Little Toy Robot

Dilbert’s funny again today!

I finished Jeff Ford’s The Girl in the Glass. I don’t think there’s a single writer out there who can fuse pulp and literary fiction like Ford does. While the new book isn’t as elegant as his last, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, it’s still a great read.

But since I’m not writing reviews here, I’ll draw up a list of things this book touches on:

• Ghosts
• Eugenics
• The Ku Klux Klan
• Long Island
• The Great Depression
• Mexicans
• Magicians
• Seances
• Circus/Midway Freaks
• Monsters
• Butterflies

That packs quite a bit into a 280-page thriller. Check it out!

…McMan and McWife.

I love Dunkin Donuts.

I mean, really. I just changed my desktop to a picture of Whiplash to show my support of monkey abuse.

Hey, I read the first funny Dilbert in ages today.

Fire Joe Morgan calls baseball writers and announcers on their shit. There’s a lot of shit to call. I never get tired of stuff like this.

Tiger’s announcer Rod Allen (whom I usually like, by the by), after Omar Infante hit a two-run double off Bronson Arroyo:

“Omar Infante does not miss fastballs.”

Infante, in his 1000+AB career: .251/.299/.393/.692.

Basically, they take the stupid stuff that people say or write and examine whether or not it’s true.

Hey, I saw a guy with a Cat and Girl shirt in Tower the other day!

Michael Penn and Aimee Mann are married. Their latest albums make good companions, too. They’re both solid power pop concept albums.

Mann’s The Forgotten Arm tracks a boxer through his fall into alcoholism and despair. The album’s a little more mellow and has less humor (obviously) than her earlier efforts. For my money, she was best around the time of Bachelor No. 2, but I really like this new album. Frankly, I’m in love with her voice, so she could sing the phone book and I’d buy it.

Penn’s Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 is a bit harder to swallow. It’s a relentlessly pop album, very dynamic and solid. But with pretty much everything he has done since March there doesn’t seem to be much range in his voice, and no song really jumps out and worms its way under your skin. Still, it’s pretty good, and Penn has a Beatlesesque gift for melody that’s worth the price of admission.

I don’t know. When I realize that even Donald Trump is blogging, I don’t think I can do it anymore.

Books

The Girl in the Glass, by Jeffrey Ford
New novel by the author of The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque.

Marvel 1602 New World (comic)
Follow up to Neil Gaiman’s excellent Marvel 1602, though this series isn’t being written by Gaiman. Still, I’ll have to check it out.

Music

Mr. Hollywood, Jr. 1947, by Michael Penn
A concept album of sorts. Should be the perfect companion for his wife’s The Forgotten Arm.

DVD

Beulah - A Good Band is Easy to Kill
Swan song for the perfect pop band.