Welcome to the 21st Century (Weekly Roundup)

Eventful week it's been for the Bookstamper...been laptopless for the past five days as I left the wall charger in San Diego (watched Superbowl XLI there), thanks big sister for mailing it back to me via Priority Mail, although it would have gotten here just as fast with First Class mail. San Diego may very well be the greatest city in country (second only to Los Angeles of course). Perfect weather year 'round, resurgence of the downtown area, friendly folks without temptation.

Yet another Morrissey Gig. There was a time when Moz gigs were few and far between (or is that far and few in-between?), now we get to see Morrissey, (onetime L.A. resident/scenester) ever six months it seems. Three sold out nites at the Pasadena Auditorium (seldom used venue for rock/pop shows). I've always found something peculiar about seeing an aging English homosexual who occasionally peddles in con-trov-osy, play to a mostly Whittier representin' Chicano crowd--singing along to lines like..."And spit upon the name of Oliver Cromwell, and denounce this royal line..." Who the hell is Oliver Cromwell?! I mean really, no one in Whittier knows or cares! And then to go into National Front Disco. The National Front? I hear those guys are swell. I would totally disco with those guys. They like Paki's right? Morrissey's new (rebelesque non grata) khaki trousers sporting, shaved headed "band" seemed out-of-place playing behind him (Boz, with what's left of his hair being the exception). Low point of the evening was hearing a miserably uninspired How Soon Is Now. Hard to believe I've seen him a dozen times now. Am I finally over Morrissey? These things take time.
(Steven Patrick and his photoshop-enhanced eyes even grazed the cover of our "Alternative" LA Weekly last week with a piece entitled Moz The Cat).

Monday nite, sweet young Lilly Allen (and her rather bulbous forehead) in Hollywood, fresh from her debut appearance on SNL. She's got quite the mouth I hear. Typical Hollywood "first" crowd--industry types, guest lists, white folk. As for the show itself, it was okay. Mostly forgettable. Don't know if she will make it stateside. Our friends at MTV have been pumping her hard (!) lately...wait and see we shall. I will be sending her a written complaint letter however, that simply states..."You wouldn't make fun of a guy in a wheelchair would you?!" It's not the size of the hammer, it's the nail you're throwing at. Now that makes me Smile. You're Not Big yet lass.

Another day the branch. Dear patron who had $11 in overdue fees a couple days ago was upset that we did not accept debit cards as payment. Angrily he declared, So I wasted a trip coming here. Welcome to the 21st Century. Your friendly neighborhood Bookstamper smiled and helped the next patron in line. Later, he prayed god would strike this patron down. God is great.

In other branch news--someone, some kid tagged up our pristine branch premises in no less than nine different places. Sad day indeed. Worse part is that it wasn't even good! Pretty amateurish actually. Two different colors, a blue and gold. He was kind enough however to spare the brick exterior and focused on the cement/newsstand/doors...so it will clean up rather easily. I pray he finds Jesus.