Bookforum.com

The pellucid navigation of bookforum.com is really what drives the success of the website that features all styles of writing and related news. The front page of the website is comprised of small features of their additional pages: The Daily Review, Omnivore, Paper Trail, Outposts, Reviews, and The Archive. These provide an extensive archive for newly published works (The Daily Review), all reviewed works (Reviews), events (Outposts), and news updates on authors and the literary world (Paper Trail).

While navigating the site is relatively effortless due to the style and layout of the pages, the content isn’t always as easy to follow. Omnivore’s focus is entirely unclear until a glace to the web address reveals that it is a blog from Bookforum. The blog has no running theme and the typography clutters the page with bold letters linking an average of 20 additional sites per post. Paper Trail consists of a few short sentences leading into a story or event involved in the literary world. It is effective because it comprehensively shows small snippets of important information pertaining to authors and their works.

The reviews currently posted for the April and May edition are well-written and display a variety of novels with different subject matter. The lack of categories to search, however, means wading through reviews of books that are majorly disinteresting and the search engine provided through Bookforum is almost useless. Readers just wanting to browse or search for popular titles will find that the information piled into Bookforum is especially interesting, but for those who have a distinct and rigid taste for novels will find trouble finding exactly what they desire. Ultimately, Bookforum is an effective website with an innovative layout design meant to bring all things literary to the general public. But the next time you’re looking for a specific genre, head to a bookstore instead.

Family Guy April in Quahog April 11, 2010

With the threat of a black hole enclosing the solar system in 24 hours, the Griffins, along with the rest of Quahog, prepare for their last day on Earth. What turns out to be an April Fool’s joke from Channel 5, (“And with only 87 suicides and widespread looting, we think this was a pretty successful practical joke.”) gives the town an excuse for complete freedom one ordinary Tuesday.

As usual, the episode is filled with humorous cutaways and tangents distantly related to the situations. Each scene directs the focus to another punchline, keeping the fast-paced tempo commonly found on Family Guy. The hilarity wasn’t missed between jumping from the citizens of Quahog and the Griffin’s adventures, and though it might have been appropriate to end the episode at the April’s Fool joke, the conflict introduced just after was simple enough to resolve while adding more layers to the story.

Peter Griffin had been called into jury duty the day before, and after he realized that everyone gets called, his enthusiasm disappeared. Overjoyed that the last day on Earth meant that he didn’t have jury duty anymore, Peter neglects his family for the entirety of the day in order to do the things he never accomplished in his life. Stolen from the zoo, Peter rides in the living room with a lion and just as proud as one. “Hello everybody, this is Montecoy. He’s my lion. I have a lion now.” Later, he scampers off into an all black neighborhood and yells the “you-know-what word,” returning crowned and robed.

Quagmire convinces Joe that he is actually a virgin and wants permission to sleep with his wife. Joe allows him and when he asks Quagmire how it went, Quagmire replies, “Oh, I’ve had lots of sex. I just wanted to have it again!” Then he proceeds to skip and sing away, finishing with a convicted “Screw you!” at the end. The camera slides back to Joe, whose only reply is an equally enthusiastic, “That’s Quagmire for you!”

Lois and the kids spend the day on the couch watching the Channel 5 news cover of the black hole. When Peter finally returns from his escapades, Lois yells at him just seconds before the count down finishes. Spared for a few seconds while Channel 5 reveals their spoof, Peter is later shunned for not taking interest in Meg, Chris or Stewie’s lives. Lois tells Peter to try harder since he is obviously failing, which leads to his buying a new XBOX for the kids. Predictably, the children forgive him and all is resolved within the Griffin family again.

The humor found in Family Guy normally rides on the use of irrelevant and somewhat absurd occurrences happening to regular people in a boring town, and yet, the jokes haven’t lost their zing. Familiar plays on the characters and their relationships connect this episode to the running seasons, and show Seth McFarlane’s signature comedic devices. After another solid episode and relieved that the town of Quahog stands strong for another day, the impatience grows for the next episode of the never ordinary lives of the Griffin’s.