On the other hand, I love Raymond Chandler

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler remains one of my favorite books. I dipped into it last night (story idea, kinda twisted, probably nothing to see the light of day) when I recalled this wonderful piece of dialog. Philip Marlowe has accepted a contract from wealthy oilman, General Sternwood, to do a little digging. He has just left the general's office and encounters the butler, who invites Marlowe to talk to the General's daughter, who, according to the General, "has the morals of a cat":

"Miss Sterwood would like to see you before you leave, sir. And in the matter of money the General has instructed me to give you a check for whatever seems desirable."
     "Instructed you how?"
     He looked puzzled, then he smiled. "Ah, I see, sir. You are, of course, a detective. By the way he rang his bell."
     "You write his checks?"
     "I have that privilege."
     "That ought to save you from a pauper's grave. No money now, thanks. What does Miss Sternwood want to see me about?"
     His blue eyes gave me a smooth level look. "She has a misconception of the purpose of your visit, sir."
     "Who told her anything about my visit?"
     "Her windows command the greenhouse. She saw us go in. I was obliged to tell her who you were."
     "I don't like that," I said.
     His blue eyes frosted. "Are you attempting to tell me my duties, sir?"
     "No. But I'm having a lot of fun trying to guess what they are."

Damn, nobody can write like that anymore.

On the subject of public schooling

Between the two girls, Omaha and I have spent over $200 on school supplies in the past four days, and that doesn't include the shoes they needed: Yamaraashi-chan's new PE sneakers, and Kouryou-chan's "indoor shoes" for the school hallways at her Montessori school.

What annoys me more than anything is the "general pool" school supplies Yamaraashi-chan is expected to supply. A ream of copy paper, a ream of lined paper, 36 pencils, 100 4x6 index cards, three packs of Post-It notes (yowch, those are pricey), a bottle of glue, three boxes of tissue paper.

There is something to the attitude that "my kid can't get a good education unless your kid does too," which is part of what inspires parents to make these sacrifices. Yamaraashi-chan will never want for the supplies she needs; much of what I bought today will be used more by the less-fortunate students than her. Still, it annoys me that basic supplies, like copy paper, must now be bought by the parents. What's next? If we don't supply it, the kids will go without toilet paper? A pro-rata assessment of the school's electricity and water use?

Seen in a book review:

Quick, what book series is this man reviewing, and (extra credit) what analogy is he making?

Consider for a moment the fact that no sane parents would give their children books which portrayed a set of "good" pimps and prostitutes valiantly fighting a set of "bad" pimps and prostitutes, and using the sexual acts of prostitution as the thrilling dynamic of the story.

Okatu USA

The premier magazine in the US for anime fans is Newtype, which is produced with articles from the original Japanese edition. Someone felt that what was needed was a strictly American magazine, one that catered to US fans without Japanese input or oversight, and that the market had room for more than one anime magazine, so out comes Otaku USA.

The problem with this magazine is that there's absolutely nothing in that a well-tuned RSS reader can't give you. The "coming soon" articles are handled by various blogs, media release houses, and aggregators, I've read deeper and more significant reviews on rec.arts.anime.written, and (maybe this is just me) I don't find the industrial aspects of the craft all that interesting: interviews with directors and writers don't pique my interest in quite the same way that their output does.

Launching a magazine in the era of blogging and RSS and pipes and Google news is a courageous one, but I don't think there's enough here in Otaku USA to sustain it for very long.

Labor day is for sleeping!

I labored little on labor day. Other than the beginning of school year shopping, I did dishes and laundry, played endless rounds of Set and Sorry! with the girls, watched them as they played rounds of Avatar and Guitar Hero on the PS2, and generally did nothing at all.

I need a nap.