RESISTANCE IS FUTILE: Officially, those self-replicating blog-games are a menace, an invasive species from somewhere along the boundary separating a pyramid scheme from the Name Game. Unofficially, I'm flattered whenever someone asks me to participate. In this case, the game is called Book Tag and the fellow who tagged me is Kevin Carson.

As with the last chain letter to drift through this site, which is strikingly similar, I'm supposed to answer five questions about books. OK:

1. The total number of books I own. I don't know. Many. You'd be better off asking me to count the shelves.

2. The last book I bought. Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson. I haven't finished it yet. So far it's a smart thriller.

3. The last book I read. Everyday Psychokillers: A History for Girls, by Lucy Corin. An excellent novel. I hope to post more about it later this week.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me. I appreciate the fact that I'm not being asked to pick the tomes that mean the most to me, or some other list of "top" books. Here's an assortment:

The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov.

A Scanner Darkly, by Philip K. Dick.

The Economy of Cities, by Jane Jacobs. I thought about picking her first book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, but this one isn't as well-known even though it's arguably as good. Consider this an advertisement.

The Third Policeman, by Flann O'Brien.

Ceremonial Chemistry, by Thomas Szasz.

5. Tag five people and have them do this on their blogs. That's a tall order, sir. I can do the tagging, but I don't have the power to compel.

George Hunka. Yes, he's allowed to pick plays.

Steve Koppelman. In hopes he'll find a way to work in a review of a taco stand.

Sara Rimensnyder. By hook or by crook, we'll get her to blog again.

Sara Ryan. All the Sara R.'s are getting called out today.

Matt Welch. Because he tagged me last time, and turnabout is fair play.

posted by Jesse 1:48 PM

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SELF-PROMOTION: Today's Reason column is about the political war underway at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

posted by Jesse 3:17 PM

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LISTEN TO THE "PEOPLE": Glenn Reynolds, the Harry Knowles of the punditocracy, shares a thought:

Worse yet, people were asking why, if Newsweek thought Koran-desecration was so bad, it had no qualms about portraying a dirtied American flag in a trashcan on the cover of its Japanese edition.

The answer -- which Glenn is welcome to pass along to those unidentified "people," should he run into any of them -- is that Newsweek didn't print a word about Koran-desecration being "so bad." It said that, according to "sources," "Investigators probing abuses at Guantanamo Bay have confirmed some infractions alleged in internal FBI e-mails that surfaced late last year," one of which was the infamous allegation of biblioflushing.

A minor difference? Sure, but it's one that doesn't leave much room for the hypocrisy Glenn's "people" are alleging. "People," not unlike "sources," don't always know what they're talking about.

posted by Jesse 9:02 AM

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SELF-PROMOTION: My newest column for Reason Online is about people power in Latin America. It's the most anarchist thing I've written for Reason in a while.

Also, June's print edition of Reason has been out for over a week now. I don't have any substantial articles in it, but I did contribute a brief squib about a state law nicknamed the Ohio Patriot Act.

posted by Jesse 7:58 PM

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FILM FEST OUGHT-FIVE: I keep meaning to review what I saw at the Maryland Film Festival last weekend, but it seems less and less likely that I'll find the time to write a real report. Here's a quick summary:

The best movie: It has to be Craig Lucas' adaptation of his play The Dying Gaul. A thriller of sorts, set in the West L.A. of 1995, it feels in the beginning like a retread of The Player but then departs in a rather different direction. Aside from a few murky plot points, it's an excellent picture: the story is taut, the characters are complex, and it doesn't resolve itself with an easy, unambiguous moral. See it at a festival if you can -- it's going into general release later this year, but I'm told the studio will probably change the ending in a way that could blunt its impact.

Honorable mention goes to Todd Solondz's Palindromes, which among other things is the first movie I've seen since Citizen Ruth -- maybe the only movie out there besides Citizen Ruth -- that deals with abortion without any of the usual cant.

The worst movie: Some of the films were uneven, but the only real stinker was Sugar, an ably photographed but otherwise uninteresting horror flick. It tries to be a Polanski-style claustrophobic experience; instead it's just formless and tedious.

The strangest movie: Nikc Miller's short Robot-ussin, a dada-fueled tale of a robot and his canned meat. Highly recommended.

Further, more extensive commentary may or may not be pending.

posted by Jesse 9:15 AM

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