Random Bits and Pieces

Life has been a little hectic lately, with one trip down to DC & Virginia for a friend's wedding last weekend, and leaving for Columbus, Ohio this afternoon for the Society for Ethnomusicology conference this weekend. Nevertheless, I must blog about a few events, however briefly:

1. I got my hair cut yesterday. By my reckoning, this is my first professional haircut in about ten years. For those of you who have seen Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, my hair is pretty close to Jennifer Jason Leigh's hair in the film. A simple bob, but done with more layering than I've ever had.



2. Speaking of films, it's been a great few days for watching good movies. First, we watched Inside Man, which we both loved. Even though Jodie Foster didn't appear on screen enough for my taste, the concept of her character--a woman who nearly controls a city behind the scenes--is brilliant. Then The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) came on tv. Great stuff altogether.

3. I made a great cd haul this weekend in Charlottesville. I haven't even listened to everything yet, but standouts so far are Sepultura's Arise (which I got used for $6) and the reissue of Pylon's Gyrate. The In Tenebris album is growing on me as well, despite what I hear as some mixing issues (the voice is way too disconnected from the rest of the band in the mix). But that's a fairly small complaint, and I get warm fuzzies thinking that Christina, the singer, has done several of Jenny's and my piercings (she's an excellent piercer). Shame the band broke up, though.

4. Last night, we got takeaway from Joy, our old favorite Indian restaurant in Prospect Heights. When we went in to pick it up, one of the employees was rather over the top, saying that of course they deliver to our end of the neighborhood (as of a few months ago, they didn't), asking us to take menus to give to our friends, etc. Then, as we were waiting for a car service to get home, he brought us mango lassis to drink while we waited. All this was fine and good, and definitely inspired good feeling...BUT when we got home, the food was a mere shadow of its usual self. So we're hoping they were just having a bad night, and not that they've changed cooks or management, and that the food returns to its usual high standard. The employee did have an air of desperation about him, though, and when we arrived they had exactly three eat-in customers--not surprising, since the restaurant itself is depressing and badly in need of renovation.

Now--off to Columbus!