an american in paris

Yesterday I went to a free sneak preview showing of Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia, which will be released Aug. 7. Based on the true life stories of Julia Child (Meryl Streep), the beloved cook (and spy?!) who wrote the 734-page book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Julie Powell (Amy Adams), the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation employee turned blogger turned writer, the film weaves together Child's memoir My Life in France with the creation and carry-through of the Julie/Julia Project.

It's no secret that the real star of the movie is the food (even The New York Times wrote about it in its article "Film Food, Ready for Its 'Bon Appetit'"), but Streep is pretty flawless herself as the eccentric, larger-than-life, and lovable chef. Both her and Adams, who sports an androgynous haircut in place of her normal red waves, pass the hardest test of playing a real person: believability, although both women do seem to have unnaturally perfect marriages and Adams appears to have an unnaturally fast metabolism given all the butter she claims to use. While the film drags on a bit towards the end, making it seem longer than the 123 minutes it actually is, for the most part the plot is engaging, the writing entertaining, and the comedic timing on point (but what else would you expect from the director of When Harry Met Sally and You've Got Mail?).

The only downside: a strong craving for rich French food immediately following viewing.

three gray walls and a dell

"I don't think a pre-born child is yearning for anything. Douche."

- our lobbyist

I love the people I work with, but most of the time I feel like the cubicle is sucking my soul out. I'm dying to be outside, moving, exploring, but instead I'm stuck in a 6 by 6 cell, without even a window to longingly look out of.

why journalism will never die

only two more weeks left in dc

I feel like I move every three months.

And it always takes about half that time for a place to really start feeling like home to me.

google yourself when you get home

The indie world can't live on fingerpicking and textural guitars alone, and a varity of sounds and multiculturalism in indie rock isn't the enemy here; shitty Jackson 5 covers are.

- "LP" album review (Pitchfork Media; rated 6.8)

Cat introduced me to Discovery, the spin-off project of Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij (keyboardist/producer) and Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles (singer), who released their "LP" album (yes, that's the title) this summer. Imagine the beat dynamics of both bands combined and then projected through a flurry of synths and waves of electro-pop sound, with a dose of MJ and a remix of Ra Ra Riot's "Can You Tell" thrown in for good measure.

Or, since Pitchfork calls it "your electro-pop summer soundtrack," maybe you could just think of it as the musical equivalent of drinking a lemon fizz while whirling down a pool slide.

Yes, please.