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Recent Posts
- “The A.I. Doc”: Dumb & Dumber Meets the Digital Overlords
- “Normal” Movie Review: Bob Odenkirk Blows Up the Fonz
- Jonathan Kennedy’s “Pathogenesis”: Mystery of the Neanderthal Extinction Solved!
- The Finale of “DTF St. Louis”: Sad Coda to Great Character
- Keanu Reeve’s New Movie “Outcome”: Schizophrenic Comedy/Drama on Fame and Goodness
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Author Archives: williamjcobb
On the Illegal Immigration Debate, Tim Egan's Savvy Op-Ed, and How It Appears in Novels
So Tim Egan has a blistering attack on the scapegoating of Latinos in the latest Republican presidential debates, and the whole issue of illegal immigration and migrant workers, here: I grew up in a predominantly Latino area of South Texas … Continue reading
Posted in books, Politics, The West
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In Praise of "Boardwalk Empire," Season 2, & Bad Horror Movies on Netflix, Like "The Awakening"
So I’m home sick today, and one of the few pleasures for a working stiff on these sick days is catching up on mindless TV. It beats trying to figure out why in the world so many people are transfixed … Continue reading
Posted in Bad TV, Good TV
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On Prophecies in "The Bird Saviors": Dust Storms in Texas
So my forthcoming novel, The Bird Saviors—due out in (what’s left of) bookstores in May/June—opens with a dust storm in southern Colorado, and when I began writing it some five years ago, I imagined it set in a fuzzy ‘near … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, Politics, The West
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Seven Billion Humans & Jared Diamond's "Collapse"
So various news organizations are reporting that our planet is now home to this mythical number of seven billion humans, mythical in that we don’t know that for sure, but it’s a good guess, and all its implications. I still … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change
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Warren Brussee's "The Second Great Depression" & Herman Cain's Nutty Economics
So one of the truisms that is sometimes voiced about our current Great Recession is that “Nobody saw it coming.” Which is nonsense, a myth propagated by dimwit media types who would like to believe this fiction, or who actually … Continue reading
Posted in books, Politics
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Pete Dexter in the New York Times!
So it’s a good day when you stumble upon a book review of a Jim Harrison novel written by none other than one of our best living novelists, Pete Dexter, here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/books/review/the-great-leader-by-jim-harrison-book-review.html?ref=books&pagewanted=all My favorite paragraph, about fiction: “Put together, these … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West, writing
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Reading Daniel Yergin's "The Quest" & a Witty Post About Truthiness
So I’m reading the much-talked-about new tome on energy and the future, Daniel Yergin’s The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, just published. So far I’m not particularly impressed, especially after Dwight Garner’s rave review in … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West
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Australian Horror on Netflix: "The Reef," "Arctic Blast," and "Primal"
So I was at first excited by the streaming-video options of Netflix months ago, but the charm actually rather quickly wore off and I agree with some of the popular grouching about it—basically that Netflix has a rather limited list … Continue reading
Posted in Film
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"127 Hours" as Big-Budget "I Shouldn't Be Alive," With a Nod to the Great "Touching the Void"
So I finally got around to watching the much-acclaimed/suspect film of Aaron Ralston’s self-amputation, 127 Hours, and actually thought it was pretty good, even if my hotel owner/chef in Green River, Utah held a grudge against Ralston for not paying … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, The West
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Climate Change Coverage in the NY Times
So I have decidedly mixed feelings about most of our media, no matter how much I read or watch it, as I imagine most of us do. (I make a point to read CNN just to see the latest blather … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West
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