chuck day

I just finished the seventh chapter in "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs," and yes, that second comma bothers me immensely. To the point, though, I've taken mental notes on a few memorable quotes from the past few days. I wasn't sure what I was going to get with this book, but I've been pleasantly surprised. Chuck is insightful -- he's a guy I'd like to know. He's passionately anti-soccer, which I have mixed feelings about, but he makes some great points, and notes that soccer is basically a sport designed for losers.

"America has plenty of outcasts. Some American outcasts are very popular, such as OutKast." (footnote: "And Jake Gyllenhaal.")

"A normal eleven-year-old can play an entire season without placing toe to sphere and nobody would even notice, assuming he or she does a proper job of running about and avoiding major collisions." This after noting that most sports (including the ones I played) are humiliations waiting to happen. Strike out. Get fouled = air ball ("Basketball games actually stop to recognize (a loser's) failure.").

Working backwards, I enjoyed the chapter that compared Pamela Anderson to Marylin Monroe. And it's just the simplest, "Go, Chuck!" points that make me happy, like pointing out that Kid Rock named himself after youth and rock 'n' roll. And that Madonna's greatest two songs are similes: "Like a Virgin" and "Like a Prayer," because "Madonna is like a sexual idol, but that's just the plot for her self-stylized promotional blitz." Thus, Madonna has built her career around trying to be a sexual icon, but she doesn't succeed for that very reason.

I also love that Chuck remembers how one of the soccer moms is angry at him for using the phrase "in and of itself."

I'd go into further detail about what I've read and enjoyed from Chuck the past day or two, but it's super-late and I need sleep. Oh, but I did suggestively sell a copy of this book tonight at work. A chick was looking for something to read on the beach, and she was tired of fiction. Perfecto.

In other news, the second reason I'm too lazy to write much here this evening is because I spent all my juices on the debut post for my food blog, Pickle Hater. Just another outlet.