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It's at least twice a week that I hear, "Thomas, what are your favorite magazines?" And after a wild magazine buying spree over the last week, I've got some new titles to add to the old standbys.

Topic: A really nice quarterly that delves into one particular, well, topic. Last issue it was "families," two issues ago, "food." Great writing.

Maisonneuve: A stellar Canadian mag that neighbor Stefene turned me onto a few issues back, when it featured a phenomenal story on the East Side, of all things; same edition had a riveting story on the late heavyweight fighter, Jerry Quarry. Every issue's a read-through, from cover-to-cover. Gotta love Canadians.

Paste: Solid music mag for old folks like me, with a nice compilation DVD and compilation CD in each issue. I've been turned onto a healthy dose of new stuff through those. Also some film coverage, as well as books and new media.

Kitchen Sink: Oakland-based and a newie-to-me, which Andrea just sent along. Found an issue at the Borders in Brentwood. (D'oh.) Wide variety of stuff for "people who think too much."

The Big Takeover: A longstanding favorite for new music, with about two issues a year. Since it takes a good couple months to read each, that's not a bad thing.

Devil in the Woods: Not a bad pop music title. Picked up issue #20 in the aforementioned, guilty, quite large Borders buy. The site's got some decent music for sale, too, including a Denali live CD. Tasty. Like every third mag in the music section this week, Sleater-Kinney is featured on the cover.

The Nation: Of course. So much added web content!

The President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, Jim Shrewsbury, will be our guest on The Wire tonight, 7:30-8:00 p.m. Lots of possible talking points, including the suit involving Marcia Behrendt and Roger Plackemeier, the amusement tax on local sports teams, the reorganization of NSOs and an update on the "animal house" fundraising efforts. Do tune in.

For those who've not seen the Sauce column, I took on the monthly "Noteworthy" feature over about four issues back. They're now posted online and here's the latest...

Just wrote about a funky little place called the Francois Cognac and Cigar Bar, this time for the P-D...

Added a couple links this week, too:

Dylan Hassinger, a student of mine at Webster U. last term and host of the KDHX late-night/early-morning show "Good Times," is now publishing a blog about City issues and events. It's called progressivestl.com. It's off to a good start and I look forward to seeing more...

Also dropped in the blog of my favorite cereal dealer, Shannon McGinn...

And since there was a KDHX note above, should note that Jeannette Batz Cooperman, the new editor of St. Louis Magazine, will be our guest on "The Wire" this Monday night at 7:30 p.m....

Think that covers it for now.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to take part in a shoot for the 48 Hour Film Project, as part of writer/director Bill Boll's "Flaming Deconstuctionists" team. The genre was "cop/detective" and the location was the Hi-Pointe Cafe; to be honest, I have no idea what the mandatory line, prop and character may've been, though all of that will be revealed later this week. Doug Whyte of KDHX-TV came by, as well, shooting part of the "making-of" documentary that'll air at Wednesday's screening at the Pageant.

At the beginning of the session, the upstairs barroom was flooded by bright, summer sunlight, but a major rainstorm rolled into town about three-quarters of the way through. It was a moment to feel at least a touch of sympathy to all the groups doing exterior shots at the same time, even as the Hi-Pointe ceiling began sprouting numerous leaks, including one that was dripping right next to the camera and onto assistant director and co-writer Adam Hackbarth.

Though the case had a number of talented local actors and crew members (Emily Haack of Wicked Pixel underground film fame; Devin Baker, whom I've known from many local bands over the past decade; Joe Hanrahan, Jackie Niebylski and Eve Abaray among others), the biggest pleasure was playing opposite Michael Bowdern, who's currently a cast member in the Magic Smoking Monkey's "Glen or Glenda." I've been a fan of his for the past few years and getting to share some time with him at the Hi-Pointe's bar was an unexpected treat.

Oh, yeah, got two lines along the way, as suit-wearing "Agent #2":

"We couldn't hear anything."
-&-
"No, this guy's dirty."

Fun day. Curious to see the end result.

For those who enjoy low-brow live theatre - and we know who we are - the Magic Smoking Moneky Theatre's current production of "Glen or Glenda" is well worth the trip to the Regional Arts Commission's ground-floor venue. Very amusing turns from a number of performers, though Michael Bowdern's stint as the Devil might be the funniest five-minutes of comedy you'll see on a local stage this year. Highly recommended.