{"id":2138,"date":"2008-07-21T06:04:26","date_gmt":"2008-07-21T10:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=2138"},"modified":"2008-07-21T06:05:33","modified_gmt":"2008-07-21T10:05:33","slug":"what-it-is-72108","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/what-it-is-72108","title":{"rendered":"What It Is: 7\/21\/08"},"content":{"rendered":"

What I’m reading:<\/em> Against the Gods<\/a>\"\", and Bottomless Belly Button<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

What I’m listening to:<\/em> Court and Spark<\/a>\"\", by Joni Mitchell, and Hearts and Bones<\/a>\"\", by Paul Simon<\/p>\n

What I’m watching:<\/em> Dazed and Confused<\/a>, and Sunshine<\/a> (not the 87-hour Ralph Fiennes movie<\/a> of the same title)<\/p>\n

What I’m drinking:<\/em> Rogue Dead Guy Ale<\/a><\/p>\n

Where I’m going:<\/em> A mini-class reunion in Philadelphia next Thursday night, allegedly. I write, “allegedly,” because it’s taking place a hipster bowling alley, and I know of only one other attendee. I thought about using my frequent-flyer miles to take a 30-hour Fri-Sat round trip to San Diego for the Comic-Con<\/a>, but decided against it, in favor of hitting my company picnic on Friday and trying to have another quiet weekend like this past one.<\/p>\n

What I’m happy about:<\/em> A new Paul Weller album<\/a>\"\" comes out tomorrow, and so does the DVD of Spaced<\/a>\"\"!<\/p>\n

What I’m sad about:<\/em> My dad almost destroyed his car by getting gas from one of those discount stations. On the plus side, he saved 8 cents per gallon, which would add up to a whole dollar in savings, based on the fuel tank in my car.<\/p>\n

What I’m pondering:<\/em> Why Roche had to go and bid for the remaining shares of Genentech<\/a> about a day or so before my Top Companies issue comes out, in which I praise Roche for leaving Genentech independent. (I realize the integration is more about back-office functions, while letting the R&D functions stand on their own, but that trick never works.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What I’m reading: Against the Gods, and Bottomless Belly Button What I’m listening to: Court and Spark, by Joni Mitchell, and Hearts and Bones, by Paul Simon What I’m watching: Dazed and Confused, and Sunshine (not the 87-hour Ralph Fiennes movie of the same title) What I’m drinking: Rogue Dead Guy Ale Where I’m going: … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “What It Is: 7\/21\/08”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,26,4,12],"tags":[236,237,238,221,235],"class_list":["post-2138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-business","category-comics","category-literature","category-pharmaceuticals","tag-genentech","tag-joni-mitchell","tag-paul-simon","tag-paul-weller","tag-roche"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-yu","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15846,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-525-paul-b-rainey","url_meta":{"origin":2138,"position":0},"title":"Episode 525 – Paul B Rainey","author":"Gil","date":"February 7, 2023","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 525: Paul B. Rainey \"I was 11 or 12 when my grandma said, 'What does Paul want to do when he grows up?', and my mum said, 'He wants to be a comic artist,' and my grandma said, 'Yes, but what's he want to do when he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/raineycomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C512&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/raineycomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C512&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/raineycomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C512&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/raineycomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C512&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/raineycomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C512&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9740,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-175-paul-mavrides","url_meta":{"origin":2138,"position":1},"title":"Episode 175 – Paul Mavrides","author":"Gil","date":"July 4, 2016","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show #175: Paul Mavrides \"My parents thought comics lowered your intelligence and ruined your chances in life. They were absolutely right, as it turned out.\" Legendary artist and cartoonist Paul Mavrides joins the show to talk about Underground Comix, the Church of the SubGenius, the Zapruder film, black\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mavrides.jpg?fit=1200%2C988&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mavrides.jpg?fit=1200%2C988&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mavrides.jpg?fit=1200%2C988&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mavrides.jpg?fit=1200%2C988&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/mavrides.jpg?fit=1200%2C988&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17598,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-644-paul-karasik","url_meta":{"origin":2138,"position":2},"title":"Episode 644 – Paul Karasik","author":"Gil","date":"June 25, 2025","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 644: Paul Karasik \"I feel like I'm a character in a Paul Auster novel: a life rife with circumstance and unpredictable coincidence.\" Thirty-plus years in the making, the graphic adaptation of Paul Auster's THE NEW YORK TRILOGY (Pantheon) is here at last! Paul Karasik rejoins the show\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Architecture"","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karasik2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C552&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karasik2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C552&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karasik2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C552&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karasik2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C552&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karasik2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C552&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15195,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-483-celia-paul","url_meta":{"origin":2138,"position":3},"title":"Episode 483 – Celia Paul","author":"Gil","date":"April 26, 2022","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 483: Celia Paul \"Letters and paintings are both in the constant present.\" Painter Celia Paul rejoins the show for the US debut of her new book, Letters To Gwen John (NYRB). 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