Month: January 2002

Saw The Royal Tenenbaums last night with my friend Juliet — better than I’d expected. I only say better than expected because the reviews had been fairly lukewarm (as opposed to lukewilson). Wes Anderson is quite a stylist, although I can see why critics dinged him for keeping too much emotional distance between the characters and the audience. (That said, that was somewhat the point.) And, alas, the talents (and facial hair) of Bill Murray were essentially wasted, and Gene Hackman’s emotional turnaround stretched the film’s credibility. But still very fun. And the movie may have singlehandedly saved Futura from the ashbin of typographic history.
A question for female movie fans (or gay male movie fans, for that matter): who’s more crushworthy, Luke Wilson or his brother/co-star Owen Wilson? Luke’s certainly better looking objectively, but Owen’s got that sneaky smart thing going on. Plus, he co-writes all of Wes Anderson’s movies (Rushmore, Bottle Rocket), and we all know how sexy writers are. (I ask because Juliet expressed her pro-Owen feelings last night. Repeatedly.)
Put the finishing touches on the new CD Mix of the Month last night. It’s a good one, I think — a little more eclectic than the last one. Get in touch with me ASAP if you want in; the first trades will take place at tomorrow night’s DFWblogs happy hour.
Dallasites: today’s the last day for early voting in Saturday’s mayor’s race. The buzz I hear is that the race is going to be a lot closer than what some people think. (Of course, you’ll have to read the DMN for all the details. But you already knew that.)

Pitchfork has a great, literate tour diary from Travis Morrison of the Dismemberment Plan. Phrases to watch for: “looked like Biggie Smalls in drag,” “the pilot wore rainbow suspenders,” “women with sleep apnea.” Plus look for a major shout-out to Rubber Gloves in Denton.

Site news: There’s a brief Mazie Project update today. (She’s up to 13 cards received.) And I had another (vaguely crappy) story in today’s paper. A reminder to Dallasites: don’t forget to vote this Saturday. Two pretty big items on the ballot: the $1.37 billion bond issue for Dallas schools I’ve been writing about ad infinitum lately and the mayor’s race, which has been entertaining so far. Early voting continues through tomorrow.

Hey, Austin readers: anybody feel like letting a fellow blogger sleep on your floor during SXSW? (I figured I might as well ask.) I’d be happy to, um, buy you dinner several times.
Hey, Utah readers (and/or Mormon readers, and/or Olympic junkies): As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll be in Salt Lake City for most of next month to write about the Winter Olympics for my employer. My job description is roughly to be the Olympics writer who doesn’t write about sports. I’ll mostly be doing features about SLC and Utah and scene stories from the events. I’ve got to come up with 20-25 stories, so consider this an open call for ideas: anything unusual or interesting about the state, the city, or the church that won’t otherwise be reported 36,312 times by the descending media horde? Muchos gracias.

I write to you today from the Land of On-Hold Music, where I’ve been for the better part of an hour while trying to understand why my car insurance premiums have suddenly doubled, despite last getting a speeding ticket in 1999 and last being at fault in an accident in 1992. (Are Texas rates really that much more obscene than the rest of the world’s?) It’s always good to know that age and sex discrimination is still alive at least one place in the world, in the insurance industry, where being a 26-year-old male means I must be constantly teetering on the edge of automotive death and dismemberment.
Note to bands everywhere: You should not include cell-phone ring-tones on your albums. It is not nice to people with CD players in their cars and cell phones in their pockets.
I just dropped Kelly at the airport, bringing a sad close to a very enjoyable weekend. We saw a bunch of bloggers Friday night at the Inwood, which meant Kelly had a good opportunity to share embarassing stories about my life circa 1997-2000. Other weekend highlights (sorry, my connection is too slow to dig up links): a trip to Fort Worth for the Stockyards and the Amon Carter Museum, seeing Sexy Beast at the newly opened Magnolia Theater on Lemmon, heading to the Meridian Room, the wonders of weekend brunch (at the Dream Cafe and Nuevo Leon), and too much gelato.

To those of you interested in meeting up tonight: Kelly and I will be at the Inwood Lounge (the one inside the Inwood Theater on Lovers Lane) shortly before 9 p.m. tonight. We’d love to see you there. We may move on to other locales as the night progresses, so if you want to catch up with us later, you might call me on my cell phone. Hope to see you all tonight.

Today’s must read: Go here and scroll down to the Harvard Magazine obituary for one Erik Humphrey Gordon, who died “from complications of injuries sustained in a ballooning accident outside Brussels,” leaving behind, among others, “a beloved pet monkey, Cher.”
Then check out this explanation from the (very alive) Mr. Gordon. (This has been making the email rounds, but it’s too good not to share with whole world.)

My friend and fellow blogger Kelly is coming to visit tomorrow and she’s expressed interest in meeting some of the dfwbloggers who she keeps hearing about and/or reading in my comments. So: who’s up for a mini-blogger dinner/movie/something Friday night? Lemme know. (It could be a rare chance to get some pre-Dallas Josh dish.)
In other site news, the CD Mix of the Month project continues. If you want in for this cycle — and you know you do — get your mix done by Jan. 16, the night of the happy hour. Bring your mixes there if you can make it; drop them in the mail otherwise. For full details, check the project page.
In music news, blowhard-for-the-ages Cornel West had released a CD (!) and shown his usual self-deprecation: “In all modesty, this project constitutes a watershed moment in musical history.”

You know, I really don’t think I can blame the Arizona Republic for not running this editorial cartoon about Dave Thomas. Very poor taste. (Particularly since the man died of liver cancer, not choking on a spicy chicken sandwich.)

It’s that time of year again: You have until Sunday to make your Bloggies nominations. Be sure to find room for DFWblogs as Best Weblog Directory. My nods for Weblog of the Year go to The Morning News (whose server appears to have melted), BoingBoing, World New York, and Looka.