Three out of four are on a certain subject

Finally back online after a phone outtage here at The Smudge.
Here are a few items that have piled up:
1) Read Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang. I was very suprised to discover that it was NOTHING like the movie, with the minor exception of having a flying car. I always thought that Fleming knocked it out just so [...]

Avocado O.D. Week – Pinkwater Interview Finale – the multiverse

Welcome to the last installment of Avocado of Death Week, a series of posts devoted to the first Snarkout Boys book. I’ve learned a lot and been quite inspired, especially by Professor Walter Hogan’s bold ideas. We also got up close and personal with Webmaster Ed! What a nice guy!
Click on the Avocado tag to [...]

Avocado O.D. Week – Pinkwater Interview3 – SNARKOUT Business & Revolution

SR: Walter says Silas Marner is the most boring book in the world. Do you agree?
DP: NOT AT ALL.
SR:  Genghis Khan H.S. seems a lot like the one Nifkin attended. Assuming you attended such a school yourself, did you escape like Nifkin or were you stuck?
DP: “THE EDUCATION OF ROBERT NIFKIN” MAY HAVE SOME AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL [...]

Avocado O.D. Week – Pinkwater interview2 – Jumping Right In

Here’s a favorite topic: when starting a book, do you jump into the action on page 1 or let the story unravel as needed?
Before Pinkwater gives us his thoughts here, from memory, is one of the great opening lines of all-time, from the Neddiad:
I have not always lived here, and by “here” I do not [...]

Avocado of Death Week – Cooking with Pinkwater!

Last year, for Baconburg Horror week, I made something akin to a Jitterbug. It was not good, but had more to do with bad ingredients than with Pinkwater’s imagination.

 
 
Sadly, I had similar results this year with the Avocado and Banana Fritters.
“They were not unlike a banana-and-avocado fritter I once tried in Dar-es-Salaam…”
-Master Detective Osgood Siggerson
 
The [...]

Avocado of Death Week – Webmaster Ed Interview

Pinkwater devotees have come to know and love Webmaster Ed as the charming host of the Pinkwater Podcast. We can also thank him for posting the audio book chapters which are worth their weight in gold. I don’t have a picture of him, but I imagine he looks like this when he and Pinkwater get [...]

Avocado of Death Week – Pinkwater interview part 1 & Gift guide

Because Pinkwater’s interview answers are so terse, I’m going to feature a few questions then allow the Alligatron (the cyber-avocado pictured above) to add it’s input…

You, along with Webmaster Ed, have just uploaded 34 chapters of the incredible audio book “The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death.” This is on top of podcasts, free [...]

Avocado of Death Week – The Big Secret

Yesterday, Professor Walter Hogan — author of The Agony and the Eggplant — shocked us all with his mention of the “dual roles” in The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death.
But what on earth was he talking about?
He kindly sent me a few pages from his book and they really blew my mind.
I don’t [...]

Avocado of Death Week – Interview with Prof. Hogan

We’ve got interviews with Pinkwater and Webmaster Ed coming, but you may recall that I hinted that we might have a surprise guest…
It’s man-about-town and kidlit expert, Professor Walter Hogan! Hogan wrote the book “The Agony and the Eggplant: Daniel Pinkwater’s Heroic Struggles in the name of YA Literature” about Pinkwater and his books. He [...]

Avocado of Death Week: McPinkwater

Some people have trouble understanding why the appearance of, say, a big ugly stripmall with a bunch of big and little box stores is a bad thing. (Yes, really! I know this because I write a newspaper column and people write back. Some people think stripmalls are doing us a big favor!)
To understand the horror [...]