who you callin' a superannuated teenage golem?

The Onion A.V. club has a blog (news to me) and a recent post documents a dust-up between writer Harlan Ellison and Mike Krahulik, the artist behind webcomic Penny Arcade.

Short version: Ellison, Gabe, and Gabe's "Penny Arcade" partner Tycho (a.k.a. Jerry Holkins) were guests of honor at a Seattle-area convention called Foolscap. After the convention, Gabe posted an account of an onstage encounter with Harlan, who reportedly was rude and profane to them. Some of Penny Arcade's fans swarmed the bulletin boards of Harlan's home page, calling him names; Harlan responded with a post to his own boards calling Gabe "a superannuated teen-age golem with a slack jaw, a slow manner, a typical pointless surliness at a world unwilling or unable to accept him as Superlative, and on sum a twerp easy to dismiss."

And then it was on...
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one laughs but then sighs

The Believer's October issue has an interview with Lorrie Moore. Some favorite bits:

Oh, the precarious position of fiction in our world: that over the last several decades the novel has continually been declared dead, and the short story is in constant resurrection, which means half-dead or post-dead or heaven-bound. But one continues writing anyway—as has been said by many—because one must.

What little reality television I’ve seen seems to be about economic desperation. Like the marathon dancing of the Great Depression, which should give us pause. People willing to eat flies and worms for a sum that is less than the weekly paycheck of the show’s producer. I haven’t seen 'reality television' that is other than this kind of painful, sadistic exploitation of fit young people looking for agents. Memoir, it ain’t.

Why is getting into the groove a good thing, when so many people would like to climb out of one?

But awkwardness is where tension is, and tension is where the story is. It’s also where the comedy is, which I’m interested in; when it resolves it tends to resolve toward melancholy, a certain resignation, which I find interesting as well.

BLVR: The other day someone told me that our current president said he was a big fan of Thoreau—specifically, that he loved On Walden Pond.
LM: I hadn’t heard that On Walden Pond remark. This is funny—but funny and sad, no? One laughs but then sighs.
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I just don't know what to do with myself

The White Stripes will be the first band ever to play on The Daily Show.
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trapped in a universe factory

boing boing points us to this Pi joke that could easily serve as a litmus test for one's nerdness.

Guilty as charged.

some sites of interest

Rollyo allows you to create a search engine that only prowls the sites you choose.

Lifehacker provides a seemingly endless stream of time-saving suggestions, from how to save gas to how to walk through a museum.

Listen to East Village Radio or Radio Indie Pop.

Jonathan Lethem spiffed up his website just in time for his MacArthur Genius grant.

The Corduroy Suit is a Silver Jews webpage with a large collection of writing by David Berman.
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truer words never spoken

"Don't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night."
- Philip K. Dick
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this preview has been approved for all audiences

I wouldn't even know who to credit for this remake of The Shining trailer as a heartwarming family film, because it's everywhere. And now it's here and will make your day.

Update: Here are some more refurbished trailers (from the same company, PS260) - one that makes Titanic into a horror flick and one that transforms West Side Story into a zombie nightmare. (via boing boing)
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short stack

"Happy slapping a chav who is indulging in a bit of dogging, however, might be the way to go." (via Verbose Coma)

Judd Apatow keeps a diary at Slate.

The Gallery of Annoying Email Signatures (via Lindsayism)

What do people stare at on the subway to avoid contact with other riders?

Send an SMS in #1!

"WHAT'S THE PRICE?" the classic Thunderbird theme song, a rollicking, country tinged number, famously asked. The answer: "Thirty twice." (via boing boing)

Part one of "A Guide to Literary Jonathans": Jonathan Ames
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what should I read next?

At this handy-dandy site, you can enter a book that you like and you'll receive a handful of recommendations. I experimented with my most recent favorite book - David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas - and was pointed in some interesting directions. The range and quirkiness of these titles are quite impressive.

Wild Seed - Octavia Butler
Divided Kingdom - Rupert Thomson
Sex Crimes of the Futcher - Billy Childish
The Invention of Solitude - Paul Auster
Cherry - Matt Thorne
Year 501: The Conquest Continues - Noam Chomsky
Idz Kochaj - Tomak Tryzna
The Living Room of the Dead - Eric Stone
A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories - Victor Pelevin, Andrew Bromfield
The Box Man - Kobo Abe

Via The Elegant Variation

you should design a restaurant

The gods talk design in this week's New Yorker.

Day No. 6:

“Today I’m really going out there,” said the Lord God. “And I know it won’t be popular at first, and you’re all gonna be saying, ‘Earth to Lord God,’ but in a few million years it’s going to be timeless. I’m going to design a man.”

And everyone looked upon the man that the Lord God designed.

“It has your eyes,” Zeus told the Lord God.

“Does it stack?” inquired Allah.

“It has a naïve, folk-artsy, I-made-it-myself vibe,” said Buddha. The Inca sun god, however, only scoffed. “Been there. Evolution,” he said. “It’s called a shaved monkey.”

“I like it,” protested Buddha. “But it can’t work a strapless dress.” Everyone agreed on this point, so the Lord God announced, “Well, what if I give it nice round breasts and lose the penis?”

“Yes,” the gods said immediately.

“Now it’s intelligent,” said Aphrodite.

“But what if I made it blond?” giggled the Lord God.

“And what if I made you a booming offscreen voice in a lot of bad movies?” asked Aphrodite.

Via Bitch Ph.D.

#4: kissing bandit

thomas denver jonsson - barely touching it

A few months back, I discovered singer-songwriter Thomas Denver Jonsson over at swedesplease. I posted a comment about how much I enjoyed the songs, and who should send me an e-mail all the way from Sweden, personally thanking me, but Thomas himself. We began a correspondence around his music and the songs of another Swedish singer, Nina Kinert. Not only is he a talented musician, but he's very sweet as well. Thomas sent a note the other day to say that his new album - Barely Touching It - will be coming out from Kite Records on October 28th, and he deserves your attention. In the meantime, here are two songs: the first with Nina Kinert, the second with Ned Oldham.

Dreams at the Film Club
Silver Boy
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mix post: literary edition

If you know me at all, you knew this edition was going to come along one day soon...

Wrapped Up in Books - Belle & Sebastian
@ Something Old, Something New

Written All Over Me - Joel Plaskett
@ *sixeyes

San Marosa - Bugs Eat Books
@ largehearted boy

Inquizative, Derivative - Silent Poets featuring Last Poets
@ Can I Bring My Gat?

The Electric Love Letter - Langhorne Slim
@ songs:illinois

The Lemon of Pink, pt. 2 - The Books
@ You Ain't No Picasso

The Text Is Written (Upside Down) - Audrey
@ swedesplease

Wuthering Heights - The Decemberists
@ My Old Kentucky Blog

My Boyfriend Writes Plays - Pants Yell!
@ So...Where Is Helsinki?

The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson - Robert Deeble
@ songs:illinois

Sylvia Plath - Ryan Adams
@ indoor fireworks

The Author Surrenders - Kimone
@ Ninja's Dojo

The Book of Right-on - Joanna Newsom
@ Louder than War
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***You can buy the refurbished book purse above (with many other titles available) at Rebound Designs.-

to linger in the observation of things

The 2005 MacArthur Fellows
The Top 40 Most Important Works in the World (since 1927, at least)
The Top 100 Public Intellectuals
The Top 10 Artists to Watch 'Who Will Rule 2006'
The 12 Best Popular Science Books
The 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress
The 50 Most Cited Works in the Arts & Humanities Index
The Top 10 People Who Should've Been Drafted into the Wu-Tang Clan
The 10 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2004

The last category commemorates Banned Books Week and the ALA poster has a perfect Mark Twain quote: "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it."

Via Literary Saloon, Bookslut, Rake's Progress,
largehearted boy, Daily Kos, boing boing

hella fulla

The New York Times profiles Fulla, the Middle East's version of Barbie.

Fulla's creator, NewBoy Design Studio, based in Syria, introduced her in November 2003, and she has quickly become a best seller all over the region. It is nearly impossible to walk into a corner shop in Syria or Egypt or Jordan or Qatar without encountering Fulla breakfast cereal or Fulla chewing gum or not to see little girls pedaling down the street on their Fulla bicycles, all in trademark "Fulla pink."

Let's all sigh in relief that she "shares Barbie's size and proportions."
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