Sans Serif

My old college pal Chet Farmer, of Miscellaneous Heathen, points out that leap year does not technically happen every four years. Here’s how to identify a leap year:

* The year is divisible by 4, and it’s not a century year
* The year is divisible by 4, [...]

William F. Buckley, Jr. died this morning at his home in Connecticut, age 82. Buckley was a prolific writer, former editor of The National Review, television commentator, columnist, and, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, “harpsichordist, trans-oceanic sailor and even a good-natured loser in a New York mayor’s race.”
Related:
*”The Buckley Effect,” New York Times [...]

Today in Publisher’s Lunch…this looks funny! I can already see the film adaptation. In the time-honored Hollywood tradition of thirty-somethings playing teenagers, I see a starring role for Casey Affleck and one of the ladies from Gossip Girl. Matthew McConaughey in his breakout performance as the principal.
Larry Doyle’s second novel GO, MUTANTS!, set in an [...]

The Year of Fog is out in paperback today. That’s right! It just got cheaper. Costs less than a movie, people, and it lasts longer! Hurray!

If you choose to stay indoors for the Chinese New Year parade tonight in San Francisco, you can watch the whole thing live on KTVU (Fox 2), co-hosted by Ben Fong-Torres and Julie Haener.
Other indoor activities: I’ll be reading tonight at Cantina in San Francisco for the Babylon Salon series. Join me, Eileen Reynolds, Herb [...]

I just saw Michael Gondry’s new movie, Be Kind Rewind, on opening night at the Balboa in San Francisco. Mick LeSalle for The Chronicle got it all wrong. It’s a mess of a movie, sure, but a wonderful mess of a movie, a tribute to movie-making, a nod to some of the wacky greats of [...]

Here’s John McCain’s press conference about the Vicki Iseman allegations. Watch his wife Cindy, particularly at 7:20, when a reporter asks whether his aides asked him to stop seeing Iseman, and again at 9:34 when a reporter asks if he has seen Iseman, and at 13:25 when asked when he last saw Iseman. She looks [...]

Hey, folks, I’m really looking forward to reading at the Babylon Salon series Saturday night at Cantina in San Francisco. Join me, Eileen Reynolds, Herb Sandhu, Julie Bifano, and Opium Magazine’s Editor’s Choice reader on Feb. 23 at 7:00 p.m. 580 Sutter Street. The series is hosted by Timothy Rein and Tim Crandle, who seem [...]

My gmail has been on the fritz all day, but all other websites I try to access are working fine. Does anyone else have this problem?

Variety reports that the Coen brothers will write and direct the adaptation of Michael Chabon’s novel The Yiddish Policeman’s Union. Scott Rudin, who produced the earlier Chabon adaptation Wonder Boys, will produce.