July, 2009

books / literature / science fiction — No Comments
24
Jul 09

Books: The Eyre Affair

Jasper Fforde‘s The Eyre Affair is one of the most fun reads I’ve read so far. I only wish I heard about it sooner. The Eyre Affair is definitely a genre-bender in the spirit of Jonathan Lethem‘s Gun, With Occasional Music. Both are detective novels in strange worlds. Lethem’s private eye novel takes place in an odd Orwell/Huxley hybrid of a dystopia, regulated memory and genetic engineering gone haywire, definitely very post-modern. Fforde’s story definitely takes things further with Thursday Next, a literary police detective whose job it is to pay attention to literature in a world where the lines between fiction and reality have been blurred, nearly to the point of erasure. In an alternate 20th century, literature fanatics abound to the point of followers of Francis Bacon fighting over the true authorship of William Shakespeare‘s works, criminals counterfeiting major works, and a supernatural villain who wishes to alter the literary canon as a form of terrorism. And it’s Thursday’s job to stop him, even if it kills her to do so.

There is plenty for a English major or literature lover to appreciate with numerous references to English literature. It’s also a metafictional adventure done quite well, as a few of the characters literally get into texts. This activity has the power to ruin a text or improve it, as a version of Jane Eyre with a dud ending is threatened. If one’s  never read Charlotte Brontë‘s famous work, there’s enough info to cue them in, alternate ending and real ending both. That said, The Eyre Affair is downright weird and crazy to keep the reader’s attention, but also engaging. Not for the faint of heart, especially those who can’t handle the fantastic in fiction.

humor / Internet / religion — No Comments
22
Jul 09

Mr. Deity and the Scripts


A very interesting discussion between Jesus and Mr. Deity about the Gospels, AKA scripts. Enacting four different versions of the same play can be difficult… and confusing. Who knew Jesus had a Brokeback thing for the Apostle John?

science fiction / television — No Comments
21
Jul 09

Torchwood: Children of the Earth (1)

For the people who might chide me for spoilers, this Torchwood mini-series has been downloaded and bit-torrented by lots of American fans a month ago. I’m not guilty of this, of course, but I have come across spoilers here and there. Given that, “The Children of the Earth” starts off with a big bang, very much like the beginning of BSG’s second half of Season 4.

Following the deaths of Owen and Tosh and the thwarted Dalek theft of Earth, there are some new mysteries: racially motivated alien attacks on humans and incidents of children standing still and speaking together on cue. Like Primeval, the Home Office also poses danger. For every Home Office employee who may be of help to the Torchwood team, there tens more who are out to get them for an agenda yet to be revealed. Ianto revels in the developing relationship he has with Jack, but soon find himself and his first male lover in the midst of danger from all the threats mentioned. In the course of the investigation, Gwen soon finds herself in peril along with her colleagues, especially as the end of the episode builds up to a highly personal bomb threat.

There are some deliberate false starts and red herrings, especially with the hospital doctor and his strange death cases. He initially seems to be the shoe-in for the absent Martha Jones, but that turns out to be someone else. Children on remote control by aliens is spooky enough, but the lives of the Torchwood team is at stake, the most urgent it’s ever been. Jack, Ianto, and Gwen display much greater dept here, and I am scared for them. I want more for sure, and there’s four more nights to go.

blogging / photography / San Diego — 1 Comment
19
Jul 09

San Diego Pride 2009

This weekend, I went to the customary celebration of Pride in San Diego. It was different this year. For the past several years, I marched with St. Paul’s Cathedral, but this time, I wanted to watch the parade itself. I got to hang out with my friends Scott and Kay, along with his neighbor Eydie. I missed visiting with all the groups pre-parade (and taking pictures of them) this year, but I got to see most floats in action. I wound up taking a little over 700 pictures this weekend. Here are some of them.

IMG_6804Obligatory display of male flesh for my Pride Post. This House Boi represents the clothing and furniture shop in North Park.

IMG_6827Clever, snarky caption alluding to some emasculated fundie (fire)men’s lawsuit that they were sexually harassed while riding the firetruck through the Pride Parade in 2007.

IMG_9048 Spooning spoons at Adams Avenue Grill. I went out with my friend Scott on Sunday morning for breakfast, celebrating 11 years of friendship. On their tabletops are butcher paper and crayons, which I couldn’t resist drawing.

Continue reading →

blogging — 1 Comment
15
Jul 09

Languor is Chic

It’s one of those awful things – I never appreciate free time until I have none. Having the summer gig at the language school and the night class at the urban college are great as they provide me with some income until the fall. For the urban college class, I read lots of material for discussion and have a never ending supply of papers to grade. Plus, I volunteer a few hours a week at my local branch library.

Getting into the rhythm of this during the past few weeks makes me sleepy. I’m not a morning person and now I find myself having to wake up much earlier than 8am. It’s not as bad as it was a few summers ago when I was waking up 3 or 4am and I was doing lots of prep work before a super-early summer class at the urban college. That caused me to to have some all-day, all-night sleep-a-thons at least two times. One of them was sleeping in on a friend’s birthday party. The worst that happened to me recently was that I slept in on an appointment to get a haircut. I called the guy up, I got there ASAP, and he squeezed me in with my lateness. He was booked and it was cool of him to do that. I just wouldn’t make a habit of it. Just to cover myself next month, I had him book me an hour later. Hopefully, no more sleep-a-thons.

I miss taking some time to prepare for the night class. More importantly, I miss time to dick around and give myself time to concentrate on reading wonderful books and literature. The reality is, I frittered too much of my time away, especially on watching stupid reality TV on Bravo. Or Twitter and Facebook. Given that I don’t have an in-front-of-the-computer job, being on these social networks is a horrible waste of time. Twitter’s great on the iPhone during breaks, but Facebook doesn’t show as well. When I had more time, I constantly thought about how to make better use of time. Now with less time, I think about what to do in the hours in-between things. Though, honestly, sometimes all I need to do is give myself a break.

That said, goodnight, everyone. I know it will be morning by the time most of you read this.

humor / Internet / religion — No Comments
15
Jul 09

Larry/Deity 04: The Lamb and the Lion


Mr. Deity manages to bungle the prophecy of the Lamb and the Lion.

books / fiction / science fiction / writers — No Comments
15
Jul 09

Books: Birthday of the World

With the Ekumenical novels and stories, Ursula K. Le Guin has given readers a milieu that rivals William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County. This rich fictional world, spanning star systems and light years, has provided the background for novels addressing philosophical and anthropological themes such as The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. In Birthday of the World, Le Guin offers six wonderful stories that take a closer look at people of various Ekumen worlds. This isn’t completely a Hainish story suite as there are two stand-alone stories that that also explore culture and what it means to be human.

Continue reading →

books / creative writing / fiction / writers / writing — 2 Comments
12
Jul 09

Books: The Writing Class

What happens when a misanthropic has-been creative writing teacher is put together with students of varying levels of talent? Murder and mayhem. Well, murder occurs in small doses, but a much-aggrieved, much-rejected, aspiring literary hack does a lot to cause the mayhem, which terrorizes Amy Gallop, the instructor, and her class of mostly novice writers. The mystery of the perpertrator, however, fascinates the group and is a much stronger draw than getting one’s stories torn apart. Jincy Willett‘s The Writing Class is one of those books I came across purely by accident while shopping for steampunk novels at Mysterious Galaxy in Kearny Mesa.

Continue reading →

blogging / current events / News — 4 Comments
12
Jul 09

Frightening about IOU’s

IMG_4410
Earlier this week, Arnold Schwarzenegger, like another great California governor* two decades before him, decided to issue IOU’s to to state employees and vendors. This time around, several major banks chose not to honor the promissory notes, as seen on the screen of a Wells Fargo ATM. Now, California state employees will very well experience what much of the working poor do with ghetto taxes, especially going to check-cashing places.** That means hefty charges. Hopefully, they won’t get caught up in cash advances. Too scary to think about, not something I’d wish on anyone, not even the employees of EDD.

If I worked at SDSU as part of my adjunct professorhood, or if I were still a grad student doing TA work, I’d have major nightmares right now, mainly because their paychecks are issues by the State Controller’s Office. I definitely feel for friends, former professors, and others who work for the State of California right now.

* ;) Not a fan of the former governor Pete Wilson.

** Credit unions are another option.

Uncategorized — 1 Comment
11
Jul 09

Hard Gay (ハードゲイ)

I forgot all about Hard Gay until Avril sent me some videos. Essentially the Bruno of Japan, Hard Gay played pranks on the Japanese public. Here, he decides Yahoo! Japan has stolen his “Hoooooo!” catchphrase and decides he wants to be in a commercial for them. After all, he would be perfect. And the results are hilarious.


Part one: Hard Gay’s visits Yahoo! Japan‘s headquarters, gets a headshot done with the color copier, then sexually harasses some male employees. The guy who walks into the massage room really doesn’t put up much of a fight.


Hard Gay crashes a staff meeting, sexually harasses the boss presenting, and puts his first cap up for auction on Yahoo! Japan, hoping that will be impressive enough for the ad. In the end, Hard Gay takes matters into his own hands. Ya…… hoooooo!

← Older Entries