controversial new holocaust book

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123617512234329265.html

Written from the POV of a former SS officer. I bought "The Kindly Ones" when it came out and started it yesterday, after I finished "Last Days" by Brian Evenson (which was fucking awesome). I'm about 40 pages in, and so far nothing too horrible has happened...I've got about 960 pgs. left, so we'll see.

I am drawn to controversy. I buy the hype, and I buy the book, if I feel the subject matter is ballsy enough. It's the writing, of course, that has to see me through to the end, and so far Littell seems capable.

I'll let you know when I'm done.

the midnight meat train

Dude. This movie was great, and actually spooky. The gore was over-the-top, but what surprised me was that it was well shot and even well acted. And it was directed by a Japanese guy, which is usually a good indicator that the acting will suck, because of, you know, the language barrier and whatnot. But it was good. It had slow-motion brain splatter, a POV decapitation, the grossest/most-painful-to-watch corpse mutilation ever, and a fight scene with knives in a subway car lined with hanging human cadavers. And it had Taub from "House" in it! Plus also Vinnie Jones from Lock Stock and the dickless dude from Hostel 2 and that one goofy guy from Xena. You know who I mean? If you do, then yeah. Rent this movie now, people. This is a classic.

article on david foster wallace's unfinished novel, "The Pale King"

Article on "The Pale King"

bidets

Today I was thinking about bidets. I want one.

Took a gnarly dump before school. Rolled the TP over my hand and wiped, unfortunately smearing a stillborn turd along my crack. I could tell it would've been at least a half a roll of wiping. So I hopped in the shower, squeezed some High Optimism orange body wash on my hands, and washed out my butthole.

Lemme tell you, my ass felt clean.

Don't think I could get one installed in the apartment. But, it will definitely play a factor when buying a home.

amateur writer gives himself another tip at the expense of a far more talented, professional writer

Recently read something by an author whom I genuinely enjoy (I own both his books!), and I had some thoughts.

There's something to be said for poetic prose, dense with verbiage and metaphor. It's challenging and can at times be fun.

There's something more to be said for the prose that is streamlined and pocked with carefully placed, effective metaphors.

I know, I'm biased, because I'm a horridly slow reader, but I just don't feel like it's fair, with all those books out there, to spend a long time unpacking these thick paragraphs. But that's entirely my problem.

I think this goes without saying, but it's better to have written something that could be read in a day and remembered for two than something that takes three days to read and is never thought of again.

backtracking

If a figure makes a statement that is taken out of context, she will go back to the beginning of her statement and reiterate, pointing out the significance of what she said and how it was originally intended v. how it was received. This can be looked at one of two ways:

1) She is backtracking.

2) She is clarifying.

Both of these statements are true. To further explain a mis-understood or -interpereted argument, you must "backtrack" in the sense that you have to begin back at the start of your original argument. You're also clarifying, taking something that was muddy or incomprehensible and making it clear, or trying to.

But "backtracking" brings to mind the deer-in-the-headlights, the stuttering, sweating fucker who's been caught and is now desperately searching for a way out. Clarifying is what an eloquent mind is able to do, through the power of metaphor or just a reduction in speed.

It's all bullshit, but I think the accusation of back-tracking is a bit flawed, it's suggesting that you knew this person's absolute meaning straight-off. Or at least, you read someone's interperetation of this person's meaning, and you really trust it, so certainly it MUST be true.

richard dawkins on campus

I am drinking a Yoohoo, and I am happy.

Richard Dawkins is at OU on Friday for a lecture/book signing! This guy right here, he'll be there. I'm really excited. First person I'll ever meet that has been a South Park character.