Despite being "between jobs", I feel busier than ever. Chalk it up to the upcoming Chlotrudis Awards and lots o' writing assignments due in the next few days (including the usual Splendid stuff and film notes for Notorious.) For awhile there, I was seein' a movie a day. Including Quiz Show (has John Turturro ever been any better?), Winged Migration (birds, birds, too many frickin birds! But it's pretty), Past Perfect, a film directed/written/starring Daniel MacIvor, who will be at the awards ceremony, and Rebecca--three cheers for creepy, lesbi-onic Mrs. Danvers! She took such loving care of Rebecca's undergarments...

Also made a trip to Disc Diggers in Davis Sq. on Sunday and purchase new albums from Boston busker Mary Lou Lord (Baby Blue) and Nellie McKay (Get Away From Me). Lord's long-awaited second studio set is similiar to her first, the classic Got No Shadow (1998). That's a wondrous thing, and time will tell how well it compares.

McKay is a much-hyped 19-year-old who bounces back and forth between jazz, rap, pop, and a little eurodisco. She's crazy and precocious (or so says the clerks at Disc Diggers), and I'm a little disappointed because the copy I unwittingly purchased is the "clean" version, with seven or eight curse words (across 18 songs) edited out. Too bad, PMRC, I can figure out what they are! I've only heard the it twice, and it's already challenging Sufjan Steven's Seven Swans as a veddy early contender for my Album of The Year. And since last year was a pretty sucky one for female musicians, that's a good thing. Plus, Sam Phillips makes a very welcome return on April 27 with her new disc, A Boot and A Shoe.

If evil ruthless conglomerate Starbucks is good for anything these days, it's a cup of their Italian Roast with a shot of irish creme-flavored syrup. Ah, now only if that syrup was of the alcoholic variety.