I apologize for the light posting schedule this week. I’ve been working to make some progress on various projects (some related to this blog, some not), and I may remain preoccupied for the rest of the week. I hope to post some more elaborate thoughts on the whole Princess Charming question and respond directly to some of the comments there before the end of the week. But otherwise I expect to focus on doing some research and legwork to start shaking things up around here beginning early next week. In the meantime, a few random things related to the area of study from the information superhighway internetwork (as the good people at Taddle Creek call it. You really should check Taddle Creek out. Go ahead, I’ll wait…. Welcome back–on with the show!):

Tyson: brainiac In case anyone missed it, The Bironist put together an interesting response to my response to his and Jan Dutkiewicz’s piece on MMA fighting in this month’s issue. I wanted to clarify that my selection of quotations from Tom Callaghan’s essay on Mike Tyson may have undersold the degree of nuance in his portrait of the flesh-eating rape convict to be. (That never gets old, does it). In the actual essay, available as ever in The Picador Book of Sports Writing, Tyson is presented as more than an illiterate monster — he’s a beast from the streets, as Jeremy guesses the portrayal goes, yes, but he’s also very articulate when he starts talking about the history of the fight game, discussing in detail bouts that happened generations before he was born, and seems very aware of what his role is in the big money entertainment spectacle. Which in its way, on my reading, underlined the class division between fighter and fan I spoke about in my post. And despite my characterization of much big-lit essayage of the big-fight game as “romantic windbaggery,” I’ll also clarify that I am a big fan of such windbaggery as a reader. Especially Joyce Carol Oates, George Plimpton and Norman Mailer. Especially Mailer. I’m a sucker for that shit. (And more recently, in fiction, I think Craig Davidson’s done some good stuff.) And one more point of clarification: I think the motives and artistry and biographies of the fighters are often interesting and complicated, and offer rich material for exploring all kinds of issues. It’s the motives of the fans that I think tend to skew the animal-brain:higher motive ratio a little higher than we’re entirely open about.

Don’t fight! Don’t fight! Don’t fight! Jeremy’s points notwithstanding, two groups of people who probably shouldn’t be fighting in front of crowds: five-year-olds and amateurs who are likely to be killed by vastly more experienced opponents. (via Fark)

Finally, reproductive choce for men is on the way! Guys complaining that they get stuck paying child support because their girlfriend wouldn’t have an abortion can now be proactive, since tests on the “Male Pill” make further progress. This is, I suppose, especially good new to to those with latex allergies. Econoblogger Megan McArdle says incentive structures will mean it doesn’t catch on — that is, women have enough to lose if a man makes a mistake (forgetting to take one, say) that they will not be willing to trust him. Still, it would end the “she tricked me” excuse for being resentful of your marriage and family and adult life. That’s good, right?

Tall guys have all the luck–another piece of conventional wisdom confirmed by people in lab coats: Science says short men have trouble catching a break with the ladies (no explanation for Tom Cruise is offered). Apparently it’s a evolutionary imperative. As a guy who’s just tall enough not to be the short guy but just short enough that people make little see-saw motions with their hands and awkward faces when I try out “average height” as a description, I can’t say I’m shocked.

Men still won’t scrub the toilet Leslie Bennets at Today says it’s because oppressors won’t give their women freedom unless their women fight for it. How do they fight? Nag, threaten and promise or withhold “nookie.” Having lived with something like 15 different male roommates over the years, I think it’s also fair to say too that men, in the aggregate, don’t much give a crap whether the toilet gets scrubbed at all, which could also get to the heart of the problem. (via Fark)

Of course, when they get home, the toilets are pretty disgusting: Women apparently don’t want their lazy layabout mates screwing up perfectly good vacation time, so increasingly they go with their girlfriends. (also via Fark)

New Canadian “Magazine For Men” It’s called sharp (diminutive theirs). I haven’t really looked very closely at it. It seems to focus more on gadgets and booze (the advertiser friendly stuff) than on storytelling (the reader friendly stuff). That bit of cynicism aside, I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve had a chance to explore. Thanks to Marc for bringing it to my attention — he has a preview of sorts here.

“Posters of Naked Women Fail to Draw Real Naked Women to Dorm Room” I know The Onion is fake news, but sometimes you don’t need the facts to tell the truth.

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Posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 12:14 am. Follow comments through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comment or trackback.