Friday, January 22, 1999

“Look busy. The Pope is coming.”

"Look busy. The Pope is coming." — Marquee at Vintage Vinyl (nee Varsity Theatre)

REALLY?! The Pope is coming?!? St. Louis has gone Pope-crazy. The man is stopping by for a two-day "pastoral visit," a few prayer services and public appearances. In preparation, nearly every downtown and Central West End street is closed, local media are blanketed with Pope-related (and loosely related) coverage and 9,000 bits of Papal merchandise are being hawked in every retail venue.

[Merchandising tie-in I wish I'd thought of sooner: Pope-on-a-Rope. Slogan: "Wash away your sins! Lather. Rinse. Repent."]

Last week, billboards went up along all of the area's major highways — the same highways predicted to impassable for 48 hours — essentially saying "The Pope is dropping by." Who are these billboards for?! Who doesn't know this?!?

My favorite bit of Pope-related trivia: They actually call his little parade car the "Pope-mobile." I mean, I've heard visiting representatives from the Vatican call it that. I always figured that was just a media nickname. Hmmm.

CLEARING THE CACHE: Random links I've been saving up...

A somewhat irreverent, mostly literate new webzine, Impression.

OK, to paraphrase James Lileks, can we all stop partying like it's 1999? I mean, c'mon, it is 1999. A look back at the creation of the millenium's unlikely anthem.

Now how often have I pondered where urinal science is taking us? Well, now I know.

So, I'm stuck at home over the holidays, desperate for distraction by anything that didn't have to do with waiting rooms and intensive care units. What happens? I end up watching National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation (ugh!) on cable and discovering my latest crush, the snack-a-licious Ethan Embry.

Dilbert is serious business.

I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore. But folks at the Fray do. What's yours?

Selections from Salon:

• The Hollywood tourists never see.
• When does "community" not mean community? Usually when it's applied to the Internet.
• Is Starbucks trying to stealthily muscle in on the neighborhood cybercafe action?