There haven’t been too many days since our time together here at The Spin that I’ve actually felt sad, but today is one of those days. If you haven’t heard by now, J.D. Salinger has passed away at the age of 91. Salinger is most well known for his classic, “The Catcher In The Rye”. I know how cliche this sounds, but that was one of the books that truly changed my life. That, along with “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac, were probably the first two books I read out of adolescence. Holden Caulfield was the first character I ever read that I felt a connection to. (Side note: Don’t sleep, I freaking loved Encyclopedia Brown as a kid, but there was no connection there.) The kid was a lost, sarcastic, smart-ass angry teenager; something that I was quickly shaping myself to become. The coolest thing about Salinger, was that he felt no need for the limelight. I mean, here was a man that wrote one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, and he just bounced to New Hampshire to live his own peaceful life. One of my all time favorite quotes of his was from a 1974 interview with The New York Times: “There is a marvelous peace in not publishing … I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure.” Trust that I do not lie when I tell you I would love to write something that could touch an entire generation and the generation after that and the one after that, only to be able to say screw it and live a quiet life with Mrs. Mike and Roxy the dog. (Side note: Yes, I’m aware that Salinger was quite eccentric, but dude lived to be 91, he must’ve been doing something right.) When I heard today that he had passed I was sad, even more so than the day MJ died. The world lost one of its greatest writers today. I hope you’ve found peace Mr. Salinger, and thank you for Holden Caulfield.

I’m having trouble staying away from Desperate Struggle, and I also just got Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (I’ll have a bit on that later in the week). Oh, there’s also the ridiculously epic Mass Effect 2 that I’m totally effing bonkers over right now. God, that game is too good!!! Anyway, now that NMH2 is out, that means we can start the long wait for Red Steel 2. That’s right, in less than two months we’ll be able to get our Western Samurai on. How about we whet our appetite with the latest trailer? Yeah, I thought you’d like that. And just for fun I’m gonna give you a video from the venerable Mos Def. There’s no reason for that really, other than the fact that Mos Def is super ill and The Spin supports real hip-hop. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.