January 12, 2007
November 20, 2006
sex and dying in high society
Clay, the narrator of Bret Easton Ellis’ (1964) novel Less Than Zero (1985), drifts through the narrative in an extended series of perpetual presents. He is the epitome of Paul Virilio’s (1932) terminal citizen (Virilio, 21), existing through the mediation of input and interaction, eschewing community and communication in favor of serial physical contact, and constantly seeking the acceleration of heightened stimulation in a downward spiral from promiscuous sex with any willing partner to the experiences of death and dying. Ellis captures Clay’s descent into the zombie-like terminal state in the opening phrase of the novel, “People are afraid to merge” (Ellis, 9).
November 10, 2006
the rules of operation
Mark C. Taylor’s (1945) essay Interfacing (1997) argues that existing analytical tools are grossly insufficient in the networked or webbed existence of the postmodern world. Like a mirage retreating into the haze of desert heat as one approaches, the network/web structure resists absolute classification. Taylor posits ten characteristic rules of operation for a web or network. Though each of the rules of operation manifests within the text of Chuck Palahniuk’s (1962) novel Fight Club (1996), the Rule of Allelomimesis is perhaps best illustrated in the narrative’s cycle.
October 30, 2006
ground zero
On a recent business trip to Beaverton, Oregon, I found myself in the Streets of Tanasbourne surrounded by the comfortable and disturbing signs of the Gap, Banana Republic, Macey’s, Sunglass Hut, Hot Topic, the Macaroni Grill, and P.F. Chang’s. The [dis]comfort I experienced orbits the idea that simultaneously there is something both very wrong and very right about being able to walk into a clothing store, which exists in an eerie echo of our local Gateway a thousand miles from home, and buy the same unbranded, black t-shirt I purchase in Salt Lake City. If the mental conflict is not “right” per se, then it is convenient so extreme as to affect the façade of “right.”
October 13, 2006
sexual diversion
Throughout Bret Easton Ellis’s (1964) novel Less Than Zero (1985), the protagonist Clay drifts through the narrative slowly transforming into one of the legions of interchangeable zombies populating the LA landscape. During his four week, winter break descent, Clay passes from one incident to the next as if a diversion lurking around the next corner might break the momentum of his lethargy. Clay’s primary diversion is sex, the repetition and evolution of which become milestones in his metamorphosis into a blond, tanned zombie.
September 29, 2006
“this isn’t real?”
In his essay The Precession of Simulacra (1981), Jean Baudrillard (1929) writes of “the implosion of meaning” (p31). This implosion is the blurring of reality and illusion to the point where it becomes impossible to disentangle one from the other. The Wachowski Brothers’ (Laurence 1965, Andrew 1967) film The Matrix (1999) exemplifies this concept. In the beginning of the film, the character of Thomas Anderson/Neo suspects there is something more to his world than appears on the surface. He does not, however, realize the scope of the simulation in which he exists. Because his Thomas Anderson persona exists solely within the construct of the simulation, there is no way for him to differentiate between what is “real” and what is simulation.
September 15, 2006
schizophrenia and fragmentation in less than zero
A significant segment of Frederic Jameson’s (1934) theorization of postmodern culture centers on several elements of postmodern style, including pastiche, schizophrenia, nostalgia, and surfaces. These elements are illustrated at length in Bret Easton Ellis’ (1964) novel, Less Than Zero (1985). In the novel, the protagonist Clay drifts through four weeks of winter break from his eastern university. The narrative opens with the phrase, “People are afraid to merge…”(p9) and a rough description of the narrative’s world as Clay’s high school girlfriend Blair, picks him up from the airport. The opening paragraphs establish the novel as an extended series of snapshots obsessively focused on surfaces, fragmented relationships, and unregulated excess.
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September 1, 2006
hall’s deconstruction of the popular
In his 1981 essay, Notes on Deconstructing the Popular, Stuart Hall (1932) presents a number of tools one may use in the examination of popular culture. Perhaps most significantly is Hall’s emphasis on popular culture as a malleable process rather than a fixed state. In Hall’s view, popular culture is not confused with mass culture, the culture of dominant groups within society, or the culture of the working class. Popular culture exists on a continuum at the intersection of resistance to and containment by the dominant groups. The evolution of popular culture is a melee fought through the incorporation and commoditization of resistance ideology and signs into the dominant culture and the expropriation, modification, repurposing, recycling, and re-presentation of ideas and symbols out of the dominant culture.
July 2, 2005
nat's pathfinder gets upgraded
Justin ordered Nat a set of running boards for her Nissan Pathfinder. They arrived a couple of weeks ago. I installed them today, and I think they look quite nice. I also installed the electrical wiring for her hitch so we can legally pull a trailer.
Now then, where did I put that automatic transmission I need to install in the bus?
June 26, 2005
cd storage in the time of mental unrest
I am back in one of those phases of my mental cycle where things need homes and the homes need to make a degree of sense -- to the mental condition if nothing else. This past week has found me filing dead tree stuff from the basement in my surplus USGS filing cabinet, shelving books and magazines, organizing my copious amounts of garbage, and dealing with my CD collection.
Well, our CD collection, technically. Nat is responsible for the purchase of a fraction of the CDs with which I've been dealing. And, she has the run of the CD cupboard for anything she wants as long as I haven't somehow managed to lose the disc (but not the case) or the CD in question is not a part of the selection of music I am presently hording.
It's a good system, for me anyway. I don't mean to imply in any way that the intersection of music we both like is large.
Nat is awfully patient with me and she did tell me to get rid of some of her junior high music after almost nine years of marriage. If you happen to be looking for early Shai, Babyface, or Boyz 2 Men, drop me a line.
Presently misplaced CDs for which I have cases jumped from two to five since the last major reorganization. Is this like the disappearing sock problem about which I hear other people talk?
June 20, 2005
these hands
I consider my hands, cuticles a bit rough and nails trimmed as closely as possible. A few of my finger tips are often split from neglecting needed care. Scars adorn the landscape from the careless use of kitchen knives, hot slag landing badly for painfully brief visits, liquid nitrogen applied, and the over zealous fondling of Elizabeth's front right brake caliper. When I play with one of my four wheeled toys, the black finds its way into the whorls and minute crevices of my hands where it squats for days. I scrub them as clean as possible with brush and abrasive, but with little success. Still, my hands manage to knead bread, grind curries, craft code, shape clay, form metal, build shelter, repair toys, and comfort loved ones.
For a time, a couple of decades back, they bothered me fiercely, these invasions of my skin, stubborn in their stays. I've grown to appreciate if not actually like these artifacts of labor and process; but, I wonder what Cole will think about his father's hands.
June 7, 2005
the quest for mussamun
Several years ago, while working for a company in Orem, Utah, I was taken to the Thai Chili Garden for my first exposure to thai food. I started with Pad Thai and quickly worked my way into Spicey Pad Ped before taking the plunge into thai curries. I fell quite in love with mussamun curry. I queried the proprietors for their recipe without success and I googled for potential recipes as well. I finally found a recipe which looked promising.
After investing well over $50 in exotic ingredients and spending several hours grinding whole spices by hand with a mortar and pestle, I rustled up the worst approximation of mussamun imaginable and terminated my efforts to make this thai dish at home.
Then, a few months ago, Nancie McDermott's Real Thai caught my eye as I was doing some poking for information on sourdough bread in the cooking section of a local Barnes & Noble. I bought Nancie's book and worked up the wherewithal for another attempt over the next few weeks.
The mussamun was exquisite. It is also labor intensive and I better understand why it is a special occasion curry in Thailand.
Do to my lifestyle changes earlier this year, I've had to make adjustments to the recipes from Real Thai. I've noted the omissions and substitutions at the end of each of the applicable recipes linked below.
June 9, 2004
what the hail?
In a tragic turn of events today, my VW Golf got the crap beat out of it by some angry weather. Justin has the complete coverage over at The Stickboy Chronicles. Maybe I'm just not meant to have a nice car...
For some reason, the scene in Evolution keeps running through my head where a police officer tells Sean William Scott's character regarding his meteor damaged "classic" car, "Force majeure, son. Nothing we can do about it."
Justin, of course, delivered photos of the carnage.