The highest temperature officially recorded on Earth was 136.4 degrees, registered on Sept. 13, 1922, in Al Àziziyah, Libya.

Member of the U.S. Navy attends gay marriage rally in NYC, gives local radio interview, gets discharged. How much longer are we going to have to live with this nonsensical “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy? [via Good as You]

There’s a new Thomas Pynchon novel coming out in December! His first in almost 10 years. I can’t wait. No announced title yet. The news has apparently been floating around since last month, but Amazon posted the above listing for it a few days ago, along with a news release. There’s a book description that may or may not be true; it was posted on the book’s Amazon page but now it’s gone.

I’m not sure how I feel about Pynchon. I don’t get into the childish bathroom humor or the pointless songs, but his plots are wild, even though half the time you have no idea what’s going on. I’ve read Mason & Dixon and Gravity’s Rainbow. I liked M&D better. I’ll definitely have to read the new one, just because.

(Also found: Pynchonoid, a blog about Pynchon.)