Conan The Barbarian screenwriter asks that people consider his feelings
Sean Hood, a screenwriter (or more specifically, script doctor) behind recent megaflop Conan The Barbarian took to Quora to explain exactly what it feels like to watch your film fail in a matter of hours.
C30 c60 c90 no!
Are you the type to get very upset when a word is removed prematurely from the Oxford Dictionary? Then you’re not alone in anger over the removal of “cassette tape.” No matter what anachronistic tech world you live in, however, one should have seen this one coming. After all, here’s an article I wrote four years ago after the shutting down of the last American tape plant.
The joke market
The Wall Street Journal looks at “The Fax List”—and unlike “cassette tape” the term “fax” is apparently unkillable. This is the little-talked-about list of freelance topical jokes sent around weekly in the brutally competitive world of New York-shot comedy shows. Saturday Night Live, in case you needed any dreams crushed, pays exactly $100 for a Weekend Update joke.
Wired hearts Kobo
Wired gave the Kobo Touch—currently the third place eReader—a mostly positive review, pointing out the main thing I love about mine, namely the openness of its no-fuss ePub platform. I have loaded it with any number of PDFs, converted files and ePubs and everything works, which could make it the VW of eReaders.
A category four literary Wednesday
This should be a new tradition for Toronto: Schedule multiple A-plus book events all on the first Wednesday of September. It could be like NXNE for nerds.
Canada Reads finalist Brian Francis follows up his debut with the novel Natural Order, launching Wednesday, September 7 at the Gladstone Hotel, 6PM, free.
Coach House Books and print shop holds its annual Wayzegoose open house party. Be warned though, I was disappointed when I showed up the first time and they weren’t serving goose. There are, however, burgers, oftentimes cooked by award winning poets. Coach House, 80 bpNichol Lane (behind 401 Huron), 5-11 pm, free.
The Press Club’s Pivot Poetry reading series kicks off its fourth season with readings from Sachiko Murakami and others. Press Club, 850 Dundas W., 8 pm, PWYC.
And holy syzygy, why not throw in a Granta launch? The literary mag holds a Toronto event in honor of its new issue. Reading will be local contributors Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer and Sadaf Halai. Type Books, 883 Queen W., 6 pm, free.
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Brian Joseph Davis is Toronto Standard’s Book Critic. He also is the author of Portable Altamont and I, Tania, and co-founder of the literary website Joyland.
