Little Toy Robot

We are on break. Happy New Year, and the Little Toy Robot will return in 2005!

Selick To Direct Coraline.

“I distrust the perpetually busy; always have. The frenetic ones spinning in tight little circles like poisoned rats. The slower ones, grinding away their fourscore and ten in righteousness and pain. They are the soul-eaters.”

The Flaming Lips Record White Stripes Song.

An interview with Lucius Shepard at Bookslut.

The Top 100 Sports Books of All Time from SI.

ERB’s estate says no to Tarzan Presley.

Orson Scott Card to write Ultimate Iron Man. Boy am I glad I’m not an Iron Man fan; sorry Matt.

An unranked list of the best CDs I haven’t yet bought, based on hearing tracks on the radio, downloading legal mp3s, or borrowing them from friends or co-workers. Note that in every case I haven’t actually listened to the entire album, so this list is dumb, but so am I.

The Slow Wonder, by AC Newman
The New Pornographers produced some of the best twisted pop of the past few years. On Newman’s solo album he shows that despite losing some of the luster (meaning, Neko Case), his talent and tortured singing style can really carry a tune.

Love Songs for Patriots, by American Music Club
Mark Eitzel did some great solo work, but it’s great to hear the band back together.

The Milk-Eyed Mender, by Joanna Newsom
Who is this harp-strumming, helium-voiced angel? My god, listen to those lyrics. The only reason I haven’t bought this album yet is because I’m afraid it’ll drive me mad with passion (or mad from hearing the sound of her voice for 45 minutes).

Blueberry Boat, by The Fiery Furnaces
Taken in small bites, The Fiery Furnaces produce unique, bizarre tunes dripping with melody and meaning. Another act that can drive people mad.

Shake the Sheets, by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
Ah, rock music. Leo’s not afraid to push his voice to its limits, and he writes intelligent songs that also aim for the gut.

5. Funeral, by The Arcade Fire
Ecstatic and eccentric pop that took a while to get through to me. But when it did, it wormed its way into my brain and did not leave!

4. More Adventurous, by Rilo Kiley
Infectious, guitar-driven pop anchored by the sweet, sweet voice of Jenny Lewis.

3. Here Comes Everyone, by Aloha
An idiosyncratic choice, and one I’d hesitate to recommend to most, as its mixture of progressive and indie rock can be challenging at times. But the songs are great, the lyrics are smart, and the musicianship is technically solid without sacrificing heart. Definitely the most underrated album of the year.

2. Strange Bird, by Augie March
Haunting, powerful and dynamic.

1. A ghost is born, by Wilco
I might be the only one in the world who thinks this is the best Wilco album so far. At any rate, it rewards with each listen, manages to be intriguing without being pretentious, even when it is designed to be difficult. Not to mention that Jeff Tweedy’s guitar playing and lyric writing are incredible, by any standard.

Honorable mentions:
Has Been, by William Shatner
The Dirty South, by The Drive-By Truckers
Good News For People Who Love Bad News, by Modest Mouse

(”What? No Fiery Furnaces? Joanna Newsom? American Music Club???” I’ll follow up with another post about my favorite CDs of the year that I haven’t actually heard. You’ll see what I mean.)

Ronin Ro’s Tales To Astonish reveals another real-life link to Kavalier and Clay.

Google Suggest (beta).

Google Is Adding Major Libraries to Its Database.

Who Owns Bruno Schulz? Another entry in the fascinating squabble over the legacy of the great Polish writer killed by the Nazis.

Girls Who Bite Back is a Sumach Press anthology about women who fight back in popular culture. It contains work by 34 contributors and was edited by Emily Pohl-Weary.

Dan Gillmore is leaving the San Jose Mercury News next month to work on a citizen-journalism project.

Smoltz is back in the rotation; Kolb will close for the Braves in ‘05.

Pixies not so hot.

Colin Meloy of The Decemberists to do some solo dates in January. So far there’s no date for an Atlanta show.

I can’t resist the urge to do year-end wrap-ups. I mean, what else is a blog for? God knows there’s nothing else going on.

So in the next few weeks expect these lists from me:

• 5 Favorite CDs of 2004
• 5 Favorite Movies of 2004
• 5 Favorite Blogs of 2004
• 5 Favorite Web sites of 2004
• 5 Favorite Books of 2004
• 5 Biggest Disappointments of 2004 (Books)

And maybe more!

This past weekend I saw Sideways, a buddy flick about two middle-aged friends who spend a week before one’s marriage chasing women and dreams and the perfect bottle of wine. It certainly didn’t sound good, but it got good reviews (and really, what else is playing now?). It was a little long and got a little boring, but so is life, and all in all my friends and I enjoyed it.

It stars Paul Giamatti, a personal favorite of mine, and not just because his father was the last good Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti, you will recall, was also in American Splendor, Cradle Will Rock, and … Private Parts?

That’s it for me until next week.

In the meantime, here’s an online interview with David Grann about his New Yorker piece on the death of Sherlock Holmes scholar Richard Lancelyn Green. It’s a fascinating story getting a lot of buzz.

God is cut from the Dark Materials movie. Mark my words: This is going to suck.

“As ‘Spider-Man 2′ shows, the boundaries that separate our hidden and public selves are shifting.”

Freaked out by shit like this, I have joined the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

I fixed the comments submission problem. If you don’t know what I mean, nevermind, cuz it’s fixed!

In a few weeks, cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies (bastards) and you will start to receive sales calls on cell phones. Call this number from your cell phone 888-382-1222 or visit https://www.donotcall.gov/register/reg.aspx to block your mobile number.

That’s not exactly true (thanks, Carol), but you better believe that a 411 database that includes cell phone numbers opens the door to a directory that can be sold to telemarketers. You can put your cell phone on the Do Not Call Registry, and you’ll be safe for the next five years, so there’s nothing to lose.

Great review of The Final Solution and preview of Mitch Cullin’s A Slight Trick of the Mind.

Rhys Hughes, an underappreciated Welsh writer of comic fantasy, has a blog. Check out Hughes’ excellent The New Universal History of Infamy if you haven’t already. It is a beautiful, well edited book, if I may say so myself.

Alex Toth Mad at Cartoon Network?

Steven King and Stewart O’Nan’s Faithful, their collaboration about the 2004 Red Sox, is “boring from beginning to end.” Do you hear that? It’s me yawning while just thinking about it.

Jeff takes up The Wilco Book.

Thanks to either idiocy or genius on my part regarding the planning of floating holidays, I don’t have to work more than three days in a row for the rest of the month. But I do have to particpate in an office-wide “Secret Santa” and buy a present for someone about whom I know absolutely nothing. Plus, hello, I’m Jewish! Bah humbug.

This lovely lady makes an appearance in the very first Flash comic, from 1940. On the right is Jay Garrick, Flash’s alter-ego. Charming feller, ain’t he?

This weekend I finished up the McSweeney’s book and was pointedly underwhelmed by the Oates and Straub efforts. Now that I’m done I’ll stick with my initial prognosis that only the Mitchell, Handler, Roberts, and Mieville stories are any good. The quality of the collection is anemic compared to the first one, and compared to anthologies in general. Very disappointing.

On the other hand, I have found some gems in the most recent Escapist comics. (In other words, I spoke too soon.) It all started way back in the second issue, with Glen David Gold’s story. (That man hasn’t disappointed me yet!) There are still some unimaginative duds, but some individual contributions are stand-outs. I’m looking forward to rumored future developments:

• Stories written by Jonathan Lethem and Dave Eggers
• An entire issue written by Michael Chabon
• Long-term story arcs, which are of course more the norm for comics these days. This would make the effort feel less like a novelty and more like a comic book.

The big news, of course, isn’t really news. Jason Giambi is on steroids. Barry Bonds is on steroids. Jose Lima has genital herpes.

Here’s what my exciting weekend looks like. I am going to finish both books referenced below. I am going to package a shipment of books and other contraband for my friend Luis in Portugal. I am going to watch the Office special. I am going to read a few stories from Jim Shepard’s collection, Love and Hydrogen. I am also going to read a novella or two from Steven Millhauser’s Little Kingdoms. At some point I am going to make a trip to either Borders or a comic book shop to buy the latest Locus, although I am afraid I’ll walk away with a little more than that, which would be inconvenient and excessive if you look at my reading list above.

Sundries:

• Justin’s back
• J.P. reviews Moorcock
• Atlanta’s own Golden Fiddle
• I have to have this