What I have been listening to lately #66

What I have been reading lately #54

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)-- Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling, a writer/actor on The Office and, currently, Fox TV's The Mindy Project, recently wrote a book about her life growing up in Massachusetts, going to college at Dartmouth, and becoming a writer in Hollywood. I enjoyed this book.

Good Ol' Snoopy--  Charles M. Schulz

This book collects a number of early Peanuts cartoons related to Snoopy. A lot of them revolve around Snoopy's unhappiness at being called "Fuzzy Face" by Lucy.

Good-Bye To All That-- Robert Graves

I read, for the second, third, or maybe fourth time, Robert Graves memoir of growing up in England in the final days before World War One and his subsequent service as an officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers on the western front. Everyone should read this book.

Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness-- Edward Abbey

Sometime in the 1950s, Edward Abbey worked as a ranger at the Arches National Monument; a few years after that, he wrote a book about the experience. In this book Abbey discusses, among other topics--

• the desert
• his ideas for reforming the national park system (eliminating roads and cars mostly)
• a uranium-finding/murder/survival story
• going on a cattle drive
• his thoughts about Native Americans (admiration/they need birth control)
• water (and quicksand)
• trying to capture a long-ago escaped horse
• floating down the Colorado River through Glen Canyon one last time before it was dammed
• almost getting trapped forever in a canyon
• searching for and finding a dead body
• climbing Mt. Tukuhnikivats
• exploring a group of canyons known as the Maze.

Similarly to Good-Bye To All That, everyone should read this book.

Abandoned Books and/or Movies #9

Punk Rock Dad - Jim Lindberg

Jim Lindberg is a member of the group Pennywise, and he and his wife have three young daughters. Lindberg wrote this book to tell what it is like to try to be a member of a punk rock band and also a parent. I got pretty far into this book (127 pages to be exact) and was actually enjoying it, but I got distracted and never was able to get restarted.

I did not actually try to read the following two books, but I did get them from the library and skim them. They are both in the same vein as Punk Rock Dad-- books about the punk way to do things.

Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth About Reality - Brad Warner

Brad Warner was also in a punk rock band (Zero Defex) and then later moved to Japan to teach English and then go to work for the studio that produces the popular Ultraman television show (see photo at the bottom). Warner is also a zen monk.

Punk Shui: Home Design for Anarchists - Josh Amatore Hughes

If you are looking for a short guide to decorating your house according to the principles of punk shui, then this is the book for you.

Below: As promised, it's Ultraman

What I have been reading lately #36

What I'd Say to the Martians and other veiled threats by Jack Handey

This book is a collection of short, humorous pieces that Jack Handey wrote for various magazines, most notably the New Yorker. Click here to read the title piece of this collection.

David Letterman's Book of Top Ten Lists and Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken Recipes by David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman writers

I started reading this book about a week ago and finished this morning. There are not actually any recipes in this book, but there are directions on how to make an end table. My favorite part came on page 88:

Top Ten Good Things About the Biologically Engineered Tomato:

9. First step toward the biologically engineered BLT.

4. Will make its inventor, Nipsey Russell, a very rich man.

Above: David Letterman, when he was younger.

For more information about Nipsey Russell, click here.

What I have been reading lately #35

CBGB's: Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock-- Introduction by Hilly Kristal; afterword by David Byrne. This was a book of photographs. It took about forty-five minutes to read.

Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood by Michael Walker. I once knew someone named Michael Walker, but not the one who wrote this book. This book has lots of information about many musicians, including (but not limited to) Cass Elliot, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Steven Stills, Micky Dolenz, David Crosby, various member of the Turtles, and everyone in Led Zeppelin.

Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss by Tom Davis. Tom Davis wrote for NBC's Saturday Night Live program for many years and was one-half of the comedy team of Franken and Davis. He has many interesting stories to share and tells them in an amusingly random fashion.

Below: Tom Davis (right) and Al Franken (left) with some of their co-workers.

What I have been reading lately #32

Eight is Enough by Tom Braden

I just finished reading Tom Braden's autobiographical book about parenting, Eight is Enough. Tom Braden was a newspaper columnist and publisher and also had a large family, including eight children. The book is about Braden's experiences being a father. The book served as the basis for the popular television show of the same name that was on the air in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Above: Tom Braden and his real-life family

Below: The Bradford family from the television show

While the book is very similar to the television show, there are some important differences:

• In the television show, the family's last name is changed from Braden to Bradford.
• In the book, the family lives in Virginia, Maryland, and southern California. In the television program, they live in Sacramento, California.
• In the television show, the mother (Joan) dies and is replaced by a step-mother (Abby). This was due to the unfortunate death of the actress playing the mother during the first season of the show and did not happen in the book.
• In the television show, Tom Bradford is pretty much a regular guy working as a columnist for a Sacramento newspaper. In the book, we find out that Tom Braden and his wife Joan were friends with such noted people as Robert Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Jack Valenti, Yitzhak Rabin, William O. Douglas, Edward Bennett Williams, and Henry Kissinger.
• In the book, Braden is critical of the Nixon administration and tentatively accepts many of the counter-cultural changes that took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The television show generally steered clear of such potentially controversial topics.

Above: Robert Kennedy

Below: Yitzhak Rabin

Below: Henry Kissinger talking on the telephone

One thing that is not mentioned in the book is the fact that Tom Braden was at one point a CIA operative and participated in anti-communist efforts as a journalist during the Cold War (including once publishing an article in the Saturday Evening Post entitled "Why I'm Glad the CIA is Immoral").

Below: The opening of Eight is Enough from Season Two. Notice that they have started using the signature theme song yet.

What I have been listening to lately #20

What I've been watching lately #3

“Focused on two friends, ‘CITY OF MEN’ feels real, like a Brazilian ‘Wonder Years.’ With some guns. – Los Angeles Times

First there was the movie City of God. Then there was the television show City of Men (Cidade dos Homens). Then they made a movie out of City of Men. All of them are good.

Famous Quotes #1

Mr. Smithers: I'm afraid Robert Goulet hasn't arrived yet, sir.
Mr. Burns: Very well, begin the thawing of Jim Nabors.

Best sports books, movies, and television programs of all time - reader input needed!

Ape Canyon News Service is pleased to announce that at the end of December 2008 we will be publishing our own list of the greatest sports-related books, movies, and television shows of all time. (Actually, it will be three separate lists.) If any of our readers would like to suggest works to be considered for our list, please leave us a message in the comments section of this posting. Be sure to clearly indicated the title, author, and whether the work is a book, movie, or television show. We look forward to your comments.

Best day of the baseball season

This year it took longer than most, but, once again, the Chicago Cubs will not be winning the World Series. Let's all give thanks to those Los Angeles Dodgers! (I never thought I'd be rooting for Joe Torre again.)





The last time the Cubs won the World Series, there were no favorite television shows, because the television had not yet been invented, and the President was Theodore Roosevelt. In the election that fall, Republican William Howard Taft defeated the Democrat William Jennings Bryan.


27th President of the United States,
William Howard Taft

Baseball Playoff Update

It looks as if the New York Yankees, playing their last season in the once-remodelled, "old" Yankee Stadium, will not make the American League playoffs this year. They are 7.5 games behind the Red Sox in the wild card race, in third place behind the Minnesota Twins. The last time Major League Baseball held their playoffs without the Yankees taking part was in 1993. To put it another way, the last time Major League Baseball held their playoffs without the Yankees taking part actor Bill Bixby (of My Favorite Martian, The Incredible Hulk, and The Courtship of Eddie's Father) was still alive.

And, in case you are interested, here's the theme song to The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

Jerry Reed RIP

Word has just reached Ape Canyon News Service about the passing of legendary American musician/actor Jerry Reed. While much of the coverage of his life has focused on his fine singing, guitar playing, and acting in the Smokey and the Bandit movies, we would just like to take the time to point out some of his other outstanding work, specifically the great job he did in the movie Survivors with Walter Matthau (and Robin Williams). We would also like to highlight his excellent cover of Bob Dylan's greatest song, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," and, for those cartoon fans, his work on Scooby Doo. RIP, Jerry.

What I have been listening to lately #14

One of my favorites...

Where are they now? #2

One popular character on the television show Eight is Enough was Susan, played by Susan Richardson (picture below). On the show Susan married Merle "The Pearl" Stockwell, a minor league baseball player.

After Eight is Enough ended, Susan Richardson spent some time in a rock band and also battling drug addiction. However, most importantly, in 1987, she claimed she was the victim of a kidnapping and attempted murder in north Korea* by greedy filmmakers. It is unclear whether the filmmakers were themselves north Korean and/or whether they were working on behalf of the DPRK government; however, the north Korean government has allegedly been involved in many kidnappings, often of Japanese citizens, and has been believed at least once to have kidnapped a movie director to help with north Korean movie productions. Nevertheless, Ms. Richardson's claims do not appear to have positively impacted her acting career, as she currently works in a nursing home in Pennslyvania.

Former north Korean leader Kim Il-Sung

DPRK flag

The DPRK has a long and rich tradition of military parades. Enjoy the video below!




* The Korean peninsula is currently artificially divided into two separate countries - the ROK and the DPRK. The editors of Ape Canyon News Service have chosen to follow the common practice of labelling these two nations south Korea and north Korea using lower case "s" and "n" in recognition of this temporary division and in the hope that some day soon, the two Koreas will be united once again.

Favorite television shows from the past #1

There don't seem to be too many folks watching Greatest American Hero these days...

Where are they now? #1

Grant Goodeve (pictured then) used to play the role of David, the oldest son, on the popular television program Eight is Enough in the late 1970s and early 80s. For most Americans, Goodeve is just a fond, distant memory. However, if you are lucky enough to live in the Seattle-area, you can still see Goodeve on the local NBC affiliate King-5, where he appears regularly on such programs as Evening Magazine and Northwest Backroads.

Grant Goodeve (pictured now)

What I have been listening to lately #12

This song can be combined quite well with Camper Van Beethoven's Ambiguity Song in a medley.

What I've been watching lately #2

In no particular order:

Deadliest Catch

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

The Office (both UK and US versions)

Baseball Tonight (ESPN)

Doctor Who

Star Trek: Next Generation

All of them, with the exception of The Office, are basically boring, and I should stop wasting my time.

What I have been listening to lately #8

One of the drawbacks of having had to work much of my adult life is that I didn't get to watch this every single day.