“In the tradition…”

Don’t even think about getting a pet bear

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:04:17 -0400

Pets banned by New York State in 2005:
•    Monitors (big lizards), including these five types: water, black throat, white throat, crocodile and Nile.
•    Venomous reptiles, including all venomous snakes and two lizards with poison bites.
•    Crocodilians, including crocodiles, caimans, alligators and Indian gharial.
•    Large constricting snakes.
•    Primates, such as rhesus monkeys, and prosimians, such as lemurs.
•    All members of the family Felidae, except domestic and feral cats. This includes lions, tigers and jaguars.
•    All members of the family Canidae, including wolves. Exceptions: domestic dogs and fennec foxes.
•    All bears.

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Advice

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:47:19 -0400

“Nobody's brought off the Eastern novel recently, my view, Greene managed it, if you can take Greene, which I can’t—too much popery. Malraux, if you like philosophy, which I don't. Maugham you can have, and before that it's back to Conrad. Cheers. Mind me saying something? Go easy on the Hemingway stuff. All that grace under pressure, love with your balls shot off. They don't like it, my view. It's been said.”

from The Honourable Schoolboy

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Latest Read

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:14:54 -0500

Book: Show us the latest book you bought, borrowed or received.

The Ministry of Fear: An Entertainment

Graham Greene

I borrowed this book a year or more ago (with a different cover, seen here), got halfway through, abandoned it, was spurred to start from the beginning again by the BAM series on Graham Greene noir, got within ten pages of the end, lost the book, bought this newer edition so I could return it and finally finished it. Just in time to watch the Fritz Lang adapation tonight.

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Born in a crossfire hurricane

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:33:40 -0500

De Niro's entrance in Mean Streets

De Niro's slow motion entrance as Johnny Boy in Mean Streets, set to Jumpin' Jack Flash.

No John Ford references, but with De Niro, the Stones, and a slow motion tracking shot, there are plenty of Scorsese signifiers in less than a minute of screen time.

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Books

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:11:09 -0500

Some Books

My birthday plus some book shopping while on vacation resulted in nine new (to me) books in the past week. I finished off Protector on the plane back to NYC (Niven's early hard sf remains a guilty pleasure for me) and am most of the way through The Iron Dragon's Daughter.

Mechasm

However, I am disappointed that my copy of Mechasm (aka The Reproductive System) does not have a cover as cool as the one above.

Some More Books

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Vox Vodka

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 16:25:33 -0400

Vox Vodka

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Notes from Underground

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:31:12 -0400

Ripley Under Ground

Patricia Highsmith

I'm almost done with Ripley Under Ground wherein Tom Ripley dabbles in art forgery and murder (again). The title is literal, and I don't think it gives much away to say that it looks like Ripley is going to get away with it.

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The Disappointment Artist

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:36:16 -0400

The Disappointment Artist: Essays (Vintage Contemporaries)

Jonathan Lethem

I recently finished The Disappointment Artist and very much enjoyed it. While trying to see what other people had thought of it I came across this review.

I want to start out by saying up front that this is not a collection of essays recommended for reading by teens or young adults, and therefore junior high and high school educators would not wish to incorporate this work into their curriculum. Its material would best be reserved for adults not so easily swayed by Lethem's waxing poetic for the American countercultures that embrace promiscuity, drugs, homosexuality, and bohemianism in general. Perhaps that is a bit prudish, but so be it. While these have made for a hefty trunk full of experiences for Lethem, they are not lifestyles I would encourage the youth of today to explore or embrace. Nor other adults, for that matter.

From the perspective of writing quality, save for the author's decision to incorporate a good deal of the offensive language which seems to pervade every pore of our society anymore, Lethem exhibits an insightful and personable style that will keep most readers engaged. Nonfiction essayists of this caliber are becoming fewer in number, or are seemingly not being published enough in lieu of the more trendy or trivialized subject matter. My only wish might be that authors today raise the bar on the standards by which they communicate their experiences and insights.

Geez, lady, chill out.

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Best. Villain. Ever.

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:49:16 -0400

Who's your favorite movie villain?

Harry Lime

I am wary of saying "favorite," but I love The Third Man and Harry Lime's speech on the ferris wheel may be the archetypical "villain explains his motivations" scene:

Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there... Would you feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you £20,000 for every dot that stopped -- would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? Or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man... free of income tax. It's the only way to save money nowadays.

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I'm reading (or about to read)...

nobody@vox.com(finn) — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 23:32:22 -0400

What books are on your nightstand?

Nightstand

I just finished The Disappointment Artist and am halfway through a bunch more of these, but the book I've been reading the most lately is Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe.

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