geekent’s stuff’n things

A video demonstration of the Amazon Kindle tells me much of what I need to know about this new paperless reader. It’s a nifty gadget for sure, and its potential is great, but I do have a few issues:
1) subscriber rates to read blogs or feeds… as selected by Amazon (it would like it if I could convert my blog into a “Kindle friendly” blog, and my friends could do the same, or if I could set up a feed that would convert the content into Kindle format)
2) how many books are actually going to be available on Kindle?
3) Comics? Yeah, didn’t think so. If Kindle could partner with comics makers to provide digitally available comics that were easily read on Kindle, that would be an easy sell for me.
4) The fact that it will allow you to convert your Word docs and other files to Kindle format is great, but it also for a fee. Also, since you can’t un-convert your file it’s not really transportable (I guess the idea is for Kindle to be just a reader and not a file transferrer, but still, in this world things should be that flexible). Also, they should sell or provide a Kindle converter you can put on your own computer and then upload to the unit rather than having to constantly pay them for converting your own files.
The electronic-paper display is pretty sweet, and the tabbing and notes function of the unit is pretty impressive (but can you extract your notes?). Autoconnecting to Wikipedia is fab, the on-board dictionary and lookup function, equally bril. The connection being more like a cellular rather than wi-fi is an excellent idea.
I’m not sold (especially at $400), as I think something less proprietary is in order, but good on Amazon for getting the first to market with a rather well thought out product.
more on Kindle
via: Toasty

Book: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Purchased: (borrowed)
Cost: n/a
Pages: 283
Start reading date: June 11, 2007
Finished reading: June 20, 2007
Total days taken to read the book: 9
Average reading speed: 31pg/day
I know people who LOOOVE the movie. I’ve watched it about 5 or 6 times on television, however I always seem to miss the first 20 minutes of it. Even still, I like it, but I don’t LURVE it, you know? So I noticed the novel sitting on Aden’s shelf, pulled it down and started reading. A 20 page preamble from Goldman setting the audience up for the existence of his fictional author (Morgenstern), fictional country (Florin), and the fictional book (The Princess Bride). The detail involves the book being read to him by his father, and wanting to pass down his love of the story to his son (lots of self-deprecation about himself and his family, also likely fiction, here) only to find that the book his father read to him was an expurgated version of the overall novel. So Goldman sets himself to task to “edit” the Princess Bride into the rollicking adventure he knew as a child… and thus book follows the path of Westley and Buttercup, Buttercup and Prince Humperdinck, Buttercup and her kidnappers, the kidnappers and the man in black, the man in black and Buttercup etc. etc. Goldman “interjects” throughout to note his “childhood recollections” and to briefly detail the text that was expunged, making for an off kilter read that plays heartily into fantasy, romance and adventure tropes, while simultaneously playing with them, tounge-in-cheek like. Extremely enjoyable. The film, which I bought two days ago and watched again, is an even further pared back version of Goldman’s tale, while only hinting at it’s metafictional qualities, still enjoyable on its own right (but, yes, the book is indeed better).

Book: Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Purchased: (borrowed)
Cost: n/a
Pages: 289
Start reading date: May 6, 2007
Finished reading: May 21, 2007
Total days taken to read the book: 15
Average reading speed: 19 pg/day
Leon Trout, the son of Kilgore Trout, Vonnegut’s mirror-self, narrates this tale from a million years in the future. Set in 1985, Galapagos is a broken narrative describing how the first and final voyage of a cruise ship that runs aground on the titular islands becomes the new Eden, so to speak, with it’s motley few passengers becoming the fore bearers of the future civilization. Having bore witness to over a million years of evolution of the human race, Leon, in both whimsy and sarcasm details the difference between the future denizens of the earth and those who concern his tale of the past. Most of these differences surround the troubles modern humanity has with its big brain, as opposed to the seal-like, underwater-dwelling , short-lived, simpler civilians of the future. Even if lacking much Vonnegut’s usual insight into culture and society, Galapagos is easily readable, at times educational, and often laugh-out-loud clever. Not one of Vonnegut’s major works but solid entertainment.

Book: Give Our Regards To The Atomsmashers!: Writers on Comics by various (edited by Sean Howe)
Purchased: February 21, 2007
Cost: $5.99
Pages: 240
Start reading date: February 27, 2007
Finished reading: April 30, 2007
Total days taken to read the book: 63
Average reading speed: 4 pg/day
I’ve been a comics geek for 25 years, including my formative social development years where it seemed that comics weren’t part of the “cool kids” scene. I was never for lack of comic readers as friends around me, and yet it always felt that the medium wasn’t an acceptable source of entertainment, that there was something embarrassing and shameful about being a comics fan (and in the 90’s there really was)… not that I was ever dissuaded or isolated because of it. In fact I wore my fandom proudly on t-shirt, in my art, on my notebooks, in my presentations and book reports, even if I was secretly ashamed to do so. These days, comics aren’t counter-culture, nor are they mainstream, but they’re not ostracized red-headed stepchild of the entertainment industry (with Ghost Rider, 300, Spider-man 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a Fantastic Four sequel and others raking in the cash at the box office, and Heroes one of TV’s biggest successes). But still, sometimes that stigma lingers that comics are entertainment for losers and loners, and it’s nice to have books like Atomsmashers! to reinforce that we’re not alone, nor are we losers.
The essays within the book range from talking about childhood memories, teenage memories, and college years memories, as they pertain to the writer’s exposure to comics. Though DC and Marvel books gain center stage for about 1/2 of the essays, there’s also tributes to Little Nemo in Slumberland, Tin Tin, American Flagg, Classics Illustrated, and indie comics creators like Chris Ware, Renee French, and Jim Woodring.
In some, the essays are mere memoirs, in others they deconstruct their favourite comics with literary comparisons, and still in others they embark on a much more informative path. I enjoyed as much, if not more, those essays about comics I’ve never read, and perhaps will never read, to those about comics and companies and histories I’m familiar with. Favourite essays include Jonathan Lethem’s attempt to create prose like an illustrated page, Gary Gidding’s journey through the output of the Classics Illustrated series, Luc Sante reminiscing on his love of Tin Tin, Glen David Gold on his obsession with collecting comic art, and the last essay, a loving tribute to Steve Ditko, closes out the book in fine fashion. Overall, a gorgeously designed and laid out book that’s a testament to the impact of comics in their various forms on the lives of the individual, and their lasting power in our memories. Loved it.

Book: A Paler Shade of White: The History of White People In America Vol. II by Martin Mull and Allen Rucker
Purchased: February 21, 2007
Cost: $3
Pages: 159
Start reading date: February 26, 2007
Finished reading: April 08, 2007
Total days taken to read the book: 40
Average reading speed: 4 pg/day
A treasure found at a discount bookshop… the publishing date on this beauty is 1985, and I’m not sure if it’s been seen much since. Perhaps if “Fernwood 2Night” made a successful appearance on DVD then Martin Mull and Allen Rucker’s lampooning of the Caucasian stereotypes via a baker’s dozen of stories might get a bit of a republish push (perhaps packaged together with a DVD of the TV Special of the same name). Like a lot of satire it’s not laugh out loud funny, but it is genuinely amusing through and through, as an elderly white couple go on a European vacation, the diary of a young woman heads towards her (first) white wedding, and other such things that will take you minutes to read, but days to forget.

Book: Never Mind The Pollacks by Neal Pollack
Purchased: July 16, 2006
Cost: $5.99
Pages: 260
Start reading date: February 03, 2007
Finished reading: February 25, 2007
Total days taken to read the book: 22
Average reading speed: 11.8 pg/day
Every time I read from this book I had a sour taste in my mouth. Neal Pollack writes his own “biography” under the guise of rock critic Paul St. Pierre. Pollack, in the novel, is essentially responsible for discovering or making the bulk of the great musicians from the latter half of the 20th century, beginning with Elvis and ending with Cobain (with the Rolling Stones, Dylan, Iggy Pop, the Ramones, George Clinton and others in between), all the while touting himself “the greatest rock and roll critic to ever live”. It’s an absurd romp through the gestation and evolution of rock music, wherein the critic deems himself more important than the art… I’m still not sure if this point was intended to be hammered home ironically or not. It’s mildly amusing but mostly aggravating ( whether tongue-in-cheeck or not) self-aggrandizing page after page.
“Alone above all the arts, rock criticism stands. At its best, criticism topples music, because at its best, it’s music combined with literature.”
There’s statements like this strewn throughout the book. Yes, I’m of half a mind to believe they’re intentionally overwrought for comedic intents, but as the saying goes, behind every joke there’s a little truth. Somewhere, deep down, Pollack believes this drivel that criticism outweighs the art it examines. The book, well, it’s a waste of time, for the most part, but it provoked me, which I guess gives it purpose, if nothing else.

The new year is off to a good start, with one book already finished. That’s one book up on last year’s zero books finished at this time. I was concurrently reading a second book, and have started a third… but let’s take a look at that first one, shall we:
Book: The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman (click link for blog)
Purchased: December 28, 2006
Cost: $17.95
Pages: 256
Start reading date: January 3, 2007
Finished reading: January 20, 2007
Total days taken to read the book: 17
Average reading speed: 14 pg/day
You know John Hodgman, even if you think you don’t. If you watched the Daily Show with any regularity over the past year you’ve seen him… and if you don’t watch the Daily Show, well, he’s the guy who plays the PC in those Mac vs. PC commercials. Anyway, he wrote a book of trivia… make that completely useless trivia since it’s all made up and mostly factually incorrect (he does manage to spell a lot of things correctly, but “Ottowa” and “Almanack” aren’t among them). It’s intended as a parody of Farmer’s Almanacs in a sense, complete with lunar charts for the lycanthropes among us. It’s hilarious reading, and Hodgman’s obsession with Hobo culture permeates throughout. Though capable of being read in random chunks (like a bathroom reader) if read in order, one gets a sense of a bizarre alternate reality, as Hodgman self references and annotates himself many times over.
Currently on the reading block are “Timeless Toys”, which is a very large hardcover which scans the history of toys through the previous Century and relates the tales of the most enduring and popular of them, including Tinkertoys, Monopoly, Nerf, Lego, and GI Joe. Also, just started last night Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time”, which seems to be a fairly quick read which is good… for me….

Book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Purchased: borrowed September…sometime
Cost: borrowed
Pages: 326
Start reading date: September 23, 2006
Finished reading: November 13, 2006
Total days taken to read the book: 50
Average reading speed: 6.05 pg/day
Oskar is a highly intelligent and highly independent 8-year-old, his father’s death in the World Trade Center attack obviously having a profound affect on him. Before his death they would often play elaborate seek-and-find games, so when Oskar discovers an envelope marked “BROWN” and containing simply a key in his father’s possessions he goes out on the hunt for it’s meaning.
The book deals immeasurably well in quirks and riddles, and uses unusual techniques in storytelling (including multiple narrative points and time frames, as well as pictures and textplay) to paint a portrait of Oskar, his father and his grandfather. Peculiarly engaging, funny and touching.
Book: Danny Wallace and the Center of the Universe by Danny Wallace
Purchased: November 13, 2006
Cost: £2.99
Pages: 128
Start reading date: November 20, 2006
Finished reading: November 20, 2006
Total days taken to read the book: 1
Average reading speed: 128 pg/day
Well, this was noted as a “Quick Read” book, a publishing imprint of Ebury Press in the UK which specializes in wee novelettes (big type and low page counts). Wallace you may (or not) recall from his Join Me and Yes Man adventures (wherein he started a cult and said yes to everything, respectively) once again gets up to weirdness as he visits the “center of the earth” in Greenwich, which gives him the idea to look up the center of the universe on Google. Turns out it’s in Idaho, in a town called “Wallace”, a curious “Northern Exposure”-type town. Another hilarious telling in a bite-size bit of reality entertainment.

well, I seem to be doing a lot better with the readings-of-stuffs lately, as my last book report marked a drastic improvement over my first book report (but really, these aren’t so much book “reports” as they are book reading stats-ish). This sentence would make Lynne Truss weep.
Book: Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Purchased: July 16, 2006
Cost: $15.50
Pages: 204
Start reading date: July 17, 2006
Finished reading: July 26, 2006
Total days taken to read the book: 10
Average reading speed: 20.4 pg/day
The book itself was the equivalent of a chocolate covered granola bar. It’s pretending to be healthy but really, you consume it and pretty much forget about it afterwards. I’ll probably take a bit more care in my punctuation for the next few days, but it’ll fade away again. As Truss reiterates in her book over and over again, Language is continually evolving, and grammar with it; punctuation too, so whatever “errors” I may make in my writing are actually intentional, with the thought of assisting the written language through its next stage of transition. Yeah.

If you recall the the last geekent book report (John Varley’s “Red Thunder”), it took me almost a year to make it through. Well, I’m happy to have a new book report … 50 days later (yeah, I read lots)
Book: jPod by Douglas Coupland
Purchased: ?
Cost: ?
Pages: 516
Start reading date: July 8, 2006
Finished reading: July 12, 2006
Total days taken to read the book: 4
Average reading speed: appx. 129 pages/day (of course Coupland wastes page after page with gigantic text, Chinese characters, or 17 pages of pi to the millionth digit, so it’s kind of cheating…but whatever)