this weekend was all about the idiotarod, which, if you don't know by now, is like alaska's iditarod race except instead of dogs pulling sleds, it's people with shopping carts, and instead of snowy trails, we run the streets of new york city. oh, and everyone gets dressed up, including the carts. so miss myrna organized a team, which we dubbed Little Red Running Hoods. pretty easy, costume-wise, though next year i would like to step it up (people really get into it). going in, i knew it would be a crazy, fun time, but i was a little nervous. there's lots of "sabotage," which means people throwing things at you, and throwing shit on the ground to make you slip. (carl declined participation with the excuse that this is a "a race for people with health insurance.") there was lots of slippery shit on the ground, but there was even more flour flying through the air, and at the finish line, dead, bloody fish (gross). but flour is surprisingly foul-smelling in vast quantities. and running in costume is still in fact running, it turns out. which, in 30-degree weather, tends to sear your lungs. or my lungs, at least. but yay exercise! it was still quite fun, and i could be convinced to do it again, though i suspect it might be even more enjoyable to be a judge, like jami and maura were, and have everyone kissing your ass and buying you drinks at the checkpoints. so the race went from greenpoint to long island city, over the pulaski bridge. i had no idea where the hell i was. we closed out the day and evening at LIC bar, a cute place in the middle of nowhere, where by the end of the night we had even decided to start a book club (little red reading club). what do you know? start the day with a red sweatshirt, end with a book club. i'll let you know how that goes.

i didn't really take very many pictures* (it's hard to be a participant and a photographer), but there is of course plenty of coverage on flickr and youtube, not to mention gothamist. i really liked the mimes (sans cart), the ghostbuster team, the bill cosbys, the secret service, and the olde-timey people. but i'd probably give the best in show award, if it were up to me, to the chippendales. it was cold out there, and those boys were in their skivvies the whole time. best sabotage had to be the u.s. commandos' assault on the north koreans at the finish line. i heard the shitheads won, but the real results will be posted at cartsofbrooklyn.com soon. finally, i will say that the cops reportedly talked a big game in the beginning, saying that anyone off the sidewalks would be arrested, but in the end, despite the helicopters and phalanx of police vehicles, they did a decent job of both keeping the streets relatively clear (especially in deserted industrial areas) and letting everyone have their fun. some of them were even taking pictures.

if you click any of the links provided, i would recommend this one: an awesome video of the race in which yours truly can be seen running, in blue skirt, about nine seconds in, right after you see the cops on horseback.

*a few pictures ganked from myrna, jami and one unknown flickr-er (i'm not going through all 3,000 shots to find it again). thanks, dudes!

for all you craigslist lovers out there, i've got a lovely new tool. some might even say killer app. it's a site called listpic that brings up only those search results that have pictures in them, and displays those pictures right on the search results page, which is so key when you're searching for apartments or furniture. that reminds me: my brother steve is looking for a cheap apartment. got one? lemme know. [via ikea hacker]

yay! fountains of wayne is releasing a new album this spring, as is wilco. in the here and now, you can stream the new of montreal record, "hissing fauna, are you the destroyer?" and i suggest you do. it's very good. ditto menomena, but i haven't really listened to that one yet. barsuk also has the new jesse sykes and the sweet hereafter, which is an album that carl put on my ipod in the early days of our dating, and which i still have not seen fit to listen to, a year later. balls.

okay, i need a favor from the music nerds out there. what are your favorite albums for sleeping? i need some. this afternoon i spent many hours nerding on the computer, deleting albums and changing the genre tags on the softer, slower stuff to "sleepytime." and i need more. got any suggestions? whisper it to me, won't you?

yep, nerding all day. that's what happens when it's twelve effin' degrees outside. friday night carl made a tofu stir-fry (mmm, bok choy) and saturday we stayed in all day, reading and napping until it was time to go to the double shot of double 30th birthday parties. happy happies to stacey and cindy! they (and we) celebrated, respectively, with sushi and karaoke at japas 38, and regular old drinks at art bar, where cindy proved that 30 really is the new 20. good times all around. i'm kicking myself that i forgot my camera, because drunken party pics just make it that much more fun sometimes. and today i tended to carl and his massive hangover, which meant eating pizza, watching football (what?), and gaining weight by the second. how american of us!

here is funny todd levin writing a funny guide to wine buying on the morning news. i especially like the list of adjectives used to describe wine. i personally hate going into a wine store. i usually look around for a bottle i've had before, whose label i like aesthetically, and exit the store as quickly as possible. i really hate asking the staff for help. but i believe i've found the wine helper of my choice at heights chateau on atlantic ave, where i nipped in friday night. this is what went down: the old white-haired lady immediately approached me as i glanced around the spanish section. she asked if she could help me. i smiled and said, "yes, well, my boyfriend usually asks you for your 'picks.'" she nodded and smiled. i requested one red, one white, in the $10 to $13 range, and she immediately set about perusing the racks, hand thoughtfully clapped over mouth (an endearing and somewhat english mannerism). she picked out a spanish red, a spanish white, cheerfully noted that "we're going spanish tonight," then walked the bottles over to the counter without even bothering to show me her selections or tell me how oaky or full-bodied they were. sold! i will now go back to judy for her "picks" whenever possible. thanks judy!

dudes, holly had her baby! and quite a story it is; she almost gave birth on flatbush avenue in front of junior's, providing cheesecake-eating onlookers with plenty of entertainment. plus, a lady policewoman felt her crotch! it doesn't get any more hilarious than that, kids. and that's what you want in a baby story: hilarity. anywho, i saw baby theo last night in all his ten-toed, fat-faced glory, and can't wait to watch him grow up. congrats, powell family!

and now—quite appropriately, i'm sure you'll agree—a cavalcade of cat links:

how to smuggle a kitten from overseas.

cat can't stop flushing the toilet. that is one smart/crazy kitty...he just wants to know where the water goes!

awesome cat bed for black kitties. who wants to buy this for xena? ikea ain't getting sixty bucks for that outta me.

obese cat gets stuck in doggie door.

up for adoption: 18-pound, freaky-toed cat rescued from adult-film set.

finally, myrna and i are gearing up for the idiotarod in a couple of saturdays. tonight's episode of CSI featured the race in an episode. and someone died! in a bloody fashion! even though the victim perished as a result of an angry homeless person distraught at the theft of his shopping cart (note to self: do not steal cart from hobo), i am now afraid of savage sabotages, and if this gothamist thread is any indication, i have good reason! sheesh. i don't want to break my ankle, thanks! on a fun, noncompetitive note, there are no awards for first, second or third place finishes, but rather for 4th, 5th, 6th, and last. that still seems a little ambitious, and so, we will try for "cutest in show" (also not a category...drat).

p.s. csi is a really shitty show.

top 10 pita-approved albums of 2006

1. the thermals, "the body, the blood, the machine": simply put, the most rockingest album of the year. every time i see them live they blow me away. thrilling live AND on record.
pita pick: "returning to the fold"

2. oakley hall, "gypsum strings": frankly i don't know if this is the best oakley hall album of the year, because they put out two, and i still don't have the other one. all i know is every time i hear this it is the exact perfect thing. weaves melancholy and joy together seamlessly; what more do you want from music? recently signed to merge and featured in rolling stone, i think they're on the way up. (p.s. another fantastic live band.)
pita pick: "confidence man"

3. belle & sebastian, "the life pursuit". i thought i was over belle & sebastian. went through a big phase in the late 90s where i bought all their albums, then lost interest. i heard "dear catastrophe waitress" was good but couldn't muster the will to care. when i heard this, though, it was like falling in love all over again. such masterful pop, and no song sounds the same. i listened to this a ton in '06, and still do.
pita pick: "the blues are still blue"

4. jenny lewis with the watson twins, "rabbit fur coat". she has the sweetest voice, paired with the sweetest melodies and just the right amount of emo angst.
pita pick: "the charging sky"

5. camera obscura, "let's get out of this country": so maybe i was just really into scottish pop this year? it's possible. or perhaps the scottish popsters just really upped their game this year. gorgeous pop. did you hear it? no? do.
pita pick: "lloyd i'm ready to be heartbroken"

6. ben kweller, s/t. i didn't even realize ben had released another album until late december. (not my fault: not even his website acknowledges the release!) thank god i did, because there just aren't enough straight-up pop-rock gems coming out these days. ben is the real deal. this album is one heady pop trip after another; it just doesn't quit. gives me the same giddy feeling as i got that night he opened for rhett miller at fez years ago. love!
pita pick: "i gotta move"

7. the yeah yeah yeahs, "show your bones": the yeah yeah yeahs showed their softer side this year, and it was awesome. there was also plenty of sass. what's not to like? i think this album was considered a disappointment, but not by me.
pita pick: "cheated hearts"

8. the gossip, "standing in the way of control". i always think the gossip are perfect party music for rock people. unfortunately most of my friends still want michael jackson when push comes to shove. but seriously, this band rocks hard and makes you want to move. and they just don't get enough attention. why not? beth ditto's voice could knock down a wall. this is a powerful, passionate rock band, very possibly the successor to the dear departed sleater-kinney.
pita pick: "your mangled heart"

9. cat power, "the greatest". i discovered cat power only this year. depressing, but good depressing. an exquisitely sad, beautiful album.
pita pick: "lived in bars"

10. robert pollard, "from a compound eye". this is the very definition of "grower." it took me months to get into this. it's sort of challenging. and loooong. but it has a ton of great songs on it if you're willing to listen carefully.
pita pick: "the right thing"

some of you may be wondering why "boys and girls in america" is not on the list. simply: i was not blown away. it has several total clunkers. like, cringe-inducing songs (part one of "first night"; "chillout tent"). michaelangelo, a longtime supporter and indeed the first person to turn me on to craig finn (via lifter puller), voices my sentiments in idolator's "jackin' pop" poll when he admits, "I rooted for the Hold Steady on principle, though I do wish their most acclaimed album wasn't also their weakest." of course, i'm sure they're going to churn out several more albums in the coming years, so i'm not worried.

finally, some honorable mentions: neko case, "fox confessor brings the flood"; bobby bare jr.'s young criminals' starvation league, "the longest meow"; bruce springsteen, "the seeger sessions"; the concretes, "in colour"; the evens, "get evens"; howe gelb, "'sno angel like you"; islands, "return to the sea"; quasi, "when the going gets dark" (did anyone listen to this album??); swearing at motorists, "last night becomes this morning." all worthy albums.

i have some links and pictures and stuff...somewhere. stay tuned!

bye, 2006! nice knowin' ya! it was a pretty fantastic year, as years go: new job, boyfriend, apartment, body (not necessarily in that order). i'd like to publicly thank all my friends who made it so awesome, too, as corny as that may be. (i'm getting sentimental in my old age.) it was a pretty good weekend to boot, so let's recap it, old-style:

most of my favorite people (and a lot more people i've never met) made it out to union hall friday night for my birthday party, and some peeps even brought very excellent presents, such as this american apparel wrap dress from holly and some sweet-ass convertible mittens from eileen and of course some of tamar's cute jewlery. oh, and vanessa gave me a very fine intangible present when she pulled out her ipod and made me listen to a song:

::: They Might Be Giants, "Older" ::: i kept expecting it to bust out into a chaotic breakdown, gogol bordello-style, but it never did. still kind of a cool little song.

saturday i rose early (at least in view of the amount of drunky mcdrunkerson i got the previous night), and set off for barnes and noble to return a couple of things. yay books! it was such a nice day that i walked up seventh avenue and over to target to use my $12 credit to purchase a pair of cheap headphones. i got these little sony in-ear things. so much for the big 'uns. once i got over to the sick boy's house, i spent the rest of the day reading and dosing him with tea, orange juice, and dayquil. i can't put down this book by neil gaiman called american gods. it's a fantasy book, but it has real people in it, too, and it's a great story. you can even pick it up in cheapystyles trade paperback form. recommended! once night fell we ordered sushi and watched we jam econo, the minutemen documentary. i gave it four stars.

sunday was more sitting around until the parties started. we headed over to eileen and jesse's around 5:30 and were immediately thrust into a strange variation of charades. we were suspicious, but the wine was flowing and the food was great and it ended up being quite fun. we then traveled about two blocks down to tamar and matt's, where their party was already in at least half-swing. they had sushi and hot dogs on a miniature hot dog cart, a couple of highly suspect punches, and a pair of 18-year-old Midwestern girls. the teens remained sober; i did not. we then stopped in at abilene on the way home, and saw brandon 'n' allison and john 'n' julie. dancing finally happened here. (tamar: need to work on the sound system, dude!) all in all, a better new year's than i was expecting. and cheap, too! although next year i am SO doing the midnight run in central park.

today was wasted. i was sick all day, from the drink. or maybe the sushi. one shouldn't be puking all day long, should one? i also pooped SEVEN TIMES. i know you didn't need to know that, but it's just so amazing, i had to share it with you. in the evening i was able to keep some crackers down, so carl made a delicious (and lucky!) dinner of sherry chicken, swiss chard, and black-eyed peas. and that, ladies and germs, brings us up to date.

year-end music listage coming...soon!