Going West

Crikey! This is an unbelievably cool video for the New Zealand Book Council, an equally cool organization dedicated to promoting reading in New Zealand. Good on ya'!

Do you know what this is?

That's right. It's a mug, woven of crispy bacon filled with melted cheese. If there is a heaven I imagine this is involved in some way..

Jay Mohr Gives Awesome Tracy Morgan Impression, Anecdote

It's a few minutes long, but it's incredible. PCP is smoked, shirts are removed, waiters punched. Tracy Morgan is my hero.

UPDATE: I almost forgot, then at the very end he goes into a dead-on Colin Quinn. I forget that Jay Mohr can be really funny.

A Cruise Down Memory Lane

Guy Mariano from the Mouse video. You gotta love this. Great skating and great music...

The Folio Society

I always find it to sound like an over reaction when people speak of "the death of print". Sure with the interwebs, the digitizing of newspapers and the rising popularity of products like "Kindle" it feels sometimes like the printed word is being edged out, but I don't see how real books could ever become passe. As objects they are immensely satisfying; to me just the weight, the smell, the simple action of turning the page to see what is next can't be beat. The beauty of a well made, well designed book in my mind has a certain charm that digital media is unable to replicate. Sure "Kindle" may make reading a little easier but these days if easy is what you're looking for you can probably just go see the movie remake of the book you want to read anyway. The Folio Society seems to get what people who love books want and have published an impressive and beautiful catalogue of titles so far to help remind us why real printed books are so special. I mean just look at Sam Weber's cover and inside illustrations for "Lord of the Flies." Digital media just can't compete with this...





And here is a mess of other beautiful hardcovers The Folio Society has released. It really is impressive how consistently good their designs are...

New York Post: Genuine Class part II

As my esteemed colleague has pointed out the New York Post is a shining beacon of journalistic integrity, a true national treasure. For those of you who don't live in New York and aren't able to enjoy the wacky headlines the Post specializes in, here are just a few examples of the Post's unique brand of subtle, highbrow editorials...

Ok, the newspaper is a total rag with absolutely nothing to offer save crazy right-wing rants about how Reagan was the second coming of Jesus or how Hillary Clinton is the devil incarnate, but I have to give them a little credit for making me crack a smile every morning...

R. Crumb gets biblical...

About a month ago Robert Crumb released a new comic that I am quite excited to read, an illustrated version of...The Book of Genesis?

The Big Guy Upstairs

That's right, the comic world's most famous misanthropic grouch is tackling religion in a fully illustrated version of The Old Testament's story of creation. And why not? Sounds like God in the Old Testament was one hell of grouch too. It looks like the whole catalogue of old favorites are in this book, from Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden to Noah's Ark to Sodom and Gomorrah (you know that's gotta be good) to the Tower of Babel. It's a greatest hits of creationism!

The Big Bang as described by religious types

Upon first hearing about this project I immediately thought it smacked of gimmickry. The most famously raunchy comic artist does the Bible, it sounded too forcibly subversive just for the sake of shock value. After reading many reviews of it, however, I am really looking forward to getting ahold the thing. The general consensus seems to be that Crumb has taken the tales of Genesis, stripped them of their "sacredness" and presented them as straight up stories that he tries to make entertaining in their own right. Where some Christians and Jews may find offense is in how Crumb is apparently interested in presenting God, Adam, Eve and the rest of the cast of characters as just people. Ugly, dirty people who have roles in this neat story called The Old Testament, which is a new and I think interesting take on these fables. If the critics are to be believed his approach works quite well and apparently makes for some gripping drama and some surprisingly moving stories lines.

Whoops.

Now I have no interest in Judaism or Christianity so this method of toning down the religion and turning up the story really appeals to me. I also am simply interested to see a comic that took Robert Crumb 5 years(!) to make. I'll get back with a review of my own sometime soon hopefully, till then here's some further reading...

NPR's review

New York Times

Washington Post