by Edward Champion

Excerpt from David O. Russell’s “Alienated”

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Reluctant Habits has obtained an excerpt of David O. Russell’s new book series for children, Alienated. The series will center around two children who work for “an old tabloid that covers the worlds of freaks and aliens.”]

The alien had come into the tabloid’s office for a profile piece. But why couldn’t she understand Penelope’s simple instructions? Why couldn’t she see that Penelope had greater plans for her?

“Fuck you,” said Penelope, whose cute golden curls glistened with venom. “I was trying to fucking help you. Do you understand me?”

The alien, whose name was Lily and whose curls did not glisten with venom, sat at the desk, puzzled that an eight-year-old girl would use such language.

“Try being a fucking collaborator. I was trying to help you figure out…”

Penelope had a point to make. She was, after all, a freak. Nobody understood her. And it was necessary to throw a tantrum so that the extent of her genius — her fucking genius — would be understood. Why couldn’t Lily understand her? But this was all for the best!

“Hey bitch! I’m not here to be fucking yelled at! I’ve worked on this fucking tabloid for three fucking years, and to have some cunt….”

Penelope kicked a binder on the desk for emphasis. Her genius extended into musical rhythm. It was good to be a freak. Good to be angry. Good to watch one of the secretaries cower near the door in the corner. They’d never treat her with contempt again. Penelope was surprised that Lily was calm the entire time.

“…yell at me in front of the fucking staff when I’m trying to fucking…fuck you, bitch. Figure it out yourself! Fuck yourself!”

Penelope began to beat her fists into the wall. It seemed the right thing for a genius to do.

by Edward Champion

Segundo Distribution Update

If you are a program director interested in airing Segundo, please note that the first 230 shows of Segundo are available in a one-hour format, with the shows all running just under an hour. While the running time ranges from 23 minutes to 58 minutes, if you are looking for a literary program that you’d be interested in stripping during a post-midnight slot and you have an automated system that can fill in the remaining gaps with short segments, please email me and I’d be happy to discuss arrangements.

A half-hour syndication package, involving a more scheduling-specific 28:30 format, will be available in a few months.

I was as surprised as anyone to learn that the entire Segundo oeuvre now runs close to 10 gigs in MP3 format. (About 98% of these shows fit on two DVD-ROMs.) Because of this, I’m going to soon be releasing twelve torrent packs for these shows that will be uploaded to The Pirate Bay (with the older ones repacked), so that Segundo can be disseminated further.

For those who simply want copies of the shows on DVD, so that you can simply copy the shows over to your iPods or MP3 players without having to download them all, I plan on working out a scenario in which you’ll be sent the first 225 or so shows on two DVD-ROMs for a reasonable price.

In the meantime, the August pledge drive is still on. We’re still short of our goal. So if you haven’t donated, your support will help us continue the show. We’ll have more news on all this later, as well as another podcast up very soon. Thanks again for listening.
















by Edward Champion

Why Don’t You Throw In a boo.com Account and a Sock Puppet As Well?

Mark Penn: “I CAN BE PRESIDENT. This idea has potential for a viral campaign among moms — it is about your sons and daughters believing that they too can be president. Your success paves the way for them. It is about the emotional connection between you and their dreams for the kids, especially their daughters. We are making a video with celebrities saying what they would do if president. The launch of this has good potential to catch on.”

If you’re fond of observing political implosions, there’s a big article in this month’s Atlantic (and a hearty list of memos) chronicling the rise and fall of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. It amazes me just how out of touch some people are about the Web in 2008. (via Ghost in the Machine)

by Edward Champion

Bob Costas, The Only NBC Interviewer with Balls

COSTAS: But given China’s growing strength and America’s own problems, realistically how much leverage and influence does the U.S. have here?

THE PRESIDENT: First of all, I don’t see America having problems. I see America as a nation that is a world leader, that has got great values. And leverage is — I don’t think you should look at the relationship as one of leverage. I think you ought to look at the relationship of one of constructive engagement where you can find common areas, like North Korea and Iran, but also be in a position where they respect you enough to listen to your views on religious freedom and political liberty.

COSTAS: If these Olympics are as successful as they are shaping up to be, most people believe this only further legitimizes the ruling party in the minds on most Chinese citizens. And even absent true liberty as we understand it, the lives of hundreds of millions of Chinese people are much better than they once were. Therefore, what’s the party’s incentive to reform?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, if you’re a religious person, you understand that once religion takes hold in a society it can’t be stopped. And secondly, I think the Olympics are going to serve as a chance for people to come and see China the way it is, and let the Chinese see the world and interface and have the opportunity to converse with people from around the world. This is a very positive development, in my view, for peace.

You can watch the first part of the interview here, and here’s the full transcript.