I love Dave Chapelle.

YouTube – Dave Chapelle – The Secret.

YouTube – Wisdom Trailer – Wisdom Book by Andrew Zuckerman.

Approximate Illustration

I just want to say FOR THE RECORD, that I didn’t buy this book. A certain Pirate Fembot left it at my house while she is out sailing the high seas. The book is called The Game and it’s about picking up chicks and is a prime example of why this particular Pirate Fembot is a menace. Fortunately she never reads my blog so I can say whatever I want about her and she’ll never even notice.

Amazingly, this girl is like 10x smarter than everyone around her.  That’s partly because she’s a heartless robot.  But it’s also partly because she spends her time reading bestselling non-fiction books on the secrets of pickup artists.  For six months this book has been sitting in my living room and I’ve only picked it up long enough to wipe under it.

Until today.

Before today I’d never even heard of Neil Strauss. I’d never heard of his book, “The Game” (despite its apparent new home in my living room).

So today I started reading it. And it’s got some really good info in it.

Stuff you would never ever want a crafty Pirate Fembot to know.

I’ve always loved performing magic.  I’ve never been particularly impressed with the big Vegas illusion kind of magic…I like the Harry Anderson street magic.  Cons,  Coins, Cards…pocket magic.   I never have given it nearly as much practice at it takes to be good.  But I’ve read a magic book or two.

The Game is kinda presented like  a magic book. It’s very matter-of-fact, it has diagrams, and terms like selecting a target (or a mark).  But instead of dealing with how to make people think you just read their mind, it’s about the practicality of meeting people….specifically girls.

How you present yourself, how you speak, the clothes you wear…all the things that actually make up “YOU”…are dealt with.  As are, the things you say, how much you listen, what to listen for, and  some actual tricks…ahem…techniques to achieve your goals with members of the opposite sex….whatever they may be.  Maybe you’re looking to get laid, maybe you’re just looking for someone to hang out with…whatever.

None of this information, whatsoever, will help me solve this Pirate Fembot issue.   If she knows all the stuff in this book, she’s probably already been reverse using it on me.

Wait…I’m just assuming she read it.   Maybe she just wants me to THINK she’s read it?  BLARG! This is the kind of trickery that Pirate Fembots are known for!  They trick you and then they steal your booty.

Why?  Because that’s why Pirate Fembots do.

She’s out there, men.  Beware.

Neil Strauss talks about The Game on Jimmy Kimmel

Do not interrupt the flight of your soul;
do not distress what is best in you;
do not enfeeble your spirit with half wishes and half thoughts.

Ask yourself and keep on asking until you find the answer,
for one may have known something many times, acknowledged it;
one may have willed something many times, attempted it — and yet,
only the deep inner motion, only the heart’s indescribable emotion,
only that will convince you that what you have acknowledged belongs to you,
that no power can take it from you — for only the truth that builds up is truth for you.

- Søren Kierkegaard 1843

Just watched the trailer for Spike Jonze’s upcoming film adaptation of “Where the Wild Things Are“.  The book, written in 1963 by   Maurice Sendak, was one of my favorites growing up and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation.) is certainly one of my favorite directors.

I have to say, I was a bit skeptical when I first heard about this particular book being adapted.  It’s a children’s picture book…more akin to Seuss than JK Rowlings.   The film has been plagued with negative press, including a scathing statement back in Nov 2008 from Oscar-winning special-effects master Howard Berger, who did the special effects for Star Wars Episode III and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Berger was approached on 4 seperate occasions to work on the film, turning it down each time even after admitting that the book Where the Wild Things Are had been the inspiration for him to get into effects.

“The direction that they were taking in the movie was certainly not the direction that I would have taken. It was potentially a catastrophe. I had a sinking feeling about it. I didn’t want to get myself in it. It’s a horrible idea.”

But the trailer looks pretty damn incredible.  Especially in HD.

The cast includes Catherine Keener (you know her as the Ebay store chick from The 40-Year-Old Virgin) , James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano), Forest Whitaker (Good Morning Vietnam among others), Lauren Ambrose (the superhot redhead from 6 Feet Under), and Catherine O’Hara (Best in Show and those other Christopher Guest Movies).

I just discovered Lauren Ambrose is married.  Damn Internet.

For now, you gotta cruise over to Apple.com to view the the trailer:  http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/wherethewildthingsare/

Fascinating interview with Frank Schaeffer who’s father was one of the founders of the “Religious Right”.

YouTube – D.L. Hughley: Frank Schaeffer Author of Crazy for God on What’s Left of the GOP.

Critics of Obama’s tax and bailout plans are now “Going Galt”.  What does this mean?   Apparently it doesn’t involve inventing perpetual motion.

“I do some consulting on the side and the taxation on that income is unbelievable,”wrote one reader to Michelle Malkin. “So, to heck with this. I’m ‘going Galt’ on my consulting.” “I’m considering moving to a small family farm in a foreign country,”

The Washington Independent » Battling Obama by ‘Going Galt’.

I love Orson Scott Card, especially his Ender Wiggins series.  I can also say I’ve read and am a fan of the Harry Potter series.  But I’ve always thought there was more than a little bit of similarity between the two series.

So I was a slighly miffed when I first heard that JK Rowling was suing a guy for trying to publish a “Harry Potter Lexicon”.  I mean, these kinds of things are so prevalent…Star Trek, Star Wars, Seinfeld… trivia books… authorized / unauthorized…whatever.   You have something that touches pop-culture status, and fans are bound to write about it, build websites, start fan clubs, etc.  I was miffed, but it apparently PISSED OFF award-winning novelist Orson Scott Card, to the point that he decided to really rip JK Rowling a new orifice…

One of my favorite parts:

“A young kid growing up in an oppressive family situation suddenly learns that he is one of a special class of children with special abilities, who are to be educated in a remote training facility where student life is dominated by an intense game played by teams flying in midair, at which this kid turns out to be exceptionally talented and a natural leader. He trains other kids in unauthorized extra sessions, which enrages his enemies, who attack him with the intention of killing him; but he is protected by his loyal, brilliant friends and gains strength from the love of some of his family members. He is given special guidance by an older man of legendary accomplishments who previously kept the enemy at bay. He goes on to become the crucial figure in a struggle against an unseen enemy who threatens the whole world.

Sound familiar to Harry Potter fans?   Well it’s the plot of Card’s “Ender’s Game”, which came out YEARS before Harry Potter was a twitch in Rowling’s snitch.   You can read Orson’s whole comment here:  http://www.linearpublishing.com/RhinoStory.html