The Girls of September '79
Foxes all and twenty-nine years hot, happiest of birthday wishes are hereby extended to our penultimate Girl of September '79, Skeeter (soon to be Mrs. Jimmy From Queens)! Happy birthday, Julie!

The Explorers Club
No. XCIV - The Great Zimbabwe






Protocol of absolute secrecy be damned, I have the nugget of an idea for a short story, set in the Project TROIKA world, titled either "The Great Zimbabwe" or "Fat Mouse and the Great Zimbabwe." Mike Migola wrote and drew a Hellboy tale called "The Iron Shoes" simply because he already had one called "The Corpse" and already had in mind a title for the resulting one-shot, Hellboy: The Corpse and the Iron Shoes. Not that I'm claiming Mike Wilson deserves the same liberties and privileges granted to Mike Mignola, I'm just saying there is precedent, that working from title-to-story rather than from story-to-title may not be as harebrained as it first appears.

Science!
The human brain, the finest computer in Creation, is a marvel, and capable of astonishing adaptation. A most glorious example set amongst extravagantly mundane circumstances, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to present for your edification and illumination: The Knowledge.

Science!

Have I ever mentioned how much I adore the relatively new Discovery Channel(s) motto, "The world is just awesome"? I adore it beyond all reasoning; it reflects so perfectly, with such wit and charm, my own infatuation with the world entire. The world is a place of woe and wonder, of comedy and tragedy living side by side, and above all a place of incalculable majesty. Too often our popular cultural plays to our basest instincts, to our pessimism and fear. Such a bold declaration of optimism and courage as "The world is just awesome" is a most welcome sight to behold. And to my way of thinking, that optimism and courage are part and parcel of the truly scientific mind. So, once again...

Science!

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Fountains of Wayne, "Hey Julie" from Welcome Interstate Managers (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I hope J.F.Q. knows his good fortune.

"Hey, Julie,
Look what they're doin' to me,
Trying to trip me up,
Trying to wear me down.
Julie, I swear,
It's so hard to bear it,
And I'd never make it through
Without you around.
No, I'd never make it through
Without you around."

Sonntag, 14 September
They Might Be Giants, "Stomp Box" from John Henry (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Such is the diversity and eclecticism of They Might Be Giants that on John Henry the frenzied "Stomp Box" immediately precedes the bittersweet "The End of the Tour." And, will wonders never cease, the pairing works splendidly.