And just like that, it’s over: 5 years, 500 posts, 533 comments. Given how much I wrote in the first year, that means I’ve been awfully lazy in the last few; but that’s OK, because at least I’ve written more than nothing, and that’s something, right?

A few notes and updates:

• Almost five years after I first wrote about him, Abe Vigoda—against all rational likelihood—remains alive. In fact he seems to be getting better; he even appeared in this ad broadcast during the most recent Super Bowl:

• The mural on the side of the former Dave’s Coffee Shop has been repainted and looks more or less as it did before, with the same Gandhi quote in big bold letters. This gladdens my heart.

• I correctly predicted that the Easy Star All-Stars would record a version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, though in retrospect I wish I’d correctly predicted they’d cover Abbey Road or the White Album. To test the strength of these powers, I’m now going to predict that their next project will be The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardub and the Spiders from Mars.

Which brings us right back, again, to David Bowie, who I’ve written about probably more than anyone. In the future I think that Bowieism will be recognized as a viable religious option, probably after the great man himself passes on to the next Bardo, assuming he ever does. It’s possible David, Lou, and Iggy will be granted eternal life by the aliens when they land in 2012, having travelled many light years to follow up on that Chuck Berry we sent them a while back.