Live From New York...

It's ridiculously humid!  Seriously, I have to go on record and say that this is one of the best weather New York summers of all time - granted it is only my third REAL one.  I mean its hot, our apartments are sweltering, the average amount of sweat is up, power is running low, people are burning LeBron jerseys, we are definitely reaching classic summer psychopath levels here - you have got to love it.

Anyway, the reader comments are rolling in about my LeBron column and I just want to thank you all for doing so.  Keep up the comments and continue to let me know what you think.

Tomorrow, me and my associates will be submitting our sketch material to Saturday Night Live for consideration.  Here are a few synopses for your brief reading pleasure:

1. A teacher who literally has a stick up his ass conducts class.
2. The matriarch of a family - used to eating from a trough - doesn't know what plates are.
3. A husband has been lying to his wife about knowing famous people.
4. A fourth, tone-deaf Wilson brother joins the Beach Boys in the studio.
5. A racist guru delivers his wisdom to unsuspecting pupils.
6. A commercial for old fashioned duck sauce.

Do any of those topics interest you?

Now, to clear the backlog of items with a few links:

- I am planning a podcast this fall with the Indian writer Chandrahas Choudhury.  You can check out his blog here.  Chandrahas has one novel out called Arzee the Dwarf  and has just finished editing a collection of Indian fiction called A Traveler's Literary Companion. He is a friend of my friend, the artist, Janelle Sing and he is coming to America in the fall. Stay tuned for that and get acquainted with his work in the meantime.

- Another podcast I am planning is with the guys who run the bookstore, Book Thug Nation, on North 3rd Street between Berry and Wythe. I have met one of the guys, Corey, who runs the store at a party at my apartment and he definitely knows his stuff. I have heard a lot of good things about their collection and I will be stopping by this week.  They do readings and other kinds of events so hopefully you will be hearing about a reading that I will be doing there in the near future.

- First news from the Walkmen's new album, Lisbon.  A new track, "Stranded" has been released through NPR radio.  It seems like the Walkmen are taking up right where they left off on You and Me and are even looking to enhance and polish their sound if ever so slightly.  I am looking for a very brooding and wistful end of summer/fall listening to an album's worth of these songs.  Who knows, maybe I'll write about it in about four years.  But you need to check this song out for now.

- Finally, my current, upcoming reading list:

1. Finish Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (classic Domino toolbox book)
2. All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren (classic Domino toolbox book that I just wrote about and in the process reminded myself that I need to re-read it.
3. Rabbit, Run by John Updike (talked into by this New York Times article. Updike reminds me of me).

Alright, my Puddlers, stick with me.  Enjoy my sports writing and I swear we are going to have another podcast up here this week. Too much basketball talk to cover that if I can't get a guest I may just literally podcast myself to get it off my chest.

It's just Puddles of Myself.