Okay, friends, which of you sent the rockingest ever version of the theme to “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension” to my Nabaztag, Mrs. Bagwell?

Because whoever you are, you freakin’ made my day. I mean really. How much do YOU rock?!

I know that it is the Fourth of July and, therefore, I should be feeling undivided American patriotism, but right now, I’m thinking a lot about Paris. My parents are there; many of my friends have recently been traveling there, and I seem to keep seeing movies set in or around it.

This weekend, I went to see “Ratatouille.” It was extremely cute, and with several great messages, as well as some classic Pixar-y hilarity, and, well, lots of fantastic-looking food. I’m actually a little surprised that the movie is rated G—not because there was anything in it to warrant a harsher rating, but because G is a rating now reserved so frequently for movies which can only entertain the most brain-dead children, while “Ratatouille” is much more sophisticated. It’s by the same guy—Brad Bird—who was behind “The Incredibles,” but in my opinion, generated a spark of its own that “The Incredibles” lacked. And, well, the scenes of Paris were simply gorgeous.

Today, I went to see “Paris Je T’aime.” I was expecting a very warm-fuzzy tale in the vein of “Love Actually,” but instead, felt like I was at a short film festival. Of course, that’s what this movie is: a series of shorts about various types of relationships, all set in Paris, and each directed by a different person or people. Some seemed really gimmicky, others were very sad (oh! The coffee!), but they were all somewhat entertaining. I adored the mimes, and the blind guy was cute, and Gena Rowlands is always fantastic. I’d recommend it, therefore, if you’re feeling kind of indie and don’t mind sitting through one or two boring bits—but it’s not the place to go for non-stop action. It’s human, and touching, and bits of it are quite bizarre, and imaginative.

And, it’s set in Paris.

I never would have guessed I’d have such a green thumb, but since I got into using home-grown herbs (both culinary and medicinal) last spring, it’s become a pretty lovable hobby. Right now I’m at home, and working on planting a bunch of things:

We’ve already got a very healthy crop of sage growing here, and a slightly-less-healthy-but-still-useful bit of rosemary (though I’m theorizing that if I move the rosemary to somewhere where it’ll get more sun, it’ll do better). I’ve been madly potting other things lately: Cilantro (aka Coriander), Basil, Nigella (aka Black Sesame, or sometimes Love-in-the-Mist), Chamomile, Oregano, Onions, St. John’s wort, Yarrow, Catnip, Valerian, Wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), Parsley, and both Green Leaf Lettuce and Romaine Lettuce. (I’m also working on some Morning Glories for the backyard, but those are, um, NOT for eating.)

It’s such a wonderfully adaptable hobby, because most herbs can be grown (and very happily) indoors as well as out. I’ve been using A Modern Herbal as my primary source of information on most of this stuff (no, it’s not really modern—it’s from 1931), and I have been endlessly impressed, also, by the associated Mountain Rose Herbs. They sell bulk herbs as well as seeds, and their stuff is all organic, free-trade, etc.; but beyond that, I’ve found that they always ship quickly, and everything’s of good quality. I love their amber glass bottles for storing things, and have a little fleet of 4 oz ones that I’ve filled with both my herbs and theirs. (My most recent order from them included bulk Ashwaganda root, Suma root, Gentian root, and Hyssop; I’ve also gotten Shepherd’s Purse, which, though it tastes disgusting, works certain wonders; as well as Cocoa nibs; and Self-Heal, which I use in a sort of Witches’ Brew of various things that I have made in the past.)

(Sage and rosemary drying)
I’ve read a bunch of methods whereby people dry herbs in the oven, but I can’t figure out how this would be satisfactory. I’ve never had them come out tasting and smelling anything other than burnt, no matter how practically-room-temperature I cook them at, or how practically-still-fresh they look coming out. By contrast, I love hanging them: they invariably make whatever room they’re in smell totally delicious, and it’s pretty hard to fail with getting them to dry to a pleasant state. Anyone have any advice on the drying process?

Another amusing source of herbal information is at Crucible’s Herbal Guide. This is a website that is all about alchemy, and so they explain the herbs in terms of the elements and planets that they’re attached to, and some of their supposed spiritual implications as well.

I haven’t, sadly, found a good source of modern practical information about medicinal herbs, beyond Wikipedia (which is as wonderful as Wikipedia ever is—except that a lot of these articles are stubs, unless the plants are hallucinogenic, in which case there’s tons of information!)

Last night I went to the Seattle Buffy Musical Sing-Along, and, friends, it was a good time. People were dressed up and excited to be there (there was already a long line by the time we got there an hour before the show).
There was a fabulous pre-show with fan music videos—the most amusing of which was
“Coin-operated Boy”—and a trivia contest, as well as an explanation of some of the things that the audience was expected to do during the show (there were little firecracker poppers to set off at one, er, big moment; and a bottle of bubbles to blow during Dawn’s pointless ballet; and some other things).
There was also hands-holding and swaying, the wave, a LOT of people yelling, “Shut up, Dawn!” and even more people cheering for the kiss at the end. If you’re a Buffy fan, this should definitely go on your to-do list when it comes back around…