catherine's pita

friday, april 28, 2000
bill werde gets funkee on salon.

how dumb is our government? well, they think higher beer taxes reduce std's.

thanks to renewed interest and support from leanne, the contest is still on, flailing around like her tiny fists of fury raining down on an unamused bouncer's arm after he stole her flask at the 9:30 club. the upshot of this attack was that he proceeded to kick her and her poor friends, which friends were desirous of autographs from the illustrious better than ezra, out of the club. poor, poor guy. nunnally and dowd, whoever you are, i have presents! come on!

thursday, april 27, 2000
"catherine" means "pure," or so I thought until I checked and found that my name detracts from my physical vitality, makes me unambitious and unreliable in positions of responsibility. hey, thanks mom! but wait: i'm a capricorn; doesn't that make me sure-footed and dependable? hmmmm.... check your your name, because it actually is kind of accurate.

the new online music magazine pop palace has an interesting "hook" (ha ha): multiple reviewers for each release. plus if the reviewer has never heard the band before it's marked "fresh ears." the only sucky thing is it's on geocities, so you have to deal with the popups. but otherwise, it's poptastic!

oh to be young and geeky. some kids in rhode island get to play tetris on the face of the library!

everyone is pointing to this, and with good reason: there's a bill before congress that would outlaw linking to any drug-making information. yes, you read right. illegal to link!

more elian madness: the elian dance. [via yuppie slayer]

wednesday, april 26, 2000
the dismemberment plan talk about punk. but is this a wacky fact or bullshit meant to make rolling stone look dumb: some fans come to shows dressed as the hamburglar??

how ridiculous is this? pets.com is suing a former writer for conan o'brien for $20 million, saying that their sock puppet, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, defamed the pets.com sock puppet, who doesn't seem to have a name. funny, in my journalism courses i never heard anything about the possibility of libeling a piece of cloth.

this doug martsch interview is vastly superior to the last one I posted. he seems quite indifferent to his own work, which is a little strange, though after last night's show I sort of agree with his "take it or leave it" attitude towards the built to spill live album: it just is not the same. anyway, here's last night's setlist, more or less, with the two songs I didn't recognize filled in thanks to the wonders of the internet):

revolution
dystopian dream girl
you were right
virginia reel around the fountain (halo benders)
big dipper
mr. crowley (Ozzy?!)
car
untrustable
one thing (bts/caustic resin)
carry the zero
built to spill
joyride
nowhere nothing fuckup (20+ minutes)

sorry, leanne, but i simply have to use the elian link. it's too good. everyone else: i don't want to give away the surprise, but trust me and go. oh and by the way: have you ever noticed that if you rearrange the letters of the little tyke's name, you get ALIEN?? kinda makes you think about all this political wrangling, eh?

my half.com purchases continue to roll in. i'm excited, but now i have to decide whether to read infinite jest, v., or the mysteries of pittsburgh first. and there's another one coming, though I can't now remember what it is....

um. livenudecats.com. thanks steve!

a note about the contest: it's over. I give up. everyone wins, within reason. I will accept submissions until the day I die.

tuesday, april 25, 2000
really funny story on the oprah magazine. sample quote: "when it comes to strawberry journalism, oprah's way ahead of the competition." there's also a parody over at modern humorist that's kinda funny.

did you know there's a mcsweeney's parody at the dot-org? i'm not sure it actually works as a parody of the real mcsweeneys, but that may be because i often just don't get it. anyway, it made me smile in one or two places.

oh dear. pitchfork has absolutely slammed the upcoming catherine wheel album. it pains me to say, i sort of agree (though i'd give it more than a 1.7 rating, say, 3.9?). lyrically laughable? literally. but have they really changed their sound? not to my ears--it's just that these songs are all weak as hell. *sigh* i am, however, a little more optimistic than our boys in turquoise. better luck next time? oh, but in case you need proof that the p-fork allstars are sometimes a little overzealous in their slagging, check out this review of catherine wheel's superb adam and eve. 4.5? shameful.

here are some cool pictures of the subway tracks below chinatown. apparently this guy is an explorer. check out the expeditions page for more, like the mysterious waldorf-astoria/grand central connection story. [via bovine inversus]

those of you who don't live in new york (poor, wretched souls) or los angeles or san francisco may not have seen the virgin suicides. it's wonderful: a dreamy, atmospheric sort of film, a visual treat, but not without substance. it's a mystery, really, and one i'm still sort of thinking about. it's also side-splittingly hilarious at times, and the soundtrack is perfect. i missed the first 10 or so minutes though, due to hellacious manhattan traffic (but thanks steve for driving!), so i think i might even see it again. which i rarely do, though i did for "high fidelity" this weekend when i went theater-hopping with my dad and brother. also saw "rules of engagement," a horrible movie. everything in it had been done before. if you are at all tempted to go, which i can't really imagine, just rent "a few good men," which it obviously wants to be.

monday, april 24, 2000
the celebrity atheist list is more than just a list; it includes evidentiary quotes, yup yup. [via riothero]

have you ever heard of a penile plethysmograph? neither had i, until i happened upon the skeptic's dictionary. mostly it deals with paranormal, philosophical and pseudoscientific stuff. now i'm ready to firewalk.

interview with ...and you will know us by the trail of dead, a band i almost, maybe saw, but didn't/don't remember. there's a story, but why should i tell you? you don't tell me any stories. the contest is closing friday, okay? you've got five days. [thanks for the link vanessa, but i expect you to enter the goddamn contest!]

"behind the scenes" at buffy the vampire slayer, excerpts of, from the pages of rolling stone. why can't they just print the whole thing?

friday, april 21, 2000
people, i am not kidding about the contest. i want your bouncer stories--i've only received two valid submissions and i was present for one and had heard the other, and this is all for my entertainment, so come on! remember, the book you receive will be personalized for you!

cool online 'zine that just came to my attention: perfect sound forever. thinkpieces, "tributes," and interviews, basically, but so much and so great. so go. do it now!

and on that note, i command you to go read "why i write" by joan didion, who asserts that writing is nothing if not an act of aggression. [via metascene, who, dare i say it, is back]

and that's all for today, folks. thanks to my beautiful boss i'm off to see the virgin suicides.

thursday, 4/20
built to spill live is absolutely sublime subway listening. the first sunny morning in about a week made the choice between it and elliott smith's new figure 8, both purchased yesterday in a relieving fit of record buying, a little easier.

all right, it's a contest now. the person who sends me the best bouncer story, of any kind, gets one of the random books on the dusty shelves of my office. there are some good ones. i'll also throw in the oprah magazine, though i can't imagine that anyone with a good bouncer story will be dutifully filling in the worksheets with questions like "what is my heart's deepest desire?"... i have to get rid of it though. i can't keep looking at it on my desk. so send your stories!

as if you didn't know: elian news coverage is out of control, with the number of stories surpassing even that of princess di and jfk jr. [via media news]

i am so, so, so excited for time code, the continuous-take, four-quadrant black comedy whose experiment blows "blair witch" and dogme 95 out of the proverbial water. it could, of course, be awful, but i'm betting not. the mastermind is mike figgis, who wrote and directed "leaving las vegas." here's a couple of interviews from those days. and another one, with interesting insights about why hollywood budgets are so big. figgis is very indie though--the guy even scores his own films. and seems totally unpretentious. i like him.

other two-hour-bunches-of-time to look forward to: the upcoming coen brothers film and darren aronofsky's follow-up to "pi," requiem for a dream. also: what's going to be at cannes. [thanks pith!]

they must be joking. this cannot be the x-files season (and series?) finale. it just can't. [via fresh hell]

new yorkers: did you know you can order your daily soup online? free bread, cookie, and fruit!

i've never linked referring pages before, mostly because i don't get many unusual referrals. but just LOOK at how someone got to me!

where does she find this stuff? whizzy 4 u, for all your vertical-peeing needs. and: facts on farts. let's say no more about it.

naked flea, at woodstock! [via riothero, who really does redesign with astonishing frequency...and who also wrote me a cute little note but then didn't respond to my reply...oh the heartbreak....]

wednesday, april 19, 2000
note to male city-dwellers: it doesn't take a fashionista to know the difference between a messenger bag and a male purse. just because you're an urban sort doesn't mean you can get away with a midsize bag dangling from your shoulder, no matter what cool chinese characters are emblazoned on it. a good rule of thumb: sling it across your body, and for god's sake make sure it's bigger than a breadbox! (this has been a public-service announcement.)

i had been unable to find slo-jam central for a while. but it's back, now on three legs, still defying the logic of all sexx laws.

i'm going to see built to spill next week, with a friend who doesn't know them...so holly, read this interview with doug martsch and know that he is a guitar god.

while i'm on the subject i might as well say that i saw catherine wheel last friday and they rocked, though i think the upcoming album is kind of weak. and the very important lesson i learned (though not through personal experience) is that it is possible to bribe the bouncer. have you ever done this? tell me if you have. i'm interested. the particular bouncer on friday had a price of only $15 a head, and tickets cost $18! how cool is that?? i can't get over it.

tuesday, april 18, 2000
ewww: the contestants on "survivor" (you know, "real world" on an island) are eating rats and worms.

monday, april 17
i think i'm entering one of those periods where i just don't feel like updating this thing. and yet i soldier on.

do you know about renee boje? she's this poor innocent hippie chick who fled to canada after she got busted leaving the house of this guy in california who grows medicinal marijuana to help treat his cancer, and you do know proposition 215 passed? anyway now she's applied for asylum as a refugee from the u.s. war on drugs. clever, eh? and soon she is supposed to be extradited to the u.s. so she can face charges and possibly 10 years in prison. go, read, be outraged.

friday, april 14, 2000
Jiang was made buoyant due to the high salt content of the water. excuse me, but which of those men act as bodyguards to the chinese president??

maybe it should be picture day today. [via apathy]

yeah, i think so. [via /usr/bin/girl]

hee hee. safe sex. [via kottke]

thursday, april 13, 2000
you'd think i could update my page in three days, huh? well, no. i've been busy this week closing an issue, being consumed by my annoying officemate's annoying habits, doing secret and possibly ill-advised "other" things, etc. i'm not sorry. i do wish i had a link or two for you. i had one but i lost it. so all you get is a movie recommendation. last night i rented the adventures of sebastian cole, and i absolutely fell in love with adrian grenier. or maybe just his character. the real adrian is so hot he probably runs with leo's posse, and that is just such a turnoff (see "tobey maguire"). anyway, it's a pretty cool movie...this one looks promising, too.

good news if you live in one of the lucky cities of new york or los angeles: they're going to screen freaks 'n' geeks at the museum of television and radio. a marathon session! [thanks holly]

monday, april 10, 2000
kempa's art of the mix tape contains some nuggets o' wisdom as well as some downright batty theories/ideas. check it out.

forget hamsters, it's the alien dance! i will not spoil the surprise of what song they are dancing to. note that some aliens are wearing socks. [via riothero, who seems to come up with a new design every week!]

i was shocked to learn that british pubs are only open till 11 p.m.! this apparently leads to lots of loutish behavior in the streets around 11:01. the government solution? why, pissing the night away, of course!

archive baby. (this is where you find a stash of eggers links, an interview with jeeves, a bunch of old sassy magazine stuff, and the answers to lots of weird and wonderful questions.)

friday, april 7, 2000
your choice of sushi says something about your personality, you know. i hate sushi, so what does that say?

richard dreyfuss continues to be a dork.

oh my god. the janet reno dance. [via usr/bin/girl]

thursday, april 6, 2000
somebody just told me about urban organic delivery service, which delivers a box of fresh fruit and vegetables to your doorstep weekly, or every other week. they're based in brooklyn but deliver all over the city and to new jersey, upstate, connecticut, and now even nationally! i might just do this because the produce in queens is just sorta sucky. you can get a little box for $19 or a bigger box for $29. yeah, that's kind of a lot to pay, but there's no such thing as too many veggies, right?

wednesday, april 5, 2000
do you have a pop-culture soul?

tuesday, april 4, 2000
salon might have a point with its parody/critique of david foster wallace's article in rolling stone about john mccain, but it's so annoying that i absolutely cannot read it. and i *can* read wallace.

the top 25 under-covered stories of 1999. i'm not calling them "censored," though. if they appeared in print, you can't really say they were censored, now can you? [via bird on a wire]

here's a huge index of street terms for drugs and drug use, courtesy of strange brew. extra bonus: ideas for what to do to enhance your drug use, such as dip your "swisher" in malt liquor or honey, or lace your "gasper stick" with insecticide ("fuel") or formaldehyde ("love boat") or, but of course, crack ("fry daddy").

monday, april 3, 2000
silly fun: hot modest mouse boys! (and girls, too.) i voted for johnny (who only has 10 votes, poor kid). [via recidivistic]

michael chabon's site has lots of good stuff to read, including the first chapter of his failed novel and an account of how he came to finally give up on it. (related: what's happened to the beautiful loser?) now i want to read one of his novels, which some people have raved about.

interesting (and long) story in the ny times magazine this weekend all about testosterone. rah! also, william safire goes to town on the mistakes in the census form.

"high fidelity" has 70 song cues! and it did quite well at the box office this weekend. with two more of his books being made into movies, i bet nick hornby is pretty pleased with himself right now.

saturday, april 1, 2000
ha ha, just kidding. smegma.