File Under: Misc.

[Jim]

Dave wrote: "Are you actually endorsing the philosophy of Pay It Forward if you read it and then warn as many people as possible away from it?"

Ha! Absolutely!

"You look cold. Take my coat."
"Here's a dollar for bus fare."
"For the love of God, do not read Pay It Forward!!!... You're welcome."

[Jim]

Quiz time!

Tiny movie stills.
Warning: You could sprain your retinas.

Author by movie scene.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

NEW EP:
This week we're joined by our buddy Jim Burton, reader of books, talking of words, frequent contributor to the Goodreads group, and smarty pants for our usual mad rampage through topics various and sundry: Wuthering Heights, reading habits, Starship Troopers, books you don't want to end, David Simon and The Corner, Reflections in a Golden Eye and much more!

http://bookhouseboyspodcast.podomatic...

[Jason, Walking Allergen]

Jim wrote: "Quiz time!

Tiny movie stills.
Warning: You could sprain your retinas.

Author by movie scene."

Only 15 of 25, three minutes to go but I doubt I'll come up with any more. Some movies I recognize (like Silence of the Lambs and L.A. Confidential), but I have no idea who wrote them.

[Robert]

Matt wrote: "NEW EP:
This week we're joined by our buddy Jim Burton, reader of books, talking of words, frequent contributor to the Goodreads group, and smarty pants for our usual mad rampage through topics var..."

Downloading now and thank you!

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know I can get just a tiny bit political from time to time.

I hooked up with the Demand Progress organization some months back in an effort to stop the SOPA/PIPA bills from passing through Congress. Since then, I've signed on to numerous petitions and sent several letters to my representatives asking them to consider issues raised by the Demand Progress organization in semi-regular emails. I liked a lot of what they stood for, and was happy to do my part to create a little change in this country.

Today, I unsubscribed from their mailing list and unfollowed them on Twitter. Thought I'd share my reasons here, for the none of you who are interested. My letter, sent with my request to unsubscribe me:

"I would like to be unsubscribed because I demand progress -- not lies.

"DP sent out an email on Feb. 13 urging members to support National Public Vote bills introduced in Virginia (HB 2387 and SB 463). I trusted the information and sent letters to my local representatives (Creigh Deeds and David Toscano) urging them to support these bills. I received a note from the office of David Toscano informing me that no such legislation existed, which I confirmed at http://www.richmondsunlight.com.

"Support for these false bills is clogging up the inboxes of Virginia legislators (not all of whom are a part of the awful VA GOP currently making the Commonwealth a laughing stock) and it is costing their staffs -- and, therefore, the taxpayers -- significant time and money to sort through these requests. As these bills do not actually exist, urging people to support them is also making your members look foolish.

"I sent a note to DP asking that this misinformation be corrected and heard nothing back. I then addressed the issue on Twitter and was unfollowed by DP's account. It has become clear to me that DP does not stand for the things for which I thought you stood.

Disappointed,

Dave Alluisi"

I'll post whatever response I get from them -- if any -- here. Until then, feel free to pass this information along to whomever you think may benefit from it.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Dave wrote: "I hooked up with the Demand Progress organization some months back in an effort to stop the SOPA/P..."
Thanks for sharing this. It saddens me to hear it. Please do keep us informed about anything you might hear.

[Robert]

Dave wrote: "Those of you who follow me on Twitter know I can get just a tiny bit political from time to time.

I hooked up with the Demand Progress organization some months back in an effort to stop the SOPA/P..."

Thanks, Dave.

I really appreciate your headiness for these causes you crusade for and how you take a lead in substantiating the legitimacy of your causes!

Great work, sir.

[Jim]

Wow, Dave, that's so strange. I guess it's good news that Toscano's office sent you an actual response rather than boilerplate bullshit.
Checking the link you posted, House bills are only in the 1200's, and SB 463 is about the earned income tax credit. What. The fuck.

I've been guilty of signing onto petitions or cut-and-pasting e-mails based only on the info that pops up in my inbox. A reminder that I --and those like me -- need to be more diligent.

Hope you'll get a non-canned response from Demand Progress and share it with us.
...Unfollowed, really? Stay classy, San Diego.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Jim wrote: "I've been guilty of signing onto petitions or cut-and-pasting e-mails based only on the info that pops up in my inbox. A reminder that I --and those like me -- need to be more diligent."

I'm with you. :/

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

What's sad, Jim, is that the first email I got back from Toscano's office was a cut-n-paste boilerplate. They'd received so many emails over these phony bills that they wrote up a specific response just for the National Public Vote messages.

I wrote Delegate Toscano's office back and apologized. I told them I'd inform DP of their error and ask that it be corrected because of the undue hardship it was causing them. I got a second, very nice note back from Toscano's office thanking me and encouraging me to contact them any time, over any concern. Needless to say, I'll be voting for David Toscano when he's up for reelection in November 2013.

Back to the issue at hand, though. Realistically, this causes more problems for delegates who would already be on the side of an organization like DP. Other than parts of Northern Virginia, Charlottesville is probably the most liberal city in the Commonwealth. Our delegates are already among the handful of progressives left in our state House and Senate. So, since we have a much higher concentration of liberals in this town, it's much more likely that progressive delegates are going to be the ones to have their inboxes flooded by their constituency.

Mostly, though, it infuriates me that an organization claiming to be progressive would resort to lies and manipulation in order to get what they want. Since these bills were completely fabricated, I think DP was just trying to get Virginians to put the NPV idea in the consciousness of our legislators and maybe manufacture a movement where there wasn't one. I will not be used, tricked, manipulated, or lied to, even if the end result is something I'd like to see happen. If you want people to support the NPV idea, be up front about it, you know? I don't have patience for an organization like that. Done with 'em.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Hey, Twin Peaks fans! Today's the anniversary of Laura Palmer's death. Fans of the show already know that each episode more or less covered one day in time. I watch the show almost every year, starting with the pilot on this day and watch an episode a day until the wonderful finale.

BTW, here's a cool (lost) bit of the story that greatly improves on the ending of one of my least favorite characters: http://twinpeaksarchive.blogspot.com/...

[Devin]

Matt wrote: "Hey, Twin Peaks fans! Today's the anniversary of Laura Palmer's death. Fans of the show already know that each episode more or less covered one day in time. I watch the show almost every year, star..."

I am joining you in this ritual this year, Sir. Watched it for the first time about 2 years ago and unsurprisingly I LOVED it.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

I've never had a paperback run out of power on the bus. :(

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Thanks to Dave for tweeting this link. Awesome. http://www.rushkoff.com/blog/2012/3/9...

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

Rushkoff is always worth reading. One of my favorite minds working today. I know there are a lot of comics fans who hang around here... if you haven't read Testament yet, get onnit, cuz it's the goods.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Well, this is sad. I don't know how to get the pictures of the Brandon Graham sketch from my phone to my computer. I feel left behind by the techno-gods.

[Jason, Walking Allergen]

Matt wrote: "Well, this is sad. I don't know how to get the pictures of the Brandon Graham sketch from my phone to my computer. I feel left behind by the techno-gods."

Is this a smart phone or a stoopid phone?

You might be able to email it to yourself with either. If it IS a smartphone, and it came with a USB cable, you could also do it that way.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

I'd apologize for my behavior on this episode, but I don't make apologies. I'm sorry, that's just the way I am.
Jason and Matt bravely face a mysterious and troubling bout of Davelessness, talking about King City - TP, Deadly Cults: The Crimes of True Believers and Man, Myth And Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia Of The Supernatural when Dave swoops in to save the day...and Matt records his impromptu appearance for "I Hate the '10s."

http://bookhouseboyspodcast.podomatic...

[Luke]

Looking forward to the king City talk. I loved it.

I created that king city entry lol.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Luke wrote: "Looking forward to the king City talk."

I don't know how satisfying it'll be. I met him and bought his book, which I bought based on people like you giving it props. I haven't had a chance to start it yet. I can tell from his sketch (that I will scan and post) that he's an incredibly talented cartoonist.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Brandon Graham sketch, as mentioned on the episode (the menagerie of kitties):
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/33...

[Jason, Walking Allergen]

Matt wrote: "Brandon Graham sketch, as mentioned on the episode (the menagerie of kitties):
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/33..."

Love it!

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

So, Dave & I were both right. Kolchak was created by Jeffrey Rice (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99...) and Matheson did the teleplays for the TV movies based on them. This will all make sense to the rest of you on Tuesday.

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

Something else that'll make sense on Tuesday: My Wedding Ring

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

That's right! We got mass-married! I'm horrible with secrets!

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

New episode! We're all over the place.

On this week's episode, the boys talk about Dave's writerly venture with "The Murders on Monument Ave," Richard Matheson, Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson, classic horror literature, comics (Green Lantern, events, lesbians, Stumptown), The Breakfast Club, wedding rings, internet privacy, the thrill of the hunt, and lots more.

Next week we'll talk about the first half of Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion. Please join us! It's a damn good book.


http://bookhouseboyspodcast.podomatic...

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

The second novella in Angels & Insects, "The Conjugial Angel," is reminding me of the great frustration that can come with reading Byatt. What started as a cool premise about a group of Victorians chasing the ghost of a deceased loved one in the afterlife has become, by the end, fairly aimless and extraordinarily pedantic. I frequently find myself wishing that Byatt could leave the Romantic poetry explication in her essays instead of weaving it so heavily into her stories. It distracts rather than illuminates.

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

I talked my sugar daddy, Amazon, into sending me some free books today. Now I either have or will soon have 5 of our next 6 books ready to go. I also got The Princess Bride for another one of them there commentary projects like that Jaws one.

I think I'll celebrate by spooning with my dogs.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

"I'm really annoyed by pigeonholes and categories and labels.I view them as iniquitous to the spirit of play and of experimentation and of storytelling. The fact at a bookstore, the fiction is divided into fiction and mystery and science fiction, I don't understand why it has to be that way. To me it's all fiction, and I think the best science fiction, the best mystery fiction, the best horror fiction ought to be put on par with the best quote-unquote 'literary fiction.' You know, there's this famous thing, Sturgeon's Law, named after the science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, who said that 90 percent of everything is crap. I think that's true, and it's just as true of the so-called literary fiction as it is of science fiction and mysteries. So, you know, if I owned my own bookstore, I would just have the best 10 percent of everything and I would stick it all together and call it fiction and be done with it." - Michael Chabon, from a conversation with Steve Innskeep on NPR's Morning Edition broadcast December 20, 2004.

[Jason, Walking Allergen]

A-fucking-men.

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

And halle-effin-lujah.

[Robert]

I love the quote. What was the context of the quote? Does he hate modern bookstores? Is he disgusted with the current marketing of fiction vs. non-fiction? Is he implying that his books don't belong in the 90 percentile?

Just curious.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Robert wrote: "I love the quote. What was the context of the quote? Does he hate modern bookstores? Is he disgusted with the current marketing of fiction vs. non-fiction? Is he implying that his books don't b..."

A couple questions before, Innskeep asked him "Was it strange at all, as a quote-unquote 'serious literary writer,' to write a mystery story?"

The whole interview is archived here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st...

[Jeppe]

What a great quote. Chabon is such a smart guy and one my favorite contemporary fiction writers.

It actually reminds me of this China Miéville quote, which is a lot more embracing of the genre 'categorization' than Chabon seems to be. The discussion of the value of genre and labeling is an interesting one to me.

"There’s simultaneously something rigorous and something playful in genre. It’s about the positing of something impossible—whether not-yet-possible or never-possible—and then taking that impossibility and granting it its own terms and systematicity. It’s carnivalesque in its impossibility and overturning of reality, but it’s rationalist in that it pretends it is real. And it’s that second element which I think those who dip their toes in the SF pond so often forget. They think sf is “about” analogies, and metaphors, and so on. I refute that—I think that those are inevitable components, but it’s the surrendering to the impossible, the weird, that characterizes genre. Those flirting with SF don’t surrender to it; they distance themselves from it, and have a neon sub-text saying, “It’s okay, this isn’t really about spaceships or aliens, it’s about real life,” not understanding that it can be both, and would do the latter better if it was serious about the former."
China Miéville, interviewed by Joan Gordon.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Jeppe wrote: "It actually reminds me of this China Miéville quote, which is a lot more embracing ..."

Nice. Where's a good place to start on Miéville?

[Jeppe]

Matt wrote:
Nice. Where's a good place to start on Miéville?"

I'd suggest starting either with Kraken or The City and the City. Both are absolutely great novels. The first one, set in London, is somewhat more steeped in genre trappings, whereas the second one is sort of an indefinable political/science fiction-y thriller taking place in a fictional Central European city-state.

[Jason, Walking Allergen]

Heather loved The City and the City, so I know she'd second that recommendation. Un Lun Dun is another favorite of hers. Unlike some of his books, I believe both of those stand on their own.

...well, maybe they all successfully stand on their own, but some of his books share settings and characters. That's what I meant.

[Robert]

Matt wrote: "Robert wrote: "I love the quote. What was the context of the quote? Does he hate modern bookstores? Is he disgusted with the current marketing of fiction vs. non-fiction? Is he implying that hi..."

Great little interview. I thought both Michael and the moderator handled themselves quite eloquently and both the questions and responses were apropos. Nice piece and thanks for sharing that, Matt!

[Jim]

ROFLMAO:

Texts from Hillary.

[Jeppe]

Jim wrote: "ROFLMAO:

Texts from Hillary."

Hah! I love it

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

NEW EPISODE: http://bookhouseboyspodcast.podomatic...
TOPICS: The Ponder Heart, Scalped, Vol. 8: You Gotta Sin to Get Saved, King City - TP, The Princess Bride, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 3: The Flute of the Fallen Tiger & more

[Robert]

Thank you, Gents!

I'll be listening just as soon my Brewers are finished playing.

And, no. I'm not joking.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Robert wrote: "Thank you, Gents!"

Thanks, buddy! Go, Brewers! (I love beer).

Tangent time!
(view spoiler)["The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, 'Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?' And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, 'Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride.'" - Bill Hicks (hide spoiler)]

Call them what you want ("angels," "aliens," whatever), there are certain people who are like a gift to humanity...who seem to have a panoramic view of the landscape from a much better vantage point than me (who's peering at it from a gulch through a toilet-paper tube).
Kurt Vonnegut was one of those people. I love his response to having his books burned.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/...

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

I've always been of the notion that any school official or PTA member or librarian who advocates for the burning or banning of a book of any description should be immediately removed from authority. No questions asked.

To destroy a book is to destroy thought, and to destroy thought is to oppose education at its most basic, molecular level.

Such people should not be trusted to safeguard intellectual development.

[Robert]

Dave wrote: "I've always been of the notion that any school official or PTA member or librarian who advocates for the burning or banning of a book of any description should be immediately removed from authority..."

Your elocution is eloquent, Dave!

Also, great article, Matt.

From a more pragmatic, if that's the term, standpoint; I am disheartened when an intellectual property, such as literature, can be so easily snuffed out. Something that requires some thought, no matter how inane, to at least be transcribed and assembled together into a cohesive unit such as a book, requires some base thought. And then, to have it so easily destroyed by the hiccup of a thought conjured up by a mob mentality, an act which requires only a guttural, almost cowardly response is not thought, only an involuntary, unlearned vestigial motion.

[Robert]

Thanks, gents, for another great episode of the Bookhouse Boys podcast!

[Dave Alluisi, Evolution of the Arm]

Thanks for listening, Robert! Let us know if any of the books we discussed sounded interesting or, if you've already read them, what you thought of them. Interactive media FTW!

[Robert]

The good news, Dave, it all sounds interesting. I enjoy the team's format, working a longer themed episode based on the reading of the month, interspersed with two, shorter non-thematic episodes where the boys get to discuss "stuff"; any mental detritus that may arise while recording, only for the purpose of hanging out with comrades.

The bad news, my recall and short-term memory is appalling. I was hoping I could have some show notes for a quick encapsulation? But I believe it was Jason who mentioned the author Bobbie Mason who was described as a Southern Gothic author, and this got my ears ringing the most.

I suppose I need to work on my feedback skills, as a compliment is one thing, but any critique can only be more constructive.

[Matt, I am the Great Went.]

Jason's show notes (better late than never):
Welcome to another whirlwind tour through pop culture and pet peeves with Dave, Matt and Jason as they cover such diverse topics as Bobbie Ann Mason's Love Life, The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, the memoirs of Haven Kimmel, Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann, lazy bicyclists, the BBC, digital comics, the Stumptown Comics Fest awards, lots of movies (The Avengers, Cabin in the Woods, The Three Stooges, House of the Devil and more), and the numbers for the next 500 million dollar lottery.