A Pynchon Primer, or speaking of conspiracies

Well, he's done it again.

The master of the truly inexplicable yet compelling novel of postmodern weirdness, Thomas Pynchon has just released upon the literary and pop culture world his ninth novel. Still blowing our minds at the age of eighty-eight, Pynchon's latest novel Shadow Ticket is  a detective novel featuring "criminal cheesemongers, Jazz Age adventuresses, Hungarian magicians," and according to Washington Post books writer Jacob Brogan it is "bonkers and brilliant fun."

I was first introduced to Pynchon during my undergrad years in a contemporary novel class where we read the reasonably accessible Pynchon novella The Crying of Lot 49. I wish I knew enough then to really appreciate what the teacher was offering. For, it was nearly a decade later in grad school that my cohort read and literally devoured V.. Some of the discussions are still rattling around my head. And I appreciated the class because, like most, I would never have truly understood what Pynchon was doing without multiple viewpoints.

Which leads me to this excellent Pynchon Primer put together by New York Times critic-at-large A.O. Scott.

Since the 1960s and ’70s, when he made his name with “V.,” “The Crying of Lot 49” and the 900-page, National Book Award-winning “Gravity’s Rainbow,” Thomas Pynchon has been tagged with various highfalutin epithets: experimental writer, postmodernist, systems novelist. Gore Vidal, writing in The New York Review of Books in 1976, assigned Pynchon to the “R and D (Research and Development)” wing of contemporary literature. For Vidal, the opposite of R&D was R&R — the kind of fiction people might read for pleasure.

Nearly 50 years and five novels later, we can say that Vidal was half right. While Pynchon is properly celebrated as a formidable literary innovator, he is less often recognized as a great entertainer, a master of R&R. His books are challenging, mind-blowing, precedent-shattering — all of that, yes. They’re also a lot of fun.

 

Is the PRC monitoring this blog?

So, ... not to sound too conspiratorial or anything, but after I blogged about the two new films spotlighting Taiwan and its struggle with Chinese intimidation, the traffic to this blog plummeted by 90%.

So, perhaps I should have titled this: "Is the PRC blocking access to this blog?"

I mean, I have to be honest in that when I was writing the blog post about the film Invisible Nation and the new Netflix series Zero Day Attack, I did pause for a moment wondering if posting about Taiwan and two films that the PRC definitely does not like could possibly affect my blog traffic. 

While my traffic fluctuates a lot, and this is not a widely read blog by any stretch, the numbers had been quite good the past couple months. And it's not news to anyone that the PRC's digital surveillance program and bots are vast. 

But, I figured, ... come on. A Teacher's View is a small teacher's blog, and news of the Taiwan films is already out there. 

And, yet ... traffic is way down.

REM touring again? In 2026

Released in 1986, Life's Rich Pageant, is a pivotal REM album, and it is in many ways the breakthrough work for the legendary Athens band who had ruled college radio for many years, starting with the release of Murmur in 1983 (or for the true believers Chronic Town, the EP released in 1982). 

LRP was somewhat of a new direction for the band, as Mike Mills noted a desire to move out of its murkier sound, and with singles like "Fall on Me" and "I Believe," mainstream listeners got a first taste of Michael Stipe lyrics they could actually understand. 

Now, with the 40th anniversary of the LP that many considered one of the most important releases of the 1980s, especially in the alternative rock world that was emerging, there is a tribute tour lining up to celebrate LRP with a concert performance of the album in its entirety. So, are the boys from Athens reuniting for a reunion tour?

Of course not.

One key reason REM is the iconic band it is, is because it ended its run as gracefully as any band has ever done and has remained true to its commitment to never tour again. For, as Peter Buck explained on 60 Minutes, "It would just never be as good."

However, fans can experience a great show celebrating the album with the tour from Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy, who have true musical chops, a great reputation as performers, and experience putting on shows of an REM album that are so inviting sometimes the band itself shows up and joins the party.

Scrubs is Coming Back

"Paging, Doctor Cox. J.D. and Turk are back."

For several years in the early 2000s, Scrubs was one of the smartest, funniest, timeliest, and at the same time occasionally most poignant situation comedies on television. In fact, I find the first three seasons to nothing short of brilliant. And, like several other shows of that era, Scrubs was the vehicle for access to some incredible indie music. In fact, I'm sure the first time I heard "New Slang" by the Shins was in an episode. (And of course the song also featured in Zach Braff's wonderful indie film Garden State).

The series had clearly run its course by the time season eight rolled around. In fact, I am a firm believer that most series peak in season three. However, the show has lived on in streaming, and Turk and JD (Donald Faison and Zach Braff) have continued to live in the TV-sphere by regularly popping up as themselves in television ads for T-Mobile. 

And, now, the gang is reuniting for one more season.

Given a straight-to-series order by ABC in July, the new series will follow JD Dorian (Braff) and Christopher Turk (Faison), who scrub in together for the first time in a long time- medicine has changed, interns have changed, but their bromance has stood the test of time. Characters new and old navigate the waters of Sacred Heart with laughter, heart and some surprises along the way.

While I am not generally a fan of remakes and reboots and rehashing the past and trying to recreate the magic, I am kind of excited about this news. I mean who wouldn't be when looking back at some great moments in a special sitcom like Scrubs.

Taiwan - Zero Day for the Invisible Nation

In the summer of 1992, after graduating from the University of Illinois with a teaching degree, I hopped on a plane with my college girlfriend (Now wife), and flew 8000 miles across the world to Isle Formosa, the "Beautiful Island" of Taiwan. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

I lived for five years teaching English in a wonderful culture of vibrant, hard-working, fun-loving people who have lived all their lives in the shadow of invasion from China. Ironically, I moved to the nation of Taiwan without actually knowing that the United States and nearly the entire world does not recognize Taiwan as a country. I learned acronyms like the "ROC" and "PRC" and phrases like "renegade province," and I came to understand the official title of the island as "The Republic of China on Taiwan." 

Since 1949 when the Chinese Civil War ended with Chiang-Kai Shek fleeing the mainland for Taiwan and Mao Ze Dong establishing the communist government of the People's Republic of China, the beautiful island nation and thriving democratic republic of roughly 25 million people has existed in a state of detente. And when the United States formalized a relationship with Mainland China in 1979, the island nation became an "Invisible Nation," so to speak.

That phrase is the subject and title of a new documentary on Taiwan and its unique precarious political situation. And that release coincides with a new Netflix drama titled Zero Day Attack, which portrays a riveting story of the Taiwanese president faced with an imminent invasion. While neither of these films is currently showing in the United States, they will hopefully be available soon, for it is important for American audiences to understand this complicated issue and to learn more about the wonderful place I consider a second home.

The Colorado Sound -- Great Indie Radio

"Where music discovery starts -- the Colorado Sound."

I still love listening to music on the radio in my car, especially now that I have a roughly 30-minute commute (which I've never had my entire adult life). And, yes, I know most people are simply streaming music these days on Spotify or Apple. And I do have several Pandora stations that are a regular part of my music-listening habit. 

But in the car, or honestly sometimes at my laptop with iHeart Radio, I still enjoy the old-fashioned way of listening to random music selections and discovering new songs and artists. And a big part of my car radio listening menu is a local public radio station at 105.5, The Colorado Sound. 

For the past year, I have truly enjoyed listening to Ben in the morning. It truly is music discovery with Ben -- he has introduced me to so many new bands -- local and national - as well as digging up new songs from old favorite artists. And with features like "This Day in Music History," his show has been a real treat. Ben is now moving to the evening slot at 9:00PM.

And, even though I won't be driving then, I can still tune in -- as you can from anywhere in the world at TheColoradoSound.org.  Check it out some time.

Rocky Horror Picture Show at 50

"Let's do the Time Warp again!"

And again, and again, and again ... for fifty years.

It might be one of the most surprisingly unpredictable works of film, theater, and performance art to stick around for a half century. And as Michael Brodeur explains in this Sunday's Washington Post, it's not going anyway anytime soon.  

With preemptive apologies to any fellow Gen Xers reading this, Friday marked the 50th anniversary of the U.S. premiere of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” movie in Los Angeles. (I know, that one stings.)

Your fishnets may not fit quite the same, but “Rocky Horror” — director Jim Sharman’s ribald adaptation of Richard O’Brien’s 1973 stage musical — is the same as it ever was: Boisterous participatory screenings led by “shadow casts” continue to pop off in the midnight slots of theaters around the world, sustaining “Rocky Horror” as the longest-running release in film history.

Craig Finn: a Storytelling Punk Rocker

Everyone loves a good story. And everyone loves a groovy song. And some of us love the musicians who can fuse the two in a sublime synthesis of sound and narrative. I've always loved songs of epic grandeur like Springsteen's "Jungleland" and the Grateful Dead's "Terrapin Station." And, of course, my fascination with Bob Dylan began the moment I first heard "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Tangled Up in Blue."

There are, of course, dozens of classic rock songs that weave intricate tales.

Every songwriter approaches his or her craft differently, and there are, ostensibly, as many ways to write a song as there are songs in existence. But one word you'll often hear songwriters use is "story," which implies a plot, characters, a conflict and perhaps a resolution. Just as one can write a novel with these literary tools, one can also condense it down into a song. Sometimes, it's based on real-life events, with real people and real outcomes. Other times it's entirely imaginary, culled from the minds of some exceptionally creative people. But in either case, it can be fun to follow the narrator as they recount a tale, like in the below 50 Short Story Songs.

In the world of punk and indie rock, however, the intricate nature of a great tale would seem to belie the hard, fast nature of the music. Which brings me to Craig Finn. I've recently discovered Finn, leader singer of indie rock band The Hold Steady, who has an entire catalog of solo work steeped in tales of Midwest angst. And, I recently had the pleasure of seeing Craig Finn's solo work live when he opened for former Husker Du and Sugar frontman Bob Mould. Finn's solo work in which he deftly talks his lyrics over beautiful melodies is a treat, as is seeing him perform live. And I've enjoyed his work so much, I recently bought his latest album, Always Been. 

Usual Suspects - 30 Years Later

 Thirty years ago, an independent film screened at the Sundance Film Festival blew our minds, and it did so in a way few if any films had ever done before.

Who is Keyser Soze?

I can still recall the first time I watched the film, not in a theater but on a DVD because I was living in Taiwan at the time and had missed the original hype of the film. Actually, I imagine quite a few people didn't catch it in theaters, but caught up later when the whisperings began. "Have you seen The Usual Suspects?" It wouldn't go much further than that because no one wanted to give anything away. "You just have to see it," they'd add.

When the film ended, there was a collective pause as everyone sat stunned, still trying to process what just happened in the ending of all endings. And now 30 years later, many of us are still trying to process exactly what happened. Who truly is Keyser Soze? Is anyone truly Keyser Soze? 

Of course, the clear and obvious answer is that, yes, Verbal Kint is and was the phantom all along. However, it's worth noting that the writer and director have both at various times suggested variations on that interpretation and implied "They are all Keyeser Soze."

So we know that Verbal is Soze, that he was the mastermind behind the film’s events, and he killed the other four criminals and numerous other people over the course of the narrative. “Kobayashi,” presumably, really was Verbal/Keyser’s lawyer, although that wasn’t really his name.

But the question to ask is, if the story Verbal told wasn’t true, then what is true?

That’s mostly ambiguous, although we know that the different characters in the lineup really did exist, and die, and the different crimes — the New York’s Finest Taxi service robbery, and later the boat explosion — happened in some form. It would appear that the whole purpose of allowing himself to be arrested and interrogated was to convince Kujan that Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) was really Keyser Soze.

Regardless, I can say after rewatching the film noir masterpiece recently that, unlike so many films and television shows, that movie holds up. It's still wildly entertaining, and it remains "endlessly watchable."

It's National One-Hit Wonder Day

Ahh, the beloved one-hit wonder -- that song which by most definitions comes from a band that placed one song in the Top40 and never had another song chart that high. The Colorado Sound - independent radio - is celebrating One-Hit Wonder Day, and I've heard some wonderful contributions so far, like "Walking On Sunshine" from Katrina and the Waves. Feel free to tune in online and enjoy some great music on a great independent public radio station.

One shout out went to "Come on Eileen" from Dexy's Midnight Runners, and that selection is a true OHW Hall of Fame pick, a true GOAT of the one-hit status. And, Ben from the Colorado Sound is asking listeners to respond online with their favorites. When it comes to music, I can never give just one favorite, so I listed my Top-3:

"Safety Dance" - Men Without Hats

"One Night in Bangkok" - Murray Head

"Rock Me Amadeus" - Falco *

GQ and the New Masculinity, or 125 Ways to be a Good Guy

Since coming-of-age as a teen in the 1980s, I have been a casual reader and occasional subscriber to GQ, more formally known as Gentleman's Quarterly. It is and has been a documenter of men's fashion and style since 1957, and I think it has waxed and waned as a cultural barometer over the years.

Instead of telling our readers who to be and what to wear, in this new iteration of GQ we wanted to help men find those answers for themselves. The issue was like a giant mood board celebrating all the defiantly nontraditional forms of masculinity that had sprouted out of so many different subcultures—and were fast becoming pop. No cookie cutters allowed. Upon publication, the issue had an instant impact. We had recaptured the zeitgeist, which is exactly where GQ has always belonged.

Jump cut to 2025.

We are now, obviously, in the second Trump administration. Life feels…chaotic. And there are op-ed headlines, almost daily, declaring that we’ve swung back to a retrograde form of masculinity. You know: the whole “men can be men again” thing. (A movement espoused by JD Vance and Mark Zuckerberg—two hyperintelligent individuals who also happen to be untrustworthy when it comes to anything cultural.)

At the same time, we are supposed to believe that Gen Z represents a lost generation, and that Andrew Tate (whoever that is) has young men by the balls. To which I say: bollocks.

With its most recent issue, reporting on "The State of the American Male in 2025," the men's magazine is wading right in to the tricky discussion of masculinity. And, rightfully, it's not taking itself too seriously with the hilariously absurdist picture of a whimsically game, self-deprecating Glen Powell. 

When Glen Powell was in his 20s, he wrote Sylvester Stallone a letter. At the time, Powell was still trying to succeed in Hollywood and, as he recently described it to me, at “the point of famine.” Stallone was casting the third installment of his aging-action-hero franchise, The Expendables 3. Powell, an unknown desperate to join the ranks of a call sheet full of over-the-hill action stars, recounted for Stallone the way he was raised. In Texas, Powell said in his letter, he grew up with a gun range in his basement, had learned to fight from his uncles, and had spent long stretches of his childhood trying to find new ways to cheat death.

And, because he all love lists, the magazine is offering up a classic etiquette guide piece with "GQ's 125 Rules for Modern Gentlemen."

This means we’re helping you navigate everything from the modern landscape of online-dating etiquette to how to act in that all-women Pilates class to when (and when not) to pop a Zyn, while offering you a refresher on everything from thank-you notes to how to be a conscientious human being in public to how to act at a dinner party. The result is a list of 125 rules on how to be your best-behaved self wherever you go in 2025 and beyond. Friends, dates, colleagues, and the people sitting beside you on your next flight all thank you for reading.

Always Waiting for Godot

Bill and Ted? Together again? On stage? In an absurdist existential dramady that has intrigued, baffled, challenged, and entertained actors and audiences alike for decades?

Well, I say, sign me up.

The Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot has been troubling the arts world since 1952 when it premiered and while it is "tough to perform" and "impossible to understand," it remains infectiously popular, and as the Washington Post recently explained, "Actors love it."

Famously, nothing happens, twice.

Two men in bowler hats wait near a tree on a country road for the mysterious Godot, and they are eventually met by a third man and his enslaved companion, and later a boy. The next day, the scenario repeats, almost.

For the Dublin-born Samuel Beckett, a self-proclaimed “non-knower and non-can-er,” the spareness and even the meaninglessness were the point. When “Waiting for Godot,” his first produced play, premiered in French in Paris in 1953, it baffled some audiences but would go on to transform storytelling with its lack of plot, existentialist themes and acknowledgment that, if you find yourself standing around long enough, even human existence begins to feel absurd.

The play’s influence permeated theater and spread into pop culture, becoming fodder for sitcom homages and shorthand for discussing the meaning of life or (spoiler alert) waiting for someone who does not come. It’s a “Hamlet”-esque acting feat and a frequent, poignant offering in unconventional places where humanity is stressed to its limits, such as prisons, Sarajevo in wartime and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. And, somehow, it’s also pretty funny.

As a revival begins this month on Broadway starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter — co-stars of the Bill & Ted movie franchise, itself a philosophical cult classic — many of the well-known actors and directors who have done “Waiting for Godot” discussed the challenges of the famously impenetrable play, its vast influence and what it all means. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

The New York Times recently sat down with Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and director Jamie Lloyd for a discussion about how this "most excellent" rendition of a classic play came to the stage.