Periscope Depth

weird science

New post up on Overthinking It today on the problem with geniuses in movies. Most Hollywood depictions of geniuses come off flat, uninspiring or inaccurate – why is that?

it's my life; don't you forget it

Call me humorless, but I don’t find 90% of what people link to on Awkward Family Photos funny. It’s people in outmoded styles of dress, with haircuts that we would today consider bad. They clearly love each other, as evidenced by the fact that they’re willing to sit in front of a faux-tapestry backdrop in [...]

when your broken heart has learned its lesson

Mad Men: I’m one of the few people I know who defends Betty Draper. (NO SPOILERS, though I may reference events in the episode “Wee Small Hours” in an oblique way) Not to suggest she’s not a terrible mother. She lets television do her parenting for her, is completely oblivious to her children’s needs – [...]

there's a clock on the wall and it counts my time

Saw some live music at the House of Blues this weekend. The Islands The first opening act, The Islands combined the best aspects of Radiohead with the worst aspects of The Arcade Fire. Good stuff but I don’t feel compelled to buy it. I was really confused since I showed up long after doors had [...]

you know that I wouldn't say something I didn't mean

It took me a while to realize, even after I became a humorless atheist, that my thoughts and feelings come from somewhere. Even if you don’t believe in a soul, or a consciousness separate from the biological processes of consciousness, you probably believe in some distinction between the “nobler” passions, like love and hope, and [...]

and he points to his survival, and he points me down the road

Perdido Street Station: Weird, original and engrossing; a blend of Cronenberg and Dickens. China Mieville builds a city full of fascinating characters and baroque institutions: the steampunk slum of New Crobuzon, where cactus-men jostle with insect-headed khepri and where the militia stalk the skies on tramlines, capturing criminals and sentencing them to Remaking. In this [...]

it all depends upon your appetite

HOPE Twice in the span of eight hours on Sunday I saw “Yes You Can!” used as a marketing slogan. Once for a dry cleaning special, once for an online dating site. Aside from the sheer silliness of appropriating a Presidential campaign slogan for, well, dry cleaning or online dating, I have two follow-up questions: [...]

tis here that truth is known

Professor Coldheart’s Keys to the Game Ravens games don’t usually get picked up by New England stations. I could go to a sports bar and ask someone to switch a TV over, but this doesn’t always go over well. Also, it ties me to that particular bar for three hours and twenty dollars worth of [...]

night swimming deserves a quiet night

My latest post on Overthinking It compares The Demolished Man vs. Demolition Man – the 1951 Alfred Bester novel to the 1993 Sylvester Stallone action flick. They have more in common than a name, you know. (Serpico deserves some credit for inspiring the initial comparison: thanks Serp) # # # Imagine the following two different [...]

walk like a pimp, think like a macintosh

You’re A Very Nosy Fellow, Kitty Cat These three things are true: (1) Roman Polanski deserves to go to jail for raping a thirteen-year-old girl – not merely statutory rape, but coerced, drug-induced sex with a thirteen-year-old. The years he spent outside of the United States do not count as “time served” for his crime, [...]

« go back

  • Periscope Depth

    The website of John Perich, author of TOO CLOSE TO MISS and editor for Overthinking It. He's learning about writing, marketing, publishing and promotion, and he encourages you to learn along with him.

    perich@periscopedepth.com

  • TOO CLOSE TO MISS




    "... opens with a bang and never relents ..."
    "... from chapter one, I couldn't put the damn thing down ..."
    "... already looking forward to Perich's next book ..."

    Mara Cunningham knew that sleeping with a married man was a bad idea. But when her lover shows up in the hospital after his wife and son are murdered, the rumors about her turn dangerous. Now she's the prime suspect in a double homicide, and the real killers will stop at nothing to silence her ...

    Buy the book that readers are calling "a great, suspenseful thriller" at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers.



  • Tags

    air travel apartment baltimore ravens barack obama books boston dancing dating davis square drinking driving economics family feminism football friends health hip hop improvboston institutions introvert jiu-jitsu karaoke language mad men marketing meta movies music overthinking it politics poll rant religion rpgs silly the show that never ends the wire too close to miss tv video games weather wedding work writing