So Shauvon has this super-pack of Mame roms. Hes got every game ever in the arcades 1979 2000. One of these gems is the classic Paperboy. Another one is called Bubble 2000. At the outset, everything looks like any old Bust-A-Move clone. Then something starts happening to the background. It starts getting definition, and I think it looks like
oh my
a woman clearly in a state of deshabille! Once you beat the level, youre treated to a sparkly, 256-color version of this sexy lady. The first level is a woman with whip cream on her nips. They get raunchier after that, while not exactly Hustler spreads, theres some anatomical lessons to be had there. The best part of this game by far, though, is the characters manning the bust-a-move ball launcher. The one on the right is a caveman manning a treadmill to operate the primitive aiming action of the launcher. The guy on the left is this caveman wearing some leoapard spotted briefs, holding a big mallet to provide launching thrust, all the while thrusting his pelvis with a giant grin on his face. Up until the end of the level youve no idea youre gonna see some tits. But look at that caveman. He knows whats in store.
So for the entire month of May, I think, Ive been paying for things with cash only. The inspiration for this was when my dad found $1,200 cash on the street in Lincoln Park. He put an ad on Craigslist about it, nobody called, save for me in a silly British accent. He affectionately called the windfall his wad, and subsequently blew it on a new TV for the master bedroom and other stuff. However, he gave the last hundred or so to my mom, to give her a starting base for a wad. She used this cash whenever possible, never used the card, and ended up spending way less money. So she got on the horn and said that my brother and I should forget about cards, and use cash only. She gave us each a $50 that we are not to spend, only in an emergency, to carry around at all times.
If you havent been in a college town, everyone there uses a debit card, most likely a Chase Check Card. The kids will put every expense on it, because its easier, no fiddling with coins, and you feel less vulnerable to muggings, etc. I quickly realized the silliness of charging things that cost like 2.45 on the card when I talked to Angelo, and got the score on Visas costs to the local businessman. He upped the limit for a charge transaction to 7.00, and I think he should go all the way to 10. Sure, someone like Chipotle or something doesnt mind the extra charge, but its nice to know that when I pay cash, all the moneys going to the guy I exchanged goods or services for (and if theyre particularly shady, the taxman wont get a slice either! Zing!)
Plus, carrying around a wad feels cool. Paying things for cash is pretty sweet. You look like some high roller when you pay for like a $50 bar tab in cash. Im of course, not a high roller, I felt a $60 profit in the casino was like winning the lottery, and the cash in my pocket is the majority of my check. I dont even know where exactly my debit/atm card is. Its somewhere in my apartment, I know, but hey, who cares? Ive memorized my account number so I can fill out the slips at the bank and deposit or withdraw anything I need, as long as its during business hours. Waiting at the teller window and getting money from a human being is a throwback, for sure, like smoking an unfiltered Lucky Strike and buying a war bond. When its in a building partially designed by Sullivan, all the better!
Paying for cash during a group restaurant outing is much easier than having to write instructions on a receipt, which often happens when large parties of college kids dine at real restaurants, and have to charge their shares on an unsplit ticket. Now you may say: The problem actually rests on the restaurant, who gives a table of 10 college kids one check! Come on, its the 21st Century! Everyone pays with credit chits now! Sorry, I dont buy it. Little strips of linen with statesmen on them still beat out some magnetized plastic for me. Its the cachet. I mean really, who is cooler, Bogart or Christian Bale? Im a 20th Century Boy!
. 20th Century Boy I wanna be your toy
If you havent been in a college town, everyone there uses a debit card, most likely a Chase Check Card. The kids will put every expense on it, because its easier, no fiddling with coins, and you feel less vulnerable to muggings, etc. I quickly realized the silliness of charging things that cost like 2.45 on the card when I talked to Angelo, and got the score on Visas costs to the local businessman. He upped the limit for a charge transaction to 7.00, and I think he should go all the way to 10. Sure, someone like Chipotle or something doesnt mind the extra charge, but its nice to know that when I pay cash, all the moneys going to the guy I exchanged goods or services for (and if theyre particularly shady, the taxman wont get a slice either! Zing!)
Plus, carrying around a wad feels cool. Paying things for cash is pretty sweet. You look like some high roller when you pay for like a $50 bar tab in cash. Im of course, not a high roller, I felt a $60 profit in the casino was like winning the lottery, and the cash in my pocket is the majority of my check. I dont even know where exactly my debit/atm card is. Its somewhere in my apartment, I know, but hey, who cares? Ive memorized my account number so I can fill out the slips at the bank and deposit or withdraw anything I need, as long as its during business hours. Waiting at the teller window and getting money from a human being is a throwback, for sure, like smoking an unfiltered Lucky Strike and buying a war bond. When its in a building partially designed by Sullivan, all the better!
Paying for cash during a group restaurant outing is much easier than having to write instructions on a receipt, which often happens when large parties of college kids dine at real restaurants, and have to charge their shares on an unsplit ticket. Now you may say: The problem actually rests on the restaurant, who gives a table of 10 college kids one check! Come on, its the 21st Century! Everyone pays with credit chits now! Sorry, I dont buy it. Little strips of linen with statesmen on them still beat out some magnetized plastic for me. Its the cachet. I mean really, who is cooler, Bogart or Christian Bale? Im a 20th Century Boy!
. 20th Century Boy I wanna be your toy
Whoa, cool
I went to bed last night pretty late, because I thought it was time to roll the clocks back and then realized it wasn't and oh shit I have to go to bed right now. So I do, and start sleeping, and I wake up about 8 am, with the experience of an awesome dream. Now, I know I should have wrote down stuff right after I woke up, but seriously, this dream was so sweet that most elements I retain even after this span of time. Here's what happened. I'm in an auditorium with a layout similar to my high school one, sitting in the seats pretty close to the stage. There's a bunch of people there, the house is pretty much packed. On stage, Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, Barbara Billingsley, Ken Osmond, and a bunch of other people whom I don't recognize, go out on the stage. OK, I'm at some kind of Leave It to Beaver fan-fest. Then Tony Dow goes up to a podium and delivers a very Alan Greenspan style speech on the federal reserve interest rates and says that we are in danger of an economic correction the likes of which we haven't seen since the Great Depression, and he called for increased regulation of the borrowing and lending markets. Then Ken Osmond gave a short speech about foreign policy, about how economic groups like the EU and ASEAN will become the dominant sovereign units in 40 years, then went into a Q&A session with the audience about it. Jerry Mathers did something cool too, then they had a big autograph session and everyone lined up, and when I was waiting in line I woke up.
I went to bed last night pretty late, because I thought it was time to roll the clocks back and then realized it wasn't and oh shit I have to go to bed right now. So I do, and start sleeping, and I wake up about 8 am, with the experience of an awesome dream. Now, I know I should have wrote down stuff right after I woke up, but seriously, this dream was so sweet that most elements I retain even after this span of time. Here's what happened. I'm in an auditorium with a layout similar to my high school one, sitting in the seats pretty close to the stage. There's a bunch of people there, the house is pretty much packed. On stage, Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, Barbara Billingsley, Ken Osmond, and a bunch of other people whom I don't recognize, go out on the stage. OK, I'm at some kind of Leave It to Beaver fan-fest. Then Tony Dow goes up to a podium and delivers a very Alan Greenspan style speech on the federal reserve interest rates and says that we are in danger of an economic correction the likes of which we haven't seen since the Great Depression, and he called for increased regulation of the borrowing and lending markets. Then Ken Osmond gave a short speech about foreign policy, about how economic groups like the EU and ASEAN will become the dominant sovereign units in 40 years, then went into a Q&A session with the audience about it. Jerry Mathers did something cool too, then they had a big autograph session and everyone lined up, and when I was waiting in line I woke up.
Shortcomings, by Adrian Tomine
I've got a confession to make. From about 2000 until early 2004 I was, to one extent or another, a Japanophile. I took Japanese lessons and learned to identify what tense, what parts of speech, and the structure of written Japanese sentences without learning enough kanji or vocabulary to function in the least capacity as a Japanese speaker. I watched a moderate amount of anime, and wrote in my blog about how awesome it would be to live in Japan. I pretty much put everything from this archipelago on a huge pedestal. After a while I took a more restrained view and realized that a lot of crap comes from this nation too, and treated Japan as just another source of culture, some good, some bad, like any culture.
Getting to the matter at hand, in late 2003, I would have crapped my pants over Shortcomings, the new graphic novelby Adrian Tomine. Thoroughly Japanese in subject matter, with none of the fluff of the anime/manga subculture. In 2007, the reason I got it was to get Super Saver shipping on my pre-order of Acme Novelty Library No. 18. (Turns out, I impulsively bought a bunch of other stuff and, ever American in my impatience, went for separate shipments, which are $5 extra an ineligible for super-saver.) Going in, I had little idea of the subject matter besides Amazon's assurances of Tomine's publish-ability. So when I got the book, the back cover didn't exactly set my bowels alight; while I love boring, quotidian stories of relationships (read Charles Baxter), this work seemed a bit too trendy.
Things did not get off on a good start with this book. The two main characters are less than likable. Ben Tanaka, the manager of a Berkeley movie theatre, is abrasively sarcastic and pompous. His girlfriend, Miko Hayashi, organizer of an Asian-American film festival, is politically minded to a point where it interferes with her personal life. Ben, it seems, fancies the Occidental, and takes little interest in Miko. The first chapter of the book consists of arguments between the two and post-game analysis by Ben's friend and confidante, Alice Kim. Alice is a promiscuous grad student, and it's apparent a lot of her lines are played for laughs. Most fall flat, but they connect later on in the book. Anyway, Miko eventually gets a fellowship at New York University and leaves at the end of the chapter. After a few misadventures as Ben courts those aforementioned Occidental women, Alice also leaves for New York, and compels Ben to go with her. There he discovers Alice and we get a semblance of resolution to our overarching conflict.
After the first chapter, I was not enjoying the book. However, I pressed on. I grew connected to the characters, and the writing got sharper in the last chapter. The examinations of race and Asian identity were in the forefront of the narrative without being too polemic. Ben develops nicely and overall, I liked the book. Tomine's spare, clean style is very good, the graphic bit of this novel is very nicely done. Tomine has certainly added himself to my watchlist with this acceptable novel.
I've got a confession to make. From about 2000 until early 2004 I was, to one extent or another, a Japanophile. I took Japanese lessons and learned to identify what tense, what parts of speech, and the structure of written Japanese sentences without learning enough kanji or vocabulary to function in the least capacity as a Japanese speaker. I watched a moderate amount of anime, and wrote in my blog about how awesome it would be to live in Japan. I pretty much put everything from this archipelago on a huge pedestal. After a while I took a more restrained view and realized that a lot of crap comes from this nation too, and treated Japan as just another source of culture, some good, some bad, like any culture.
Getting to the matter at hand, in late 2003, I would have crapped my pants over Shortcomings, the new graphic novelby Adrian Tomine. Thoroughly Japanese in subject matter, with none of the fluff of the anime/manga subculture. In 2007, the reason I got it was to get Super Saver shipping on my pre-order of Acme Novelty Library No. 18. (Turns out, I impulsively bought a bunch of other stuff and, ever American in my impatience, went for separate shipments, which are $5 extra an ineligible for super-saver.) Going in, I had little idea of the subject matter besides Amazon's assurances of Tomine's publish-ability. So when I got the book, the back cover didn't exactly set my bowels alight; while I love boring, quotidian stories of relationships (read Charles Baxter), this work seemed a bit too trendy.
Things did not get off on a good start with this book. The two main characters are less than likable. Ben Tanaka, the manager of a Berkeley movie theatre, is abrasively sarcastic and pompous. His girlfriend, Miko Hayashi, organizer of an Asian-American film festival, is politically minded to a point where it interferes with her personal life. Ben, it seems, fancies the Occidental, and takes little interest in Miko. The first chapter of the book consists of arguments between the two and post-game analysis by Ben's friend and confidante, Alice Kim. Alice is a promiscuous grad student, and it's apparent a lot of her lines are played for laughs. Most fall flat, but they connect later on in the book. Anyway, Miko eventually gets a fellowship at New York University and leaves at the end of the chapter. After a few misadventures as Ben courts those aforementioned Occidental women, Alice also leaves for New York, and compels Ben to go with her. There he discovers Alice and we get a semblance of resolution to our overarching conflict.
After the first chapter, I was not enjoying the book. However, I pressed on. I grew connected to the characters, and the writing got sharper in the last chapter. The examinations of race and Asian identity were in the forefront of the narrative without being too polemic. Ben develops nicely and overall, I liked the book. Tomine's spare, clean style is very good, the graphic bit of this novel is very nicely done. Tomine has certainly added himself to my watchlist with this acceptable novel.
Listen and Read:
Chapter 19 of Charles Baxter's The Feast of Love
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Shatterproof (outtake, on Rhino reissue of Punch the Clock)
I did. It was weird how coincidentally the subject matter meshed. Oh, that's all really, it's nothing too earth shattering. Hah, shattering.
Chapter 19 of Charles Baxter's The Feast of Love
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Shatterproof (outtake, on Rhino reissue of Punch the Clock)
I did. It was weird how coincidentally the subject matter meshed. Oh, that's all really, it's nothing too earth shattering. Hah, shattering.
SEPTEMBER 2009
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AUGUST 2009
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JULY 2009
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JUNE 2009