Tag: literature

ramblings

Bat Boy Lives

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A few weeks back I was contacted and asked if I had ever heard of the Weekly World News and if I had any interest in reviewing their new soon to be published compendium. Of course I knew WWN, a shining example of yellow journalism in action, and got very excited about my first foray into “official” journalism. A week ago I received the book and yesterday, I chatted for about 20 minutes with David Perel, the author of
“Bat Boy Lives: The Weekly World News Guild to Politics, Culture, Celebrities, Alien Abductions, and the Mutant Freaks that Shape our World.” Here it is folks, the very first “We’re Going to Cover That in Phase 2” interview! Enjoy.

JL: First things first, I’m sure my readers want to know simply: Do you take any of the WWN stories that seriously?

DP: Absolutely, you have to because if you don’t you can’t live in this universe.

JL: Really?

DP: If I did, I would be wearing one of those special jackets.

JL: You just totally contradicted yourself.

DP: Maybe.

JL: Okay. So my next question is this: Does Bat Boy really exist?

DP: Of course he exists, my god where have you been? He came from a cave – have you been living in one?

JL: Point taken. Are there aliens walking among us?

DP: Yeah, in fact a recent issue of WWN details that most settled in San Fran – makes sense if you’ve seen the inhabitants of that city or if you’ve dined there. The aliens must have brought good cuisine with them which explains the great restaurants.

JL: We talked about Bat Boy and Aliens. Let’s talk about another rarely seen creature, the compassionate conservative – have you seen one as well?

DP: I haven’t, though theoretically one is possible considering that there are dinosaurs still alive.

JL: When did you introduce Hilary Clinton to her alien lover P’lod?

DP: God, I can’t remember. Early 90s first term. Don’t know the exact date, sorry. Bill was quite jealous. P’lod has a lot of political clout, I mean, he has correctly predicted every election since 1980.

JL: In what setting where they introduced?

DP: I can’t really remember.

JL: Is she still seeing him and if so, is he advising Hilary on policy issues?

DP: No question he is helping her towards a run in 2008. I’m sure she’ll name a human campaign manager but in truth its P’lod running things behind the scenes.

JL: Back to the book. How many copies is the company looking to sell? What is the company’s expectation?

DP: Definitely an Oprah “Book of the Month” selection. Should be in the running for the Pulitzer and I think it will sell couple hundred thousand copies at least.

JL: Are there plans for a sequel or have you used up all up your material?

DP: There are talks in the works. There is a lot of material since the paper appear around since 1979 so we’ll see.

JL: Who do you consider are this book’s greatest competitors?

DP: War and Peace is pretty much it. There are really only 2 literary classics and we are a much quicker read. That guy who wrote War and Peace doesn’t have staying power. Plus, he’s got to make up his mind. War or peace, not both. It shows a lack of focus.

JL: If your book was a dish, what would it be?

DP: I hate questions like this. I don’t know. Linguini with white clam sauce.

JL: Good clams or bad?

DP: Good.

JL: Another food question: Which do you prefer, Mounds and Almond Joy?

DP: Mounds.

JL: Really?

DP: Wait. Which is in the one with almonds?

JL: Almond Joy. You know, ‘Sometimes you feel like a [I made a “honk” sound effect], sometimes you made a “clang” sound effect]’

DP: Almond Joy? Yeah, definitely Almond Joy. You have feel like a nut to do this.

JL: You also wrote Freak!: Inside the Twisted World of Michael Jackson. Who is a bigger freak, Michael Jackson or Bat Boy?

DP: I don’t think there is any question. Bat Boy wants to be accepted by society. Bat Boy never had a sleep over with anyone under the age of 14. Bat Boy never considered cosmetic surgery. Bat Boy has never referred to wine as “Jesus juice.” Bat Boy talks with normal human and looks like he does when born.

JL: Switching gears now. What effect has Photoshop had in terms of the authenticity of your photos?

DP: It was created more opportunities to do more things.

JL: Okay. What written piece are you most proud of?

DP: I wrote a great poem but unfortunately somebody has written one incredibly similar and he gets credit for it instead of me – I think his nameis T.S. Elliot

JL: If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one book, which one would it be?

DP: The Bat Boy book of course! I have a serious short term memory deficit so every time I open it its brand new to me.

JL: Last, to wrap up, pretend I’m a publisher who has got all sort of advance money to throw around. Say the quarter is ending and I’ve got to clear my books. Basically, if you pitch me a good book idea I’ll give you money to write it. What would you pitch me?

DP: Hmm. (About 10 seconds go by as he thinks about). Hmm. I don’t know. You know what? I’ve got nothing. I probably would just take out my .357 and take your money. Armed robbery is a viable solution in that case.

When we started the interview, David scanned my blog and one comment he said to me was, “I think you spelled ‘Hashanah’ wrong in one of your previous posts. You have two S’s in it and I think it should be ‘sh.'” I just love getting spelling and grammar comments from a man who claims to have snorkeled with the Loch Ness Monster’s baby, especially when the he’s right. Even though there are about 10 different spellings, I’m pretty sure mine is on not of the approved list.

At the end of the interview, I told him that he should please check back on my site to read the interview once I post it and to post a comment if he feels that I got anything wrong. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to tape the interview – I merely tried to take great notes. I also told him that he should post comments on other posts as well, even if they are just grammar comments like the one he made on Tidbits. Speaking more about the Jewish New Year, I told him, “My favorite joke about the Jewish holidays is that “Every Jewish holiday boils down to ‘They tried to kill us, they didn’t, let’s eat.'” He laughed and said, “That reminds of my favorite Jewish joke. Q: Why don’t Jews play the piano? A: Because you can’t pick up the piano and run.” I had a nice laugh and said good bye. Once you are swapping Jewish jokes, even though I never went to J-school I think I can pretty safely say that the interview is officially over.

I would like to thank DP, FSB Associates and Jeffery Anderson for making themselves and their book available to me. Hopefully when they have another book that needs to be reviewed, they’ll look me up again.

literature

Greek Tragedy In The Times

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If you haven’t gone to my friend and co-worker Stephanie Klein’s blog (see the left nav as well) yet, you might be one of the few people left that hasn’t. She has gotten so popular that the NY Times wrote a feature article about Stephanie, her blog and her life, that can be found on the cover of today’s NY Times Sunday Styles section. I was happy to see that there was even a picture of Chris together with Stephanie that snuck into the paper somehow (its nice to know that he can get some press for something other an Altoids iPod battery charger). Nothing that she does surprises me anymore, though it always makes me smile. All I can say is “keep it up!” and that I can’t wait for the book, actual both books, to be published.

literature

Mythic Rome

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I am currently making my way through Edith Hamilton’s seminal collection of Greek, Roman and Norse myths titled simply Mythology. I started re-reading it last year on my honeymoon which coincided with the Athens Olympics (a perfect time to be reading Greek mythos) and am still at it after many stops and starts. In finishing the section on Virgil’s Aeneid I came across this quote about “the Roman race” by Virgil (whose Wikipedia entry calls him “Vergil”):

“They were destined to bring under their empire the peoples of earth, to impose the rule of submissive nonresistance, to spare the humbled and to crush the proud.”

Interesting to think about, especially as a citizen of the world’s only “empire” today.

literature

Literary Map of NYC

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Ever read a book that takes place in NY and later walk by the real world house/building that you read about? To me, the Met as it was featured in both From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and in Don’t Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is always in the background of my thoughts while I’m there. The same holds true for both Turtle Bay and the “vacant” lot on 46th and 2nd. Since they have such special status in the Dark Tower Universe, they have special status with me. This handy dandy literary map of NYC from the New York Times will show you places that matter to other people out there in our fair city. #38 is about the Dark Tower.

Thanks Phyl

literature

In Memory of Saul Bellow

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Saul Bellow passed away recently and it saddened me greatly. Although I have not read many of his books, his existence, along with Eli Weisel, acted as Jewish Titans. At one point in his novel Herzog, Mr. Bellow seems to set out a kind of manifesto, a ringing checklist of the challenges the novelist must confront, or the reality he must contain or describe:

“Well, for instance, what it means to be a man. In a city. In a century. In transition. In a mass. Transformed by science. Under organized power. Subject to tremendous controls. In a condition caused by mechanization. After the late failure of radical hopes. In a society that was no community and devalued the person. Owing to the multiplied power of numbers which made the self negligible. Which spent military billions against foreign enemies but would not pay for order at home. Which permitted savagery and barbarism in its own great cities. At the same time, the pressure of human millions who have discovered what concerted efforts and thoughts can do. As megatons of water shape organisms on the ocean floor. As tides polish stones. As winds hollow cliffs…”

The only word I can think of is “powerful”. Mankind has lost another great thinker.

literature

Bob Dylan Quotes from his memoir

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“Folk songs are evasive.” They offer “the truth about life, and life is more or less a lie, but then again that’s exactly the way we ant it to be.” Their lesson? “If you told the truth, that was all well and good and if you told the un-truth, well, that’s still well and good. Folk songs taught me that.”

“The sociologist were saying that TV had deadly intentions and was destroying the minds and imaginations of the young – that their attention spans were being dragged down. Maybe that’s true but the three minute song also did the same thing.”

The Civil War was when “America was put on the cross, died and was resurrected…would be the all-encompassing template behind everything that I would write.”

ramblings

Note On a Scrap

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Originally from 6/24/01:

“The universal themes addressed in his works – life, love, war and religious faith – speak directly to the twenty-first sentry mind” – last sentence of the intro to the Met’s William Blake exhibitions. What strikes me the most is the sense of immediacy that the statement represents – and how everything these days is clamoring to be “super relevant” because of the date change. So we are in the new millennium and now everything is starting a new – therefore everything is relevant to the individual looking to refocus, refine, rediscover or reinvent himself.

literature

Dark Tower Release Dates

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From news@stephenking.com:

“Due to popular demand, the US publication schedule for release of Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower have been moved ahead. The on-sale date for Song of Susannah will now be June 8, 2004 and The Dark Tower will be available September 21, 2004.”

I have only two words – Yeah baby!

space

The Best SW Vintage Figure Book Ever

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I first read about this book in this month’s Wired mag. Even though I’m not an avid vintage SW collector, in fact I haven’t collected any vintage figures (I just have the ones from my childhood though I did buy lots of the 90’s reissued figures as well as Episode 2 figures in the past two years – that is another story altogether though as eBay and free time can be a very dangerous combination), I absolutely love these figures and not just because my Dad pronounces the word figures as fig-urs. They remind me of when life was simple, when an afternoon creating the Hoth base out of blocks and replaying the opening of “Empire” felt like it lasted for 2 months, when the world was just black and white (or red and green). God, I love original trilogy and those toys….

This book that John Kellerman has painstakingly put together should be requisite “Child of the 80’s” bookshelf material. It looks beautiful and even if you are never going to buy an original mint Darth Vader figure for about $50, you’ll love flipping through the pages any day of the week. It’s the kind of book that you wow company with (ok, fellow sci-fi loving nerd company) and that will make rainy days more fun. I would have ordered my copy already but I have a birthday coming up soon and a certain someone said, “Don’t buy it – send me the link.”