Four People Who Are Awesome In My Opinion Right At This Moment (Not Eight Years Ago)

It's a Friday, no one is on the Internet, and I'm posting like a rabid chipmunk looking for a bass player. Savor the madness.

1. Jane Austen. Somewhere, out there, is a video from 1998 or so of me on a drunken rampage, threatening squirrels (not real ones) and screaming invectives at Jane Austen, whom I had never read. This is my official retraction of that evening (which, to be fair to myself, I have little memory of in the first place). I'm lugging around a big, ugly (seriously; later I'll post the slipcover to this monstrosity) collected edition of Austen's novels plus the unpublished Lady Susan. So far I've read Sense and Sensibility (I quite liked Colonel Brandon) and this morning I finished Pride and Prejudice (Mr. Bennett was my fave. I mean, yes, he's a bit cruel to his wife at times, but she really does ask for it). I enjoyed both much more than I would have believed back then. Ah, youth. I must admit that at times I find it a bit irksome that, for narratives so concerned with money as it affects marriage, there's almost no mention of anyone actually working; but these are romances, I suppose, so I'm willing to overlook it. Next up: Mansfield Park.

2. Jackie Chan. This is the only proof I need.

3. Michel Gondry, and "The Science of Sleep." For more on this keep an eye on the Strange Horizons reviews page. Good stuff.

4. Torii Hunter. Yeah, so he missed that catch. How many Gold Gloves do YOU have? I'm just sayin', it ain't over.

WFC

I am, as it turns out, going to Austin. Who's going to be there?

Ghost in the Machine

This is me talking about my uncle again, so if you find that tiresome look away.

Roger was really into music; I just never realized how much. I'd known he was a reggae fanatic, and since we always exchanged gifts at Christmas that became sort of a shorthand for shopping. But when my brother and I went to the house the day after my sister's wedding--and what a weird, difficult experience that was--I found shelves packed with not just Jamaican artists like Bunny Wailer and Steel Pulse but also Miles Davis, Gilberto & Getz, Dwight Yoakam, k.d. lang, Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, etc. My mom had told me to take some stuff so I did, along with a few books and a leather jacket. Then on the drive home my brother mentioned that he had my uncle's iPod and didn't really have a use for it. I could have it if I wanted it. I lost my own about six months ago, so I said sure.

At first I thought I'd just take it home and overwrite it with my own music, but then I thought maybe I'd listen to what was on it first. So far it's been a weird emotional roller coaster. Some of the stuff I'm not so sure about--I could do without Shaggy and pretty much anything jam-band related--but a lot of the jazz is stuff that I've been meaning to investigate more, and there are lots of nice surprises. The bits that kill me, though, are the overlaps. I hear Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer doing "Redemption Song" and I think about last Christmas, when my folks gave me Cash's Unearthed and Roger was so impressed by the lineup that he decided to buy it. I hear Lyle Lovett and I wonder how I could not have known that we were both fans of his. I can't help regretting the time we could have spent listening to and talking about music together. Sometimes it really hurts.

Anyway, I've decided that the library of tunes on Roger's iPod will stay the same. Eventually I'll probably buy another to put my own stuff on, but for now I feel like I'm getting to know him in a way I didn't while he was alive. Odd how a skinny little chunk of metal allows me to hang on to him, keep him alive, a while longer.

Um, now I'm worried that this ended up sounding kind of like a sappy commercial for Apple. Sorry about that.

Could the Virus Be Causing That Incessant Beeping?

Am home feeling icky today, but luckily there is baseball on. This will either cheer me up or send me spiralling into a deep depression. Will keep y'all updated.

Speaking of things that are on, I humbly request that EVERYONE watch "Veronica Mars" tonight. You'll like her. She solves crimes! While making many witty remarks. She's a kid (now a college kid) and all the kids she knows are a little messed up. So is V., when you get right down to it, but she hides it better. And if you are thinking DAVE I HAVEN'T SEEN THE FIRST TWO SEASONS OF THIS SHOW AND I DON'T WANT TO BE OVERWHELMED WITH CONTINUITY, then I am here to tell you that I have seen the first episode once already and Rob Thomas is being very gentle with you new viewers. He's not going to hand out a book-length previously and tell you to study it quick before the opening credits are over. NO PREVIOUSLIES, in fact. You'll pick up the stuff you need to know. So please, please, watch, and tell your friends and parents and pets to watch.

Ugh. My head is hurting and the A's are ahead. This bodes ill.

The Cranky Old Man Asks . . .

Who the &%*# is Dane Cook?

This Entry Has No Name

Didja ever notice how, when there's a lot going on, people don't blog as much? At least, I don't. If I were a news organization, I would be the worst in the world. "Sorry, folks, too much going on; can't stay and talk about it!"

Yeah. That's kind of how it is right now, for me.

ITEM: The Twins, finishing in first. I love these guys. They spent the early part of the season in the cellar, and since June they've been steadily climbing out. It didn't seem like they'd ever catch the Tigers, but in the last week they tied it up, then moved up into first on the last day of the season. Seriously, who's writing this stuff? It's totally implausible. I don't buy it. But every time I watch this video I get choked up. I've watched it like, twenty times. It's pathological but I love it. Even if the team doesn't make it past the first round of the playoffs they'll be heroes in my book. But for the record, I think they've got a shot at the whole damn thing.

ITEM: Spent part of the weekend chez Meisner. I really love those people. Pär is such a cool guy, J. is the best little guy-in-training, and Karen is beyond cool. They're cool, is what I'm trying to say. If this were a review of their family, it would be an incoherent rave. J. and I played with his toys and Pär and I had mellow chats and Karen and I saw "Scoop" at the budget cinema and it was great--why didn't anyone tell us?!? Love Scarlett playing awkward and nerdy, and Woody not getting in the way of the story. Hugh Jackman had to play a cipher, but he was still good. I'm developing a man-crush on him. Seriously. A couple of months ago I stayed up until 3 AM watching "Kate and Leopold." God I hate Meg Ryan. Anyway, to sum up: bark tea good, drunken pool good, Playmobil knights and pirates good. Friends, good.

ITEM:


Just follow the link. Mr. Ford speaks for me.

ITEM: A video. Men's room etiquette. Live by it.

ITEM: Yeah, I can't tell you. But it's kind of making me a basket case. In a good way(?).