thursday, january 31, 2002
fyi: i am home sick today. i felt sorta crappy this morning, and i never take sick days, so here i am. why not? check out this gbv comic brought to my attention by superfan pete bothum.

wednesday, january 30, 2002
ha! chumbawumba takes the $100,000 GM paid them to use one of their songs in a commercial and gives it to anti-globalization groups.

great roundtable discussion with a bunch of actors, including the fascinating billy bob thornton, who makes reference to his fear of antique furniture. he just "can't be around it." [via whitney]

this modern world, a weblog from the dude who does the excellent political comic of the same name. good stuff. [via lightningfield]

i am getting really tired of checking the fez website and not seeing rhett miller's name. not only is this just insulting now, but clearly the terrorists have won.

77 clapping breaks in last night's typical "we're winnin' the war on everything" rah-rah bullshit speech. i mean it was like a catholic wedding, up down up down. and that was the ONLY way in which it was at all enlightening, amusing, or otherwise entertaining.

beck in the studio! woooooeeeeee!

tuesday, january 29, 2002...
there's something a little too cliched and insistent (propagandist?) about it, but this is a good story about crystal meth. it claims there is almost an "epidemic" in nyc.

"punk rock music avec kaboom," from sweden? next strokes, maybe? disuss amongst yourselves.

saw gosford park last night. twas a nice funny stew of interesting characters, all gathered at an english country house in the 30s for a weekend. i was a bit overwhelmed in the beginning at all the people, trying to figure out who was who, but altman does a good job of making it all fall into place after a while. the whole murder-mystery conceit was kind of incidental, and there's nothing earth-shattering here, but it was really quite hilarious. if you care. which you probably don't.

here's a little bit more info about the three bob mould albums that will be pooping out this year.

monday, january 28, 2002

friday after work betsy and i hit up the newish times square toys "r" us, which has a huge indoor ferris wheel you can ride for $2.50, even if you don't have a child with you. betsy requested the E.T. car, and we zoomed around for a good 10 minutes, bathed in orange light, taking care to make our obscene gestures only when on the relatively kid-free third level. i was ridiculously, uncharacteristically giddy for almost the entire ride.

a belated happy official birthday to tricia, who celebrated east village-style at scratcher, which is kind of like swift's except maybe more rustic. that and you can get a seat on a saturday night.

two weird fashion-related things occurred on saturday, which happened to be the two-year anniversary of my unlikely employment at this fashion institution. first, i bought some pointy heels. as i have remarked here on occasion, everyone here wears pointy heels. now, the ones i purchased are a) from filene's basement; b) not actually that pointy; and furthermore c) possibly a half-size too big. so i'm far from converted, but, you know, i like them. and then saturday night after dinner and drinks and a botched attempt to see some hip-hop at the knitting factory, i for some reason decided that i really needed to show scott goss "the fashion" at max fish. see, last time i was there (the only time, i think) there were all manner of very put-together people: trendy hats, ridiculous sleeves, furry vests. you get the idea. it was a people parade. so i kept insisting to scott that we should go see "the fashion" there. and then? when we got there? NO FASHION. the fashion just sucked. well, there was one vintage gucci clutch resting on some girl's exposed belly. that was the one cool fashion item i saw. i am never going back there again.

saturday, january 26, 2002
do you know why leanne is such a good friend? because she makes it so freakin' easy on me: comply. compile. DIFFERENT, see? you cannot beat me. heh. i am so smart. (i realize i am also a complete dork.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANET!

friday, january 25, 2002

second free lunch of the week (yay that) came courtesy of betsy's boss at his favorite new york eatery, the oyster bar restaurant on the lower level of grand central. it's a huge room filled with long U-shaped lunch counters. we decided to spare no company expense, because we are extremely valuable employees. betsy had a lobster stew that was just delicious; i had the yummy lobster roll (mmmmmm). great atmosphere at this place, too. friendly servers (ours gave us extra biscuits!), all different sorts of people to watch, lots of hustle and bustle. it's very old new york. and it's hidden away in grand central! highly recommended.

funny sort-of-fake interview with nelly furtado, via whitney. also: the insanity test, which is too hilarious for words.

so there i was sitting on my couch in my cold-ass living room, watching an annoying movie while justin banged around in the kitchen and feeling sad that no one wanted to go to the show with me. and then i said what the hell, i live two blocks away, i bet the merc is nice and warm, and there will definitely be good music there. what am i still doing here? so i went. and they were running late, so i got to hear jerry teel and the big city stompers. they had a stand-up bass, banjo, and slide guitar in the mix, and they were great. there was this hipster-lookin' girl with the short bangs and partial pigtails in a pink dress up there with the main dude in his white cowboy hat. the crowd loved them. nyc really loves its alt-country, i tell you. the fruit bats had to endure a rude crowd but were excellent. picture a less groovy, more psychedelic, countryfried, and quieter modest mouse. they also have a slide guitar. i have decided i love any band that has a slide guitar. i was probably a fool to leave before the sadies, but i was tired, and tired of standing around by myself. *sigh* in related news, i am now thinking maybe i should take up the banjo, what do you think?

thursday, january 24, 2002
jesus christ, you guys. don't you have dictionaries? the word is kerfuffle, not "gerfluffle." get it right. this is how things like "i could care less" get started. update: i have received some flak for this statement. be aware, i am not necessarily against the making-up of words, and "gerfluffle" strikes me as a pretty funny one, even. but, as i told my detractors, if i feel like being priggish at six o'clock on a thursday, that is my unalienable right. plus, it's my JOB! i am merely honing my skills here.

doesn't anybody want to see the fruit bats tonight at mercury lounge? why not, exactly? although maybe i should give myself a night off....

chelsea clinton goes straight. (joke too easy.) via the modern age, which has been rockin'. check out her hot picture of travis morrison, now all over my desktop. mmmm.

apparently, buffy has been causing me to miss out on some good stuff with gilmore girls. the main characters, in addition to enjoying the most ridiculously functional mother-daughter relationship ever, are also huge pop geeks. it's like high fidelity for tv, but without the guilt, which i applaud. do you realize the girl was seen reading the big takeover magazine, the issue with bob pollard's giant head, on the steps of her high schoool? strange but true.

do i really need to get all boned up on this enron thing? does it matter?

wednesday, january 23, 2002
yeah yeah yeah. i know, i know. i'm in a pita slump, what can i say? maybe i can tempt you with the camel-toe report? you get to see samuel jackson's package....

monday, january 21, 2002
two days in a row i have walked over to the angelika to see a four o'clock movie. despite resisting it for a long time, i finally had to take the preponderance of recommendations from enthusiastic friends and go see amelie. and truly, it was wonderful. so pretty, so funny, so ... (dammit) delightful. yes. loved it unequivocally. will probably see it again, even. but in the bedroom? highly overrated. i guess it is true that it was "very well-done" and everybody "did a good job," as my companions noted, but it did next to nothing for me. waaaaay too ponderous, and i like ponderous. not awful, but like the post says here, okay. probably better than snow dogs, at least.

all you ladies are extremely jealous that i got to hang out with scott this weekend, aren't you? i am beginning my campaign to get him the hell out of charlottesville momentarily.

friday, january 18, 2002
talk is dead. that is such a shame.

so leigh ann has started a pita! yay! the two of us have pretty much resigned ourselves to not getting into the "secret" strokes show tonight, unless there turn out to be extremely reasonable scalpers present. or, like, god. in retaliation, we have spent a ridiculous portion of our day coming up with names for all of them a la the spice girls (or the smurfs if you prefer). follow along in your liner notes, why don't you, and be sure to visit LAB for explanation:

nick = jailbait stroke
julian = weary stroke
albert = ugly stroke
nikolai = bashful stroke
fab = skinny stroke

so, which stroke are you? [via the modern age]

heh: free winona.

thursday, january 17, 2002
this is one that is definitely still funny the next day: plaque to be presented--on MLK day--to james earl jones accidentally (or not?) gets engraved to friggin' james earl ray. !

lots of rock last night at mercury lounge. leigh ann and i were there for ok go. i do adore my rock-loving friends who suggest going to see bands no one has ever heard of. they were pretty damn good, too. buzzworthy if you will. chicago indie-rock with keyboards and enough of a sense of humor to do both a silly rap song and a whitesnake cover. and then after catching a little bit of each of the other two bands (the spoon side project was really good) we went out in search of strokes, mission being to attempt to work it well enough to get into this vexacious "shitty beatles" show tomorrow night. no strokes at 2A, no strokes at 7B, but just enough cute boys. and then today LAB and i are both wearing our cute new ok go t-shirts (in different colors, mind you). we are dorks and yet total rockstars.

about damn time: x-files to finally wrap it up.

it's reissue madness! columbia to release the uncle tupelo back catalog. and then also a shitload of sonic youth reissues, with lots of outtakes and live stuff to make it maybe worth my while.

tuesday, january 15, 2002

another day, another fabulous party at which sting performs. *yawn*

just heard that the new bob mould (coming out in a couple months i guess) is "hideously atrociously bad." which is, sadly, not too surprising.

monday, january 14, 2002
the saturday night live skits apparently just write themselves: president (president!) bush was lying on the couch watching football and eating pretzels, fainted, and fell off the couch, his glasses cutting his face on the way to the floor. i am starting to think laura bush beats him. these stories are just getting too ridiculous.

read this non-diary tour diary from travis morrison of the dismemberment plan, in which he talks about how europeans see america post-9/11, and also how he grinded on top of a rowdy frenchman during a show. he is sooooo smart and funny. i luuuuuv him. unfortunately, he mentions a girlfriend. damn.

how cool is humanclock.com? you get a different photo of a person displaying the time every minute.

sunday, january 13, 2002
without offering much in the way of criticism, the times correctly observes that the new bazaar "belongs as much to the world of the women's magazine as to the world of the fashion magazine."

also, an interesting article about monuments and minimalism. if the WTC monument looks anywhere near as cool as the oklahoma city memorial, i will be very happy.

and finally, new yorkers, i suggest you get yourselves down to the guggenheim soho store, which is closing. everything is 70 percent off, and there is still some good stuff. i already got this print of a photograph of a wax-figure anne boleyn playing a lute (or something), all framed and ready, for pretty cheap, and today i'm going back for some cool porcelain plates, regularly $40 each, now $5. monday's the last day; hurry!

saturday, january 12, 2002
this l.a. times review of monster's ball gets it totally right. meanwhile i am still thinking about that movie even as i have about a billion other ones to see....

i found the battery charger! it was, duh, under the bed. i guess it was too dark when i looked there before. wooh!!

thursday, january 10, 2002
thanks to josh, armando, cormipants, and pete for the "virtual" flowers. they are either sweet or too cheap to send real flowers. ha! luckily my week is improving but i am definitely looking forward to the weekend.

this is old, but i just came across it. apparently freedy johnston onced angrily leaped into an outdoor crowd to get a heckler. which means leanne better watch her ass.

mullet action figures. why do i want one of these?

randi, i would have to disagree. that dell guy is great. the line dude, you're getting a dell! has already taken on extreme funny power for myself. if anyone tries to argue with you, just scream it at them. repeatedly. crack up. rinse. repeat.

oh good, asthma is in. [via whitney]

that's it, folks. peace out.

tuesday, january 8, 2002
i am having the crap-assiest work day in recent memory. and why doesn't anybody ever send me flowers?

saturday, january 5, 2002
it had to happen, i guess: hotel reception-desk misunderstanding leads to a meeting between ryan adams and bryan adams. and wow, ryan adams does not act like an asshole.

on a related note, saw his old whiskeytown guitarist mike daly at the luna lounge last night. he was pretty good. very full-sounding, country-tinged rock. way better than the spazzy downtown girl ("trying to be peaches" as jami said) who went on after him, i'd say.

enough people have written in to say that tami from the real world l.a. was the one who said the "wasn't! not!funny!" line (after having her naked ass dragged around the floor by david) that i must beg you all to stop telling me so. love that line though.

friday, january 4, 2002
ladies and gentlemen, the internet: how to diaper a monkey.

dismemberment plan gets a nod from the times as having released one of the best obscure albums of 2001.

alert the media! betsy has updated her page and claims she is merely going to be "updating sporadically" from now on. in this update she threatens to oust me from the film club if i keep up this behavior. the outrage! i am an officer, the Publicity Director in fact. and so i invite YOU, dear reader, particularly if you are a resident of nyc, to please come to the angelika this sunday for the 4:10 showing of in the bedroom, after which we will drink some beverages and discuss the film. you may bring people. the goal is people. and if you know any cute film boys, please tell them, because they are especially welcome, unless they are smelly, in which case they are still welcome but encouraged to sit apart from the group during the film.

poor buddy. i find it pretty hilarious that the times considers the death of an ex-president's dog to be front-page news, though.

by the way, monster's ball is the best film i have seen in quite some time. has to be one of my favorites of the year, even. i wasn't quite prepared for how heavy it was going to be. words like "wrenching" and "harrowing" describe it best. kind of like "requiem for a dream," it piles on the misery in a way that is just jaw-dropping, but also beautiful and interesting and thought-provoking. it does have its lighter moments, though. and billy bob is just amazing (and so hot). so is halle berry. seriously great film, so go see it.

that's all for today, and by the way, has anyone seen my camera's battery charger? i'm lost without it.

thursday, january 3, 2002
will the real jonathan franzen please stand up? (thanks trish.) i like "Sorry, I forgot the rent check ?left it in the hunky-Franzen universe again." oh, just read it. it's funny. speaking of franzen, how cool is my roommate justin, not because he has now checked out the pita at least once, but also because i found on my bed last night a big beautiful birthday copy of "the corrections," and with the National Book Award seal rather than the Oprah seal, and a great handmade card that included the phrases "wishing you benedict" (brunch on the brain) and "what self-respecting postmodernist" (aw yeah). so, justin, if you're reading, you rock.

one blog fades away, another rises up to take its place. check out the brand-new baby of one of my 16 new year's eve cohorts, nathan henry, a guy who has strong opinions on the monte cristo. fun-knee.

by the way, david cross was SO not funny at the apollo the other night. Wasn't. Not. Funny. (the person who gets that reference is going to get a prize.) leanne was right to heckle him. he s-u-c-k sucked.

guided by voices, of course, rocked. at least i'm pretty sure they did. i know i rocked out, so. (and the strokes actually had the balcony shaking, i must admit.) cormi linked to this nice long story, in which the writer has dinner with the boys from ohio in a little italy restaurant and they get drunk. how else could the story end? (well, i'm guessing. i haven't actually read it all yet. but i'm going to on the way home.) and finally...get ready for it...

wednesday, january 2, 2002