Now, I’d just like to share a little bit about my “passion for the printed word!” As I type this I realize how incongruous this may come across on the blog of a radio show, but may I offer an “olive branch” of sorts by saying that I will someday share about my passion for listening to radio programs (a.k.a. “theater of the mind!”). Back to the printed word…and how much of an obsession it has become for me…if my wife and I were the long-time married version of The Newlywed Game and the question was to name one of your spouse’s passions that positively “irks” you, she would have no trouble saying “his collection of unread books and magazines!” I just LOVE the printed word in books, magazines and newspapers (any other form?). I have often tried to think of a job I could find that allows me to indulge in my passion for the word while also being able to make a decent enough living, but I usually dismiss it. However, as I quickly approach the end of another “contracting assignment,” I’m entertaining that thought again and considering applying for a job at a magazine or in publishing somewhere (any leads or ideas are very welcome!

Since I’m pressed for time, I’ll have to close by saying that if you want to know just how passionate I am about the printed word I would say that – I love the FEEL of a well made hardcover book with a great font, printed on oaktag colored medium bond paper with frayed edgesof alternating widths so that the open paper side shows raised edges. God, I hope that doesn’t sound too corny, snooty or queer! Fellow bookworms will relate, I’m sure! Next time, I’ll talk about my love for possessing another favorite form of the printed word – magazines and the dozen or so subscriptions which I currently maintain, but rarely enjoy reading (they just collect in various sites around the house and at work for that “spare reading time” I hope to find someday!) Thanks for “listening!” Sobywankenobee

Why has no one suggested “a passion for movies”? Some years back Susan Sontag wrote a eulogy for the golden age of cinephilia for the New York Times Magazine. But that was before blogs. A quick survey of all the movie blogs out there leaves the impression that cinephilia is alive and well on the web.

The effect of the web on movie criticism is interesting because papers are drastically reducing coverage, while all the armchair critics are coming out of the woodwork and writing some pretty entertaining blogs.

Dana Stevens turned her blogging into a mainstream critic’s gig at Slate, but her style carries the distinct stamp of the blogosphere.

Philip Lopate wrote a wonderful essay (“Anticipation of La Notte”) about his college movie going back in the 60s–a beautiful meditation on effect of movies and movie criticism on smart, impressionable youngsters.

Vanity Fair just ran an excerpt of a book that provides a peek into the minds of armchair film critics (“The Film Snob’s Dictionary” by David Kamp and Lawrence Levi)

And if there’s a bit of tension nowadays between the breezy style of a Dana Stevens and the more essayistic, ruminative prose of a Lopate, it might be good to remember that there were similar conflicts back in Sontag (and Lopate’s) golden age of movie going. To wit: the unselfconscious braininess of a Sontag versus the wisecracking style of Pauline Kael (whose erudition was much more lightly worn). Anyway, I’ve long meant to read Craig Seligman’s “Opposites Attract Me” because there’s so much to admire in both Sontag and Kael, and it’s odd to think–in a time where mainstream writing about movies focuses mostly on celebrity gossip–that two such intelligent movie critics could be seen as polar opposites (or intellectual enemies).

This is one of the best times for comic fans. Marvel and DC are attracting talented young writers Like Brian Michael Bendis, Keven Smith (the director of Clerks and Chasing Amy), J. Michael Straczynski (writer of the series Babylon Five), Reginald Hudlin (another movie director) and Jeph Loeb (who consults for the TV series Smallville). There’s been a real renaissance in mainstream comics. You should call the guys at MILLION YEAR PICNIC in Cambridge http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2827406-million_year_picnic_boston-i
They’ve been a fixture for nearly three decades now. Very cool guys.

To chime in on that subject, there’s also the Abaka School for the Performing Arts, a brand new Armenian performing arts school in a storefront on Bigelow Street in Watertown.

I just love the idea of people being so moved by this urge to create something — for whatever reason — with no intention of ever having it shown, making money, or gaining fame from it.