Funny pseudo-Christians

Inherent Vice

I dreamed last night I watched a film of Gravity's Rainbow. There is no such film. Anyway, I've never gotten into Pynchon, but he's crapped out another book come August called Inherent Vice. I find myself strangely curious.



[Edit: Prüfstand VII is a German film apparently inspired by Gravity's Rainbow, but it sounds kind of impossiblish to find and I assume Pynchon didn't authorize it or anything.]

In the Future

This is a great picture of life in the future.

Stuff

I set up an Amazon Associates account because I realized the only lure to keep me blogging is the vague possibility of money. I don't expect anyone will actually buy anything through the links, but it gives me an excuse to keep better track of what I like. So here's a few more things I've liked lately. I encourage you all to buy crap through the links. I think I get a miniscule percentage even if you buy other crap through the links. Go!

First, I've been getting into John Huston's films. I'd never seen The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and loved it. Humphrey Bogart is dark and kind of dumb, brilliant, the best I've seen with him.



And that made me watch The Maltese Falcon again for the first time this decade. I don't think I ever appreciated it when I was younger. The dialogue was too fast and I couldn't see what the big deal was over some dumb bird. Now I see so much more. Amazing film, the godfather of all noir. Anyone seen the 1931 or 1936 versions?



The One Two Three of God

Pretty good audio from Ken Wilber, one of my favorite thinkers... not for beginners to his ideas though. A Theory of Everything remains the easiest place to start.

Tropic of Cancer

I finally read some Henry Miller. I didn't expect anything so non-traditional. Miller really is the proto-Beat.

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

Sort of a travel book as a guy goes around the world looking for happiness.

Kluge

Awesome book I just read, sort of a catalog of the funkiness of the brain with lots about evolutionary psychology. A "kluge" is (wikipedia): an ad hoc engineering solution, inelegant in principle but possibly elegantly pragmatic. Dude begins talking about how things like the eye and spine evolved kind of inferior-like and then takes it up to the brain, the ultimate kluge.



Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind

Tweedy

Just found out Wilco has a new album in June, still untitled. Check out their Colbert Report interview/performance from October 30, 2008:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Exclusive Wilco Song
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

15 Weeks

With 15 weeks left at my job, it's kind of an ambiguous place to be. It's very close, but it still seems very far. I have 72 days of actual work left, and each day passes slower than the one before. "I'm not a number! I'm a free man!"

This is the third time I've been in a contract job where there's a reward at the end to keep me going like a carrot on a stick. Never again! When will I learn? Never, never again. Avoid contracts, Adam! Even with the contract and money/plane ticket home at the end, I considered leaving. I'm done teaching ESL. I'm done teaching classrooms. I'm done working jobs!!!!!!!!!

But the sheer disgrace and stain I'd leave, the disappointment in the kids' faces when they learned I had bailed, has kept me going. But god, sometimes I feel there's nowhere to go to escape now that the school is so crowded with new teachers and students. And I used to go for walks but it's still cold outside sometimes. Will Spring never arrive?!

I made a list of things I NEVER intend to do again. Some of them I'm already enforcing, but some will have to wait till I finish with Korea in June:

1. Have roommates (bleh, been there done that - I'm almost 30 [I'm already 31 in the Korean age system!] and refuse to go backwards on this - I choose to only live with people I want to from now on).
   
2. Get in a job contract (yuck, see above).
   
3. Own a car (hassle, stress).
   
4. Wear uncomfortable clothes (especially shoes).
5. Work/live under fluorescent lighting (depressing).
6. Work on somebody else's time schedule (9-5, M-F, etc - I want to go freelance all the way).
7. Clean house (I want a cleaning service).

I encourage you all to make a NEVER AGAIN list.

I finished reading David Copperfield today. It was hella long and filled with characters and rambling prose. I'd probably give it a B or 7/10.