Sidebar Update, '09 Style!

It's the first Sidebar Update of '09, on the cusp of a new and brighter era. Love it!

The current Object of My Affection is Rosario Dawson. That's right: Rosario Dawson! I'm calling her my own! As she is apparently the official Object of Affection of every hetero male on the internet (and a significant number of females as well), I fully expect war over this declaration. Bring it, bitches! She's mine!!

I am now Reading David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster, having finished David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. I sense a pattern. If you are curious about DFW and are a bit intimidated by a 1,000+ page novel, you should probably take a shot at Lobster. It's a fantastic collection of essays, featuring the full array of DFW's literary quirks (primarily multiple footnotes). And the first essay is all about the Adult Video News Awards, which is awesome.

Watching the second season of Venture Bros. on DVD, having recently completed the first season. This is one of the smartest, weirdest, funniest cartoons ever created. Even if you don't like cartoons, I suspect you might like this one, if only for its clever references to a vast array of pop culture (for example, David Bowie and Iggy Pop are significant characters in the final two episodes).

Listening to R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People. Aside from it being a flat-out incredible album, I will always have a particular personal fondness for Automatic due to its serving as my European soundtrack. Over Christmas/New Year's 1992-93, I spent a month in Europe, visiting my sister (who was spending a year studying abroad in Barcelona). I went to Ireland, Geneva, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, and much more, with Automatic as almost the only music I listened to on my Walkman; it eventually became inextricably linked to Europe in my mind. (Though the night club in Brussels, in which the entire bar sang along to Ice-T's "Cop Killer" on the radio, was another peculiar musical highlight.) I haven't owned the CD for ages now, and when Amazon offered the album as an mp3 download for only $1.99 yesterday, I jumped at the chance to own it again. It makes me very happy (even while listening to "Everybody Hurts").

Hating: Dubya. Still. Less than 48 hours left!

And the Lyric of the Moment is one final illustration of the failure of the Bush years, from "Everybody Wants To Rule the World," by Tears for Fears. Don't let the door hit you in the ass, 43.

Infinite Jest

Well, so much for posting more in the New Year. Not that I made any official resolution or anything, but still. Not off to a great start on the ol' blog here. Aside from that, 2009 already feels better than 2008, I have to say. Hooray!

One thing I've accomplished in the New Year: I have finally finished David Foster Wallace's masterpiece, Infinite Jest. I began reading it back on September 17. (At 1 AM, as I noted in the comments to that post.) 112 days, to read 979 pages of text and 388 footnotes comprising an additional 97 pages. That's less than ten pages a day. Not very impressive. I blame society. But still -- I finished it!

My immediate impression on concluding Infinite Jest: brilliant, brilliant book; disappointing ending. It feels like it ends too soon, unbelievably enough for a tome of this size; it feels like there are several missing chapters (even though the book isn't strictly broken down by chapters). As petty as it is, I want greater and more explicit detail on what became of Hal, Orin, and the rest of the Incandenzas, Don Gately, Joelle van Dyne, Michael Pemulis, Remy Marathe, Ortho Stice, John Wayne, and more in between the end of the novel and the beginning (the book wraps back on itself, with a chronological gap in between).

Like I say, though, that's petty, and simplistic. I need a little time, now that I've finished, to absorb the book. (And do a little research online, a little clue-hunting, some of which has already been particularly rewarding.) I also feel a strong impulse to immediately reread it. Maybe that's part of the circular nature of the story (the whole book is packed with circular, or "annular," as DFW puts it, allusions and references -- annular: "shaped like a ring"). After all, the titular entertainment, the "Infinite Jest" of the text, is an Entertainment cartridge so powerfully seductive it is impossible to stop watching; it seems DFW intentionally structured his novel in a similar fashion, so that the reader conceivably could keep reading it in an infinite loop.

I really hope those of you who have read Infinite Jest feel like leaving some of your impressions and interpretations in the comments. I don't want to spoil any major twists or conjectures in this main entry, in case some of you plan on reading the book yourselves (and you really, really should; it is a remarkable achievement in literature, and, as dense and lengthy as it is, remarkably accessible). I'll start things off in the comments with a couple of my own observations (some of which I admittedly have gleaned from elsewhere on the internet).

One more thing: I have been struck all over again by what a dreadful shame David Foster Wallace's suicide is. The world is genuinely diminished by the absence of the manuscripts Wallace had yet to write. At least I have the next book on my reading list to anticipate: DFW's Consider the Lobster.

Sidebar Update!

Hey all! I'm back from Christmas vacation just in time for the final Sidebar Update of the year. Hoopla! Let's jump right in.

The current Object of My Affection is Anne Hathaway, and I'm a bit surprised she's never been featured on the Sidebar before. She's lovely as all git-out, with gorgeous brown eyes and an adorable smile, not to mention: she's stacked. That's right, I said it! I'm only human! Sue me. She also happens to be pretty damn talented, equally adept at comedy and drama. Rachel Getting Married is one of my few remaining must-sees of the year in film (along with Gran Torino, Wendy and Lucy, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). And her Saturday Night Live was one of the very few non-Tina Fey/Sarah Palin episodes this year that didn't totally suck from start to finish.

Still reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, but I'm in the home stretch: page 857 (out of 981) (not counting footnotes). I should have it finished by New Year's, just in time to start on my favorite Christmas gift this year: DFW's Consider the Lobster. Damn it's rotten this guy isn't around to write more.

Watching: The Venture Bros. Season 1 DVD. What an endlessly hilarious show! And such a wide range, from elaborate parodies of Walt Disney or Easy Rider to fart and pee jokes. Sharp, funny stuff.

Listening to The Gaslight Anthem's latest album, The '59 Sound (as recommended by Noel Murray -- thanks!), which is kind of a punkier take on early Springsteen story-songs. I almost want to put punk in quote-marks, since the self-described punk band doesn't sound especially "punk" to me, though they do indeed rock hard behind some evocative lyrics. Biggest drawback to me is that the songs start to blend together a bit, with a dearth of big hooks to distinguish between them. But maybe that's just me.

Hating: same monkey. Only 21 more days, praise Jeebus!

And the Lyric of the Moment is from the Refreshments' "Good Year." "It's been a good year for bad days, or a bad year for good days." Indeed it has, folks. 2008 has been the worst year of my life, for various none-of-your-business reasons, and I heartily welcome its demise in a few short days. Here's to 2009 (motto: "It can't possibly be any worse").

Sidebar Update

Before I leave for a few days to visit family in Colorado, I thought I'd leave you with one of my much anticipated Sidebar Updates, which you all know and love so well.

Speaking of Olivia Wilde (which I was last post), she is the current Object of My Affection, because why not? She is lovely as the day is long. Plus she totally kissed a girl in the last episode of House. Sweet!

Still reading Infinite Jest, of course. Page 369. Glad I have a plane trip today to get more uninterrupted reading time.

Watching a lot of Countdown with Keith Olbermann lately. I don't watch much "real" news on TV, mostly I just get it online and watch The Daily Show. But Olbermann's been doing some great stuff leading up to the election. His Special Comments are always essential viewing. Slanted to the left? Of course! But when every other TV news outlet is slanted to the right -- when even CNN can't be bothered to do much more than parrot White House press briefings -- it's a breath of fresh air.

Listening to Unknown Hinson's The Future Is Unknown. Great psychobilly music with a comedic twist, featuring songs such as "Peace, Love and Hard Liquor," "I Ain't Afraid of Your Husband," and "I Cleaned Out a Room (In My Trailer For You)." He's still the best live act I've seen in Austin, and that's saying something.

Hating: same doofus, different picture.

And the Lyric of the Moment, in honor of my impending flight to Colorado, is from Warren Zevon's "Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead."

Time to pack, folks. See you again Wednesday!