FOUI Goes AFK

Alas, I will be OOTO for a bit, and I am unsure how often (if at all) I will be able to get online or how often I will be able to post. In reality I will probably end up getting online at least some while I'm gone. If I don't, I'll likely have lots and lots of things to post when I return.

BRB...

Trivial Tuesday

Starting this weekend at theaters is the Nicolas Cage film, The Weather Man. The Weather Man is directed by Gore Verbinski who also directed The Ring and Pirates of The Carribean. However, Verbinski did not start in film, but rather in advertising where he saw considerable success. In fact, he was the creator of what famous product pitchmen?

Post the answer in the comments section and earn the right to brag.

Until later...

What Better Way to Spend A Friday Night?

One Friday night recently, we had to go to Walmart to go shopping. Technically, I didn't need to go. MK could have managed just fine without me, but she said that she would prefer that I went. So I did.

After the obligatory initial 10 minutes of shopping together, I headed off to hide in the electronics section where I could look at the games, DVDs, CDs and all of the home electronics I wasn't going to be able to buy.

I browsed there for a while and saw a some interesting things now available on DVD. It's strange enough to see things like the Dukes of Hazzard or seasons of Rocky and Bullwinkle on DVD, but I'm just not sure what to think of Saved By The Bell or Sweet Valley High. Is there really a demand for this? I eventually realized that it had been a good half hour or so, which meant that we needed to end this shopping trip soon or I was going to be leaving the store with several new games, DVDs and home entertainment centers that I would just grab randomly to make up for the time I had to spend here.

As I left the electronics section, I passed another man who was shopping with his wife. I walked past and made eye contact, seeing the tortured look in his eyes. I gave him the sympathetic head-nod. You know, the one that says, "Yes, I understand. I've been there. Just wait, in a couple of years she'll send you off on your own just to make you shut up. Then you'll be free to browse the DVDs with me and the other husbands at stage 2." (Quick primer on the stages: Stage 1: You have to go with her and stay with her the entire time. Stage 2: You are still required to go to the store, but after a brief period of time are permitted to wader freely. Stage 3: You are trusted enough or annoying enough to be left at home.)

I continued on and began looking for MK. I searched and searched, but still couldn't find her. At this point, the search for Jimmy Hoffa was going better than mine. I knew that I needed to find her soon, because rather than seeing time passing, I was seeing the total amount at the cash register going higher and higher. Eventually, I realized that we both have cell phones. In fact, we have phones with a walkie-talkie feature to make things like this really easy. Too bad we both left them in the car. When I began to think that all hope was lost, she came around the corner of an aisle, wheels on the shopping cart straining under the weight of the purchases. Well, at least it was over, it was time to go home.

As we checked out and paid the cashier, MK turned to me and said, "I didn't find what I needed. We need to go to Meijer now."

Someday, I'll get to that third stage, but for now I've got to at least make sure to remember the cell phones.

Until later...

God Is Dead

This post probably has absolutely nothing to do with what you think from the title. No Nietzsche. No religious discourse. Just a book review. You see, the god in question here is Anansi, the spider god, the trickster god, and the god that dies on the first page of Neil Gaiman's book, Anansi Boys. Not to worry, I'm not revealing anything here that isn't in the publisher's description. However, if you are planning to read, but have not yet read Anansi Boys, you may want to stop after hearing me say that it is excellent.


Are they gone yet?


Ok, good. Let's move on.



If Anansi dies on the first page, what could our story possibly be? The book deals with Anansi's son, Fat Charlie, who never realized that his dad was a god or that even he had a brother. Fat Charlie and his long-estranged brother, Spider, must deal with the death of their father, the gods he angered with his constant tricks and, worst of all, each other. Family relationships are hard at times, but when part of the family has godlike power from your father, is completely irresponsible and completely ruins your life? Well, that's a whole different story.

While building on the concept he introduced in American Gods, Gaiman takes an entirely different tone in Anansi Boys. While AG was dark and brooding, AB is much lighter and full of humor. In each case, the tone of the story reflects the personality of the god most central to the story (Odin and Anansi, respectively). It is a remarkably easy read and well worth the time it takes. If you have read and enjoyed Gaiman, go get it. If not...I really don't know what to say.

Summing up:
Humorous, touching, thrilling and enjoyable, Anansi Boys is an excellent choice. In the end, we must realize that despite being incredibly embarrassing (or perhaps because of it) our families are our families and nothing will change that.


Until later...

Clearing The Backlog

I've gotten a bit behind on a few things here. Specifically, on my book reviews. According to my not so recently updated sidebar, I'm in the middle of reading Bobos in Paradise by David Brooks, but I finished that quite some time ago (nevermind that, it has now been updated). I'll try to keep up in the future, but let's be serious; I probably won't. However, with that in mind let's go over a few books I have read recently, but not so recently I can give them each a full post.

Bobos in Paradise by David Brooks:

First, let's deal with the obvious question. What is a bobo? Bobo is simply the author's term for a specific class of people. The name, like the class of people under discussion, is a combination of bourgeois and bohemian. These are the people who share some values of both of these formerly mutually exclusive groups. Brooks does a wonderful job of explaining this group while at the same time lovingly skewering them for their contradictions and idiosyncrasies (he does make sure to point out that he is a part of this group as well). It is an interesting study in class evolution, written in a way that will keep the reader amused as well as involved.

Everything Bad Is Good For You by Stephen Johnson:

Your television is rotting your brain. The video games your children play are wasting their lives. Sound familiar? Of course, they do. These are facts that everyone knows. According to Stephen Johnson, however, everyone is wrong. Johnson goes through various examples and produces substantial evidence to show that in fact, watching television now versus watching television several decades ago is much better for your brain (as with video games and other forms of entertainment as well). As the complexities of our entertainment have increased, so has the exercise given to our cognitive abilities during the activities. They may not be teaching us math, or history, but they are teaching us how to think and how to make sense of complex problems. Johnson discusses the oft stated "benefit" of gaming as an increase in hand-eye coordination and points out that while useful it is hardly the only benefit. He compares this to saying that reading is useful because it will improve your spelling. Sure, it's probably true, but it is selling the process short to claim that it is the only benefit. You may not agree with all of Johnson's points, but it is hard to argue with the basic premise after reading the book. He isn't suggesting that people spend all of their time in front of the TV or playing Final Fantasy, but rather is saying that in appropriate quantities, these things can help hone one of the more important skills you can have.

Do You Speak American by Robert MacNeil and William Cran:

The subject of language in the United States is often a touchy one. Some people believe that the strict rules of grammar must be enforced under all circumstances. Others believe that language is living, otherwise we wouldn't have different versions of English spoken in various countries around the world. Some people believe that the use of English is "under attack" by the increasing Spanish-speaking population of the US and by the "uneducated" speech of people in various parts of the country. MacNeil and Cran tackle all of these questions and provide fairly insightful answers. Some of the answers are not surprising: Of course language changes over time, distance and any other factor that can separate groups of people. Others go a little deeper: A more useful approach to getting people to write and speak in "proper" American English is to realize that, like it or not, these are different dialects of the language that are being spoken in different parts of the country and they should be treated as such. To put a child in school and tell him that only stupid people say "ain't" or practice vowel fronting or remove "R"s from the ends of words is to tell the child that not only he, but everyone he knows and cares about it stupid. To accept that dialect as it is and teach the child there is another dialect which should be used to better communicate with people outside his familiar group can be much more useful. It's not the most enthralling book I have ever read, but it is certainly worth reading and does bring up some fascinating points.

Until later...

Watson Come Here.

A bit of Did You Know for the day:

Your good friend email is 34 years old. It seems that no one is sure of what the date was, just that it was October of 1971. Read all about it from Ray Tomlinson, the guy who sent the email.

Now you know...and knowing is half the battle!


Until later...

I Heart iTunes, Part 972 (Giving ABC/Disney Some Love, Too)

I've been meaning to mention this for over a week, but just haven't had the time to write. Disney has done a lot of things in recent years that could be considered bad ideas or just downright stupid. Losing the deal with Pixar would probably be close to the top of the list, as would blaming traditional hand-drawn animation for the failures of their recent animated films rather than the poor writing. However, I feel like they deserve some credit for looking forward rather than back.

Disney is now making episodes of some of their more popular shows available for download in the iTunes music store. These can be viewed on one of the newer video enabled iPods or on your computer using iTunes. These aren't rentals either; you buy it and own it. No limits, no returns. The cost? 2 bucks. Actually, $1.99 for each commercial-free episode. For an entire season, this is still more than the cost of a DVD set, but not too much and you can get each episode soon after it airs rather than waiting 6 months. It's not going to compete with DVRs, but it might bring them new viewers and some extra profit. It also gives viewers more choice in how they want to watch the show.

So far, they have put out the first seasons of both Lost and Desperate Houswives as well as new episodes from this season for not only those two but also Night Stalker and That's So Raven. Do I think that this is the greatest idea ever and that it will change the world? No, of course not, but I do think that it shows that the thinking at Disney is moving in a positive direction and both companies (Disney and Apple) deserve recognition for it.

Until later...