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My new candidate for the title of "The Man." As I've just finished watching a half-hour of his video clips...

I was there.

A friend passed along the note that Nat Hentoff has been dismissed from his longtime post at the Village Voice, a move that had initially eluded me. The note pointed to Hentoff's last column for the Voice, which is very much in the man's style.

A few months back, when Amanda Doyle and I shifted The Wire radio show into what's now her solo joint, Topic A, we had Hentoff on as one of our first guests. As we expected, he was interesting and provocative and not a little bit prickly. It was a satisfying (but not exactly fun) way to spend a half-hour of conversation, especially after some early phone woes were cleared.

That conversation's rolled around my head this week for a couple reasons. Hentoff's depature keyed it. My media writing classes at Webster are back, with the first two weeks given over to the simple art/craft of the interview. And I'm thinking about a project that would satisfy the yen to talk to some folks that would otherwise not give me the time of day. (More on that in due time/short order.)

My question to you, my five readers: if given the chance to talk to anybody, on any topic, with the web the source of interview dissemination, who would you talk to?

I've gotten the chance to visit with Nick Hornby and John Waters and Henry Rollins and Crispin Glover and Lee Ranaldo and Bruce Arena and Butch "Eddie Munster" Patrick and a bunch of other white guys, plus a bunch of other folks who aren't guys or white. So they're off my list, for this exercise.

And if I were answering the question, it'd probably be Parker Posey. Well, it would be.

Three thoughts:

1. Does anyone need a crib? Which is to say, does anyone need a rental home, in the up-and-coming Tower Grove East neighborhood? Because I happen to know of one, just next door to me, with immediate occupancy and delightful neighbors. Drop a line for details, if'n you know of such a person/such people.

2. I need a mailbox. Don't know what happened to the old one. Could've been anything. Wild dogs, for example. But I need a new one, that's for sure. Considering that December was filled with 16 different local arts'n'crafts fairs, I have to imagine that someone locally is doing the punk-rock-inspired-indie-crafty-type of mailbox, yes? Anyone?

3. Need a vintage lamp repaired. Recommendations sought.

Ooh, this is a classic post! Mundane, thy name is...

I'd like to thank Roy Kasten for the hook-up.

Though the Sky Drops have only been in my life for the past, oh, five hours, I can tell that it's going to be a long-term thing.

Any group that can take me to London, circa 1993, in the space of seconds... well, that's a band for me.

If there's anything I love, it's a project that not only costs you time, it costs you money. Maybe a bit of sanity. And, in all likelihood, you won't ever be able to fully complete it. That's the stuff of which life is made!

Here's one that I came across in just the last few minutes, and it speaks to distinctly to not only the collectors among us, but those who are tempted to take on the silly-slash-impossible:

http://www.83f.blogspot.com/

It involves baseball cards, the recapturing of youth and challenge, challenge, challenge.

(And this is post #333 here. Symbolic? Hyperbolic? Half-demonic?)

There's more info on this elsewhere on the web, but I'll note that the Indie Rock Swap Meet will be held at the Tap Room this Friday, January 9, from 7 - 9 p.m. While co-curator/deejay Chris King claims to not have much to actually offer in the affair, I can officially say that much of my basement will be there for the taking on Friday night. In fact, for much of this stuff, I'm not even looking for anything in return; just take the discs and run. Please!

Available for perusal:

* The entire, three-issue run of the late "Silver Tray" fanzine, which I published, gosh, in the late '90s, or so. Articles by-and-about bands like the Unconscious, Corporate Humour, Stranded Lads, the Eyes, etc.

* A boxload of local CDs from local acts, mostly in the mid-to-late '90s vein, including several compilations and countless one-offs, singles and odds'n'sods studio projects. It's quite a ridiculous batch of stuff, in total, from Wayne Shorter to Sammy and the Snowmonkeys. While I confess to cherry-picking the collection just now - oh, there's that Tribes with Knives CD! and if that Pyschviolet CD didn't just show up! - there's still a wealth of weirdness to pour over.

The Lettuceheads play at 9 p.m., as well, the first of three acts on the bill that night. You can sample some Lettuceheads music here and here.