Books: The Road by Cormac McCarthyWelcome to the written word.
I'm sure that's what many of you are thinking after I'm saying I just got to this book, but hey man, at least I'm getting there. I got it for my mom two Christmases ago based off a recommendation from Erik, and then the thing blew up after being on Oprah's book club. Of course it did. It won all kinds of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. Yeah yeah, whatever, people love hype.
This book was under hyped. I tore through this book with a ferocity I rarely have for the medium, and it was just an absolute study in near-perfect fiction writing. McCarthy put the world through a clinic on the effectiveness of the English language with this book, and the world he created along with the relationship between the two characters - man (or Papa) and boy - will haunt me for weeks after this. Every word McCarthy wrote was seemingly calculated to garner emotions in the reader, and he succeeded greatly. This isn't just for the fan of post apocalyptic style stories, this is just for the fan of the written word.
Incredible.
Comics: The Stand: Captain Trips by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Mike PerkinsWhen I heard that Marvel Comics was adapting Stephen King's The Stand into a comic, I was incredibly excited. While I had never read the book, I loved the brilliant TV movie and wanted to see what they could do with it after the incredible success they've had with The Dark Tower series also being adapted into comics.
Then instead of a industry giant like Peter David, they had relative unknown Aguirre-Sacasa take the reins of the writing and somewhat small time penciler Mike Perkins (someone I only knew as the other artist on Brubaker's stupendous Captain America run) on art instead of the man that is Jae Lee. I grew skeptical.
Of course, the series came out and absolutely blew me away. King himself has said this is going to be an incredible adaptation, and then I found out this is the first of five mini-series Marvel is publishing to tell the entire story. If they keep up the quality they've reached in the first two issues, they may tell one of the best comic adaptations of literature ever and dwarf the massive achievement that is The Dark Tower.
TV: It's Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaI feel like I need to preface this like I might an indie band that recently blew up, so here goes. I've been watching this since season one. Hell, I even have all of the seasons on DVD. So now that the show is blowing up and people are acting as if it's this new thing, well folks, it isn't.
It's the funniest show on TV, absolutely. It has been for four seasons, and there is no convincing me otherwise. Any show that can make the hunting of men, cancer as a pickup line, and cannibalism absolutely hilarious is a show that isn't worried about offending anyone, thusly a show for me.
Plus, watching the show just to see the wild card that is Charlie Day is excusable as well. Between Green Man, his foray into being a street fighter, and "wild card, bitches!" he may be the stand out in an ensemble of hilarious performers. And by may be, I mean is. As in there is nothing else to discuss. Simply put, if you say something else, you're wrong.