Shelving has its own madness. Bumbling, fumbling with new titles. Pushing, shoving old ones. It all deserves a theme, a song, a tune. Perhaps this?

Tritone. The Devil’s Interval. Augmented fourth. It’s a musical interval that spans three whole tones and was known as diabolus in musica for much of the mid-section of the last millennium. The Church was nervous that it caused demonic ecstasies and banned it for a long time. Now it’s everywhere: Rush’s “YYZ,” Liszt’s “Dante Sonata,” [...]

The east half of the Loop is having a fest this weekend. On Saturday, July 29, there will be a Sidewalk Sale and Live Music showcase. All the cool shops are participating: Fifi’s, V.Vegaz, Big Shark, Donnaland, Gabby’s, TNT Designs, Chinese Noodle Cafe, and Mirasol. It should be good. And when you find yourself in [...]

They’re going to hate this. I can’t remember our Flickr account password so until I get home and upload these pictures properly, I’m going to post them here. Oh, I HATE this camera. I am totally from the old-school SLR camp with a CAMERA YOU CAN FOCUS ALL BY YOURSELF. Somehow, everything I take with [...]

Here’s the tree in my backyard that tumbled onto the power lines and was probably responsible for some of the delay in returning electricity to my part of Tower Grove East. Sorry. On the upside, my yard gets A LOT more sun. Maybe there’s hope for the grass and the garden. If you look closely [...]

A young Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen Show gives a demonstration on how to play the bicycle. Note: no facial hair. –Jason

We’re selling tickets for the Jessica Haines, Mark Kaiser & Friends show at the Sheldon. It’s part of the fabulous Notes from Home series that the Sheldon runs every year. The tickets are $6.00 (plus$.75 if you want to charge or debit them) and the show is Tuesday, July 25, at 7:30 pm. As a [...]

Our photo album is now go. Do yinz want to see pictures of the store? Are y’all dying to see Matt Kindt do his thing? Click here or

No change in the top six this week, but four books are tied for seventh. They’re all good, and they’re all within one sale of Mr. Moore’s loving tribute to Guy Fawkes. John Perkins : Confessions of an Economic Hit Man Haruki Murakami : Kafka on the Shore Chuck Klosterman : Killing Yourself to Live [...]

Electricity is good. I don’t care what John Zerzan says. And, boy, do we have it here. The air conditioning is so cold, I have a sweater on. Somehow the Loop escaped Mother Nature’s wrath and we are living the high life. Feel free to join us. And don’t let the five thousand non-working traffic [...]