The Winsome Scholar

You can pick up a copy of Chip Kidd’s The Cheese Monkeys at the Barnes and Noble at 41st.

We are writing reviews of our graphic novels over the weekend.  They need not be longer than a page.  If you aren’t sure how to begin, check out popmatters.com for some good examples. 

Just one today. 

Scott Tobias of The Onion AV Club reviews Harold and Maude—thirty years after it came out.  This statement caught my eye, and inspired me to share the article:

As I said, the film is the birth of modern indie quirk, full of elements and attitudes that have become cliché: Heroes who are more whimsical conceits than real-life, flesh-and-blood creations; an offbeat and slightly twee pop soundtrack (here by Cat Stevens); authority figures painted as stiff, clueless, and completely devoid of humanity; and some vague leftist political references thrown in for good measure…. For me, the litmus test for quirkfests is whether there’s some genuine insight and depth of feeling behind all that willful eccentricity.

An interesting point, which begs the question: Why quirkiness?  I love Wes Anderson’s films very much, listen to Devendra Banhart, Johanna Newsome, Vetiver, read Salinger and Chip Kidd [everything's connected], but why?  Why not jocularity?  Why not stoicism? 

What do you all think of this “quirkiness”?  Did it arise out of the post-Vietnam era only to become apropos again, thirty years later?  Is it true, as the author alludes, that we cannot find this type of sincerity anymore?

[Note the author says "twee," then three of the responders follow.  Stickiness, anyone?]

Here is a link to the previous post, How to Write an Article.  If you ever have trouble finding a post, use the calendar on the side, the "Tags" section, or the search box at the top of the screen.

Um. What? Panic at the Disco meets the Beatles.  Are we ready for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Emo Pop Group?  Popmatters essay

NPR’s All Song’s Considered discusses coming Portishead, Death Cab, Cloud Cult, and My Morning Jacket albums.  With clips! Cloud Cult’s "Everybody Here is a Cloud" is amazing.  I’m unsure about the Death Cab clip, though I love them so.  NPR audio

Pithiness in the wild.  Wooster Collective image

Eh, that was a stretch.

First Hour

Finish chapter six of A Heartbreaking Work.  If you’re interested, here’s the Eggers video from TED.com:

Third Hour

We’ll be reading through page 73 for tomorrow.  To continue the discussion of a book’s impact on how we frame our language, write a journal entry in the style of Charlie.  The topic does not matter, though I would suggest pulling from the previous week’s events.  It is not necessary to think of something exciting.  In fact, a banal event night be best.  Look at it through the eyes of a "Wallflower."  How did the people act?  Why?  Try to "understand" as Charlie does.  He’s grappling with some very new concepts, and has been thrust into a world that he does not always understand.  How is he affected by this?

Charlie mentions reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  He is about the same age as Scout, and they are put into similar situations.  Are their reactions similar?  Why?  Maybe this quote by Shunryu Suzuki can shed some light:

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.