. I am currently on page 800/1150 of book three of that series entitled A Storm of Swords. This is so far the best of the books with so much happening that I could never have predicted. I have heard that the series loses a bit of its luster after this book, but I am so enraptured by these characters that I don't care. Just keep telling me their story and I will keep reading. Again, I will not give anything away about these books, but if anyone is planning on being stranded on a deserted island for a while, it would be a smart idea to bring these books along. They will keep you entertained for a long time.

Best thing I heard: I'm going to cheat here, but I went to a friend's house and watched the documentary Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story. For those that don't know, Andrew Wood was a major player in the Seattle music scene (that I am a huge fan of) in the 80s into the 90s. He was the lead singer of the band Malfunkshun as well as Mother Love Bone. He tragically died in 1990 and the key song-writers in his band went on to form Pearl Jam. This documentary compiles old footage as well as recent interviews with such people as Chris Cornell from Soundgarden (who was Wood's roommate), his brothers, mother and friends. The documentary was put together with love and honors his memory while telling his fans about Wood's battles with addiction. The movie was great and it really almost made me fall in love with his voice all over again. A tragic tale about a tragic soul and if you were a fan of Mother Love Bone, a necessary addition to your DVD collection. The Disc also comes with two CDs of B-Sides and older demos by Andrew Wood and his various bands throughout the years.

What's wrong with you TV????

2011-08-25T21:22:00.002-04:00

I was looking over this year's television schedule and I realized, I don't think I'm going to be adding any more new shows to my DVR. This has everything to do with two factors: 1) I find that if I don't get "into" a show, I never really care and therefore never miss it once it goes away. 2) I love to be entertained, and everything I'm seeing looks cookie cutter and not that great.

Then I find out that a comic book that I absolutely LOVE had a pilot made based on it. You can watch that pilot here:
http://io9.com/5834214/watch-the-trailer-for-locke--key-the-beautiful-horror-series-that-never-was

This book is written by the fantastic, up and coming writer Joe Hill (aka Stephen King's son, but we don't even NEED to mention that -- but it helps). There are currently approximately 30 issues of this comic book, but each issue I have read has multiple layers and needs more than one read through to fully understand and grasp everything. He is building a mythology where a small book in the back of a panel comes back 20 issues later to play a very important piece in the lives of the Locke family.

The story is simple: A teacher is attacked and murdered by a crazy student and the rest of the family but the patriarch moves back to their father's old house in a small town in Maine. While there, the kids discover that the house has numerous keys that allow the user of the keys to open doors into other worlds, and other fantastic possibilities. Each book seems to introduce us to a new key and a new piece into the mystery as to why their father was murdered. Could it be because of the strange woman that lives at the bottom of the well?

Needless to say, I love this series and this TV show looked very similar to the movie and definitely seemed to capture its heart. But Fox passed on it. I'm not sure why, but it seems that I will never see Locke and Key on the small screen or large. But since Hill and his artist Gabriel Rodriguez have promised a concluding end to this series, I will at least always have the show in my head. But the attached trailer really makes me upset about the possibilities.

Below are some examples of the great art of the series too:

Best of the Week -MIddle of August

2011-08-20T20:16:00.009-04:00

Best Book I Read:
- I took a slight break from my Song of Ice and Fire books. Last weekend I was in the laundry room and I saw that someone left Steve Martin's Shopgirl. Since I really enjoyed An Object of Beauty, I picked it up and decided to read it. Shopgirl tells the story of a 28 year old woman who is trying to find her place in LA. She meets and dates an man twice her age and learns a lot about herself. But the story is not the highlight of this short novella, it is Martin's writing. His descriptive writing sets a mood to the story that is part dark humor but exceptionally descriptive. Everyone should give this book a chance and I have officially decided to read anything Steve Martin releases.
And for the record: I saw the movie probably about 5 years ago and fell asleep. Do not judge this book by that movie. The movie did not have the narration.

I also read: A Graphic Novel published by DC's Vertigo imprint called Daytripper by twin brothers Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon. This was my choice for my book club and thought it would be interesting to have people that do not normally read comic books read one. I have been in this book club for almost two years and it is made up of people whose opinion about books I have learned to respect and wanted to know what they thought about this. The club is made up of comic book readers and non-readers alike and thought those that don't read comics would have some great input. The meeting is tomorrow, and look forward to the results but I have to admit I was not super-excited about my pick after reading it.
I have read some great comics in the last few years but decided to not pick something I had read in the past. The story follows a man who is a writer of obituaries and the gimmick of the novel is it tells 10 different stories in his life when he might have died and ends with his obit. I am not 100% sure of the point of the book and what it was trying to say about life. I need to think about that before tomorrow's meeting, but the gimmick became too gimmicky for me near the end which upset me.
As for the GRAPHIC part of the novel, the art was quite beautiful It also used some fun techniques of showing more then telling which I'm sure we will discuss tomorrow. Until then I will leave this before my re-read of the book before tomorrow's meeting.

I may not blog about books for a while since I have found my way back to Westernos reading part three of Song of Ice and Fire

Best Movie I Saw:
Heading out to see Captain America now, but saw the decent Source Code this week. The ending didn't make much sense, but it was a fun little movie that was reminiscent of a really good Quantum Leap episode for the tech age. I thought it actually would make more sense as a TV show than a movie with that strange, tacked on ending.
Visually, the movie was quite amazing since Duncan Jones I think has some talent, but ultimately it was flawed. Also, I like Dunkin Donuts and their coffee, but the product placement was absolutely distracting and just annoying.

I also watched: Netflix had Moonstruck available on streaming. I had never seen it, and was pleasantly disappointed in it. For over 20 years I avoided this movie because it never called to me for whatever reason. Turns out, it's just not for me. I watched it and was mostly bored by it. It also felt dated and I just didn't see the point.
- I also was in a bad mood on Monday and in order to pick up my spirits I watched for the 8th time or so Louis CK's stand up special that is available for streaming on Netflix: Chewed Up. This may be the funniest hours of comedy I've ever seen. In the past it has caused such uncontrollable laughter on my part that I spilled more than once on my couch and floor when I realized I was going to spill a second time and sat on the floor to not ruin my couch any more than it already was.

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels

2011-08-12T23:50:00.003-04:00

NPR has release the "Best" Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels ever. Of the list (which you can access here), I have read 26 of them and am in the middle of reading the 27th with The Song of Ice and Fire. I find it strange and confusing that sometimes they choose entire series as one book like Lord of the Rings while others they just include one book like Dune even though there is an entire series of Dune books.
I can't quite figure out their criteria, but for those that want to take a look please take a look at the list, or just look below for a list with no descriptions:

For those curious, books in BOLD I have seen. Books with an (m) after them I have seen the movie, so have a pretty basic idea of the premise

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin - (reading...)

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov - (m)

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (m)

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke - (m)

25. The Stand, by Stephen King

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein - (m)

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams - (m)

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells - (m)

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne - (m)

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan -(m)

51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman 0 (m)

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

54. World War Z, by Max Brooks

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle -(m)

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson - (m)

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb

70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne -(m)

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Two Down.... Three to go?

2011-08-12T23:26:00.003-04:00

This morning on my way to work I finished reading A Clash of Kings.

These books have kind of consumed my every waking moment. I find myself thinking about the characters and imagining every twist and turn that may come in their life.

My favorite part of this series is that I have yet to predict one thing correctly. Every time I think Martin is foreshadowing something or leading the story down a certain path, I always find almost the exact opposite to happen. A character gets introduced that I expect to be a hero/main character and they die within 100 pages, or I think a certain character will meet up with another character, but it ends up that they go in completely different directions.

But no matter what happens, these characters are some of the best and most fleshed out I've ever read. Everyone from the main characters that provide the ongoing narration: Trion, Jon, Bran, Sansa, Theon, Daenerys, Arya and Catelyn. But I find it fascinating of a literary device to have amazingly written characters that are not providing the narration who are just as important as those that do - Sometimes even moreso. These characters include Cersei, Jaime, Robb, Stannis, Renley, Shae, Littlefinger, Varys, The Hound and hundreds more that I cannot list.

I love the fact that I have only finished book 2 of the 5 that are already written and the proposed 7 book series. These books are well written, interesting, addicting and just simply good.

I do worry that because of them I most likely will not complete my 52 books in 52 weeks that I hoped to accomplish. But that is a small price to pay.

Maybe I'm being naive, but I cannot think of a person that would not enjoy these books. The action, drama and writing will make even the most non-fantasy/sci-fi reader a fan.

Once again, the above artwork has been is provided by the talented Corey Breen. Look up all his other artwork (not just Song of Ice and Fire related) at his blog (http://cjbpro.blogspot.com/) or his website http://www.cjbpro.com/

Best of the Week - First Week of May

2011-08-07T16:12:00.004-04:00

Once again it's been a while, but there is mostly a reason. My prediction from two posts ago came to pass: I have become an addict. I started Game of Thrones and it immediately took over my life. I burned through the first book and am now about 2/3 of the way through book two: A Clash of Kings. There is no reason to even review or discuss these books in this blog because a) I'm sure everyone that wants to read anything about them can find places on the internet for discussion and b) I am sure to have a monster blog post on it at some point in the future. So unless I actually have something else to post, assume the Best thing I read is A Song of Ice and Fire - whatever book I happen to be on. But I may have to take a break at some point in time as a way to recharge myself to get ready for the next point. But I think I am in love with Tyrion and as a result, I will post my friend Corey's awesome drawing of the Lannister Imp:

But I have gotten back on the movie watching train and have started using my Netflix again. And I have seen some pretty great movies in the last few weeks. I will give my quick reviews on the movies I've watched below:
- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: As a movie fan, it is absolutely shocking that I have never seen this classic Western from 1965 before one week ago. All in all, this movie was quite great as expected. It is on every "Best of" list for a reason. A few quick observations about it. 1) I was shocked at how funny it was. Especially Eli Wallach's "ugly" Tuco providing amazing comedic touches to this western. 2) Much like the first time I saw Casablanca for the first time a few years ago, I was shocked how much of the movie I already knew simply because I have lived in this pop-culture obsessed world. Many classic scenes have been referenced in numerous other places that I recognized and now can see the reference used in the past. And I'm not even including the classic score of the film. 3) Additionally, I now understand many of Tarantino's influences even more.

- I didn't plan this, but the same week I watched a classic Western, I watched probably the best Western from last year. True Grit by The Coen Brothers was a solid movie from beginning to end. The acting and especially the cinematography was perfect. Again, I'm no expert when it comes to the Western genre, but this movie kept my attention from beginning to end and the little girl really stole the show from such great, veteran actors like Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. I did have a little problem with the ending of this movie feeling it was a little tagged on. But apparently this was more of an adaptation of the novel and I can understand how that ending would have worked in a book where I felt it didn't work so well in the movie version.

- Then last night Aubrey and I decided to watch The Kids are All Right. It's been on my list for a while and it was one of those movies that was 100% enjoyable. Well acted (I have a thing for Julianne Moore and think she can almost do no wrong), and a good little story whose moral (to me) was more for parents to relax and trust that they did a good job raising their kids. In this movie all the adults were fucked up or crazy or controlling while the kids were able to accept all the craziness around them, process it and offer good advice to those that were too stressed to deal with life and make the right decisions for themselves as well. I feel this was more important than anything about the gay family unit which was also presented well. And by "well" I mean presented as any other family with one controlling parent and one, more relaxed parent.

Best Thing on TV: I'm still only watching about four shows/week this summer (True Blood, Curb, Louis & Wilfred) but the best thing was the show I watch every day and never mention since I consider it news and not a TV show: The Daily Show. Jon Stewart has been on fire lately. He's always great, but he always seems to peak around election time. This summer, he is the only person in all media calling into question the stupidity of our elected officials and I don't want to make dorkTASTIC political in any way, but we're pretty screwed (economically) and Jon Stewart is keeping me laughing during some pretty interesting (read: crazy) times in our country's history.

How To Decide What To Read?

2011-07-19T17:13:00.002-04:00

Now that I am reading Game of Thrones, that may hinder the challenge I gave myself this year. I am a regular lurker/contributor to a specific comic book message board. It is the board dedicated to one of my favorite writers (Brian Michael Bendis) and although I don’t read many of his monthly books anymore (I can’t afford keeping up), I regularly go to his website mostly because the posters there are funny and well-informed about most-everything.

One thing they did last year was a challenge of reading 52 books in 52 weeks. Last year I kept track for myself, but fell short of their quota and only read about 40. Remember, I only consider books (novels and non-fiction) to be worthy of being counted. I also read a ton of comic books/graphic novels, but those don’t count. In fact, this year alone, I have read about 50 graphic novels along with the below list.

Luckily Game of Thrones does not appear to be as difficult of a read as I was expecting, but sheer page numbers are going to slow up my needed pace of a book a week. Luckily I am about 2 books ahead of schedule wince we are currently in the 29^th week of the year and I have already completed 30 books and may be able to keep ahead of schedule so wish me luck.

But that is not the fully intended reason for this blog post. I was thinking the other day of how much I read and how I decide what to read next. I thought this would be a way of updating my list over the last six months as well as give some insight to my reader on my thought process. For those interested, I normally use the Epiphany Library on 23rd (between 2nd & 3rd).

I have a letter grade next to each book in case anyone is interested on what I thought of the books I read, but this is not a review of each book (a more in depth review of each book is available in the previous months blog posts), but more of why I read that book at that particular time. Warning: Lots of name-dropping ahead.

1. Eating The Dinosaur - Chuck Klosterman 270 B

- A Christmas present from Aubrey’s family. A few years ago I went there for Christmas and they got me Klosterman’s then new book IV. They watched me read the entire book the day after Christmas while lounging in the Arizona winter. I did it again this Christmas, and loved every second of it.

2. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins 391 B+

- Just before the new year I had heard rave reviews of Hunger Games and loved it. I expected to get this series for Christmas, but my requests fell on deaf ears. After I got home from Arizona I picked this up from the library to find out what happened to Katniss next.

3. Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King 368 B

- Stephen King pretty much releases a book every year before Christmas. My brother, Rodge, gets them all. He reads them first, I borrow them. That’s what happened here. I had it for a while, but didn’t want to bring a heavy hardcover to Arizona. Instead, I read this book of four novellas after I got back

4. Endurance: Shakleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing 280 A-

- This was a selection by my Mike from my book club that I had to read just in time for the meeting. I put this book off expecting to be bored and loved every page. On top of that, I gave it to my father who not only loved it, but rented every movie ever made of it from Netflix.

5. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins 290 B-

- After giving back my brother’s book, and doing my duty as a book club member, I could now seek out the conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy. I found it waiting for me in the library and gobbled it up.

6. The Vintage Caper - Peter Mayle 225 C-

- When the book club was in its infant stages, my friend Sanjay was going to choose this book before deciding on The Art of Racing the Rain. My apartment’s laundry room has a “give-a-book-take-a-book” section and I saw this in there. I grabbed it one day while doing laundry, and read it quickly, the returned it.

7. Brains: A Zombie Memoir - Robin Becker 182 C

- I had nothing on my to-read pile and wanted something short. I found this book that was given to me for free at Comicon back in October. I had never read it, and it met the criteria for what I was looking for at the time.

8. As God Commands - Niccolo Ammaniti 405 A

-Book club selection from Aubrey. This was recommended to her by her good friend Bridget. I was wary of this book, mostly because of the cover. You know what they say about judging a book by its cover… Lesson learned…. Again.

9. Never Let Me Go - Kazou Ishiguro 288 B

- My manager at work mentioned this book to me and she loved it. I also knew I wanted to see the movie. I rarely like reading books of movies after seeing the movie, but don’t mind it the other way. I knew this movie was next on my Netflix queue, saw it in the library and picked it up.

10. Mr. Funny Pants - Michael Showalter 250 B+

- Saw this in the library as well. Being a huge fan of The State from back in the day, I snagged it and devoured it in two days. Hilarious!

11. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak 550 B

- My friend Alyssa has been raving about this book for years. She always told me I should borrow it, and I always forget. I have often seen it in the library and resisted picking it up and when I got Mr. Funny Pants, I decided to offset my comedic book by also getting a Holocaust book. Maybe I should have read them in opposite order so I could have read something funny after something so dire.

12. Cross Fire - James Patterson 350 C

- I read all the Alex Cross books and usually borrow them from my brother. He officially decided to give up since they are all the same (he’s right). I still like reading them even though they are repetitious and when I saw it at the library, I grabbed it.

13. The Big Short - Michael Lewis 266 B+

- Mike from my book club mentioned to me he was reading this on the side. The day he mentioned that to me, I happened to see it at the library and picked it up.

14. South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami 213 A

- I am always on the look-out for another Murakami book. Every time I go to the library I look to see if it’s there and grab it if it is. I lucked out this day by finding a book I never heard of. A hauntingly, beautiful book about one man’s mid-life crisis.

15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon 225 B+

- Chuck’s Book Club choice. I had read it about four years ago, but needed to refresh my memory before the meeting.

16. On Writing - Stephen King 300 B+

- I’ve been trying to finish up reading every Stephen King book he’s written. I had started this book back when it came out 10 years ago, but didn’t finish it (or so I remembered). I saw it at the library and wanted to read it since it was unfinished before that. Turns out, I just reread a book.

17. Zombie Spaceship Wasteland - Patton Oswalt 191 D+

- I heard Patton Oswalt on a few podcasts around that time. He was on WTF with Marc Maron, and Bill Simmons’ podcast and this book sounded great. I was never a fan of his comedy, but liked the concept of this book. Turns out the concept I liked was about 10 pages of the entire 200 page book and the other 190 pages sucked.

18. Everything Is Going To Kill Everybody - Robert Brockway 260 C-

- My friend Chris enjoyed this book and since he had recently read about 3 books I enjoyed, I decided to read a book he was talking about. It was decent, but I don’t expire any energy worrying about what’s going to kill me or how (anymore—that’s what my teenage years were for) so this book became repetitive hypothetical nonsense to me. That said: I actually enjoyed learning about these crazy things that may happen. I just don’t care how I’m going to die (I’m more curious about what/what won’t happen after.)

19. House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski 710 B

- Jessica from Book Club was going to choose this over a year ago as her book club book, but it got vetoed due to length. I’m very happy she brought this book to my attention, and I’m equally happy we didn’t read it for Book Club. Although, it could have been a great discussion, I think most people would have quit reading the book once it turned into latin (or earlier)

20. 20th Century Ghosts - Joe Hill 310 B+

- Back in October, I bought this book because I had just read Horns and wanted to read Joe Hill’s book of short stories. I never found the right time, until I needed a book for my trip to New Orleans. Something spooky was in order and the book was a paperback which is always preferred for flights.

21. Jar City - Arnaldur Indidason 285 D

- Aubrey bought this book after we went to Iceland a few years ago since it was marketed as Iceland’s answer to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. She read it and said it wasn’t good. I had to find out for myself that she was correct.

22. The Day I Turned Uncool - Dan Zevin 172 C+

- Last year my friend Jen was giving away some books she didn’t want anymore. This was in the group that Aubrey chose. Since then I have seen it. Once again, I wanted something short and this was sitting on the bookshelf.

23. Flatland - Edwin A. Abbott 118 B+

- About 3 years ago my Economics professor at grad school mentioned this book in passing. I filed it away in the back of my mind to keep my eye on. Then while reading 20^th Century Ghosts it was referenced in a short story and my brain made a mental note. I put it on reserve at the library and when it finally came in I read it. A very old, clever satire.

24. Room - Emma Donoghue 322 A-

- Had seen tons of people on the train reading this and heard it was disturbing. Being someone that needs to attempt to be disturbed, and seeing it on the New Release bookshelf meant I had to read it.

25. A Visit From The Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan 342 A

- Another book club book this time from Sanjay. I had to read it, but my favorite part was when I saw him after he chose the book and looked him in the eye and said “You just looked at the titles for every book on the NY Times Best Seller list, saw the word ‘Goon’ and decided that’s the one, didn’t you?” His response: “Almost exactly!”

26. Super Sad True Love Story - Gary Shteyngart 332 A-

- I spent the night with my friends Dan and Casey a few months ago. In conversation Casey asked me if I ever read this book. I said I never heard of it. She went into the other room, came back with this book and said “Enjoy”. It took me a few months before I got around to it do to its length and my other books, but after Aubrey read it and told me it had a lot of similarities to Goon Squad, I decided to read it.

27. The Red Pyramid - Rick Riordan 516 C+

- My brother woks for Disney publishing. This series is their number one seller. He gave me this book months ago and I forgot about it. He gave me the sequel in June and that reminded me I had the original. I had just read three HEAVY books, I wanted something lighter, and this was there.

28. The Throne of Fire - Rick Riordan 450 C

- Even though I didn’t love the first book, it was a quick read. So I decided to knock out the second one as well. Afterwards I donated them to my laundry room and whoever had kids that might enjoy these fun tales.

29. An Object Of Beauty - Stever Martin 293 A-

- You guessed it. I saw this at the library and knew I liked Steve Martin, but had never read any of his novels. I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did.

30. Tell-All - Chuck Palahniuk 179 D+

- While at the library I usually do a pass of my favorite authors just to see what might be in. I’ve read most of Palahniuk’s books, but had not even heard of this one. Upon completion, I wish I never checked it out. Only saving grace: It took 2 days to read.

31. The Imperfectionists Tom Rachman 265 A-

- Another book I’ve seen people reading on the train, and the font on the book always jumped out at me while in the library. Also, I confused the author with Tom Perotta and thought this was his newest one. So, this was one of those happy accident books since it was very similar to Goon Squad and quite good.

I know this is probably more information than anyone ever wanted, but it’s a peek into how I think. For anyone that stumbles upon this blog, but more importantly for me in 10 years when I look back.

A Song of Ice and Fire

2011-07-19T12:04:00.004-04:00

I just did a bad thing. About 4 weeks ago, I was looking around on amazon and since I the HBO show Game of Thrones was so popular I guess there was a promotion to sell the books the show is based on. I bought for $20 the first 4 books on Amazon. They have been sitting in my apartment for a few weeks while I read books all the while calling to me. Part of me is scared of the undertaking (each of the first 4 books is approximately 1000 pages long) and partially excited. Long story short, I begun the first novel of A Song of Ice and Fire which is titled (you guessed it) Game of Thrones. This first part in a proposed seven-book series is what the first season of the HBO show was named after. I begun the book yesterday and have a few short comments about it.

1) The first episode of the season ended at a certain scene that everyone remembers. I finished reading last night as I got off my train at that scene. Does this mean reading the book will take 10 days and I will follow the episodes of the series? I hope so. That seems like a fun coincidence.

2) Certain parts of the TV show were taken word for word from the novel. This is great.

3) Of course, the novel will be much more detailed, but reading this is helping me to understand certain parts of the TV show I was confused about. The show had so many characters and each character had so much history and keeping track of how each character was related was confusing. Reading it is less so.

4) I will soon come upon my next issue. Do I just bang out this series over the entire summer? Or do I read other books between them? I figure I will have to cleanse my palate from time to time, but I’ve been obsessed before and so far this book is very readable. If the rest flow as well, I may just burn through the first four books in succession.

5) For those that like the picture above, it was done by my friend Corey Breen. Check out the rest of his artwork here: http://cjbpro.blogspot.com/

But that brings me to my other issue…. (See next post)

Best of the Week - Second Week of July

2011-07-15T16:52:00.004-04:00

Best Movie I saw: On Wednesday night I popped in the BluRay of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One in anticipation for my Thursday Night Midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I really enjoyed the first movie and loved how bleak their prospects seemed in carrying out their mission, but Part 2 took the entire series to another level.

Some background: In 1999 I had just started reading “Adult Books” for the first time. I’ve always been a reader, but Stephen King and Dean Koontz are more fun. I graduated college in 1999 and decided to take a line from Kicking and Screaming and put it to use in my life: “I didn’t learn enough in college, so now it’s up to me to educate myself”. I still love this quote and hope to continue living it as I age. So at the time I was reading real “literature” like John Irving, Thomas Pynchon and Ayn Rand. My brother is a publisher of Young Adult fiction and he gave me this book that was very popular and part three was coming out and they were making a movie of it. I remember the best selling point to me was that it was short and only took him 3 days to read it. “It’s fun” was the word he used. I read it and thought it was OK, but nothing special. I quickly read the next 2 books and decided that was it for me.

Book Four was released to much fanfare, but I couldn’t care less. I didn’t read it at first. Finally a time came and there was a lull in books, so I picked it up, read it in a week and absolutely hated it. (I still think book 4 is by far the weakest, followed by 2 but that’s besides the point). I decided I was done with Harry Potter after that.

Fast forward a few years and I didn’t even see book three in the theater, but everyone started saying how good it was and how book 5 turned darker and better. Reluctantly, I saw the third movie and really enjoyed it. Which made me decide to give book 5 a try. I loved that book. JK Rowling had really found her voice and I went back and read the first 5 books over again before book 6 came out. Before book 7, I reread book 6 and finished the final book satisfied at an overall well crafted story.

The movies follow a similar pattern with one exception. The movie version of book 5 and 6 failed to capture a lot of what I loved about those books. They were good, quick movies but the depth of characters (especially beloved side-characters) were lost in the movies.

Now that the 7^th book has been released in two movies (over 4.5 hours of run-time) I can safely say this is the movie version that all the Harry Potter movies deserved. Still some side-characters are lost in the shuffle and a lot of the depth and character histories are never shown (all of Voldemort’s childhood from book 6 is lost and Dumbledore’s younger years are skipped over) but the heart of the story was really found in this last film.

After everything that has been written about these stories, I can say they work much better if you are already a fan of the books, and on their own they can be a little confusing and silly. But if you have the background of who the characters are from the books, these movies are almost perfect in their own way. I never find myself not believing the magic they execute is possible while watching these movies. And the acting and special effects have grown as the cast and crew has with this final story really exceeding everything before it.

Best TV Show I saw: TV has finally gotten better for the summer time. I have to say that I absolutely HATED last season of True Blood to the point that I didn’t want to watch it. But this season so far has been quite fun and not the shitfest of last season.

BUT, that’s not the best show I saw this week. That has to go to the series premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Although it was a little bit of a forced way to get Larry to lose his house so he will have to move to New York next episode (I’m assuming) the running joke this week of the Jewish lawyer vs. non-Jewish lawyer killed me. The uncomfortable scene when the girl scout had her period in his house and Larry was explaining how to use the tampon was a perfect explanation of why this show is still the best at uncomfortable humor.

Best Book I read: I read the worst book of the year this week. It was called Tell-All by Chuck Pahlaniuk. I usually like his novels, but either I’m reading better stuff lately and couldn’t get into this, or this was just terrible. (I’m leaning towards the latter).

Luckily, I was able to cleanse my palate by reading a great book in the second half of the week. The book was called The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. This book was similar in structure to a book I read and loved last month called A Visit From the Goon Squad. Both books tell an over-arching story of interlinked characters through short stories that really make up a tapestry of a larger novel. I’m not sure if there is a name for this type of writing, or if it’s just an evolutionary necessity to get my stupid, short-attention span generation to read again. Luckily, I really seem to like this type of story-telling (as I mentioned in my Goon-Squad review it’s probably because of my comic book reading history).

This novel’s cast of inter-linked characters are a bunch of Americans (mostly) working at a fictional newspaper in Rome. The novel is more obsessed with their lives outside of the office than within, although their problems do spill-over into their working lives quite often. Keeping the novel’s structure of telling a story about a specific person that works for the paper followed by a chronological history of the paper itself in each chaper, Rachman somehow lets us understand how them working at this specific newspaper impacted the lives of these people in different ways. After finishing the novel I realized I had absolutely no idea the name of the newspaper, and had to do a quick google search to see if they ever even mentioned it which I was unable to find. This tells me the story isn’t about the paper, but instead about the people that make up the staff that works around the clock to put out a newspaper even though they all know and feel it is a dying art form in today’s day of instant news gratification.

This was a well written debut-novel by someone that I will be sure to keep my eye on in the future. And of course, any book that has a chapter where a person dying of a long illness waxes philosophically about death is going to appeal to me. For the hell of it, here’s a quote I enjoyed: “You know, there’s that silly saying ‘We’re born alone and we die alone’ – it’s nonsense. We’re surrounded at birth and surrounded at death. It is in between that we are alone.”

With that, I will leave you for now to seek out or to ignore this wonderfully sad but touching book.

Are you Maximizing your Neflix account

2011-07-12T00:25:00.002-04:00

The entire time I was watching The Killing all I could think was how I was sure my dad would love this movie, which gave me the idea of buying my father probably the best Father's Day gift I've bought in recent memory. My parents are not the best with technology (after all, I've told them about this blog before but they don't read it because a) They don't think I've a very good writer and b) they have no idea how to find this URL even though I've sent it to them numerous times). But, while watching the movie I wished I could talk to my dad about it, but I knew he wouldn't watch it on his computer screen, and it gave me the idea of getting him a Roku so he could stream movies/TV shows himself on Netflix. I went to his house on Father's Day and although he rolled his eyes when he opened the box because he had no idea what it was, I plugged the box it, set up his account and showed him some basic controls on how to use it. He has since watched The Killing, about 8 episodes of the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents..., about 10 old Saturday Night Live episodes from the 1970s and I now have the ability to add movies to his queue for him (I know his password) if there is ever anything I think he may enjoy. dorkTASTIC! is not known for its endorsements, and the Roku is not the only piece that streams Netflix movies, but everyone that has a Netflix subscription must get some sort of streaming box for their TV, otherwise, you are not maximizing Netflix for what its worth and you're missing out.
My favorite part happened when I mentioned to him that there were thousands of movies and TV shows available. He said to "So I could sit here and watch like 10 days of the show 24 for example?" To which I responded, "No, there were only 8 seasons. You could watch it for exactly 8 days".

***UPDATE***
Looks like I posted this one day too soon. This is the first bad move I've seen Netflix make in their history:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/netflix-price-subscription-plan_n_895779.html

What have I been Streaming on Netflix?

2011-07-12T00:21:00.000-04:00

Other movies I have seen recently at home include the following:
The Killing by Stanley Kubrick. This is one of those movies I had never seen, but always wanted to and kept putting it off. Simply a great movie by a great artist finding his voice. This movie is from 1956 and the influence this heist picture had on many of the famous filmmakers today is apparent. I have no proof of this, but a) I'm sure this has to be a movie Tarantino has watched a million times because it has very similar plot points as well as a structure to his movies. Also, the mask the main character wears during the main heist is exactly the same as the one Heath Ledger's Joker wears in the opening scene of The Dark Knight and that can't be a coincidence. If you're ever home alone on a rainy day and are unsure of what to watch - do yourself a favor and stream that on your computer.

I also enjoyed the documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story. For anyone that never had a chance to watch Bill Hicks before his untimely death feel free to stream this to understand what he was all about and then watch any of his stand-up specials that are available. He was more of a preacher than an actual comedian, but the good ones usually are. He never quite received the fame he probably deserved in America, but he always made me laugh. This movie is quite sad because you really see the struggle he had with his own fame (or lack thereof) as well as his health (or lack thereof).

Movie Update - Theater edition

2011-07-11T23:02:00.003-04:00

This has been a strange summer for me. So far I have only seen two movies in the theater this year. (Although I am very interested in seeing what all the hype of Tree of Life is all about, I have not had a chance to see it yet, and I am quite excited for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 which I already have tickets for Thursday at midnight).

Being the life-long Marvel Zombie that I am, of course the two movies I have seen were Thor and X-Men: First Class.

Thor was one of the comics that I could never get into. He has that same problem for me that Superman has; No flaws. Both are similar in the sense that they are indestructible "gods", in Thor's case that term is literal. I probably would like Thor much more if I ever really gave it a chance since I am obsessed with all classic mythologies and Marvel did keep very close to the Norse text from what I can tell (except the whole changing Thor from a red-headed kind of ugly idiot into the blond, good-looking hero-type, but we can forgive them for that (for now)). The movie told a very accessible story for the layman, and I was very surprised that it was so mythological and even more shocked that it worked and was almost believable. But really the thing that made the movie was Kenneth Branagh making the story very Shakespearean in nature and casting the insanely likable Chris Hemsworth as the titular character.
While watching the movie, I was thoroughly entertained. I especially loved Tom Hiddleson who personified Loki and gave the trickster god/villain real heart so the audience was almost rooting for him. As well as the comic relief of Kat Dennings and the inner child in me was super excited to see how Marvel is truly growing their universe and connecting all their movies with appearances by SHIELD, Hawkeye and was that Luke Cage that Thor fought?
After a month of hindsight, the movie does have it faults *cough* Natalie Portman *cough* (and that unbelievable love story), but what the entire movie rested on the actor playing Thor, and he really delivered by making the character likable.

The other movie I saw was X-Men: First Class. This movie went very much against the comic books in details, but it had the heart of the books which is why it works very well. I loved how Matthew Vaughn took real-world history and incorporated it into the world of the X-Men. This was a great reboot (and can only hope Spider-Man succeeds even half as well), because we can see how this story ties into the movies that came before it while also being its own story. The story of this X-Men shows Charles Xavier and Magneto as young men. It shows how they met and how/why they developed their similar, yet conflicting philosophies.
The highlights for me are pretty obvious: Michael Fassbender as Magneto played the tortured role in a believable way where we can understand why Magneto could be so angry. I also loved the first-person point of view of Beast's transformation, and the kids having fun with their powers.
I had some issues which are mostly nerdy issues like how certain characters were portrayed but that's only because they were different than the 20+ years of books I've been reading. I can 100% understand why some the writers chose to go in the direction they did. But here's a pretty simple idea when adapting comic books: You have years upon years of material and hundreds of books that are almost perfect storyboards to be used at your discretion. You also have universally accepted "best of" storylines, Hollywood should use what they have and not try to reinvent the wheel. And when you have what is considered one of the worst storylines of all time, and is considered terrible because of one specific character, you shouldn't put that character in your movie: I'm looking at you Azazel!

Book Update

2011-07-10T15:52:00.004-04:00

Once again I must apologize to my reader that I have not been updating my blog. So, I will now do a series of posts about what I have been enjoying since I last posted anything. This post will be about the books/comic books I've been reading:

First I read the novel Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shtyngart. This is a difficult book to write about/review. I have a feeling that the author is a huge Vonnegut fan, simply by how this book is a satirical sci-fi book much like many of Vonnegut's were. Super Sad True Love Story tells a story of a man and a woman living in near-future (about 30 years from now) New York City and their relationship life-cycle through their online journals that they are keeping and their emails to friends. This future is a strange, but scarily possibly dystopian society where everyone carries around something called an Aparrat (which is kind of like an iphone) which keeps everyone online at all times and virtually connected, but because of that virtual connection, people have a hard time having any verbal communication. The "love story" of Lenny and Eunice is told against a back-drop of the fall of the American government and financial markets as the dollar keeps falling versus all other currencies. I am not doing this book justice since it is a satire, it is quite funny but dark.

After that I read the two Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. These are the best selling young adult novels The Red Pyramid followed by The Throne of Fire. The premise behind these books is there are a brother and sister, Carter and Sadie, whose parents were magicians from the House of Life which is passed down since the time of Ancient Egypt. These two kids have been born as the reincarnated human hosts of Horus and Isis. These kids are basically being attacked by the god Set in the first book who is trying to take over the earth and in the second book they attempt to revive the ancient sun god Ra. These are very fun stories which are especially great that young adults/children are reading this book for them to learn about the ancient Egyptian gods, heiroglyphics and Egyptian history in a fun and interesting way. Anyone that has a young kid (ten years old or so) that is interested in this should read up.

Then I read the novel by Steve Martin (yes, THAT Steve Martin) called An Object of Beauty. This is a very serious and kind of sad story so not something you would expect from one of the most famous comedic actors of the last 30+ years. This story follows a woman named Lacey Yaegar as she grows up and succeeds in the art-world of New York from 1990-present day. Over 20 years, we follow this woman's career as well as we see how the art business is run with deals made in the bedroom where she would often sell herself as much as the famous paintings to the rich and powerful. It shows the dark side of a business that is not as famous or as large as the media or banking world, but does have as many shady dealings as any other industry.

I also finished the newest trade paperback of Walking Dead titled No Way Out collecting issues 79-84 of the critical and commercially successful comic book series. In this issue Rick and company have basically taken control of the community that took them in, and when a horde of roamers come upon their walls and how they deal with the threat. This also featured an insanely surprising ending to issue #83 which may become a turning point in the series, but I am unsure where Robert Kirkman and company are going with this. This book continues to be one of the most shocking and fulfilling books around and can't wait to continue reading it.

Roger Ebert's Star Wars Review from 1977

2011-07-06T23:22:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I wrote anything, and I hope to remedy that soon. But, it's tough to write anything interesting when you read someone who is so good at it.

Enjoy Ebert's review of Star Wars from 1977, but the man can find the heart of movie pretty and explain it better in words than I will ever be able to.
Enjoy:

Star Wars

By Roger Ebert / January 1, 1977

Cast & Credits

Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi), David Prowse (Darth Vader), James Earl Jones (Vader's Voice), Kenny Baker (R2D2), Anthony Daniels (C3PO).

Directed by George Lucas and produced by Gary Kurtz. Screenplay by Lucas.

Critical Debate

What other critics had to say »

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Every once in a while I have what I think of as an out-of-the-body experience at a movie. When the ESP people use a phrase like that, they're referring to the sensation of the mind actually leaving the body and spiriting itself off to China or Peoria or a galaxy far, far away. When I use the phrase, I simply mean that my imagination has forgotten it is actually present in a movie theater and thinks it's up there on the screen. In a curious sense, the events in the movie seem real, and I seem to be a part of them. "Star Wars" works like that. My list of other out-of-the-body films is a short and odd one, ranging from the artistry of "Bonnie and Clyde" or "Cries and Whispers" to the slick commercialism of "Jaws" and the brutal strength of "Taxi Driver." On whatever level (sometimes I'm not at all sure) they engage me so immediately and powerfully that I lose my detachment, my analytical reserve. The movie's happening, and it's happening to me. What makes the "Star Wars" experience unique, though, is that it happens on such an innocent and often funny level. It's usually violence that draws me so deeply into a movie -- violence ranging from the psychological torment of a Bergman character to the mindless crunch of a shark's jaws. Maybe movies that scare us find the most direct route to our imaginations. But there's hardly any violence at all in "Star Wars" (and even then it's presented as essentially bloodless swashbuckling). Instead, there's entertainment so direct and simple that all of the complications of the modern movie seem to vaporize. "Star Wars" is a fairy tale, a fantasy, a legend, finding its roots in some of our most popular fictions. The golden robot, lion-faced space pilot, and insecure little computer on wheels must have been suggested by the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz." The journey from one end of the galaxy to another is out of countless thousands of space operas. The hardware is from "Flash Gordon" out of "2001: A Space Odyssey," the chivalry is from Robin Hood, the heroes are from Westerns and the villains are a cross between Nazis and sorcerers. "Star Wars" taps the pulp fantasies buried in our memories, and because it's done so brilliantly, it reactivates old thrills, fears, and exhilarations we thought we'd abandoned when we read our last copy of Amazing Stories. The movie works so well for several reasons, and they don't all have to do with the spectacular special effects. The effects are good, yes, but great effects have been used in such movies as "Silent Running" and "Logan's Run" without setting all-time box-office records. No, I think the key to "Star Wars" is more basic than that. The movie relies on the strength of pure narrative, in the most basic storytelling form known to man, the Journey. All of the best tales we remember from our childhoods had to do with heroes setting out to travel down roads filled with danger, and hoping to find treasure or heroism at the journey's end. In "Star Wars," George Lucas takes this simple and powerful framework into outer space, and that is an inspired thing to do, because we no longer have maps on Earth that warn, "Here there be dragons." We can't fall off the edge of the map, as Columbus could, and we can't hope to find new continents of prehistoric monsters or lost tribes ruled by immortal goddesses. Not on Earth, anyway, but anything is possible in space, and Lucas goes right ahead and shows us very nearly everything. We get involved quickly, because the characters in "Star Wars" are so strongly and simply drawn and have so many small foibles and large, futile hopes for us to identify with. And then Lucas does an interesting thing. As he sends his heroes off to cross the universe and do battle with the Forces of Darth Vader, the evil Empire, and the awesome Death Star, he gives us lots of special effects, yes -- ships passing into hyperspace, alien planets, an infinity of stars -- but we also get a wealth of strange living creatures, and Lucas correctly guesses that they'll be more interesting for us than all the intergalactic hardware. The most fascinating single scene, for me, was the one set in the bizarre saloon on the planet Tatooine. As that incredible collection of extraterrestrial alcoholics and bug-eyed martini drinkers lined up at the bar, and as Lucas so slyly let them exhibit characteristics that were universally human, I found myself feeling a combination of admiration and delight. "Star Wars" had placed me in the presence of really magical movie invention: Here, all mixed together, were whimsy and fantasy, simple wonderment and quietly sophisticated storytelling. When Stanley Kubrick was making "2001" in the late 1960s, he threw everything he had into the special effects depicting outer space, but he finally decided not to show any aliens at all -- because they were impossible to visualize, he thought. But they weren't at all, as "Star Wars" demonstrates, and the movie's delight in the possibilities of alien life forms is at least as much fun as its conflicts between the space cruisers of the Empire and the Rebels. And perhaps that helps to explain the movie's one weakness, which is that the final assault on the Death Star is allowed to go on too long. Maybe, having invested so much money and sweat in his special effects, Lucas couldn't bear to see them trimmed. But the magic of "Star Wars" is only dramatized by the special effects; the movie's heart is in its endearingly human (and non-human) people.

Reading

2011-06-07T22:33:00.003-04:00

It's funny how things go in phases. Sometimes I am on a movie kick where I am watching a movie on Netflix everyday and streaming a movie or watching something on HBO in the time it takes the USPS to bring me my next movie on my queue. While other times I am scouring Limewire (or whatever other file sharing software) for new music and going to concerts. Or I am addicted to TV with the latest episode of Game of Thrones and United States of Tara (Both have been quite excellent this year even if only one is coming back next year).

But as anyone that can tell from my posts lately (and the title of this post) I have been reading a ton. And I can't even figure out the theme or how the books come to me. But since my last blog I have read a TON and I will look to update this here in lieu of my regular Best of the Weeks since the best of the weeks have been everything I've been reading.

As I've mentioned before, I'm always reading something and usually reading one novel and at least one comic book/graphic novel. That is still the case and I will update things in order as I've read them (although sometimes I read my comics as a way of relaxing between books/chapters/going to bed at night).

The first novel I read during this time was Room by Emma Donoghue. I do not want to give most of this book away, but it is disturbing and uplifting at the exact same time. The book is narrated by a 5 year old boy who has spent his entire life in an 11x11 foot room. Why is this? Read the book. But he does have access to TV, but he believes that to all be fake. I was most shocked by how the author was able to get into the mindset of spending your entire life cut off from everything and everyone and how she was able to convey how one might perceive the world given that reality. I warn you, this book is depressing. I found myself just feeling awful. (As an aside: That's another thing I've noticed as I read. I find my mood more effected by what I'm reading than the music or movies I listen to. I become quite melancholy while reading something like this and I never noticed that before. Maybe I'm just reading better authors?)

After that I read the final volume of the Sandman Omnibus (Volume 6) reprinting the final 20 issues of the groundbreaking comic book series. This was another sad story, but with a theme of redemption and closure between fathers and sons. I loved this series as I've written in the past and although there were some stumbles in the issues, this definitely is up there as one of the greatest comic book/super hero stories I've ever read. Jack Knight was the every-man superhero. Someone that did not want the job and is more like me (and probably you) than any other super hero. He's not someone like Superman or Batman with their great powers or amazing wealth and keen physical prowess. Jack Knight instead is just a man given a staff that makes his able to fly, emit concussive forces and sometimes some other specialties as the story is needed. But throughout the 80 issues this book ran we really got to know all his friends, enemies, family members and some other super heroes in a human way. This story ended quite well and I look forward to rereading the series soon. I was also shocked by how the author, James Robinson, was able to bring back every character throughout the history of the series and show how certain things that happened as far back as issue #1 played a part in the end-game of the series. A great series for comic fans and even for those that aren't, but at least have an open mind.

After that I read a novel for my book club called A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. I was not excited to read this book. Based on what I've seen of people on the subway, I thought this book was going to be a chick-lit book in the vein of the The Help or something equally terrible. Instead I was treated to the bastard baby of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, anything by Brett Easton Ellis and Brian Wood's Local (A comic book made for people that really liked My So-Called Life, or something equally angsty - I will write more about Local when I reread it soon).
Goon Squad is a series of loosely-linked short stories that eventually form a tapestry of one cohesive story that is an amazing feat by an author that I had never heard of before and may have to read more of. The stories all have characters that are all inter-linked and part of the fun of the book is figuring out how. The stories also jump around in time with the first one taking place in the mid 2000s and some going as far back as the mid 1970s and some as far into the future as perhaps 30 years from now (it's never exactly said). I look forward to trying to piece together each chapter/story and trying to make diagram out all the characters and how they are related and when each story took place. It might even be fun to reread the book in chronological order, but I think it works better as written. The book truly was an onion pulling away a layer of the characters and understanding their motivations based on something that happened to them in the past or where they end up in the future. I was pleasantly shocked by how good this books was and when I finished it I heard it was just optioned to become a TV show on HBO. If done well, this could be the greatest single-season TV show ever and I want nothing more than to watch this in 2 years.

I've also read the final installment of Scott Pilgrim (you've seen the movie)and the newest Invincible (One of the most fun Super Hero books ever written, but also one f the most violent. More blood in this book that in all Tarantino movies combined) Hard-Cover edition. But I've written about those before and don't want to bore my reader(s) any more than I already have. I still have a stack of books, but am always open and willing to read more. Please let me know if you have any recommendations. The library has become my best friend. And although I still have a stack of about 5 books, I am always in the market for more.
For the record I'm currently enjoying a novel called Super Sad True Love Story and this author has the potential to fill in for Vonnegut now that he is unstuck in time.

Helter Skelter Vocals

2011-05-27T10:31:00.001-04:00

I stumbled upon this on youtube. It is just the vocal track of Helter Skelter with all the music stripped out. I've always loved the song, but there is something powerful of just hearing Paul screaming this song.

Best of the Week - Third Week of May

2011-05-23T20:50:00.008-04:00

Best Movie I saw: Saturday night I was over my friend's house and we were thinking about watching a movie. Him and his wife had never seen Wet Hot American Summer. Even though I have probably seen that movie 50 times, I made them put it on. We started the movie around 11:30, and they were asleep around 12:15. But I was laughing away as if it was the first time I had seen that movie. Funny enough, I never realized Bradley Cooper was in it, and it reaffirmed my decision to include that movie on my list of favorites. This is also the movie (along with Anchor Man) which introduced me to the comic genius that is Paul Rudd. If you haven't seen it, please throw it on your Netflix queue. It's available if you want to "Watch it now".

Best TV show I saw: I barely had any time to watch any TV this week, but I can tell you the worst I'd seen. The Office finale was boring, and simply not good. I don't think I even chuckled once. The show will be done next year without Steve Carrell and he will make some bad movies. Really everyone will come out behind with this decision.

Best thing I read: I read two books last week that were both good, but not great. In order I first read The Day I Turned Uncool by Dan Zevin. This is a book of a series of five pages anecdotes writing about how he used to go out drinking every night, and now he gets excited about his lawn and about home maintenance. It is written very tongue in cheek and I mostly enjoyed it because I can 100% relate. I happened to stumble upon this book at the right time while I'm going through all my renovation. I laughed out loud a few times, but the book did lost its luster after the first 50 pages or so and got to be quite repetitive.

Later in the week I read the old satire Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott. I was surprised at the comedy behind this book an thought it was a very smart way of explaining the idea of how perception is everything. I cannot do this book justice, but the story is about a square that lives in a two dimensional world and he becomes enlightened that there exists a three dimensional world out there. The satire about class, and late 1800s English Society (many of the "in-jokes" were explained in footnotes) were all very clever. This was a smart book very ahead of its times, even though I'm sure I didn't "get all of it".

I Also Read: A bunch of Captain America trades up to but not including when Steve Rodgers comes back from the dead. Ed Brubaker's run with Steve Epting's art are some of the best Super Hero books I've ever read. I was never a Captain America fan, but they have made me care about all the characters and they tell the story in such a great pace where everything seems so important. I can only dream whoever is writing the movie is using this series as a template (but I know that's not possible).

Best Thing I Heard: On a whim, I decided to listen to The Crow Soundtrack last week. It brought me back in time to the summer of 1994 and although the soundtrack wasn't quite as good as I remember with some stinkers on there, some of that music was great. I may have to rewatch that movie now. But give it a listen if it's been a while, I think you may enjoy it.

Louis CK

2011-05-23T20:00:00.005-04:00

I have a slightly unnatural obsession with the comedian Louis CK. This article is interesting if you are a fan. He is simply his harshest critic:

Enjoy:
http://www.esquire.com/features/man-at-his-best/q-and-a/louis-ck-interview-0611?src=soc_fcbk

Published in the June/July 2011 issue, on sale soon

In Louis's Infiniti G35, on the way to get a bite to eat at the Comedy Cellar in New York.

LOUIS C.K.: I love this car. Cars and cameras are the two things I let myself be materialistic about. I don't care about other stuff. I used to fix cars, so I like cars a lot.

SCOTT RAAB: You worked as a mechanic. Were you any good?

LCK: I enjoyed it, but I wasn't good. I got fired.

SR: Why'd they fire you?

LCK: I wasn't showing up on time, mostly. And I was working really slowly. I think I fucked a couple of things up. To be a real mechanic, you have to have proper training and buy these beautiful Snap-on tools you pay for like it's your car.

SR: When you got fired, what —

LCK: It was really sad and humiliating and I felt terrible. I really admired those guys. They were very nice to me and they were very good people, honest, blue-collar hardworking guys, and I'm showing up at 11, because I was doing stand-up at night.

SR: You were never a college-bound guy?

LCK: Nope. Just jobs. I thought about going to NYU film school — that was this ideal to me. But I didn't make any kind of grades in high school. My mother was a single mom, putting my three sisters through college, and I was such a bad student that I knew I had no right to take her money. But I loved being in classes and learning. I took in a huge amount of what I learned, but I had a feeling of always being behind and being in trouble.

SR: Trouble trouble?

LCK: Yeah. I did a lot of drugs when I was in junior high school — that kind of trouble. But I got that behind me. I started working at local-access cable and doing stand-up by the time I was 17, 18. I used to do college shows and I'd see these kids living this life I didn't live, and it hurt sometimes. I used to regret it — sometimes I still do. [Parking the G35 and walking to the club.]

SR: I just watched Pootie Tang again. It was on On Demand.

LCK: It won't fucking go away, that thing.

SR: Come on. It's still a lot of fun.

LCK: There's parts of the movie I really do like. I hate the way the movie ended up, but the best thing that can happen to a director is to go through the worst possible version first — losing the thing, being humiliated, having it come out to terrible reviews.

SR: Roger Ebert said it should never have been released.

LCK: He said it's not a movie — it's like somebody took pieces of a movie and put it together. That's exactly what they did. I sat there going, Oh, my God, this is the most trumpeted my name's ever been. This is how I'm getting known, how I'm being introduced. And I'll never make a movie again. And I haven't.

[At the club.]

SR: You want something to drink?

LCK: Club soda.

SR: I'll get a Coke. [To Louis] Are you going to direct a movie again? Do you want to?

LCK: I'd love to. The goal is to get a movie made the way I do the show. One of the great things about Louie [his latest TV show] being my own production with my own company is FX gives us the money and goes away. The advantage is I don't need any of this financially. I make more in five nights of stand-up than I do in a whole season of the show.

SR: You still enjoy the stand-up?

LCK: Oh, I love stand-up. It gave me the ability to do this show the way that I'm doing it. I said no to this gig a few times until it was the way I wanted to do it. The only pitch I have to movie people is the same as this one: Just give me $8 million. I'm not telling you what it's about and I'm not telling you who's in it.

SR: Seriously?

LCK: Eight million bucks. It'll take about six months to finish it. But you don't get to know anything about it.

SR: What happened with Lucky Louie? I loved that show. Why'd HBO kill it?

LCK: I'm not sure. There's never one reason. I talked to Andrew Dice Clay a little while after it was canceled and he just shrugged and said, "Sometimes they got to get rid of something. That's the way it goes." And all the pain just disappeared.

Louis C.K. performing at the Comedy Cellar in New York, a frequent location for his show, Louie. The second season premieres on FX in June.

[The waiter comes.]

LCK: Can I get a cheeseburger?

WAITER: American or cheddar?

LCK: Cheddar. Medium rare, please.

SR: I'll have the Middle East Combo, but no baba ghanoush. [To Louis] So when you were 18 years old, you were already writing jokes?

LCK: I was trying to just talk. I didn't know how to do jokes. I was nervous and uncomfortable. I hated being onstage. I did a show one night and bombed — but I was honest, and I was trying, and afterward I was thinking about what had happened and I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was Steven Wright, and he said, "That was funny." Those moments were huge to me. If I see a comedian who's brand-new, I tell them, "Hey man, that's okay." I give them a little bit of encouragement.

SR: It goes a long way.

LCK: It means a lot. A few weeks ago, Chris [Rock] called and said, "You want to go to the Knicks game?" We went to Madison Square Garden, and we were right on the floor and it was — what's his name, Anthony? The new guy.

SR: Carmelo.

LCK: Carmelo's first game. We went up to that fucking suite where all these people were eating — politicians and mobsters and Chloë Sevigny. There's this spread of food, and I'm like, "Let's fucking eat." Chris goes, "Nah, let's get down to the floor." I'm like, "You're taking this shit for granted, Chris. There's roast beef and a guy with a hat serving it." I wanted it so bad. I was starving and he's like, "Who needs it?" And I'm like, "Are you kidding me? I'll probably never get here again."

So we go down, and I'm watching Carmelo, and I hear the song "Louie Louie" and I look up and I see my own face on the Jumbotron. And Chris says, "You know what, man, you've got your own show, and I'm on Broadway, and we're on the floor at Madison Square Garden. How fucking great is this?" And we high-fived and we just felt so good. Both of us, we're in our 40s — this shit could disappear instantly, never to return. And it will.

SR: You have to savor those moments.

LCK: When Lucky Louie went on the air, there was a one-month period where if I walked down these streets, a crowd would gather. Literally. It was crazy. I loved it. I'd sometimes walk up and down MacDougal Street to instigate it.

SR: Seriously?

LCK: I was going through a divorce. It was a good time to get some anonymous love. After like a month, it got to be less. And then it stopped completely. Now it's back — garbage trucks blowing their horn at me and stuff. I still love that.

SR: Do you always cut your burgers in half?

LCK: Yeah.

SR: Slop factor?

LCK: A little bit. I always tell my kids to cut a sandwich in half right when you get it, and the first thought you should have is somebody else. You only ever need half a burger.

SR: That's really wonderful.

LCK: I started thinking seriously about that kind of thing when I had kids and realized I had to figure out something to say to them. When your kid is being selfish or greedy and you want to help them not be that way, you have to find a way to articulate it and inspire them.

SR: My dad used his backhand. Do you ever think about how strange it really is that folks get a sitter and drive to your show and pay good money to sit and stare at you standing alone on the stage with a microphone in your hand?

LCK: When I get to a theater and it's empty, and there's no street traffic in the area, I'm like, Nobody's coming. I know we're sold out, but where the fuck are they going to come from? And then they start to show up. It's a surprise every time.

SR: There's an essential human interaction going on. My life is really going to be a lot better if you can make me laugh.

LCK: It's huge for people. Chris taught me something. He said, "If people see you do a great show on TV, and they come see you live and it's a whole other show, they will never let you go."

SR: You're right up there with him.

LCK: This year — I'm not sure — the goal is Madison Square Garden. I just want to do Madison Square Garden one time. I want that Boy Scout badge.

SR: So many stand-ups seem smart, but so few are men of scholarly accomplishment. Why is that?

LCK: You refine language. You've got to put things in a perfect way. You have to be economical, and yet you have to let shit string out. You have to know how to load a spring of tension and release it.

Me and Chris try to study a lot of different kinds of people, not just comedians. We both love Bill Clinton — Clinton is America's headliner. One of the greatest things I ever saw was him at Coretta Scott King's funeral. Jimmy Carter, George Bush Senior, Hillary — all these people making speeches, and then Bill Clinton goes on and he says, "Let's all remember that that is a woman lying right there." And he points at her.

It was audacious. "That is a woman who had her dreams and her pain and her passions," and I think he said "lust." He said really personal shit about her and you immediately heard the black people go, "Yes!"

He says, "There's her family — think about what they're going through today, and everything that's happened to them since their daddy got shot. The burden that must have been hers."

Holy shit. I hope to have any of that skill as a comic. He just found this short circuit. You try to have this nature the way water does — finds the lowest place and spreads the fuck out. That's what he did. [Louis checks a text on his phone.] Good. Okay.

SR: What?

LCK: Trying to find out when the show's going to premiere so I can go on The Tonight Show and all that stuff.

SR: That's the one you have to be on?

LCK: That's the highest-rated of all the late-night shows. Plus, Jay puts me on whenever I want. I really like Jay, and he's always invited me to come on. They don't have me on Letterman anymore.

SR: Why?

LCK: I don't know. I haven't been on Letterman in 15 years. I loved doing that show. Dave's my favorite. Dave's who I watch — I wrote for him. And I did the show five times or so, and I've been told that I'm not okay there anymore.

SR: There has to be a reason.

LCK: No one would tell me.