catherine's pita

all of you napster fans, take heart: it's tapster!

regular pita readers will remember an article i pointed to a while back about the methamphetamine anti-proliferation act of 1999, which would basically make it illegal to disseminate information about drugs, be it in a book, on a web site, etc. now, since that bill is tied up in committee, they're trying again, this time targeting ecstasy and ghb, but it's still a law that would outlaw free speech that doesn't toe the anti-drug line. read it and be outraged all over again.

thursday, july 27, 2000
some interesting facts about the courtesy title "ms." in this salon article lamenting its supposed decline and use exclusively in the workplace by career-minded women. my question is: who are these people who are even "using" courtesy titles anymore? call me a heathen, but i just don't identify myself as ms. hopkinson or miss hopkinson, ever; that's just what appears on the mail. i certainly don't correct telemarketers if they should call me "miss"; i just say "not interested" and hang up. i agree with the concept of having one's identity not be dependent upon marital status, but who's this lady kidding? yes, the title "ms." is most certainly intended to conceal marital status. but like i said, who cares?

hilarious story of a "demonized" cat -- black, of course -- terrorizing a teenager. leaping from roof to roof! [via yuppie slayer]

wednesday, july 26, 2000
i've never been a huge fan of husker du, though a friend once predicted that one day i would go, "this shit ain't bad," being that i love the post-husker bob mould so. it's true: the shit ain't bad, but i've never been enthralled enough to venture very deep. it seems their history is pretty juicy though: check out this interview with grant hart. it seems bob was quite the control freak in his day. why haven't i seen a "behind the music" on this band?

gentle readers, look away. the following is disturbing. i only post it because i have nothing else. link-stealing to commence soon. and now, though i am ashamed: boy testifies that family dog raped him. forgive me. and blame ryan "giebel" cormier for bringing it to my attention, a boy so sick he wishes he wrote it.

monday, july 24, 2000
i was just sitting here contemplating the gray sky, and why i didn't buy that cheapie boombox at tower records yesterday so that now i could be listening to perhaps my favorite record of the year so far instead of the silence mandated by my busted cd drive, and whether or not i should whip out my book (which i never do at work, although it's seemingly fine to surf all day or read magazines when there's no work to be done), when i discovered this article declaring that boredom is to blame. made me laugh out loud...twice! [via lots of co.]

guess i might as well tell you about grandaddy at the bowery ballroom friday night. well, they were just not that exciting. their latest album, while it has very pretty artwork and a few catchy tunes, hasn't done much for me lately, and i had pretty much the same reaction to the show. nice projections of windmills and hillsides, a couple of almost-zippy numbers, way too much woozy radiohead influence. my favorite part was when they played a pavement song ("here") -- but if that was a widely shared moment, well, it's probably not such a good thing for grandaddy. that said, i'm going to give the sophtware slump a bit more time in the player, and maybe check out their previous album, too, because pitchfork said it was composed of "lighthearted, weezer-inspired singalongs," and because i remember andrew "flesheater" grypa praising them back in the review days.

night two of my bowery ballroom weekend (the female bartender and i are on extremely smiley terms) featured new york art-rockers blonde redhead and the most bizarre opening act i've ever seen. all i could spy of this...group were two women (one of whom was actually a man) in some ethnic-looking kind of shiny garb, dancing very strangely. there was chanting. and howling. and sing-speaking. it was quite hilarious if you allowed yourself to laugh. which i did. blonde redhead weren't awe-inspiring, but they are masters of the guitar groove. yes, they do sound like sonic youth somewhat, but they are entirely their own band. the japanese girl (who will be featured on the back page of the september issue of bazaar, looking most unrockstarlike) seems to have toned down her sometimes-shrieky voice and made it into something beautiful, but with an edge. the drummer must be insane, or a genius, or both. they weren't selling any merchandise, or i would definitely have picked up their new album.

friday, july 22, 2000
a shady eminem fan makes for an unpleasant bus ride.

that evil, morphing T1000 from "T-2" has been chosen to play scully's new partner. let's hope that if chris carter doesn't come to his senses, gillian anderson will so this show can die while it still has a trace of dignity.

um...i have just been peering at the world of my office through my empty bottle of poland spring. seen any good movies lately?.

wednesday, july 19, 2000
whitney is right: for the love of "harold and maude," rent this movie today!

hey ladies, want to know what advertisers think of our personalities? according to them, we have no sense of humor. one of the alternate reasons offered up for the lack of jokey TV ads directed at women is that something like detergent isn't inherently funny, whereas beer, of course, is. i think i feel a chuckle coming on....

"this band works with the intricacy and subtlety of a finely tuned chamber-music outfit": third eye blind frontman stephen jenkins talks to a somewhat smug rock critic about why his band really is good, with amusing results.

yes, this is the second article by jim derogatis in as many days. just yesterday i was scolded for "drudging him up," but from what i've read, he's all right. and he's a nice guy: seconds after i posted the above, i got an email from him thanking me for the kind words about his eminem story and complimenting the site. boy, the pita sure does get around!

tuesday, july 18, 2000
ever wonder where hollywood types hang out online? well, some of them belong to this list called the stump, which is kind of an odd name (sounds like some political thing). sadly, it's by invitation only, so no, you cannot join up and hear lisa kudrow talking about her cat. :(

i'm not going to write paragraphs on him like some people, but suffice it to say that i was nodding my head to the beat of this jim derogatis piece called eminem, dissected. (wonder what eggers would think....) a sample:

Political correctness is idiotic, and it takes all of two seconds to say that. Ever since linking up with Dre, Eminem has been building a career out of it. This puts him in a crowded pack with Howard Stern and countless others, and if that floats your boat, great, go make like The Perfect Storm. Just don't call it rebellion because it ain't.

if you've got any old whitesnake or skid row t-shirts in the back of your closet, it's time to sell: rock t-shirts are hot.

monday, july 17, 2000
first-person account, from the editor, of the rise and fall of mirabella, a women's mag that tried to combine fashion and intelligence -- and ultimately failed.

interesting dave eggers e-mail interview conducted by the harvard advocate (annoying java forces you to click on "dave eggers interview," then click again). dave has some harsh things to say about critics that i think are kind of unfair. and then he harks back to the old unconvincing "don't knock a book or movie until you've made one" argument. at the end is a rant about "selling out" in which you learn that he, dave eggers, is pure of heart and you, dear reader, are probably not.

sloppy work on the "survivor" web site leads to the premature revelation of who wins. of course, it could just be a red herring....

in fairness to my movie-biz friend who got very upset when i trashed his company for not following through on a promising little film: MGM sucks too! you'd think calista flockhart and cameron diaz would be enough to ensure the kind of success that this kind of "festival movie" needs.

with all the strikes working against me, i should have been pretty disappointed in the PNC show friday night. first of all, we were quite late, due to me having to work till six combined with having to go back to mom's house to get the tickets combined with slightly-off directions combined with maniacal driving. we missed blonde redhead completely and caught only two songs from the foo fighters' set. dave grohl is unbearably cheesy as far as fan appreciation (i hate the part where they shine the lights on the wild 'n' crazy crowd and the lead singer basks in the adulation, but on top of that they had their picture taken with the adoring crowd in the background) and rock-star ambition ("next time we're back here dave matthews will be opening for us"). waiting for the chili peppers to come on, i brightened at the thought of waitress service (usually i slum it in the lawn seats, but these tix were vip, you see, though there were no vip bathrooms as promised). but i was not allowed to purchase an MGD since i had no wristband and had left my ID in the car. i felt like i was 19 again. and even though i had had only seven cherries for dinner, i was not about to venture back into the crowd for a five-dollar pretzel or whatever junk they had. so it's a testament to the chili peppers that i was able to rise above the grump. they opened with "otherside," and went on to play all those similarly beautiful songs from their last album, plus their funky classics, plus a bunch of hardcore stuff from their early days, which confused a lot of the crowd. plus they all (except the drummer, and nobody knows him) had mohawks, anthony kiedis' being the tallest and glossiest. very fun. there was also some coordinated dancing -- kiedis, flea, and frusciante high-jumping in time! flea, although he did not get naked, was at his bombastic best. all in all, they put on a great show. and best of all, it was free!

friday, july 14, 2000
some kinda funny spoofs of belle and sebastian album covers. [thanks sam!]

thursday, july 13, 2000
the magazine maven surveys a bunch of magazine web sites and finds (surprise!) they suck. it's very annoying how a magazine like esquire will only publish excerpts online, even in the archive. are that many people going to purchase back issues that they don't mind missing an opportunity to gain new readers? ugh. like i was reading this fun story from 1999 about golfing in scotland, and it just stopped. very annoying. if you want more bite-sized chunks, there's 11 great but overlooked albums of the 90s. (i own exactly one: the pernice brothers' "overcome by happiness," and i do highly recommend it for any pop fan.) one thing the maven forgot to mention in its harper's bit though: they have the index (you know, the facts?). my favorite one from this, um, last month is: Estimated number of "river pirates" operating on New York City's waterfront in 1850 : 500

interesting article about whether aging rock critics can and should write about what "the kids" are listening to. first of all, jann wenner thinks rolling stone's reviews section is still vital? what is he smoking? i don't doubt that the older folks can still love music and write about it competently, especially b/c their sense of history is (hopefully) stronger. there is a dearth of really excellent writing in the music press, and it's a shame that these guys get entrenched in their jobs, not leaving any room for the young upstarts that could shake things up. (the last truly great piece of music writing i read was in spin: an analytical piece on the backstreet phenomenon by joshua clover. i wonder how old he is.) another thought: as rock itself ages, it's going to be harder and harder to have that history. how are critics 50 years from now going to deal with the vast output since the birth of rock? oh, but this article also talks with an 81-year-old woman who writes for the cleveland plain dealer and loves travis. she must be the coolest grandmother alive.

wednesday, july 12, 2000
this is supercool: my mom just called me offering free box-seat tickets to red hot chili peppers, foo fighters, AND blonde redhead at the PNC arts center, which is one of those amphitheater deals. i know it's not cool to like the chili peppers, but goddammit, i do. and foo fighters? you know all the singles will be there. and blonde redhead? i just bought tickets to their bowery ballroom show, and was just telling a friend how i need to get their new album after reading two great reviews. you know what else is weird? for a brief moment earlier today i realized there was a chili peppers song in my head, owing to probably something i read, and i thought to myself, randomly, i wonder if i would ever mention them on the pita (note above coolness-quotient concerns). and now i have.

tuesday, july 11, 2000
interesting, evocative photographs of people on new york's subways. despite what some people think, they are not referred to according to their color on the map. that is for sissy cities. nobody uses the official names (IND, BMT, IRT) but if you don't want to sound dumb, call them by the number or letter of the train. for instance, i take the N train to work, not the yellow one. (exciting picture of my subway stop here.) i highly suggest poking around nycsubway.org, even if you're not that interested in subway history: there are some great photos here, like this one of union square during subway construction, and this one of the old "el" train at 33rd street, and this one of a bleeping steam train! good for desktop pictures.

i have never really had a favorite newscaster before, but i have to say that pat kiernan is just the bee's knees. those of you in the nyc metro area, check him out in the mornings. the best part is when he does the "in the papers" segments (at 45 minutes after the hour) because you get to find out what intrigues him or what he finds odd or whatever. this is where he inserts his own little humor, which you also get a taste of when he's saying goodbye to reporters in the field. plus on the weekends you get to see him all dressed up in weird costumes (usually with hats) for the segment he does with the parenting lady. he's always so good-humored in these ridiculous situations with this ridiculous woman. i just wish the website had an e-mail address for him so i could send a fan letter. this will have to do.

the flashing lights were a bit too frenetic at last night's catherine wheel show, but that is really my only complaint. that, and i had to be by myself for six songs before vanessa arrived -- and after exchanging raised-fist "rock out" greetings, promptly dropped her just-purchased beer on the floor, and all over me. luckily we were in the back, in a noncrowded area, yet the roving bouncer felt the need to shine his flashlight on the scene and give me the "tsk-tsk" sign (i gave him the "what are you gonna do" palms-up sign). anyway, "the" catherine wheel (as they are now called) put on an amazing show. even the songs off the weaker new album sounded great. still, i was glad for fan favorites like "i want to touch you", "crank" and "kill rhythm", "little muscle" and "waydown" and "heal", and oh, you don't care. but the songs from adam and eve were the most delicious (get that one if you don't know the band). lead singer rob was looking mighty tasty, too. he's a very relaxed performer, all put-on faces and wiggly fingers. kind of weird for a band known for its intensity, but i think he's taking himself less seriously these days, and that has to be a good thing. he even wore a luminous, pulsating heart (necklace? stick-on?) for one song. new bassist ben is the most rockstarlike, thrilling to watch, and (bonus) a dead ringer for thom yorke. anyway, bottom line: if they come to your town, go see them.

it looks like the new york times had condoned the wearing of fake designer bags, which means if i get on it, i could be well on my way to fitting in with my fashionista colleagues. maybe i'll start with a kate spade, work my way up to miu miu and fendi...do you think they'll know? speaking of, back to the fabulous fashion grind...

monday, july 10, 2000
yes, confirms ridley scott, decker was a replicant. and now we can all rest easy.

bad idea: a remake of "the breakfast club,", which i actually watched a lot of when it was on tv this weekend. worse idea: casting jason biggs in the judd nelson role. who is this mr. showbiz character anyway?

friday, july 7, 2000
just added to my ever-growing reading list: "gig", a collection of essays by americans about their work, from the editors of word. except i don't know whether it will be heartening or depressing to find out exactly how disillusioned everybody else is, too.

maybe i should (yeah right) become a chef, like ex-husker du bassist greg norton did after the band broke up. can you believe rock stars actually have resumes??

bad michael kinsley! not that i read slate anymore due to the horrific abuses it puts my poor browser through, but i am still irked by his statement in this week's village voice: "Should we be devoting our energies and money to publishing, on balance, very good book reviews?" he asks. "Is that adding to human happiness in any way?" i say yes and yes, for the record.

don't forget to watch the "marathon" of freaks and geeks saturday night (three hourlong episodes). or if you have a life, you could tape it. on this occasion i actually *will* have a life. i'll be attending the yankee stadium half of saturday's subway series double-header. oh yeah, go yankees! (all right, michelle, sorry for the mets-fan comment a while back. i love all my pita eaters.)

thursday, july 6, 2000
no, i have not seen "big brother." and yet...i'm already sick of it. but i know this stuff is good pita material, so: feed worries about the effect of these shows on our "national self-respect." richard from "survivor" (the fat, gay one who made his kid run six miles at 4 a.m. after getting kicked off the island) is suing state officials, claiming his notoriety triggered the arrest. oh yes, this is the way to un-fuck up your kid. USA Today gets jiggy with a pan of "big brother" and also gives us the whassup on extremely wacky foreign shows of this ilk.

it was cool to see the tall ships and all, but this slide show from the ny times is so much better...

apathy has left the pita fold, on to tastier bacon, i guess. he made a remark about my capital-letter usage, though, that has me wondering:

wednesday, july 5, 2000
#2 reason to move to california: cool festivals. (#1 reason is weather, #2 is hills, though that is also #1 reason NOT to move there...) in case you are wondering, i am aware that this event already happened. i missed it, and i am bummed about that fact. i am revising this pita entry b/c of a nitpicky comment made by the mysterious leanne, who does not deserve a link to her page b/c she never even updates it anymore. feh.

what about me as a new york city schoolteacher? fun to think about, probably not going to happen though. way too many cons, uncertain pros.

sunday, july 2, 2000
i don't usually update from home. i was just feeling philanthropic and thought i would tell all you people who might be so inclined that you must not go see "the perfect storm." it is atrocious, the slimiest piece of spam i have seen in quite some time. sample dialogue:

marky-mark: "she's a hell of a ship."
george clooney: "with a hell of a crew."
marky-mark: "and a hell of a captain."