Uniques, Toolmasters, Ubermenschen

I. Carl Wilson's close reading of a new Destroyer song.

II. Grognardia on Superhero 2044:

Character creation uses a point-buy system that was unusual for its time. 140 points are used to purchase attributes (there are seven), as modified by the character's "type." Superhero 2044 presents three types of characters: uniques ("possessing powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men" -- think Superman), toolmasters (think Iron Man), and ubermenschen (think Tarzan). Up to 50 points may be allocated toward a character's super powers and related abilities. However, there are no rules or descriptions of super powers. This was done consciously by Donald Saxman "for copyright reasons," which is bizarre from both a legal and a game design perspective. Instead, it's left to each player, in cooperation with the referee, to model a character's super powers so that they work with the game's various systems, particularly combat.

III. I enjoyed my appearance on a panel at Fordham the other night (thanks to Helene Stapinski), where I met Arthur Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Williams, and Jim Dwyer. (I also met two students from Buffalo!) Jim read one of his columns, about Marie Ponsot—a great piece, with this nugget on writing every day:

“I used to have babies all over the place, and the people I was teaching, and I could find 10 minutes every day,” Ms. Ponsot said. “You’ve always got 10 minutes.”

Social failure

Chapman: I have to get this out of the way: Is there a story behind naming the song “Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Sea of Tears)”?

Dan Bejar: Ten years ago I was thinking of making an album whose song titles were all named after established American publishing houses. I don’t know why, it was maybe based on the idea of rejection, or social failure. Also, they all sounded so archaic to me, like books themselves, and therefore pretty mysterious. I was into enclosed sets of terms back then, though I was coming out of it, which is probably why I ditched the idea. The album ended up being called Streethawk: A Seduction, and the song titles were all over place, though FS&G stuck. I now just generally call it by its parenthetical title “(Sea of Tears).” I guess ten years later I like things in their simplest, saddest terms. Still think Farrar, Straus and Giroux rolls off the tongue real pretty, though.

—FSG's Work in Progress

Brainwash

I. "She said, only half joking, that she washed her hair a dozen times in the course of reading it: overwhelmed again and again, that was the only way she could clear her head enough to allow her to return to Ishiguro’s world. The novel does have that sort of effect." —Levi Stahl on The Unconsoled (at The Quarterly Conversation)

II. Sarah Manguso's Bookforum syllabus: Writing about not writing.

III. Ed-clone, please go see Destroyer, Locsil, JACK Quartet at Miller Theater tonight come on it's in the friggin' neighborhood no I'm too busy I can't I can't do anything right now I'm burning the candle at both ends, I'm buying more candles, burning 'em, it's candles night and day here but wait Ed (is this Ed or Ed-clone I'm talking to?) you love Destroyer you're always QUOTING IT ON THIS BLOG—

"If that is what it takes..."

Destroyer's "Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Sea of Tears)":



(Thanks to Gwenda's brilliant post.)

Meditation on a lyric by Destroyer

I. "Thou shalt not take part in or make bad art." —Destroyer, "The Bad Arts"

II. Yes, but bad art becomes grist for future laughs.

(Via VSL.)

Dizzies Newsfeeds for November 19

Over at Slate, Dizzyhead Jessica looks at Redacted and the meta-movie-ness of recent war films...At Harriet, Steve Burt makes some interesting connections...Landis Everson has died, an apparent suicide...Scott looks for the Brautigan-Jobs connection...First song on the new Jens Lekman sounds like Scott Walker, next song sounds like Bobby Goldsboro!...Still formulating my defense of Cavemen...Arlo sends us a new Destroyer song, "Foam Hands":

Song of the day!

Hello, Blue Roses (Dan Bejar and Sydney Vermont) sounds great!

From the press release:

“When I listen to the sound of it, I hear European pastoral music butting up against a harsh 80’s reality,” Bejar says. “The Hello, Blue Roses songs are completely untethered to any of the bullshit streams coursing through the scene right now. That’s just how Syd writes them; it’s not her fault. They’re completely melodious, but still so strange. It’s a product of not really caring what people think, but still caring a lot about people.”

(Via Andrew)