Part of why I love Goodreads, and the internet in general, is for the instant feedback I’ve been able to get from readers of Hiding Out. There hasn’t been a deluge or anything, but it’s been fun to hear what people think of the book, good and bad.

Back in the summer, we’d recorded an excerpt of the book, scored by Msgr. Abraham Levitan, and included it on a Flameshovel sampler (and much thanks to Flameshovel for that). So the other day, I open up my MySpace inbox, and lo and behold, I got the following message, maybe my favorite response yet:

Hey bub.

I went to a Maritime show in Orlando the other night. I bought an LP and inside was a Flameshovel Records sampler. Somewhere in the middle of Florida, I pulled off the interstate to sleep off my drunk. I put the Sampler in and heard your reading of “Not Even the Zookeeper Can Keep Control”

Needless to say, I had a few fucked up dreams before the sun rose.

This morning, I was astonished to find that I can’t find the text of the story online anywhere. I think the internet is broken. I even tried shaking my fists in the air. Really.

So I guess this means I have to buy your dang book. Since I’d rather support you instead of Amazon.com, could you recommend a retailer where I can buy your book?

Fanks.
Robb Hohmann

Marvel and DC are apparently flipping out about scans of their comics going up online.

I can’t imagine that people sit at their computers and download pdfs of comic pages unless they’re just testing the waters. Reminds me of the Japanese dojinshi (tribute, bootleg and ripoff comics) that had manga creators going nuts, until they realized that they were actually bringing more readers to the source material.

The much-anticipated launch of the online literary magazine Please Don’t is upon us. Run by masterminds Scott Stealey and Pete Coco, the mag’s first issue is looking good. Pat Somerville has a great story on there, and I’m looking forward to reading Kevin Clouther’s essay on why Boston loves Kevin Youkilis.

It also marks the debut of my “I Could Punch a Wolf” essay, which should hereby puts to rest the ongoing debate of whether I could ever punch a wolf in the face. It’s all there in black and white. I could.

Congrats to Pete and Scott. The mag looks great.

Sat on my sofa, watched a lot of movies, read half a book. Here goes:

Beowulf
I don’t know if it was when Anthony Hopkins dropped his robe and revealed his naked avatar ass or when Beowulf, trapped in a cycloptic sea monster’s jaws, cut his way out through the eye and stood atop the monster’s deflating head screaming his own name that I first thought, “This is the greatest movie ever made about a poem.”

Gone Baby Gone
Dennis Lehane must love MacBeth, because this makes two movies based on his novels where the protagonist’s wife/girlfriend asks him to screw his courage to the sticking place and make a morally suspect decision. It’s just weird. Other than that, I think this movie is actually better than Mystic River, largely because there are no Penn histrionics, and the ethical dilemmas presented throughout are practically visceral, if ethical dilemmas can be visceral. There are, of course, a billion twists, which is something I find discouraging about contemporary mysteries. I’m always enthralled for the first 2/3 of a movie, and then the constant twists begin popping up and it devolves to formulaic gotcha-ism.

The Perfect Crime
Spanish movie about a department store casanova who accidentally kills his rival/boss. Highly stylized and very funny, though the humor waned as the movie progressed. One of those films that, if theaters and audiences allowed movies to be an hour long, would have been perfect.

Persepolis
Visually gorgeous animated film version of the Marjane Satrapi graphic novels. Not going to say much about this, as I watched an advanced screener for TOC.

The Hoax
Not nearly as good as I wanted it to be. Clever and well-paced, but I couldn’t help feeling like I’d seen the whole thing before, even if I couldn’t pinpoint where. Shattered Glass has a similar story, higher stakes, and was overall much better.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Five
Haven’t finished it yet, but watched about nine episodes over the long weekend. Even though I miss the Mayor, I think this might be the best season so far. Glory is the best villain, Buffy’s mom just died and the Watcher Council episode drove me nuts. Also, it finally sank in for me that Xander’s role is the audience’s. He’s the everyman among the demons, the slayer, the witches and the Watchers. I finally get it, five seasons in, and he suddenly doesn’t annoy me anymore. I like the guy.

Unmarketable by Anne Elizabeth Moore
A little over halfway through Anne’s book about the ways big corporations deceive and steal from the “underground.” So far, a lot of the book is stuff I’ve read from Anne in the past, but I’m digging it. Just got through a great chapter on copyright, fair use and “copyfighting”—attempts to prevent corporations from overextending their copyrights and killing artistic expression. That one got me heated. Looking forward to the rest of it.

I had a blast this morning down in the Trib Tower with Rick Kogan. Doesn’t look like WGN archives much of the show, which is a shame.

If you missed it, but want to hear more Messinger in Stereo, tune into 88.7FM tonight at 8pm. I’ll be on Donna Seaman’s great literary show, Open Books. We recorded an hour’s worth of conversation a couple weeks back, and I’m looking forward to hearing how it came out. You can listen to it live through the WLUW website, or catch it recorded on the Open Books site, afterwards. Whatever floats your gravy boat.

For anyone tired of sleeping in this long weekend, I’ll be on the great Rick Kogan’s radio program The Sunday Papers tomorrow morning, at 7:30am CT. We’ll talk about the book, and I’m guessing a variety of other concerns. Maybe we can steer the conversation over to the Bulls, who lost to the Knicks, of all teams, today. That’s 2-9. I don’t know why Hinrich and Gordon are shooting like, well, like me, but if your 1 and 2 play that poorly, your team is never going to win, no matter who the coach is.

Anyhow, you can listen here, and I’m on shortly after the half-hour Lutheran Hour. Not a joke.