Christmas Moth

I went to midnight mass this Christmas. I think it was my first time in a church since Christmas 2003 - the last time I was Stateside for the holidays. They call people who make it to church only for Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and Easter CAPEs, so I guess I'm just a C. Really, I think Christmas should be good enough for anybody, but maybe I'm just a little more spiritually evolved than most. Besides, as far as I'm concerned the Catholic Church is on indefinite probation. They'll have to move before I will.

I might have extrapolated on those thoughts but a moth distracted me, buzzed me even. Repeatedly. I wondered where in the world it could have come from and hypothesized it hitched a ride on someone's "Sunday best". You just can't be too careful when storing woolens for the summer.

'Tis the Season

The holiday season just wouldn't be the same without Snowcraft!

Better Late Than Never

I feel like the twelfth man on the team (i.e., the last one to know); apparently serious fans of Elliott Smith have known for months about the unofficial release of more than 20 demos from the Basement on the Hill sessions.

If you're not already a fan, consider this a passive-aggressive attempt to turn you on. I'm generally not one to hype my personal tastes in music -- as with discussing politics in mixed company, such exchanges usually become veiled or otherwise awkward stabs at the other person's (flawed) belief system. De gustibus non est disputandum, of course, but can we at least agree that payola is the primary determinant of a song's "popularity"?

But I digress. Unless you suffer from a slow or balky web connection, the least you can do is download the Elliott demos. Once hooked, pick up his self-titled CD, then work your way chronologically through the rest of the catalog. If you get really serious, explore his live recordings.

RIP Liu Binyan

Decmber 2005 witnessed the passing of Liu Binyan, often described as a "dissident" writer and widely regarded as one of China's foremost journalists. Liu suffered greatly for his fierce determination to expose the greed and corruption rampant within the Chinese Communist Party. Before being effectively exiled in 1987, Liu spent the better part of two decades enduring "thought reform" through forced labor.

Liu's memoir, A Higher Kind of Loyalty, is a powerful account of the madness that was China's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. But readers new to Chinese "scar" literature might first opt for Harry Wu's Bitter Winds. At any rate, be sure to leave room for Li Zhisui's mind-blowing The Private Life of Chairman Mao.