Friday Smatterings
First off, some ITW news, as the deadline for award submissions has been extended to December 15th. Authors are permitted to submit their own work without going through their agent or publisher, so it is every author's responsibility to make sure his or her work is considered. If you have any questions about the judges, addresses, or submission rules, contact Alex Kava at alexkava@aol.com. And then go read a bunch of her books to pay it forward for all of her hard work.
I have an article in the new issue of CrimeSpree (the one with James Crumley on the cover). Check it out.
Taxi rates in New York jumped 27% yesterday. It's only a matter of time before New Yorkers can delegate a percentage of their paycheck directly to the Taxi and Limousine commission.
Gawker calls shenanigans on the Post for claiming the photograph in the article was a candid taken yesterday, even though the photo was actually of a professional model using a phone that looks like it escaped from 1996.
I can't say much about the New York Times "10 Best Books of 2006" that hasn't already been said, though I loved the fact that four authors under 35 (Marisha Pessl, 29, Rory Stewart, 33, Danielle Trussoni, 33, and Gary Shteyngart, 34) made the cut. Not that it signifies anything in particular, but it's great to see meaningful contributions to literature by Gen X being recognized in such a public fashion. Plus, after all the hoopla surrounding Marisha Pessl and her "hotness," it's great to see her recognized for merit. Plus my father was a big fan of SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS, so needless to say the book is now on my TBR list.
Apparently there are a dozen people who would rather be holding a Playstation 3 controller than their children...
I'm currently going over page proofs for THE MARK, and just submitted the excerpt to be included for book #2, currently titled THE REGULATOR. I guess this means I can't scrap the whole thing and start over...
If you haven't seen it, watch Danny DeVito's drunken ramblings on "The View." Pay special attention at the 4:18 mark, when DeVito burps and covers his mouth, much to the amusement of the audience.
My thoughts? Who cares if he was drunk. I say more actors and performers should be drunk while interviewed. Yeah yeah yeah, we all know DeVito was supposed to be promoting his new movie "Deck the Halls," but does anyone really care about what he has to say about it? Does anyone really want to watch him discuss his character's "motivations"?
Danny: You see, I play this guy, and all he wants to do is put up Christmas lights. He loves Christmas, and will do anything to show his holiday spirit. And along comes his neighbor, played by Matthew Broderick, and he turns my character's world upside down...
Rosie O'Donnell: You were paid millions of dollars to fall around in the snow and make fart jokes.
Danny: Yes, but why does my character feel the need to make fart jokes?
I wish actors and actresses would forgo the stupid "Here's what my character feels" crap and show up drunk. 99% of movie characters don't have motivations. They act to further the script, not to do anything that would make sense within the boundaries of rational thought. From now on, I say "The Today Show," "Regis and Kelly," and "Oprah" all supply a stocked liquor cabinet before showtime. Then I would be inclined to watch.
Of course leave it to Elizabeth Hasselbeck of all people to stay cool about the whole thing, saying of DeVito, "But he was a fun drunk."
First off, some ITW news, as the deadline for award submissions has been extended to December 15th. Authors are permitted to submit their own work without going through their agent or publisher, so it is every author's responsibility to make sure his or her work is considered. If you have any questions about the judges, addresses, or submission rules, contact Alex Kava at alexkava@aol.com. And then go read a bunch of her books to pay it forward for all of her hard work.
I have an article in the new issue of CrimeSpree (the one with James Crumley on the cover). Check it out.
Taxi rates in New York jumped 27% yesterday. It's only a matter of time before New Yorkers can delegate a percentage of their paycheck directly to the Taxi and Limousine commission.
Gawker calls shenanigans on the Post for claiming the photograph in the article was a candid taken yesterday, even though the photo was actually of a professional model using a phone that looks like it escaped from 1996.
I can't say much about the New York Times "10 Best Books of 2006" that hasn't already been said, though I loved the fact that four authors under 35 (Marisha Pessl, 29, Rory Stewart, 33, Danielle Trussoni, 33, and Gary Shteyngart, 34) made the cut. Not that it signifies anything in particular, but it's great to see meaningful contributions to literature by Gen X being recognized in such a public fashion. Plus, after all the hoopla surrounding Marisha Pessl and her "hotness," it's great to see her recognized for merit. Plus my father was a big fan of SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS, so needless to say the book is now on my TBR list.
Apparently there are a dozen people who would rather be holding a Playstation 3 controller than their children...
I'm currently going over page proofs for THE MARK, and just submitted the excerpt to be included for book #2, currently titled THE REGULATOR. I guess this means I can't scrap the whole thing and start over...
If you haven't seen it, watch Danny DeVito's drunken ramblings on "The View." Pay special attention at the 4:18 mark, when DeVito burps and covers his mouth, much to the amusement of the audience.
My thoughts? Who cares if he was drunk. I say more actors and performers should be drunk while interviewed. Yeah yeah yeah, we all know DeVito was supposed to be promoting his new movie "Deck the Halls," but does anyone really care about what he has to say about it? Does anyone really want to watch him discuss his character's "motivations"?
Danny: You see, I play this guy, and all he wants to do is put up Christmas lights. He loves Christmas, and will do anything to show his holiday spirit. And along comes his neighbor, played by Matthew Broderick, and he turns my character's world upside down...
Rosie O'Donnell: You were paid millions of dollars to fall around in the snow and make fart jokes.
Danny: Yes, but why does my character feel the need to make fart jokes?
I wish actors and actresses would forgo the stupid "Here's what my character feels" crap and show up drunk. 99% of movie characters don't have motivations. They act to further the script, not to do anything that would make sense within the boundaries of rational thought. From now on, I say "The Today Show," "Regis and Kelly," and "Oprah" all supply a stocked liquor cabinet before showtime. Then I would be inclined to watch.
Of course leave it to Elizabeth Hasselbeck of all people to stay cool about the whole thing, saying of DeVito, "But he was a fun drunk."
posted by Jason Pinter at
9:08 AM
1 Comments:
More to the point, why shouldn't young novelists be encouraged to write at least some portion of their work while visibly intoxicated? It's not beyond the realm of possibility that the Times might even consider a special category of notable books written, in parts, while the author was at least moderately obliterated. There are certainly a few "serious" novels I'd be more likely to read if I knew I'd reach a point where the author was in the bag.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home