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AESTHETE IN ACADEMIA IN ARCADIA

On April 25th, I will be conducting a lecture for a course at the University of Pennsylvania called "Instruments of Music and Science, 1750-1850." Because of the eclectic subject matter, the course is being taught in tandem by two members of the faculty: E., a musicologist and J., a science historian. Lovely, interesting people.

The lecture, a kind of field trip, will take place at Bartram's Garden. After the talk and Q&A, I'll give a short tour of the grounds, yammering on ad nauseum about the plants. Should be a wonderful time. For me, anyway.

E and J have remarked that this is a great group of students (both undergrad and grad), and that there have been rumors floating around among the class that the author of one of the class' required books is actually alive:

Diderot, Rameau's Nephew
Goethe, Elective Affinities
Lord Whimsy, The Affected Provincial's Companion, Vol. I

The suspense is killing me.

~W


I'M A TABBY? FLABBY? SHABBY? WHAT? OH--FABBIE!

I received an email last week informing me that my website (or my journal--I'm none too clear, to be honest) has been nominated for a Fabbie in the Men's Fashion category, of all things. Quoth the Fabbians:

Your blog has been nominated in the MEN'S FASHION Category for its excellence and outstanding quality. You're a true asset to the Lifestyle Blogging & Publishing community and we want everyone to know! There are twelve categories in all, with blogs from around the world nominated, helping to showcase the impressive breadth and depth of the Fashion & Lifestyle blogosphere--a major accomplishment we've jointly created through our collective dedication and hard work.

And here I thought I was just off in my little corner obsessing about moss and socks. Turns out I'm a Very Important Lifestyle Bloggeur (V.I.L.B.)!

I promptly sent a letter to confirm there wasn't some mistake, saying that while I am deeply flattered that they would consider including me and my silly little journal in their big, flashy awards show, I humbly asked that they might reassess the content of my journal, as I don't feel it qualifies for inclusion in their category of Men's Fashion, which is a subject I rarely, if ever, address (style and aesthetics, yes--but not fashion). I'm far more interested in plants, to be honest: a fact my long-suffering wife will verify with sad resignation.

In response they assured me there was no mistake, and that The Manolo has decreed it so, being a friend and fan (hello, The Manolo!).

So on the ballot I stay. Nice to be included, of course. Good excuse for an evening out, too.

Go here to peruse the Fabbie award categories and nominees. The voting is now open through midnight GMT on April 30. The awards will now be handed out at a ceremony scheduled to kick off New York Fashion Week in September. There will be a Fabbie Nominees Fashion Week Party this Thursday, January 31st in New York.

Oh yes: they gave me a shiny little voting badge, too:



Votes will be tallied and winners announced after April 30th. If elected President of Men's Fashion, I promise to talk about nothing but moss terrarium gardens (not that I can help it, mind you).

~W


GONE A-SWAMPING

I've been spending an inordinate amount of time deep within a cold, wet, frozen swamp this winter on behalf of the staff of Bartram's Garden, the oldest horticultural garden in North America. I'm scouting a particularly remote area for a stand of ancient cedar trees that date back to the Eighteenth Century. Think I'm kidding? My knees say otherwise.

~W


NERVE.COM ASKS ME FOR DATING ADVICE?

Nerve.com, in what will surely be revealed in time as a cruel joke on an old coot, or a gross oversight too embarrassing to admit, has solicited my opinions on the finer points of dating. Naturally my own instincts on dating are clearly shoddy, since upon first using them they promptly delivered me into the gaping maws of a happy, loving twenty-year relationship that seems to have no. Bloody. End. In sight. Anyway...enjoy. (Caution: naughty and possibly illegal use of a pheasant's drumstick is discussed.)

~W


A FINE-TOOTHED OFFER ON FITTED TROUSERS



Gents: itching for a year-end splurge after selling off the books from your courses and getting that annual holiday check from Auntie Florida? And ladies: are you seeking that special holiday gift for your beau that will also give you hours of enjoyment? Well, allow me to suggest a pair of impossibly sleek, snug pair of custom-fit trousers for that stylish rake in your life!

Wait--perhaps you are that "stylish rake" in your life? Well then, aren't you a lucky devil, because by the power invested in me by Mr. James Kessler of A Fine Tooth, I hereby offer you all a $20 Whimsy Discount on his line of custom-fitted, hand-finished trousers!

These trousers come in three styles, and in six patterns. All orders are filled and delivered within five days.

Here is a link to the card whose code enables you a $20 discount off your custom trousers. Tell them Whimsy sent you. Once you have the code, click here to place your order. These are limited-edition trousers, and at last count only 150 orders are still available for the season.

As for me: I'm getting a pair of olive stovepipes. See you on the boulevard!

~W


GATHER YE BOOKS WHILE YE MAY



This from The Poverty Jet Set: "Whimsy’s amazing book The Affected Provincial’s Companion, Vol. I is going out of print soon, and I highly recommend you pick yourself up a copy before they disappear (or before they have the Johnny-Depp-Based-on-the-Book print run)."

~W


POSSIBLE DECEMBER APPEARANCE AT OBSCURA ANTIQUES IN NYC

More to come. Watch this space.

~W


CORDUROY CLUB KEYNOTE ADDRESS

I'd like to thank Miles Rohan and the good members of the Corduroy Appreciation Club for bestowing unto me the honor of serving as this year's keynote speaker at their November 11th meeting. Here is a link to photos, an account of the evening, and to a transcript of the keynote address, complete with charts. Hail the wale!

~W


IN WHICH I HAND AN ARTIST HIS WALKING PAPERS

The artist Mark Dion is embarking on a project entitled "The Travels of William Bartram -- Reconsidered." Mr. Dion's work concerns itself with natural history, and his new project will retrace the journey of William Bartram, the eminent eighteenth-century naturalist. His journey will begin Thursday, November 15, with a send off at 11:00 am from Bartram's Garden. Apparently it shall be quite an event, with the mayor of Charleston in attendance. How is this to do with me? Well, I've been asked to do a reading at the event, as well as pen Mr. Dion's "letters of introduction" so essential to a journey such as this.

~W

ROSENBACH REDUX

I have been asked by the Rosenbach Museum--home to one of the greatest private book collections ever amassed--to redesign its logo and identity. Most world-class museums would be very hard-pressed to match the concentration of historically significant items seen at the Rosenbach; the place is an aesthete's paradise. Despite the world-class items in its collection, the Rosenbach is a relatively eclectic, small, playful and nimble institution. It isn't burdened by the gravitas of, say, the Met. It also does a lot of lighthearted events (shadow puppet shows of famous works, etc.). Naturally, the directors wish to communicate this unique quality in the new identity system. Abe and Phillip Rosenbach were both passionate collectors of very rare antiques and books, and only selected the very best, editing the collection like one prunes a beloved plant. The place is more like a wonder cabinet than a museum--it is an organic collection, born of individual taste rather than a batallion of scholars and curators. The place once housed Napoleon's penis (so had Napoleon, but not quite in the same way). Today, it has Josephine's tiaras--which all of us will agree is nice, but doesn't quite inspire the same peurile curiosities. So after the first night of rough sketches, it is clear that I shall have to take up their invitation to make a few research visits to search the collection for visual references. You may weep for me now. During my visit, I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Jack Lynch, who was there to give a lecture on Shakespeare. He is also a Johnson scholar who compiled a wonderfully entertaining book called Johnson's Insults. I highly recommend it.

~W


MOVIE UPDATE

My spies tell me that the first rough draft of the script has been completed. Whether or not I get a cape and a spaceship remains to be seen. I hope they will have at least one scene in which Oscar Wilde and I are diving over a divan before a huge fireball (or flower bomb). They can call the movie "Sigh Hard--With Annoyance".


WHIMSY APPEARING AT 215 FESTIVAL
WITH IAN SVENONIUS

I'm pleased and proud to announce that I'll be emceeing the following event in two weeks. For those who need an incentive, I'll be wearing a new suit and a fabulous new hat. Hint: there will be colors. Can you stand it?

APPEARING AT THIS YEAR'S 215 FESTIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA:

Author and entertainer Ian Svenonius will give a thought provoking instructional lecture entitled HOW TO START A GROUP for all those would-be musicians and anyone else interested in what rock 'n' roll is, what it should be, what it's uses are and how to best subvert the official noxious narrative of the culture. Q&A session and book signing to follow. Ian and David Chadwick of Golden Ball will spin hip-shaking tunes afterwards in the downstairs bar.

Ian F Svenonius is the author of the book THE PSYCHIC SOVIET (Drag City Press 2006) and the singer on several dozen LPs and singles by the groups Weird War, Make-Up, The Nation of Ulysses and more. He is also the host of the chat-show Soft Focus (VBS.TV).
........

9PM Friday Oct. 5
Latvian Society
531 N 7th St
Philadelphia
Admission: $5

~W

REPORTS OF UPSIDE-DOWN BOOKS HAVE NOT BEEN SUFFICIENTLY EXAGGERATED



Occasionally I receive emails from readers who report buying a copy of The Affected Provincial's Companion only to discover that the book's cover is upside-down. Naturally, this pleases me to no end, and I tell those who receive or buy one of these curiosities to enjoy their "Limited Australian Editions". Imagine the curious looks one of my readers would get if they were reading their upside-down copy in public (and if you think you garner curious looks for reading it, imagine the looks I get for being it).

I've been aware of this production irregularity for some time now, but I refuse to bring it to my publisher's attention. Such a development couldn't have been more welcome as far as I'm concerned, since a request from me to have some of the books in the print run to be intentionally bound upside-down would have been a rather hard sell to the editors and sundry powers.

I had designed the book to be an outer expression of the book's sensibility, so I could not be happier with such a serendipitous development. After all, whimsy is as whimsy does.

~W


THIS BLOOMSDAY

I've been asked by the Rosenbach Museum to be one of this year's readers at their 15th annual Bloomsday. The Rosenbach Museum hosts a public outdoor reading of James Joyce's Ulysses on every June 16th (the Rosenbach is home to Joyce's original manuscript).

I do wonder how many RPMs old Joyce's carcass will reach in his casket when this news hits his dessicated ears. How's that for an alternative energy source: rig the corpses of great authors to a generator and drive shaft, and then have me read their works in public (or just have me associated with their work in some tangential way).

~W



FLAG DESIGNS NOW AVAILABLE

Flag art for both the Limp Panthers and the United Shires can now be downloaded in pdf form:



Click here for a downloadable pdf of the emblem.
And click here for a downloadable pdf of the flag specs should you like to have one made.




Click here for a downloadable pdf of the emblem.
And click here for a downloadable pdf of the flag specs should you like to have one made.


To learn more about both, go here and scroll down.

~W


ARTE TV

Here is a .wmv video file of the "Tracks" piece that aired on Arte in Europe this past month. Sonic Youth, Debbie Harry and the Beastie Boys were also interviewed, but my massive Irish forehead won the day, I think.

~W


WHIMSY: YALE MAN

Yalies need pine no longer: word has it that Yale University's library ("liberry" to you non-Ivy League sorts) will soon have a copy of the Companion in its collection. Who will assume blame for encouraging me thus remains to be seen.

~W


A DOUBLE-SECRET DISPATCH FROM HOLLYWOOD

One of my spies sent a secret missive to me this week, saying that "your book is catching on in a big way with costume designers for movies in LA--which I think is really cool..." Is there any truth to this? Well, I suppose we'll know for sure when we start seeing silly wicker orchid pots perched upon famous craniums, eh?

~W


COMPANION IN DOMINO MAGAZINE

My dear friend Meredith writes: "Each editor of the magazine puts together a page in the opening of each issue, explaining their current style influences, what they're digging at the moment. One of them is into 'dandies' and there's a little photo & description of the book!" Domino Magazine website here.

~W


WHIMSY POCKET SQUARES AVAILABLE



My dear friends at Lord Willy's are now offering a lovely limited-edition pocket square designed by yours truly, featuring a fetching luna moth design. A petite twelve-inch square, only 30 available.

~W


MR. DEPP BUYS OPTION RIGHTS TO AFFECTED PROVINCIAL'S COMPANION, VOLUME ONE

I've received a very welcome, long-awaited email this morning from my trusty agent. I can finally announce what I have known for well over a year: Infinitum Nihil, Johnny Depp's production company, has bought the option rights to the Affected Provincial's Companion, Vol. 1.

I had to hold my tongue until the official announcement, which was just released in Variety--first page, I'm told:

Variety: "Book Buys for Depp"

I'd like to offer my sincerest thanks to my friends at Regal Literary, United Talent Agency, Infinitum Nihil, Initial Entertainment Group, and Warner Bros. Most of all, I thank the public for going to see Pirates of the Caribbean--I can assure you the proceeds have been well spent.

(Additional note: I am now scheduling auditions for groupies and/or mistresses. No experience necessary, as I have none myself. A winsome, wholesome pulchritude and the ability to keep a secret a must. Snug knit sweaters and pencil skirts a plus. Accepting applicants of a zaftig build on a case-by-case basis.)

~W

PS: A little under the weather at the moment (I think my body gave itself permission to collapse after the book tour), and am eating Progresso Tomato Soup for Invalids. Vile brew. How they make tomato soup taste like fish is beyond me.


FINANCIAL TIMES: BOOK PICKS OF THE YEAR

The UK's peach-flavored Financial Times endorses my book, as it was selected as one of this year's picks:

THE AFFECTED PROVINCIAL’S COMPANION by Lord Breaulove Swells Whimsy

Bloomsbury £9.99, 176 pages

This miscellany of foppish ephemera is a bizarre satire worthy of McSweeney’s oddball publications. The robustly “affected” author chooses snippets on penis girth and eccentric self-publicity in this spurious, camp pillow book of dandyish distractions.

Admittedly, they did list it under "gift books"; but as we all know, recommending any book--especially a trifling one--as a gift is no trifling matter, so I'll take it as high praise. How wonderful to have a pink publication pay such a compliment!




BOOK TOUR DISPATCHES: PORTLAND, SEATTLE, SAN FRANCISCO
Above is a short little video postcard from my West Coast book tour this weekend. You can see my frayed moustache flapping in the breeze as I am whisked through the hills of San Francisco on the back of a silver Vespa scooter. And that's not all the hijinks that ensued this weekend. For more, you can visit my journal...(Portland)...(Seattle)...(San Francisco)




NOV. 11th: OBSCURA READING, NYC
Saturday night's event at Obscura Antiques was a bit of a whirlwind. Early in the evening, we found ourselves late for my reading, many blocks from the venue and far from any available subway station. After a second cab refused us service, a friendly pedicab driver rolled up to offer us uncertain passage to the East Village...(Read more)




OCT. 4th: HOUSING WORKS PANEL DISCUSSION, NYC
Here is a link to a piece about the panel chat hosted by yours truly at Housing Works in SoHo. It came together far better than I had hoped: We had a packed house (not bad for a Wednesday night, but I hear that it was promoted in Time Out, Gawker and on Flavorpill beforehand). The panel: Cator Sparks (who writes for all the major fashion mags and the NYT), Ellen Christine (a Manhattan milliner who creates hats for film and profit, and has encyclopedic knowledge in the the history of dress) and Mr. Wilcox (a Mott Street menswear designer who is partial to British 60's tailoring). I had the panelists formulate their thoughts in advance, but asked that they not share them with oe another or myself until that evening, so as to allow for a more lively discussion. The subject was fairly broad, so the pace of the conversation was brisk, but we still ran over our allotted time. Attendees asked a lot of questions, and did a great job of offering insights and opinions during the Q&A session, which again ran well over the time alllotted, which I took as a good sign (I barely had enough time to sign books afterwards). Many thanks to Housing Works and to all who attended!


SEPT. 27th: WFMU (91.1FM)
For those who missed it: Here is an hour-long MP3 recording of my on-air conversation with Kenny Goldsmith and Irwin Chusid in the hallowed halls of that revered cynosure of freeform radio, WFMU. My sincerest thanks to both Kenny and Irwin for their kindness and hospitality! (RealAudio version, courtesy of WFMU.org)


SEPT. 24th: NY TIMES SUNDAY STYLES
Liesl Schillinger reviewed the Companion in the Books of Style column in this Sunday's NY Times. Pity they used the cover art from the galley instead of the final hardcover, but other than that, I dare not complain.


SWINDLE ISSUE No. 8



The latest Swindle issue features a ten-page collaboration between yours truly and photographer Adam Wallacavage on aesthetes, dandies and assorted peculiars entitled Men of the Cloth. Adam and I spent the better part of June and July interviewing and photographing friends and acquaintances for this piece, which is a window into this achipelago of private paradises strewn among the obscure corners of the everyday. Enjoy.

~W


WHIMSY IN NY TIMES


Enjoy.
Or enjoy here.

~W


WHIMSY: FOP EMERITUS

I've received word from a faculty member at Lehigh University that The Affected Provincial's Companion shall be required reading in its English One/Composition and Rhetoric course this semester.

To quote the good professor: "Besides offering a dazzling array of compositions and precise rhetorics, it embodies the type of 'performance' (in the literary hyper-theoretical sense) that interests me most: complete, independent and original self-fashioning."

Talk about a spring event there is also in the works (a candlelit limestone cavern might be the setting for a reading—no, seriously). Elbow patches and a pipe are en route via post.

~W


ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE

In the AP: Make Windsor Knots, Not War! (Not keen on Windsor knots personally, but the intent here is not literal.) A very nice piece by Zach Dundas—a kindred spirit—who was kind enough to speak with me for an hour last week.

~W


LIZ SMITH GIVES A NOD

I was told that Liz Smith quoted from my book in last week's Sunday Post. And lo, here it is. Deliciously tawdry.

~W


BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE!



Today is a grand day! I am as tickled as a lisping wren to announce that the long-awaited Affected Provincial's Companion, Volume One is now available in finer bookstores throughout the former colonies. Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com are now shipping, and are now taking frantic orders and glittering reviews.


~W


WHIMSY TREADS THE INK IN ZINK



Now in the Aug. issue. A couple biographical items are incorrect, but such inaccuracies are of no concern to anyone else but myself. It starts:

From afar, Victor Allen Crawford doesn't really stand out as he sits at the bar of Philadelphia's Caribou Café. Sure, he's wearing a suit when most are in designer jeans and button-up shirts, but it is a weekday, so it's possible he's just come from the office. It's only when you get up close and notice the handlebar mustache and polka-dot pocket handkerchief that he starts to look out of place...


WHIMSY IN ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY



Now in the Aug. 4th issue of Entertainment Weekly. The first to send the correct answers will be emailed an official Certificate of Grudging Approval.


ANNOUNCEMENT: FINAL BOOK SAMPLES ARRIVE!





Was trimming the hedges this morning when the FedEx truck pulled up to the house. I ran like he was the ice cream man, because I knew what my editor had sent...I'm very pleased with how it came together. As I had hoped, the magenta toned down just a bit on the lovely off-white stock. Even the headbands had just the right shade of purplish maroon. I've been told that everyone in the Bloomsbury offices are milling around with the book and saying to each other, "Did you see the endpapers?"

And so: only four weeks and counting! You can pre-order here, if you like.


ANNOUNCEMENT: NOW ACCEPTING DATES/VENUES FOR US BOOK TOUR



Work in a book store or similar venue? Want to host a reading or book signing event, or simply have a place to recommend? Feel like clicking? Then contact either Whimsy's publicity manager at Bloomsbury or Whimsy himself! Why should you bother? Because Whimsy loves you, silly.


JOURNAL ENTRY: IN ARCADIA, AN EGO



A Roman garden party, amid swishing satyrs and swarthy swans.


NEW BESPOKE SUIT



Thank you, Lord Willy's!


WHIMSY DOES THE CHARLESTON



Thank you, Charleston!


WHIMSY 101

Rumor has it that The Affected Provincial's Companion, Volume One will be part of the curriculum for English I students at Lehigh University this fall. A reading at the university is also being planned.


AN AMERICAN LORD IN LONDON

The Last Tuesday Society in London will be hosting Whimsy this October to celebrate the UK release of The Affected Provincial's Companion, Volume One.


RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 15, 2006



You may now click here to pre-order through Amazon.com.


FETE IN NYC: PICTURES

Our little gathering in honor of our west coast guest, Mr. Doran Wittelsbach was a success by all accounts. Friends old and new showed from all quarters: notables like Momus and Peter McGough came by to see what the fuss was about. Fellow tipplers were asking what was afoot, and soon found themselves joining in the fun. Wittlesbach played the specter to my harlequin, thus all bases were covered. My humblest thanks to all who came! Pictures here and here.


JOURNAL ENTRY: WILLY'S SUITS WHIMSY'S



Pegasus cufflinks, a glowing kayak, and a new bespoke suit on the way courtesy of New York's newest boutique.

JOURNAL ENTRY: DANDY CANDY!



Homemade Whimsy candies—now with a chewy, whimsical center.

NEW MAILING LIST PAGE

Want to keep abreast of future readings, signings, book releases, parties and other Whimsy-related nonsense? Saunter over to the new Mailing List page, and tell me your favorite flower and moth (yes, there are text fields for them). Naturally, your information will be kept a state secret; after all, one's favorite moth is a rather private matter.

NEW PDF CHARTS POSTED

In the new Tutorials page, the interested reader will find freshly posted pdf charts pertaining to various pocket square folds. Tie knots and other silly but possibly helpful items will soon follow!

LORDWHIMSY.COM DONS A BIT MORE COLOR, SIGNIFYING REBIRTH
(OR SOME SUCH NONSENSE)

Huzzah! Thanks to the efforts of dear friend Debbie at Idea Patio, this site has at last been refurbished after being emptied of its content a few months ago due to contractual obligations with Bloomsbury, my publisher. The long delay in repairing and sprucing up the site was due to the demands of editing the hardcover edition and adding an additional fifty pages to the book. Now that we are on the last leg of edits, I can now concentrate on new charts, recordings, interviews and videos for this site, as well as reporting my daily travails on the Whimsy journal, now entitled The Affected Provincial's Almanack: Or, Whimsy's forum on the art of curious living. I encourage you all to visit and say hello.

ADVANCE READING COPIES ARRIVE

Advance reading copies for the Affected Provincial's Companion, Volume One arrived at the Bloomsbury offices on Friday. This is merely a preliminary run in softcover form used for promotional purposes, but one can sense how the final hardcover version will turn out. In its new, more diminutive form, the book fits nicely in the palm, the layout is tighter and more compact, and it's greener than a seasick frog. The flow has improved because of the rearrangement of the book's structure, some selective pruning, and the addition of forty-odd additional pages. Very minor edits are now being made, but completion is nigh. Onward to August!

BLOOMSBURY DEAL FINALIZED, WHIMSY BLUSHES LIKE BRIDE

At long last, the publishing agreement with Bloomsbury was signed in green ink on Friday, December 9. Whimsy would like to formally express his joy and gratitude to both Bloomsbury and Regal Literary.

Edits on text and design are now being finalized. The hardcover is slated for August 2006 release in the US, October 2006 international.

PHILA. WEEKLY GIVES A NOD, Nov. 3

Philadelphia City Paper's Choice Awards issue
has included Whimsy in their scrappy weekly. The write-up is unusually kind:

"Finest Author With the Ponciest Hats: Allen Crawford, aka Lord Whimsy, was once upon a time nothing but a divine mouthpiece for Matt Schwartz's Philadelphia Independent--a craven dandy with a mind for purplish prose on all manner of manners and some fine cravats to match. Rathah, say we. Actually, Whimsy's well-turned phrases (to say nothing of his illustrative graphs) are, though distanced and quaintly arcane, sweetly smart and modern. The author of the forthcoming The Affected Provincial's Almanack is something of a Rex-Bernard-Harrison-Shaw type: An old boy in young 'un's britches."

(Craven? Try wearing a boutonniere on the streets of Philadelphia...)

INTERVIEW WITH THE WHIMSY, Oct.27

Local media nexus Philly1.com interviewed me last evening at the Rittenhouse Hotel. The unflattering angle and bad lighting are a concession to humility, but estuaries, music and man-antlers are all given due attention.

Whimsy video interview (approx. 35 mins.)

WHIMSY GUEST ON WXPN 88.5FM PHILADELPHIA, OCT. 3

I'll be a featured writer on a taping of LIVE at the Writers House (a monthly radio show taped in collaboration with WXPN, a local NPR station). For the October 3rd show, they are featuring performers from the upcoming 215 Festival - a sort of festival preview. Program will involve readings by featured writers and then some brief chatting with Michaela Majoun, host of the show.

Radio Program: LIVE at the Writers House
Venue: Kelly Writers House


WHIMSY INTERVIEW ON BBC

Lord Whimsy was recently interviewed for BBC Ulster's Arts Extra radio program, which aired this Tuesday, August 16th. Last Monday, Whimsy sat in a small padded room, donned headphones and discussed the nature of modern dandyism with BBC producer Stephen O'Hagan.

So gather 'round, ladies and gentlemen: thrill to the fusillade of "ums" and "ers"! Relish the muddled vocal tones reminiscent of the great Wallace Shawn himself! Savor the air of deluded self-importance emanating from a silly, silly little man!

WHIMSY AMONG THE AMAZON

Some of you might have noticed lately that the charts and essays that appear in Whimsy's book have been removed from the Lord Whimsy website. Well, it turns out that Whimsy's agent and publisher have set up a lemonade stand on his behalf at Amazon.com: a new feature called Amazon Shorts has launched this week. At Amazon Shorts, certain choice selections from Whimsy's book (due out in hardcover next spring) may be downloaded for a nominal fee. Below is the first of the series.

The Perils of Sportswear, an Amazon Short

WHIMSY STINKS OF INK, GETS MENTION IN ART MAGAZINE FRIEZE

International cultural critic/journalist/pop veteran Momus was kind enough to inform us that Lord Whimsy is featured in an article in the recent issue of Frieze magazine, the Slow Issue. The article concerns itself with "intellectual whimsy", which is described as a sort of open-hearted offshoot of irony, kitch and camp. The article succinctly frames a sensibility which has until now been mistaken for its close siblings, but is distinct from them in some important ways, and Ms. Charlotte Taylor briefly touches on a few of these distinctions. To wit: "Like camp, intellectual whimsy is not best understood as ironic: it places a premium on unabashed sincerity while at the same time treading a fine line of self-parody."

Being a good patron of the arts, Momus has also spoken about Lord Whimsy as being an example of "successful self-mediation" during a recent radio interview for BBC Ulster's Arts Extra radio program. Isn't he just the sweetest?