Hodgepodge, or “Everyone Else is More Interesting than I am.”

Just some random things to avoid actual work:

 • First Second released their Fall 2007 Catalogue.  I should preface this by saying I’ve yet to find a First Second book that I haven’t liked, so my enthusiasm is not without some precedent.  Of that list, I’m most looking forward to Gipi’s Notes for a War Story (I still haven’t picked up his most recent First Second book, Garage Band, but I plan to pick it up at the MoCCA Art Festival next weekend–expect a looking-forward-to-MoCCA post eventually) and Nick Abadzis’s Laika:

Laika was the abandoned puppy who grew up to become Earth’s first space traveler. This is her story.

Nick Abadzis masterfully blends fact and fiction as he recounts Laika’s journey–from the streets of Moscow to the Soviet space program, and then to her fateful final journey on Sputnik 2. Moving words and powerful pictures relate the history of this momentous event and the political landscape surrounding it, through the life of this small, curly-tailed dog. Poignant and authentic, Laika’s story speaks straight to the heart.

You can read excerpts for both books at the links, and the main site has excerpts of all First Second’s titles.

• Over at Film and Reviews, Matt Barry has two stellar entries related to The Big Sleep: a review and a discussion of where the detective film and film noir come together and where they separate:

 The element of noir that is most significantly unique is the protagonist. The noir protagonist is, by nature, weak. Fred MacMurray in DOUBLE INDEMNITY, Edward G. Robinson in SCARLET STREET, Tom Neal in DETOUR and others are all essentially losers, so weak they cannot even do the right thing when they know they are being led down a path of destruction.  

The Big Sleep airs again on Turner Classic Movies on Monday, July 23 at 7:15AM Eastern Standard Time, so make a note of it if you want to follow it along.

• Speaking of TCM… a question.  Would anyone have an interest in me pointing out classic films on TCM worth watching each week?  I like when I see people respond to films they watched, but I think some people might want a heads-up regarding films to watch.  Thoughts?

 • Alex Cox is right: Time Machines are pretty fucking awesome.

• Last night, I took Odie swimming, and this is too cute not to share with the world*, so I’m sharing it:

 Her half-dachshund side throws off her center of gravity, so without the life-jacket, she’d have to struggle to stay above water.  She hated it at first, but once she figured out ORANGE THING MAKES ODIE FLOAT YAY, she went apeshit.  Aside from some pee/snack breaks, she was in the water for at least two hours last night.

 

* And, by “the world,” I mean “the five people or so who are reading this.”