some Snicket catchup:

Lemony Snicket's Jewish influences

Is the world in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" a world without God?

God is not a character in A Series of Unfortunate Events. The narrator mentions at one point that the characters often felt as if there was something powerful over them which made no move to help them and was perhaps even laughing at their misfortune. But whether that person was God or the author is up for grabs.

and

Lemony Snicket's ipod on shuffle

Silver Jews, "There Is A Place"

DH: I like them a lot. The song on this album, Tanglewood Numbers, that I really love is called "How Can I Love You If You Won't Lie Down," but this one is nice, too. David Berman, the singer-songwriter, has a collection of poetry that's really good. Also, Silver Jews are part of my theory that the side band is usually better than the main band, because they were sort of regarded as a Pavement side band for a long time, and I always thought they were better than Pavement. Further examples of this theory include Latin Playboys, who are way better than Los Lobos, and Bossanova—they're this great band that is being touted as a side project of The New Pornographers.