"Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2"
was brainy, beautifully animated and heavier on noir vibes rather than stylized violence. Where's a fan nerd site that unpacks it all for the manga novice? I ran into Iceman at the Rainbo who gave me the report on the Ramones doc. It sounds fascinating, tragic and rentable.

If you live a non-veg lifestyle and pass through Chicago, I highly advise you to make a date for Avec. Actually, vegans could just do few salads and the foccacia and be quite satisfied. Owned by the same people behind Blackbird, they serve exquisite small plates and a few entrees. The room is done in cedar and oak, resembling a long sauna with five eight-person communal tables. The food is right on the money. The perfection of the focaccia can't be explained and the stuffed figs are unforgettable. The giant wine list is intimidating but the servers are really into pointing you in the right direction. We ended up with a kind of fruity Portugese red that played nice with everything we ate. I bumped into Kiki Mercury for about the fourth time this week before she jets off to LA. I would have suspecting her of stalking me except that she was out with her mom, which doesn't seem very stalkerlike. Hopefully, she will be back as she's been a huge asset to the Chicago writer and partier scenes. Besides, she hasn't let me read her novel yet.

I'm dying to post MP3s and have tons of webspace with Comcast, but there's something that won't let me upload MP3s. I'm talking about my own music, not some pirated action. Once I can figure a work-around, I'll be uploading recordings of Palisades a recording project I did with Eric and David, some rehearsal tapes of a band called The Tax I've been trying out with, some solo demos and some Perfect Panther demos.

I've been listening to The Bees after hearing more about them from Dan in the New Constitution. It's a pastiche they're doing, but a good one.

Man, I'm nervous about the debate tonight.