Joss Whedon, long a fan of Veronica Mars, just reviewed the new Veronica Mars Season One DVD set in Entertainment Weekly.
At the center of it all is Veronica herself. Bell is most remarkable not for what she brings (warmth, intelligence, and big funny) but for what she leaves out. For all the pathos of her arc, she never begs for our affection. There is a distance to her, a hole in the center of Veronica’s persona. Bell constantly conveys it without even seeming to be aware of it. It’s a star turn with zero pyrotechnics, and apart from the occasionally awkward voice-over, it’s a teeny bit flawless.
In return for all the Veronica love, Joss will be appearing in the sixth episode this season, apparently as a cranky car rental employee. (Kevin Smith was in last week’s episode as a publicity-loving convenience store clerk.)
“All the Money or the Simple Life Honey,” by the Dandy Warhols, has replaced Marty Casey’s “Trees” as my bounce-around happy fun rock and roll song of the moment.
That is all.
(And yes, I heard it first on the Post-Modern Rock podcast.)
Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld novels and co-author, with Neil Gaiman, of Good Omens, was interviewed by NPR yesterday on science-fiction themes invading literary fiction. Also interviewed was Susanna Clarke, author of the wonderful Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
Freakanomics
is a gold mine of interesting facts and trivia, including how much money a crack dealer makes, the life cycle of popular baby names, how sumo wrestlers work the system and how the Chicago school system caught teachers cheating on standardized tests.
It’s not a lot more than that — the book is openly just an extended magazine article, and not a particularly critical one at that — but it’s a quick and interesting read; I knocked out most of it in a single transcontinental plane flight. And, honestly, when’s the last time there was a quick and interesting read about economics?
The book could use both more length and depth, but hopefully that will come in the form of a sequel.
Recommended for those looking for a fun and interesting quickie read. Not so recommended for those hoping this is a profound work that will somehow change their life.
Someone explain to me why Roseanne is getting its second season on DVD already, when there’s no plans at all for Ed to be released on DVD. Are there really people who miss the vintage comedy stylings of Roseanne Barr that badly?
And where the heck are my Max Headroom DVDs?
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