The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

Got The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore for XMas - Never heard of it and never heard of the author - not that I can remember anyway. Just finished it and I'm quite thrilled that I've read it.
Normally I'm not one for reading any sort of fiction. Somehow, most fiction can't even hold a smoldering match to the miraculous hilarity that is the ass of a great non-fiction book - but this one sure did. One good indicator was that I got some great side splitting laughter out of it and I hardly ever laugh, let alone when reading fiction. [see the "Catfish" section starting on page 277 0f the paperback edition]
As far as comparing the book to anything - it gave me the same feeling as when I first read Still Life With Woodpecker - a Tom Robbins' book before he went droll.

• Yes, there is a lizard.
• Yes, there is lust.
• Yes, there is a melancholy cove.

Here is an excerpt that struck me as exceptionally masterful.

Catfish

A Bluesman hates to be told what to do. Authority rankles him, inspires his rebellion, and plays to his need to self-destruct. A Bluesman doesn't take to having a boss unless he's on a chain gang (for the chain gang boss ranks below only a mean old woman and a sweet young thing in the hierarchy of the Blues Muse, followed closely by bad liquor, a dead dog, and the Man)[...]

For background info check out Christopher Moore's website.

LACMA Construction In Progress

2006-01-02 LACMA Construction
Originally uploaded by AArt Vark.

I was rather annoyed by the King Tut exhibit at LACMA. It was neither a really good museum exhibit nor an entertaining freak show. It could of gone both ways and didn't go either.

• A really good exhibit of Egyptian rarities to gawk at and ponder.
• A fantabulous extravaganza on the midway complete with gigantic blow up Sphinx as the entrance and the docents dressed in "authentic" period Egyptian garb.

The exhibit ended up being a sort of half assed and uncomfortable affair with way too many people in all too small of a space, even on a slow day, not really facilitating any enjoyment of the artifacts. The only reason for attendance would have been to share a close approximation to the Egypto-ephemera in badly lit cases. Hell, the sarcophagus featured on the poster and adopted as the identifying logo wasn't even part of the exhibit! I hope they made a fuck-load of money off it to pay for this construction...
Now, the improvement of LACMA is something that I am looking forward to as it promises to really add something of value to the museum.
I was rather annoyed that the side street I took as a shortcut to work in the morning, S. Orange Grove Ave. was being taken over by the museum and incorporated in the new campus, but upon seeing the plans and models in the Ahmenson Building provided by Renzo Piano (architect of the new buildings and improvements) I've got to say I'm pleased... I'm also pleased that it's not another hack job given to Frank Ghery - maybe he's just become the architect I love to hate, I don't know...
If you're interested, take yourself on over to LACMA and have a look at the models and check out the construction site. The construction site is active, so there's something new every day!
If you're curious about Renzo Piano, Wikipedia is a good place to get you acquainted with him.

ZEN: Suds

Sometimes things line up in perfect harmony.
The little scrubby brush.
The water temperature.
The perfect suds.

Washing dishes becomes a pleasure. The suds flowing effortlessly. The water is hot and facilitates perfect cleaning - just at the point before it feels scalding. Rinsing produces a satisfying squeak of cleanliness.

The dishes line up like a jigsaw puzzle in the drying rack.

All is well in the world and the sink empties.