Month / May 2006

by Edward Champion

BEA, Here We Come

Sarah Weinman: “We won’t be liveblogging—with all the catalogs and galleys winding up in all those bookbags, who has the strength to carry a laptop?”

Well, we do apparently. But then we’re slightly insane. In fact, our tech rig was packed and tested last night and found to be more or less sufficient for walking the floor. Although this year, we’re not bringing bulky microphone stands. That was a silly idea and, last year, we never did in fact use them. Look here for live write-ups, photos, and, when we get back home, some serious podcasts. The fun here begins tomorrow morning.

by Edward Champion

Pitchforks in the Blue

This band is laughably godawful. But don’t tell to now banned MeFi user RustyBottoms, who offered a front page post championing the band in question, which, uh, he happens to play in. Of course, this being a self-link, and for a lousy band to boot, he predictably faced the wrath and ridicule of the Mefites. The train wreck is here, complete with an animated GIF involving a penis and a chicken, for those now waiting in airports for their BEA flights. As for “Pretty Flowers,” you haven’t heard mediocre until you’ve listened to “Riot.”

by Edward Champion

Off to BEA

I’m too occupied with BookExpo preparation to be of much use here. So consider this a hiatus. However, rest assured that on Thursday morning, copious BEA coverage will begin. (And if anyone would like to participate in a collective mooning of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, email me.) Until such time, check out the Segundo backlog and visit the fine folks on the right.

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In the meantime:

by Edward Champion

“Personal Evolution of the Character” = Spineless Romp with Bad 80s Music?

An interview with Sofia Coppola. At least someone taught her the word “ineluctable.” (via Quiddity):

JML/ Why did you choose not to show MA’s death?

SC/ I didn’t want to show the evasion, the arrest, the guillotine, I didn’t want to ÇreconstituteÈ the whole story, that wasn’t the goal of the film. I wanted to concentrate myself on the personal evolution of the character, up until the point where I could show how she eventually ends up accepting her ineluctable death, way before being confronted to it. I didn’t picture myself shooting in a jail either, and even less so reconstituting it. And above all, I didn’t want to show a decapitated head on the ground in a mix of mud and blood.

by Edward Champion

An Open Letter to Father Leahy

An open letter to William P. Leary, SJ, president of Boston College.

DEAR Father Leahy:

I am writing to resign in advance from any adjunct professor position you may offer me. Granted, the likelihood of you singling out some random guy with a bachelor’s degree (and an atheist in San Francisco, to boot!) for such a treasured sinecure is slim to none. But as we both know, the gray areas of the universe have escaped my attention. Egos must be massaged accordingly. I share Steve Almond’s vision that we live in a living cartoon of pleasures where candy bars and amateurish tales about sex offer us the only solaces. I hope with this foolish epistle that I might effect a certain Tex Avery/Chuck Jones feel into academia, or perhaps have you contemplating the same.

The inspiration comes from Steve Almond, who clearly feels the need to be lionized, adored, fellated, inter alia, for a “brave” stance that would have been more courageous to address to you in private. But then, as we both know, open letters are less about integrity and more about pissing territory. While I do not share Almond’s constant need for publicity, I do share, to a very minute degree, his uncanny tendency for self-immolation and recurrent public embarassment. Hence, this public letter. I too oppose Dr. Condoleezza Rice as a commencement speaker. But irrespective of my politics, I oppose most commencement speakers, seeing as how they are, on the whole, pompous windbags.

I should note, notwithstanding the broad sweeps in my crude worldview, that I do maintain a more enlightened view than Almond’s. I came to the conclusion that most, if not all, politicians were liars many years ago. I am also quite cynical about this whole honorary degree business. No less a blackguard than Jerry Falwell has three honorary degrees and yet still people afford him the dubious prenominate of “doctor.”

Thus, the honor afforded to Dr. Condoleezza Rice is blasphemous, but it fits in with the grand American tradition of academic duplicity. A petty ripple across the pond (such as this and Almond’s letter) will do nothing to abate it. But it will allow me to flex my own ego and pursue heretofore unoccupied areas of hubris in the name of “courage.” That’s what open letters are all about, Bill. (Can I call you Bill?) Not only have I resigned from the position, but I haven’t even been offered it! Take that, Bill!

I’ve come to realize that I’m more important to you. I eat better than you. I sleep better than you. I have illicit relations better than you. And I have formed all these opinions on flimsy pretext without even meeting you. I expect you to rescind what is no doubt a political move on your part for me, an insignificant stranger. Do this and I will seriously consider accepting any position you might offer me. Of course, since this letter is now public, I realize that diplomacy is now an afterthought. But this is my blossoming ego, Bill.

I would like to apologize to any prospective students. I would also urge them to investigate the words and actions of Steve Almond, and to consider that their collective sum may be more solipsistic than constructive in intent.

Edward Champion is a writer, but, more importantly, nobody in particular.

by Edward Champion

The Bat Segundo Show #40

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Authors: Dean Haspiel and Harvey Pekar

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Feeling old age, pining for an old flame named Virginia.

Subjects Discussed: How Haspiel hooked up with Pekar, the origin of the American Splendor movie, the origin of The Quitter, growing as a storyteller courtesy of “hieroglyphic rants,” paneling, DC Comics scripts vs. Pekar scripts, visual reference and the advantages of the Internet, the inside scoop on Jonathan Ames‘ The Alcoholic, the sudden legitimacy of comics, Pekar meeting Michael Malice, what makes Malice’s tale a “Pekar story,” polar opposites, conflicting ideologies within Pekar’s narratives, how Pekar challenged Malice’s language, boxy layouts, collaborating with illustrators, episodic stories vs. long narratives, the stigma against quotidian narratives, narrative adjustments in the American Splendor movie, the portrayal of pain in Our Cancer Year vs. the American Splendor movie, appearing on David Letterman and being mocked, the reasons behind Pekar’s prolificity, jazz criticism, on the many names Pekar granted himself during the American Splendor run and some of the factors that determine which artists collaborate with Pekar.

by Edward Champion

The Bat Segundo Show #39

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[PRODUCER’S NOTE: Every effort has been made to preserve and process the audio. But keep in mind that the group was in a noisy bar and there were considerable microphones involved, which all picked up some background noise. So for those who protest the din, we note that the ambience clears out a little about twenty minutes into the podcast.]

Authors: Nicki Richesin, Meghan Daum, Erin Ergenbright, Michelle Richmond, Kimberly Askew and Heather Juergensen

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Strangely libidinous after his return from the desert.

Subjects Discussed: The strange woman on the May Queen cover, epigraphs, magazine editors hostile towards women’s issues, the “selfishness” of opting against the biological clock, mothers vs. non-mothers, Diane Keaton, Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2, Dolly Parton, Searching for Debra Winger, plastic surgery, agism, self-worth and body image, field trips to Planned Parenthood, sex within marriage, finding one’s place via environment, San Francisco vs. Los Angeles, the New York Times Style section, the advantages of “zero birthdays,” achievements when living in one’s thirties, the infamous “grups” article, urban vs. rural lifestyles, Mom Jeans, the divide and similarities between twentysomethings and thirtysomethings, finding a life path, women’s anthologies, the variance of opinions on aging, the chick lit controversy, the In Her Shoes film adaptation, Jhumpa Lahiri, the danger of pink covers, taking Curtis Sittenfeld to task, cognitive taxonomy, “chick” labels and the publishing industry, Marilynne Robinson, the lack of women film directors, women and work, the hesitancy to write about work, the gender income divide and how the essays were selected.

by Edward Champion

The Bat Segundo Show #38

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Authors: Kassia Kroszer and Gina Frangello

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Still in the desert, deferring to Mr. Bonasera.

Subjects Discussed: Margaret Atwood, violence, Freud’s “Dora” study, Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres, psychoanalytical theories in the 90s, Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, unreliable narrators, epigraphs, the presence of current events, hysteria, Ayn Rand, the influence of Kathy Acker, the “viciousness” of the sexuality, the influence of contemporary music, Nine Inch Nails, writing about Chicago in Amsterdam, shopping the book around, and chick lit vs. edgy fiction.

by Edward Champion

Not As Elastic As the Bullshit Crammed Into That Lede

New York Times: “Dress codes these days are as elastic as a bungee cord, expanding to accommodate all manner of once unthinkable workplace infractions: midriff-baring T-shirts, visible bra straps, slips that double as skirts and jeans paraded everywhere, save for those last redoubts of propriety, the courtroom and the church supper.”

Lede Rewritten: “Dress codes are becoming more flexible.”

by Edward Champion

Imagine What She Might Have Said If She Were Heading to Lunch

New York Observer: “What Time once had—and still could have, despite Time Warner’s budget cuts—is a giant apparatus for reporting and writing news. And reported fact is what keeps the blog world spinning. Even bloggers agree. ‘Obviously, they have enormous investigative resources that bloggers don’t have,’ Arianna Huffington said, on her way into dinner.”