Disorderly Content

2009-03-31

A Method to his Madness

Looks like my writer friend Barry's fixation on political bloggers is starting to pay off. First, Hilzoy of Obsidian Wings noted the use of her and her blog's name in his latest book, Fault Line. Then yesterday, Glenn Greenwald noted the plethora of progressive blogs and bloggers in the book. And today, Barry is interviewed in Harper's by Scott Horton, who gives his name to yet another character. I guess this is what they call nontraditional marketing.

Update 03/31: And the hits keep on coming. Add Andrew Sullivan to the list.

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2009-03-29

An Unfortunate Person's Guide to the Orchestra

This afternoon found me in a concert hall for the first time in years. The venue was Davies Hall, home to the San Francisco Symphony. The event was a performance of The Composer is Dead, a twenty-first century version of The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra or perhaps Peter and the Wolf. So what was I doing there, not being a young person and all? Well, it had to do with the writer and not the composer (or the Composer), a strange fellow by the name of Lemony Snicket. I'm a bit of a fan of Mr. Snicket's work, and have been jealous of some of my friends who have met him, or at least his alter ego, Daniel Handler. So this was my chance to see if his strangeness and silliness translate from the page.

Short answer: they do. Longer answer: if you ever get the chance to see and hear The Composer is Dead, especially if its writer and its composer (definitely not the one of the title) are in attendance, go!

Category: music | add a comment | link

2009-03-12

Two great tastes that taste great together

One of the funniest things I've ever heard was when Elmo and his support person Kevin Clash appeared on Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR news quiz. As good as that was, and it was indeed good, it may just have been surpassed by this video interview with Elmo and Ricky Gervais. I'm not sure who has the upper hand, although it's clearly not the unseen interviewer.

Category: tv | add a comment | link

2009-03-10

There's a name for people like you...

And that name is redshirt. I have been redshirted. The redshirter in question is my friend Barry Eisler, whose new novel Fault Line arrives in bookstores today, complete with the aforementioned reshirting. Weep for me...

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