As a follow-up to the Washington Post story on Joshua Bell’s busking efforts, writer Gene Weingarten had an online discussion which reveals further background information to the story. Weingarten was unable to convince the D.C. Metro officials to allow Bell (or any musician) to play in a station, so he turned to the property management for the arcade area adjoining a Metro elevator. They agreed in a jiffy. Also, in a deal with Bell’s publicist, the story, which took place in January, was held until April 8th to coincide with the April 10th awarding of the Avery Fisher Prize to Bell. There are other backstory tidbits and musings from Weingarten in the session, and of course plenty of differing opinions from readers. What Weingarten wanted to understand was what exactly made so many readers cry when they read the article?

Fans of the Powerpuff Girls will be amused by the Japanese anime “Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z” based on the series. Cartoon Network took the Powerpuffs to Japan and reworked the premise (which was itself inspired somewhat by anime) with anime producers. The girls are not exactly the same Powerpuffs, as they are regular girls who’ve been exposed to Chemical Z, but there are many characters and plot aspects retained from the original series. Now teenagers, Hyper Blossom, Rolling Bubbles, and Powered Buttercup fight crime (of course) and have special weapons. Bubbles’ weapon is a bubble wand. The show premiered last summer and escaped my radar until the recent announcement of a Powerpuff Girls Z Nintendo DS game.

A long stay at Alcatraz wouldn’t appeal to many, and the 18 hour solitary night watchman shift barely appeals to any. Gregory Johnson plays upbeat music on his iPod as he walks the deserted prison buildings, trying not to think about the long-gone occupants, the murders and suicides. Previous holders of his post report a few mysterious goings on, but they all know the creepy surroundings plays tricks on your mind.

As a parent you can discover and even rediscover wonderful, often simple enjoyments through the perspective of a toddler. The Washington Post’s experiment where they set up virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell as a busker in a subway station reveals that “Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.” It was morning commute time and the parents can’t be faulted for rushing their kids off to school. But it’s a reminder to take your children’s lead sometimes. They don’t have the same filters and conditioned responses that you do. (thanks Steve!)

The San Francisco branch of Cody’s Books will go the way of many bookstores and close its doors on April 20th. Situated in a high profile shopping area, with the Apple Store and Border’s Books nearby, plus a Barneys under construction, the store was losing $70,000 a month. Andrew Ross, president of Cody’s, took a huge risk in opening the store 20 months ago, mortgaging his house to do so. A long-lived Berkeley location on Telegraph Ave closed a year ago. But the Cody’s on Fourth Street in Berkeley is still doing well, so all is not yet lost.

Christie’s auctioned off the Strad I mentioned on Monday for $2,728,000 (including commission). Bidder Ric Heinl would not name the new owner but Heinl is from Canada so it may be going up north. Let it out to be played!

$16,000 at the new Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo will buy you a Diamonds-Are-Forever Martini which comes with a one-carat Bulgari diamond and free ring setting. It won’t, however, buy you a night in the Presidential Suite. For that you need $20,000.

Dewey the cat, a long-time resident of the library in Spencer, Iowa, will be immortalized in a book that garnered a $1.25 million advance for its authors. Librarian Vicki Myron will pen the book along with Bret Witter. Grand Central Publishing trumped a planned auction for the book deal by putting in the huge bid. Editor Karen Kosztolnyik told the N.Y. Times: “You can’t underestimate the market out there for people who love animals.” They’re hoping this will be as big as “Marley & Me” which has sold 1.85 million in hardcover. Dewey unfortunately passed away in November, about 19 years after he was found in the library book drop.

Biologist Jana Johnson is restoring the Palos Verdes blue butterfly population, one pupa at a time. She has a crop of 720 this year, split between two captive breeding locations in Southern California. Only about 200 Palos Verdes blues exist in the wild today, but that’s up from 50 in 2003. Johnson coaxes butterflies out of their pupae casings, plays them inspirational music (such as “Defying Gravity” from the musical “Wicked”), and feeds them honey water and Fierce Melon Gatorade (scientifically proven to be preferred by the Miami blue butterfly). Eventually she hopes to have enough of a population to start establishing multiple new colonies in the great outdoors.

Our toddler sits on a couple of phone books (taped together no less!) at the dinner table, so I thought this booster seat styled as the yellow pages was hilarious. Since they don’t have the Space Needle on them I’m not sure our son would actually sit on them. As he often points out, his booster seat has the Space Needle on both sides. I doubt he’ll ever have a need to use a phone book for its intended purpose.