I’m very nearly settled on Herman Melville’s Moby Dick for my proposed blook project.

Why Moby Dick? Well, first off, I like Melville — what little I’ve read of him. I thought “Bartleby, The Scrivener” was an amazing read: both the imagery and the fantastic nature of the story make it truly brilliant work.

Second, it’s ambitious. Why settle for a wimpy little text like Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist when I can tackle a 200,000-word monstrosity like Moby Dick?

Third, it’s “important.” Probably the most “significant” book I’ve never read, or at least the most significant American book I’ve never read.

Fourth, it’s bloggable. It’s got lots of little chapters, and relatively short paragraphs, both of which lend themselves to the blog format.

However, there are some serious issues with Moby Dick as well. It’s by a dead white guy. The dead part can’t really be helped, since I need to do an out-of-copyright text. White and guy are more serious issues. Why should the first blook reinforce the hegemony of the Man? I don’t have a good answer for that one, though at least during his lifetime it is true that, like many women and people of color, Melville was certainly underappreciated. Melville never was the Man, at least while he was alive.

I’m sure there are other reasons not to do Moby Dick, but the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced it’s the book I’d really like to turn into a blook. You can try to talk me out of it (as my wife already has), but I’m going to be hard to convince.

P.S. I think I’ve solved the technical issues w/r/t using blogging software to make a blook. The only things standing between me and getting this done will be creating a decent design, and finding the time. I’ll keep you posted on the blook’s progress.

Will this be the airplane of the future? According to Airbus’s propaganda site on National Geographic, it will:

A model of a bar area in an Airbus A380 shows how the plane’s “superjumbo” proportions may benefit some passengers. The plane’s main and upper levels will serve as passenger areas. The lower deck will be for freight—or additional passenger facilities such as sleeper cabins, child care, gymnasiums, casinos, or business centers, at the discretion of the airlines that purchase the planes.

Operational definitions for the terms “may” and “some” from the passage above: won’t and any.

Right. Like anyone’s going to pay an extra 20 percent for their plane ticket so three lucky passengers out of the 800 the plane carries will get a seat at the bar. Don’t look for gyms or casinos on board anytime soon, either.

(via BoingBoing)