ArtieShaw

It’s not for everyone, but Penguin Island by Anatole France features great auks. I read it many years ago and enjoyed it (in a dorky 19th century satire sort of way). Not for everyone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Island_(novel)

I didn’t really expect anyone to know that, which was sort of the joke. He was very famous in his time, but by now it’s a bit of a deep cut.

Artie Shaw was a clarinetist who ran a jazz band. In addition to that, he was also quite the weirdo. Womanizer, liked math a lot (like more than is natural), was an expert marksman who was nationally ranked in that sort of thing, and really into fly fishing. Also, currently, very dead. And that’s good because otherwise he’d be 114.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artie_Shaw

here’s a sample of his work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_v3GY3ZqdM

Shock: I’m not really Artie Shaw.

Well thanks for reminding me that Captain Proton existed. /s

I disliked all of the mid-century nostalgia episodes. Not that I dislike mid-century nostalgia, but I thought they were poorly done.

I know a guy who is a literature snob and is probably the last person I would have expected to really get into Raymond Chandler novels. Anyway, he was raving about those books so I read a few. It turns out that Chandler was a phenomenally weird wordsmith. Inventive, funny, and unexpected. If you’re looking at midcentury American writers, Chandler is hugely underrated. Maybe in a few centuries he’ll get his due.

Sure, it’s detective pulp. But it’s detective pulp that’s been given a strong hallucinogen and whacked over the head a few times before waking up in the desert.

Indeed. Too real.

Oooh, that’s his Canadian showing.

“Pasta.” “Salsa for the nachos.” “Nazis.” All with that short “a as in cat” sound.

He was probably pretty pissed that he slipped and got called on it. Any actor working for a US market would know how odd it would sound south of the boarder.