eee-yep. i am the big 3-0 today! feels good, I like.

I and others will do some celebratory things today and tomorrow, details to come.

today's your birthday, Ajanae! you're 8 now!

I hope you have the bestest, Hannah Montana-est 8th birthday a wonderful and pretty niece can have. I miss you so much now that you're in Florida, but I know you're having fun and making me, your "kunkle" (that's how you first pronounced "uncle") proud.

I love you, Ajanae -- happy 8th birthday!

as I was heading home the other day, I saw the title of this book out of the corner of my eye, on a book reseller's table on 6th Avenue, right by my workplace/schoolplace.

seeing this injected some well-needed humor into a long day on the teacherly grind.

so here is the aformentioned poem I wrote for my students, in tribute to poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who had a posthumous birthday last week on March 6th (her birthyear was 1806). again, she wrote "How Do I love Thee? Let Me count The Ways".

my poem is entitled:

How Do We Love Thee, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
Let Us Count The Ways...

How do we love thee,
Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
let us count the ways…
You're the greatest female English poet,
you’re a woman to sing and praise.

You were born on March 6th, 1806,
a date that is today,
so let's take a moment, with joy and cheer to wish you
a very Happy Birthday!

You grew up, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
in a place called Hope End,
a 500-acre, rather large place
in the hills of Jolly Old England.

You had 11 brothers and sisters,
a true fact we must believe,
you were the oldest, we hope you helped your parents,
because that's a lot of mouths to feed!

You wrote your first poem, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
when you were just 6 or 8,
and the poem is here, in the New York Public Library,
try to read it, it must be great.

In your life, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
you wrote many, many poems,
some were short, others longer,
one was a whole book, a very long tome!

Your most famous poem was called,
"How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways,"
you wrote that poem which rhymed about love
in many different ways.

So how do we love thee, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
let us count a few ways,
your poems are so beautiful,
with words you dance and play.

You are a wonderful poet, and a mother
to a little son you nicknamed Pen,
and you certainly are a hero
to a world filled with thankful women.

So how do we love, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
we counted just a few ways,
but we could keep counting, you're an amazing woman,
this grateful poem could go on for days and days!

I successfully watched Watchmen last night. successfully, because I managed not to fall asleep in the middle of watching. not due to boringness, far from it, I just got very little sleep last night.

the nap I took re-energized me, and kept me awake through Watchmen's near 3 hours (2 hours and 40 minutes) and the extra "4th" hour of waiting in the theatre, preceding the movie's actually start-time at 11pm.

I liked it. well, I liked it as much as someone who hasn't read the original graphic novel can. I'll have to read it, obviously, for a true basis of comparison. but as a movie, it was certainly a spectacle, with lotsa eye candy and it appears to kept fresh the food for the thought that must be inherent in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's work.

the movie overall didn't blow me away, but it was, for me, chockful of various overly cool moments, such as the opening montage of the original Watchmen's history, but I did really get into some of the characters, particularly Ozymandias (perhaps because he is actually Steve Jobs), Dr. Manhattan, and, above all, Rorshach. props to actor Jackie Earle Haley for bringing his bad-assery to life.

so I don't know if I'm in a position to truly recommend the movie, 'cept to those who haven't read Watchmen. straight up movie wise, yeah, 2 opposable digits up. it manages to subvert most comic book cliches, and it's an enjoyably long (almost 3 hour) ride. I'll add it to my home collection in time.

and I, being a true back-in-the-day comics aficionado with boxes of a couple hundred stashed away to prove it, should borrow the actual book from George, who read it when it debuted, some 23 or so years ago when it first hit the comic book stands.

Watchmen: good stuff, good movie, for a non-reader of the original graphic novel like me. I'll translate the impending pseudo-review that's percolating in my head into digital form soon.

and tonight, since it's the first Saturday of the month, I'll devote myself to some dancing at Brooklyn Museum. on tap for tonight is DJ Sabine, and the afro-techno rhythms she'll be spinning. sounds cool, I think I'll dig cuz I've been hot for drum and percussion based music this year.

resolved: today I shall persevere, overcome the minimal sleep I got last night, and enjoy the fruits of today's labors, tonight.

my labors include slaying (writing up and finishing my contributions to) the multi-headed beast that are MSPs (multi-disciplinary service plans, like report cards on steroids, or, in better description, highly descriptive documents tracking our students' progress in their mental, physical and academic development this semester). I can't wait to complete them this afternoon, MSP writing has been weighing down upon my soul for a few weeks now.

another labor, though a shorter and sweeter one, is doing a short presentation on the life of English poetess Elizabeth Barrett Browning, for Women's History Month. you may not know her by name, but you do know the title and first line of her most famous poem, "How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways..."

I actually wrote a 40 line, 10 verse poem in tribute to Mrs. Browning, detailing her life and worthiness of appreciation, to share with my students. so it's pretty kid-friendly, or that was my intention at least. I'll post it here, maybe tomorrow or in the next coupla days.

and for the aforementioned fruits, they are encompassed in the minutes and hours of cinematic entertainment that director Zak Snyder will provide through his translation of Watchmen, which I'll watch tonight with Jon, Mike, and George. I haven't read the graphic novel, and have only seen the trailer maybe once, months ago, so most of the movie and story will be new to me.

and to make my movie-watching possible, I shall take a nap this afternoon, so I don't fall asleep in the hopefully comfy chair of a darkened theatre.

gizmodo scoped this out a few days ago, check it out: a netbook with a detachable keyboard dock, so it can transform into a stand-alone tablet.

methinks in a coupla generations this would be more desireable, 'specially if it gets juiced up a bit, and perhaps if the screen size gets bumped up to 10 inches and it was running Window XP or Windows 7. but I do gots love for the open sourceness of this current prototype.

if I was handed one, I could think of some immediate applications (wall-mounted pc, kitchen media player...). keep it, Always Innovating, you'll definitely have more than a few future buyers of your Touch Book.

the picture at left succintly describes how I feel at work sometimes.

sometimes is now.

please, bring on the weekend already!

Friday. opening night.

Lincoln Square.

11pm.

Jon, Mike, George, me.

excitement building...

especially if those things are small, frozen, crystalline, fall in numbers of billions or trillions or brazillions, cause the first snow day in 5 years, and allow me to legally stay home today and have an unexpected 3 day weekend.

awesome! and I happily rescind or re-endorse the last post's title, image, and intent.

I couldn't resist.

Happy March y'all.

a bif of really cool outside world news, as this lovely Febtober comes to a close...

a below-the-knee double amputee recently became, as close to currently possible, a mermaid, thanks to a prothetic tail, designed and created by the effects company that helped bring Tolkien's wondrous and hobbit-filled imagination to life.

read more the story here. I find it kinda heartwarming.

yesterday was full of mucho goodness. first, we had what might've been the best and funnest 100th day of school that I can remember. and it also might've simply been the best day of school this year too. the students loved the 100-rific activities, and were always cheering as we counted to 100 numerous ways throughout the day. it was great.

and the day just got cooler, as we the friends of Kim joined her for a joke-filled pizza-centric birthday dinner at Rosario's. then we rocked the night away at Mercury Lounge, catching 4 bands, those being, April Smith, Viva Viva, Drug Rug, and Salt & Samovar. they all delivered, especially Salt & Samovar, whom I should investigate, based on their stellar, attention-getting-and-keeping gig. I only wish Jon was there, I think he would've particularly enjoyed S&S.

Kim, I wish you the happiest of 30th birthdays today. may your lively cup overrunneth with much peace, love, happiness and fun, as you dance once more around the sun.

I'm smilingly looking forward to celebrating your 30th tonight witcha and other amigos, first over pizzia at Sophie's, then with the April Smith show at Mercury Lounge, and hopefully with dancing afterwards. sounds like a rockin lineup, birthday lady.

the anniversary of your debut into the world also, Kim, coincides with a special day for my class. it's the 100th day of school, and yesterday hours were spent planning and creating the activities and materials to make this the 100th day an absolutely fabulous one for our students, who have been waiting for this day for months.

the highlight of my day was celebrating Muhammad Ali with my students (as part of African American History Month), sharing anecdotes and clips that highlighted his hilarious bravado and outside-the-ring self-praising and righteous smack-talking. one vid I showed featured The Greatest stating that his opponent Sonny Liston was "too ugly to be world's champ. The World's champ should be pretty like me" and "if you wanna lose your money, bet on Sonny." those quips and a few more from Ali's poem, "I Am The Greatest" had me and some of the class laughing out loud.

you can hear Ali recite that awesome poem here, about one minute in (gotta quote him again: the poem begins, "This is the legend of Cassius Clay / The most beautiful fighter in the world today"). he drops gems aplenty throughout it.

hours upon hours upon hours upon some more hours, over the past week, of obsessively adding album art to my iPod touch's mp3s bore some unexpected fruit tonight, when I stumbled across a song that has been my Moby Dick for far too long. the song in question, and now my possession, is Come To The Meadow, by the Roger Kellaway Cello Quartet. it's a innocent, breezy composition from 1974, and it's also better known as the theme to Selected Shorts on NPR. upon first listening to Selected Shorts, I immediately fell in love with Come To The Meadow. since the eponymously-named album it's on is out of print and only attainable on vinyl, from collectors and/or garage sales, I had to make due with a rough, partial mp3 I made by recording the beginning of Selected Shorts. but tonight, in looking for a high-quality, at least 600 pixel square jpg of the album cover, I found Come To The Meadow in its beautiful entirety, on some random and much-appreciated music blog.

it's so fulfilling great to find a song I've/one has been looking for, for literally some years.
I'm totally gonna play it at work tomorrow.

be it a progressive or predictable decision by the Academy, it's still just too cool that a set-in-India, Irishman-directed, partly-gameshow-focused film took home the Best Picture Oscar last night. I'm very happy to see Slumdog win, and deservedly mirror its own rags to riches tale.

it's impossible to capture the emotion and the passion with which Jorge Navarro and his friends danced, sang and played last night at Alegrias. I can only let this picture above try to convey a small amount of the beautiful force of human nature that is flamenco, that Senor Navarro breathed out in every once his movements.

another scant post-and-go, I apologize, but I gonna run out right about now to indulge in some flamenco y mas at Alegrias in midtown, this evening.

and last night was much fun. los details about it when I return.

I'm ending a few days of self-imposed, but enjoyable captivity (still on vacay) to go out and do some body movin' with a dance crew downtown, at Sapphire. I haven't been to Sapphire before, but I've been wanting to go there for a quite a while, so I finally get to check the place out tonight.

yesterday turned into something of a movie marathon, as my home theatre-in-progress (got the 42in HDTV, 5.1 sound to perhaps follow) happily screened Iron Man and Bowfinger, after This Is Spinal Tap.

it was my first time seeing Bowfinger, and it was a hilarious & surprising treat. just a few minutes in and I was already in stitches, which was my general reaction to most of the movie's jokes and setups. Martin and Murphy knocked it outta the park with their characters, especially the 2 related ones that Eddie plays. it's kind of a small movie, which let the aforementioned characters and others shine in many ridiculous-but-funny situations. I also dug the thinly-veiled Scientology spoof that's crucial to the movie's plotline. another fun fact: the movie was directed by Yoda, aka, Frank Oz.

the only sad part about Bowfinger is that it might be, as far as I know, the last time both Murphy and Martin were consistently comedically entertaining on the silver screen. as in the movie itself, I really hope they both find a killer script or get back to writing seriously good stuff, as both they (the 2 main stars) and we, the movie-going public, need more flicks of Bowfinger's refreshing funny caliber.

yesterday's film, Entre les murs, was deserves the accolades it's getting. as triply a teacher, a movie goer, and human being I was moved and fascinated by the intimate study of Mr. Marin (aside: I had a high school math teacher of the same name) and his outwardly abrasive, inwardly thoughtful teenage class. I highly recommend it, catch it soon (it's playing at the Angelika, and another theatre or 2).

today I'll dust off and re-watch my own dvd of This Is Spinal Tap, to laugh my head off again to misters McKean, Guest, and Shearer's rocumentary/mockumentary. I was told that they improvised alot of the movie, and if that's the case, that just adds to their and the movie's comic genius.

I'm heading out inna moment to catch the movie Entre les murs, aka The Class, a Franco-flick about a teacher and his attempts to reach and teach some rough-around-the-edges students. the generous and positive reviews the movie's gotten (the director won the Golden Palm at the 2008 Canne Film Festival) tell me it probably won't be the French Dangerous Minds. & that is a good thing. but if there's some MC Solaar on the soundtrack instead of Coolio, I guess that's ok.

I wish you a happy and Chan-tastic 30th birthday today, Mike, and really and truly all the best as you celebrate a third decade of life.

you're the best, Mike, I could lists the many facets of your awesomeness all day, but for now I'll say that high up on the list is your incredible ability to make me laugh til I hurt.

I hope you're having a simply great day. and I'll see you and the rest of the well-wishers at Dinosaur BBQ, tonight.

just chillin most villain-like over here. seriously, the only thing I've done today is find album art for some songs. yeah. I'm just lazing about, because I happily don't have work tomorrow, or any day next week. it's pretty sweet. thank you, various dead presidents, and the Presidents' Week of your posthumous honor.

tomorrow brings another much-look-forwarded-to birthday celebration, for my bestest, favoritest, almost-30est roommate/suitemate for all four years of college, Mike.

wwwwwwwow. yesterday was a total rollercoaster, it took me for a ride. one that ended smashingly today actually, at 4am at Le Royale, where I happily partook of a coupla hours of dancing, and met up with Bjorn for his 30th birthday.

other ingredients in yesterday included going bowling with my students, seeing older versions of former students on that same bowling, and watching a Charlie Brown valentine video with the current pupils. I also hung out the co-workers for a bit at the Grey Dog cafe near our school, post-work.

I'll have to write more later, but I'll say for now that my night went to 11 twice last night too, first when I watched This Is Spinal Tap with a coupla friends (I once again laughed til my ears teared), and secondly, at the end of the night, on the dancefloor, thanks to a very very cool panda.

I truly hope you have a great day celebreating your "Dirty Thirty," Bjorn.

notsomuch for Bjorn's b-day, but instead as our usual on-or-near-Valentine's Day trip, my class and various others are going bowling today. highlights will include me excitedly praising every gutterball, spare and occasional strike they will make.

interesting facts I learned about our 16th president yesterday, when I read "Abe Lincoln's Hat" to our students:

>> Lincoln was not so organized, always misplacing crucial documents. so he kept important papers, letters and speeches in his famous tall, silk hat.

>> Lincoln was actually a very funny man. once, in the middle of a trial, he told the opposing lawyer a joke that made him laugh out loud. the disgruntled judge promptly fined Lincoln $5 for causing the disturbance. but then, after the trial, the judge asked Lincoln to tell him the joke. the judge laughed too, and immediately forgave Abe of the fine.

I'm having a pretty good week over here. and I'm on the verge of a 9 day mid-winter vacation, so we (at work) are all fairly stoked about that. the break'll probably be when I write up my still-percolating reviews of the last super-musical weekend. so stay tuned.

and happy birthday, Abraham Lincoln. I'll be doing a read aloud and art project about you today, Abe, with my students.

me

I, my students and et al are gonna be getting our learn on at the American Museym Of Natural History today. We just finished a unit about the Iroquois of New York State, so we'll take in more of and other Eastern Native American culture today, firsthand.

I haven't been to the Museum in ages, so it'll be a much welcome return trip. I actually had a dream last night about walking there with my young learners, telling one of them that my old high school was just mere blocks away, and eating ice cream sandwiches before entering the Museum. why we ate ice cream sandwiches, I don't know, blame it (on the brain).

my usual powers of superlativity are failing me right now, it's hard to describe just how mindblowingly amazing Kim's 2nd Talent Show was, last night. I'm again crunched for time, so inna bit I'll have to detail some of the many wonderful parts of the night's musical journey.

and a musical journey it really was, as the performers transported us with the sounds of the city, the South, India, Brazil and many other places.

and thankfully, it was recorded too, so we and others can relive and re-enjoy the performances.

I, my fellow Brooklynites and others laid it down on the dancefloor last night, seduced by the almighty and immortal rhythms of Detroit and Nigerian son-kings James Brown and Fela Kuti. wow, what a great time we had at Brooklyn Museum.

I'll write up a bit more of the musical ecstasy that was the Saturday night later, right now I gotta run off to Kim's Talent Show, where this weekend's aural bliss continues...

last night's Mondo was a rollercoaster of a great time. the night didn't quite start off or go as planned (uh, only one of the people who said they were coming showed up). but I refused to let that stop me from throroughly enjoying myself. I got to Don Hill's just before 11pm, and I danced it up til just after 3am.

highlights of the night included:

>> some random girl running up to me and just about grabbing me for a dance. we grooved to my favorite Smiths song, This Charming Man, one that the Mondo DJs introduced me to, back in November. it was a pretty blissful moment, with me singing outloud as random girl and I shook together for a few British minutes.

>> Nouvellas: this quintet from my hometown of Brooklyn did a smashing job with their retro sound. the easy-on-the-eyes-and-I-think-sisterly vocal duo sang and tambourined a lovely storm, with a very nice wall of sound behind them. I much enjoyed them, and I'd like to catch Nouvellas live again, with my friends...

>> me going nuts with excitement again when Cut Copy's Lights & Music came on. that magical track is officially a jam of mine, that is, when I hear it come on I think or say, "That's my JAM!" and apparently it's something of a staple song of one the Mondo DJs, which is just too plain cool. I fell in love with L&M as soon as I heard it, way back when, and to dance to it is just simply heavenly.

>> getting love from the Mondo DJs: a little after 3am, I started layering up, thinking I was about to leave. but then Spearmint's Sweeping the Nation came on, and I had to dance at least one more time, to that swan song (Nation is a wonderful track I had Jon Shazam for me, last Mondo). Kevington slipped outta the DJ booth and onto the dancefloor, and he, me, and the few remaining Mondoers got down. just after the song finished, as I re-attempted my exit, Kevington came over to me and said "You've been dancing the whole night." "yeah," I beamed back, "I love Mondo!" Kevington then told me that I should come to the next one, and that a band called The Ballet will be playing. "I'm there!" I empathically replied.

some minutes or songs before that, Dr. Maz also approached me and personally invited me to the next Mondo, slipping me one of the reduced price flyers.

as for the stylish Miss Modular, she was swaying on the dancefloor a coupla times while I was also doing the same nearby.

their friendliness to me, their invitations, and their ability to get down, are facets of the Mondo DJs' all-around niceness. they're stellar DJs, and really cool folks too.

I'm so happy I stayed as long as I did, even without my usual dance crew. it allowed me to have some brief but very cool interactions with my much-loved Mondo DJs, and another absolutely fabulous night.

a long-awaited weekend (see my Jan. 27th post) of many musical delights finally starts tonight!

the Mondo dance party kicks it all off. me and a group of 6 others will going tonight. and we're in for a treat or 2:

Nouvellas, a Brooklyn 5-piece inspired by "Dusty, Aretha, The Shirelles, girl groups, Motown grooves and all things 60's" will be performing.

but wait, there's more. Bill Pearis of music blogs Brooklyn Vegan and Soundbites will be doing a guest DJ set at 11pm, "bringing his expertise to the Mondo dance floor!"

our $5 are gonna go a long, fun way tonight.

Mondo!
@ Don Hill's, 511 Greenwich Street (at Spring St.)
$5 Cover (or $3, print this page)
11pm -- mondo-nyc.com

AND again, there's TOMORROW, and Sunday...

>> Saturday, February 7th: First Saturdays at Brooklyn Museum -- 9pm to 11pm -- free !
"Get On The Black List: DJs Spinna and Rich Medina make the selections for a James Brown vs. Fela Kuti tribute to two giants of funk music" brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php"

and

>> Sunday, February 8th: Kim's Talent Show -- 4pm

Bjorn emailed the following today:

" Hey folks. So this Saturday I am gathering with my wacko peeps from Nattahnam. Nattahnam, you may recall, is my group that never plans a single note that they play. Well, this time are planning to meet on Friday and plan a few things out, but seeing as how planning is not our forte that may not work out. So, if this new experiment in planning sounds interesting to you, come check us out on Saturday at Desmond's Tavern. Nice and early, so you can still do other stuff. Plus, Cathy will be there! Wooo!

Sat. Feb 7 @ Desmond’s Tavern. 8p 433 Park Ave South - New York, NY 10016 (212) 725-9864
$10 admission - 21+ w/ID // For further info: www.nattahnam.com "

Rog again. I've been to a coupla (3 so far) Nattahnam shows, and can safely say they're an improvised trip into sonic space. if they sound like your cuppa tea, check em out.

"...for the sphygmomenometer" -- that awesome rhyme about a blood pressure monitor's little-known name is but one nugget of funny lyrical knowledge from Zach Sherwin, aka MC Mr. Napkins.

I've been wanting to catch his wordy rap act for quite a while, and finally I get to do so on Sunday, when he puts it down in the comfy confines of Kim's living room. Zach's a cool guy and friendy acquiantance, and also a fellow Brandeisian.

peep a live performance of Sphygmomenometer here (listen for the crowd going wild), and
visit mrnapkins.com and Zack's youtube channel for more of his alter-rapping-ego.

file this under "it's a small world after all":

I learned some days ago that Karen Reed, who provided much soulful stylings at Kim's first Talent Show, and with whom I've hung out with once or twice, will be performing at First Saturday at Brooklyn Museum, as well as singing again at the upcoming Talent Show, this Sunday.

it's pretty cool, that Karen landed so big a gig. and it's also cool that I'll catch her singing twice this weekend, first along with the general public, then with a smaller but just as lucky group, in Kim's living room.

in other less-exciting news (you'll see why inna moment), I got my first international hits on ghostjeans this week. from someone in Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium, who was googling for "ghost jeans," which exist, I just learned. a few seconds of searching revealed them as a jean-type for a brand or 2.

another not-America pageview came from a person in England, also jean-searching, but specifically for "ghost corset jeans." I don't know what those are, besides sounding like they're torso-constraining.

and also, Google itself re-spidered this site, so that ghostjeans (the one you read, not wear) shall live on in scattered servers across our fair globe.

moral of the story is, if you google for "ghost jeans," my site is on the front page of links.
quite nice, methinks, & most convenient to the 5 people who will use that search term annually.

an upside to being mostly bedridden yesterday, missing a Super Bowl party, and my current less-than-100%-ness, is the weird and cool dreams I had, last night.

in one dream, your friend and mine Homer Simpson was up on the roof of the house, possibly chastising or or unnecessarily chiding Bart for something. in the usual Simpsons karmic twist, Homer falls halfway through the roof, upto his stomach. then, for some reason, his stomach keeps expanding, til it takes up most of the width of the roof. again, weird. the house expands in kind, the walls and various things on its exterior move outward as well. Homer's burgeoning gut also causes some serious seismic activity in the area, as some other Springfield characters get jostled and shaken by the house's expansion.

that's all I remember of that Simpsony dream. but luckily, as is sometimes the case with me, my odd dream state comes in multiples of craziness...

my 2nd off-the-wall dream started off with me and someone sitting on or by park benches (perhaps like the ones on the east or west side, along the outside of Central Park). we're watching a clone or copy of the person I was with (huh?). some sorta arrest goes down with the clone, the arresting officer asks the person I'm with if the clone is innocent, or something to that affect. "no," my acquiantance states, implicatiing his clone in a crime that wasn't stated or I don't remember.

then, that dream takes a cool turn. there's a quick scene change, and we're on a castle or mansion's outdoor, high-up walkways. my acquaintance says something about getting the head of the Gambino family or some other crime syndicate. it seems like my acquaintance is about to do something harsh, in fact murderous. so me and Alfred (yes, Batman's Alfred) follow him in hot pursuit, to stop the intending killing. the former acquiantance/would-be killer is a little too fast for us, makes it to a turret or steeple of the castle/mansion, and takes to the air with a personal helicopter suit or device (um, yup), something small with rotors. Alfred and I try to fly off too, but alas, we quickly ascertain that the other helicopter suit is either broken or missing.

so of course, Alfred and I jump into the Batmobile, specifically the Tumbler. sliding over the top and getting into the Tumbler is both the coolest and last part of the dream, at least the last bit I can remember.

I do remember a small tidbit from yet another dream from last night. in the final or intermediary one, I retell the Homer dream to someone. this isn't the first time I've had a dream that references another one from the same night. and I've surely had other Simpson dreams, and I've definitely had other superhero dreams. in the last notable superhero one, I strapped on Iron Man's boots and helmet, and I had some tremendous fun doing aerial acrobatics.

so I don't know how entertaining tonight's dreamtime will be, but last night's certain was.

happy Febtober, Happy African American History Month, & Happy Groundhog's Day.

feeling under the weather. been sleeping most of the day, rising for just a few minutes at a time.

I did manage to summon enough energy to add the list of performers for Kim's Talent Show, this coming Sunday, to the coming attractions sidebar, on the right of this page. check it out.

well, lemme continue doing the rest and fluids thing.

a slightly less sickness-related post tomorrow...

as for the lucky one who will be there, please Hammer and Ice, don't hurt 'em."

(...I remember seeing Jim Carrey's Ice parody when it originally aired on FOX, and having a straight-up fit of laughter, back in the day. oh, In Living Color, with your Homey The Clown and Men On Film, how I miss you...)

more schtuff tomorrow, on Saturday....

[editor's note: guess this is my first true song recommendation post of the year. better make this good...]

tonight I got back into my music discovery mode, and did some speed dating with mp3s on a few random music/art blogs. this turned up a coupla real gems that fall into the "holy curseword, I love this" category.

one of those new insta-faves is Education, by Javelin. the track's only a minute 43 seconds, but it delivers the awesome goods in that short span (though I wish it were longer!). soundwise, it feels like a great combination of hip-hop from then and now, but the now-side being completely unlike the radio rap going on nowadays. the song rides a hot beat, utilizing just some spare lyricism: the spelling of "school," "go to school," education" -- just 5 words, repeated, and that's enough, as it's already an put-on-repeat earworm for me.

the video is a definite must-watch (and the only easy way to hear the song online), charmingly created from old educational video and etc stored at archive.org.

Education could singletrackily restore the word "fresh" to the venerable place it once held in the vernacular. Javelin knocked it, or threw it, outta the park with this one... oh, and there's a certain streetwise, breakdancing student in my class that I must share Education with, tomorrow, pun unintended but enjoyed.

so I stumbled across this image earlier tonight, and amidst my amusement my weird brain immediately started buzzing with its own interpretation of the scene, of what's going on between the 2 mammals.



and over the course of the next 3 hours I typed and edited the piece below. hope it causes some sorta reaction in you the reader.





here it goes, with its several working titles:

parting thoughts between squirrel and man
or
better title that I can't think of, right now

I must leave you and this place now, Enrique. I need you to be strong for me. we all prepared for this day, though we wish it never came. one must go, and he is I.

you must now lead our people. let their strength be yours, they have a will to live, a fire inside them that no amount of Tums® tablets can douse. I carry their strength and hopes with me, along with this commemerative President Obama gold coin that your cousin Dwayne gave me. "just 3 easy installments of 19.99," he said, "for a gift that's sure to appreciate in value, and honors our nation's first" blah blah blah. I dunno, I can't listen to that kid for more than 5 seconds before wanting to squirrel my brains out. he sure does get out of school early everyday. sometimes, when I'm getting my lunch from the mini-fridge in the breakroom, I'll look out the window and see him across the street. I can tell it's him cuz he's got that Members Only jacket on that your dad gave him. and I'll see him, I'll see Dwayne just looking at the old folks home, just staring hard at it for like 10 minutes. I don't know what's up with that. freaky.

anyways, what was I saying again? oh yeah.

these are dark days, for mankind and squirrelkind alike. and darker days are yet to come. so I installed those little mini-dome push lights behind the house. you know what I'm talking about, you know, the LED or whatever ones that you push for them to work? yeah, I got ten for like $30 at Target the other day. that's a good price, right? felt like I was kinda buying in bulk, because you save when you do that. when you buy in bulk.


remember the lessons I taught you.

how to rub your tiny claws together rapidly while you look into the distance or at someone.

how to eat food quickly without looking at it.

just don't do *everything* quickly. ask Alicia about that, wink wink nudge nudge hubba hubba.

ok, the look on your face clearly tells me you have no idea what I'm talking about. moving on...


continue the overly stylized martial arts training I instructed you in. your body is a weapon, hone it as such everyday. so lay off the Lay's. no carbs after 7pm. and as tantalizing as they seem, skip the 2-for-1 happy hour at the Village Idiot, and the 3-for-$1 Pabst Blue Ribbon Friday night special over at Uncle Freddy's. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but does anyone else not trust a beer whose new tagline asks, "if we paid you, would you drink it?"

now that we're talking about the male body and stuff, feel free to practice in front in the mirrored dojo/rec room with your shirt off. you look good, and the world, and anyone who should come downstairs after Wheel Of Fortune, should know that. you only get one body. flaunt it.

also, do a few crunches in the morning. I do, check this out... notice the subtle patterned discoloration in my stomach fur? abs, baby. ask the girls over at Hooters down there on Main. I used to hang out at the bar across the street from it. I never actually stepped inside that Hooters, or any Hooters, because I'm deathly afraid of anything owl-related. anyways, the girls there didn't me call me the "Saturday Night Special" for nothing, you know what I'm saying?

again with the look of confusion.

let's see, what else, what else before I go...you'll take over my seat as the people's representative to the Council of Elders. be assertive when you face them. maintain the seemingly adversarial but deep down brotherly and ultimately tragic relationship with Councilmember Zarius that I have built. be sure to pepper your outwardly terse conversations with Councilmember Lalandra with some occasional innuendo and double-entendres.

also, whenever you meet the Council of Elders, bring muffins. they like muffins.

ok, personal stuff: basically, you can cancel my NetFlix subscription, or take it over, whichever is cool with me...

I left some echinacea for you or whoever needs it in my nightstand drawer. there's another little bag of something else in there too, just remembered it. use that one sparingly, it was like $100.

there's a half-bottle of SoCo behind the washing machine, next to a stack of old Omni magazines.


...Enrique, I leave you now as the man I knew you would always become. so I know you won't take it personal when I say, please go now. walk away, don't look back. go. leave. just leave. don't make this any harder than it already is.


goodbye.


if I've forgotten anything, I'll email you or text you. I have unlimited texts per month, so I'll probably do the latter, as I won't be on my mac too much, but I'll always have my cell on me. obviously.

oh, one more thing. you can erase my DVR-ed episodes of Rescue Rangers and DuckTales. I'm going to a place that hasn't upgraded to HD, so I'm sure my shows will look horrible there.






DISCLAIMER: no squirrels were harmed in the writing of this piece. this piece in no way, shape or form endorses or promotes the use of squirrels as heroes/mentors/father figures. I've been burned too many times doing so.

the first full February feekend, er, weekend, is gonna be a super-fun one.

the official run-down:

Friday, Feb 6th: Mondo Dance Party
Don Hill's, 511 Greenwich St@Spring
11pm mondo-nyc.com

as always, just $5 to "Dance to indie rock & pop, brit pop, post-
punk, Swedish pop, girl groups and more!"

my first official Mondo party on Jan. 16th was spectacular. hours of dancing, more tunes I'm now in love with. I just about had a heart attack of happiness when they played Cut Copy's Lights & Music (those of you who danced with me at Tiswas this past weekend, when that same track came on, saw a similar reaction). the Mondo DJs have made converts of me & a few of you already, it's time for the rest of you to follow suit, & join in another amazing night of music.

Saturday, February 7th: First Saturdays at Brooklyn Museum -- 9pm to 11pm -- free !
"Get On The Black List: DJs Spinna and Rich Medina make the selections for a James Brown vs. Fela Kuti tribute to two giants of funk music" brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php"

the Godfather -- alright! as for Fela Kuti, I had a once-inna-musical lifetime moment when I first heard him and his sound - it just felt right on so many levels, my connection was deep and immediate. he's sadly gone, but his infinite music will be moving me and many more on Saturday. everyone should get to know this King of Afrobeat, activist and revolutionary. I'm very very excited to hear Fela's songs and share them with the dancing crowd. and the night is also a cool way to celebrate African American Heritage Month.

Sunday, February 8th: Kim's Talent Show
I'm still reminiscing about the first Talent Show, last year, and how cool it was to have beautiful, stirring music being created in front of me, just a feet away from where I was sitting in Kim's living room. this is also one of those experiences that doesn't come around so often, so I'm gonna enjoy it.

I can't wait to see y'all at these events, and share some great musical times. like Stardust (aka Daft Punk) said, music sounds better with you.

my quest for world dominance via the interweb took a backseat to slaying some rather undemonic laundry tonight. oh well. at least there seems to be something much more epic happening here, on this Google Maps page...grazie, Dave (aka Dave Yoken, aka David Ryan Yoken, aka Angy, aka Yorkie, aka the man behind DRY Ice Productions, who's always pushing it, I mean, putting it down), for sending that my way today. it brightened both my mental inbox, and my virtual one.

finally finally finally I'm posting on my website (well, one of my 3) again. after a small (almost 3 and a half year) hiatus, it feels really good to be doing this again. granted, I had to reteach myself alotta html tonight, and I coulda been back sooner, if I used Wordpress or Blogger or one of those others. but I enjoyed getting my hands digitally dirty, and crafting this page just to my liking. it may not look like much, but hours of toil went into its creation.

it was a labor of love though. and I must credit both Jon and Bjorn for inspiring me with their websites. they definitely helped me get back in the game.

I guess this site o'mine will contain the semi-randomness my others of the past did. with, of course, a big leaning towards music, live and recorded. I just had to put up a few coming events I'm very much looking forward into, along with this first post. well, it's bedtime for Bonzo, so I'll keep this short and relatively dulce for now. future posts will include me rambling on about Animal Collective (god I love em, and I'll be seeing them in May!) and assorted songs, bands and artists that keep stimulating the pleasure center in my brain.

til then, goodnight kids.