Vanity

So I just read Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs. Another non-book book. But it was pretty interesting. I never caught this one the first time around when everyone else did, so I felt I kinda owed it to Chuck.

He is a total hater and pop culture whore, so I kind of could relate.

He proposed some interesting hypothetical scenarios. The one I found the most interesting I asked a bunch of my male friends. To my surprise, I was the only one who chose one of the options, while they all agreed on the other.

Here is the scenario, paraphrased:

Would you rather sleep with the one person in the world you most want to sleep with (celebrity, whatever), but NO ONE can ever know...

OR

Would you rather be seen in public hand in hand with this person for a long enough time that everyone THINKS you slept with them, but you don't actually get to sleep with them.

Would you rather have the 5, 10, 15 minutes of visceral experience with the person you most desire, or the vanity and notoriety associated with it, if you had to choose between the two?

To me, the choice was obvious. But ALL my male friends disagreed with me. I wonder what this says about me. I have my theories.

Thursday Taste Lesson

Heyyyy the Indians, stop running into walls, dummies.

Holy crap it is hot today. First day I am running the A/C in my living room. My job shouldn't be sweat inducing.

I wish Whole Foods was open 24 hours, so I could go in there late at night to avoid the murderous desires that place's customers inspire in me. Get out of the way. Seriously. Don't chat in the foyer. If you're talking to your five year old's tennis coach in an aisle, don't stand abreast of your cart full of free-range bee honey and 80$ dog food so I can't get to my delicious hummus. I hope you choke on your vegan free trade naan and clif bars.

On to the suggestions!

First up - the new iPhone.



Just kidding. Enjoy your line, suckers.

I'm gonna keep it real today. Nerds, get stoked - today's suggestions are for you.

Comic books!



Everyone is getting all excited for the Michael Cera acted, Edgar Wright directed movie due this summer. Which does look awesome, but if you are planning on seeing the movie I highly recommend reading the books too. They are awesome and unique. They are the funniest comics I've ever read and really appeal to nerds like me. They are cheap and short and fun to read. Do it!



This is Garth Ennis' current project. Everything he writes is brilliant. Preacher might be the greatest self-contained comic ever and his Punisher stories are the peak of that run. "The Boys" is basically a satire, a scathing one at that, of super heroes. It's gory and dramatic and funny and refreshing. It's also where I got the name of this blog.





I am currently re-reading this. Which is almost necessary with this book. Calvino's challenging the novel structure again with this one with really charming results. It's a somewhat tricky read, considering every other chapter is basically from a different book, but worth it. He writes very well, it's a light read with an excellent rhythm. The book feels complete and connected - it flows - which is a testament to his skill as a writer of a book which should come off as a disjointed mess. What Calvino shows here is that there is a lot more to connecting with a reader and story telling than just story telling.




All of these games are way too much fun. I play them more than any of my other video games. Immensely replayable and curiously addictive, everyone loves Katamari. Plus it has the best soundtrack of any video game ever.

Well, there you go nerds. Enjoy.

Thursday Taste Lesson

So I've done my beefing with the green movement recently, so I wanted to give you some of my favorite green characters. First up, the forgotten benefactor of humanity, Norman Borlaug.



Best Dude Ever

That there's a link to his Wiki page. This fella here used his Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics to develop disease resistant strains of high yield crops in third world countries. People have said that his work has saved ONE BILLION lives. One billion. How many you got, Al Gore

Another favorite of mine, Julian Simon, the Doom Slayer


Ok enough green. Here's some other awesome stuff.




An awesome magazine. One of three I subscribe to along with Wired and Dwell. I recommend all three!



Another George Saunders collection I enjoyed. Just finished it last night. Not quite as good as Civilwarland in bad Decline, but a quick, enjoyable read none the less.





Geekologie, one of the few blogs I check daily.


Well that's it. Enjoy my recommendations and become a better person for them. You're welcome.

Gimme some GAFABPs for tomorrow!

Thursday Taste Lesson

...on a Friday! Lucky you!

Let's just do a photo essay of things I recommend?


yum!


obviously a descendant of Thor. Go Flyers!


Best.


Shop here.


Read this!

I'll say a word about this last one.
A few Christmases ago this book was given to me as a gift. I never read it - sorry gift giver! - until recently. I was missing out. I was really impressed by this book. It really stands out amongst the spate of the cynical, pandering modern fiction wunderkind. This book is terrifying. Not scary in the boo! or serial killer kind of way, but in the heartbreaking "wow life really ruins people" kind of way. It is a collection of short stories and the titular novella. All of the stories are about a character in some Americana tragedy. Very quick read, very effecting read. Read it! and this, read this blog a lot. Hopefully back later with some GAFABP.

Also I think someone is playing Marco Polo outside my apartment.

Thursday Taste Lesson

It is tough for me to come up with a recommendation today - with me HATING EVERYTHING and all. Sorry, got up on the wrong side of the couch this morning.

The good thing is, in real life, the angrier I get, the funnier I become. Like Bobcat Hulkthwait or something. Except funny. Like Bobcat Hulkthwait the words, not like Bobcat Goldthwait the person.

Please send me GAFABP, I know people are reading this, and you probably need some advice if you are spending your free time reading my blog. GET A LIFE. But don't.

Ok for a recommendation - Frankenstein. And that's mostly because Frankenstein is something I say when I can't think of anything else to say. That and broccoli. Really though, I want to recommend the shit out of this book, because it is wildly misunderstood.


Lookin good, Frank.

I know, he's not really named Frankenstein. Whatever.

So here's my case for the book. It's an excellent book - there's a reason high school English classes grudgingly still read it. It isn't the bumbling monster tale popularized in movies. The monster isn't a clumsy manchild. He is an intelligent, thinking, sympathetic villain. He seeks revenge and busts out horrifying lines like "...I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends" BOO YA. How's that for badassed. That line is so great it stuck with me all this time, I didn't even google it.

The book is a condensed Paradise Lost - with a monster! It's about the relationship of God and man. It's about revenge, it's about love, it's about science, it's about violence - it's awesome. Read it again, for the first time! Does that cliche make sense to anyone?

I love Frankenstein so much I am seriously considering a Frankenstein tattoo. READ IT.