DFW

News of his death brought a dark cloud to an otherwise happy weekend. David Foster Wallace's piece on Roger Federer made me get a grounds pass for my first US Open in 2006.

After a couple aborted attempts, and a rendering of the book into three physical parts, I read The Infinite Jest in 2004 while studying public finance at Wagner. Both dealt with our desires and how to measure and realize them. I used to be a bit embarrassed to claim the Infinite Jest as one of my favorite books, as being a bit macho, but after reading the Memories at McSweeney's, there's no need to apologize for loving the work of a modest man who left a giant footprint.

Update (9/18): Jason Kottke provides a great collection of DFW links.

Pent Up Miscellany

Thus opened a flood gate to spew forth pent up miscellany...

I was struck by Maggie Gyllenhall's blonde job in Sherrybaby... if for nothing else that it echoes, but not quite captures the poor-rural-bottle-blonde that some of my cousins have sport... though with severe roots.

I'm reading Paul LaFarge's Haussmann, Or The Distinction, where there is something to gnaw on for urban planners, students of LeCorbusier or Moses, and even those obsessed with the Atlantic Yards project. Plus there's a great passage that made me a bit more cat-allowing..

(p56) "And Madeleine loved most of all that which was catlike in herself, in other words, that which achieved freedom without struggle and independence without loneliness, and for all that never had to go long without food."

Between him and Amy Hempel, I might yet turn out to be an animal lover.

David Foster Wallace's profile on Roger Federer put me over the edge, so I went to my first US Open. Highlights include seeing the unseeded Misha Youzny upset #6 Tommy Robello, he then beat #2 Nadal then lost to Andy Roddick in the semis. Also, I saw eventual champion Maria Sharapova in her third round match. All tennis related DFW writings are magnificent

I've graduated from AM New York and Metro's crosswords to the Times. Thursday is possible in collaboration. Wordplay is what really put me over the edge.

I've been listening to... a torrent of new music. The hottest track this summer is Lily Allen's Friday Night. I'll zap it anyone who's curious. There's also a sharp cut from Talib Kweli with HiTek, Slim Thug and Snoop Dog called This is How We Do It. Also the new Dylan is as good as reported.

I had my best trip to MoMA since I saw the Bonnard show eight years ago. Mariani was back from Providence, so we met at MoMA where Karen was leading a gallery tour of MoMAs new show, Out of Time. After coffee in the sculpture garden, we did a quick tour of the Dada show. Having gone once, it was great to have two art historians and crafty lady to go through and chat with.

Cherimoyas are in season... such a narrow window for such a creamy delicious fruit.

Mariani, Josh and I went to the Scott McCloud book release party at Rocketship. He signed my copy of Understanding Comics, and I got to chat with him about how much the book has occupied my attention in the rest of my work. It's one of the best books on aesthetics, not just of comics.

Reading Off The Syllabus

Each semester I attempt to maintain some personal reading with my course reading. I've had mixed luck in the past, but one home run was reading the Infinite Jest while in my Public Finance class. Both ultimately came down to the understanding the pursuit of happiness, whether its public goods & market failure or addiction & the junior tennis circuit.

I'm taking a class in Public Finance in Developing Countries now, and had the fortune of landing Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins from my book swap just before classes began. Confessions of an EHM is an anecdotal autobiography (with a several endnotes) on how he, as an forecasting economist for MAIN (think Bechtel, Carlyle & Halliburton) inflated estimates to convince developing countries and the World Bank to enter in huge debt agreements. A twist of how the pitch was always based on how great the endeavor would be for the county, and keeping on the low down how much more insured is the profit of his firm. While his style is over the top and didactic, its evident he really is trying to clear his conscious.

Contrast this with public finance theory, where between the lines there are implications of the winners and losers, but the text reads in a scientific neutral. The last two things to come to mind are:

1) how developing countries, whom have relied heavily on taxes on international trade, have been advised to reduce rates in order to spur growth and reap higher revenues. But now research shows that revenues have not increased for developing nations. They fail to mention how corporations are enjoying paying less in tax;

2) Venezuala keeps popping up in the news. Mostly Victor Chavez, and how he's painted as a socialist dictor threatening their stability. Pat Robertson called for his assassination. He survived a coup in December 2002. But what we don't get a sense of is a) how popular and charismatic he is, and b) how oil wealth was bypassing the country before his rise to power, and how contracts we rewritten to put more mineral wealth into the national treasury. Why is the news down on Chavez? Because he has not let Big Oil do as they please . The Documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is a great perspective on how distorted our view of Venezuala is (and can I get a shout for my man Gil Scott Heron and my favorite cut!?!).

I'm moving on to Dominique LaPorte's History of Shit A look at human waste disposal from a Marxist perspective. I'll keep you posted on how it all comes out.