LATEST ADDITIONS

Every two or three years my family and I travel to Disney World in Orlando, Florida&mdash;one of those places I used to think I'd hate, but which I always enjoy in spite of myself. No such trip would be complete without visiting the Mitsukoshi department store at Epcot Center, which represents the pinnacle of Japanese consumer culture. At the Epcot Mitsukoshi store&mdash;the 430-year-old company's only US location&mdash;one can buy the finest of everything, including the rarest and most expensive writing papers and inks, the most exquisitely crafted pottery, and the loveliest freshwater pearls on Earth. Young shoppers are accommodated with the latest toys, trends, and technology&mdash;but there's nothing frantic or cheap about the manner in which they're offered. The watchword at Mitsukoshi is <I>quality</I>, and the presentation borders on being artistic.

Bill: This is Bill.
Ariel: Hi Bill, this is Ariel from Stereophile magazine. How are you?
B: Why are you calling?

<B><I>Unbreakable<br>
(A Retrospective 1990-2006)</I></B><br>
Elektra/Rhino

Now that we're perched upon the precipice of the <I>Simpson Movie</I> opening&mdash;at least a decade too late&mdash;I, by chance, I caught the Hullabalooza episode with the Smashing Pumpkins this week, the one where Homer becomes part of the "pageant of the transmundane," by being shot in the stomach with a cannonball.

"You can just buy this at the Coop&mdash;and you've never done it before? <I>What were you thinking?</I>"

Huck knows exactly what the enterprising freelancer needs: A feline muse, who alternately attacks the keyboard and scrutinizes the monitor.

We report, you decide.

Because everything should taste like bacon.

The ad team at Dolce & Gabbana seems to think it can be. Would Charles Mingus’ “Moanin’” become a best-seller if more people knew it sounded so cool—or if the millions who watched <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMWofLZ6gH8">this TV commercial</A> knew that’s what they were hearing? Could it be that jazz just needs shrewder marketing? (The whole song can be heard on Mingus’ great 1959 album, <I>Blues & Roots</I>.)