Borrowed From Brother

When I first saw the Pixar classic Ratatouille in theaters in 2007, I remember thinking that I knew the voice of the main character, the rat Remy, but I just couldn't place it. It turns out that I didn't really know it. But, that is when I started to familiarize myself with the comedy stylings of Patton Oswalt.

I'd watch clips on Youtube and laugh. My brother had one of his comedy albums on disc, and we listened to that, and pretty soon I found anything Oswalt was associated with on streaming Netflix and instant queued them all.

There was one of those part documentary/part concert videos called, I think, "The Comedians of Comedy  Tour". That one showed what Patton's status was among his contemporary comedians, or at least the ones associated with their traveling road show (he's the ringleader). He was great is Young Adult, and I haven't yet seen Big Fan, but I'd like to.

So, when visiting my brother's house near the end of May I saw this book:

I started reading it in the morning hours when I was the only person awake and powered through nearly half of it. Dan said he had too many books in his own queue and said I could borrow it if I wanted. (I've since finished and returned it.)

There are three pieces in it that I wanted to talk about here. The first is the eponymous "Zombie Spaceship Wasteland". In this piece Patton discusses his theory about the three types of artistic type folks who, when young, are the nerdy and awkward outcasts who, when adults, enter lives of creative expression of one form or another. It has a tone and meandering, self reflective quality of one of my blog posts. Zombies want to destroy; spaceships leave; and wastelands are nostalgic for a false reality. If you consider yourself an artistic person and felt awkward or nerdy as a young person, then you'll be able to get a sense of Patton's motivations if you don't immediately agree with him. Both Corrie and I are spaceships. We've been known to leave.

My favorite piece was the first non-introduction one, about Patton's time before leaving Virginia after high school working in a suburban movie house. He does well capturing that combo of moment-enjoyment and driving-force that fuels the misery keeping you around. Having felt that before, it was easy for me to identify.

The third thing I wanted to mention was an observation Oswalt makes about Los Angeles. Now living in Burbank, he says that LA is like five of the best cities in America--and three or four of the worst.

If you haven't heard, here are some funny Oswalt tracks from his albums or Youtube clips: (These are the names I gave them, which could prove difficult later.)

1. The Angry Magician
2. The Rat Sighting
3. Dealing with a Heckler