Columbia Pictures Do not misunderstand: “The Social Network” about the rise and rise of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerburg is a really, really good movie. However, have you ever wanted to just step in front of a hype train and slow it down a notch or two? I felt this way very much about “Avatar” last… Continue reading ‘OK, Let’s All Calm Down About ‘The Social Network’’
RedEye has assigned me to write a story on the event known as both “The Rally to Restore Sanity” and the “March to Keep Fear Alive.” If you’ve been living under a basic cable-less rock, this is the rally in Washington D.C. that will be organized and headlined by left-leaning comedians and escalating cultural icons… Continue reading ‘Let Me Know If You’re Going to the Stewart-Colbert Rally’
This past week, after being gone for over three months of Euro-tripping, book-touring and Gulf-of-Mexico-exploring, I finally arrived back in Chicago. Lord, am I glad to be back. Everything here seems brighter than I remember: the Bean is shinier, Bears fans are happier and the girls out at 4 a.m. in Big City Tap are… Continue reading ‘City’s Embrace Has Never Been Warmer’
Reuters Snooki of “Jersey Shore” fame is publishing a novel next year. It is called “A Shore Thing.” No, I’m not making that up. Does anybody understand why writers kind of hate the publishing industry? And why we occasionally find the reading public beneath contempt? Before you accuse us of sitting in our ivory towers… Continue reading ‘Yup, Snooki of ‘Jersey Shore’ to Publish a Novel’
Yes, you read that headline correctly. It turns out, I might be really good at wrangling bats and because I’d just never tried it before, wasn’t even aware of this latent talent. My only evidence comes from the other night. I’ve been bumming around Ohio for a bit, and I was downstairs in my old… Continue reading ‘Turns Out I’m a Pretty Damn Good Bat Wrangler’
Trotsky would love this I got an e-mail from a fan the other day, who said he stumbled upon my book in a library, and now I feel as though it’s my duty to inform the public of these Stalinist institutions. You see, I don’t get any money when you check my book out at… Continue reading ‘Libraries Are Socialist Conspiracies’
Warner Bros. Pictures There are just some things you never thought you’d say, huh? I recently saw “The Town,” though, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, and I gotta say I really enjoyed it. Sure, it was a conventional heist flick, and it stole it’s ending from “The Shawshank Redemption,” and Ben Affleck has never… Continue reading ‘Aghdamnit, I Think I’m a Ben Affleck Fan’
Are you writing a book? Or trying to write a book? Because I have a recommendation for you. In my recently published memoir “Publish This Book” one of the key characters is a college professor who helped me enormously as I was struggling to write and get published. His name is Steven Bauer and now… Continue reading ‘Writers Should Check Out Hollow Tree Literary Services’
Jenga My friend Kdoe (pronounced kay-doe) and I found ourselves back home in Ohio for two weeks, him on his way to California, me waiting to get on a boat in Biloxi, Miss., so we decided to have a mano-y-mano, no-holds-barred, balls-to-the-proverbial-wall decathlon to determine which of us had the most testosterone and would thus… Continue reading ‘And the Victor of the 2010 Kdoe-Markley Decathlon Is…’
Hey, Chicago, what the hell? I was reading this Men’s Health magazine list about the “most sex-happy cities,” cringing because Austin, Texas, was No. 1, and my much-missed adopted hometown didn’t even crack the top 40. With Chicago at No. 41, I thought: We’re behind Anchorage, Alaska? Do Alaskans even know what sex is? Don’t… Continue reading ‘Don’t Despair About Sex Ranking, Chicago’