“Gulls are scavengers anyway. Most birds are. Get yourselves guns and wipe them off the face of the earth.”¹

Geek Out

Scavenge. The previously mentioned Metro Metro Land Metropolitan Odyssey Hunt happens this weekend, and the sign-up period has long been over. But perhaps you were intimidated by the all-day, all-out nature of the hunt. If so, the savvy counter-programmers at Watson Scavenger Hunts have the answer: the Met Madness Relaxed Scavenger Hunt. Run at a slower pace than Watson’s standard lineup of weekend hunts, this “relaxed” version is the bunny slope to the Metropolitan Odyssey’s black diamond. Since it takes place on Mother’s Day, you can bring your mom and get a 50-percent ticket discount, and for those of you in the sixth borough, there’s a relaxed hunt at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as well. Both hunts start at 2:00 on Sunday; get there early.

Squint. I’d guess most of my readers have at some point been intrigued by spots like Area 51, whether it’s because of the extraterrestrial folklore or the simple 007-esque attraction of a top-secret government installation. Trevor Paglen has turned that intrigue into a career, having compiled a haunting portfolio of CIA sites, “black sites,” and “nonexistent” military bases. Paglen also published a collection of the bizarre, very creepy mission patches used for “black” military operations, entitled I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed by Me. (He talked about the book on The Colbert Report last month.) Paglen will deliver a lecture at the New Museum (235 Bowery) tonight at 7:30, with a focus on the peculiar aesthetics of state-secret photography.

Geek In

Revisit the classics. My uncle once told me that he had his beloved copy of the Lord of the Rings trilogy locked in a box so that he wouldn’t be tempted to reread them, and his memories of the books would fade over time. That way, he said, he could read the books late in life and experience the journey “fresh.” After finishing Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, I vowed to do the same thing. I also decided to read Asimov’s other works slowly, waiting a few years before I returned to his catalog.

During my last trip to Japan, I brought along Nemesis (1989) and The Gods Themselves (1972). Asimov’s introduction to Nemesis notes that the story alternates between two timeframes, past and present, and for better or worse, the “past” storyline proves to be much more compelling than the other. TGT, despite being the older book, has aged more gracefully. It was Asimov’s favorite, and probably my favorite read since Foundation and Earth. Nemesis and TGT are both worthwhile, but if you only have time to peruse one this weekend, pick up The Gods Themselves. Both books should be available at your local bookshop or lending library.

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1. According to the master of suspense. ↑