Via TechCrunch: (apologies, because TechCrunch seems to have issues linking to the full article).

The physical book is dead, according to Negroponte. He said he realizes that’s going to be hard for a lot of people to accept. But you just have to think about film and music. In the 1980s, the writing was on the wall for physical film was going to die, even though companies like Kodak were in denial. He then asked people to think about their youth with music. It was all physical then. Now everything has changed.

I think this is bogus. Here’s why: people still buy CDs.

Guess what? It’s true! People still buy CDs. TEN YEARS after Napster. Ten years after it became so easy to download music, people still buy CDs.

I work in a Bookstore. We have a CD section. It’s shrunk since I’ve been there, but we still have it, and people still buy CDs.

There are two possibilities:

1. There’s still a market for hardcopies of digital content.
2. Most people buying CDs are old enough that they may be too set in their ways to look into MP3 players and computers.

I think #1 is more apt, because, guess what? We sell vinyl records, too.

Long story short: books aren’t going anywhere. I don’t think Nicholas Negroponte knows what he’s talking about. It’s true that bookstores are in trouble, and in five years, the Bookstore I work for may well have locked up its doors and gone out of business. It’s true that one publisher announced today they were discontinuing book publishing in favor of ePublishing …

… but I still think if people are willing to buy CDs ten years after Napster, there will still be a market place for physical copies of books. Maybe it’s just because there’s nothing at all quite like the feel of a solid paperback in your hand.

UPDATE:

AlexPriest reports via Twitter that the full article clarifies that Negroponte believes most book sales will be in eFormat, but that physical books will still exist. I believe this is probably the case, but reject whole-heartedly the notion that physical books are dead. How lonely would a library be without stacks of books? VERY.

So, here’s what I went and read last month:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty

World Without End by Ken Follett

Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz

Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi

Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz

The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Red Son by Mark Millar

McMurty’s Lonesome Dove is a truly epic tale, and while the first 300 pages took some serious effort to get through, the book flew past after that. Wonderful read.

I heard Follett’s World Without End was a let down compared to the book’s predecessor, Pillars of the Earth, but I didn’t feel that when I read it (this could have something to do with the years that have passed between readings). World Without End is best described as people doing bad things to other people, often times with swords, but that hardly does the book justice. An amazing read, intricate plot. Simply incredible.

Scooped this up off the bargain shelf, but Horwitz’s Voyage Long and Strange is merely a decent read, hardly as fascinating or, sadly, relevant as his much better, earlier work, Confederates in the Attic, which I re-read this month as well. This was a good gym read, but I’m glad I only paid four bucks for it.

I know Douglas Preston best as co-author of the amazingly scary The Relic, and so was mildly interested in this book when it first showed up on our True Crime shelves, and it really is a gripping story, that of Monster of Florence: Preston gets rich from being an author, moves to Italy, finds out a serial killer did some butchering next to his home, and pairs with Italian journalist Spezi to investigate the killings, and then they both are targeted by the Italian police as accomplices in the murder. Interesting subject matter, but the story isn’t really interesting or particularly well told. Another bargain shelf find, but not much of a bargain, alas.

I’ve had two copies of Horwitz’s Confederates in the Attic, the first was a birthday gift to me probably nine or ten years ago, and the last time I saw it, I’d leant it to a coworker at a pizza shop up north of Baltimore (this was probably eight or nine years ago). Reading A Voyage Long and Strange was all the encouragement I needed to spring for a replacement copy of this book: Horwitz explores what the Civil War meant, in particular, to southerners both white and black. It’s sad, and kind of funny, but very much relevant. A truly fascinating read for any American.

I like my Batman stories grim and gritty: forget suits with nipples and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale collaborated for The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, sequels to Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. Focusing heavily on the relationship between Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent, with prime-bad-o’s the Falconi crime family, the three strong men of Gotham City’s legal, police, and vigilante forces struggle to trust each other and break crime’s back in a very 1940s crime noire tale of a serial killer.

Where I like my Batman stories grim and gritty, I don’t like my Superman stories … at all. Well, usually. Red Son imagines a world where Superman landed not in the American mid-west, but the Soviet frontier. Raised as a Soviet, this Soviet Super Man is all the things the American was (minus the whole “…and the American way!” bit). But it turns out that wherever his origins, all he wants to see is peace and prosperity for mankind, his efforts frustrated by Lex Luthor, president of the United States and his lone opponent. I don’t want to give away the ending, so I’ll only say that it took me by surprise and left me with a gentle smile on my face. Additionally, the alternate version of Batman (with his fur cap) made me laugh.

As always, links here refer to my Amazon Associates web page. I will earn referral fees from anything purchased on Amazon via these links, and I thank you kindly in advance.

One of my coworkers is absent today.

She’s been gone for the last three weeks. Monday was supposed to be her first day back after a two week vacation to Iran to visit family. Instead, she’s in the critical care ward of an Iranian hospital.

She was supposed to fly back to the US this weekend, and was in a taxi cab to the airport. A driver coming the other way fell asleep, swerved into their lane, and struck her cab head on. She and her friend were not wearing seat belts. Her nose was broken, and she was suffering from internal bleeding. Thankfully, the bleeding has been stopped, but she’s still in a pretty bad way.

Her older sister works here too, as you can imagine, she’s been distracted lately. I asked why her sister wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. She told me that, in Iran, many cars are manufactured without seatbelts. And Iranians are of the habit of pulling seatbelts out of cars that have them. It wasn’t until a mass crackdown on seatbelt use by the police a few years ago that people started using them on a regular basis.

It’s quite possible my coworker didn’t even have the option of buckling her seatbelt, because there was, quite possibly, no seatbelt available for her to buckle. So, when you’re in a car, buckle your damn seatbelt. It’s not uncomfortable, you’ll barely notice it, and it probably would’ve saved my friend from a lengthy hospital stay and recuperation.

Oh, and the cab driver? In the front seat? Of a vehicle that was struck head on? Was wearing a seatbelt, and walked away from the accident.

The correct question isn’t “Have you seen Hot Tub Time Machine?” Rather, the question is “Have you seen Back to the Future?” Because if you’ve seen one, you’ve actually seen both as they are, in fact, the exact same movie. Except in one, the time traveling device is a Delorean, and in the other, it’s a hot tub.

Yeah, a hot tub. Yeah, it’s as stupid as it sounds. In fairness, I’m sure thirty years ago, someone totally would’ve been blogging “A time machine in a Delorean? What a stupid idea!”

Following a suicide attempt by their asshole friend Lou (Rob Corddry), pals Adam* (John Cusack) and Nick (Craig Robinson), along with Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) journey back to Kodiac Valley Ski Resort which is where they apparently had the defining moments of their lives. Unfortunately, they all turned out to be losers: Lou keeps trying to kill himself, Adam’s a worthless insurance salesman whose girlfriend just moved out on him, and Nick frees bowel obstruction from dogs. Then they stumble across a hot tub which just happens to act as a portal back to 1986 where they call re-live the pivotal moment of their lives. Yeah, in a crappy ski resort town. I don’t pretend to get it either.

In Back to the Future, Marty McFly travels from 1985 Hill Valley, where everything is run down and decrepit, to 1955 Hill Valley, where nothing is run down or decrepit. Additionally, McFly is wearing an 80s orange vest, and is mocked for his clothing. In Hot Tub Time Machine, the four travel from 2010 Kodiac Valley Ski Resort, where everything is run down and decrepit, to 1986 Kodiac Valley Ski Resort, where nothing is run down or decrepit. The four mock 1980s fashion trends.

The Hot Tub Time Machine is powered by an energy drink called Chernobyl. The Delorean is powered by a nuclear reactor, a Mr. Fusion trash->energy reactor, and finally, by a steam-powered locomotive.

Sluts. I think (and could be wrong) that Robert Zemeckis once said Back to the Future worked his way into the head with the concept, “What if you went back in time and found out your Mom was a slut?” Now, putting aside a debate as to whether the future Lorraine McFly was a slut or not, (I tend to lean towards no, even if she was hitting on that sketchy Calvin dude who got hit by her dad’s car), Jacob’s mom (Adam’s sister), Kelly, is a total slut. This is actually kind of a relevant plot point.

Marty lets loose with Johnny B. Goode, Nick rocks out a crowd with Jessie’s Girl and Let’s Get it Started.

Disappearing characters. In Back to the Future, Marty’s successes can be tracked through a photo of his older siblings: as he fails in his mission, the images of his brother and sister are gradually erased. But once he succeeds, they reappear. Likewise, Adam’s nephew Jacob “flickers” (like, you know — flickers flickers, until at one point he actually POPS! and disappears) as the circumstances surrounding his existence come into question.

Crispin Glover. So conceited he backed out of Back to the Future II because he couldn’t get his asking salary (Jeff Weissman played George McFly), he’s also got a reputation about being picky about what projects he works on. Playing a cheery bellhop destined to become a bitter one-armed bellhop? This is his picky project reputation? I decry it as a thumb in the eye of Zemeckis for not meeting his asking salary.

Apparently, fisticuffs are what separate the men from the boys, or the losers from the winners, or the authors from the car detailers. George McFly’s right hook to Biff’s jaw sets George on the path to marrying the love of his life, writing books, and buying a BMW. Meanwhile, Biff becomes his bitch who tries to get away with underwaxing said beamer. Meanwhile, Lou beating the snot out of the Ski Patrol villain is what turns Lou’s life from loser-dom to success.

Older, knowledgeable-about-time-travel character warns main character(s) not to fuck with stuff that already happened: Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future, and Chevy Chase in Hot Tub Time Machine.

So, there you have it: Hot Tub Time Machine is Back to the Future, minus the Delorean, the clock tower, Doc Brown, and Michael J. Fox.

*Interestingly, Adam’s career path mirrors John Cusack. Look: he just did 2012, okay? Don’t tell me the man’s career hasn’t gone downhill.

I am a creature of habit and routine. It is not easy for me to change either.

But I’m determined to change my weekday morning routine.

It used to be that my radio would turn on at 5am. I would mull about in bed, somewhere between being asleep and being awake, for about twenty minutes, before the alarm went off. At that point, it would be a race: my old, slow body hurrying to get showered, dressed, and out the door by 5:40, whereas when I was in high school, my alarm could go off at 7:05 and I’d be out the door by 7:10. Leaving at 5:40 got me to the train platform well in advance of my usual train, which arrived somewhere between 5:48 and 5:52, which then got me to Bethesda before 6:10, allowing me plenty of time to catch a bus which did not depart until 6:17, and got me into work (depending on traffic) a little before 6:30.

Which is all well and good, except I don’t actually have to be at work until 7. Technically speaking, I don’t have to be at work until 10am, but all flex time here means is that the sooner you get in, the sooner you can leave. Except you’ve got to stay until at least 3. So basically, for close to the last year, I’ve been giving my work an extra thirty minutes a day for no real gain whatsoever (except in bragging rights).

About three weeks ago, I was walking home from the Bookstore on a Monday night. I could see flashes of lightning in the distance, but I figured I’d get home in plenty of time to avoid the rain. Bumping into UDotheDishes‘ Blake, I told him, “I’d feel like a real asshole if I took the bus home on a beautiful night like this.” I almost made it, too, but two blocks from home, I felt a drop on my head. “I can make it,” I told myself. “Two blocks. I can make that distance before the rain starts.” About two seconds later I was drenched to the bone. My already battered copy of Lonesome Dove (even in my bag!) took some water damage, and swelled in size (and was still damp the next morning!). And I started skipping my walks home, favoring the bus. I always had excuses: “Oh, I’m tired.” “Oh, it looks like its going to rain.” Truth is, though, I’ve never let “Oh, I’m tired” stop me before.

So my brain started pondering: Okay, if I’m not always going to walk home — and I’ve been counting that two miles walked as regular, daily exercise — how am I going to get that regular daily exercise? I considered starting to go to the gym in the evenings, after work, but I usually don’t get home until after 10pm on nights I’ve worked at the Bookstore, and I find exercising doesn’t exactly do well to put me in a “go to sleep” frame of mind, y’know? ‘

So then I thought — wait, Jeff, why the hell do you go to work so early?

Starting last Thursday, the first thing I do when I wake up is to pull on my gym shorts, my socks and t-shirt from the previous day, and hurry to the gym in the adjoining building. I don’t do a lot — usually about 20 to 25 minutes of cardio on one of the exercise bikes, then I hightail it to my apartment so I can shower and dress and make myself look pretty and smell nice.

So today marks my third working day of this early bird gym schedule. I like it. While I nap twice as hard on the Metro ride back into the city, I feel more energized during the week. Thursday and Friday were highly productive days at work, and I’m looking forward to continuing this exercising effort into the autumn. Admittedly, It’s still a bit too early to say whether I’ve actually changed my old habits or not, but, as they say, time will tell.

Last week I weighed in at 234.5. Despite my increased exercising, I’m actually UP half a pound to 235. Of course, I’ve added some weights to my exercise routine, so I’m crossing my fingers that this is muscle gain.

On the other hand, I did eat an entire bag of Dorito’s Game Nachos on Saturday.

On the other other hand, a cute not-quite-yet twenty-something I work with told me I was looking good, so if I ever decide to rob a cradle, I’m probably working in the right place.