NEW! Heath Row's Media Diet Heath came up to me at a "party" of "Brad's" and said "Hey, you're the guy with the Central Square pictures." I can't call it celebrity, but it's the first time someone's known me through the media and been excited to talk to me. His site is a chock-full blog that links to my site and other great ones like it and different from it.

Bradley's Almanac Where my friend Brad finds the time to generate all this content I don't know, considering that when I was essentially unemployed I could hardly find the time to update my own site more than once every few months. It's worth your time, though, especially if you like music. Have a look around.

Allston Chronicle Until today, I wouldn't have recommended this site, due to its clumsy Flash interface. But they went back to good old HTML like reasonable people, so I heartily recommend a browse through this streetside journal of my neighborhood. Another one of those "I should have done this myself" sites.

American Memory at the Library of Congress. My latest browsing addiction. Quite possibly the most vast and intriguing collection of US historical documents and photos anywhere on the web. I recently found a diagram of the 273-year-old stone marker in the sidewalk near my house, and the script for a ridiculous 1919 comedy sketch on courtship and marriage. Definitely worth a few minutes of your browsing time. Search something random, get lost in the results.

receipts  Pocket junk as historical record. I'm mesmerized by this, because every time I throw away a receipt, I stop and reflect on the information recorded on it. Where was I that day? What time? What was I doing there that late? Who was "Fawzia," my cashier, and why was she there so late? What was "MISC HABA"?

dasmoment.cx  Visit Nathan and you could win. Offshore, no tax applies.

bunkosquad.com  Michael Femia was the first one on the World Wide Web. Ever. All the way back in 1974.

Mishima USA  Once simply called "Mishima," my good friends Arto and Sean read a book on the blessings of liberty, visited Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution, and in an impetuous moment of patriotic pride added "USA" to their band's name. Brings tears to my eyes.

WFMU  Radio doesn't get any better than this. Freeform station from Jersey City, NJ. I was just a passive listener when I lived in NJ. Then one day they gave me free beer, and I've been their biggest fan ever since. Listen on the Internet now or later -- ALL shows are archived on the site in perpetuity. Specifically, I invite you to join the ranks of the IBJ*, the loyal listeners of:

The Glen Jones Radio Programme featuring X.Ray Burns  The heart, soul, and liver of New Jersey. How many people actually bring their radio show out in public to their adoring listeners, to share good times, good music, and beer, all live on the air? Sundays, 12-3 pm, when you need it the most.

The Roads of Boston  I'm a sucker for concrete and steel. I waited for this site to launch for like a year.

Roadside America  If they didn't do it, I would. Basically, these guys wander the country, and when something not in the tour books pops up, they document it. A similar, though smaller and less focused site, is:

Interesting Ideas  I've been periodically visiting this page of roadside curiosities (and more) for a few years. It pointed out to me an amusing optical illusion right in my own neighborhood (more or less).

Transportation Pioneering  Yes, this too. Not since the dog, pig, and rooster of the Montgolfiers' first balloon flight has so much ground been so bravely broken.

 

* International Brotherhood of Jones

THINGS TO WHICH I CANNOT LINK To think, it's actually possible. You can go search for sites on any of this, but these are things in the real world, and cannot themselves be linked to (yet). BOOK I'M READING: Finally, I have delved into Tom Robbins, with Skinny Legs and All. It's fun so far, but I'm falling into bad reading habits again (read: can't get a seat on the bus). PLACE I'M DRINKING: Au Bon Pain, my friend. You thought it was corporate cheese, but their frequent coffee card gives a free cup after five, not the usual ten. Mon dieu! WHAT I'M LISTENING:Yo La Tengo's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. My mind is repeating with morbid fascination the eerie lines from "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House" — "Watch him burn, he's dropping to his knees... We're sorry to inform you, Tony Orlando has been postponed." I plan to purchase some Of Montreal once Hi-Fi Records gets the disc I ordered in. I'd meant to look into them for years, and recently discovered they're the picture in the dictionary next to "infectious." Also some Pinback, my latest crave. Recent .mp3s include a bunch of Herbie Mann, and four-part smoothies of old The Golden Gate Quartet.