January 31, 2007

Ahhh!!!! We're all gonna die!

One of my favorite jokes about Boston is this: The day after September 11, 2001, the local Boston newspapers all ran the same headline--"local Hub man looses life as NYC building collapses". It's very telling in its portrayal of Boston's insular nature, as well as Boston's news culture. Today the joke was all too real, however, as thirty or so "suspicious devices" were found throughout Boston, attached to bridges, roadways, and buildings. This resulted in SWAT teams and bomb experts being called to the scene and major roads and highways to be shut down, all during the early morning commute hours. As if the poor Boston commuter needed another reason to slit their wrist. Of course, it was still a joke . . .

So I'm sure most of you have heard by now that it was an ad campaign for a popular late night programming spot on Cartoon Network, known as Adult Swim. The "devices" were really simple electronic devices fashioned to light up, portraying a popular character from one of their shows, Aqua Teen Hunger Force. What makes it even funnier is that this particular character has a huge disdain for humans--even though he's a 2-D "Atari"-type figure--which is why he always flashes his middle finger. Which is exactly what the character was portrayed as doing in the "devices" which were thought to be of a terroristic nature. See for yourself . . .


So who won in all this? Certainly not Boston. They're the laughing-stock of the states . . . or are they? At least 10 other major metropolitan cities who support Adult Swim also had these devices scattered throughout. Boston was the only city that took the bait (if you can call it that) and treated it as a potential terrorist event. That proves that Boston takes these kind of threats seriously. But perhaps they're taking it too seriously (or not thinking intelligently enough) if they get fooled into thinking that some small, flashing sign powered by 4 D-cell batteries is a possible terrorist weapon. You can link to the best news article I've found on the story here.

January 30, 2007

Rusty Brown and Chris Ware

Just wanted to do a quick post about the newest items I've been reading by Chris Ware, The Acme Novelty Library #16 & #17. The previous 15 volumes were collected into Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Chris' drawing style was the first thing that drew me to his work, as it's elegantly technical and is as spare as his narrative style. His storylines are replete with hopeless individuals stuck in the rut of their own mediocrity that is best described as pathos. The current narrative arc Chris is working on in ANL 16 & 17 revolves around Rusty Brown, an eight-year-old boy, in 1975. Rusty is the nerdiest kid at school, constantly picked on, and understandingly retreats to his imagined superhero world. The image below is taken from ANL #16, where Rusty is confronted in the hallway by his daily tormentors.
(click on the image below to expand it)


I just can't get over how powerful a literary device it is for Chris to parallel the defiling of Rusty's glove with his memory of the gloves being a gift (akin to getting socks for Christmas, right?). Anyway, I wanted to post about Chris' recent works, because I can't get over them (I even put off reading Bill James, the famous baseball abstractor, to read this--God, am I a nerd).

January 29, 2007

I thought that was funny?

Just wanted to make my apologies for the last two really terrible posts. I think not being in school has allowed me the leisure to relax my brain and not think too hard. But that's changed--today is my first day back. So far, so good . . . .

Sam and I had Dan, a friend of mine from my time in NYC, visit this weekend. We did much of our (what used to be) usual, drinking like sailors until the early hours of the morn and laughing our heads off the whole time. After he left the next morning, Sam (with an upset stomach and rings under her eyelids) told me we need to do that more often. Not the reaction I expected, I'll admit. It was the best "get it in before school begins" weekend I could have had, though. Thanks, Dan!

This past Thursday I had my first day on the job as Evening Supervisor/Reference Librarian at Pine Manor College. It's a very small (500 students) college west of Boston, which focuses on lower-middle class students from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds. That's a roundabout way of saying I'm not very busy. Last Thursday I counted 15 students who came into the library, 10 of whom came to use the computers to surf the internet. I did get my first reference question, however, which was exciting. And I think it's one I won't forget soon, also. A girl came and told me she needed an article on twins and telepathy. After figuring out that it was for a psychology class, I let her know that she wouldn't likely find any scholarly articles dealing with telepathy since it isn't, after all, real. Ended up getting her an article on twins and empathetic feelings, which she seemed happy with.

January 21, 2007

update on the weather sticker!

Already the "flashing" style was bugging me, so I changed it to something a little less compact but also a little less flashier. I'm going for the subdued look, here, not something that resembles Las Vegas . . .

how's the weather?

I know that one of the worst things to talk about is the weather. You're not unique in experiencing it, and everybody's been through it before. But everyone does talk about it. I guess this is a roundabout way of apologizing for my last post about the weather. I haven't had anyone complain about it, but I can't get rid of the guilt I'm feeling over blogging about it. So, in order for this to never happen again, I've put a little weather tool on the right-side of the blog that will keep you, my loyal readers, up-to-date on the weather in Melrose.

I'm sure I'll remove it at some time because there's no real use for it, and it "flashes". I don't like things that flash. So don't get used to it.

January 18, 2007

mama, it's cold outside . . .

Ah, the great Louis Armstrong. Oddly enough, on the coldest day we've had yet, the song from this post's title came up on my iPod while it was on shuffle.


So yes, it's getting cold again in New England. The weather's been warm, like most of us have been experiencing (except them lemon farmers!). Oddest of all was getting off the plane a couple of Saturdays ago to a 70 degree day. Sam and I didn't look a gift horse in the mouth, however, and happily made our way to the Fells (a beautiful reservation just a half-mile from our house) and took a hike.
But now I'm getting busy again and the weather is in the teens, things are feeling like they're getting back to normal again. I gotta say, having all that free time was really getting to me--but I'm damn sure I'll long for days like these in the future.

January 17, 2007

Nation's Gays Demand Right to Library Cards

The above is from The Onion's most recent release--you can find it here. My favorite line from the article: "For now, gays should just be happy to read their Bibles," Seitz added. Haw haw!

a link to a link to a link . . . .

While I was in Indiana, I found out that the Allen County Public Library was almost finished with the reconstruction of their main library. This place used to be a favorite hangout of mine (I also had a friend who lived across the street from it in the now non-existent "Alamo" building) and I thought my experience going back to it would be something to blog about for a student group I'm in. If you're interested, you can read about it here.

My church services

While I can't rightly call myself a Christian anymore, I still participate in what I consider church services, usually every Wednesday morning. What happens at that point is that I've been able to download Kevin Nutt's podcast of his weekly show, Sinner's Crossroads. Now, Kevin Nutt is from Georgia (I think) but the radio show is broadcast by WFMU, a Northern Jersey station known for its eclectic tastes. What is "Sinner's Crossroads" and why do I consider it my churching for the week? It's self-description says it best: "Scratchy vanity 45s, pilfered field recordings, muddy off-the-radio sounds, homemade congregational tapes and vintage commercial gospel throw-downs; a little preachin', a little salvation, a little audio tomfoolery." I've always enjoyed gospel music, which my parents can attest to. One of their favorite stories of me as a toddler is, while they would be getting ready for Sunday morning church, I would be downstairs watching the black Baptist church's television broadcast, raising my hands and testifying along with them. That and I would really get down to The Jefferson's theme song. "Sinner's Crossroad" is the only genuine gospel broadcast that I've been able to find--all the others are the glitzy modern gospel, or just confused about what gospel music really is (a mistake made where they think Michael W. Smith and his sappy ilk are gospel artists. Just because they're Christians--believers in the Gospel--doesn't make them gospel singers!). "Sinner's Crossroad" is the only place I'd expect to hear the Reverend C.L. Franklin preaching (Aretha's father), the only place where you can hear snake-oil salesmen hawking their wares, the only place where you can hear people gettin' sanctified.





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January 12, 2007

it's media time!

Alright, so my training at the library and subsequent interview for a position at another library has gotten in the way of me posting this sooner, but it's allowed me time to watch a movie that I somehow knew I would want to blog about. My friend Jess has been bugging me the past few months to watch Sleepaway Camp, which by the title alone suggests a slasher flick, right? Of course it does, Sherlock. While it progresses as most slasher films do, with formerly happy campers and counselors (and one especially depraved cook) dying in bizarre and horrific ways, the movies ending is truly more disturbing than any horror film I've seen. That doesn't mean that the average viewer can't intuit the ending themselves--in fact, it's the very ability to see it coming and then see how the director ends the movie that is the most disturbing. I'll be glad when I forget the image I was left with . . . .



Aside from the disturbing video, Jess gave me a copy of his new book, Autumn Guilt Mechanism. I haven't read the whole book yet (I'll admit that poetry is the one type of literature that's always given me troubles) but what I have read has been great. My favorite so far? "wet leaves":



We cling to each other like wet leaves against

window pane





everything clings

for awhile





Jess has always been good for summing up things to the point where there's nothing left to say. I can't comment on his style, as I've already shown my ignorance of poetry--but the subject matter is akin to Bukowski, whom I know he's a fan of. At times, the word phrasing reminds me of Rimbaud and Dylan's early tries at poetry--where words are strung together for the effect of language, not intentional meaning. Symbols, images--we're not talking the Oxford English Dictionary, here.



Other media I picked up on? Well, I'll admit that I'm guilty of returning to comic books--and even some super hero stuff. It all started when I read Michael Chabon's The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay, which is a fictitious tale that follows closely the Golden Age of comics, when Superman was being conceived. After that I picked up on that era somewhat, reading collections of early Batman comics and anything else I could get my hands on. I'm more interested in what comics have become, however, so I've been reading more adult comics. These comics have been seeing a second life in movie theaters, such as Sin City and V for Vendetta and the soon-to-be-released 300, which is based on Herodotus' history of the Persian war on Greece (which I've also been reading). It would be more appropriate to describe these comics as graphic novels--and it's interesting to see how they've taken different form from the standard monthly comic. Rather than prattle on and on about them, I'll just list what I've been reading: Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, Bill Willingham's Fables, Dave Sim's Cerebus, Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde, Art Spiegelman's Maus, and a few other titles I can't remember. These aren't kid's books anymore--they're created by artists who wield the pen and the written word with equal dexterity and proficiency.




Music . . . well, I could spend the rest of my life blogging about music (and some, undoubtedly, will) so I'll make this short and sweet. While back in Indiana I had the pleasure to pick up the latest release by a favorite professor of mine, John Minton. His band, The Possum Trot Orchestra, has previously released a self-titled CD that met with rave reviews. Their latest release will meet the same accolades, I'm sure. The band fuses John's seemingly limitless knowledge of American music (he's an ethnomusicologist at Indiana University) with band mate Susan Suraci's lyrical deftness (although John can write amazing tunes as well). If you're looking for some great Americana music, I'd suggest you'd start out with John's second release, Going Back to Vicksburg. And, with that, I'll have to call it quits for this post. It's gotten way too long and it's time to spend a nice Friday evening with Samantha . . .





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January 10, 2007

at long last . . .

Well, I need to apologize for the unannounced hiatus I've taken from blogging these past few weeks. I doubt it's affected anyone adversely but, if it has, please email me and I'll allow you to unload your feelings of despair and abandonment.

So what's happened since I last blogged? Well, notably, James Brown died. That wildly coke-addled musician . . . he truly was one of the greatest showmen alive. They sure did pack them in for his funeral however--he got the ovations that were his due from the notoriously demanding audience of the Apollo while a host of the famous and common visited him. The worst thing about the funeral? Michael Jackson kissing James Brown's corpse. The best thing about the funeral? The fact that James Brown's outfit was changed each day. The saddest thing about the funeral? That he hasn't actually been buried yet. Apparently, lawsuits are being tossed around--you can read about it here.


ain't it funky now?

Aside from mourning, I had the good fortune to spend two weeks with my family and friends in Indiana. One week just isn't enough when there's so many people to see. I had a great time with them all, and would like to thank them for the great time they showed me--most notably my brother-in-law, who brought some great home-brewed beer. Thanks, Kent! And congratulations are in order for him as well, as he's now the interim director of a Hispanic cultural non-profit organization, Centro Hispano.

And with that I'll have to cut this post short. I have to catch a bus so I can go to my first day of training for the circulation desk at the library of Simmons. The vacation away from work sure was sweet, but from the looks of it this won't be the most demanding job I've ever held. My next post: media I picked up on during my vacation. Oh, boy!




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