i m N s h o

I used to get lost for hours in used bookstores, but it's been ages since I've found a good one. (I did a search on bookstores in our neighborhood a while back and, with the exception of the quintessentially homogenized Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores, the only thing I could find were Christian bookstores.) I think Acres of Books is still around (at least, they've still got a website ), but outside of that, the few used bookstores I've found lately have been small, cramped and not terribly inviting. My other problem in finding a good used book store is that my favorite genre is Science Fiction. SF, sometimes, seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of literature. ("Rodney Dangerfield of" apparently my favorite analogy of the month). Acres of Books has an SF section, but it's buried in the back warehouse, in a corner with no lights. Finding ANYTHING there is an accomplishment (and probably explains why I haven't been by recently to find out if the...

The incredibly short line at the gas station when I filled up. Yeah, like you didn't see that one coming. The only thing not buying gas yesterday is going to prove to those evil gas corporations is just how freaking gullible you are. You want to send them a message? Cut back your gas consumption every week. If we all did that (and it could probably be as little as a gallon less a week) now THAT might send a message. But we're not going there… that'd take effort, and inconvenience, and dedication. Things we're not good at when it comes to environmental/conservation ideas. (And yes, I am VERY guilty of this.) Sad.

In the interest of calling a spade a spade , I figured it was time for a new label, one meant to convey my awareness of just how out there some of my posts are getting. Let's face it, the thought that my actions in any way have such a direct effect on the world as to lead to the demise of a formerly thriving magazine business is the height of solipsism . So I figured I should acknowledge what I'm up to and make it clear I'm only having fun. Right? It sure is a fun idea to play with, though. (How amusing, and utterly PC, that I felt the need to define my "calling a spade a spade" reference, as if I'm concerned that some moron is going to misunderstand the phrase, as has happened more than once in the past few years with the phrases " niggardly " and " pot calling the kettle black ." I mean, seriously, if I get someone whining about "calling a spade a spade," how much fun is it going to be to copy their, most likely, illiterate and...

I've joked recently about my ability to kill a magazine simply by subscribing. But I didn't realize my true power till just recently. I have subscriptions to several gaming magazines. (Apparently, I'm something of a dinosaur on this count, judging from the forum posts I have recently read). One of these is… er, was… Computer Games magazine. The other day, I realized that it's been a while since I'd received an issue. I checked the date on that last issue and figured I had to be at least a month behind. So I went to their site to contact customer service. I noticed that it looked like it had been a while since the site had been updated, and that the cover page they were showing on their subscriptions page was the same as the last issue I'd received. But it wouldn't be the first site I'd found that was slow to update. Then I started clicking on customer service links, and found myself getting redirected to "this page cannot be found" links. Cur...

This is one I'm VERY glad I saw in the theater. (Of course, I almost always prefer seeing movies in the theater, but some are less of an issue than others. That cozy little art-house movie may play just as well on the wide-screen with surround sound at home—especially since I don't have to deal with the moron and his blackberry in the row ahead of me—while this week's latest blockbuster will suffer from the transition to the smaller screen. Sadly, this means that I end up seeing a lot of crappy movies in theaters and the good stuff months later on DVD. But that's one of the perils of movie going these days, I guess.) But Grindhouse is one of those that really needs to be experienced the way Tarantino and Rodriguez intended it. there's a method to their madness here, as they try to recreate an experience that you can't find any more. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing may be debatable, but it's definitely not something you're likely to come a...

I've been hearing for a couple of weeks now that President Bush's latest approval ratings are about 28%. That seems kinda low to me. (Sarcasm alert) But on KROQ the past couple of days, they've been playing this clip of Dick Cheney speaking to the troops in Iraq. He wishes them well and "brings greetings from the folks at home and your Commander in Chief, George W. Bush". And is greeted by dead silence. Short pause, then he says "don't hold back now" and people laugh and start applauding. But seriously, don't you figure, if there's any group that's going to at least pay token respect to the Pres and Dick Cheney, it's going to be US troops? Guess not. Well, couldn't happen to a more deserving pair of guys, imho.  

George W. Bush was on American Idol last night? Yes. The President of the United States was on American Idol. And apparently doing shtick with Laura. If I'm Paul Weitz this morning, my head's about to explode. That's all I've got to say. (For those of you not getting the reference, go here .)

I saw an article in the LA Times a few weeks ago about the demise of Premiere Magazine, so it wasn't a surprise last week when I got a postcard, notifying me that the April issue was the last one to be published. But finding out that they were going to finish out my subscription with issues of Us Weekly did come as a bit of a surprise. I mean, seriously… Us Weekly? I know they blamed the end of Premiere (at least, the physical magazine—it apparently lives on on the web) on the rise of the gossip mags and websites. But can you really compare Premiere's movie coverage with… well, whatever it is Us Weekly actually covers? Frankly, the first issue arrived the other day… I took one glance at the cover and tossed it aside. Apparently, nothing stuck with me, since I can't remember a single item on the cover now. I have an interesting knack for "discovering" new magazines just in time for them to go out of business. PC Accelerator , Cinescape , Iniquities … ea...