Wednesday, November 27, 2002

 
BOOK REVIEW: THE SCIENCE OF SUPERHEROES * 1/2 (1 and a half stars out of 4).
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After reading the excellent books, The Physics of Star Trek, and its sequel, Beyond Star Trek, which examine what about Star Trek is impossible, and what could conceivably be discovered in the future, I was very excited about The Science of Superheroes. But the book was a terrible disappointment. The authors go into mind-numbing detail about the most boring details of each hero's life and adventures, only to ignore those details, and then just talk about whatever they want to talk about. For example, an obscure Spider-Man story from the 60s is used as a pretense to talk about cloning for the better part of a chapter. Similarly, almost the entire Green Lantern chapter is taken up with a long and trite discussion of black holes, based on the throw-away speculation that a black hole could be the power source for Green Lantern's power battery. I took only one semester of physics in college, and no other science classes, and I guess I've read about science a little in popular books and magazines, and despite this modest background, the level of discussion of scientific issues seemed far beneath me. So, don't read this book, and read The Physics of Star Trek instead.

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Saturday, November 23, 2002

 
BOOK REVIEW: LIVE FROM NEW YORK: AN UNCENSORED HISTORY OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (2002) * * (2 stars out of 4).
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This Book's authors, Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller, have clearly confused the word "uncensored," which is good, with "unedited," which is bad. Almost the entire book is taken up by long, unedited, paragraph-long and page-long quotes by people involved in the show, separated by no exposition, other than to give the name of the person quoted. While this is an interesting style, the result is, at various times, wild jumps in topic, to keep things organized chronologically, or wild jumps chronologically to keep things organized thematically. It's also, at various times, very repetitious, and very contradictory.

Furthermore, while the book may (for all I know) do a good job of capturing the feeling of what it was like to be there at the beginning of the show, it doesn't really have any information that isn't common knowledge to most long-time SNL fans. In particular, conspicuously missing in the discussion of Norm Macdonald's being fired from Weekend Update was any attempt to either dispel or confirm the rumors that this was because NBC executives objected to him joking about O. J. Simpson-- this book makes no mention that any such rumors ever existed. All in all, the book was a disappointment, and even though I am very interested in the subject, getting through the book felt like a chore.

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Tuesday, November 19, 2002

 
HOW ABOUT A SHOWER?
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I watched that meteor shower last night with Dara E. I looked for about 15 seconds with my binoculars, and I saw a dot streak by incredibly quickly. She spent the next hour with my binoculars trying to see something, but she couldn't see anything in all that time. It's kind of funny, because she was way, way more into it than I was. I always say that it's impossible to see the stars in the city, especially here in Times Square, but you can actually see quite a lot with binoculars.

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NO SOUP FOR YOU.
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I live right across the street from Soup Kitchen International, the restaurateur satirized in the episode of Seinfeld titled "The Soup Nazi". He is always closed over the summer, but he usually reopens in late September or early October. This year, however, he still isn't open. But yesterday, there were some signs of life. It was still closed and locked, but the metal fence in front of the window was up, and there were lights on inside. Around 10 minutes to 12, a couple of people were there waiting for him to maybe open. Graham and I got in line behind them, and then a bunch of people got in line behind us. We waited until a couple minutes past noon, but he never opened. Then, today, Bryan C. called me to tell me he'd spoken to Al (the soup guy), on the phone, who said he'd be opening next week. I'm so excited in anticipation for the Soup Kitchen International's delicious, delicious soup. Before he closed last summer, I was there three times a week. Look for my review next week!

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Monday, November 18, 2002

 
MOVIE REVIEW: RED DRAGON (2002) * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
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While this prequel to The Silence of the Lambs is a remake of the 1986 movie Manhunter. While more highly produced, and in many ways more disturbing than the 1986 version, it was not as thoughtful as the original, which was less of a horror film, and more of an intelligent mystery. I remember thinking that the deductions in the original (which I haven't seen since its theatrical release) were very clever. But in the new movie, the deductive leaps are so super-human, that it doesn't seem worthwhile to even bother trying to keep up.

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Saturday, November 16, 2002

 
LATE NIGHTS.
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Thursday night I saw "Believe Chicken" the funny free stand-up comedy show on Thursday nights at 7PM at The Nightingale on 2nd Avenue at 13th Street, hosted by Jessica D. and Liz L. Then I hung out with Bob K. and his buddies in the East Village.

Friday night, I went to my UCB improv class, and then I hung out with my classmates until late, bar-hopping. It's a good class, with good people.

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Thursday, November 14, 2002

 
THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.
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I went to a taping of the Late Show today. Last night, I was walking by the theater, and someone who works at the show offerred me and Graham tickets for today's show. I've seen them giving out tickets there before, but never when I had a chance to go. My building is right next to the theater-- Letterman is on Broadway between 53rd and 54th, and I'm on Broadway between 54th and 55th-- so I walk by it often. Yet, I hardly ever watch it, and this is the first time I've gone since I moved to midtown. I used to watch it all the time, before Tivo. But now, I'm never flipping around at 11:30. I just watch the most recent episode of Friends or the SImpsons. Anyway, seeing the show in person was fun, and the location could not possibly have been any more convenient.

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Wednesday, November 13, 2002

 
COMICS I'M READING.
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Here are some of the comics I read every month (or whenever they come out), along with some notes. This list is certainly not complete.

I always read all the comics written by Brian Michael Bendis. That includes
Alias, about a detective who explores the dark underbelly of the Marvel Universe, in which superheroes have the same personal flaws that other celebrities do.
Powers, about a police force that has to deal with a world with superheroes.
Daredevil, which has been spectacular lately, and is now being made into a movie, on the basis of Bendis's work; and
Ultimate Spider-Man which really get's inside young Peter Parker's head in a very realistic, believable way.
Bendis's scenes are very cinematic, and his dialogue rings really true, and is always compelling.

Everything by Alan Moore, including
Tom Strong is an homage to the adventure comics of the 40s and 50s.
Top Ten hasn't been published in a while, but it's about a police force in a world where everybody has superpowers, but not everybody fights or causes crime.
Tomorrow Stories also hasn't had a new issue in a while. It's a collection of short stories, which usually satirize the medium of comics.
Promethea is about two women exploring a world of myth; and
The League of Distinguished Gentlemen is about a team of 18th century science fiction characters (the invisible man, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll, etc.).
I don't think any of these are quite as good as his best work, which was the 1985 series Watchmen, and his 80s work on Miricleman and Swamp Thing, which inspired the not-so-good movie. He's got a bunch of books of his work out.

Everything by J. Michael Straczynski. Unfortunately, that's only
Rising Stars, about a town where a group of young children get super-powers and grow up to be seen as a threat by a paranoid U.S. government; and
The Amazing Spider-Man
He's also got a series that just finished called Midnight Nation, but I missed it. It's supposed to be published as a collection soon.

Everything by Grant Morrison, including
The Filth, which I don't understand to well, about a super-secret organization; and
The New X-Men

His best work was in the 80s, on Animal Man and The New Doom Patrol.

Also,

X-Statix by Peter Milligan and drawn by Michael Allred is a look at a world in which superheroes are treated like spoiled celebrity athletes.

Incredible Hulk is really good lately. It's really "think-y".

Green Arrow is also very smart. Until last month, it was written by Kevin Smith, the screenwriter of Clerks and Chasing Amy.

Uncanny X-Men is pretty good since Chuck Austin started writing for it.

Spider-Man's Tangled Web. This clever series, which features a different writer-artist pair each month, focuses on the "marginal" people in Spider-Man's life. What do his enemies do when they're not fighting him, for example? It's hit or miss, since the creative team is always changing, but it's usually pretty good.

The Fantastic Four has been pretty good since Mark Waid started writing it a couple months ago.

Captain America is interesting in light of the events of 9/11.

The Ultimates is a retelling of the Avengers. It's just okay.

The Call of Duty. These three interlocking series are kind of mediocre. I was going to stop reading them, but then they said there would be just a few more issues, so I figured I'd stay 'til the end.

Some comics that are not published very regularly, but I love are

The ACME Novelty Library by Chris Ware. It's absolutely brilliant, and one of the very best things I've ever read. The main story arc was published recently as "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth", and it might be the saddest thing I've ever read.

Optic Nerve by Adrian Tomine. I think it's been a year or so since an issue came out, but there are great. They are so emotional and real and compelling. Why can't TV be this good? Some of his stories have been published in book form

Various titles by Pete Bagge. He used to publish Hate, but now there's only the occasional annual or one shot. Though his recent series Yeah! was very disappointing.

I've left out a bunch that I didn't think were worth mentioning, and, I'm sure, some that I've forgotten. And I usually check out one or two new titles every week, though they don't usually pan out.

As you can see, one of the things that unites the comics I read, is that they take a new, and more realistic look at what the world would be like if people really had super-powers, an idea pioneered in Alan Moore's brilliant and ground-breaking book Watchmen. This is the basic premise of such comics as Alias, Powers, Top Ten, Rising Stars, and X-Statix, but it is also a major theme of every one of the super-hero comics I still read. In the 80s and early 90s, the great writers were all doing "alternative" comics about the occult or weird, misunderstood aliens or forgotten 60's characters. In the mid to late 90s, there weren't many good comics and I stopped reading them. But just a couple years ago, Marvel hired all the great writers away from D.C., and put them to work writing their mainstream superhero comics, and they're great. I never thought I'd be reading superhero comics again. I stopped when I was a kid, like everyone else. But, at least the ones I've recommended, have gotten really, really worthwhile.

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BOOK REVIEW: TRUER THAN TRUE ROMANCE: CLASSIC LOVE COMICS RETOLD! (2001) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
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I read a lot of comic books, usually about 10 to 15 a week, so I don't usually bother to review them. But I really want to say something about Truer than True Romance by Jeanne Martinet. It's not that it's so great or so entertaining, though it is very good. But it's just so totally original and different that it's really worth reading, and I think it would appeal to a lot of people who don't like comics.

It takes old D.C. Romance comics from the 50s, 60s, and early 70s, and leaves the art entirely intact, but changes all the words. The results are very entertaining and make a provocative statement about both the naivete of the romantic attitudes of the third quarter of the 20th century, and about how over-complicated romantic attitudes have become in the first part of the 21st century. There's a nice excerpt here, that gives you the basic idea. Make sure to click the right arrow there to see the rest of the pages of the excerpt.

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BOB K. REVIEWS MY REVIEWS.
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Bob K. says that I just spout out about my personal views in my reviews too much, and don't spend enough of my time explaining, say, why a movie got three and a half stars instead of four. I explained that the point of the blog, as far as I was concerned, was for me to just spout out about whatever crossed my mind, and it was more important to me to just say what I was thinking than to provide a useful resource for other people, but that I could try harder to be more practical in my reviews.

That wasn't enough, he insisted. I also had to write a blog entry saying that he had complained about my reviews. I told him that was out of the question, and that he should get his own blog, and write his complaint about my blog there. Yet, on reflection, and at the risk of the "moral hazard" of more people pestering me about what to put on my blog, I have to admit that it was kind of an amusing thing to say, and one of the very few conversations I've ever had about my blog, so I figured, why not jot it down, and if it makes him happy, then so much the better.

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Tuesday, November 12, 2002

 
UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR.
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Hey, this has been bugging me for a long time.

We have the following four things already:

1) Voice recognition software that converts speech to text.
2) Translation software that translates from English to almost any language or vice-versa.
3) Speech software that converts text to speech.
4) Small hand-held computers that can run all those programs.

So, hey, let's put all those things together, and create a hand-held device that I can talk into in English, and which will translate what I just said into another language, and which I then can have someone else talk into in their language, and hear what they just said in English. I'm sure that I would pay $10,000.00 for a device that could do all that. But there isn't any reason why it should cost more than a couple hundred, and even less than that if millions of us started buying them. Somebody just needs to put all the pieces together.

This is the "killer app" of the 21st century, and the last piece of the globalization puzzle. This would completely change the world, and I just can't understand what the hold-up is on this.

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BOOM.
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I was in the bathroom this evening, and I heard some explosions. They were continuing for a while alternating between loud and less loud, and occasionally shaking my building. I got kind of nervous, pulled up my pants, and went toward the window. I could see smoke, and everything was glowing in flickering green and orange light. As I stepped onto my balcony, I thought, "This is it, they're finally blowing up Times Square. I'm going to have to put on the gas mask that my mother gave me, and walk across the bridge to Queens. If I survive at all, it will be days before I sleep or shower again, and I didn't even get the chance to wipe."

Stepping onto my balcony, it turned out to be a fireworks display. It ended, and people applauded. I can't believe how rattled I got over nothing. I would never have had a thought like that before 9/11. Am I like those Vietnam vets in the 80s, who ran for cover every time a truck backfired? Actually, ever since I moved to the north end of Times Square, I've been much more nervous about terrorism than I thought I would be. I thought that feeling would go away eventually, but if anything, it's gotten worse. And the truth is, if there's another terrorist attack in America, this is probably where it will be. It really doesn't help that they keep showing pictures of it all over the world in commercials, magazines, movies, and TV shows. Every time I see a picture of Times Square, I feel like we're saying, "Hey terrorists, please blow this up. This is the spot that America will miss the most. It's only been fifteen minutes since we've shown it to you, so please take another look, and this time see if you can spot a good place to plant a bomb." I know that really is going to happen sooner or later, and I was completely ready to believe that that day had come.

I gotta move back to the Village. I love my huge, beautiful apartment and its glorious views and its incredible location, and I hate to move after only a year, but I'm really not sure I'm going to renew my lease in March.

This is The Official Record. 2:36 AM
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Monday, November 11, 2002

 
BOOK REVIEW: THE MIND'S SKY: HUMAN INTELLIGENCE IN A COSMIC CONTEXT (1992) * * (2 stars out of 4).
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This book by Timothy Ferris is exactly the book I would write if I wrote a book. So why should I read it? It meanders from one scientific or philosophical topic to another, without breaking any new ground or drawing any real conclusions. While I'm sure it was at the cutting-edge at the time it was written, it is now terribly out of date. Still it is interesting and a real page turner, even if it left me a little unfulfilled.

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MOVIE REVIEW: BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (2002) * * * 1/2 (3 1/2 stars out of 4).
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This new Michael Moore movie was as devastatingly funny as it was deeply disturbing. The central question of the movie, which is never really answered, is this: why is America so violent? Why does America have about 100 times the per capita gun deaths of other free countries? Our violent movies are seen all over the world, our violent video games come from Japan, our violent guns are about as prevalent in Canada, and our violent history is no more bloody than that of France, England, Germany, or Japan. There's a hint that our news coverage is much more violent, and that may well be a factor, but it's hard to say that could be all there is to it. I really don't have an answer to the question myself, only wild guesses. Maybe it's our history of importing slaves, and never really making things up to them or their descendents. Maybe it's our sense of entitlement, as citizens of the richest and most powerful nation on Earth. Maybe it's our faulty educational system. Maybe it's our crappy, arrogant, incompetent police officers. Maybe it's just our cultural acceptance of such violence that makes us think it's okay to shoot our spouses or classmates, because so many other people are, in fact, doing it, too-- a justification unavailable in other countries. Maybe it really is the media overreporting crime.

Check out the intro at the bowlingforcolumbine.com Web site. Here's the first part of it, to get you in the mood:

Germany Firearm Homicides: 381.
France Firearm Homicides: 255.
Canada Firearm Homicides: 165.
United Kingdom Firearm Homicides: 68.
Australia Firearm Homicides: 65.
Japan Firearm Homicides: 39.
The United States of America Firearm Homicides: 11,127.

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BACK TO SCHOOL.
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I'm taking an improv class at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater for the first time in about six months, and the second time in about two years. I had my first class Friday. I felt a little rusty, but it was fun. My teacher is Kevin M., who I've had before and who I think is really great.

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WELCOME.
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My friend Graham M. is in town, staying with me for about a week or so. Luckily, I have plenty of room, so it's no imposition at all, and it's nice to have his company.

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Saturday, November 09, 2002

 
JAPAN AND BANGKOK.
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Okay. I'm back from Japan and Bangkok, and I'm a little bit caught up with work, well enough to sit down and write some.

Japan is very clean and very colorful and very customer-service oriented. There is no tipping in Japan, and yet the service everywhere is excellent and very professional.

When I arrived on Friday, my friend and host Andy M. and I grabbed dinner (the best sushi I ever had) and a drink and played some pachinko in a five story video arcade, and then I went to sleep.

Saturday, we spent the morning in Shibuya, visiting the Tobacco and Salt Museum, which is quite a quirky little museum, indeed. We had lunch at an American restaurant to see the local take on American food, and we joked that the Japanese people probably thought that this was a really good American restaurant, because there were Americans eating there. We went to a Toyota theme-park with model cars and futuristic rides and a giant Ferris wheel. Then we met some friends of Andy's and went to a party in Roppongi, the American "ghetto" of Tokyo.

Sunday, we had lunch at an Italian place near Andy's apartment that he likes. They gave me a fork, and it was the only one I saw while I was in Japan. I was tempted to ask for chopsticks, when it occurred to me that this would be about the same thing as asking for a fork at an Asian restaurant in the US. From lunch, I was straight off to Bangkok.

Having been to Bangkok before, I skipped the cultural sites, and all I did was shop. I bought 27 shirts, 4 suits, and 9 more pairs of slacks (in addition to the 4 in the suits), all custom tailored, for about US$1,500, which is a pretty good deal. As a hedge, and also so all my clothes wouldn't look exactly alike, I got them from three different tailors, which turned out to be a lot of extra trouble, since I had to keep returning for fittings. I bought some movies and software, which I mailed to the US. More on that, if and when it arrives.

There has been considerable inflation in Bangkok since I went there three years ago, though things are still incredibly cheap. Before, a fancy meal might cost 50 baht (there are about 43 baht to the US dollar), but now it was easy to spend 100 baht or more without even getting that fancy. At a little over US$2, that's not too much, but it's a lot more than it used to be. Go before it is too late. Another big change there is that practically everybody speaks at least a little English. Last time, I struggled to be understood, and only hotel workers could communicate at all. But now, everyone under 50 knows at least a little English, and it is very easy to get by without knowing a single word of Thai. One of the things I love about Thailand, in addition to the weak currency, is the juxtaposition of old and new. The city is full of ultra-modern 7-story and taller shopping complexes, but they are often right next door to tent-cities of hundreds of small merchants operating side-by side in tiny stalls. And they absolutely crave commerce there. Even though land is very inexpensive there, there seems not to be a square inch of space that is not dedicated to selling something, and one is often forced to walk into the street, because the sidewalk has been completely taken over by merchants.

One of my favorite things that happened in Bangkok was that while I was shopping for software, it was 3PM, and I hadn't eaten yet, and I didn't want to take a break from shopping, so I just went to KFC for a really quick bite. I got some chicken strips. Now, in America, I know that many people eat those with their hands, and many people eat them with a knife and fork. For my part, I do not eat at KFC often, but when I do, I've always taken the "finger lickin' good" logo to heart, and picked up my chicken bare-handed. When I sat down, everyone in the restaurant was eating their chicken with a fork and spoon (they use spoons instead of knives in Bangkok). I, the only Westerner in the place, dutifully picked up my chicken with my hand, and dipped it into the various dipping sauces as I ate it. The people around me all followed suit, putting down their utensils, and eating the American food the way the American was eating it. By the time I left, every one in the restaurant was eating with their hands, because of me. I thought that was pretty cool.

Thursday, I returned to Japan in time to grab a late dinner and go to bed.

Friday, we saw a shrine, and I got a good fortune for 100 yen (there are about 123 Japanese yen to one US dollar). Then we took a boat tour of Tokyo. Andy had class (he's a business student at Wharton doing a semester in Tokyo), so while he was in class, I explored Shinjuku. I saw Shinjuku Nishi, where the tall, Manhattan-like buildings are, and Shinjuku-Dori (Dori means street or avenue), where the most upscale shopping is. I met up there with Andy after class, and we ate at the Takashimaya Times Square building, which is an incredibly upscale, 14 story department store, with two levels of restaurants. We then walked around Shinjuku and a nearby neighborhood I forget the name of, and we saw, among other things, a set of 5 apples for 2500 yen (about US$20) and two cantaloupes for 8000 yen (about US$65). Don't let this give you the wrong idea. Tokyo is not that expensive, and is really no more expensive than New York, except that produce is very, very expensive--except that avocados seem to be really cheap at 100 yen (about US$0.81) for a nice big one. Indeed, we were never served any fruit or vegetables with any meal, except when we had Sukiyaki the following Sunday, which was pretty expensive.

Saturday, we spent the day at Tokyo Disneyland. Except for some translation into Japanese, it is almost identical to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando (I've never been to Disneyland in California). Oh, and except that there was a lot more Japanese food there. When the Main Street Electrical parade came, people lined the parade route literally at least 20 deep to see it. I've never seen anything like that kind of crowd for a parade before, much less for a parade that comes every day. People started staking out spots three or four deep about an hour before the parade started. I was also amazed at how much English there was there. If you had to go to the park knowing only Japanese or knowing only English, I'd be hard-pressed to tell you which would be better. You can certainly get by on either.

This is as good a place as any to mention that I speak Japanese not very well, but definitely well enough to get by and to engage in rudimentary commerce. I took Japanese in college, and I took a 30-hour audio course before my trip to review. I actually learned much more from the 30-hour audio course, I think, than from ten hours a week for a year in college. It's the Pimsleur language program, and I highly recommend it. A friend of mine also says it's excellent for French, so I'm sure it's great for any language, and they teach an astonishingly large number of languages. Andy M. speaks Japanese very well, though not with native proficiency.

On Sunday, we went to Akihabara where we met up with Saori, my new friend that I had just made on the airplane on the way to Tokyo. She brought her friend, whose precise name eludes me, but I believe it was Kano or Kando. We had Sukiyaki, which is raw meat and vegetables which you cook in broth yourself at your table. Then we met up with my friend Dav C., and his lady-friend whose name I have completely forgotten. By a wild coincidence, Dav just happened to be visiting Tokyo the same time I was. Akihabara is full of electronics stores as far as you can see in any direction. They have lots of stuff you can't get in the U.S., but I didn't buy anything, because I had already completely filled up my luggage in Bangkok. We wandered to a bunch of different neighborhoods, and I lost track of them all. We had drinks from a rooftop lounge with an incredible view, and then went to "Sugar High," a hip Shibuya DJ club.

Monday was "culture day", a national holiday. Andy and I spent the day in Yokohama, visiting Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan (from the top of which I was able to see mount Fuji), and visiting an amusement part nearby. We came back to Tokyo, and met our mutual college friend Patrick M. for dinner at an Indonesian place in the 109 building. I called it a night early, so that I could pack and leave early the next day.

Tuesday, November 5, my flight left at 5:40 PM, and, thanks to the international date line, I arrived 3:20PM that same day (i.e., more than two hours before I had left). It truly is a modern age, isn't it? That got me here in time to vote, which I did, to little avail.

This is The Official Record. 2:43 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/11/japan-and-bangkok.html

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Wednesday, November 06, 2002

 
I'M BACK!
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I'm back in the U.S. More on my trip to come shortly.

This is The Official Record. 4:30 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/11/im-back.html

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