Pop Culture Roundup

Last weekend I realized that I've never read a book by Jules Verne, so I went to the library and checked out 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea...all 400 pages of it. I'm about 100 pages from the end, so I should finish this weekend. It's easy when Verne devotes entire paragraphs to dates, classifying fish, and ship coordinates. The story itself is compelling, with Captain Nemo refusing to ever set foot on dry land again and the constant surprises that he reveals to his three prisoners. I just wish Verne wouldn't get so bogged down in lists of all the different crustaceans they saw.

We saw Pirates 2, which I didn't like as much as the first just because I like ghost stories more than I like sea monster stories. But the movie has some great action sequences, particularly a swordfight on a moving water wheel. The very end features the last thing you'd expect, which sets up the third movie. And stay through the credits.

Entourage is starting to get interesting. Turtle is starting to go places with his representation of Saigon, and Ari now represents both Chase brothers, so the foursome's B-team has been given a little boost. Vince comes up with his own way to juggle the two movies, which continues to build toward his choosing between being an actor and a movie star. He knows what he wants, but this last episode leaves the viewer hanging on whether he's just screwed himself over.

I saw the Grateful Dead featured on VH1's latest 1970s recap, so I felt compelled to listen to them. I haven't in a while.

Around the web, iMonk rants on the 'Six Degrees of Brian McLaren' dismissal tactic.