When I finished this book, I wasn’t sure whether I should cry or start stockpiling assault rifles and canned food.  Hedges argues that while Americans were busy being entertained and pleasured, corporations and the industrial-military complex have brought American democracy to its death bed.  Yes, in the past tense, as in we’re almost done and [...]

I watched Tyson the documentary over the weekend.  Mike narrates the story of his life in several interview formats with archival footage and photos interspersed.  In my opinion, the sequence illustrating his unification of the Championship belts at the age of 20 leaves no doubt that he was the greatest boxer ever in his prime.  [...]

Pygmy is advertised as “The Manchurian Candidate meets South Park.” If I had to put definitive numbers to that statement, I would say the book is 95 percent South Park. This satire is chocked full of good ‘ole 13-year-old-American-male humor, which is what will either make the reader love it or hate it. But before [...]

snow and more snow

I was a huge fan of Thompson during my twenties.  I guess his drug-addled hijinks and political antics fulfilled my youthful desires for adventure while addressing the loss of the American Dream.  I liked his style of writing, his rhythm- which Johnny Depp does a fantastic job of capturing in this documentary.
Alex Gibney, Oscar-winning director of Taxi to the Dark Side, directs.  The film covers all of Thompson’s life, but focuses on his rise to stardom in the late sixties and early seventies.  Gibney mingles vintage footage of Thompson, interviews, photographs, and reenactments to capture the birth of gonzo journalism and Thompson’s rockstar alter-ego, Raoul Duke.  Hunter’s wives, Ralph Steadman, Jann Wenner, Douglas Brinkley, Jimmy Buffett, George McGovern, Tom Wolfe, and others make appearances.
Perhaps Gibney’s greatest accomplishment is presenting Thompson’s passion for fighting for the ideal America and all it represents.  Thompson knew this was a losing battle all along, but that’s what made it noble and good.  Unfortunately, the cynicism, drugs, and reality that nothing was ever as clear-cut good and evil in American politics took their toll on Thompson.  He chose to end his own life in 2005.
Thompson’s coverage of the 1972 Presidential campaign is one of the highlights of this film.  The conventional reporters were in awe of Hunter because they saw the drugs and booze go in, but his behavior never changed.  This was also the point in his career when people began to realize they couldn’t separate the fiction from the non-fiction in his reporting.  He quickly became a “rock star” of journalism.  His home outside of Aspen became the party spot.  At one point in the film Keith Richards is there with a crowd of others.  But it doesn’t last.
Hunter’s coverage of the Rumble in the Jungle between Ali and Foreman was the beginning of the end.  Everyone assumed Ali was doomed, including Hunter.  He sold his and Ralph Steadman&

Jon Scieszka's semi-graphic novel memoir about growing up with five brothers reminded me of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer when I was a kid. There's lots of action and adventure to grab a young boy's attention- wrestling, peeing on electric heaters, breaking stuff and then blaming it on someone else, telling jokes, making mortars out of M80 firecrackers, etc. It's just good boisterous fun. I grew up around farms, and so we always dared each other to pee on electric fences, which is its own special ki

James Patterson expands his Daniel X adventure with Daniel X: Alien Hunter, a graphic novel.  I had a student a few years ago who loved James Patterson’s young adult novels.  I even made a few accelerated reader quizzes for him, so he could get extra credit.  I respect Patterson for motivating preteen and teen boys to read.
This graphic novel is a quick read full of action and mystery.  Daniel’s parents were murdered, and he discovers that his father was an alien who hunted outlaw aliens on Earth. 

Mike Doughty can be corny at times, and he shifts from serious lyrics to goofy crap at the drop of a dime, but he catches those melodies and rhythms that please the human ear.