Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2001
From: ishbadiddle@yahoo.com
Subject: This week in Ishbadiddle (2/9/01)
To: meverettlane@yahoo.com


This Week in Ishbaddidle:

* You'll never look at elevators the same way again -- review of Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist by ME-L, the Ishbadiddlemesiter.

* Another chance to invite your friends to join Ishbadiddle. Just cut and paste the email below (don't forget to put in your own email address under mine!) and send it to 5 friends.

* Keep those reviews coming! I'm waiting for the avalanche...

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I must admit that I have sometimes wondered, while waiting to reach my floor, about the elevator inspectors, that list of signatures and dates that is supposed to assure us that we won't plunge to our deaths. Colson Whitehead's first novel, The Intuitionist, is about these folks, in a sort of alternate City where elevators are indeed big business, with lobbyists and billboards and everything. The inspector in question is Lila Mae Watson, the city's first female, and second black, inspector. At the beginning she's framed for an elevator accident -- not only because she's a minority, but also because she's an Intuitionist. The department, and the industry, is split by a struggle between the Empricisits, who examine elevators, and the Intuitionists, who, well, intuit what's wrong. Funny thing is, the Intuitionists have a higher accuracy rate.

If this sounds like a heavy handed allegory, it's not. Whitehead plays with the intersections of race, gender, and rationalism, and this is definitely a book that's about more than it's about. But The Intuitionist reads like a noir novel, if Sam Spade were given to mystical ruminations on elevators. It's both thoughtful and a good read: what more do you want from a first novel?

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Dear Friends:

The other day I had this idea for a "viral blurb network" that would marry the technology of email, the process of a chain-letter, and the collective cool of my friends. (Can you marry three items, or is that rhetorical bigamy?) I called it the Ishbadiddle Network, because it sounded kinda cool and goofy (like some of you). It's a way for friends (and friends of friends) to share opinions about books, music, movies, and all the pop culture stuff we consume regularly. Now here's how it works:

There are two names below. The second one is your friend who sent you this email. The first address is your friend's friend, (who is probably also your friend too, but for the sake of convenience I'll call them your FOAF (Friend Of A Friend)).

First, write a blurb / rant / review of a book, movie, CD, MP3, website, comic book, or anything else you think is interesting. Your blurb could be short or long. You could love or hate the work in question. Just let them know what you think. Send it to the first name on the list (your FOAF), and cc: the blurb to Ishbadiddle@yahoo.com.

Second, copy this email. Remove the FOAF from the address list below (that's the first address). Put your email address second. (Your friend's email becomes the first one.) Now send that new email to 5 of your friends. People who watch movies and read books and listen to music and stuff.

Now, just sit back and wait! You should get some cool reviews. But there's more! By writing a review and cc'ing Ishbadiddle@yahoo.com, you'll become a proud member of the Ishbadiddle Network, meaning you'll get even more reviews as a reward for turning over all those cultural rocks. And you'll be doing your part to strike against mediocrity in our media. Or something like that.

That's it! I hope you enjoy (and I hope this works!). Your friend and FOAF,

-- Mike Everett-Lane


YOUR ISHABADIDDLE EMAIL ADDRESSES (Send your blurb to the first address, then delete it and put your address below the second address):

meverettlane@yahoo.com
(your email here)

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FAQ

If I become a member, can I opt out?
Of course! Just send me an email saying "stop bothering me!" to Ishbadiddle@yahoo.com.

What the heck is this?
I have never found a "collaborative filter" that really works (whatever happened to Firefly anyway?). The recommendations on Amazon or other e-commerce sites are 1) written by strangers whose tastes are unknown to me, and 2) edited by people who want to sell me stuff. Wouldn't it be better to get recommendations from your friends? Thus, the Ishbadiddle Network. See, my friends know a lot more about pop culture than I do, so instead of pestering them for recommendations, I decided to create a Blurb Ponzi. Originally, it was gonna be a website, but I'm too lazy to learn HTML. Maybe in the future.

Is someone making money off of this?
Of course not! Don't you know you can't make money on the Internet any more?

What happens if I don't pass this on?
A man in Conshohocken once failed to pass on an Ishbaddidle email. Three days later, his plant died. He then sent a review to his Ishbadiddle FOAF. The plant was still dead. Just hit the old delete key, my friend, and you'll never be bothered again.

What's an Ishbadiddle anyway?
It's a nonsense phrase that my grandparents taught me: Ish-ba-did-a-lee-oaten-doat-bo-bo-ske-dee-ten-dot. Say it a bunch of times. Kind of sticks in your head, don't it?