The view from my hotel balcony
I'm in Los Angeles to take part in a public conversation about anger on the Internet. I'm not sure if this is because I know a lot about anger on the Internet or because I just am frequently angry on the Internet. Sort of a form-content dealio there, I guess.
Anyway I can tell I'm in L.A. because Google Maps is telling me that there's a Starbucks a half mile from here, but when I look out the window of my hotel it's abundantly clear that there is actually no sidewalk between here and there, which makes it impossible to walk there. Also it's raining.
I'm using two things to fight off suicidal ideation:
-- the Ombudsmen arc on PvP, a Watchmen parody featuring syndicated comic strip characters. Jon from Garfield = Nite Owl. Popeye = Rhorschach (his huge chin looks sort of disturbing in the blot-mask). Charlie Brown = the Comedian. (It differs in this respect from the now-canonical Peanuts/Watchmen mashup, where Linus gets that slot.) Whatsisname from Blondie is Dr. Manhattan. I hope Scott can keep this going. Go Scott go! Remember I'm fighting suicidal ideation.
(More Watchmen parody goodness here and here.)
-- This excerpt from Michael Chabon's journal on the New York Times "Paper Cuts" blog.I think it's an under-reported fact that one of America's major novelists is also a nerd of gigantic proportions:
In December 2004, I went to Beijing and Hong Kong to meet, in both cities, with the legendary director (”Drunken Master,” “Snake in Eagle's Shadow,” “Iron Monkey”) and fight choreographer (”The Matrix,” “Kill Bill,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) Yuen Wo-Ping (always known as The Master) and his right-hand man, Mr. Fish Fong. I had just been hired by Disney to work on the script of “Snow and the Seven,” a proposed live-action martial arts retelling of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” to be set in and around Victorian Hong Kong, with fighting kung-fu monks taking the role of the dwarfs ...
I can't even tell if this is real or not.
It has to be real. I met Michael Chabon at a book signing last year and we had the coolest discussion. He actually went to Austin last year to accept his Nebula Award! And then we had a discussion on Science Fiction novels and about our nerdiness. And yes he's a total nerd.
And as long as we're on the subject of nerdy brilliant writers: JUNOT DIAZ. I know every book critic in the country may see it as a sidenote or an afterthought, but in all seriousness, his nerdiness in Oscar Wao was so awesome and overlooked. Junot references not only LOTR, Star Wars, and the usual geek culture, but DALGHREN. That's just hot. I wish more people recognized/acknowledged it.
Sorry this was long and rambling. You know I was going to comment on papercuts last night about Chabon but then thought no one would appreciate this kind of geek/nerdiness on there.
Brew
Mar. 4, 2009 15:09:pm
at 15:09:pm
Junot has teh geek cred! "He was our Sauron, our Arawn, our Darkseid, our Once and Future Dictator."
Lev Grossman
Mar. 4, 2009 15:21:pm
at 15:21:pm
Damn, that's pimp. I wish I had a right hand man named Fish Fong. Of course, I'd have to be a Golden Crescent warlord to pull it off, but still.
.
Other than that, I am interested in this "anger on the Internet" business. Is it in a good or a bad sense?
Cliff
Mar. 4, 2009 16:39:pm
at 16:39:pm
See, I knew(!) you would understand. Dude, I know Junot has geek cred, but those NYT book peeps will never get nerdy Junot or Michael.
Brew
Mar. 4, 2009 22:48:pm
at 22:48:pm
I had the pleasure of hearing Lev speak as part of a panel on "Anger and the Internet". In a nutshell, the problem is one of anonymity, and its evil twin, lack of accountability. My sense is that there are a lot of disenfranchised, unempowered folks out there who cowardly hide behind the protection of anonymity to throw spears of invective at the innocent. I wonder if those fall equally along gender lines, or if there really are a lot of angry men out there?
ltwilson4047
Mar. 5, 2009 17:19:pm
at 17:19:pm
"I wonder if those fall equally along gender lines, or if there really are a lot of angry men out there?"
Coming soon to theaters: "12,000 Angry Men--The story of hate and flame... on the internet."
walkinghbomb
Mar. 6, 2009 00:35:am
at 00:35:am