Desert Eagles to the FACE

Number 1:

Number 2:

Thomas Pynchon is a Different Kind of Paranoid

But I would actually hesitate to call him paranoid. He just is just a famous novelist who "prefers not to be photographed." A celebrity who values his privacy more than most people, which only intensifies their curiosity. At least he keeps publishing, unlike J.D. Salinger. He has also contributed his voice to two episodes of the Simpsons. So it wasn't a complete surprise to see that Pynchon put together a playlist for Amazon.com, a 1960s soundtrack meant to accompany his latest novel Inherent Vice. My Pynchon backlog is too large for me to tackle the new one any time soon. I've read 3: Slow Learner (a collection of early stories), The Crying of Lot 49, and Gravity's Rainbow (my mind is permanently blown from that one). I want to read his first novel V next, after which I'll probably reread GR before anything else. Then Mason and Dixon. Will probably go chronologically from there. Here's the soundtrack to Inherent Vice, designed by the man himself:








* "Bamboo" by Johnny and the Hurricanes
* "Bang Bang" by The Bonzo Dog Band
* Bootleg Tape by Elephant's Memory
* "Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles
* "Desafinado" by Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto, with Charlie Byrd
* Elusive Butterfly by Bob Lind
* "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra
* "Full Moon in Pisces" performed by Lark
* "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys
* The Greatest Hits of Tommy James and The Shondells
* "Happy Trails to You" by Roy Rogers
* "Help Me, Rhonda" by The Beach Boys
* "Here Come the Hodads" by The Marketts
* "The Ice Caps" by Tiny Tim
* "Interstellar Overdrive" by Pink Floyd
* "It Never Entered My Mind" by Andrea Marcovicci
* "Just the Lasagna (Semi-Bossa Nova)" by Carmine & the Cal-Zones
* "Long Trip Out" by Spotted Dick
* "Motion by the Ocean" by The Boards
* "People Are Strange (When You're a Stranger)" by The Doors
* "Pipeline" by The Chantays
* "Quentin's Theme" (Theme Song from "Dark Shadows") performed by Charles Randolph Grean Sounde
* Rembetissa by Roza Eskenazi
* "Repossess Man" by Droolin' Floyd Womack
* "Skyful of Hearts" performed by Larry "Doc" Sportello
* "Something Happened to Me Yesterday" by The Rolling Stones
* "Something in the Air" by Thunderclap Newman
* "Soul Gidget" by Meatball Flag
* "Stranger in Love" performed by The Spaniels
* "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies
* "Super Market" by Fapardokly
* "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen
* "Telstar" by The Tornados
* "Tequila" by The Champs
* Theme Song from "The Big Valley" performed by Beer
* "There's No Business Like Show Business" by Ethel Merman
* Vincebus Eruptum by Blue Cheer
* "Volare" by Domenico Modugno
* "Wabash Cannonball" by Roy Acuff & His Crazy Tennesseans
* "Wipeout" by The Surfaris
* "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys
* "Yummy Yummy Yummy" performed by Ohio Express

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Trailer

I'll probably watch this, but I already dislike it in advance a little bit. Seems way too slick/tame compared to the collection. I'm not sure David Foster Wallace's work can even be effectively adapted.

Something Boring from Real Life

I was sitting in the park today and overheard this conversation:

"I went to a lazer light show last night."

"How was it?"

"Amazing."

"On a scale of 1 to 10?"

"Oh, I couldn't even give it a number on that scale. I'd have to give it a shape or something."

Canzo Empyrean, "G.I. Joe," Liberia, Destro, Continued

Embedding should work now. If you know where to get a copy of this film, or know the locations of possible showings, PLEASE let me know.



"What are you wearing around your neck?"

"Lavendinium."

"Where did you get it?"

"Neptune."


"It's been said you enjoy killing."

"But I prefer kissing."


"I have heard much about you."

"Good or bad?"

"The worst." ("De verst.")


"Pentagon sources confirm Destro is a terrorist."


"I have the AIDS cure."


"Pleasure without consequence, pleasure eternal."


"What do you look for in a woman?"

"The usual."


"They say you're the greatest killer of all time."

"Well."


I want to see the complete "product" very much. I posted about it earlier here. Before, I was unable to embed the youtube vid for some reason. Much more info is available here. I was skeptical of any film not shown on IMDB, but now I'm a believer. Vice Magazine has posted about this: "The film has apparently been in the filming stages for over ten years (in some backdrops you can see the twin towers, and some they are gone) and is going to be released in 2009 with rumors of secret screening previews in abandoned buildings having already happened." Justin Fornal/Baron Ambrosia, why don't you hit me up with an e-mail? I already have some review pitches written up. I initially thought the film was a hoax, but from the clips I have been able to track down I now think it is the shit/the realness/up there on my list of film examples of high art. I have friends in the Bronx. Seriously.

Sonora Review's David Foster Wallace Double Issue

I just received a copy of the latest Sonora Review, with fiction by Etgar Keret, interviews with Ben Marcus and Junot Díaz, and a 100-page tribute to David Foster Wallace, the latter being a large part of my reason for buying it (the issue). The tribute has essays on Wallace's work by Sven Birkerts and others, recollections by Dave Eggers and Jonathan Franzen, and an interview with his (Wallace's) longtime editor Michael Pietsch. The issue also includes some striking artwork by Karen Green, which perhaps unsurprisingly incorporates a good deal of text. A few of the contributors admit to not having known Wallace that well personally, though everyone in the issue has something interesting to say, some tidbits to offer, some theories to propound. One thing I was glad to find out: David Foster Wallace "said he thought Flaming Lips' Transmissions From the Satellite Heart was the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of our generation." As Glenn Kenny says in his essay, I guess I'll "give it a few more listens, then."

*update: All of the fiction I've read in this issue so far (including Wallace's "Solomon Silverfish," and pieces by Kellie Wells, Ryan Call, and Etgar Keret) is SOLID.

Belle and Sebastian - Dirty Dream Number Two