On the Coffee Table: Kurt Vonnegut

Title: Galápagos
Author: Kurt Vonnegut


Image via Shifting Baselines

When I first started The Armchair Squid a couple years back as a sports blog, I'd pondered possibilities for new directions down the line. Science fiction seemed a strong candidate - another interest I pursued as a child despite the rest of my family's indifference. I expected, however, that film or television would be the likely blogging gateway to the sci-fi world. Instead, it was books.

In anticipation of this possible transition, I've tackled a few sci-fi classics over the past year - Frankenstein, The Island of Doctor Moreau, From the Earth to the Moon, I, Robot and The Martian Chronicles - but have not posted reviews. With the 12 Books in 12 Months challenge behind me, I felt the time had come for The Squid to branch out. I decided to begin with an old friend.

I first read Vonnegut in high school when Cat's Cradle was assigned to my 11th grade English class. To say I was impressed is putting it mildly. Apart from his great humor, Vonnegut's bold irreverence for the novel form was very refreshing to a 16-year-old kid who was just beginning to catch on that school could be fun and intellectual exploration gratifying. I later read other books on my own: Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions and Palm Sunday, a collection of essays. The latter contains many wonderful musings on the writing craft which I still bear in mind whenever I read fiction.

All of that said, Galápagos is a fun read but not Vonnegut's strongest effort. The basic story, a random assemblage escaping from the mainland to ultimately offer humanity a new beginning, would have been plenty interesting enough without Vonnegut's typical temporal wanderings. Maybe I'm too old to be impressed by all of that anymore. For me, a great read is when you forget you're reading a book at all and suddenly realize you've plowed through 100 pages in one sitting. Vonnegut seemingly never wants you to forget that you're reading. While marking those characters soon-to-die with asterisks provides modest levity to an otherwise dark tale, I found the practice jarring. My Wife hates Vonnegut, as she explains in her Slaughterhouse Five post. I now feel that I can understand why.

Of course, Vonnegut has very tough competition at our house right now: J.R.R. Tolkien. I recently finished reading The Hobbit to Our Girl and we're now several chapters into The Fellowship of the Ring. In film or print, all I really want is a good story told well and very few can match Tolkien on that measure. Not many can claim to have created such a rich and textured world as Middle Earth. If the literary profession were a boxing circuit, I doubt Vonnegut would even survive the first round against Tolkein. To his credit, though, Vonnegut would be the first to concede his opponent's superiority.

I anticipate many re-reads in my science fiction explorations: Douglas Adams, certainly, and probably full immersion in Asimov's oeuvre at some point. I think Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are also both worth another look, if only to remind myself of why I loved Vonnegut in the first place. And yes, I still do, even though Galápagos didn't do it for me. I leave for now with the author's interview with Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Kurt Vonnegut
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

And here is his list:

LIBERAL CRAP I NEVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN

Give us this day our daily bread. Oh sure.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Nobody better trespass against me. I'll tell you that.

Blessed are the meek.

Blessed are the merciful. You mean we can't use torture?

Blessed are the peacemakers. Jane Fonda?

Love your enemies - Arabs?

Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. The hell I can't! Look at the Reverend Pat Robertson. And he is as happy as a pig in s**t.

12 Books in 12 Months: A Book You Read Because You Wanted to Laugh

Book: The Polysyllabic Spree: A Hilarious and True Account of One Man's Struggle with the Monthly Tide of the Books He's Bought and the Books He's Been Meaning to Read
Author: Nick Hornby


Image via Amazon.co.uk

This was a great book for this challenge as it is, in fact, about books. Hornby wrote a series of columns for Believer magazine regarding his own adventures in reading. The book includes all of the essays plus a few excerpts from the books he read.

Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About a Boy, is pretty dependable for laughs. To me, a truly funny book is one you're embarrassed to read in public because you can't stop laughing. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is the perfect example. The Polysyllabic Spree wasn't nearly on that level but there were a few out-loud guffaws I struggled to stifle. I particularly enjoyed his stories about his brother-in-law, fellow author Robert Harris. Hornby described some of Harris behavior as unfraternal whereas I thought it closely resembled my relationship with my own brother-in-law, not to mention the relationship I would have with a biological brother if I had one.

Hornby writes a lot about how he chooses which books to read. Naturally, I gave some thought to my own tendencies. I like exploring a genre: sports books or classic science fiction, for instance. I don't have much need to buy books as My Wife has accumulated an impressive private library over the years. Furthermore, unlike most people who buy books and never read them, she's actually made her way through the thick tomes which line our shelves. If I should live another 100 years, I'm quite certain I'll never catch up.

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I hope that you, too, will join the 12 Books in 12 Months challenge. Details are here.

If you'd care to join the challenge, please let me know by commenting below or e-mailing me at armchairsquid@gmail.com. Also, please tell me how and where I can follow your posts. Don't be shy about suggesting other categories, either. It is my intention to compile a new list of 12 once this one is completed. My only parameter is that no one should have to buy anything in order to complete the challenge - nothing beyond a library card required.

30 Songs in 30 Days, Day 17: A Song That You Hear Often on the Radio

Song: "1999"
Writer: Prince
Performer: Prince
Album: 1999



My FM radio station of choice is awesome! MP103 is based in Waterbury, Vermont. Their official format is Adult Hits but their motto is simply "Whatever. Whenever." They mean it, too. Just this past week, they followed "Faith" by George Michael with the theme music from The Exorcist. The "Whatever" part of the motto does mean that one occasionally has to sit through Lady Gaga or that awful fireflies song to get to the good stuff but it's always worth the wait. The best thing about the station? No DJs - most importantly, no morning DJs.

It's actually not easy to come up with a song they play often. Recently, I heard a Culture Club song in exactly the same part of my afternoon commute on consecutive days, but they were different songs. I had a similar experience with Rick Springfield songs not long afterward. The same song twice in one week is as close as it gets so Prince gets the nod.

The song I really wanted to use for today is the following. But while they have played the song in the past, it would be a stretch to say they play it often:



I've always admired Prince. Unfortunately, his showmanship antics make it difficult for some to take him seriously but I consider him to be one of the most talented and dynamic musicians in the business. He is, however, easily parodied as demonstrated in the Dave Chappelle clip below. All of 5' 2", Prince really did play varsity basketball in high school.




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I hope you'll join us for the "30 Songs in 30 Days" challenge, inspired by the tumblr list. Our 30 Songs roster:

Stay on target...
Marc Whitman's Blog
Haley says "Hello" To You

It's never too late to post your own. Tomorrow is...

Day 18: A Song That You Wish You Heard on the Radio

Baseball in Verse: Casey at the Bat

Baseball has its own poem. How fantastic is that? Following is the text in full:


Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in 1888
by Ernest Lawrence Thayer

Published in The Examiner, 6/3/1888

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that -
We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;
And it's likely they'd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shown;
He stilled the rising tumult; he made the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out.

"Phin"

The poem is a cultural institution all its own and portrays a game which, at its heart, has changed very little over the past 123 years. As fans, we still hold out hope that the stars of our team will bail us out in the end. Still, whether because of their arrogance or the inherent injustices of the game, they fall short more often than not.

Consider Ichiro Suzuki, certainly the most dependable contact hitter of the current era, though just as surely a humbler persona than Casey. For his major league career, Ichiro has a .315 batting average, meaning he has failed to hit safely 68.5% of the time - more than 2/3. He's better in Casey's situation: .348 with runners in scoring position and two outs. But that's still a 65.2% failure rate. As outstanding as this first-ballot Hall-of-Famer is, he still disappoints the Mariner faithful far more often than not.

Following are a few pop-culture interpretations of Casey.

There's not much to offer visually here but what better speaking voice to start us off? Just imagine if Darth Vader had been the Mudville manager!



Disney's rendering



Penn & Teller take a swing

Baseball Funnies: George Carlin

George Carlin was a genius. My Wife claims this encapsulates her feelings about football perfectly. Enjoy...

Baseball Funnies: Who's on First?

Baseball has served as artistic inspiration in several media but has had perhaps its most significant impact on the world of comedy. Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First?" is arguably THE masterpiece of sketch comedy. We recently showed it to our daughter for the first time and, although I'm not sure how well she followed the whole joke, she genuinely enjoyed the basic wordplay at its heart. "I Don't Know - Third Base!" was a running gag at our house for a week afterward.

I can't tell you much about the routine's history beyond what you can learn from the Wikipedia entry. I love the fact that there was once a board game based on the sketch! I know I first learned about it from a friend in high school who went on to an acting career in New York.