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.