Andy Bell, front man for Erasure, has confirmed that he is HIV positive. (FYI, I created a login account for y'all - UN: Buffista, PW: phoenix)

McSweeney's is launching the Believer's Book Series, which are collections of essays from The Believer.

I must have walked past this place a dozen times over the past few days without making the McSweeney's connection. It looks like a hardware store, and I think the prior tenant was a hardware store. I thought maybe it was some combo hardware/uniform/toy store & that I should stop in to pick up a fireman's hat for my nephew for Xmas. McSweeney's old place on 7th Ave, which I assume is no longer there, (okay, I'm horrified yet delighted by that dangling modifier so I'm gonna leave it) was the size of a not particularly large walk-in closet. Good to see that they now have a place that can fit more than ten, or seat more than four.

I picked up the September Believer because of the interviews with Ian Frazier (Coyote v. Acme) and Simpsons poobah George Meyer, and because of the inclusion of volume 1 of their legendary "Army Man." (More on Meyer and excerpts from "Army Man" courtesy of Maud Newton.)

Frazier's "Child of War" ended up in Coyote v. Acme: "I served in the Korean conflict at the age of three, and attended elementary school on the GI Bill.... There I was, the youngest second lieutenant in the history of American arms, reading about a pair of civilians named Dick and Jane, who knew nothing of lines of fire, or anti-tank warfare, or the terrible things high-speed metal can do to human flesh and bone."

I read Hornby's Songbook a couple months ago. I was really looking forward to it but was thoroughly underwhelmed -- which is usually my reaction to him, not terrible, just lame. But I thought Songbook would be better.

Around the same time I read Paul Williams' The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: A "Top 40" List & found a quirkiness that would have improved the Hornby book. Part of that is the difference in the two projects. Williams: stuff from the 20th century that he thinks are worth noting, from the Stones to Matisse to Thich Nhat Hanh to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Hornby: it's ostensibly about music he loves, but it's more about songs -- which he may or may not love -- that hold a strong place in his psyche, sometimes because of their musical value, but more often than not because the song is tied to some event in his life and it gives him an excuse to meditate on the nexus. Which is fine in theory, I just don't find his take on things all that interesting. Williams' quirks make for a less than perfect book, but one whose digressions (the real underlying reason for both books) are much more compelling. YQMV. Williams' top 5 (the order is arbitary):

1) "Things We Said Today" - The Beatles (1964)
2) "Sister Ray" - The Velvet Underground (1967)
3) Girl Before A Mirror - Pablo Picasso (1932)
4) The I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm (1923)
5) Ulysses - James Joyce (1922)

msbelle, thanks for working to straighten everything out! I was very sad when the CDs stopped coming.

mail makes everyone happy, it is a proven fact.

I read Hornby's Songbook a couple months ago. I was really looking forward to it but was thoroughly underwhelmed -- which is usually my reaction to him, not terrible, just lame. But I thought Songbook would be better.

Yeah, I was underwhelmed with most of it. There wasn't any great insight into why he loved a lot of the songs other than personal connection.

Williams' top 5 (the order is arbitary):

Heh, yeah, I like that. I too was underwhelmed by the Songbook. Very little of it stuck with me. One thing that was designed into Lost In the Grooves was that it contained the possibility for disagreement, clashes of aesthetics and broad disagreements about what belonged. Again and again, I just told the writers to make their case.

Just for fun and historical perspective...

UK Independent Singles Chart June 1986

1. Bigmouth Strikes Again - Smiths
2. Serpent's Kiss - Mission
3. I Almost Prayed - Weather Prophets
4. Whole Wide World - Soup Dragons
5. We've Got a Fuzzbox... - Fuzzbox
6. Crystal Crescent - Primal Scream
7. Baby I Love You - Colourbox w/ Lorita Graham
8. The Official World Cup Theme - Colourbox
9. Like An Angel - Lemondrops
10. Good Thing - Wooden Tops
11. Sad? - BMX Bandits
12. What's Inside A Girl - Cramps
13. Trumpton Riots - Half Man Half Biscuit
14. It's a Good Thing - That Petrol Emotion
15. Inspiration - Easterhouse
16. Truck Train Tractor - Pastels
17. Big Pink Cake - Razorcake
18. Wild Child - Zodiac Mindwarp
19. Too Many Castes In The Sky - Rose of Avalanche
20. Thru' the Flowers - Primitives

It's sad to see how many of those bands I know NOTHING about.

Oh my god, Zodiac Mindwarp. I had completely forgotten about them.

Oh my god, Zodiac Mindwarp. I had completely forgotten about them.

From that same chart...

25. The Kentucky Click - Crime and the City Solution
27. I Walk The Line - Alien Sex Fiend

Sort of the gothy heydey, I expect.