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Jordan, are you worried you're losing a friend that talks about 80's and 90's baseball players and semi-obscure Bay area rap groups all the time, and gaining a friend that talks about his adorable son?

I feel a bit relieved that Jordan said Speed Racer was no good, as I have friends who adore the film (no one called it a game changer though). I see it's charms, who doesn't like a beehive used as a weapon, but there are severe storytelling problems. At one point Roger Allam (great in The Thick of It) is explaining to Emile Hirsch the history of racing, and there's a weird time jump where I'm not sure if we were still in Allam's story or not.

This all being said, I am happy to say that Cloud Atlas is wonderful. It's restrained while Speed Racer is excessive, humanistic while Speed Racer is too mechanical, and sound storytelling while Speed Racer is too loose with its story. That movie is an amazing achievement.

Speed Racer is a great movie if you really just want to watch the most complicated cartoon in the world take place during the race scenes. The actual movie part itself is dumb, but I remember sitting in a theater in awe when that last race was happening. IT WAS SO BRIGHT AND COLORFUL.

Basically the same thing as Sucker Punch. If you want a good "movie" it's not the best, but that part where they fight robots or demons or whatever is PRETTY NEAT.

Foist and hoist are not interchangeable.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/foist

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hoist

Thanks for the shows.

SOUNDS LIKE WE REALLY RUINED YOUR DAY, BENNY! SORRY ABOUT THAT. WE PROMISE NEVER TO ERR IN THE FUTURE.

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The addition of the emotes really let you know he's foisting useful feedback on you

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Looks like Jordan and Jesse have been foisted with their own leotard.

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As a children's librarian, I'd like to answer Jordan's question about whether classic children's books remain important as time goes on.

It's really expensive for publishers to print children's books, so unless one is a massive hit early on, they only manage to stay in print for a couple of years. Awards like the Caldecott Medal definitely can buy a book some life. All of the ones you guys mentioned fall into that massive hit category, though In The Night Kitchen often plays second fiddle to Where the Wild Things Are. Jesse's also spoken of his love for Caps for Sale in the past and that is still going strong.

The season 3 finale of Louie featured the Story of Ping, which is pretty damn old -- almost 80 years! -- and still in print.

Of course there are new books making an impression, but it's going to take a decade or so to see if many of them still hold their own. Actually, Simon's book Trashy Town could sort of be considered a newer classic. It's been in print for 13 years and is great for storytimes.

Jesse, if you wish to nurture Simon's love for trash might I suggest a few other great picture books:
Smash! Mash! Crash! There Goes the Trash! by Barbara Odanaka
I Stink! by Kate and Jim McMullan
Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter

Lots of exclamation points in those trash books.

Tangentially related (goats eat garbage):
http://www.amazon.com/Gregory-Terrible- ... 0545129311

GOD, I loved this book when I was a kid!

More children's book recommendations! As a parent, I find trying to navigate the world of kid's books pretty daunting. I'm looking for books that will keep my almost five year old's attention, as well as challenging books for my 2.5 year old. They're both girls, so I especially like books with female characters, where their sex is of little importance to the story. Most stories in which sex doesn't matter star boys; male is the default. Girls are only typically only made the main character if they need to be female for some reason.

P.S. We have a great book called 'The Dumpster Diver.' Highly recommended for trash lovers.

I used to work with a salesman named Dick Cumming.

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No, it actually made my day. Thanks!