I finally finished Spook Country by William Gibson and it was a really awesome read. The story flip flops between a host of off-beat characters (a faded pop star, a junkie, a Cuban spy/crime family, and various quasi-government spooks) as they all converge on a mysterious shipping container. The main story itself is great, but one of the best parts is all the little references sprinkled throughout the text. They’re like a hundred mini-blog posts waiting for you to put the book down and go investigate.
That being said this book is a good one to read with an index card by your side so you can scribble down notes for later Interweb searching. To give you a flavor of the book here are some of the items I Googled after I finished:
The wife and I snuck out and saw a matinée showing of Superbad yesterday. The boy was napping and Grandma was willing to chill at our crib while we made a dash for the theater. I’m glad we made the trip ’cause Superbad was a damn fine movie. I would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn’t drank so much water to wash down my Milk Duds, that my bladder was about to explode every time I laughed at Jonah Hill getting hit by a car or a bat.
On the other end of the movie spectrum was Blades of Glory which we rented on Friday. All I have to say about this movie is eeesh. I love me some Will Farrell, but this wasn’t his best flick. Maybe Semi-Pro will be better?
Set in the world of the Half-Continent-a land of tri-corner hats and flintlock pistols-the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy is a world of predatory monsters, chemical potions and surgically altered people. Foundling begins the journey of Rossamund, a boy with a girl’s name, who is just about to begin a dangerous life in the service of the Emperor. What starts as a simple journey is threatened by encounters with monsters-and people, who may be worse. Learning who to trust and who to fear is neither easy nor without its perils, and Rossamund must choose his path carefully.
Complete with appendices, maps, illustrations, and a glossary, Monster Blood Tattoo grabs readers from the first sentence and immerses them in an entirely original fantasy world with its own language and lore.
Cornish’s Half Continent is probably one of the most interesting fictional places I have ever visited. The book itself contains a 100 page index and excellent illustrations by the author (like this one, check out Cornish’s illustration site).
As usual I’m about two years behind the pack, but I’m glad I caught up when it comes to Dangerdoom’sThe Mouse and the Mask album. It’s the result of a collaboration project between MF Doom and Danger Mouse (of Gnarls Barkley fame) and it’s frackin awesome ().
If you’re cherry picking singles snag Old School Rules, with Talib Kweli. Click the little thingy below to listen to the track {Via}.
If you like what you hear, head on over to the Hype Machine to listen to more from the album.
My son loves listening to music. In fact, many of thesephotos where taken while the little yellow boom box in our living room blared. But a man can only take so much Elmo and Mickey Mouse tunes, so on a whim I purchased the Rockabye Baby Lullaby Renditions of u2 CD.
It was definitely lullaby music. Even my son’s barrage of various whiffle balls and frisbees to my dome couldn’t keep me from wanting to nod of for an afternoon couch nap (the best nap ever invented, imho) while this CD was playing.
The music is kind of creepy or maybe melancholic is a better word. But the main gripe against the CD is that my son doesn’t really dig it. Only purchase it if you’re curios to hear what Sunday Bloody Sunday sounds like when it’s played on the xylophone (shudder).
The wife and I watched Nacho Libre this past weekend and I shamefully admit to liking it. It’s chocked full of humor that is right at my level (e.g. farts and puprle nurples). Or maybe I just dig anything with fellow short fat kid, Jack Black in it. I give it .
BTW part duex, if I actually attend a Halloween party this year I will go as Nacho Libre. But I will make my own costume and not buy some beat store costume.
The story is raunchy, fun, and chocked full of great characters. Plus the illustrations of the main character’s face as he is beaten and bruised throughout the story are awesome.
Some of the songs on the Beastie Boy’s new album, The Mix-Up, sound like they may be from a Guy Ritchie movie (the ones without his wife that is). And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s kind of a funky, 60’s, cheese fest that provides a decent soundtrack for pimpin’ around. Who doesn’t need some pimp music? Not their best album, but not bad either. If you’re looking for some singles to cherry pick from this album I recommend Off the Grid, The Rat Cage, and Freaky Hijiki.
Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas by Chuck Klosterman is a a collection of previously published articles and columns, plus a fictional short story. The articles consist mainly of interviews with celebrities (Bono to Britney), Klosterman torturing himself (e.g. watching VH1 Classic for 24 hours or eating nothing but Chicken McNuggets for a week), and other pop-culture topics (e.g. the Advanced Theory).
It doesn’t really matter what Klosterman writes about because all the articles turn out to be interesting. For example, I’m not really a Bill Joel fan, but his article about the Piano Man totally had me hooked. Also the foot notes and back story behind each article make you feel like you are getting a peek behind the curtain.
I finally finished Spook Country by William Gibson and it was a really awesome read. The story flip flops between a host of off-beat characters (a faded pop star, a junkie, a Cuban spy/crime family, and various quasi-government spooks) as they all converge on a mysterious shipping container. The main story itself is great, but one of the best parts is all the little references sprinkled throughout the text. They’re like a hundred mini-blog posts waiting for you to put the book down and go investigate.
As usual I’m about two years behind the pack, but I’m glad I caught up when it comes to 
Some of the songs on the 
Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas
