because an old pal you haven't seen in ten years will post worrisome, slightly grotesque photos from your disconnected youth, and they will find their way to your in-box via subterranian channels.
They scared Devra, and I think I know why- I've got shark eyes. Those were taken when all I did was ride my bike all day and play 3-4 hours of basketball every night.
A canny observer might ask "yes, but what was he running from?"
The wife often laments that we didn't meet earlier in our lives. Judging by the photographic record, that may not have been such a great idea...
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Hooray for Germany
The nationality most often lauded on this site are the robo-centric, pop culture obsessed Japanese, the world's best hope for producing an army of cybernetic supermen.
But occasionally some other nation reaches deep into their collective subconscious and registers a blip on the Baxblog radar.
GRATZ to Germany!
But occasionally some other nation reaches deep into their collective subconscious and registers a blip on the Baxblog radar.
GRATZ to Germany!
Boston non-bomb non-scare story keeps a-rolling!
Cartoon Network head resigns in the wake of Boston's ludicrous overreaction to a comical non-threat.
Odd.
I'd have thought the literally mind boggling amount of free publicity generated by this "scare" would have netted said executive some sort of corporate version of the Medal of Honor, not necessitated a hasty plunge onto their own sword.
Odd.
I'd have thought the literally mind boggling amount of free publicity generated by this "scare" would have netted said executive some sort of corporate version of the Medal of Honor, not necessitated a hasty plunge onto their own sword.
what they say/what they mean
what they say
"I found it on line, but I don't want all that hassle."
what they mean
"I found it on line but I don't want to pay what the book is worth. I was hoping the buyers here are lax enough to underprice an obvious net book and put it in general stock".
"I found it on line, but I don't want all that hassle."
what they mean
"I found it on line but I don't want to pay what the book is worth. I was hoping the buyers here are lax enough to underprice an obvious net book and put it in general stock".
wily hippy tricks that work
As most of you know the wife spent a portion of last year attending massage school (when the caftan-clad teacher asked why in a pre-class orientation meeting her response, "because I want to make money", was a refreshingly sharp tonic to the amorphous cloud of mellow feelings rising off the other applicants).
Mixed in with anatomy lessons and all the thumb-springing, gnawing and pokking were a few sessions spent learning the basics of acupressure, the safe and sane version of accupuncture, the very name of which generates global unease.
The theory is the same, pressure on certain key points of the body has therapeutic & restorative effects, and acupuncture grew out of the older practice of acupressure.
Which brings us to my testimonial.
I picked up a cold sometime last week, which idled in my head for a bit before erupting in a multicolored welter of chunky fluids. I stoically withstood Zulu-esque waves of mucus for several days, but my stockade was finally overrun and I retired, whimpering, to bed.
A childhood under the thumb of a maniacal hypochondriac father left the Wife with an admirable lack of tolerance for grown men who snivel & whine. It took her barely a chapter of The Hunchback of Notre Dame to lose patience and lay siege to the various enemy redoubts on my face with thumb and forefinger.
Fifteen or so minutes of sustained assault on my grotesquely swollen Palace of Heaven and Welcome Perfume points yielded frankly amazing results.
I went from feeling like Rob Bottin was putting me through a Howling-style werewolf transformation to a state of relative normalcy. The mucus vanished, the pressure ceased, and the wife reports I was asleep almost instantly.
So, take it from a hippy-hating sceptic- that acupressure shit really works!
Mixed in with anatomy lessons and all the thumb-springing, gnawing and pokking were a few sessions spent learning the basics of acupressure, the safe and sane version of accupuncture, the very name of which generates global unease.
The theory is the same, pressure on certain key points of the body has therapeutic & restorative effects, and acupuncture grew out of the older practice of acupressure.
Which brings us to my testimonial.
I picked up a cold sometime last week, which idled in my head for a bit before erupting in a multicolored welter of chunky fluids. I stoically withstood Zulu-esque waves of mucus for several days, but my stockade was finally overrun and I retired, whimpering, to bed.
A childhood under the thumb of a maniacal hypochondriac father left the Wife with an admirable lack of tolerance for grown men who snivel & whine. It took her barely a chapter of The Hunchback of Notre Dame to lose patience and lay siege to the various enemy redoubts on my face with thumb and forefinger.
Fifteen or so minutes of sustained assault on my grotesquely swollen Palace of Heaven and Welcome Perfume points yielded frankly amazing results.
I went from feeling like Rob Bottin was putting me through a Howling-style werewolf transformation to a state of relative normalcy. The mucus vanished, the pressure ceased, and the wife reports I was asleep almost instantly.
So, take it from a hippy-hating sceptic- that acupressure shit really works!
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Customers of Distinction
I sold a small stack of very interesting books to magician, actor & comedian Ricky Jay yesterday.
Being halfway between SF and LA sightings of famous folk around town are not uncommon, but this was odd because he's been coming here for years and I just spotted him.
I mistook him for a book dealer, which is understandable given his eclectic taste in reading material.
99.9% of the books I sell are, to me, totally generic and forgettable.
Not judging them by literary merit- as a work of art you can't fault something like The Sound and the Fury. But it's a book I see a million times year...which is the case for nearly all of the titles I buy and stock.
I notice people who buy books that spark my jaded palate, but anyong buying several books of that sort get cataloged by my subconscious as book dealers.
But this time was different. I thought "oh, it's the dealer who asks if his dog can come in", but then I did a double take. And the credit card confirmed my suspicions.
It's like watching a movie you haven't seen in a long time and spotting a familiar face you don't remember being there.
Last night Devra was over and we screened Bullets Over Broadway and spotted Edie Falco (she has a small bit as a maid in the theater). Suddenly you notice something.
So Mr. Jay joins the short list of luminaries I've sold books to, along with Michael Stipe, Diane Lane, Bill Frisell, David Linley, Peter Case, the lead singer for Men at Work & the sax player for the Charles Mingus Big Band (either musicians buy a lot of used books, or I'm just better equipped to recognize them...).
And he vaults to the head of the line as having by far the most interesting taste in reading.
I've previously linked his excellent New Yorker profile, but here it is again. Deal!
/edit
oh, I forgot TC Boyle..but he's more of a family friend than a famous person.
Included for the sake of completeness.
Being halfway between SF and LA sightings of famous folk around town are not uncommon, but this was odd because he's been coming here for years and I just spotted him.
I mistook him for a book dealer, which is understandable given his eclectic taste in reading material.
99.9% of the books I sell are, to me, totally generic and forgettable.
Not judging them by literary merit- as a work of art you can't fault something like The Sound and the Fury. But it's a book I see a million times year...which is the case for nearly all of the titles I buy and stock.
I notice people who buy books that spark my jaded palate, but anyong buying several books of that sort get cataloged by my subconscious as book dealers.
But this time was different. I thought "oh, it's the dealer who asks if his dog can come in", but then I did a double take. And the credit card confirmed my suspicions.
It's like watching a movie you haven't seen in a long time and spotting a familiar face you don't remember being there.
Last night Devra was over and we screened Bullets Over Broadway and spotted Edie Falco (she has a small bit as a maid in the theater). Suddenly you notice something.
So Mr. Jay joins the short list of luminaries I've sold books to, along with Michael Stipe, Diane Lane, Bill Frisell, David Linley, Peter Case, the lead singer for Men at Work & the sax player for the Charles Mingus Big Band (either musicians buy a lot of used books, or I'm just better equipped to recognize them...).
And he vaults to the head of the line as having by far the most interesting taste in reading.
I've previously linked his excellent New Yorker profile, but here it is again. Deal!
/edit
oh, I forgot TC Boyle..but he's more of a family friend than a famous person.
Included for the sake of completeness.
Aqua Terrorist Hunger Force update
Two million dollar settlement reached.
Dirt cheap, given the promotional triumph of their LED screens getting them round-the-clock coverage on every news outlet in the country for most of the week.
Dirt cheap, given the promotional triumph of their LED screens getting them round-the-clock coverage on every news outlet in the country for most of the week.
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