October 11th, 2006

A Spot of Bother
So let me begin with the book I just finished reading, A Spot of Bother by Mark Heddon. This is, basically, the British version of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections. Franzen's own book is the New York version of the story: dysfunctional family populated by a father with ailing mental health, at least one homosexual child, one questionable marriage, and an incidental grandchild populating the background. Haddon's book repeats the perfunctory style that we got in his debut The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and therefore the book has to live in the various pieces and parts that are alien to an American but probably depressingly familiar to an upper-middle class Englander. The plot rides along with the planned second marriage of the daughter, but really this is a story about the father who is losing his mind. And in the end, those of use who are not from Franzen's New York or Haddon's England don't really care. When it all comes down to it, the problems that afflict the white trash denizens of your average low-income housing tract are the same as any toffee-chewing semi-snob, the only difference being that the lower income dogs have no sense of shame. And so, every book about these dysfunctionals is ultimately a book about shame, one which Hadon, in the end, manages to pull off better than Franzen, if only for being British, where shame was institutionalized.

Jennifer Government and Company
A few weeks ago, I read nearly back-to-back two books by Max Barry: Jennife r Government and Company. A friend of mine once described Christopher Moore as Tom Robbins lite, and along those exact same lines, Max Barry is pre-Snowcrash Neal Stephenson lite. Jennifer Government is set in a future where Corporations truly rule all, and even Government as has been privatized. The story is that a major company has decided to murder a few of it's customers in order to crate buzz for it's product, and Jennifer Government has been hired to find out who did it and why. Company, on the other hand, is the story of a modern-day corporation fraught with some much Machiavellian machination one is compelled to question the source of its longevity. Both novels work more or less the same way: accept the premise, and watch Barry unwind everything into delightful chaos. Those who have read Stephenson's The Big U will recognize this story arc, and so too will anyone who's happened upon Last Night at the Brain Thieves Ball. But Barry is not derivative: he manages a style that's simple but engaging, eschewing long-winded philosophizing for a snappy deliver that only shies form details to maintain a quick pace. Both are worth wasting a Saturday afternoon for, which is all the time you'll need to plow through one or the other.

All The King's Men
In the world of filmdom, I and a friend went and saw All The King's Men on its opening night. I had to see this movie, you must understand, because it's about politics, and is based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren, one of the best books I've ever read. Men does for Huey Long what Primary Colors does for Clinton, and in these fictionalizations you end up rooting for these erstwhile statesman who gladly play the political games that allow them to achieve their vision. That's the takeaway for me, anyway, though this latest film is a bit bland. It can't make up it's mind if it wants to be a showcase for Sean Penn, another brooder from the repertoire of Jude Law, or simply a love affair with the Southern Gothic of weeping willows, the 1930s that ennobled the area, and plantation families with their requisite closeted skeletons. And talk about irrelevant: the film seems to have been chopped to pieces, but even the missing scenes of Willie Stark's rise to power wouldn't fit as any kind of support or detraction of our current government's administration. The movie is about corruption, and whether ends justify means, to be sure, but that's an oblique reference to our present situation. It would have been more relevant years ago. Indeed, it might have waited for Hillary to take higher office. For now it's just history, and sort of dull for being nothing more than an adaptation.

The Open Door
In other experiences, there's the new Evanescence album The Open Door (playing in the background as I write this). Their original stuff doesn't move like it used to, though I can't tell you if it's from familiarity or my own dispositions changing. But this one sounds much the same, and so I imagine it would have been as good as the original. More or less all I hear is Amy Lee wailing plaintively, which does well and is not to be dismissed idly.

Straight Outta Lynwood
Also new out is Weird Al's latest, Straight Outta Lynwood. I have not heard the whole thing yet, but in general, Weird Al is an accurate barometer of American Pop Culture sensibilities, and anyone dumb enough to continue nay-saying rap's influence may think about redecorating their hole in the ground: they may be there a while. Al's got his requisite polka, his relationship song, his song about litigious abuses. Just like "It's All About the Pentiums" from Running With Scissors, he juxtaposes stereotypes by talking about white nerds in his parody of the Chamillionaire song Ridin. For what it's worth, the CD is double-sided, with "DVD" features on the other side: animation videos for seven of the songs.

Bombay Dreams
I'm not sure how long ago it was, but me and mine went and saw Bombay Dreams, the stage production and musical. Oh my god. The GF didn’t like it, but she admits he might have been spoiled by having seen Wicked, which, she says, was amazing. Dreams was not. Its starts with some singing, led by a good-looking guy, and by the time the good-looking girl walks in, you have the entire plot figured out. The songs and choreography weren't nearly as elaborate as one would expect from something based on Bollywood. Later, I was told by someone who had seen the original London production that this version we saw was very much different. Why do they do this to us? The same thing happened with Chess, which I admit I was into when I was in highschool and didn't know any better: brilliant British production, laughably altered American version. Oh well. Mostly I feel bad for the GF-- I myself don't like musicals, but I was sorry she was disappointed. At least we had a nice dinner beforehand.

"Deadwood" Season 2
I finally finished off "Deadwood" Season 2. I thought I had finished it a while ago, but then my Netflix snuck up and showed me a had a few discs to go. This still remains one of the best dialogue-driven shows on Television. And I think I brought it up before, but the characters this season have come even more fully into flesh, with the exception of Seth Bullock, who by season's end is more or less just a brooder and a reactor. But Al Swearengen's charcter becomes more complex, and so does Alma Garret-- in fact, those are the two who will have me waiting eagerly for season 3 to finally hit the shelves on DVD. Eventually. I think it's currently showing on HBO, so there may be some time to wait.

"Veronica Mars" Season 2
Me and mine also finally got through "Veronica Mars", season 2. Complete with Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, and a cameo by Joss Whedon himself, it was like and old familiar friend, seeing all that Buffy goodness. This second season, otherwise, rode a bit on the coat-tails of season 1, as the intrigue was less personal and more glossy. But that's sophomore efforts for you. Season 3 is on the air now, and when it hits DVD I expect big things. Veronica will be in college, and so we can move away from small-town intrigue (there's some incestuous about small-town mysteries, which some people love) and go more towards the big-picture stuff, though I hope the glossiness doesn't continue and this becomes another slick private-eye show that eventually has to jump the shark with a pregnancy or a secret drug habit. Fingers crossed.

"Monk" Season 4
And speaking of "finally," I think we're finally done with "Monk", also, having finished season 4. I say I think because I don't recall they’re being any kind of big finale. Maybe we have a disc left to go? I know the GF's brought in Lost season 2, and that should dominate us for a bit. Monk didn't really change much, which is a good thing, generally. Season 4 saw a little more solidity brought into Monk's life, with the SF police putting him on retainer, which takes away some of the money tension that was part of the show. Fans of the show who are not fans of the hard-boiled detective genre won’t miss this, but those of us who know that financials woes are part of the detective tapestry will have to be given something else, or this, too, will just turn into another slick detective show. No, Traylor Howard won't be enough. Sure, she's cute, but I still miss Sharona.

"Nip/Tuck" Season 3
Oh, and I can’t forget that we're done with "Nip/Tuck" season 3 as well. By season's end, we finally find out who The Carver is. Not someone out of left field, as in "Veronica Mars" (pun!) but with enough of a twist to keep it interesting. Season3 was pretty messy, nearly over-the-top, and along the lines of shows that go that far, it's all brought in and tied up with a nice feel-good bow at the end. Matt goes from being a seriously loathsome little prick back to nearly an okay guy, Christian continues his sappy evolution into man-with-soul, Julia becomes even more cartoonish, and Kimber becomes just a more complicated accessory. Sean remain the only one with any sort of realistic human attributes, but I don't know if this means he's a foil for the whole show or everyone else is justa foil for him. Guess will find out in season 4.

Doom
But hey, what would a long boring review session be without some video games? We've now got Doom on the Xbox 360-- yes, that old school FPP that took your average nerd and turned him into a bona fide LAN party geekosaur. I've played through most of the first chapter, and yes, it is way easier now than it was then, but despite that, and it's primitive graphics, and very simplistic game-play, it's still compelling, though that may just be nostalgia.

Dead Rising
Also, for what it's worth, I borrowed Dead Rising from a friend. At first I was excited. Free form game play, and all the zombies I can kill. But it got repetitive, fast, and the developer's only solution to this is to throw in nigh-impossible roadblocks now and again which just make you wish for a more convenient save point. I'm only a few "hours" into the game, but I'm already tired if the poorly scripted cut-scenes which are more a job application for the next Final Fantasy film adaptation then they are useful for understanding the game story. Oh well. I also have some other zombie game borrowed from someone else, that I haven't played yet, but will soon, and I'll let you know.