I started reading Stephen King‘s new time travel epic, 11/22/63, last week. So far, I am enjoying it immensely. I haven’t broken the spine on a King novel since high school and I don’t read much fiction but the subject matter caught my attention. Lately, my reading has unintentionally congregated around cults of personality: Vincent Bugliosi‘s Charles Manson tome, Helter Skelter, Hampton Sides‘ Hellhound On His Trail, about Martin Luther King‘s assassination at the alleged hands of James Earl Ray, and Walter Issacson‘s officious, illuminating, and technically soggy biography of Steve Jobs.

11/22/63, however ominous thus far, has a light and giddy air to it. King’s protagonist, a Maine high school English teacher named Jake Epping, is a perfect vehicle for complaints about grammar, frequent references to literature and, occasionally, veiled references to a certain social network. On page 161 of the book, King writes, through Epping’s first person narrative, “When I woke up the next morning, a nine-o’ clock sun was shining in my as-yet-curtain-less bedroom window, birds were twittering self-importantly, and I thought I knew what I had to do. Keep it simple, stupid.” I think he’s on to something.

Five topics related only in as much as these friends are doing good work, deserving of your time and attention.

1. Erik Loyer, the creator of, and my collaborator on, the iOS app Strange Rain talks childhood trauma, softball (also a form of childhood trauma), and the Apple II with Kill Screen Magazine.

2. Josh Ottum‘s Like The Season, is one of my favorite records made in the last 10 years. His new album, Watch TV, comes out July 19th. Read a review by the venerable Ned Raggett and listen to excerpts via OC Weekly.

3. New York Times illustrator and Twilight & Ghost Stories cover artist Grady McFerrin gets the Grain Edit spotlight for his gorgeous, ageless, hand-cramping typography.

4. In addition to producing, engineering, and teaching, Ronan Chris Murphy also hosts the fantastic, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-studio-shorts Ronan’s Recording Show. You can watch all the episodes online or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes. One of my personal favorites involves a visit to Sound City in Van Nuys.

5. Critics Leigh Alexander and Kirk Hamilton examine L.A. Noire from unique vantage points (practical and post-modern, respectively) and come to a similar conclusion: in attempting to be something more than just a video game, it fails at being a video game altogether.

Steve Wulf, writing in March of 1988 for Sports Illustrated:

One current struggle bears watching. It began in 1983, when Jim Gott, then pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays, faced second baseman Tim Teufel, who had just been called up to the Minnesota Twins. Teufel hit his first major league homer off Gott. Later in the same game he singled off Gott. In German, Gott is God and Teufel is Devil.

Theologians should not lose heart, though. In an exhibition game the next spring, Gott hit Teufel with a pitch. They didn’t face each other again until last summer, when Teufel, playing for the Mets, grounded out twice against Gott, who was pitching for the Pirates. So far, the Devil is 2 for 4 against God.

Says Gott, “You know, as a Mormon, I feel a tremendous amount of pressure facing Teufel. Just kidding. Actually, Tim and I kid each other a lot about it. His name may mean the Devil, but he seems like a great guy.”

Says Teufel, “I don’t know about Gott being God, but he does have a great fastball. To tell you the truth, though, my nemesis is Steve Carlton. Struck me out four times in one game at the end of his career. My god, what was he like in his prime?”

Fallin’ Ditch

When I get lonesome the wind begin t’ moan?
When I trip fallin’ ditch?
Somebody wanna’ throw the dirt right down?
When I feel like dyin’ the sun come out?
’n stole m’ fear ‘n gone
Who’s afraid of the spirit with the bluesferbones?

Who’s afraid of the fallin’ ditch
Fallin’ ditch ain’t gonna get my bones
How’s that for the spirit
How’s that for the things?
Ain’t my fault the thing’s gone wrong?
‘n when I’m smilin’ my face wrinkles up real warm
’n when um frownin’ things just turn t’ stone?
Fallin’ ditch ain’t gonna get my bones
’n when I get lonesome the wind begin t’ moan
Fallin’ ditch ain’t gonna get my bones

Download it here. Rest in peace Captain.

The Times also chimes in with a nice essay by clothing designer Marc Ecko.

I will mention my recent L.A. Record review again, only to recommend that you watch the live Herbie Hancock/Joni Mitchell concert on Yahoo!. There’s an audience shot during Joni’s standing ovation 32 seconds into “River.” I’m the tall German dude with the big head in the upper left hand corner.

More well researched, well written reportage from Long Beach’s The District Weekly. This time it’s Dave Wielenga looking into the state of the city’s lamentable daily paper, The Press Telegram. The article is called Dad Roasts Devil Tot. Interested yet?

New York Times
They have weathered the print to web storm and have come out as the clear victors of both content and style. With Khoi Vinh‘s beautiful redesign in 2006 the Times became a joy to read online. Add writing from Jon Pareles, Mark Bittman and David Pogue and you’ve got one hell of a specialized team in music, food and technology.

The District Weekly
Comprised of ex-pat OC Weekly and Press-Telegram writers, The District is a powerhouse. The design of the paper (and Web site) is top notch and the writing from Theo Douglas, Chris Ziegler, Rachel Powers and Dave Wielenga is non-peril. All involved should be proud. Long Beach has never produced a finer paper, daily or weekly.

Daring Fireball
Before John Gruber began soliciting commercial sponsorships I happily paid to receive his full RSS feed. Gruber is the thinking man’s Apple advocate. His critiques are insightful, his predictions interesting (even if occasionally incorrect) and his hilarious screeds are actually fun to read.

Dodger Thoughts
With the state of local baseball analysis so anemic, I’m incredibly grateful for Jon Weisman‘s careful, passionate and thoughtful writing about my favorite team (of any sport), the Dodgers. Here’s to Russell, Loney, Broxton and The Bison in 2008!

ESPN.com
Michael Weinreb has written the best “Where Are They Now” article that I have ever read. Along with Pete Rose, the article’s subject Bo Jackson, was a childhood hero of mine and Weinreb‘s writing is insightful and deals with thousands of inherent cliches with ease. ESPN.com’s baseball writing is fantastic too: Peter Gammons, Buster Olney, Rob Neyer & Jayson Stark? Yes.

Magazines

Stop Smiling
I am almost at a loss for words when describing Stop Smiling. Really, it is the finest magazine published in America. In the last few months they have published interviews with Robert Towne, Jay-Z, William Eggleston, Robert Altman, Questlove, Tom Waits, Rickey Gervais, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Evans and so on. My subscription currently runs through 2009 if that is any indication of my unbridled enthusiasm. Did I mention that Dave Tompkins occasionally writes for them? Incredible.

Tape Op
Simply put, everyone who makes or loves music should subscribe to Tape Op. It’s smart, passionate, well written and ad supported. That means, FREE!

Esquire
You could continue being a mongoloid or you could read Esquire. Fantastic writing from Chuck Klosterman, A.J. Jacobs and Scott Raab and great black book issues with gold mines of practical advice. Again, one of the few subscriptions I hold.

Books

Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis
A facinating and occasionally dark (okay, off-white) look into the life of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. Author David Michaelis obviously put years of research and time into reconstructing Schulz‘ life and experiences and although upsetting to his close family, the book strives for a deeper, objective understanding of who the man behind the brilliant art of Peanuts really was. Highly recommended.

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
Esquire writer and “human guinea pig” A.J. Jacobs has a need to constantly put himself into rigid lifestyle experiments whether reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica or, as in this book, following all of the commandments of the Bible as literally as possible. Ultimately he finds is impossible but does his best and meanwhile delves deeper into the real words within the Bible than the most devout of believers.

God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
A provocative, seething book, Hitchens draws out all the venom and attempt to provide his own antidote. I’m not entirely sure that is possible in and of itself but this book helped to re-awaken my inner skeptic and for that I will be forever grateful. I wrote more about God Is Not Great earlier this year.

The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
The book has now reached phenomenon status and although I can’t say that I’m currently able to put everything from its pages into practice, it has certainly reminded me that I must look at things askew and that hard work is no substitute for smart systems.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
It wasn’t particularly fun to read but it sure was thought provoking, emotionally searing and unforgettable. McCarthy’s bleak landscape turned the most mundane events into small triumphs and his prose was as beautiful as it was oblique. I’m not entirely sure what to make of the ending which keeps the story wonderfully unresolved in my mind.

While I found Dawkins’ book intelligently written and informative I found it too condescending to be enjoyable. His seeming contempt at all who have believed in the Divine prior to the age of scientific enlightenment, while understandable, is hard to take page after page. Collins, a born again Christian, pro-Darwinist and head of the Human Genome Project, provides a welcome ballast to multitudes of undernourished zealots who find in science nothing more than pagan contradictions to the Holy Word of God. The Language of God provided a number of illuminating anecdotes (and theoretical similarities to Dawkins’ book) but Collins’ own faith seems to be more deeply influenced by the words and concepts of C.S. Lewis than that of the Bible itself.

Hitchens, however, struck a long dormant chord within my internal skeptic and successfully disrupted some of my already tenuous beliefs. Although the book is by no means an all inclusive manifesto it is written with passion, experience, anger, wisdom and, thankfully, a good bit of humor. Hitchens is not above hyperbole; in some ways the scope of the book welcomes misquotes and, occasionally, stereotype. However, he distributes his scathing, common sense critiques across all belief systems and he provides a deep, welcome breadth of first hand experience in cultures and climates very different from those I am familiar with.

Personally, I have long attempted a well balanced world view that succumbed neither to Nihilism nor Fundamentalism but rather walked down the lonely road of the critical thinker. Today, I am further down that road than ever.