Monkeys! Who doesn't love 'em? Better yet, cartoon monkeys! How about cartoon monkeys in costume and disguise? Solid gold. Matthew Porter is a Seattle artist who has done a number of small acrylic-on-wood series paintings based on a variety of themes: masked Mexican wrestlers, retro Japanese toys. But it was his Monkey World series that caught my eye while in his hometown several months ago, mostly because, y'know, monkeys!! While the get-ups are comical enough (Elvis, Spaceman, Dracula) it's the facial expressions, from serene to proud to mock-frightening, that crack you up. My wife and I opted for the Batman & Robin set. Originals are available at thechirpybird.com, and prints at Art Star (www.artstarphilly.com).

I can't stop talking about Karl Pilkington. He's the real star of the Ricky Gervais Show, the podcasts from Gervais and Stephen Merchant (creators of The Office and Extras). The podcasts mainly feature them questioning Pilkington about well, anything. On if he'd eat an animal penis (for a reality show): "I could eat a knob at night." On collecting for the homeless at Christmas: "What are the homeless people doing? ... What have they got on their timetable?" It's Pilkington's deadpan delivery that makes it all work. He's thoughtful, opinionated and completely clueless about how life, nature and the world work. Truly funny stuff.

I enjoy a good conspiracy theory. Call them marginalized mythologies. The proponents are often zealous, suffer from overactive imaginations and find solace in communities easily ridiculed by the mainstream clique (liberals and conservatives) who often hold to their own versions of reality with an equally zealous grip. This was my mindset when I finally took time to watch the not-so-underground 9/11-themed video Loose Change (2nd Edition). Unfortunately, it was not at all what I was expecting. Yeah, a few questionable facts and some conjecture that made my eyes roll but the rest of the film seemed surprisingly credible. What a letdown! Back to the old standbys like alien abduction theory and Karl Rove's three-headed mom.

I'm all about the little things in life. When you work really hard every day (and night) and don't have a lot of time to go out and party it up like your friends, it's stuff like a great cup of chai that gets ya through sometimes. Big Train brand is the best damn one around. Unfortunately, Capriccio's Café is the only place I know to get it. A friend once said it's the perfect mix of coffee and tea. The hell if I know, but what matters is I get my hot, tasty chai latte, sit down in the adjacent Radisson Hotel lobby on their cushy red sofas, listen to the player piano "play" Broadway overtures, observe the strange occurrence of tourists visiting this small, provincial town, and somehow life seems bearable.