Dogs, Doctors, and Jews with Words

While yesterday's Report was television-based to commemorate a death, today's is a book-based birthday celebration.  My all-time favorite novelist, Michael Chabon, celebrates his 49th birthday today, so we're going to celebrate him in today's report. 

Many of you no doubt have heard me talk about him, and you've likely seen the photo of the two of us that pops-up now and then as a profile picture.  (I'm the one grinning like an idiot... Which I'm fairly certain is how I came off.)  You might even recognize him Simpson-ized, but you won't have seen him as one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People," though he was nominated, and with good reason.  (He turned the "honor" down, later saying, "To be praised for something like that is just weird. It just felt like somebody calling and saying, 'We want to put you in a magazine because the weather's so nice where you live.'")  And speaking of the weather where you live, Chabon writes some pretty great weather descriptions, captured here in fourteen skies.  If you'd rather be read to than read, though, here's Chabon reading from his most recent book, The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man.

Chabon's novels, stories, and essays are just great, though roots in genre fiction and comic books have led some (presumably jealous) critics of his work to bemoan him as too much of a nerd.  Chabon dismisses the word as "woefully imprecise" in one of his essays, but clearly embraces what it stands for, even if he doesn't necessarily bear some of the other trademarks associated with it ("physical awkwardness, high-water trousers, loserhood, emotional retardation, etc.").  But as far as descriptors are concerned, he could do worse, especially given "nerd's" literary roots.  The word, I learned from this great list of facts you may not know, was coined by Theodor Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss, in his book If I Ran the Zoo.  Actually, I was surprised by how much I learned from that list, especially given I've read two biographies and all of his books.  (Favorite: I Had Trouble In Getting To Solla Sollew.  Readership survey: What is yours?)

And, in an effort to maintain the Report's reputation for interesting articles, videos, and web-findings, while maintaining its original links to cuteness... I wonder what these canine readers would think of the Cat In the Hat...

Those of you who don't like reading but do like comic book movies can opt to celebrate a different birthday today.  Alfred Molina, who played Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2, is 59 today.  Throw him the idol, he'll throw you the whip!

That's all for this week; I'm out of the office tomorrow.  The Report will resume on Tuesday, following the Memorial Day holiday.  Enjoy the long weekend!

No doubt, as usual, I have exaggerated everything,

--Evan

Remote Ctrl-Alt-Del

Today in the report, we commemorate the recent passing of Eugene Polley, the engineer for Zenith Electronics who is best known for inventing the first wireless remote control for television.  Polley's work, then, may be seen as tangentially responsible for decreasing viewer attention spans, with quick channel changing serving as a preview for the rapid YouTube clicking and tab-changing during Hulu commercials characteristic of contemporary content consumers.  (How's that for alliteration?!)  It is also sort of his fault that a bunch of people went to have a good, mindless time watching Adam Sandler be mindless and left theaters crying like babies, contemplating mortality, and carpe-ing their diems as if they'd just seen Robin Williams climb on a desk.

Perhaps humans could learn something from the more focused television viewing habits of the animal TV enthusiasts of the world.  Even seated next to the remote, the bulldog resists the urge to change away from Family Guy.  And that turtle is incredibly focused... Or maybe it's just taking him a while to process the signed interpretation being provided in the foreground.  Perhaps this turtle would make more use of the remote... Or just argue with itself about what it wants to watch.

And finally, one of my greatest television-related finds of all time.  IFC put together this list of the top 50 comedy sketches of all time.  Of course, the list is a few years old... Otherwise I think we might see a clip from SNL's Lawrence Welk show or travel tips from Steffon.  But that list is still full of gems, and starts off strong.  Gerald Ford is Dead Today will always be a personal favorite.

So thank you, Mr. Polley, for making us shift around innatentively.  By allowing us easy access to different channels, you paved the way for more channels, which paved the way for us to click through so-many-things-but-nothing-to-

watch for hours on end.

Things like that show where the points don't matter.  That's right, the points are just like Drew Carey on "Whose Line Is It Anyway."  (And a very Happy Birthday to Drew...)

Enjoy the rest of World Turtle Day!

Animation Nation: Pixar and Dreamworks

So sorry for the lack of a Monday Report, and for the delay in today's reporting.  I've been terribly busy tending to a wide variety of air traffic emergencies, as you can imagine.  But we should be returning to normal now.
 
One reader followed up on Friday's Report, even though much of that edition was culled from links he provided.  He suggests that the best view in Paris, and one that includes the Eiffel Tower, is actually found at the top of the Sacre-Coeur, a cathedral in northern Paris.  Having been there with my parents when I studied in London, I strongly agree, though our view that day was slightly clouded by fog and potential volcanic ash. 

I was excited this weekend to learn that Pixar was re-releasing four films in theaters for Memorial Day weekend.  And some fan favorites, too... Perhaps, as the linked article suggests, to remind us that the misguided Cars 2 is not at all par for the course for one of the most consistently critically and commercially successful film studios in film history.  (Indeed, as the one Pixar film that I did not see in theaters, I would rank it as a double-bogey at best.)  Certainly the tear-jerking opening montage of Up, the wonderful space sequences of Wall-E, and the Parisian settings of Ratatouille will restore any faith lost by the many fart jokes of Mater the tow truck.  And if those don't persuade viewers, surely the theatrical re-release of the third installment of the most critically successful film trilogy of all time will.  No lie, nerd that I am, I knew a lot of those things that they said I probably didn't know... Pixar films are full of great Easter Eggs, and this article is really only scratching the surface.

Much as I don't want to refer to it again, Cars 2 serves as a useful segue to another piece I've been hanging onto for a while.  In the absence of a good Pixar film last summer, Dreamworks snuck in and won me over with another installment of Kung-Fu Panda.  I've long had problems with Dreamworks animation and the generally mediocre quality work I think they put out... Too many pop-culture references and poop jokes and not enough story.  And as much as I love the first two things there (especially when they are combined!) I put storytelling above all else.  Sure every once in a while they pull through with something like Shrek (sequels get stale) and How To Train Your Dragon (holy flying-scenes, Batman!), and I do consider Ice Age to be a factor in my attending Georgetown... But overall, I'm not a huge fan.  Maybe the secret to the success of Kung-Fu Panda, though, is some source material its artists may have been drawing on.  No evidence to support this theory, but still, I mean... Look at the pictures!

That's all for today!  Walk around a dark hallway popping pills and running from ghosts; Pac-Man debuted in Japan 32 years ago!