2006@B@B

As 2005 lumbers towards an end and we heave a sigh of relief, it's going to be a slow news week -- a good time to reveal some of our plans for B@B in 2006, assuming I can get my semicentenarian act together enough to do them all.

First, we're going to have the Brilliant 25 of 2005, later this week. While by no means an exhaustive list, these are some of the people who made 2005 bearable, whether through their political courage or their role as entertainers bringing the fun to life in America.

Then, in 2006, we are going to have a radical redesign. This canned template has served us well, but its time is long past, so we'll be redecorating. I figure if I'm going to be continuing to get my physical world house in order, it's time to get my virtual one in order.

We're also going to start featuring some advertising, to which I hope you'll click through so this site can start generating a few shekels.

Most importantly, you're going to see B@B reflect more cultural phenomena in 2006. Those of you who know me know that I have been doing online movie reviews since 1998, most of that time at Mixed Reviews, along with my blogbrother Gabriel from Modern Fabulousity. Mixed Reviews is still going to exist in some form or another, and its archives will remain available. But we're hoping to retool it into a culture blog portal, which you can visit to see what's going on at the best cultural blogs. I'll be continuing to write periodic movie reviews, largely filtered through a cultural context, along with the occasional foray into television and music. And the popular Mixed Reviews feature Critics Over Coffee will be cross-posted here and at ModFab. You'll see our thoughts on Casanova ("the OTHER Heath Ledger movie") later this week.

I hope you'll all join me in this journey.