OM

Here's a good way to spend 41:29 this weekend...

STORM FRONT

Taeko wanted me to download some music from YouTube for her, maybe burn a CD.

She sent me links to 5 or 6 videos by a group called Arashi.

Which is, um, a Japanese boy band of some sort. One of Johnny's group, she told me.

Apparently, “Johnny” is a Japanese boy-band impresario without peer. Grows them like fungi, does Johnny.

-OK, are you crushing on one of these guys?

She pointed to the one in the pink sweater.

I mocked her half-heartedly, to appease the small sampling of jealousy I felt.

But more than anything, I was excited. It was so out of character that I was just damn excited...

TODAY OR NEXT YEAR

of Montreal does a version of Broadcast's Colour Me In that's pretty non-essential, but it illustrates their shared predilection for sweet sticky things dipped in weird crunchy coatings.

Come back, Broadcast. I miss you.

IN THUNDER CLOUDS ABOVE THE CITY

I spent Valentine's Day at a wedding in Terrace on the Park, overlooking the last remnants of Shea Stadium.

And while we poked at lemon sherbet and pondered the dessert tables, Shea girded itself for destruction.

The final piece came down today.

TIME WON'T GIVE ME TIME

Man, the present can be tiring, but the past is just goddam exhausting...

MAN GAVE NAMES

I have long admired the ability of the Japanese to name the living fuck out of shit.

My favorite chocolate bar? Why, Crunky, of course.

But even I was blown away by this band name I came across while watching Music Station the other day: ladies and gentlemen, I give you... flumpool.

Wow. Just, wow.

ROSIN UP YOUR BOW AND PLAY YOUR FIDDLE HARD

IT'S THE BEGINNING OF A NEW AGE

I'm a peaceful guy. Honest I am.

That being said, everyone involved with The Last Mimzy needs to get head punched.

That includes you, Dwight from The Office...

SPROING

Spring is disco, art history, and punk rock, neatsfoot oil and mended hearts.

It was in the air today, and it felt good...

ANGER IS AN ENERGY

Injustice tears at Sebastian.

He’s probably too young for me to call him noble, exactly, but it’s something close.

If he feels that I have slighted his mother or his sister even a little, he lets me know about it. I shoved Taeko gently the other day, in response to some cardio-kick moves that she had laid on me. Sebastian rose quietly from his chair, circled the perimeter of the table, and without an immediate word, started pushing me.

“How do you like it? Is it funny?” He was in a heat, but I wouldn’t call it a rage. He really wanted an answer.

And lest you think it’s all Oedipal, he will spring with equal zeal to the defense of total strangers. I once made fun of an abstract someone, and he tried to turn around and do the same to me.

“How do you like it? Is it funny?”

I think he’s always a little surprised by my response:

“Thank you, Sebastian. Thank you.”

Injustice tears at Sebastian, and it always will…

TWO TIX TO PARADISE

I have two St. Patrick's Day Pogues tickets up for auction, starting at $150 for the pair, and I haven't seen a bid yet.

Not sure if this is a product of the economic collapse, or a result of my sacrilegious hucksterism.

See, in the item description, I kinda sorta compared seeing the Pogues on St. Patrick's Day to seeing Jesus on Christmas...

WHAT A GOOD PLACE TO BE

Something that I've been listening to recently has got me thinking about Happy Hour by The Housemartins, but I can't for the life of me place what it is...

ORGANIC ADDICT

I have a new analogy for when something is really common and easy to find: "Like an Obama bumper sticker on a Prius in a Whole Foods parking lot."

As in: "Dang, new-home prices continue to freefall in the face of an ongoing economic collapse. Those things are like an Obama bumper sticker on a Prius in a Whole Foods parking lot at this point."

Haven't had a chance to debut it formally yet, but I'm just biding my time...

FALL ON SLOUGH

Prerecorded Conference Call Dude: Now entering the conference. You are the --- 10th --- caller.

Me: [Pause] Awesome! I'm the 10th caller. Do I win the REO Speedwagon tickets?

Other 9 Callers: [Laughter]

David Brent, bitches! What?

WE'RE DEDICATED TO OUR FAVORITE SHOWS

The kids had a sleepover last night, and this morning I was reporting the day's weather forecast to the whole gang.

-Snow. One to four inches.

-Snow!?

Sebastian was down with it. But Amity was skeptical.

-You can't believe everything you see on TV, you know.

Dang, that is one media-savvy kid right there.

-Because cartoons aren't real.

OK, I still think she's media savvy...

LUCKY NUMBER

Reasons why I'm a suspect father, part 12:

-I don't always correct malaprops if I think they are cute and/or amusing.

So yes, Sebastian's kindergarten teacher, I have had the opportunity to tell him that the machine for performing simple calculations is not called a “conculator.”

But, dammit, I just can't bring myself to do it...

PLEASING PEOPLE IS SO PREDICTABLE

In my dreams, Danielson is Daniel.

I went to college with Daniel. We were both English majors, and we met in an intermediate Spanish class that was eight leagues over our heads.

Daniel wrote ornate and out-of-time poetry with his sister. He had a quick defensive sense of humor, and punctuated perhaps too many conversations with a braying, nasally laugh. He was kind and gentle, and did not have a social clue.

I’ve read enough biographical information to know that Danielson is not actually Daniel.

But in my dreams, Danielson is Daniel…

InAUGURation

America, 1/20/09

LIVING PROOF AT MY FINGERTIPS

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary.

The traditional gift for number 16 is silver holloware.

I… don’t know what that is.

Maybe this will cover it.

I love you, Tae-chan.

WHEN IT'S COLD I'D LIKE TO DIE

OK, Winter. I like you. Honest I do.

But single-digit temperatures? I'm not with that.

Get your shit together, 'K?