the past week has been a feeding frenzy in terms of the volume of things i have had to absorb. sometimes i wonder if too much new material can have counterproductive effects. hopefully, by listing the film and book titles, i will, at least in a superficial sense, be able to reflect on how the new material made me feel at the time i absorbed it and if it still has any relevance at the present moment. i did take a liking to kurt vonnegut jr.’s “science fiction” writing with my first taste of his works in breakfast of champions and cat’s cradle. i loved the character of kilgore trout – the science fiction writer who “knew nothing about science” – portrayed as lonely, sad, pathetic, but to his credit, suspicious that he may be just a character invented for the sake of a story — i couldn’t help being amused by such an ironic consciousness and the fun it pokes at writing, the reader, and the story. in like fashion, the bokonon religion was another vonnegut invention that i couldn’t stop thinking about – a religion which, straight up, admits that it is a “pack of lies” but only proceeds to build up a theological belief and a following – another ironic twist and perhaps a nudge at existing religious institutions as well. also, in keeping with the spirit of conservative-hating, i’ve watched Hunting of a President (a documentary on how right-wing conspirators ruined Clinton’s presidency) and Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore’s box-office hit documentary) in the same week. considering that Gore did have more popular votes in 2000, i hope people keep their heads straight and get bush out of office, but at the same time, four more years of bush would guarantee a sequel documentary from Moore, no? also, i am happy for Clinton these days as he tours around with his newly released book, banking on millions of copies sold and getting positive press – truly an elvis for the political arena.

but not to bore anyone with what i thought of every single thing i read or watched, here are the latest additions:

books
breakfast of champions by kurt vonnegut, cat’s cradle by kurt vonnegut
currently reading: the bonfire of the vanities by tom wolfe

films
dodgeball, the hunting of a president, running on karma, fahrenheit 9/11, bad santa, spartan