On my way to E. 9 and Euclid to meet David Johnson for lunch at the Italian Villa, a man on the street asked me if I liked jazz. Of course I do! “Well,” he continued, “we've got a great jazz band playing back here [he gestured to the restaurant].” I told him I already had lunch plans, but that they might be altered to accommodate his recommendation. The name of the restaurant was Loretta's.

David and I decided we'd check it out. As it turned out, the “jazz band” was a one-man electronic keyboard atop a collection of synthesized rhythm and bass. I ordered a steak, but they informed me they would not have any meat until next week (no license, or what?). So I ordered a salad, which after a great deal of time — including our waitress singing along with the band — never came. David and I cut out of there and went to the reliable food court in the Halle Building, where I got me a good Atkins Diet bacon double cheeseburger. Loretta's will soon be out of business.

CWRU had its annual “Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll” event in the afternoon. The mandatory fraternity event consisted of watching a magician do his thing, which consisted alternately of magic and warnings about the dangers of drugs. It was strange. They ran out of the free t-shirts before I could get one. Disappointing. Grauer and I played “catch” with grapes and other miscellaneous small fruit items from the food served afterward. We couldn't think of a good name for the game, in which the goal is to catch fruit in your mouth thrown from a great distance. Suggestions? We also couldn't think of a good way to avoid getting pelted about the face and neck with high-velocity fruit. But hey, that's just part of the game, whatever it's called.

Frank and I enjoy reading scathing reviews of bad movies. The Onion is usually less than generous, but wicked pans can come from anywhere. Roger Ebert, a usually expressive writer, wrote “hated hated hated hated hated” in a review Frank forwarded to me. Needless to say, this sort of mindless repetition carries much more weight from Ebert than it would in most any other context. You can be sure I won't ever watch that movie, whatever it was.