John Ross Bowie dot com

The wonderful @sklarbrothers (jason wears glasses, jason wears...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:18:29 -0400

The wonderful @sklarbrothers (jason wears glasses, jason wears glasses, jason wears glasses) had me on their show to talk about a childhood surrounded by garbage, the Mets, and Streisand! In short, MY FAVORITE THINGS. Dig in!!!

In honor of his recent, fascinating @marcmaron interview,...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:32:53 -0400

In honor of his recent, fascinating @marcmaron interview, here’s the Great Marshall Crenshaw with a criminally underrated regional hit from the early 90s

Happy Fathers Day to Bruce Bowie (1937-2007)

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:15:09 -0400

Happy Fathers Day to Bruce Bowie (1937-2007)

Something for everyone! #tbbt

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:09:26 -0400

Something for everyone! #tbbt

#TBT NBC: AUSA - 2002. Some shmuck, Amanda Detmer, Scott Foley,...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:15:00 -0400

#TBT NBC: AUSA - 2002. Some shmuck, Amanda Detmer, Scott Foley, Peter Jacobson, @therealanaortiz, @eddiemcclintock. To my mind, we are not given NEARLY enough credit for the network’s downfall.

Oklahoma with 5 year olds. My daughter is Laurie. (at Youth...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:08:05 -0400

Oklahoma with 5 year olds. My daughter is Laurie. (at Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts)

Carey Mulligan Passes on Hillary Clinton Biopic | THR

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:39:16 -0400

Carey Mulligan Passes on Hillary Clinton Biopic | THR:

// FINE. I’ll do it. Call my agent.

Jackie Chan to Stage Musical Based on His Life | THR

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:23:12 -0400

Jackie Chan to Stage Musical Based on His Life | THR:

John Ross Bowie to go see that shit.

Feminist Frequency: Twitter vs Female Protagonists in Video Games

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:44:30 -0400

Feminist Frequency: Twitter vs Female Protagonists in Video Games:

femfreq:

Thanks #XboxOne #E3 press conference for revealing to us exactly zero games featuring a female protagonist for the next generation.

— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq)

June 10, 2013

Above is a tweet I made this afternoon in reaction to the fact that none of the games presented at…

This is incredibly disheartening. I think I’m gonna go buy this last Tomb Raider (which, BTW, I heard was GREAT)

In honor of last nights Tonys and today’s Mike Doughty...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:33:24 -0400

In honor of last nights Tonys and today’s Mike Doughty Birthday, here’s the man himself warbling from Guys&Dolls.

This logo was designed by Arturo Vega, who we just lost today....

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 22:35:37 -0400

This logo was designed by Arturo Vega, who we just lost today. This shirt is almost 30 years old and is so precious to me I don’t even wear it anymore. RIP Arturo Vega 1948-2013

An Oral History of UCB Theater Partying and ‘Awkward Sexuality’

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 10:48:51 -0400

An Oral History of UCB Theater Partying and ‘Awkward Sexuality’:

Jamie and I were just interviewed for this book a couple weeks ago, and it’s already out. Here’s an excerpt about some of the bad decisions that come with putting a lot of funny, awkward people in a small room and feeding them booze.

Hanging in my local dry cleaners. Time to move…

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:47:37 -0400

Hanging in my local dry cleaners. Time to move…

Wits Radio, @NekoCase covers Number Of The Beast (by George...

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:39:01 -0400

Wits Radio, @NekoCase covers Number Of The Beast (by George Bluth)

Well this is Neko Case singing Iron Maiden and Delaney’s doing the old British guy in the beginning and Dave Hill is on, what, 3rd lead guitar and there’s just a lot of great things about this.

I deleted the earlier version of this post that was so crudely sexual I was embarrassed.

Look, I’d like to have my Corolla washed, but without all...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:20:06 -0400

Look, I’d like to have my Corolla washed, but without all the … riffraff that one usually has to … Well, hello…

Myq Kaplan Has The Best Time Travel to Kill Hitler Bit

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:58:00 -0400

thecomedybureau:

Whether it’s surprising to you or not, traveling back in time to stop Hitler is something is joked about quite a bit in comedy. However, this bit from Myq Kaplan on his Conan set from last night is the best we’ve ever heard.

Watch now.

Maxwell's in Hoboken to Close in July

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:24:31 -0400

Maxwell's in Hoboken to Close in July:

The club’s owners cite a shift in Hoboken’s nightlife.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone … etc. This is a bummer. This is not like CB’s closing - CB’s was a shithole with a rude staff that was long past its relevance - this place is still booking great bands (two sold out Titus Andronicus shows in July!!!) and they FEED the bands, too. Trust me, time was when that was greatly appreciated by this writer. HUGE downer.

h/t to the bearer of bad news Daniel Ralston.

How I roll (along). #sondheim #albee #warhol #kurosawa

Fri, 31 May 2013 14:03:37 -0400

How I roll (along). #sondheim #albee #warhol #kurosawa

SHOULD YOU TURN 42 IN LONDON ...

Thu, 30 May 2013 20:29:00 -0400

I wake up in London, here working on a couple of episodes of Episodes. Have the day off and its my birthday. It’s my 42nd birthday. Who cares? Doesn’t end in a zero or a five. Isn’t a really significant birthday like your Jesus birthday (33) or your musician birthday (27). *

It’s just … 42. The only thing that number has going for it … is that according to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, it’s the meaning of life the universe and everything. It’s a very silly, very British non-sequitur joke, but I’ve always taken it to mean: The deeper meaning is right in front of you. Enjoy it. Think about it, sure, but don’t drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. It’s a very, well, a very middle-aged epiphany. Aw, man, Douglas Adams. What a mind. Gone too soon. Where is he … buried …

3 bus rides away, north part of London called Hampstead Heath. Jesus. What a trek. Guy died in Santa Barbara, why not just bury him, there, twho hour drive from my house. I don’t have a car in London. Then again, when am I going to have another 42nd birthday in London? Would be fun, right, take a picture at the grave, nice little message for my fellow geeks? Right? But man, three buses, it’s like 5 miles. BUT it’s actually less distance if you just walk in a straight line over there. 4.3 miles. And since you’re doing this incredibly nerdy thing, the least you can do is walk there, you fat piece of shit.

And we’re off - after a traditional English breakfast of eggs, sausage, a rasher of bacon, bread, beans and fried tomato because BALANCE IS EVERYTHING, PEOPLE. FOOD COMBINING FOR THE WIN.

It takes about an hour from where I’m staying, over near Kilborn High Street, to get to Highgate Cemetery. It’s a pretty walk, past very few historical landmarks, in a city filled with landmarks. I listen to the original Hitchhikers BBC Radio Play on my iPod, and, God, I’m reminded how smart it is, how special (Earth is destroyed to make space for a hyperdrive bypass. That’s the first chapter). I had also forgotten or never realized that Wil Wheaton gets his twitter bio from the book from the book, because of course he does. I arrive just past noon at Highgate Cemetery, and ask the polite volunteer working the welcome shack if this is indeed where Douglas Adams is buried.

“Where are you from?”

“The States.”

A long, mournful look. “Yes, I gathered. Where in the States?”

At this point, I might as well have barged in with a cowboy hat and a DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS T-shirt tucked in over my Stewie from Family Guy beltbuckle. There are ugly Americans, and then there’s me. But wait, gets worse. He hands me a brochure.

“Wow, Karl Marx is buried here?”

“Indeed.”

I decide to address the elephant: “Man, I feel like such a philistine. Asking about a science fiction author when Karl Marx is buried here.”

The silence is tangible. It’s an oil that has filled the room, and the volunteers polite smile is doing nothing to dissipate it. I have called out my ignorance and I have had it affirmed. I skulk out, head to the grave.

It’s small. Flat granite, one of the more recent graves in the cemetery, even at 12 years old. Stones (and a stray lego) are placed across the top. There’s a jar of pens right in front, in case you’re inspired while there, or just as tribute to such a prolific writer.

A few yards (sorry, gah, metres) down the lane is Karl Marx. For the completists among you:

I walk out of the cemetery, nodding at the volunteer. That was fun. But why? Why have I walked all the way up here in inclement weather? Why have I done anything this nerdy … look, see this guy running towards me? THAT’S what I should have done. I should have gone running. Would have taken less time, I should have gone … no. Is that? No. That’s too weird. You don’t just go to London and see … That’s impossible. It can’t be … How could it be … him?

As soon as I get back to wi-fi, I google “Christopher Eccleston Hampstead.” I quickly find the following quote from a Guardian article:

“After the uniformity of LA, I really fell for London again. The first couple of months were a trip. The variety, the seasons, the accessibility. If I’m not running on Hampstead Heath, I’m walking. I’m usually out and about; I’m quite a restless fella.”

It was him. How … It just … Here’s the thing: I’ve only watched the Eccleston Who’s. I haven’t watched the others because I’m so fond of the Eccleston episodes. And as an award for this stupidly futile and geeky gesture, the fucking ninth Doctor jogged past me.

God bless you Douglas Adams, wherever you are. Maybe you were onto something with 42 after all.

I got a lot of lovely birthday messages on Twitter and Facebook and some very sweet texts - sorry I didn’t text back, it’s expensive to do so from London. The kind wishes were so varied and numerous that I couldn’t thank you all, so seriously, from the bottom of my bacon-clogged heart, thank you all.

UPDATE: intrepid reader faulty schematic reminds me of the extra joke that the jar of pens represents.

*named the Musician year as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Keith Richards all died in their 27th year, with varying degrees of success.

Which birthday is it? A hint …

Thu, 30 May 2013 09:08:24 -0400

Which birthday is it? A hint …