Rock Snob Encyclopedia
What a fantastic idea. Too bad I came across this feature from my hometown alt-weekly at the letter R. Keep an eye on Philadelphia Weekly's archives (currently under construction) to read back-editions of the RSE.
Wednesday, September 5, 2001 03:14 p.m.

The Russians and Their Naughty Books
See, now this is what's great about being a librarian: even if you live in a totalitarian state, you can have access to the State's vast and varied collection of erotica. Sweet. Added bonuses include locating hidden treasure in the form of books & manuscripts formerly in the possession of the last members of the Romanov dynasty. Whee!
Wednesday, September 5, 2001 03:09 p.m.

Blossom Time!
Oh, I do love me some Blossom Dearie. She strikes that perfect balance between flirtatiously girlish and saucily damesque. For so long, her official website was dreadful. I still hate the Angelfire pop-ups that come with it, but I am filled with praise, and praise only, for the brilliant and kind person who expanded her Daffodil Records part of the site to make more of her recordings available. So many to choose from! I think Et Tu, Bruce is my first pick, though. If you`re a lucky person who lives in or near New York, try to catch her live this week or at some point during September while she`s the resident performer at Danny`s Skylight Room in Manhattan.
Tuesday, August 28, 2001 08:23 p.m.

Ready, Steady, Read!
What a great idea. The good people of the City of Chicago are all going to read To Kill a Mockingbird together. It`s like one big civic book club! Apparently, it`s a yearly event in Seattle. I wonder what else they`ve read out that way.
Tuesday, August 28, 2001 08:20 p.m.

Sniff. Wah.
Things like this always draw me up short. I think I just take celebrities for granted -- they're just there, like famous, instantly recognizable wallpaper or something. So when one of them dies, it makes an impression. And when the one who dies is Aaliyah, who would enjoy a place on my magic jukebox of joy for all eternity for the sheer brilliance of "Are You That Somebody?" alone, but who now, because she's died tragically at age 22, in an airborne ball of fire like Buddy Holly before her, will be elevated to the level of demi-goddess, it feels like a kick in the stomach. It's so strange to have a personal feeling like mild grief for someone who I otherwise had no real feelings about at all. I'm sure that, compared with whatever her family is feeling right now, my little throat lump and sigh when I heard the skittery beats of "Try Again" coming out of someone's car radio this afternoon is an affront. But I really am sad that she's gone. RIP, glamour girl. You'll be missed.
Sunday, August 26, 2001 09:00 p.m.

Awwwwww!
Kevin Smith is a funny man, and this comic about how he got together with his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach, hit all the right notes. Sweet & sassy!
Sunday, August 26, 2001 08:57 p.m.

The Canadian Centre for Architecture
is a very cool place. It was the main stop on my family's whirlwind tour of Montreal this weekend. Sadly, they're very stingy with the graphics, so I can't show you any images of the neat-o stuff we saw, but I can say that this exhibit on John Soane was kickin'.
Wednesday, August 22, 2001 06:55 p.m.

Pretty, Porky, & Pissed Off!
Love the site name. Love what the site's about. What a welcome change from the usual, eye roll-inducing crap spewed by certain blade thin Oscar(TM) winning actresses about how humiliating it is to be fat, or even to appear to be fat. Uh duh.
Wednesday, August 22, 2001 06:40 p.m.

The Royal Tenenbaums
Longtime readers and those who know me IRL know how much I adore all things related to Wes Anderson. I love the specificity of his film vision, I love his eternally mussed hair, I love his taste in music, and I love his hushed, slighty reedy voice. His new movie (in spite of the casting of Gwyneth Paltrow) looks sooooooo good. Rushmore was such a perfect little gem of a movie; I really hope he can maintain that level of quality with The Royal Tenenbaums.
Wednesday, August 22, 2001 06:35 p.m.

What I Had Did Was...

I moved. The heatwave of the year rolled in. We had no air conditioning. We sweltered. We kvetched. Multiple daily showers were taken.

The heat broke. We rejoiced. Number of daily showers dropped to one.

Our cable & internet installation went entirely as planned, except for the part where nothing worked after the cute (but evidently, dumb as a bag of rocks) cable guy came to install it all for us.

Another cable guy came to sort out the damage from cable guy #1. Our Internet connection now works, but only in one room of the house. And not on my computer (yet). Then I went on vacation to Montreal. I spent time with my family. We all ate mass quantities of amazing pastry and other delicious food items. I'm going out of town again next week, and I have modest hopes that all internet connection woes will be resolved in my absence. Modest hopes, mind you.

Anyway, I'm back, but updates are going to be sporadic til early-to-mid-September, probably. Just so's you know. Thanks for continuing to check back here, for updates. It's a good motivator.
Wednesday, August 22, 2001 06:27 p.m.