Good Looking People in Small Clever Rooms That Utilize Every Centimeter of Available Space: Recent Episodes
Good Looking People
Good Looking People in Small Clever Rooms That Utilize Every Centimeter of Available Space with Mind-Boggling Efficiency is a podcast wherein family and friends gather to read and talk about Infinite Jest, a very long book.
Topics of discussion:
- Hal's relationship with Himself (Hal being the most similar to J.O.I.);
- Lenz: strange get-up, racist inner monologue, and the effects of cocaine;
- AFR in Antitoi Entertainment;
- Ruth chasing Poor Tony;
- The Swiss hand model IS Luria P.?!
See also:
- Gifford Lectures (Scotland);
- Transition lenses;
- "performing a Veronica" in bull-fighting;
- Maurice DuPlessis (16th premier of Quebec);
- Pirating records in the 70s;
- American Disabled Movement (ADAPT);
- 1990 - American with Disabilities Act;
- Respect versus solicitude;
- Universal versus adaptive design
We'll read pages 729–747 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv | Vvinni's films: vimeo.com/henceforth
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Topics of discussion:
- Ruth Van Cleeve and Kate Gompert encountering Poor Tony;
- Cocaine Anonymous;
- Meanwhile, at ETA...Pemulis messes in the ceiling panels, Lyle hovers, Schtitt and Mario go for ice cream, Avril chain smokes, and Hal watches Blood Sister;
See also:
- Catachresis, malapropism, spoonerisms;
- quarantine releases;
- shoes and shoelessness (at home);
- Hindu god, Hanuman;
- The Little Hours;
- The King and I, "Getting to Know You;"
- 1980s films set in offices;
- The Atlantic on AA;
- digital editing;
- personality tests
- Rancho Notorious;
- Sister Act
We'll read pages 716–729 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv | Vvinni's films: vimeo.com/henceforth
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Topics of discussion:
- Helen Steeply interviews Thierry Poutrincourt while Hal and Ortho play a match;
- DeLint is both a jerk and maybe not very smart;
- Matty Pemulis and child abuse;
- Hal watching old TPs of James O.'s films
See also:
- the name "Ortho;"
- time ghosts;
- rabbit holes that are short and unrewarding
We'll read pages 698–716 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv | Vvinni's films: vimeo.com/henceforth
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Topics of discussion:
- Marlon Bain ("a very wet boy" and Orin's former doubles partner) corresponds with Helen Steeply;
- Orin attempting to define himself in opposition to Avril;
- a nightmare review;
- younger students in the tunnels picking up trash and stumbling on TP cartridges?!
See also:
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder;
- Gretel the cross-sectioned dairy cow which isn't a strictly real thing;
- toxic masculinity;
- "the incident in your high school" (Twitter thread);
- tennis ball re-pressurizing;
- utili-doors, skyway, pedway
We'll read pages 673–698 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv | Vvinni's films: vimeo.com/henceforth
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
This time, we welcome special guest, Jonathan Gingerich, to join us as we talk about...
Topics of discussion:
- what brought us to Infinite Jest in the first place (primarily Jonathan);
- MASH* (TV show)(Robert Altman's movie);
- the purpose of The Entertainment;
- Geoffrey Day, Erdedy, and Kate Gompert talk depression and floating shapes;
- Helen Steeply talks to DeLint (who's a jerk);
- ETA montage (ghost's eye view?);
- is the Swiss hand model Luria P--?;
- carved out of what, though?;
- every time is cookie time, and all cats can see ghosts
See also:
- Korean War;
- spoilers for the 11-year old show, LOST;
- Fox + broadcast networks;
- stenography shorthand;
- Beauty and the Beast's Cogsworth (Disney movie);
- David Ogden Stiers;
- Jorge Luis Borges "The Zahir" (short story);
- James Poniewozik's NY Times article, "Donald Trump Lost His Battle. The Culture War Goes On";
- Sufjan Stevens "Should Have Known Better"
We'll read pages 663–673 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv | Vvinni's films: vimeo.com/henceforth
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Jonathan's website: jonathangingerich.net
Topics of discussion:
- TP specifications/advertisements;
- CHOICE;
- Draining the duck pond;
- Vignette in Rodney Tine's office;
- MIT radio technician is kidnapped by AFR;
- Dinner at ETA;
- And possible ghosts remain!
See also:
- Beet and turnip soup;
- "apps" (killer and otherwise);
- 1996 - Google founded;
- Ubiquity of cameras;
- Bruce Schneier (tech futurist);
- CHOICE;
- Boston Public Gardens;
- Make Way for Ducklings;
- Catcher in the Rye;
- Bread and Circus;
- Rita Skeeter in Harry Potter
- Sappho;
- "supertasters;"
- Polykleitos;
- Hermes;
- Theseus
We'll read pages 638–663 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv | Vvinni's films: vimeo.com/henceforth
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Topics of discussion:
- Racoons;
- What do you miss? - Orin takes a "survey" (where did automatic doors go?);
- Moving cars around outside Ennet House and the violence that ensues!
See also:
- Andrew doesn't care whether Orin lives or dies;
- Herding cats;
- Oubliettes
We'll read pages 620–638 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv | Vvinni's films: vimeo.com/henceforth
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Our apologies for some less-than-great audio this week. It's still listenable, just a little rougher than usual.
We'll read pages 596–620 next time.
Topics of discussion:
- Lenz + Green + Polynesian music;
- Mario's missing Madame Psychosis;
- Don Gately's administrative duties;
- Basically, Brianna is Don Gately!
See also:
- John is listening and he thinks we're smart!;
- Seahorses, they actually look like horses!;
- Horses have two eyes and horse legs are giant fingers [diagram];
- Mike Dukakis, governor of Massachusetts;
- Sam Houston, governor of Tennessee and Texas;
- Buns of Steel (workout video);
- Sir John Falstaff;
- Madame Defarge, A Tale of Two Cities;
- Don Ho ("Tiny Bubbles");
- M&Ms
- Peeping Tom (movie);
- Tim is listening and he told us about AOC quoting DFW!;
- Girl with Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace (book)
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com| Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Next episode we'll be reading pages 575–596.
Topics of discussion:
- Helen Steeply's interview with Orin Incandenza;
- Call-backs to those times when J.O.I. impersonated health care professionals…;
- The nature of mental illness;
- Idris Arslanian (???) wandering around in a blindfold;
- Tree creatures pooping and hawks swooping;
- and HAIR CUTS
See also:
- Terrance Rafferty, NY Times;
- Texas Watson;
- Zaphod Beeblebrox, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy;
- Veil of Maya
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com| Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Topics of discussion:
- Rodney Tine + the Office of Unspecified Services;
- The cognitive effects of The Entertainment;
- The Darkness has ghosts;
- Pemulis as a jester;
- Lenz + Green;
- The varying effects of cocaine;
- and Hal is "by far Brianna's favorite person"
See also:
- Monty Python's "The Funniest Joke in the World";
- Clark's wallabees shoes;
- Charles Simic, "Crepuscular";
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner";
- Brooding and Hamlet;
- Tarkovsky's Stalker (1979 film);
- Spicy Burrito Problem (omnipotence problem/paradox; The Paradox of the Stone)
We'll be reading pages 548–565 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
CW: animal cruelty
Topics of discussion:
- Why we skip reading things;
- Marathe and Steeply continue sitting;
- Joelle/Don Gately - veils, misunderstanding words;
- Randy Lenz - doing a little cocaine;
- Graphic violence and the purpose in the novel
See also:
- The Cryptid Keeper (specifically, the cigar-smoking Kapre);
- TV Tropes - So Beautiful it's a Curse;
- Kejōrō (from Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki);
- Harionago;
- 90s Ganguro style;
- Douglas Bader, amputee pilot;
- Circe (also a novel by Madeline Miller);
- L'Academie Francaise - members are called "immortal"
We'll be reading pages 548–565 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix
Topics of discussion:
James O.'s autobiography; Casual sexism + gender roles; Narcotics Anonymous; Hank Hoyne and studying The Entertainment; Lateral Alice Moore; Politeness Roulette; and EPISODE 17
See also:
- Squirrels jumping into leaves
- Cats and olive juice
- The Man from Glad
- Cahiers du Cinéma
- French New Wave
- Powell's Peeping Tom (trailer)
- Magneto
- Ada McMahon
- Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul and Salmon of Doubt
- Brachistochrone curve
- Anechoic chambers
- Constellations: Hercules, Perseus, Castor/Pollux
- James Jason Walsh, "American Hamlet: Shakespearean Epistemology in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest"
- Night Sky application for Mac
- Statler and Waldorf
- The color blue
- Bill Murry went to my high school
- John Newcombe (Tennis Ranch)
- Coatlicue
- Sound memories
- Toronto Bluejays' Skydome (The Rogers Centre)
We’ll be reading pages 528–548 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna’s website: briannakratz.com - Brianna’s Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni’s paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew’s videos & writing: agingerich.com
Topics of discussion:
Marathe and Steeply's conversation about neurology and p-terminals; "Has anyone told you Don Gately has a square head?"; the Antitoi Brothers' shenanigans; stereotyping of folks in wheelchairs; Infinite Jest: apparently unfilmable, but IS IT?
See also:
- Briggs electrodes
- James Olds' study about "reward centers"
- MKUltra
- Tuskegee Project
- Emmett Leith and holography
- The May Day Mystery
We’ll be reading pages 491–528 next time.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna’s website: briannakratz.com - Brianna’s Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni’s paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew’s videos & writing: agingerich.com; instagram.com/coffeestopfix
Topics of discussion:
New bikes; trite cliches that actually work; teeth dreams; the whereabouts of Madame Psychosis; A.M. drills; C.T. and Total Worry; living within the tennis court; and CAKE
See also:
- Polonius from Hamlet (paper bag Hamlet; Ian Holm; Bill Murray)
- David Foster Wallace's "This Is Water" Kenyon Commencement address
- The Neverending Story (movie)
- Inside Out (movie)
- Mimetic architecture
- Title IX
- P-Zombie
- Betty Crocker's yellow cake mix
We’ll be reading pages 470–491 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna’s website: briannakratz.com | Brianna’s Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni’s paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew’s videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew’s film photography: Instagram.com/CoffeeStopFix
Topics of discussion:
Marathe and Steeply talk the Office of Unspecified Services, their political philosophies, and SOUP; The American Dream; Eric Clipperton (finally some closure); Gately and cleaning; Dr. Dolores Rusk, ETA counselor
See also:
- Shining Path + Maxwell House
- Radiohead's "Fitter Happier"
- Utilitarianism + Jeremy Bentham, mummy
- David Foster Wallace's "Consider the Lobster"
- Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff (movie)
- Cities + cars + horse poop
- Why Andrew didn't have an Instagram until now
We’ll be reading pages 442–470 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna’s website: briannakratz.com - Brianna’s Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni’s paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew’s videos & writing: agingerich.com
Andrew's photos developed in instant coffee: instagram.com/coffeestopfix/
Topics of discussion:Eschaton, film, leitmotif, critics and consumerism, President Gentle, Eric Clipperton, advertising, computer storage, Schtitt's politics, and BANANAS!
See also:
- Corrie Baldauf's Infinite Jest Project - Instagram
- Carole Maso's Ava (book)
- Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse (book)
- Carl Elsaesser (filmmaker)
- Steven Soderbergh's Schizopolis (film)
- critics in fiction: Louise Penny's Three Pines mysteries, Ratatouille, and Chef
- 1972 Democratic Primary
- Sherman Antitrust Act of 1980
- Well, there's your problem (YouTube series)
We’ll be reading pages 418–442 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna’s website: briannakratz.com - Brianna’s Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni’s paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew’s videos & writing: agingerich.com
Topics of discussion: Marathe and Steeply on the ledge, still; anti-confluentialism; Interdependence Day celebrations at Enfield Tennis Academy; the politics of O.N.A.N.; the politics of A.A.; how to do A.A. "right;" also HATS
See also:
- filmmakers: Fritz Lang, Robert Bresson, Maya Deren, Hollis Frampton
- Jacques Godbout's Kid Sentiment & The Black Sheep
- Roger Ebert's review of Pink Flamingos
- Andrew's non-fiction poetics essay, "Self-Consciousness, Performance, and the Technical Monster"
- William Blake "The Tyger" & "The Lamb"
- Allen Ginsberg reading William Blake
- Tod Haynes' Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (movie)
- Denise Duhamel's Barbie poems, Kinky
- Cloud Atlas (movie)
- Network (movie)
- Avatar: The Last Air Bender
- Inygo Montoya in The Princess Bride
- Murder on the Orient Express (1974 movie)
- Peter Greenaway's The Falls (movie)
We’ll be reading pages 395–418 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna’s website: briannakratz.com - Brianna’s Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni’s paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew’s videos & writing: agingerich.com
Please excuse this late installment—it's because I'm lazy! In this episode, we talk about AA and dive into David Foster Wallace's sometimes-unsavory biography.
See also * The Atlantic: The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous | NPR: Critic Faults Alcoholics Anonymous For Lack Of Evidence * David Foster Wallace, E Unibus Pluram * The Awl: Inside David Foster Wallace's Private Self-Help Library * New York Magazine: Just Kids * The Atlantic: David Foster Wallace and the Dangerous Romance of Male Genius * WBUR: Memoirist Mary Karr On God, #MeToo And Speaking Up About David Foster Wallace * The Dollop: The Coors Family
We'll be reading pages 375–395 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com
After a one-week hiccup in our schedule, we're back and reading about an unmitigated fiasco. That's right—it's Eschaton!
Topics of discussion Cameras (again); Mario Incandenza continues to be one of the few characters with any redeeming qualities; Emil Minty is a real person!?; beasts; computers; apocalypses; unidentified Ford-sitters.
See also * Bolex H16 REX-5 | Silicon Imaging SI-2K Mini * Wikipedia: Emil Minty * Wikipedia: Gaudeamus igitur | Library of Congress: Gaudeamus igitur * The Verge: Eschaton is a surreal Zoom nightclub — and a theater for the age of social distancing * Official trailer: The Pilgrim's Progress * Wikimedia Commons: Albrecht Dürer's The best with the lamb's horns and the beast with seven heads * VT100.net: DIGITAL Computing Timeline – 1994 * Wikipedia: Commentary (magazine) | Google Books: Running Commentary: The Contentious Magazine that Transformed the Jewish Left Into the Neoconservative Right * The Decemberists' Calamity Song music video | All Songs Considered first watch: The Decemberists, Calamity Song*
We'll be reading pages 343–375 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com
Welcome to our belated fourteenth episode—sorry, it couldn't be helped! This week, we learn more about Quebecois separatists and discuss our own, largely-inadequate history educations.
Topics of discussion: * Answering the double-bind essay question * Inadequate curricula, both real and fictional * Quebec History in Infinite Jest: Disentangling Fact from Fiction: A Brief Survey of Canadian Historical References in the Writings of David Foster Wallace * Wile E. Coyote as a model for direct action in the Quebec freedom struggle
See also: * Wikipedia: Felo de se * Wikipedia: Cap-Rouge, Quebec City * Wikipedia: Louis de Buade de Frontenac * Wikipedia: Château Frontenac * Wikipedia: Jacques Cartier * Wikipedia: Jean-François Roberval * Wikipedia: Samuel de Champlain * Wikipedia: Ursulines * Wikipedia: Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst * Wikipedia: Meech Lake Accord * Wikipedia: Jacques Parizeau * Wikipedia: 1995 Quebec referendum * Wikipedia: Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades * Infinite Jest Wiki – Notes and Errata (page 1016 notes on Brazilian Nuevo Contras/Noie Störkraft/The Shining Path/Belgian CCC's)
We'll be reading pages 312–343 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
It's our lucky 13th episode—we're just past page 300, and we have some technical difficulties!
Topics of discussion * Johnny Gentle, famous crooner * Prorectors: the disaffected grad-student-class of ETA * A sort of contortionist with other people's bodies * Acid collections * Digital Bolexes: the mystery deepens! * Poor Tony's harrowing detox * "Zuckung"
See also * Wikipedia: Johnny Gentle * Wikipedia: Ascapart * Bolex Collector: Bolex H16 * Angular speed of a DVD
We'll be reading pages 306–312 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
We normally record our podcast on a Saturday afternoon, but we did this one on a Thursday morning and it shows. Please excuse the slightly reduced audio quality, due to the sudden and catastrophic failure of an SD card.
Topics of discussion: * Clichés * "Egregious" * Assigned readings * Overworked students/space mutinies
See also: * Flatland * Oblomov * Mutiny in Space: Why These Skylab Astronauts Never Flew Again
We'll be reading pages 283–306 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
Our week 11 reading is dominated by a long phone call, so it seems somehow fitting, even thematically appropriate, that we, as always, meet up with our friends to discuss it telephonically.
Topics of discussion * "The sated ghost cannot see secret things" * The unusual bodies of Infinite Jest * More Hamlet parallells * Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton/"It was a dark and stormy night"
See also * Atlas Obscura: Hex Signs of Pennsylvania * Wikipedia: Montcerf-Lytton, Quebec * Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest: 2019 winners * Lyttle Lytton Contest: 2019 winners * The New York Times: Roger Federer as Religious Experience by David Foster Wallace (2006)
We'll be reading pages 270–283 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
It's week 10, we've made it to double digits!
Topics of discussion * WHERE DID THE ACID GO? * Madame Psychosis/metempsychosis/psychopomps * Hedgehogs: what do they do?
We'll be reading pages 242–270 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
It's week 9, and we're still reading a long book!
Topics of discussion: * French prescriptivism/Audio à la demande * Facial isometrics/tortured Popes * Recovery aphorisms/a disagreement over narrative perspective * Evil CIA experiments/Medieval mass hallucinations * Fiberglass replicas of famous filmmakers * Suicidal ideation/other sad stuff
See also: * Francis Bacon, Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1953 * Lou Eyrich's scalp tattoo * e e cummings, Buffalo Bill's, 1920 * Errol Morris, Wormwood, 2017
We'll be reading pages 223–242 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
Portia Cobb, No Justice, No Peace! Young, Black, ImMEDIAte! 1992
Welcome back for our 8th week of Infinite Jest! We're up to page 198.
Topics of discussion: * We're sad for Hal * "Feral Prodigy" * Mario Incandenza's cinematic influences * Enfield Tennis Academy's academic curricular model * "Bafflegab" * The incident with the fork * President Limbaugh? * Formication * "Unabashed bashing at its most fascist" * Madame Psychosis * The Union of the Hideously and Improbably Deformed * Medusa vs. Odalisque * Depressing books * The mimetic architecture of the M.I.T. Student Union * The buildings on Commonwealth Avenue
See also: * Gus Van Sant, The Discipline of D. E., 1978 * Hito Steyerl, How Not to be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File, 2013 * Guy Maddin, The Saddest Music in the World [trailer], 2003; My Winnipeg [trailer], 2008 * Jules Lefebvre, Odalisque, 1874 * M.I.T.'s Stratton Student Center, 1968 * The Longaberger Basket Company, 1997 * Eero Saarinen's M.I.T. Chapel, 1955
We'll be reading pages 198–223 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
The gang is up to page 172 this week. This reading featured a long chapter with no paragraph breaks and menacing undertones! Topics of discussion
- Discord chicken quality
- James O. Incandenza's daddy issues
- The O.N.A.N. insignia
- Mario's head-mounted Bolex
- The Incandenzas’ inheritance of family problems
- Hideous tennis injuries
- DMZ/Madame Psychosis
- ⚡️HAMLET⚡️
See also * Bolex * Digital Bolex * The Discipline of D. E. - CORRECTION: I mistakenly claimed D. E. stood for “Doing Everything,” when in fact it stands for Do Easy.
We'll be reading pages 172–198 next week.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Brianna's website: briannakratz.com - Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
We're nearing two months of quarantine, and Vvinni's got bees! Topics of discussion include:
- Supposedly Lyle, on wisdom being the better part of valor
- The harrowing account of C's death by Yours Truly
- Lying to your brother over the phone
- The bricklayer joke
- Grading Hal's homework
- Microwaves, and the dangers thereof
- The treacheries of videoconferencing
See also:
- Louis-Joseph Papineau; young Louis-Joseph Papineau's unfortunate hair
- Snopes: The Barrel of Bricks
- Mr. Show - The Story of Everest
For next week, we'll read up through page 172.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
Not to brag, but it's our best episode so far! Topics of discussion include:
- Last weekend's pie-baking fiasco
- Dental hygiene
- The three worst Pokémon types
- You can only wear a yachting cap ironically so may times before you're wearing it sincerely
- An anti-Entertainment!?
- The ugly gender/sex politics of that deeply uncomfortable chapter with Mario and Millicent Kent
- Twin Peaks' Denise Bryson vs. the transmisogyny of Friends
For next week, we'll read up through page 151.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
The gang all stopped reading on the same page this week! Topics of discussion include:
- History of Entertainment
- Big Buddies/Little Buddies
- The Darkness
- Oatmeal, big wooden spoons
- Romance vs. duty
- Puzzling out the provenance of the Entertainment
See also:
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: flow states
- Bröckengespensf phenomenon
- Marina Abramović & Ulay: Breathing in/breathing out (1977)
- Samizdat
For next week, we'll read up through page 127.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
Welcome back! We had planned to get to page 95 this week, but another long endnote leapt out of the bushes at us! Norma and Vvinni slogged bravely onward to page 95, while Andrew and Brianna cut their losses and stopped at page 85. This week's topics of discussion include:
- Cats who are problems
- Literary depictions of depression/psychiatric medicine
- Gerhardt Schtitt's musings on the sublime poetics of tennis
- The Enfield (England) Poltergeist
- Québécois separatists/wheelchair assassins/le jeu du Prochain Train
- Feral hamsters!
- They may kill you, but the legalities of eating you are quite a bit dicier.
- O.N.A.N./Onan
Watch: “The Funniest Joke in the World” from Season 1/Episode 1 (“Whither Canada?”) of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969)
For next week, we'll read up through page 109.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's videos: agingerich.com
For an astounding second week in a row, the gang meets up to talk about Infinite Jest! We had planned to get to page 78 today, but we ran into an enormous endnote, so we stopped at page 68 instead.
This week's topics of discussion include:
- Found cats
- Hi, Grandma!
- “Quo Vadis”
- Imaginary technology
- Nightmares
- The filmography of James O. Incandenza, and his place in the 20th century experimental cinema canon
- Nuclear fusion
Watch: Sidney Peterson's The Cage (1947)
Watch: Excerpt from Takahiko Iimura's AIUEONN Six Features (1993)
Watch: George Landow's New Improved Institutional Quality: In the Environment of Liquids and Nasals a Parasitic Vowel Sometimes Develops (1976)
For next week, we'll read up through page 95.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's films: agingerich.com
We're actually doing it: Andrew and Brianna are joined by their friend Vvinni and Andrew's mom Norma, as they begin the gargantuan task of reading and discussing Infinite Jest.
- This week's topics of discussion include:
- The annoyance of endnotes
- And but so
- The glass delusion; glass pianos
- Literary blackface
- Dove Bars: chocolate, or soap?
- Turkeys
Next week, we'll settle in and discuss pages 50–78.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
Vvinni's paintings: Instagram.com/CardboardVv
Andrew's films: agingerich.com
We went back and recorded this mini-episode when we were a little more than halfway through the book because we realized our first episode didn't do a great job of introducing us or what you could expect from the podcast. Welcome! This podcast is a book club where we read and talk about Infinite Jest, the 1996 novel by David Foster Wallace. It's a book about tennis, experimental film, depression, addiction, experimental tennis, global politics, recovery, and a few other things.
- Trigger warnings for Infinite Jest
- Sexual Assault
- Abuse
- Child abuse/pedophilia/incest
- Animal cruelty or animal death
- Self-harm and suicide
- Eating disorders, body hatred, and fat phobia
- Violence Kidnapping and abduction
- Death or dying
- Blood
- Mental illness and ableism
- Racism and racial slurs
- Sexism and misogyny
- Classism
- Transphobia and trans misogyny
- Homophobia and heterosexism
- Addiction and drug use
[based on the University of Michigan LSA Inclusive Teaching Initiative's list of potential trigger warnings]
Our first episode starts with pages 1–49 of the paperback edition.
Have you read Infinite Jest, or have you tried to read Infinite Jest? Let us know: anchor.fm/small-clever-rooms/message
You can also reach us by email at smallcleverpod@gmail.com, and we're on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @smallcleverpod.
Brianna's website: BriannaKratz.com | Brianna's Infinite Jest timeline
Vvinni's painting Instagram: @CardboardVv | Vvinni's films: vimeo.com/henceforth
Andrew's videos & writing: agingerich.com | Andrew's film photography Instagram: @CoffeeStopFix