the_kbb

I found this in a copy of Norman Mailer‘s American Dream. Apparently not enough people gave them orders, poverty wasn’t stamped out.

It looks like the company is still around, but they’ve moved to Golden Valley . The building at 1521 Hennepin is long gone – MCTC and it’s parking garage now take up the entire 1500 block of Hennepin.

Finding things inside books is almost as good as a book with an inscription. I always look for interesting inscriptions when at the book store. Oddly enough AA and NA manuals often have the most interesting (and by interesting I mean soul crushingly depressing) inscriptions. The other depressing thing is that most used book shops have no shortage of either book. I try to tell myself that people have come clean and no longer need them… But the cynic in me says they sold it to by some Mad Dog 20/20.

This book wasn’t inscribed, but did have an address label affixed to the inside cover. Florence lived in a house I rode my bike past nearly every day on my way to work.   It’s in an aging first ring suburb, of Minneapolis.  I’m picturing a sweet old lady… What the hell she was doing with this book is beyond me.

A double header:

1. Circus Juventas. We didn’t really know what to expect, but were completely blown away. The kids have some pretty amazing skills, they put on a great show. It’s very much like cirque du soleil. I was very impressed with these kids, even the youngest handled the rare stuff ups with grace and humility. I recommend going.

2. Erasure at First Ave. Amazingly fun. I hear it took a small army all day to setup the elaborate multi-level stage. We missed the opening acts and the first few Erasure songs – arriving in time for the first wardrobe change. There are two things to be learned from Erasure.

• A 43 year old balding pot-bellied man in a wife beater and day-glo pants can be a sex symbol.
• Backup singers dancing around make everything cooler. These three ladies looked like the supremes and seemed to have as much influence on the crowd as Andy.

The place was packed, but the crowd was way fun. I wish we could have seen the whole set.

My new cruising around the neighborhood bike. If you see someone who looks decidedly or even a little bit like not me – beat them.

Best out of office reply from a co-worker:

“I’m riding a bike. I don’t know exactly where I am, but in a week’s time, I expect that I’ll be back. Look for me on July 30.”

He’s riding RAGBRAI. At my last gig they rode snow mobiles.

I have a new theory.

Kevin Theory #32346.67-Z:

Amazon is in bed with UPS and receives kickbacks when they split an order into more than one shipment. I bought three books yesterday, all of them were listed as ‘in stock’. However upon checkout I was presented with the option to group my shipments to save money or ship items as they became available. It wasn’t clear which of the three was the holdup.

So I removed book A from my cart and tried again. B and C would both ship immediately. I added A and removed C – now A and B will ship immediately. I don’t need the books right away so I bought all three and had them shipped in one shipment. I got a shipping notification listing all three. Something isn’t quite right. Software oddity or conspiracy?

Today’s word of the day is monocracy.
It’s not quite clear, but I think it’s still a monocracy if the one person uses another as a puppet?