If you haven't seen Withnail and I, be prepared for a treat. It's a wonderfully funny and endlessly quotable tale of dissolute actors at liberty. I got it at Facets Multimedia, which is where film-lovers go when they die. Then, yesterday, I hunkered down at the Music Box (a repertory theater here in Chicago) for a double-feature. I wasn't planning on it, but after the first movie was over, I walked in to the other screening room to listen to the man playing the organ, and decided to stay. (Yes, I paid.) The first movie was a CBC documentary called The Take, about Argentina's growing movement of workers occupying their old abandoned factories, and putting them back to work. It was really inspiring. The second movie--which was probably even better--was Nobody Knows, a story about four Japanese children who are left alone by their mother. Really wrenching, but beautifully filmed and utterly original.
As to books, I'm reading Stephen Kanfer's great biography of Groucho Marx. My book-collecting compulsion has been letting up a bit recently (mostly because we are slowly being crowded out of this little apartment by books), but I'm sure that's only temporary.
Barry Trotter (Book 1)
The Hogwash School for Wizards was the most famous school in the wizarding world, and Barry Trotter was its most famous student. His mere presence made sure that every year twenty candidates applied for every open spot, no matter how rapacious Hogwash's tuition became. As a result, Barry and the school had come to an unspoken agreement: regardless of his grades, Barry could remain at Hogwash for as long as he wished. He had just begun his eleventh year...Freshman
Sleepy with boredom and gassy from lunch, Hart Fox sat in the hard plastic chair outside his dean's office. A kid walked in the door, pink detention slip in hand, bobbing his head a little so that the purple spikes of his mohawk didn't get bent on the transom. He slumped down next to Hart. Hart nodded--he remembered tis joker from sophomore American History, constantly arguing in favor of anarcho-syndicalism. Was his name Henry?...Sophomore
Arcing lazily through the air, the Frisbee smacked against the window. “Ooo-oo!” a chiseled and shirtless boy teased as it wobbleplummeted to the ground. “Sarah's in troub-le!”The beauty-boy was righter than he knew: Of all the windows on campus to hit, this one was the worst. It belonged to Stutts’ Professor of Clandestine Affairs, Glenbard North, who had destroyed more students than there were blades of grass on the freshly resodded Old Quad below...Coming Soon!
All you really gotta know is, I'm writing new things constantly and the more I write, the better my books get. So if you've read my earlier work--and millions of you have--we should keep in touch. This fall, at least one and maybe two new books will be available: a Dickens parody AND a comic mystery loosely based on The Beatles. Drop me an email at mikesnewbooks[at]gmail[dot]com, and I'll be sure to let you know release dates, special deals, etc.Sunday, February 20, 2005
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
White House.org
Judging from the Bush-Cheney site, I expected the White House website to be really lame. Boy, was I WRONG. Check it out!
What's up? Blarnia; nearly done now. And also the plotting of my second comic novel. And also digging out all the various things I wrote from 1987-2000. Now I must seriously ponder what to put up on the Web, and what should remain in a well-deserved obscurity.
By the way, guess what I got for Valentine's Day? This wonderful book. Love means never hearing the Call of Cthulu.
What's up? Blarnia; nearly done now. And also the plotting of my second comic novel. And also digging out all the various things I wrote from 1987-2000. Now I must seriously ponder what to put up on the Web, and what should remain in a well-deserved obscurity.
By the way, guess what I got for Valentine's Day? This wonderful book. Love means never hearing the Call of Cthulu.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Some stray news jokes....
Thursday, police in North Lauderdale, Florida, reported that a newborn wrapped in a plastic bag was tossed from a speeding car. The baby boy was wearing a t-shirt that said, “I survived Spring Break 2005.”
This week, German media reported that former Fuehrer Adolf Hitler is still receiving mail, even 60 years after his death. “Let this be a lesson to all you young people,” a spokesman said. “Twelve CDs for a penny may seem like a great deal, but…”
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, thousands of couples in the Philippines hope to set a new world record for Most People Kissing at One Time. They also hope to set the record for Biggest Transfer of Cooties.
Lawmakers in North Dakota are trying to pass legislation preventing the tradition of “the power hour”-- drinkers downing 21 shots in the first hour after they turn 21. “The human body can’t process that much alcohol safely,” said a spokesman, “so we’re lowering the drinking age to four.”
A Texas woman accused of giving her husband a lethal sherry enema says he was an alcoholic enema addict who did it to himself. “It was disgusting,” she said, “especially when he drank grasshoppers."
This week, German media reported that former Fuehrer Adolf Hitler is still receiving mail, even 60 years after his death. “Let this be a lesson to all you young people,” a spokesman said. “Twelve CDs for a penny may seem like a great deal, but…”
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, thousands of couples in the Philippines hope to set a new world record for Most People Kissing at One Time. They also hope to set the record for Biggest Transfer of Cooties.
Lawmakers in North Dakota are trying to pass legislation preventing the tradition of “the power hour”-- drinkers downing 21 shots in the first hour after they turn 21. “The human body can’t process that much alcohol safely,” said a spokesman, “so we’re lowering the drinking age to four.”
A Texas woman accused of giving her husband a lethal sherry enema says he was an alcoholic enema addict who did it to himself. “It was disgusting,” she said, “especially when he drank grasshoppers."
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