Spring Thing

They Call Him Flipper

Little black fun box! Fun little black box! Black fun little box! Small enough and cheap enough to throw in work-bag or handbag for documenting adventures saving villages and the like.

When the camera sometimes stays home because it's really a nice piece of equipment and an evildoer might crush it or slosh a cocktail on it or something else dastardly and when the video camera gathers dust because it's awkward to bust up everyone's fun with a Sofia Coppola moment , the fearless and friendly Flip saves the day.

Beach Boy / Hot and Feathered

Beach-y, beard-y, Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue: far out, creates urge to bust out groovy rainbow tube-top jumpsuit and and twirl in the sand with hands swaying overhead, would make one wish for opportunity to be his sixth wife... except later-Dennis looks a little like crazy Uncle Alan. Only skinnier. Creepy.

Dig some time-warp fun:

Suitcase of Courage

Phil Liggett, a man with couleur in his voice, a man who appreciates a decent chamois, a man for whom the Tour de France is as much Homer-ian epic as it is a contest for le Malliot Jaune, a man who has led us through most every major international tour since 1977 and raced for 12 years before that, a man with Paul Newman-caliber blues, is as well a man with poetry in his soul, and also in print. An excerpt:

Daily Dichotomy
Very light winds
and very hot indeed
it will be an easy day
to destroy yourself.
-Stage 17, 1996

Eat your coeur out, Baudelaire.

Suay Maak / Beautiful-est

The Italy of Asia / Thailand Tastes Like Burning

Sushi Sweeny Todd

Why, Fresh in the Box, dearest spectacular brown rice sushi purveyor, offerer of sundry organic and Asian treaties, kind lender of this-week's gossip rags, smiler at all who visit, why? You lent your lovely little space out to support fantastically campy slasher porn cinema, fine. But must you promote it on the cover of your to-go menu ("Fresh Mexican Today!")? Not delicious, and not inspiring ordering of any daily specials anytime soon.

I'm Wai'n' It

Thai Ronald throws down a wai as you enter his Grand Palace of Fries. How auspicious to be blessed by honorable King Super-size Transfat the Great. Special McThai menu items include Caribbean Shrimp Burger, Lemon Chicken Roll and Cheesy Chicken Roll. I'm not lovin' it so much, especially when Bangkok has the best street food in the world but you know what they say, frenchfried potAYto, frenchfried potAHto.

Also, it is fantastic when food ads contain cute representations of the animals contained in a dish. The shrimp want you to eat a Carribbean Shrimp Burger filled with their friends. And doesn't the Lemon Chicken Roll text treatment using a chicken head as the L and other letters as the body and feet make the meal seem like it would be that much happier?

Veni, Natavi, Vici

Special Olympics Summer Games Swim Finals, Long Beach

L.A. in the Eyes of He of the U.P.

Between Axe's bare walls we pondered Los Angeles last night, its place in the world and in our lives. Though trout and wine and company were undeniably priceless, what of the value of most of the rest of the lot: the competitive striving, the grotesque scale of consumption, the utter-but-usually-ignored chaos? Jim Harrison's numinous Tracking offered this not 15 hours later:

... he also began to enjoy Los Angeles, especially the aspects not associated with show business: the Pacific Ocean, the weather, the cuisine that came from the broad ethnic mix, the flora he studied on the streets of Santa Monica, the thousands of beautiful women who weren't very democratic in their affections. He could finally understand how such literary people as Thomas Mann, Aldous Huxley, and Christopher Isherwood loved the place. It was the strong but not very deep hint of the Mediterranean. It was a set for a movie too large and confusing to get made.

Sparks Fly from Her Fingertips

Itchin' for some Witchin'? Crack off some mail-order magic with Metapot.com and WitchStore.net. And here you thought you needed special powers, witchy woman. And the moon in your eyes.

Empty Nest Syndrome

Baby ducks paddled off. Then the canal turtle that seemed lifeless, well, was. Then stranded baby bird didn't make it. A tiny sigh for first brush with Empty Nest Syndrome.

Silver Lining / La Vie en Gris

A June gloom drifted into the closet last year and has made itself quite at home. For a year. But you know what they say about clouds, so no one here's complaining. Grey jeans, grey tanks, grey sweaters, silver jewelry... Gold is lovely with the grey as well. Next, grey nail polish. Chipped, natch. Everything matches everything and dressing is all about shadows and brightness and intentional color pops. La vie en gris can be deeply imaginative. Exciting, even. At least for those who are all about, well, shades of grey.

Make Way for Ducklets

Ducklets, one day old.