There was a Simpsons clip show featuring all their song and dance numbers (“All Singing, All Dancing”, season 9). It began with Homer returning from the video store with “Paint Your Wagon”, which he assumed was a shoot ’em up, action packed western, since it featured Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin. A funny parody scene of the movie was shown, while Homer grimaced at his movie heroes cavorting and caterwauling. I had assumed that this was an entirely concocted scenario. But truth is stranger than fiction. Makes it easier for comedy writers, I guess. Clint and Lee did indeed star in “Paint Your Wagon”. They sang in it too. I guess instead of verifying news media “facts”, I should be substantiating the inspirations for television comedy.

I’ve been using the Wall of Sound Soundbooth since reading about it on BrainLog and a MetaFilter discussion. I haven’t bothered picking out CDs to bring to my new job, so when I absolutely need to listen to music I end up turning to the ‘net. Soundbooth lets me program just about exactly what I want to listen to, as Imagine Radio used to. But they get around Imagine’s original legal problems by requiring that you include at least one genre per program, so you can’t, for example, just select one album and listen to it. It doesn’t support all platforms, but I’ve had good luck with IE 5.5 on NT. The quality is tolerable for pop/rock, but is noticeably lacking during the wider frequencies of classical.

I’ve enjoyed waiting to hear what will pop up next from my eclectic selection of music and artists. If I don’t like a track, there is an extremely handy “skip” feature. I keep evolving my program list, adding a song I love but never hear (such as “And Then He Kissed Me” by the Crystals), or including an entire album for just a day to see if I’ll like it, and adding remembered artists I want to hear more of. I’ve discovered songs by Peter Gabriel and Elvis Costello that I’ve never heard before (but not, I’m proud to say, any undiscovered Bowie — apparently I’ve heard it all). Today I made another station just for musicals and tacked on all the Gilbert & Sullivan they had. Maybe next week I will see if I can create an oldies girls groups station so I can expand on my Crystals song with the Shirelles, the Ronettes, and other classics. And I can toss in some new women to keep my ears open. The unexpected beauty of this device is that every once in a while it sets up some nifty segues that no DJ would ever think to program.

I had noticed that magazine subscriptions were getting cheaper. The annoying cards that always fall out and those inserts that come in the plastic mailers were listing $12 subscriptions to some pretty hoity-toity mags, like Gourmet. I figured it was a sign of the booming economy (it is booming, isn’t it? Even though the stock market keeps bouncing around?) According to a USA Today article (via MediaNews), publishers are trying to boost circulation and ad revenue. Next year’s postal rate increase is one reason for their need to maintain a healthy cashflow. But lower rates can result in less-affluent and less dedicated readers, so advertisers keep an eye on the demographics. Sounds like a careful balancing act. I haven’t jumped at any of the cheap rates. I don’t have time to read what I’m getting already.

TNT has a way of wrapping up loose TV ends for me. They acquired Babylon 5 (now on SciFi) and allowed it to run its course, although the Crusade series didn’t get too far. Now they’ve made sure that NBC’s The Pretender gets to wrap up some of its dangling plot lines too. TNT has picked up the reruns and will be airing two new Pretender movies, the first of which is already in production. I wasn’t able to follow the series consistently this past season, but I did try to keep up with the general goings on. So I appreciate a chance to find out what the writers thought they were up to. The TNT Pretender site is all fancy with Flash, but it is informative.

I am definitely never giving my name and address to Radio Shack. As I was cleaning out my purse, I noticed that my last receipt from them had someone else’s complete name and address on it. Perhaps since I didn’t give them my name and address, they just used someone else’s for my sale. Augh.

I had lost all hope for the Mets last night. My a cappella group was making a demo tape (in the same recording studio that Green Day used for their new album, honest to goodness), so after hearing that the Yankees were leading in the fourth, I tuned out and tried to sing in tune. And I stumbled, dead tired, off to bed afterwards,
assuming that the Series was really all over. But, I should know better than to lose faith in the team that likes to set its fans up for disappointment, only to heighten the joys that they sometimes provide. Even if they don’t win the series, at least they won a game. Which is more than the last two Yankees World Series opponents can say.
As noted by a Catholic church-goer in the ongoing New York Times coverage of fan rivalry, “God’s no Yankees fan. God roots for the Mets. He loves us because we suffer.” Amen.

Election Day draws closer and I have never been so undecided. Most people I speak with talk about voting for the lesser of two evils. Some have hatched schemes to wait for election results from the rest of the U.S. before heading to their west coast polls and throwing their votes away. I’m doing my basic job of making sure everyone I know does vote, but I can’t say I’m doing a good job myself of being decisive. The propositions start sounding bad on all sides with certain supporters hiding in “Yes on XX” or “No on XX” groups instead of titles I can relate to (like “Female Engineers of Silicon Valley who hope to raise children and hold mortgages that don’t require double incomes” or just simply “People who show common sense”). I will try to make educated choices rather than be paralyzed by uncertainty. Part of the problem is that I seem to be incapable of making decisions based on what is best for only me. I get caught up in deciding what would be best for most people. I still haven’t figured out if democracy works better that way for me or not.

Here’s the strangest thing I’ve learned in a while. Silk doupioni is a type of silk fabric that is riddled with irregularly spaced slubs, which give it a certain charm. It is a popular choice for bridal gowns. I had thought it was the result of a special kind of weave or less processed method of creating the thread. But it is actually the product of a double cocoon. Sometimes two silkworms will nest in the same space and spin interwoven cocoons. The thread that unravels from this cocoon is tangled and nubby, thus producing the texture of the doupioni. I can only suppose that since this is a fabric in demand, there are silk manufacturers who are crowding their silkworms together into close quarters when they are done feasting and ready to spin. You can read more on silkworm cultivation and silk manufacturing.

Susan Sarandon called me yesterday to ask if I agreed with Ralph Nader. But she hung up on me when I wouldn’t press “1”. Hmph. Recorded telephone solicitation is illegal in California — but there are some exemptions. I guess Ralph falls into one of those categories.

Usually my favored Neiman-Marcus fantasy gift choices are things like tiaras and custom made shoes (hey, it’s not like I’m going to actually get what I pick), but this holiday season I think I’ll just ask for the submarine. It sleeps eleven and is only 20 million dollars. I wonder if you need a license to drive one of those things.