Sixty Seconds with Theodore Valley

NPR's Sunday Puzzle, July 26, 2009

2009-07-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

From last week's Sunday Puzzle : NPR. "Think of a word starting with G and ending in R. Remove the G and R, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell a synonym of the original word. What words are these?" I gave you some hints last week, but like I said then, no one reads this stuff. The answer is: garner and earn.

Here is the newest puzzle: "Name a well-known U.S. city in six letters. Drop the first and fourth letters so the remaining four letters, in order, will name another well-known U.S. city. What cities are these? Hint: The two cities are in adjoining states."

Here is a hint: Grizzlies and Aces...but, then, no one is reading this...

...If you know the answer is Fresno and Reno, then submit your answer.

"Stella By Starlight" by Anita O'Day, 1963, Japan.

2009-07-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

From Youtube user jburidan. So cool. O'Day had quite the hard life. Or so I've heard. I need to read her autobiography, High Times Hard Times.

Fantastic Mr. Fox in USA Today

2009-07-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

From USA Today via The Rushmore Ac ademy. By the way, I just recently started a personal Wes Anderson marathon on my iPod. (That is, I like to call it an iPod. It is actually a hand-held electronic Deal or No Deal video game. Just kidding!) I started with the original Bottle Rocket short film, then Bottle Rocket -- which I feel lacked only in having no references to Starsky and Hutch -- and Rushmore. Anyway, here is a quote from the USA Today article:

The much-expanded plot has been tweaked to include many elements found in Anderson’s other films, including a dysfunctional clan and a male rivalry. The four Fox children in the book have been whittled down to one handful: Ash (Jason Schwartzman, channeling his Max character from Rushmore), a petulant social misfit who wears a superhero cape and resents his cousin Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson, Wes’ brother) for being good at everything.

I need to read the original book. Wait, what is wrong with me? No, I don't. I am an independent thinker! Would I read it if it weren't for a movie hoping to generate money in relation to said sale of book? ...Oh, well. Guess I'm going to the bookstore...

Dinosaur Comics

2009-07-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

From Dinosaur Comics, which I discovered at Half a Dog Tall. Or is it half a dog tall? This is very fun, from the colors and expressions (neon with a look of sudden outburst) to the subject and dialogue (dieting, which works well with neon with a look of sudden outburst.) It reminds me of that one comic with the penguins...ah, here it is: Pokey the Penguin. Or is it POKEY THE PENGUIN!?

Street Fashion at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival

2009-07-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

From The MidWasteland. These two are my personal favorites. Honestly, I cannot tell you why nor how. Perhaps it is because I like blue? Maybe someday I will also be accosted by a photographer simply for having slept in my clothes. Someday.

The Book Seer

2009-07-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

From Double-Breasted Dust-Jacket. Apparently, because I have just about finished reading Barry Miles' very-much-readable-yet-only-slightly-astounding "Zappa: A Biography," the Book Seer has a slight confused look on his face. Quoth: "Does not compute!" It suggests, in accordance with Amazon.com and LibraryThing.com, that I need to learn even more about Frank, as well as such venerable subjects as Pink Floyd and...hippies. (Not cool, Book Seer!) BookArmy, however, is in favor of the complete opposite. I thought this was appropriate: "...BookArmy recommends: Nothing..." Yes. I like that suggestion. I should read nothing for awhile.

(The Fantastic Mr.) Fox and Friends

2009-07-21T05:56:00.001-07:00

From The Rushmore Academy. In a word: nice. Or awesome. Just imagine the word 'nice' being stated with a knowing nod of the head and a slight grin, possibly a laugh. Imagine that 'nice' could possibly be synonymous with 'awesome,' and everything will make sense. I know someone who does that, and it has had (for the worse, I feel) affected my social interaction. Anyway, everything will make sense. And we will have world peace.

Forget all that stuff I just said.

2009-07-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start from the beginning. I don't have anything to say at this point, but soon I will. Soon, thoughts are going to well up inside of my head and not know where to go. Perhaps through my nose, if I'm not careful. Or my ears, possibly. I really can't predict or even know how to direct such events to my liking beforehand. That having been said, I would prefer my thoughts to be pushed through my fingers in the form of something like little lightning bolts or little magnetic waves or little remote control-like infrared signals. I'm going to start from the beginning.