Howdy

In response to Jim's comment to my previous post: I did watch the science fiction program last night. Well, to be truthful, I caught the last half hour. When I joined in I was surprised how little of the story I had missed. Then, when the commercial breaks started coming every ten minutes (or less) I knew why. They really did stick a thirty to forty-five minute program into an hour-long slot. Unbelievable. That did almost make it unwatchable. I guess if you want to watch something on network television that is not complete ass then you have to pay with a commercial to program ration of 4:6.

To answer Jim's question the author of the original story is John Kessel. He teaches at NC State and he writes kick ass short stories. We have a few of his books of shorts stories at the Morrison library. I've made sure that we keep that book. One of my favorite stories by him is written in the style of an essay. An essay about Herman Melville if he was writing during the golden age of science fiction. Remarkable.

Instant Karma

I don't know if you've heard about Instant Karma, a two CD set of John Lennon song covers. It's purpose is to raise money and awareness for the situation in Darfur. I've heard it and some of it is amazing and some of it is pedestrian. Bono's reading of the title track is spectacular. He was born to sing that song. Also the Flaming Lips version of "(Just Like) Starting Over" is gorgeous. Green Day knocks out "Working Class Hero" with a satisfying readng and Lenny Kravitz's "Cold Turkey" is a nice restrained effort. Jakob Dylan and Dhani Harrison's version of "Gimme Some Truth" has a nice urgency to it. The album falters with songs like Avril Lavigne's "Imagine" and Christina Aguilera's "Mother." Neither song is bad but both songs pretty much ape the original.

You know what band and what song would be great to hear? I would love to hear the White Stripes cover "Woman is the Nigger of the World." Man, that would be good. I can hear it already. It's gold, Jerry. Gold.

The Bridge

I'm sure everyone has seen CNN's 24 hour coverage of the collapsed bridge in Minneapolis. Did you see that President Bush visited the disaster site today? I heard that he told reporters that the bridge that collapsed did so because "it hates our freedoms."

Television Tip

This actually sounds promising. Starting this Saturday, ABC is going to air adaptions of original science fiction short stories. It's called Masters of Science Fiction. Any series that is going to attempt the filming of short stories by John Kessel, Robert Heinlein and Harlan Ellison is definately going to be worth a shot. If you are sitting on your ass near a television this Saturday at 8 pm, give the show a look.

Rhodo

Well, yesterday I got back from Rhodo. I also developed a nasty little head cold. I slept all afternoon today and can't sleep right now so I guess I'll link to the Pictures I took this weekend.

Baseball Book

I've been reading another great baseball book for the last week or so. It's called Crazy '08 by Cait Murphy. Before I picked it up I had seen it had received more than a couple of very positive reviews. Any book about the dead ball era of baseball that is of good quality will get my attention.

This is baseball before the home run, before radio, before steel and concrete stadiums, baseball just asserting itself as the national past time and it's a game full of characters. That is what really drives this book is the character of the men on the field, umpires, players and managers. The reason there have been so many books written about baseball is because the length of the season and the pace of the game lend itself to storytelling. Because of that the game has always embraced its more colorful people. If you want to tell a good story it helps if the subject of your story is a little off the wall. This is not a problem in 1908. Cranks abound in this story and she brings in wonderful and funny anecdotal stories just as they are needed to illustrate a point she has made. I've always enjoyed baseball books that weave in short funny baseball stories into the main narrative and Murphy does it as good as anyone.

All the best baseball books are always about more than baseball. Baseball has always reflected what is happening in our country and Murphy takes that into account with some chapter length asides called "Time Outs." In each of these she examines what is going on in the United States in 1908. In the first one she describes the beautiful mess that is the city of Chicago and, in another one, she looks at the exclusion of Black Americans from the game and mainstream society.

The season is winding down and I'll probably finish it tomorrow. Now I got to go out there and find my next good read.

Awesome Picture

I just had to share a picture I found on one of my favorite blogs. I know I've mentioned this blog before. This guy collects, scans and posts pictures of Disneyland from the 1950's and 1960's. Some of his finds are precious. Recently he posted a picture not of Disneyland but of a parade from the 1950's that, to him, perfectly displayed what is so interesting about 1950's Americana. It's a beaut.

Interesting piece of art

Interested in purchasing a photograph of Patti Smith taken by Michael Stipe?

Library Closed again

As far as I can tell the Morrison Library will be open on Tuesday. Hopefully as the new roof cures it will stop releasing the fumes that have been the cause of this problem.

On a lighter note the comic Unshelved has a clever twist on the Harry Potter madness.

Rhodo?

You can tell we are nearing the end of July because I am starting to get hits on this blog from people searching for information on the Rhododendron Festival in Valle Crucis. I think that's what it's called. It's more commonly known as Rhodo. As I've mentioned before, I don't know much about it. I just go for the camping and the band. I've watched some of the softball games but I get jealous because I'm not playing. So I usually just chill at the campground.

I do know this, I will be going up on Friday, July 27th and coming home that Sunday. Remember, it's always the last full weekend in July.

If you are curious to see what the Valle Crucis area looks like may I recommend a website of a local photographer.

Charles Bukowski

His genius lives on the internets.