been running across a lot of really weird but hilarious stuff lately ... first off, the group fannypack's oddly catchy first song camel toe (lyrics | mp3) has been running through my head a lot ... i mean, who could not love a group called fannypack?? the rhymes are also pretty funny. the latest issue of this x-men spinoff called x-statix teams up one of the lead characters (doop) w/ one of the most revered characters in the x-men universe, wolverine, in a mini-series w/ the first issue called "the pink mink". in this series mutants anticipate future contracts instead of future battles, and the cover alone of this issue makes me want to rush out and buy it. will prob. have to wait til i catch up on everything else x-men related i'm reading right now, though, heh. (cover picture courtesy of uncannyxmen.net.) and to further confirm how weird japanese people are, here are pictures from the st. patrick's parade in tokyo (????) and clothing you can buy for your cat (last link thanks to austin).

my part time occupation as a vessel for media continues ... most recently: the man who knew too much (1956): the 2nd hitchcock i've seen. wasn't very good, but i guess for the time it was pretty thrilling. pj harvey: stories from the city, stories from the sea: good, but didn't bowl me over. has a duet w/ thom yorke. i like pj harvey but i don't need to run out and get everything she's ever done. still, she's respectably high on my middle interest level music people list. zadie smith: white teeth: a novel: not sure about this yet. i'm into the 2nd section, but it still feels like exposition. maybe the whole book is character sketches? still, at the very least the writing is engaging, and winnie points out that this was written by a 21 year old = wow. margaret weis, tracy hickman: fire sea: i have a soft spot for trashy fantasy, but i think this series is one of the most inventive and worthwhile. the first four books take place in four diff worlds with only a few recurring characters, and then in the last three books people from all four world begin interacting. incredibly ambitious and really sets a high standard for the epic fantasy genre. this is the third book in the series and although in general their writing is a little too long, the images and ideas tend to be very memorable and at times somewhat thought-provoking. haven't read the following four books in ages, but i'm working my way through them. last thought: bjork is putting out way too many dvds: 2 documentaries, several more live concerts, and a boxed set of 5 live concerts. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... bjork is def. not someone who changes much live, so this is def. bjork overload. sort of disappointing. oh well.

just finished reading a collection of short stories, essays, and "parables" by borges called labyrinths ... although the essays were dense and a little too philosophical for my taste, the stories and parables were quite amazing. here's one of the parables i particularly liked. got it from some random person's livejournal site. The Witness In a stable that stands almost within the shadow of the new stone church a gray-eyed, gray-bearded man, stretched out amid the odor of the animals, humbly seeks death as one seeks for sleep. The day, faithful to vast secret laws, little by little shifts and mingles the shadows in the humble nook. Outside are the plowed fields and a deep ditch clogged with dead leaves and an occasional wolf track in the black earth at the edge of the forest. The man sleeps and dreams, forgotten. The angelus awakens him. By now the sound of the bells is one of the habits of evening in the kingdoms of England. But this man, as a child, saw the face of Woden, the holy dread and exultation, the rude wooden idol weighed down with Roman coins and heavy vestments, the sacrifice of horses, dogs, and prisoners. Before dawn he will die, and in him will die, never to return, the last eye-witness of those pagan rites; the world will be a little poorer when this Saxon dies. Events far-reaching enough to people all space, whose end is nonetheless tolled when one man dies, may cause us wonder. But something, or an infinite number of things, dies in every death, unless the universe is possessed of a memory, as the theosophists have supposed. In the course of time there was a day that closed the last eyes to see Christ. The battle of Junin and the love of Helen each died with the death of some one man. What will die with me when I die, what pitiful or perishable form will the world lose? The voice of Macedonio Fernandez? The image of a roan horse on the vacant lot at Serrano and Charcas? A bar of sulphur in the drawer of a mahogany desk? - JLB, from Dreamtigers, translated by Mildred Boyer

this cartoon is for winnie's benefit:

finally sat down and collected my thoughts on the various korean restaurants i've been to over the years ... here's what i came up with ... note: these commentaries are a little stilted b/c i'm vegetarian. i.e. i make no comparisons about any of these places' korean bbq, etc. generally i order a pajeon (korean scallion pancake) and bibimbap (mixed vegetables w/ hot red sauce). i also generally know what the chopjae (clear noodles with stir fried vegetables) and dokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and such are like. compared to the 3 places i've been in new york (all of which were quite good), i'd have to say that boston's korean eateries are generally on a lower level. one last comment, for korean groceries, check out lotte in central square (297 mass ave). now on w/ the reviews ... best: *** suishaya (chinatown, 2 tyler st): surprisingly good. i've been twice, the first time wasn't so memorable, but i went again recently and it's prob. my fav. of the korean restaurants i've been to lately. one of two korean restaurants in chinatown. good: koreana (inman sq, 154 prospect st): just reopened. the interior is nicer than it was, although our group of 4 ended up being seated right next to another group of 4 in an adjoining table, which was sort of annoying. o/w pretty good, although i found that i preferred suishaya. wuchan (union sq): usually near the top of most people's list. need to go again. the one next to wuchan (union sq): heh. i don't remember the name. people call it the jjajjang myeon place, b/c they have the korean black bean noodles which isn't really common. not bad, but need to go again. average: choe's cafe (957 comm ave): nothing special, but the waitress was better than average. kaya (581 boylston st + 2 other locations): average. pissy waitress. andy sez that kaya has one of the best renditions of stir fried kimchi in town. korea garden (central sq, 20 pearl st): average, but i haven't been in a while. apollo (chinatown, 84-86 harrison ave): a little less than average. shilla (harvard sq): a little less than average. not bad (cheaper alternatives): seoul food (porter sq, 1759 mass ave): i think this place is cheaper than average. the panchan (side dishes) were really subpar, but the food was good. super 88 (1095 comm ave): in a food court, so it's fast foodish, but it's good. porter exchange (porter sq): fast foodish. about the same as the restaurant at super 88 or a little lower in quality. eh: q-vin (545 boylston st): def. below average. the dok bokki and their kochujang (red bean paste) were really really sweet, i.e. not very good. jae's (locations on columbus and also in inman): okay for what it is, i guess, which is overpriced americanzied generic pan-asian food. but why bother when you can get the real thing?