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 April 15, 1998 In this issue: |
 Hush Love By The Numbers A Quiet Happening Across The Borderline Mary Goes 'Round |
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It's a quiet week here at Department Lemur, because I've bound and gagged
everyone here. They just had to keep on singing that damn "Getting Jiggy
With It" song and doing the little dance. I've got work to do here,
civilizations to crush ... you get the idea. I'll untie everyone after I've
issued this week's pop culture report. I promise. Honestly, I will.
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YOU CAN HURRY LOVE
The Love Calculator is perhaps the first
solid free service the web has yet provided. The process is simple: enter
two names in the spaces provided and hit the aptly labeled "calculate"
button. The Love Calculator will then analyze the idiosyncrasies of the
names ("they all have a meaning") and provide the odds for the success or
failure of a possible union. A relationship with a girl The Passenger
fancies was given a whopping 83% chance for survival, while a union between
Marilyn Manson and Bob Dole was accorded a dismal 39%. (The Passenger
surmises that there are some things that even science cannot fix.) And if you
don't get an answer you're pleased with, just remember that the Love
Calculator "has no serious intention whatsoever," as the disclaimer at the
bottom of the page clearly states. Ah, l'amour. |
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ONE MORE TIME!
"Any song worth playing is worth wearing into the ground." So declares the
legend on top of the Space Age Pop Music Standards Page, and by golly, they're right. The
Passenger will never, ever tire of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn," John
Barry's theme to "The Ipcress File" or Esquivel's "Mucha Muchacha." The
songs are at the base of the pillars holding up the modern era. Discover how
the accordion can be lethal in the right hands, what can turn an average
party into a savage journey to the heart of exotica and find out where
Stereolab, Mono, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps and Pizzicato Five are sampling
all those cool sounds from. This is an indispensable primer to some of the
wildest sounds ever to hit the thrift shops. Just because the "Cocktail Nation"
craze has fallen out in favor of a lingering Rockabilly/Swing hangover is no
reason to lose those Formica Blues. |
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MAN OF THE COUNTRY
With the June 1998 publication of "Cities Of The Plain," Cormac McCarthy will complete his Border Trilogy and add
another portal to the dark, visceral and staggeringly beautiful world he has
created in his literature. The official McCarthy webpage offers insightful
commentary into the author's life and work, even providing translations for
the Spanish passages in his novels. While McCarthy's books are not always
easy to read - the brutal scalpers of "Blood Meridian" and the based-in-fact
events of "Child Of God" are among the most horrific entities ever put to
paper - McCarthy is virtually without peer in finding the beauty in pain,
desperation and madness. The visceral prose of "All The Pretty Horses" and
"The Crossing" can be tasted, felt, worn like an overcoat. Needless to say,
the American West has rarely been more faithfully portrayed. Director Ridley
Scott ("Blade Runner," "Thelma And Louise") has commented that he would like
to tackle an adaptation of "Meridian." The Passenger wishes he wouldn't.
McCarthy is that good. |
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A LITTLE DRIVE FOR A LITTLE DRIVER Diminutive in stature but big of heart, Microminicar Mary's page is devoted to the BMW Isetta and other automobiles of its size and stature -- the Messerschmitt KR200, the Fiat Bianchina, the Berkley and select Vespas. These charming Minis, produced in the late 1950s / early 1960s, might conceivably fit in the trunks of the full-size cars produced at that time. The site includes many photos, links to the pages of other Micro-Mini enthusiasts and a page of handsome renderings of Indian Motorcycles and space stations done by Mary's father, who either created the pages for his daughter or has a web-designing prodigy in the adorable little Mary. Either way, you'll be impressed enough to hunt down an Isetta of your own - a process that is made blissfully simple with the resources included here. Boy, you just can't please some people. I just ungagged one of my coworkers and he said something crass about my demeanor, so I corked him back up. I'll go to the movies and see if they calm down a bit. In the meantime, stay happy, stay lucky and I'll see you next week!
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