| Will I post another list of books read before the end of the year? |
[Dec. 11th, 2009|07:54 am] |
 Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It by Mae West. So, let’s get this straight. Mae West never did anything that wasn’t a success. Mae West’s successes were always more successful than others. All men fell in love with Mae West. Oh, wait. I forgot. This is an autobiography. Any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental.
 The Day It Rained Forever by Ray Bradbury. The typical Bradbury hero is a quiet well-spoken man who isn’t completely in step with those around him. Reading these short stories I’ve realised that it’s not really the premise that’s interesting (and there are some good ones as a group of men share a perfect ice-cream white coloured suit; a fellow gets off a train at an unknown town and realises he could commit the perfect murder; the white race is overthrown) it’s how the typical Bradbury hero reacts to them. It just shows to go you, it doesn’t matter how good your story is unless there’s characters you care about in it.
 How a Satirical Editor Became a Yippie Conspirator in Ten Easy Years by Paul Krassner. At the Sydney Writers Festival a few years ago, I brought a few books along for Paul Krassner to sign. When he saw the range I had he said “Ah. You’ve worked out that I’m the king of the rehash”. And he is. Just about all of his books have ‘The Parts Left Out of the Kennedy Book” and the “Lenny Bruce Obituary” and a few others. And they’re in this one too. This was, I think, his first collection. It’s pieces from the first 10 years of the Realist. And yes, we’ve got the same old stories we’ve read in his other (later) collections. But they’re always worth reading and there are always a few we haven’t read before. What’s there to complain about?
 The Terminators by Donald Hamilton. More Matt Helm. Helm usually has somebody double-cross him in his stories. And it’s usually one of the ladies. So, I was reading along waiting for the betrayal by the main girl and it didn’t come. Imagine my surprise. Don’t worry, he still gets double-crossed though.
 Stolen Away by Max Allan Collins. I’d just finished reading Rick Geary’s Treasury of 20th Century Murder on the Lindbergh kidnapping so some of it was fresh in my mind when I read this. As usual with Max Collins’ Nathan Heller books there’s plenty of historical colour, Frank Nitti is involved somewhere and Heller sleeps with someone famous (not Mrs Lindbergh). Another great read though. I think the next Heller book in my bundle deals with Amelia Earhart.
 The Who Sell-Out by John Dougan. This is one of those little 33 1/3 books on famous albums. As a fan of the Who, how could I resist. The bulk of this book is covering Pirate radio (which is apt seeing as the album is a parody of a pirate radio station’s broadcast day). Not really much about the making of the album aside from that it was never highly regarded. Shame there were no interviews with Townshend or Daltrey (I always thought Pete Townshend would talk to anyone about his music).
 Chaplin: His Life and Art by David Robinson. For a long time my opinion on Chaplin as a comedian used to be constantly change. I always felt he was funny but found his overt sentimentality off-putting. I was also a Keaton man. But then I started seeing some Chaplin films in cinemas and with an audience (luckily. I hate being in a theatre on my own). All of the moments which seem to be manipulatively tugging at the heart-strings are perfectly sound with an audience. Even that long long speech at the end of ‘Great Dictator’ seems as if it’s too short with an audience. Anyways, the book. This book states it’s a companion piece to Chaplin’s own autobiography (which I used to have a copy of but never read. I sense some buying coming up) and it does give a good balance on his working life and private life. About 700 pages, so my wrist is a bit sore from holding it up for the last week of commuting, but well worth it. I notice Simon Louvish has now written a book on Chaplin. |
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| My Steve Gerber Comics – Part Nine |
[Dec. 7th, 2009|03:58 pm] |
Daredevil #97 to #117
I’m reading this concurrently with the collections of Ed Brubaker’s Daredevil run.
There are lots of differences.
Brubaker’s Daredevil is the post Frank Miller Daredevil. So, the character is constantly having his life turned upside down as well as those around him.
Gerber’s Daredevil is the post Stan Lee Daredevil. So, the character is essentially Spider-Man with radar sense instead of spider sense. There’s the same wise-cracking while he fights (it’s a little disconcerting going back and seeing Daredevil call Stilt-Man “Stilty”). It's only when he's Matt Murdock that we lose the Spidey comparison.
But there’s one thing Brubaker's DD and Gerber's DD have in common (aside from a red suit with horns). Matt Murdock is a slut.
All he needs is a pretty face (or at least a radar outline of one) to make him forget the other women in his life. In Brubaker’s run, Murdock is married but that doesn’t stop him pining for Karen Page and sleeping with Dakota North. In Gerber’s run, he’s with the Black Widow but soon gives her up because Moondragon flashes her bald pate at him. And then there’s Foggy Nelson’s sister that he keeps trying to date. And all this is only a few issues after DD fights Hawkeye to prove who loves the Widow more. Ah 70’s machismo. How I miss you.
Gerber was writing, Man-Thing, Marvel Two-in-One, Sub-Mariner, Shanna the She-Devil, Vampire Tales, Marvel Spotlight and a whole heap of others at the same time as his Daredevil run, so there’s a lot of crossing over.
In particular, Shanna turns up over a few issues (and oddly, Matt Murdock doesn’t make a play for her. Maybe it’s that panther she wanders around with) picking up the thread of a story from her own title which crosses into Marvel Two-in-One for one issue.
And so, we have Mandrill.
What a character. A mutant (what else?) born with hair all over him and the face of a monkey. And not just any monkey. A - you guessed it - Mandrill (Radiation sure has a lot to answer for). Of course, DD calls him Mandy (how cute) and the chicks just love him.
Anyways, the Mandrill story-line finishes and then we find out that Foggy’s long-lost sister was investigating the disappearance of Ted Sallis.
Wait a minute! Ted Sallis? That would mean …
Yep. Another tie in. DD heads off and encounters Richard Rory (who also casually mentions a Tales of the Zombie story – also by Gerber) and then Man-Thing turns up.
Well, I guess it makes sense. If you’re working on all those stories at once, you’d have to start seeing ways to connect them.
Next: The Defenders (guest-starring Daredevil in the first issue. Who’d have thought?) |
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| Buy Buy |
[Nov. 19th, 2009|10:34 am] |
Seems there's a lot of interest from companies trying to buy Cadbury.
Of course, we all know the real reason is they want Cadbury is so they can own the colour purple.
And I'm not talking about the book or the film. |
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| Overheard on the tram |
[Nov. 18th, 2009|04:50 pm] |
Was sitting opposite two women who were trying to out-martyr each other as they discussed the work roster for Christmas
"All I want is to have Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve off"
"OK. Well, I'll come in those shifts"
"But you'll want to spend that time with your family. No, no. I'll come in."
"That's all right. We always do something on Christmas and New Year's Eve but we haven't organised anything yet so I'll come in."
One of them then wondered if any of the other people on the roster could work those days but that was soon discarded as they decided that the others shouldn't be made to put themselves out.
I didn't hear the final outcome.
After, all my tram ride was only forty minutes long. |
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| I've neally caught up with posting the books I've read |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|08:52 am] |
 Many Happy Returns by Groucho Marx. I’m not sure whether to put a co-credit for Arthur Sheekman onto this as he ghost-wrote some of Groucho’s magazine articles. No, no. Let’s give the man the benefit of the doubt. This is the hardest Groucho book to get as it’s the only one that wasn’t reprinted during the Marx Brothers rediscovery in the late sixties/early seventies. It’s all about taxation and has some nice laughs.
 No Logo by Naomi Klein. And that’s the end of my Naomi Klein reading as I get to her first book which covers the Corporate Branding of the world. It’s the usual amount of things that make you angry and wondering how we could ever allow this to happen. Wait a minute, I’m a “we”. That means I’m responsible. In that case, what I meant to say was “how they could ever allow this to happen”. Yeah. They. It’s they’s fault. Bastards.
 The Wayward Press by Robert Benchley. Benchley, Benchley, Benchley. Apparently, the Jon Stewart of his day. No, really. This book is a collection of articles he wrote for the New Yorker (under the name Guy Fawkes) in which he took newspapers to task for their shoddy reporting; news items that are barely disguised advertisements; inconsistencies; biais. Thank goodness we don’t have any problems like that anymore.
 Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock. From Benchley to Leacock. What bliss. Another great collection from the early part of last century. Still funny and contains the story that made me a Leacock Fan – ‘A, B & C’.
 The Ill-Tempered Clavichord by S J Perelman. And now we come to Perelman. I’m still not as enamored of Perelman as I am of Benchley or Leacock or Thurber. Perelman’s writing seems more clinical somehow. I can read it and recognise there are jokes there but I seldom get that gut reaction (i.e. laughing). Oh well, I’ve still got more of his books to read so, maybe I’ll change my mind.
 Up Periscope Yellow by Al Brodax. The making of ‘The Yellow Submarine’ movie. Yay! It also includes a behind the scenes of the Beatles cartoon series (Brodax was producer of both).Fascinating if some of his references are a little doubtful (were people really quoting Let It Be and Maxwell’s Silver Hammer years before they were recorded?)
 Things Snowball by Rich Hall. Saw Rich Hall at this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival and I’ve had this book for about two years. I loved his show so the book has gradually eased its way closer to my reading pile. And I’m glad it did. Very funny. |
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| Vikings? |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|10:28 am] |
I just read this news headline
"New Zealand Government under pressure to take Oceanic Viking asylum seekers" (News.com.au)
And frankly, I'm appalled. Do we really want these Norse thugs living right on our doorstep?
We know what they're like. They say they'll happily integrate but we all know they'll soon be setting sail in their longships and all the raping and pillaging will start all over gain. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. We all enjoy a little rape and pillage (particularly the pillage) but these guys have shown a history of going too far. All the way to North Africa last time.
And do we really want our children being influenced by those fashions. Don't get me wrong. I like a horned helmet as much as the next guy (maybe even more so, now that I've gotten a good look at the next guy) but I draw the line at jerkins.
So, lets make a stand right now. Sure, it's only New Zealand but today's New Zealander is tomorrow's Australian (particularly if they're a celebrity).
Now I might actually go and read the story the headline came from.
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| I'm still reading |
[Nov. 2nd, 2009|01:08 pm] |
 The New Avengers: House of Cards by Peter Cave. There’s something about the Avengers. I’ve been watching all of the early Cathy Gale stories and then have just moved onto the Emma Peel stories and have realised what my problem with the show is. I never really feel there’s any threat to them. This novelisation of one of the early New Avengers episodes definitely has a threat so, maybe it’s just in the light way they play everything. I’ll find out when I get to the New Avengers in my viewing and see the episode.
 Daydeam Believin’ by Davy Jones. Boy. Having read Micky Dolenz’s autobiography and Glenn A Baker’s book on the Monkees this one doesn’t have a lot to add aside from the huge chip on Davy’s shoulder. Can this guy hold a grudge.
 George and Martha by Karen Finley. George W Bush and Martha Stewart in a romantic tryst on the eve of Martha’s incarceration. Fun. And another book I got a the Sydney Writer’s Festival a few years ago (when I used to live in Sydney). Only one to go now.
 Universal Studios Monsters by Michael Mallory. Love those monsters. And love those Universal horror films. This is a huge coffee table book with lots of photos I hadn’t seen (and even a couple of facts). And an introduction by Stephen Sommers in which he tries to convince us, again, of his love for the old monsters and how his films are keeping that alive. Yeah. Right.
 The Price Was High Volume 2 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is one my favourite writers. This is a collection of pieces he wrote for various magazines for the money and which he didn’t think were good enough for any of his collections. In some cases he’s right but in other cases these are as good as any of his other short stories. The quote by Dorothy Parker that he could write a bad story but couldn’t write a story badly is right on the money.
 Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Another of those lovely little Neil Gaiman poem/stories with beautiful Dave McKean art. What more can I say?
 The Journal of the Loved One by Terry Southern. I know I’ve seen ‘The Loved One’. But it was many years back when I was mainly interested in seeing Jonathan Winters onscreen. I know I haven’t read the book (though I came close at school when it hit one our class reading lists. And, at that time, that was enough reason for me not to read it. I only read three books assigned to us at school – ‘Banco’ the sequel to ‘Papillon’; ‘Go Ask Alice’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’. I’ve read a lot of them since so, maybe it’s time to give ‘The Loved One’ a go. And even rewatch the film. Anyone this is really just Terry Southern in full hipster mode writing a little about the making of the film with lots of wonderful wonderful production photos. Yeah. I might watch it again soon. |
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| My Steve Gerber Comics – Part Eight |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|12:58 pm] |
Crazy Magazine #2 to #15, Creature on the Loose #28 & #29 and Cybernary #1 to #5 (and Deathblow #1 to #4).
It’s been a while since part seven (a year? I'm not going to trawl through the previous postings. You can). Lots of things have slowed me down in my reading of the complete Gerber. Not least of which is a recent side trip, which I’m still on, into the works of Ed Brubaker. But the call of Gerber has brought me back.
Crazy Magazine. This was Marvel’s attempt during the 70’s to take on Mad Magazine. Good luck. What’s mainly of interest here isn’t what’s in the magazine (the usual movie/TV parodies and other articles we’d expect from Mad) but, rather, who’s doing it. It’s, generally, Marvel’s current bullpen. Marv Wolfman (not someone I’d ever thought of when it came to humour) is a main writer and editor of the first few issues. Gerber contributes and takes over as editor from issue #11.
What we notice from Gerber is how wordy his contributions are. In fact, Gerber’s work is closer in style to the National Lampoon than Mad, with a parody of Rolling Stone in #3; his continuing series of “Just Plan Crazy Folks”, ‘Man, Myrth & Magic’ in #6 and the short story ‘And The Birds Hummed Dirges’ in #14.
It’s these pieces rather than his Mad-style movie parodies that make this essential Gerber reading.
Thongorr! Barbarian! Creatures! Just two issues of ‘Creatures on the Loose’ here (#28 & #29) and, for me, they seem like standard sword and sorcery fare which Gerber had more fun with in Man-Thing and Howard the Duck. Not my favourite genre but, in fairness, that may be because I’ve only read these and a few Conan comics written by JM DeMatteis as examples.
Move along.
There’s something about Image comics which make me feel like I’m just reading the same story over and over. The Cybernary stories started as a back-up feature in ‘Deathblow’ then moved to it’s own title. There’s a couple of bright moments here and maybe if it had continued there might have been more (but, quite frankly, I wasn’t interested enough to see if anyone continued with the character after Gerber).
I’ll be happier moving onto the next batch of Gerber comics.
Next: Daredevil |
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| The name of the game is reading |
[Sep. 25th, 2009|02:55 pm] |
 All You Need Is Ears by George Martin. This is part autobiography and part treatise on how musical instruments and speakers and microphones work. So, just when it was starting to get interesting (say – talking about recording early peter Sellers & Spike Milligan comedy records) it goes into pages about a particular type of recording tape would pick up particular parts of the sound scale and particular types of microphones could be used to increase or decrease that. All really interesting for sound engineers – which I’m not – but not so interesting for people who want to know about working with all those wonderful people that he worked with. I’ll put Geoff Emerick’s book on recording the Beatles way above this (my memory is that George Martin’s book on the making of Sgt Pepper is better too).
 Nice Weekend for a Murder by Max Allan Collins. So, I’ve read a lot of Max Collins Nathan Heller novels. I’ve also read a couple of his Quarry books, a few of his Nolan series and all of his Ms Tree comics. But this is the first Mallory book I’ve read. Mallory was a series of murder mysteries where the main character (Mallory- keep up) is a writer of murder mysteries. This one is set at a murder mystery weekend (is that enough iterations of “murder mystery” for you? Then how about this? The plot is – a murder mystery writer goes to a murder mystery weekend run by and attended by other murder mystery writers and murder mystery fans where they act out a murder mystery whilst also having discussions about murder mysteries and watching classic murder mystery films but an actual murder mystery takes place. Phew!). Fun in that old 1930/40’s (dare I say it) murder mystery movie vein (I dared, I dared). And this is book 5 in the series.
 Laughter’s Gentle Soul by Billy Altman. The third biography I’ve read about Robert Benchley. What a guy. It makes me want to go and reread all of the collections I’ve got of his. Not a lot I didn’t already know (considering I’d read two other biographies by him that’s not surprising) but it was great (and sad) reading his story again.
 Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. Why haven’t I read this before now? I’ve always been aware of it? I even knew who E.B. White was (OK. I only knew who he was because he was mentioned in books like the Robert Benchley biography and he co-wrote James Thurber’s first book). Anyways, this was terrific. And it looks like I’ve got another author to start adding to my collection (I’ve already got my eye on a book collecting some of his New Yorker pieces).
 Doctor Who Storybook 2007 by the writers of the 2007 season of Doctor Who. The only Doctor Who fiction I’ve got are those where Steven Moffatt is a contributor. He’s written some of the best episodes of the new series and his short stories are terrific too. The one in this book is another winner and, unlike some of the others, feels like a Doctor Who short story (as opposed to an outline for a prospective episode). Mind you, I still think my favourite Steven Moffatt Doctor Who short story is Continuity Errors from Decalog 3.
 A Heart at Fire’s Center by Steven C Smith. This book puts Bernard Herrmann in the list of people I admire who I would never want to meet (assuming he was alive). Always interesting though. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll start putting my Bernard Herrmann CD’s on. |
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| Larry Gelbart R.I.P. |
[Sep. 12th, 2009|08:06 am] |
In honour of the recently late Larry Gelbart (or lately recent) here again is some advice to writers from his book Laughing Matters.
• How to begin writing a project? Put your ass down in your chair, and hope that your head gets the message.
• Expect that some days you're not going to get anything done; that you're just going to have to sit and wait for the creative tide to come in.
• It's best to work on something that absolutely insists itself upon you.
• Part of the enjoyment of writing is looking up at the screen (or down at the paper) and seeing a line or a thought or an observation or a plot twist appear that has worked its way through my system and surprised me by its appearance.
• The best work is the work you never want to finish.
• For me, it's impossible to go from A to C, without the information contained in B, as a writer and as a member of the audience. Once a story springs a logic leak, I can never again invest any interest in what follows.
• Characters have as many dimensions as you're able to give them. Just keep turning them in the light and you'll see their many sides.
• Laughter is a very personal act. It has to start with the individual, although it can end up a group experience. But first it has to work for you; then you can work in a crowd.
• You have to take an audience's word for what is funny. Comedy is not negotiable. They like it, they buy it. They don't, you offer them something else.
• Every day that I am able to write is a day off from life.
• I don't know which it is writers welcome the most: praise or interruptions
Writers, to a man, to a woman, welcome any reason, any excuse, not to write.
I have, on occasion, facing a deadline, found it necessary to shave four times on the same day. I will answer a letter that has been sitting on my desk for as long as five minutes. (It's usually from someone who wants to know how to get started as a writer. I can tell them how to start a career. It's the mornings that are the problem.) After I get that out of the way, I'll settle down - and take a call from a salesman who wants to sell me some toner for my copy machine. There comes that moment, thought, when you simply run out of creative ways not to be creative, and I'll finally start to write. But not before I take the time to sharpen my pencils to the point where they're able to perform brain surgery. |
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| Writer's Block: Word for Word |
[Sep. 4th, 2009|06:18 pm] |
Lately when I'm driving I find myself singing (and knowing all the words to) "Norwegian Wood" by, of course, the Beatles; 'I Still Have That Other Girl" by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach; and 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady' by Groucho Marx.
And usually in that order. |
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| Don't I Do Anything Other Than Read? |
[Sep. 4th, 2009|11:24 am] |
Nope.
 The Borowitz Report by Andy Borowitz. Still reading books from that Sydney Writers Festival I went to several years ago (and I probably only bought about 6 books). This one is comedy news reports which are culled from the the website of the same name . Funny stuff.
 Thurber Album by James Thurber. And some not so funny stuff from the very funny James Thurber. Not so funny because this is really a book of pieces about his family and others. So, lots of research etc. That’s not to say it’s not without laughs.
 Countdown to Flight by Steve Englehart. A good introduction to the story of the Wright Brothers by one of the great comic book writers. Even with its short page count it still has lots of interesting things such as the Wright Brothers desire for lack of publicity until they had something that really worked creating doubt about reports of their results. Maybe its time for me to read a more extensive book on this topic.
 State of Fear by Michael Crichton. This is the anti-global warming thriller. Lots of it worked for me but lots of it didn’t (and at 700 pages there’s plenty of pages in both sections). As always Crichton shows that he did lots of research but I can’t help thinking all of the “there’s lots of scientific evidence against everything we think we know about global warming” stuff would have been more palatable if the character expressing those views wasn’t such a dick. He has a real “these are the facts and if you don’t accept that you’re an idiot” attitude. Interestingly enough, the only character in the book who we get to know in any way who gets killed throughout the thriller aspects is one of the “idiots” so we must have been supposed to feel he got what he deserved. Certainly nobody in the book seemed to care that he dies a grisly death. Maybe the Michael Crichton that is still being written will be more satisfying (Yes. I know Michael Crichton died in November but apparently he’s still got a couple of books up his sleeve. A pirate adventure which is due later this year and another thriller due out next year. The first may have been a finished manuscript but the second sounds like a work in progress to me. And I’m sure he has a few email messages that can still be expanded into future books.)
 By The Sword by F Paul Wilson. Now we’re talking. Another Repairman Jack novel (and if the details on F Paul Wilson’s mail updates are to be believed this is the one before the one before the one before the final one). Another great thriller with the “big story” moving more and more forward (to the point where F Paul Wilson now warns that the books probably can’t be read as stand-alones anymore). Looking forward to the next (and the next and the last)
 Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift. The problem with classics is you’re more familiar with the adaptations. So, I’ve got good memories of the Fleischer film (must get that on DVD) and dim memories of Three Worlds of Gulliver (but can’t remember what the third world they used was). The book has four adventures and as they go on the social commentary becomes a bit heavy-handed (to the point where the last book is pages and pages of Gulliver describing our society to the people of the land he’s in). Anyways, nice reading the book. It got less entertaining as it went on. Surprisingly scatological. Just checked Wikipedia on Three Worlds of Gulliver only to find that the third world was the normal world. So, no Laputa or Houyhnhnms. Apparently the Ted Danson adaptation has all four journeys. |
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| Wondering if I've been reading some books? |
[Aug. 21st, 2009|03:53 pm] |
 Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich by Stephen Leacock. This is a funny book but not as funny as it would have been in 1914. Mainly because so many of the things in the book have been used and reused by the writers who came later. But, the bottom line is, it’s still funny. My favourite is the section about the two churches having a business merger. Now, if Leacock influenced Benchley & Thurber, and Benchley & Thurber influenced Woody Allen, and Woody Allen influenced Sedaris, and Sedaris influenced Sarah Vowell & David Rakoff, who influenced Leacock?
 Doctor Who: Thrilling Adventures in Time and Space by everyone who wrote episodes for the new Doctor Who series. Like the series, some are good and some are bad. And, just like the new series the best is by Steven Moffatt (parts of whose story here were used in his episode ‘Blink’ two years later).
 Tales of Tongue Fu by Paul Krassner. This is funny in the way ‘Candy’ is funny – i.e. with a feeling of distant irony. Maybe not as funny as his shorter pieces but still worth it. Particularly if you buy it from his website and you get a nice little autograph in it. Yay!
 Son of Harpo Speaks by Bill Marx. Well, that’s the set. I’ve got a book on Groucho by his son, a book of letters from Groucho to one of his daughters, a book on Chico by his daughter and now the book on Harpo by his son (that’s all unless one of Zeppo’s children decides to write a book). It seems everyone who knew Harpo loved him and nothing in this book (or any of the other Marx children’s by the way) changes that opinion. And, again, if you get it from the website you can have it signed.
 Acres and Pains by S J Perelman. From a Marx Brother to a writer who is probably best known now for having written a couple of Marx Brothers movies. Of the “great” humorists of the 1940’s and 50’s Perelman is always up there but I’ve never liked his work as much as Thurber or Benchley. Perelman always seems a little distanced from what he’s writing about. This is about a farm property he bought and lived on and, whilst there are laughs, it’s still a bit clinical. Oh well.
 How to Kill Your Husband by Kathy Lette. I’ve bought and read all of Kathy Lette’s books over the years. She often gets criticised for man-bashing but that’s never really bothered me because I never seem to like anyone she writes about. This is only a problem because that means I don’t really care what happens to them. But, the jokes are there (if sometimes not quite in character). |
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| You were expecting something other than books? |
[Jul. 29th, 2009|08:05 am] |
 The Great Quillow by James Thurber. Yep. I might have to start rereading my Thurber collection again. Yes, this is another children’s book by a writer I like and collect. And it’s totally charming and funny. I’ve got one more Thurber book to go in my collection (and just did a search and found there are two recent books of previously uncollected material that I don’t have so, maybe the rereading won’t happen for a while).
 The Man Who Framed the Beatles by Andrew Yule. I assume he wanted to call this ‘The Man Who Shot the Beatles’ but was worried people would think it’s about instead of Richard Lester who directed ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and ‘Help’. The book tells the story of the making of those films but also Lester’s other movies such as ‘The Knack’, ‘Superman II & III’, ‘Three Musketeers’, ‘Bed-Sitting Room’, ‘Petulia’. Quite a list of films. He’s not a director whose work I actively seek out but more than half of his films are one’s I’ve either got or want in my collection. Great reading for the Beatles fan, the film fan and the Lester fan (and I guess I’m covered by all those). Note to self: I must get a copy of ‘Royal Flash’ and the Musketeer films.
 The 10 Cent Plague by David Hajdu. Well, of course I had to read this. After reading Men of Tomorrow which just touched on the 1950’s ban of horror and crime comics, I was primed for an entire book on the subject. Lots of great stories and worth the price if only for the 12 page double columned list of names of artists and writers who were working in the comic book business up to the witch hunt who never worked in the industry again.
 NNNNN by Carl Reiner. Lovely. But very slight. It hinges on coincidence but I was happy to go along with it. And besides, it’s Carl Reiner.
 The Intriguers by Donald Hamilton. Maybe all the Matt Helms are fairly similar but I’m still liking them. And I can’t help it but I keep picturing Dean Martin doing the scenes in the books. And it actually works OK (of course, this is Dean Martin in Young Lions not Dino from the Matt Helm films).
 Malinche by Laura Esquivel. Beautifully written (do I praise the translator in that case?) . This is sort of a novelly history of Cortes and the conquest of Mexico told through the eyes of the woman who becomes his translator. All nicely done (if not quite as engaging as her other books. |
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| Reasons to love public transport #685 |
[Jul. 22nd, 2009|09:20 am] |
So I'm at the tram stop waiting get a tram to see French & Saunders (who were great by the way). I'm reading my book (Carl Reiner's 'NNNNN' - see next book list for more details) and then my perennial nemesis arrives. The person who wants to ask you a question.
And it always starts so simply.
"What time's the next 64?"
Yes. I am the walking timetable apparently but I do point out that a 64 just went by a couple minutes ago.
And it's back to the book. I wish.
"You must be waiting for the 16."
Brilliant deduction, Holmes. Only two trams come past this stop - the 16 & 64. I just saw a 64 leave. I'm clearly not on it. THerefore, I must be waiting for the other tram.
Nod and smile. Keep reading.
"It's probably easier to walk home. But I'm a bit overweight too."
Zing! Cut to the quick.
Nod and smile. Keep reading.
"You want to read your book. That's good. I won't interrupt you. I've always been taught to respect my elders."
Double zing! The rapier wit. How to respond?
Nod and smile. Keep reading.
"What are you reading?"
Nothing anymore. But I explain it's a book by an American comedy writer.
"You like comedy? Do you like Hughsey?"
It takes me a moment to realise he means Dave Hughes. Ah, my tram is coming. He wants a 64. THis is a 16. Escape. Sweet escape.
"my name's Mark. If I see you around again, I'll say hello".
Nod and smile. Nod and smile. Run for the tram. |
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| Trivial trivia |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|11:24 am] |
A fetus starts to rebel against the parent’s values during the second trimester.
98% of people think 98% of people fill in more surveys than them.
The tuna is not a fish but a fruit.
The four leaf clover is not as lucky as a four leaf clover impaled through a rabbit’s foot.
Rain really does know when you’ve just washed your car.
The Tasmanian Tiger became extinct following a meeting with a real tiger. |
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| I read the books |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|06:23 pm] |
 High in the Clouds by Paul McCartney. More children’s books. As you can tell, the common thread is that they’re written by people I’m already inclined to buy things by. So, this is co-written by Paul McCartney and Geoff Dunbar with illustrations by Philip Ardagh. Now, I don’t want to get into how much Paul McCartney actually wrote. What I do want to get into is how this seemed like one of those bare bones comic adaptations of a film I spoke of here. All the major story points and character stuff is done in the sketchiest form possible. And oddly enough, there is going to be a film. And Paul McCartney is doing the music. And we know he’ll write that.
 Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman. You see? I told you. I buy children’s books based on the authors. This is a lovely little poem written for a new baby girl and beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess. That’s all there is to it.
 Fences and Windows by Naomi Klein. This is in the series of books I read where I get angry because I know what they’re saying is true but nobody does anything about it (including me). The two books I’ve read so far by Naomi Klein (this and the Shock Doctrine) tend to gov over a lot of the same ground. This could be because I read her most recent book first (and have her first book to read next) but this book, being a series of articles written between 200 & 2002 does get a little repetitive. With the same arguments coming up again and again. Lucky I agree with her.
 I’m A Believer by Micky Dolenz. The second of three books I’ve got by former Monkees and the first of two memoirs. And all three books are signed. Yay. Collecting is such fun. Micky gives a pretty good account of those days. Though he does seem to come across as the “I’ll go along with whatever the other guys think” guy. Next I’ll read Davey Jones’ book.
 The Seal in The Bedroom by James Thurber. Thurber was the first of the “classic” humorists that I encountered (the path went from me liking Woody Allen so buying one of his books. Then reading that he admired Perelman and Thurber and Benchley. Then finding that they admired Leacock etc etc) and he’s probably my favourite after Benchley. This is a series of cartoons for the New Yorker originally published in the early 1930’s. And it’s still as funny (and sometimes puzzling) as it probably was then. I’ve got two more unread Thurber books. Maybe after that I’ll start rereading them all (and Benchley and Perelman and Leacock and Allen).
.jpg) Masks by Ray Bradbury. AH, Gauntlet Press I do love you. Another great collection. Here we have a novel that Ray Bradbury began in the late forties and never completed. Then the usual wonderful collection of notes and drafts and bits and pieces that may or may not have ended up in the book. I find these much more satisfying than attempts to try to finish the unfinished book “just how the author intended”. More please. |
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| Sooner is later?? |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|04:28 pm] |
I got the following notice from Amazon today
"We are writing about the order you placed on July 04 2009. The item(s) listed below will actually ship sooner than we originally expected:
Previous estimated arrival date: August 12 2009 - September 09 2009
New estimated arrival date: August 24 2009"
So, let's see. The new "sooner" arrival date is after the original earliest arrival date.
And it appears that now there is no slippage in the arrival. It's definitely turning up on the 24th.
I'll be standing at my mailbox waiting. And if Amazon are wrong ... |
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