52nd City

Buying at Borders (and the end of the world)

It's halfway across town in the Brentwood/Richmond Heights Buyoplex, but I often finding myself guiltily leafing through the stacks of magazines at Borders, to me, the best mag stand in town, right now. With all due respect to my favorite indies, the simple variety of the magazine section there is worth the extra trip. Remarkably, the space is undergoing a makeover, with an expansion into the neighboring storefront. (Was this the former Orbis? And what is Orbis, exactly?) The window sheets promise "more" for the consumer, as if that's possible.

Now, the reason for this posting isn't to shill for the national book chain. Instead, it's to send some attention to the magazine "Tastes Like Chicken," which focuses a longish interview with two STL expats: actress Jenna Fischer ("Lost," "The Office") and screenwriter/author James Gunn ("Scooby-Doo" among his former credits, "The Toy Collector" the latter). The piece centers on the release of the pair's film "LolliLove," which was an indie hit last year and is enjoying a bit of DVD distribution. Well, good luck to them!

And while we don't normally talk about national (or, heck, international) topics here, a flier on the car upon departure, noted "MASS SUICIDE," with a two-sheet religious tract noting that religious prophet Tony Alamo is calling for some great changes upcoming. "Any time now, a worldquake and a series of prophesied catastrophes will shockingly awaken the entire global population to a horrible, God-sent, unparalleled nighmare." Etc. That would seemingly affect St. Louis, as well, so we pass along Mr. Alamo's thoughts in a nutshell.