Uncle Hank

O + O ...looks suspiciously like a pair of glasses, don't you think?

I had a couple of very long drives recently so I decided to listen to an audio book. Specifically, I chose THIS book as an audiobook, as read by Mr. Jake Gyllenhaal. (More specifically still, I finally cashed in my audiblepodcast.com/wizard credit to do so. Thanks, guys!) I have only a minor thing to add to the discussion of this episode - when talking about Gatsby's funeral, you guys remarked a couple of times about how the "owl eyes" man called Gatsby a "son of a bitch". However, Mr. Gyllenhaal read it aloud in such a way as to say "sonofabitch" in a friendly, drinking buddy sort of way. It definitely changed the interpretation of that part of the scene, which I found pretty interesting.

I've never been able to do this with books. My impression - from the outside - is that following all this would significantly cut into my actual reading time. As I type this, though, I'm realizing the issue goes deeper than that: I don't know how to even find reliable sources (critics, book podcasts, upcoming releases, etc.). Engaging with reading other than someone giving me a personal recommendation is mystifying. Putting it in the context of the video game industry, I know how this industry works because I grew up with it. I was there when major magazines rose and fell, when the concept of a game website was still (ahem) novel, and so on. I've not only got critics I can generally trust, and ways to gauge common public opinion on ___ game, but I have some basic metrics I can use to judge whether I want to give a game my free time. On the other hand, I feel like books are so much more subjective (to me personally, at least) that it's tough to even know how to look forward to a book, particularly ones from first time authors. And because I haven't stayed on top of it, I don't know what reliable / "good" places to find critical thought and discussion are. I have no idea how the industry of this medium really operates. So...yeah. Reading about reading is hard, guys.

I kept expecting Sean to make a comparison to The Jerk when he was telling that story, so...I've got your back, Jake.

Car thief who was high on drugs and masturbating when he plowed into Portland crime scene will not have to register as sex offender.

I still can't figure out what this will do that a computer doesn't. Even the "it's on the TV!" thing can easily be done with HDMI outputs, etc. I mean, yeah, it's cheaper than a laptop (if your gaming PC is in a different room or something), but a cheap laptop can play Android games easily enough as well as, y'know, being a portable computer, and lots of people already have those. Am I missing something?

Just finished it yesterday (and registered to talk about it!). Overall, I really enjoyed it. Even factoring in its length, it was a pretty brisk read. In case I missed it somewhere, I want to make sure the writing itself is acknowledged, because it was really superb stuff. (Although I could have done with a little less heavy handed foreshadowing in the first portion, what with the constant "Well, this is how I remember it being," stuff.) Tony got on my nerves at points, but I think the extent to which he over thought things was an important character trait, so I don't resent it. My favorite thing about him - to piggy-back on the discussion about everyone assuming they're the protagonist - was that even when he thought he had cracked Veronica's secret about her "son", he still only thought about it in terms of himself, and the letter he had written. She was right, he really just didn't get it. Like owenjones, I'm in my late twenties and it had me reflecting not only on how these current years will be perceived when I'm old, but how I'm already remembering days gone by. Any book that has me thinking this deeply about myself is definitely worth a read.