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THE BOOK:
Little Machines - Paul McAuley
There aren’t many writers in science fiction who can match McAuley’s imagination, exquisite sense of character or ability to flat-out write. So why isn’t this guy better known? If you aren’t familiar with him already, Little Machines is an outstanding introduction to his work. The last paragraph of the opening story, “The Two Dicks,” made the hair stand up on my arms.
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THE SERIAL:
Comfort to the Enemy - Elmore Leonard
The New York Times Magazine is publishing this story in a series of weekly chapters. The sequel to my favorite book of the summer (The Hot Kid), Comfort is more of the same: irresistible literary rockabilly. The fact that the serial format forces you to enjoy it slowly – rather than swallowing it all in one rush – just heightens the fun.
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THE MOVIE:
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
I see a lot of kids’ movies with my boys, and most of the time I’m just a disinterested chaperone, but about once a year, one comes along that’s as much a good time for me as it is for them. Last year it was The Incredibles and this year it’s Wallace & Grommit.
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THE VIDEO:
Crash
Stories overlap one another in increasingly fascinating patterns in this remarkable meditation on hate, longing and race. Daring as hell. Funny too. Catch it.
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THE SHOW:
Lost - Season 2
The third episode of the new season, “Orientation,” took what was already one of the best thrillers in the history of TV to an all-new level.
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THE COMIC:
Bone • 2 - The Great Cow Race (Scholastic edition)
I read this to my three boys, one chapter a night, for a week in early October, and it was probably the most fun we’ve ever had reading anything together. They were in hysterics. Come to think of it, so was I.
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THE SONG:
“For My Own Good” – The Damnwells
Off their remarkable, must-own There’s No One Left In Brooklyn But You EP. One of the most beautiful pop songs I’ve ever heard.
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THE CD:
If You Didn’t Laugh You’d Cry – Marah
Marah is my favorite American rock band and this is their loosest, best and most heart-felt CD. Just fuckin’ buy it, okay?
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THE GAME:
Starsky & Hutch
Nothing special about the game itself, which is pretty ordinary drive-around-and-shoot-stuff material. But the two-player mode allows you and a friend to team up – one drives, while the other hangs out the window with a .45 and nails the bad guys. In the version my wife and I play, Starsky and Hutch celebrate a big bust by sleeping together afterwards.
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BEST SHOW:
Marah at TT the Bear’s
They burnt the place down, and I don’t mean in a scary-tragic Great White kind of way... I mean in a transcendent, you’ve-never-heard-anything-like-this kind of way. Did I mention you should buy their new album?
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ANTICIPATED PLEASURE:
We Love Katamari
One of the most absurd games in the long, absurd history of gaming, the prince is back at the end of October. Apparently it will feature a little Starksy & Hutch action of its own, with a cooperative two-player feature for double the freaky ball-rolling fun. I can’t wait to sit down for that first long happy night of, uh, playing with my balls.
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