DUMB

I finally saw Avatar last night, and I have to say: not impressed.  I'll refrain from making the already well-noted Ferngully comparison, and say instead that I found the effects to be alright, but very, very far from the "revolution in cinema" that they've been trumpeted to be.  Mostly, it seemed like typical 3-D movie fare, a cheap gimmick where shit in the foreground jumps out.  Basically, it was like watching the world's most expensive (and least interactive) video game.  That's what it looked like: expensive.  Oh, and the plot was lame and derivative, the lines were corny, and Giovanni Ribisi wasted, yet again, his charm and (presumably not inconsiderable) talent. 

Anyway, my brain is pretty dead at the moment--whether that's Avatar's fault is not, at this juncture, entirely clear, but treading water today at work, I've had a chance to read the following articles:

1. Sam Anderson reviews DeLillo's latest, Point Omega.  A pretty fascinating review; I like Anderson's writing a lot, and even though the review is ambivalent at best, it makes the book sound amazing. 

2.  The Times Magazine chronicles the power and the money (money and the power) of serial writer James Patterson, whom they make seem like a populist promoter of reading-as-fun, but whom I consider to be a charlatan.

3. The New Yorker profiles Neil Gaiman, and in doing so basically confirms every reason for which I've long shied away from Gaiman and his work.  The article is packed with goth references, creepy fan-girls, and self-consciously "weird" and "quirky" affectations, but still (like so many New Yorker profiles) manages to be deeply fascinating and curiosity-inspiring.  Consider this a positive version of the "super prolific writer who makes mad bank selling tons of books," in sharp contrast to the Patterson piece above.

4. Amazing over-the-weekend post by Ty/Eric on Free Darko about Phil Jackson's Book Club Selections for this year's team.  Am left wondering if  Pau's copy of 2666 was in Spanish or the translation...   

That's the report. Work sucks, peace out.