Spoilers, Ancient and Modern

If you haven't listened to S-Town yet, you should . . . and if you haven't read (or watched) Hamlet yet, then you probably never will and it would be silly for me to recommend it (sort of like recommending that you check out the Bible) but I'd like to point out some interesting parallels between the podcast and Shakespeare's most famous tragedy:

1) both contain themes of suicide, Hamlet contemplates suicide but chickens out-- though he can barely stand the "slings and arrows" life has sent his direction-- and John B. actually makes good on his promise to remove himself from the picture because he's just so "tired" of dealing with all the shit;

2) bother John B. and Hamlet see themselves in an "unweeded garden" of corruption and betrayal;

3) Brian Reed, the narrator and reporter in S- Town,plays the same role as Horatio-- he goes on a trip to investigate a death and ends up as an involved bystander in a world that is both intellectual and depraved;

4) Hamlet and John B. both believe that "frailty thy name is woman";

5) in both works, there is family intrigue and alliances, oblivious to the machinations of the outside world, and in the end, Fortinbras and the Burt family  operate in the same manner, swooping in to take over the land;

6) there is the distinct possibility that both protagonists are insane, and rereading or relistening makes this more and more apparent;

7) there are plays within plays in both works-- the back room in the tattoo shop, the needle play, the dramas within dramas of John B.'s relationships;

8) there is the theme of time and time dilation . . . no one can figure out how time passes in Hamlet, the span may be much longer than we think, and the same with S- Town-- John is involved with his horological studies, but it's impossible to trace when his mercury induced insanity began, when he went from trying to improve the town with his friend the clerk to feeling betrayed by everything, and if Brian Green ever knew him in a time of sanity;

9) both pieces contain plenty of dark humor amidst the tragedy;

10) both protagonists are most certainly geniuses;

11) both John B. and Hamlet have weird relationships with their respective mothers, and odd stances towards sex;

12) I really like the podcast and the play.

Memories . . . Light the Corners of My Mind?

Dan Chaon's new thriller Ill Will will make you question everything you think you know about your past, and while elements of the novel are predictable, Chaon's experiments with structure are enough to discomfit any normal narrative experience . . . whatever that means . . . and if you're gullible enough, you'll fall for everything, and if you're not impressionable, then you'll certainly be horrified, so however you enter this story, you're bound to be disturbed.

I Am Valuable

Although I'm certainly not the head chef in our kitchen, there are certain things at which I excel during dinner preparation:: I am a good chopper of vegetables, and (of course) I am good drinker of wine and beer, I select the best of the best when it comes to cooking music (although I sometimes get a bit lost in the selecting process) and I recently discovered another culinary skill that I possess . . . I am phenomenal at reading a recipe aloud, enunciating the measurements, so that my wife can execute the instructions without consulting the computer-- and this skill dovetails perfectly with the drinking and the musical selection, so it's a win-win-win!

Jimmy Gluestick Fingers

Our family just watched the 1990 Tim Burton classic Edward Scissorhands, and while we enjoyed the visuals: the brightly colored antiseptic suburbs, the dark contrast of the castle, the extent of the whimsical topiaries, the odd menace of Anthony Michael Hall, and the steampunk chic of Edward himself, we had some problems with the logic of the story: Mister Scissorhands occasionally eats, but he doesn't seem to actually require sustenance to survive, and he never goes to the bathroom--  he's obviously never removed his leather skinsuit (one of the problems of having scissors for hands) and he seems to be immortal-- as indicated by the ancient Winona Ryder at the end of the film-- but it's never explained what his energy source is . . . my kids thought maybe he generated power with the constant clicking of his scissorhands; we also speculated on possible sequels . . . Jimmy Gluestick Fingers, Johnny Tape Hands, Martha Marker Nails, Philip Fork Phalanges, etcetera.

To Distribute or Not to Distribute

My two favorite wonky podcasts have recently done episodes on healthcare (The Weeds, Common Sense) and the takeaway is this:

1) Americans pay a ton of money for healthcare and we don't get very good results-- we may be the greatest country in the world for lakes, but we are not even in the ballpark when it comes to health outcomes-- not only do we pay more, but we get less, and-- most significantly-- for a developed country, we die rather young;

2) we have taken the worst aspects of free markets and government subsidized healthcare and combined them, and at every step of the way, players are trying to squeeze profits from the system-- and without the government to negotiate prices, the patient is screwed;

3) Republicans care more about giving a tax break to rich people than actually reforming the system;

4) we may be subsidizing medical innovations for the rest of the world with our high drug costs . . . or that's what people who work in the industry would like you to believe;

and Dave's theory is this:

it all comes down to what William Gibson said: "the future is here-- it's just not evenly distributed," and how America decides to apply this sentiment to the population, as there's plenty of incredible medical advances, knowledge, drugs, and treatments and if we distributed these to the majority of Americans, we'd have a much healthier country . . . or you could take the Paul Ryan route and try to make the distribution as lumpy and uneven as possible, which might save money, or might allow for some advances for certain people, but wouldn't give everyone access to the future that is already here . . . and it seems that the disagreement over Gibson's idea breaks down along party lines; I know I'd rather have everyone getting access to all we have available now, even if that meant there wouldn't be as many innovations in the future, especially if you could decouple health care from employment and allow people to move around the country and switch careers without fear of losing benefits, as that would really spur the economy (as would a healthier populace) and maybe convince a few folks that coal mining is the only way to make a living (despite the particulate matter and mercury poisoning, which are quite costly, from both an environmental and healthcare perspective) but there are plenty of people-- rich people, conservative people, lobbyists, people in the medical business-- that would like to see things continue as they are, or even get less evenly distributed and make the industry more about economics and free markets . . . but the important thing to remember is that good health is a temporary state, no matter how well you feel, the reaper's scythe will cut you down to size soon enough . . . cheers!

The Test 82: Fill in the Trump

The bigliest, most beautiful, classiest Test ever, inspired by this Car Seat Headrest song . . . a great great test, I'm certain you're going to love it.

The Problem is You, Dave

More often than I'd like, I jack my phone into a charging cord that is not plugged into any sort of electrical outlet, and then at some unspecified later time, I get really annoyed and think my battery doesn't hold a charge.

No Spoilers (No Shit)

I finished S-Town this afternoon, and I won't spoil anything-- other than the fact that my previous prediction (Bitcoin!) was idiotic . . . you couldn't invent the ending to the story of John B. McLemore (and neither could I).

Spoiler? Only If Dave is as Smart as John B. McLemore

I am just starting episode five of S-Town, the fantastic new podcast from the producers of This American Life and Serial, and I have a bold out-of-the-box prediction (especially considering the Flannery O'Connoresque Southern Gothic tone of the story) and I promise my speculative conjecture won't spoil a thing if you haven't started listening, but I'm making my guess and it's Bitcoin.

Why Do We Walk So Far For Ice Cream?

The Median Voter Theorem-- an idea based on Harold Hoteling's theory of spatial competition, which Anthony Downs linked to the U.S. two party political system-- makes perfect logical sense; both ice cream trucks (or political parties) should move toward the middle of the block to capture the median voter (while still being the closest and most appetizing option for the extreme voters as well) and thus the two parties should move closer and closer together (while still remaining discernible) but for various reasons that Tyler Cowen outlines in his new book, reasons such as lobbyists, stasis, financiers, entrenched budgets, complacent participation in democracy and elections, the lack of meaning behind most policy, entrenched budgets and discretionary spending, and a bunch of other shit, this rational model doesn't apply any longer . . . and this is really really strange and means that the polarized political world that we now live in is much weirder than you might imagine . . . so watch the video, and then come up with your own theory on why we're completely insane and willing to walk a really long way for ice cream, and if you really want to be depressed (and intrigued) by stasis and stagnation, and the possibility of an apocalyptic reset that will not only drain the swamp, weed the garden, and possibly set fire to the wicked, read Tyler Cowen's fantastic, precise and intelligent book The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream, and if you're looking for something more metaphorical, literary, and Southern Gothic, then check out the podcast S-Town . . . but be careful about digesting them in combination, as you'll be in for an ugly ride.

Dave Returns! With the Usual Drivel . . .

My wife and I escaped from the children this weekend and enjoyed some unscheduled time in the City of Brotherly Love . . . and while we certainly experienced some love, it was mainly of the segregated and gentrified sort-- 13th Street near McGillin's pub is no longer gritty and urban, it's now a wonderful upscale strip of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops catering to young hipsters . . . here's a quick and dirty rundown of some of the stuff we did and saw:

1) after hiking over to the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, which is a bit of a haul from center city but definitely worth a stop, we wandered into a Trump Rally, which was fairly small (apparently it got bigger and wilder as the day went on) and while it was pretty tame, it did have the usual jingoistic chanting, an African-American representing Black Lives Matter with a megaphone in an argument with a bearded Trump supporter, and some people off to the side with a fantastic sign condemning everyone; the sign read:

LUKEWARM CHRISTIANS LIKE TRUMP 

WILL BURN IN HELL WITH ALL LIBERALS

REPENT AND OBEY JESUS 

which is a statement I've got to admire in its candid comprehensiveness and straightforward sentiment;

2) we saw the horror movie Get Out, which is funny, scary, and satirizes race relations in America-- I highly recommend the film, it's totally entertaining . . . and soon after, when we were walking through a slightly sketchy area that harbored some prostitutes and homeless folks, a rather tipsy African-American woman yelled, "White people stink!" at my wife and me, and I told her she should go see Get Out, which would certainly confirm her hypothesis;

3) we ate at some excellent places: Lolita, Pub and Kitchen, Sampan, Dan Dan, and Misconduct Tavern.

Questions of Dave Part IV

Did the lobbyists who perpetuate our flawed and byzantine healthcare system conspire with the lobbyists who block tax reform?-- because they both have an interest in preserving systems that squeeze the maximum profit out of every step of the equation-- and why do these folks hate the American people so fucking much?

Questions of Dave Part III

Now that music is essentially free (Spotify, YouTube, etc.) and streamable, will creditors grant amnesty to those who are still delinquent on their BMG Music Service and Columbia House Cassette of the Month club bills, because they fell prey to the negative option payment mechanism?

Questions of Dave Part II

At what rate must you consume a 48 ounce plastic jug of garden fresh Costco salsa in order to finish it before it goes sour?

Questions of Dave Part I

Cat and I are leaving the kids with my parents and heading to the City of Brotherly Love for the weekend, so I'll provide you some questions to ponder while I'm off the reservation:

1) how many hours of vintage Van Halen concert footage must I force my children to watch before they can truly appreciate the preteen portrayal of Van Halen in the "Hot For Teacher" video?

Dave's Brain = Random Band Name Generator

From the man who provided this phenomenal (but inappropriate) band name, gratis, here's another . . . it's a bit more intellectual, perfect for some math-rockers looking for a moniker:

The Algorithms of Delphi. 

Dave Has No Need For Telepathy

It turns out that my new mind-reading machine is fairly useless-- I thought it might be interesting to read Donald Trump's mind, but his thoughts are identical to his tweets-- and every time I used it on people in my general vicinity, they were thinking the exact same thing: Dave's here! Awesome!

Telepathy of Dave

Just got my new mind-reader operating, so I pointed it at Paul Ryan's brain and found this gem: people will enjoy their own subpar healthcare more if a bunch of other people they know don't have any healthcare at all.

Dave + March = Mirror Madness

I was tired today, despite a good night's sleep and I just realized why . . . I'm exhausted from watching all that NCAA basketball-- that's right, I'm physically tired from sitting on my butt, vicariously competing-- because my mirror neurons were firing like crazy for much of Saturday and Sunday afternoon: in fact, scientifically, it's like I played 80% of those games, because that's the percentage of neurons that fire when you're watching sports (as opposed to playing sports) and I watched quite a few games (the weather was lousy on Saturday) so really I'm probably more tired than some of the kids who were playing, plus I battled plenty of monsters during Kong:Skull Island . . . so I more than earned this beer I'm drinking, and I can't wait to get another phenomenal workout next weekend.

The Test 81: Of What It Is Made

This week on The Test, Dave and Stacey learn that a lot of stuff is made of other kinds of stuff . . . and Cunningham knows what that stuff is . . . not only that, she also knows how to dispose of old soup; so play along and see if you know of what things are made (you should also notice a vast improvement in sound quality, as I learned how to use the level controls on my digital audio recorder).