kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk

Blue Lines is Back
First off, Tom is back, with a modest but good redesign (hey, it's way better than I could manage). More importantly, he's got a review of O Brother, Where Art Thou? up. I'm so excited for this movie, as I am for all Coen Brothers' output, and though Tom's review is discouraging, I'm going to have to check it out anyway. Now if only it would open in Toronto already.
Sunday, September 17, 2000 09:12 a.m.

I Heart Almost Famous
I had intended to post these links earlier in the week - I guess they got lost in the shuffle somehow, so now some new are mixed in with the old. I've just returned home from seing this wonderful, beautiful movie and will probably see it again soon. It's so good that it makes me wish I'd been alive to read Cameron Crowe's youthful Rolling Stone and Creem articles when they were first published.

And Patrick Fugit! Even if he never does another film, his William Miller (a thinly disguised Crowe) is brilliant enough to garner him Great Fucking Actor status in my book. I can't remember the last time a movie grabbed me so powerfully and didn't let go for a second.

For more fun, check out the Mr. Showbiz special here, and the trailer at salon.com. Salon also has a great interview with Crowe, in which he reveals that he's going to release Say Anything... on DVD with audio commentary by John Cusack. Now that is the best news I've heard all week.
Saturday, September 16, 2000 10:45 p.m.

Dewey Decimal System = Napster for Publishing World?
You mean, people can go to a "library" and read books without paying for them?! Via librarian.net.
Friday, September 15, 2000 08:08 a.m.

Pulling a Piano
Apparently, Tom Hanks' role in the forthcoming beard-fest Cast Away will be largely non-speaking. Better still, Brad Pitt's role in the new Coen Brothers' film To the White Sea will be "entirely dialogue free." Oh, that is music to my, uh, ears.

Post-link check editing: ok, this is a little annoying - once you click on the link above, scroll down to the entries for Wednesday, Sept 13 at 1:30pm and look for "No Pitt Talk in 'Sea'." That's the item I'm referring to. I hate when I can't send you directly to the link I want. Grrr.
Friday, September 15, 2000 08:06 a.m.

Pocket Pig!
Via the mighty fine Hellsblog, we have Pocket Pig. Sabrina does charming little drawings of the stuff she eats throughout the day on her Palm Pilot & uploads them to this website. It's so cute! And check this out: She got the Magnetic Fields to autograph her PP when she saw them at an in-store show. Her mini-portrait of Stephin & Sam is really accurate.
Thursday, September 14, 2000 10:42 a.m.

No Limit Records
Following the Rapper Dentist's links, I found myself in Camp No Limit. Under the direction of label guru Master P, No Limit was one of the first non-East nor West Coast rap labels to gain national prominence, largely on the basis of Snoop Dogg's defection from Death Row Records, and through the massive popularity of Master P's single, "Make 'Em Say Unhhh!" They've also got some of the greatest album covers in the business - all super-saturated color and big dogs, big diamonds, and big big cars.

Now, when I first checked out the No Limit site last night, its horrible, assaultive graphics (if you view it using shockwave, your browser will appear to shake) and badly-written copy made me say eeew. But this morning I took another look, and I have to admit that it's kind of grown on me. It's not the kitsch value so much as it is the clarity of Master P's vision. He really is keeping it real.
Thursday, September 14, 2000 09:14 a.m.

Dentist to the Rap Stars
Are you a hot young MC? Do you feel that your own teeth don't sparkle just as they should? Does your crew mock you for not having enough bling bling? Well, get on down to the Rapper Dentist! He can have you looking like this in no time. Removable appliances also available. I'm going to have to look into that. Just kidding, Mom! via jejune.
Thursday, September 14, 2000 09:08 a.m.

Impending SAG Strike Puts a Dent in My Lifestyle
The SAG strike, should it happen, is going to throw a big old monkey wrench into the production wheels of a bunch of movies that once looked promising, but now look very iffy. I was all psyched for Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven, but since the departure of Mark Wahlberg & the Brothers Wilson, it's looking not so cool. And Flora Plum may not happen at all, what with the strike and Russell Crowe's shoulder injury sidelining him well into next year. Of course I'm more concerned about how this is going to affect my movie-going in the coming year or two than I am about the economy of Hollywood. I want to be entertained, dammit!
Thursday, September 14, 2000 09:03 a.m.

Eddie Izzard
If you've never heard of Eddie Izzard, this article is a good introduction to his humor & stage persona. He's one of my favorite comedians - he keeps me laughing so hard that I miss a good percentage of his jokes and have to re-watch his specials on video. Swiped from Fresh Hell.
Thursday, September 14, 2000 09:02 a.m.

Riot Grrrls on NPR
Terry Gross interviews Kathleen Hanna & Johanna Fateman of Le Tigre. Kathleen Hanna was a founding member of Bikini Kill, and the riot grrl movement of the 1990s.
Wednesday, September 13, 2000 09:15 a.m.

The Sweater
"You're looking for the boy of your dreams who is the same boy in the dreams of all your friends." All hail Meryn Cadell! If there is a more perfect song about the agony & the ecstasy of teen crushes out there, I want to hear about it. Anyone have a lead on some audio of this for our non-Napster/Macster-using friends? My searches were unsuccessful.
Wednesday, September 13, 2000 09:12 a.m.

Pigs! In! Spaaaace!
Oh, man. Things like this are such a double-edged sword for me. I laugh and laugh, and then I get all misty & nostalgic, because I know that Jim Henson is gone, and with him, the crew of the Spaceship Swinetrek. Sniff. Oh, I know Frank Oz does the voice of Miss Piggy, but it's just not the same. Maybe I'll go rent some "best of the Muppets" videos this weekend.

You can hear the Pigs In Space announcer here. The same site also has an excellent & exhaustive list of all the species of the creatures in the Hensonverse.
Wednesday, September 13, 2000 09:11 a.m.

Navel Gazing
Further evidence of Britannica.com's march towards being au courant: this article deconstructing the current fad of sexy belly buttons in videos. Particular emphasis on Britney Spears' innie.
Wednesday, September 13, 2000 09:08 a.m.

Because I am a Word Geek
The lovely Deborah gives us the lowdown on commonly confused pairs of words: deathly/deadly, healthy/healthful, continual/continuous. When I see these words used incorrectly, it totally makes my toes curl and I have to fight the urge to copy edit the offending sentence. Now I can just smile sweetly, and refer the writer to this useful & entertaining column.
Tuesday, September 12, 2000 10:02 p.m.

Beer Frame
The Journal of Inconspicuous Consumption. Randy researches the heck out of random consumer products (can openers, toothpastes, home cleansers, candies) and reports back to us on their little foibles & inconsistencies. Marketing is some wierd shit, yo. Thanks to alice tiara for the link.
Tuesday, September 12, 2000 09:20 p.m.

California Pacific Exposition Postcards
Matt's link to postcards from the 1939 New York World's Fair motivated me to dig up this link to an article on the 1935 California Pacific Exposition, held in San Diego in 1935. The article (part of a dissertation, actually) itself has links to a number of indices of postcards from that expo and a number of others that preceeded it. My favorite set of postcards can be found here. Published by Western Publishing & Novelty, they are in super-saturated full color, and give you an idea of the mad opulence of the buildings constructed for the Exposition. The idea that such places would be built only to be torn down again is incredible to me. It's also interesting to compare the looks of the two fairs, held just 4 years apart. The aesthetic of the New York fair is so hard-edged and shiny, so futuristically New York. The San Diego expo, by comparison is exquisitely Californian. Look at all those palm trees! The Mission style architecture! The sun drenched everything!
Tuesday, September 12, 2000 09:20 a.m.

Cover Versions of Stephin Merritt Songs
If you have Winamp, you can listen to obscure cover versions of songs by Mr. Merritt. Some are good, but some suck beyond suckage. Really, people, don't do a cover version of a song unless you're bringing something really new & fresh to your interpretation.
Tuesday, September 12, 2000 09:19 a.m.

Serge Gainsbourg Sure Had a Way With the Ladies
Ever since reading about Gainsbourg's notorious come-on to Whitney Houston (on live TV, no less!), I've wanted to hear the exchange for myself. Matt of Scrubbles has very graciously read my mind and provided the above link to an audio clip & transcript of the conversation. My favorite part is Whitney's reaction: "Whaaaaaaaaat?!" Just think what her career could have been like if she'd taken the dirty old man up on his offer.
Tuesday, September 12, 2000 09:18 a.m.

I Palindrome I
More palindromes than you can shake a stick at! I got your wordplay right here, baby. What the hell, I'll throw in a freebie list of phobias while I'm at it.
Tuesday, September 12, 2000 09:15 a.m.

Yay!
Open Letters is back up after a 3-week hiatus. I rejoice in the easy accessibility of glimpses of other peoples' lives!
Monday, September 11, 2000 07:30 p.m.

Emmy Fashion Round-Up
So, The West Wing shut out The Sopranos. I love TWW, but really, who cares? Show me the dresses! Thank you, People. As usual, Mr. Showbiz provides the best commentary.

My picks for best-dressed would be Debra Messing (you can never go wrong in Vera Wang) and Alison Janney, who is my superhero of acting.
Monday, September 11, 2000 07:05 p.m.

Angel's Wacky Dance
Scroll down on the Galleries page to the section for Media and click. Then scroll down to the Video section, and watch what is quite possibly the funniest minute of Angel ever committed to QuickTime. David Boreanaz' incredibly, intentionally awful dance moves (honed in the cheezeball clubs of Philly's Delaware Avenue, I'm sure) never fail to send me into a fit of giggles. A sure-fire day-brightener.

And! Boreanaz shocker: He's actually the 6th Backstreet Boy! Where did he get the idea that facial hair like that was going to look anything but skanky? I particularly like the little holes in the page where the scanner of this image carefully removed the staples.

Mad props to Pookahontas for sending me the funny dance link!
Monday, September 11, 2000 09:37 a.m.

History of the Blog
Stolen with pride from scrubbles. I agree with Matt about good blogging being equal parts narcissism & reader friendliness. I don't think I could have put it so succinctly, but those are the two qualities I'm always looking for in a blog.
Monday, September 11, 2000 09:35 a.m.

100 Demons - Cicadas
How does she do it? Every two weeks, Lynda Barry produces a comic of such pure, heart-wrenching genius that all I can do is say "damn, that's good," as I reach for the Kleenex.
Monday, September 11, 2000 09:33 a.m.

Taiwanese Funeral Strippers
This is an archived listserv discussion from 1995 among a bunch of academics regarding the (apparently not all that new) trend of erotic entertainment at funerals in rural Taiwan.

I'm not a morbid person, but funeral rituals really fascinate me. I just think that learning about the way different people & peoples say goodbye to their loved ones is important. Anyway, this discussion struck me as both humorous (there's an anecdote about an elderly man who got hooked on porn in his dotage, so his sons chipped in for a stripper at the funeral as a "last hurrah" type of gesture) and practical (the lewd display is believed to keep evil spirits away from the mourners). Also, it's always funny when a group of PhDs talk about absurd juxtapositions in living traditions like this and make it all very academic.
Monday, September 11, 2000 09:31 a.m.