So, here’s a recent Goldstein Twitter tirade:
And then the morning after (i.e. afternoon after) remorse:
And then Jorge checks in:
And Goldstein:
All of this is eerily similar to a recent David Rakoff drunken tirade on the Wiretap episode “The Hangover.”
Anyway, this week’s National Post article includes a bit about another one of Jonathan’s foray’s into today’s technology:
Thursday. My friend Arthur texts me to say that he’s around the corner. I text him back that I’m on my way over. Texting is something I’ve recently discovered. Each message takes me about 20 minutes to write and no one can ever decipher what I’ve written; still, it makes me feel “with it.” I know that having it make me feel “with it” is proof positive that I am absolutely not “with it” and probably never will be “with it.”
Enjoy.
Also, this week’s Wiretap episode is “Adam and Eve.” It’s not up on the archive just yet, but you can listen to Goldstein read it on This American Life. Also, this week’s episode features John K Samson currently of The Weakerthans and formerly of Propagandhi. (Should be neat.)
Just summarized Of Time Space and Money which features Tim Ferriss author of the 4-Hour Work Week.
Also, we hear from Jon Tucker, Gregor Ehrlich and David Rakoff.
And in case you are wondering about all that egg business: here.
Products from this show:
Hi
This week’s episode is called “Rainy Day Blues” and features Howard Chackowicz (and his dog), Gregor Ehrlich, David Rakoff and Andrea Stanford, addressing subjects such as: coffee and tea, rainy days, cutting your own hair, and the Canadian comedian’s mafia.
Here’s the official word:
“Rainy Day Blues” This week on WireTap, Howard turns Jonathan on to the latest in home hair-care, the Trimco 3000. Plus, what do Howie Mandel, Kim Cattrall and Lorne Michaels have in common? Gregor uncovers the conspiracy that is the Canadian showbiz mafia.
“Rainy Day Blues”
This week on WireTap, Howard turns Jonathan on to the latest in home hair-care, the Trimco 3000. Plus, what do Howie Mandel, Kim Cattrall and Lorne Michaels have in common? Gregor uncovers the conspiracy that is the Canadian showbiz mafia.
On that note, today’s National Post article (”Ferns make me lightheaded“) has Gregor’s opinions on comedy:
“Ever notice how there are certain people’s YouTube links you just never get around to opening?” he asks. “They send you something with a subject heading that reads “Hilarious” and you click on the link and it’s Dane Cook riffing on Kool-Aid. After a couple of strikes, those people and their links become to dead to me.” Gregor is a comedy Nazi. When he sends me videos that don’t make me laugh he quotes Michael O’Donoghue: “Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy.” “I think Dane Cook is kind of funny,” I say. “Dane Cook is about as funny as a piles attack,” he says. “And if you keep going on that way, I’ll be ignoring your YouTube links, too.”
“Ever notice how there are certain people’s YouTube links you just never get around to opening?” he asks. “They send you something with a subject heading that reads “Hilarious” and you click on the link and it’s Dane Cook riffing on Kool-Aid. After a couple of strikes, those people and their links become to dead to me.”
Gregor is a comedy Nazi. When he sends me videos that don’t make me laugh he quotes Michael O’Donoghue: “Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy.”
“I think Dane Cook is kind of funny,” I say.
“Dane Cook is about as funny as a piles attack,” he says. “And if you keep going on that way, I’ll be ignoring your YouTube links, too.”
I’m appalled that Goldstein likes Dane Cook, too.
AThis week’s episode has gobs of references, and the debut of Starlee buddy and Post-it Note Stories partner Arthur Jones. Check out the summary and then these links:
Anyway, this episode features 50 fun facts about the United States and some pronunciation lessons from David Rakoff (though no one flagged the unsavory pronunciation of “Ill-eh-noise,” which is really only acceptable when Sufjan Stevens does it). Buzz Goldstein hangs out too and Tucker is mentioned, as usual.
Hello, okay now that it’s several days later, I’ve finally posted up the next episode of Wiretap. It’s not on the podcast yet, but you can check it out on the episode summary page for “The Hangover.”
Not much time for any other comments – I could go on and on about how Jonathan is reaching into diary entries from 2006 for material and highlight the subtle tweaks that have been made since they appeared in the National Post.
But I won’t.
Oh, speaking of National Post, this week’s column featured:
Have a nice Thursday.
Wednesday is here, and this week’s National Post article features a lengthy conversation between Goldstein and David [Rakoff, I'm assuming]. David addresses an issue that, as an American, I’ve noticed: Jonathan’s Canadian pronunciations. Stuff like “drama” as in rhymes with Alabama. It never occurred to me that it was because Goldstein was from Canada. I thought it was just because he was an MFA.
Anyway, this Rakoff and Goldstein interplay reminds me of the This American Life episode where the staff has a contest to see who has the most testosterone. For some reason, being Canadian factors into a lot of people’s conjecturing on who will win. It’s the third act and it’s called Contest-osterone.
On another note, maybe we can expect an episode with David Rakoff in it? You may remember him as Dr. Suess or Fred Flintstone.
Good times.
Some time ago, This American Life (”Mistakes Were Made“) had some regular contributors give a rendition of William Carlos Williams’ “This is Just to Say.” Here are our friends:
This Is Just To Say by Jonathan Goldstein This is just to say I have eaten the Fruit of Knowledge but nothing happened
not a word no lightning or volcanoes not even a drop of rain
So I was just wondering Are you there?
This Is Just To Say by Heather O’Neill
Dear Mom, This is just to say I forgive you for eating all the plums the apples the pears and even drinking the last of the orange juice
I forgive you for emptying Dad’s bank account and for painting stars on our station wagon right before you got in and drove away I forgive you for leaving us without even saying goodbye
Your plans were always so sweet, so delicious and so cold
This is just to say b
At our wedding I disappeared briefly To have sex with your sister Up against the back of the port-o-sans
What can I say The chardonnay was so fresh and cold And I so full of love and a sense of family
And I said, I’m sure One day we’ll laugh about this Well, by one day I meant that day And by we I meant me And by laugh I meant laugh
his is just to say by Starlee Kine 1 I chose the other girl I’m sorry It’s not just that I’m more attracted to her It’s also that she’s more interesting
2 I used your dog as an excuse To pick up girls at the dog park Which is especially tacky Since I am your boyfriend
Please forgive me I’m really bad at being In a relationship But I’m pretty sure I told you that When we first got together
This is just to say by Shalom Auslander 1 I’m sorry you’re overweight And drinking And feeling like everything In your life Is doomed to failure But this is probably why Mom said I was her favorite
2 It sucks, little doe That I hit you with my car
But at least You weren’t alive To watch the hunters Shoot your children
3 He was a troublemaker, okay And didn’t know when To shut up
Still We never would have killed him If we’d known he was the Lord
At the end of Private Life; Public Performance JG mentions that the first act was a collaboration between him and Mireille Silcoff and appears in Guilt and Pleasure. For the life of me, I can’t find it but I did find some other delectable goodies:
Oh and pictures:
I think you should all go to Guilt and Pleasure and read/buy every issue. David Rakoff has a piece in the newest issue, too.
I think this is an all-Jewish publication. Though it doesn’t mention that any where in its about. Maybe it just so happens that all my favorite authors are Canadian Jews.
Guilt & Pleasure is a quarterly magazine that’s making you talk more . Guilt & Pleasure is based on the belief that a good argument – especially on issues of community and identity in America – has become too rare a thing. We hope our magazine and the DIY section of this website will be used as raw material to spark conversation – be it around the dinner table, a coffee shop, or a bar. Guilt & Pleasure encourages you to talk amongst yourselves.
UPDATE: I emailed the magazine seeking the piece, and apparently it doesn’t exist?:
I’m not sure which article you are referring to. Jonathan and Mireille have both written for the magazine (and Mireille was the editor-in-chief) but I don’t believe they ever did an article together. And the hypnotist doesn’t sound familiar to me although I wasn’t working here for the first four issues so I could be wrong. It sounds like it would be in the Magic issue- there is an article about Hitler’s psychic/hypnotist by Mel Gordon in there- could that be what they were talking about?
Hmm, Guess I’ll ask CBC.
Well looks like Wiretap is running reruns for the summer – not only that, this week’s episode is a repeat containing a repeat: the Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone piece appeared on This American Life episode 345, “Ties that Bind.” What’s more interesting, a live version in of this bit showed up on “Love Thy Neighbor,” on April 4, 2007, which was drastically different, though I think it used the same phone clips. I think I prefer the new version more – it is truer to the Wiretap format and tells as much of a story without any narration. But then again, the Jonathan Goldstein monologue style gives you more of the trademark JG storytelling. I guess its interesting to see the same story approached form two distinct Wiretap-styles and have both be successful.
Anyway, that was in Act II. Give both versions a listen and enjoy.
What else happens in this episode? Well there’s the story of the Penguin meeting Mary Poppins. And then there’s a bit where Jonathan Goldstein calls up Josh Karpati who begins ribbing him for his unusually high telephone bill by pretending to be a Bell employee deflecting a customer complaint. I’ll make a summary page later.
Oh, and Wendy Dorr (This American Life producer and regular help on Wiretap) is the voice of Betty on the Rubble’s answering machine.
Image grifted from 80s Tees, meaning, yeah I guess you can buy that.
I just received Lullabies for Little Criminals in the mail today. I’ll provide updates on my thoughts later.
From the backcover:
A gritty, heart-wrenching novel about bruised innocence on the city’s feral streets– the remarkable debut of a stunning literary talent. Heather O’Neill dazzles with a first novel of extraordinary prescience and power, a subtly understated yet searingly effective story of a young life on the streets–and the strength, wits and luck necessary for survival. At thirteen, Baby vacillates between childhood comforts and adult temptation: still young enough to drag her dolls around in a vinyl suitcase yet old enough to know more than she should about urban cruelties. Motherless, she lives with her father, Jules, who takes better care of his heroin habit than he does of his daughter. Baby’s gift is a genius for spinning stories and for cherishing the small crumbs of happiness that fall into her lap. But her blossoming beauty has captured the attention of a charismatic and dangerous local pimp who runs an army of sad, slavishly devoted girls–a volatile situation even the normally oblivious Jules cannot ignore. And when an escape disguised as betrayal threatens to crush Baby’s spirit, she will ultimately realize that the power of salvation rests in her hands alone.
A gritty, heart-wrenching novel about bruised innocence on the city’s feral streets– the remarkable debut of a stunning literary talent. Heather O’Neill dazzles with a first novel of extraordinary prescience and power, a subtly understated yet searingly effective story of a young life on the streets–and the strength, wits and luck necessary for survival.
At thirteen, Baby vacillates between childhood comforts and adult temptation: still young enough to drag her dolls around in a vinyl suitcase yet old enough to know more than she should about urban cruelties. Motherless, she lives with her father, Jules, who takes better care of his heroin habit than he does of his daughter. Baby’s gift is a genius for spinning stories and for cherishing the small crumbs of happiness that fall into her lap. But her blossoming beauty has captured the attention of a charismatic and dangerous local pimp who runs an army of sad, slavishly devoted girls–a volatile situation even the normally oblivious Jules cannot ignore. And when an escape disguised as betrayal threatens to crush Baby’s spirit, she will ultimately realize that the power of salvation rests in her hands alone.
Sounds interesting. I’ve always preferred “heart-wrenching” over “heart-warming.” I read somewhere else that this novel is “semi-autobiographical,” which, I guess is unsurprising: I’ve always viewed Heather O’Neill that way in my mind–rough and forlorn with the child/adult vacillation and all. The back also has mad props from our friend David Rakoff ["This is a beautiful book, all the more remarkable beacuse its harrowing tale is (vitruosically) told without a trace of self-pity or bathos..."] and a brief bio:
Heather O’Neill is a contributor to This American Life, and her work has appeared in New York Times Magazine. She lives in Montreal, Canada.
Hm, they left out her most sterling accomplishment (in my eyes): contributor to Wiretap and “long-time partner” of Jonathan Goldstein! No worries, our hero gets mentioned in the dedication:
“I would especially like to thank . . . Jonathan Goldstein for love and squalor.”
Squalor? Hm. I guess I do remember him noting that he (or a character?) looks like he has a five o’clock shadow even when clean-shaven. Here’s how Transom.org displays him:
Anyway, that’s all for now.
UPDATE: Turns out there’s an audio podcast excerpt of this from HarperCollins Canada Prosecast. Check it. It’s read by Miriam McDonald, “one of the stars of Degrassi: The Next Generation.” Here’s what else they said:
This podcast is the second in our series of excerpts from terrific new AudioBooks. This time, we’ll be listening to the beginning of Heather O’Neill’s debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals. This book was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, as well as winning CBC Radio’s prestigious Canada Reads. It’s no wonder all of Canada was reading it.
