Bon Voyage, Baby

I'm off to embark on my English adventure tonight, kids, so you get at least a week off from my mad ramblings. I should be back on Christmas Day or thereabouts. Happy Holidays, everyone! xoxo-s
Friday, December 15, 2000 04:40 p.m.

A Moment of Silence...
...for the late, great Brad Pitt Diaries. Brad F'n Pitt has been forced to delete his entire archive and post a public apology at the location of his former Diaryland diary. So long, Hollywood Pretty Boys Poker Club and Steve Buscemi. Bye bye, Rob Lowe kidnapping saga. Adios, monster bong hits. Sigh.
Friday, December 15, 2000 04:38 p.m.

Frederico "the chin" Gambino
That's my mafia name. What's yours? Thanks to Pop Culture Junk Mail!
Friday, December 15, 2000 04:37 p.m.

More Letter-y Fun!
I'm still nosy. I still like to read letters. So guess what? Here are some more links to letter-related stuff. The site linked above is the page for CC:, a "quarterly journal dedicated to the preservation of letters and literary affection." It's a print journal, and it sounds really cool. (via Pocket Pig.) Next up, the updated daily & highly addictive Open Letters. You can read every day, or get a weekly issue sent in PDF format to your inbox. Pretty cool. Finally, my latest discovery, The Letters, which is similar to Open Letters, but more focussed: there are just a few regular contributors, who write at least weekly, if not more often. The design of this site is pretty, but navigating & reading the letters is really, really difficult. Not good for late-night, I-just-wrote-an-exam-style surfing.
Friday, December 15, 2000 08:40 a.m.

1000robots.com
Sam is famous for Exploding Dog, but he's got another project where he draws robots and more Ike from South Park-looking people and cities and outer space. There's going to be a story with these drawings someday, but until he imposes narrative structure, the drawings are nice to look at. Is it weird that I find these pictures so moving?
Friday, December 15, 2000 08:27 a.m.

My #1 Post-Exam Object of Movie Lust
I cannot cannot cannot wait to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or as some like to call it, Prancing Frog. Just look at that gorgeously fluid wire work kung fu! That cinematography! The fantastic costumes! Oh, there's a story, too? Even better. Is there anything Ang Lee can't do? His movies are always about family in some way, but he just glides so effortlessly from genre to genre. Amazing.
Friday, December 15, 2000 08:23 a.m.

Letters of Oscar Wilde
I'm extremely nosy. I read online journals, I love biographies, and perhaps most of all, I love to read letters. Letters written to me, by me, not to me, by people other than me, recent letters, old letters, whole big batches of letters. They are a window onto other lives and times and quite unintentionally, they are full of the kinds of details I wonder about all the time - what was this person's favourite food? Why did this other one like to wear bow ties rather than Windsor knots? How did she organize a dinner party for 15? What did he think of this magazine? Luckily for me, there's an entire field of literary editing devoted to publishing the letters of people who led extremely interesting lives. People like Samuel Johnson. And F. Scott Fitzgerald. And Ursula Nordstrom. And Oscar Wilde. Oh, Oscar. Yes, he was witty, he was urbane, he was in love with a selfish, bratty, beautiful, faithless man. He was also incredibly well-educated and thoughtful and busy and far more serious about people and his craft than all his light & sparkling quips would suggest. I cannot wait to get my hands on this book. [free registration required]
Thursday, December 14, 2000 08:19 a.m.

Back in the Saddle Again!

Well, for the next few days, anyway. I survived (nay, thrived on!) my two big papers, and now all that stands between me and three weeks of international jetsetting vacation and homebodiness and many many late nights of cards and frosty beverages and conversation with my beloved, friends, and family are two measly exams. Before I attack them, though, it's time for some high-quality bonding with my mattress & pillows.
Tuesday, December 12, 2000 10:31 p.m.

The Definition of Trashy is Trashy
Ok, I love Madonna. Usually, in my eyes, she can do no wrong. Even when she's wrong, she's usually right. Because she is Madonna, and she is an icon, and icons can get away with being wrong sometimes. But sometimes, icons can be so very, very wrong that all I can do is throw up my lunch, and then my hands, and say, "what are you thinking?" This is one of those times.

Who has the balls of steel to request of the Earl of Spencer that she be allowed to hold her forthcoming nuptials to Guy Ritchie at Althorp House? Yes! Madonna! Am I reading this all wrong, or is it just too tacky for words? And not in a campy, "oh, aren't we cheeky and full of kitschy self-awareness?" kind of way? I mean, yes, Althorp House is an important historical site in England for reasons other than it being the location of Princess Diana's final resting place, but that is what it's mainly known for now. It just seems so...trashy. Plus, isn't it a private home of the Spencer family? It's one thing to ask your fabulously wealthy close friends or aunt & uncle to borrow their house and estate for your wedding, but to just approach a total stranger out of the blue like that - well, all I can say is "ew."
Tuesday, December 12, 2000 10:23 p.m.

Hellsbelle Interviews Enokiworld Mastermind!
Mmm, Enokiworld. Mmm, Hellsbelle. Mmm, two great titans of style and taste being stylish and tasteful together. Mmmmm.
Tuesday, December 12, 2000 10:22 p.m.

It Sure Was a Manic Monday
Oh, how I love the Bangles. Their first album, All Over The Place is a criminally overlooked and undervalued bit of early 80s aggressive girlpop alt-country Brian Wilson dreaminess. And now they're back together, keeping the eternal flame going. Speaking of which, for a good time, do join Hellsbelle's Eternal Flame notify list, won't you? It's a Hades-raising funfest.
Tuesday, December 12, 2000 10:18 p.m.

New Radiohead Suffers From Amnesia
Ever since I proclaimed loudly in a very quiet record shop that Kid A was "some proper rock and roll!" (it was a wierd headphones, I can't hear my own voice thing - oh, nevermind) I have been kind of, sort of looking forward to the March/April release of their even newer album. It's hard for me to admit such things. Be gentle with me.
Tuesday, December 12, 2000 10:15 p.m.