2002-12-05 - 2:38 p.m.

I wish I could call a snowday for the greater New York area. Sweet jebus is it coming down or is it coming down?

I found a very sharp suit in Detroit. The jacket/suit aisle at Value (Village) World always tempts, but I hardly ever come up with anything. It ain't easy finding a nice 36 usually. Well, I guess all those years of curious rack-pickin' paid off. This one is a wool number from the late '60s/early '70s, nice wide lapels in the British fashion and bells, bells, bells at the bottom. How lovely it is and how lovely it fits since my mom took up the slacks. (The inseam was 34, with a 28 waist -- I barely fit that -- prompting Larry to speculate that it was tailored for the "tallest, skinniest man alive." I am not he, but I know people who know him. Young Joey Ramone, perhaps?)

So I want to go play in the snow. I just walked around a few blocks with Nami, who also works in Chelsea on Thursdays. Dogs still rule their owners, and workers are out in force with salt distributors and gas-powered hand plows. Prospect Park tonite should be a blast. Most of the night, though, I'll be sequestered in my room, studying up on the law. LSAT on Saturday; I'm treating it like a game.

New Teddy Rx Leo is damn good. If you've been hittin the Pharmacists shows in the last year or so you'll recognize most of the tunes. Tain't a bad thing for sure. Songs so strong, they'd get instant WJLB airplay. Even in the late eighties when they had those oiled-up bodybuilder commercials. Also, the production is a bit more raw (but very good). The rhythm section shines through especially. "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" was as good a choice as any to be leadoff single. "Ballad of the Sin Eater" is that D'n'B track you totally recognize from the last time you saw the band.

I just hope Lookout gets its act together and learns how to promote. I'd been hearing that Ted might have been looking to jump ship for Tiger Style, but all that ended up happening was a split single. That's actually out now, as opposed to this disc (I think the street date is Feb. 11). But yeah, Lookout's natural audience isn't Ted's. That's probably why the last disc was hard to find, and most rock journos hadn't even heard of it. Where was the glowing Greil Marcus review in Salon (Ted's little brother got one for The Holy Childhood)? Where was its placement on any of the yearly top tens?

Copies should filter through to Metro Detroit within a few days.