media update: June (fortified with bonus random shit)

We have a summer intern working for us that I shall call Howdy Doody, thanks to his alarming resemblance to that puppet of yore. Howdy is the grandson of the secretary to the top dog in our department; nepotism is so nice, dontcha think?

Anyway, he came over to my desk yesterday and handed me a letter. “Is this supposed to go out with any attachments?”

Fair enough question. I scanned the letter and said, “No, this can go out as is.”

Big eyes blinked moistly, and his pale, sluglike tongue darted out to catch the beads of sweat on his peachfuzzed upper lip. “Uh, okay.”

He went straight from my desk to Marge’s and said, “Uh, Marge, does this letter go out with any attachments?”

What the fuck? This dude is in his sophomore year of COLLEGE, for chrissakes, and he couldn’t understand something as simple as “No, this can go out as is”? Did I accidentally slip into Farsi?

Another irritation: he rolls his chair over to the printer instead of physically standing up and walking to it. It’s ten friggin’ feet, max. Come on, Howdy! I know you can do it! Surely your strings are long enough!

---

Conversation between G and me, whilst playing Haunting Ground:

ME: Um, did Debilitas [the mentally challenged giant obsessed with Fiona, the main character] just call me his pretty pink meatpie?

G: Aww, that’s sweet. I’m gonna start calling you my pretty pink meatpie.

ME: Please don’t.

---

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; your mileage may vary.


FICTION


1. The Black Angel by John Connolly: Oh, how it pains me to say this, but this wasn't very good at all. He focused too much on cheesy mysticism (trying to cash in on The DaVinci Code, maybe?) for my tastes. Still, Angel and Louis get some great lines, as always, and there are some poignant moments involving Charlie's lover and their baby daughter.

2. The Devil of Nanking* by Mo Hayder: A troubled young woman, inexplicably obsessed with the atrocities in Nanking in 1937, goes to Japan in search of a scholar/Nanking survivor. She makes some dangerous friends and even more dangerous enemies, all of whom are obsessed with a mysterious elixir. There are some scenes of palpable terror (most notably involving "The Nurse") that literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and the ending packs a powerhouse punch that left me in tears. Already shortlisted for my favorite book of the year.

3. Chloe Does Yale by Natalie Krinsky: Uninspired story of a Yale coed writing a sex column for the school newspaper, and how it affects her "real" life. Marginally redeemed by the occasional great zinger like "I felt like a finalist at the Special Olympics version of the Miss America pageant".

4. Wasted Beauty* by Eric Bogosian: A drugged-out supermodel begins an affair with a married doctor, and it takes them places neither one expected. I frickin' loves me some Bogosian.

5. Towelhead* by Alicia Erian: I went without reading material at work for days---days!---because there was no way in hell I was going to read this and risk someone calling HR on me. ("I saw [sairentohiru] reading a book called Towelhead in the breakroom! She's a racist!") Anyway, this is a great book about a 13-year-old girl whose mother sends her to live with her Lebanese father in Texas. The man next door becomes obsessed with her, and she finds herself sexually experimenting with him (as well as a boy at school), trying to make up for the love she doesn't get from her family. Highly recommended.

6. Rage* by Jonathan Kellerman: His last few books ranged from meh to utterly craptacular, but Kellerman finally redeems himself with this engrossing story of two teenage thrill killers and the dark truths behind the murder they committed. It’s about time, dude!



NON-FICTION


1. I'm Not the New Me* by Wendy McClure: A collection of mordantly funny and occasionally bittersweet essays from the webmistress of Candyboots.

2. Don't Eat This Book by Morgan Spurlock: Some interesting factoids about the fast food industry, but you can safely skip this if you've already seen Super Size Me. Well, you can safely skip it either way. For a much more incisive look at the evils of fast food, check out Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.

3. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang: This is a meticulously researched and utterly bone-chilling account of the Nanking atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers against Chinese citizens in 1937. To give you some idea of the depravity, the Nazis condemned the Japanese army's actions. The friggin' NAZIS! Reading this moved me to tears of rage and sorrow several times. If you decide to read it, be warned that there are EXTREMELY graphic descriptions of cruelty, along with photos.

4. The Italian Boy* by Sarah Wise: Intriguing, Dickensian account of the lucrative bodysnatching trade that sprang up in 1800's London.


MANGA


1. B-Men Kazoku by Kayono

2. Parfait Tic* vols. 4-13 by Nanaji Nagamu

3. A Mermaid's Tears* by Yukari Kawachi



MOVIES


1. Meet the Fockers: Many of the jokes and gags were recycled, but there were still some great lines, and this is probably the only time Barbra Streisand hasn't bugged the hell out of me.

2. High Tension: First off, the title could not be more accurate; I was on the edge of my seat for most of it. However, a gore content unlike anything I've ever seen (and I used to be a big giallo fan) and what I consider to be a very cheap, somewhat offensive twist keep me from recommending it.

3. Land of the Dead: Meh.