Sunday, December 23, 2012

New blog about Finnegans Wake


Just a quick note that I've officially launched a new blog to be entirely devoted to Finnegans Wake.

It is called "Finnegans, Wake!" in reference to the title's imperative angle, calling the sleeping giant of civilization to rise up from slumber. The purpose is to awaken readers to the unfathomable, essentially infinite depths of the work which I believe is the greatest work of art of the 20th century.

It's become clear to me that the massive black hole that is Finnegans Wake was threatening to inhale the entirety of this blog plus it just makes more sense to have a separate home for all my blabberings about that most derided of obscure books.

I will, of course, continue to post plenty of material here and certainly won't cease discussion of the Wake around these parts, but all thorough explication, reflection, etc. will go on at the new blog from now on.

Unfortunately, since I'm heading out of town tomorrow for a holiday trip to the Bay Area, I probably won't have a chance to put up anything new either here or at the shiny new Wake blog until next year.

Until then, stare in amazement at this book cover artwork for the Wake done by Philip Smith. You can see more of his work here.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

New piece in Slant Mag on Masta Killa

"I wrote this degree/
adjust ya eyes to the light/ so you could see"
- Masta Killa

Had a little piece published yesterday in Slant Magazine, my fourth for their them so far, a review of Wu-Tang Clan dart-throwing extraordinaire Masta Killa's new solo album entitled Selling My Soul. An unusually slick and soulful (and very short) batch of tracks that serve largely as a promotional showcase of Masta Killa's dexterity of flow and subtly striking poetics, essentially a preview to his long-awaited full length album Loyalty is Royalty.

(Expanded reflections on the career of Masta Killa after the jump...)

Monday, December 17, 2012

Wu-Tang is for the Children: Neil deGrasse Tyson interviews The Gza/Genius

Astrophysicist and generally good-natured eloquent guy Neil deGrasse Tyson had co-founder of the Wu-Tang Clan and generally brilliant guy Gza/Genius as a guest on his radio/TV show recently. Somehow, Tyson was not quite aware of the massive cultural influence Wu-Tang, especially Gza, has had on the world. Here he learns, much to his amazement, how young listeners of Wu music were consequently led to passionate interests in science.

Watching him get schooled by The Gza, who spun out a few eye-opening bars during the convo, makes for great entertainment. And if you happen to be someone who is not fully aware of how Wu-Tang has inspired two decades worth of young people to seek Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding, you'd gain a fresh perspective by checking out the show.

(Video and personal reflections after the jump...)

Sunday, December 9, 2012

On Completing Finnegans Wake


"Booms of bombs and heavy rethudders"
- Finnegans Wake, p. 510

Welp, I've finished my first full reading of Finnegans Wake.

Took almost exactly six months, reading each chapter in a non-chronological order (detailed here) along with a few guides and some other relevant books. The experience was a rewarding and enlightening one, certainly. I had an awe and strong curiosity for the book before actually reading it and now those feelings have only deepened.

It's going to take a while for me to assimilate all of my observations and notes into a full piece about the experience and I will in fact be starting up a separate blog to be entirely devoted to Finnegans Wake stuff. But for now I'd just like to share a few reflections.