"in five years we'll all be driving electric cars from Japan, anyway."

A Salsa day Miracle

I've been taking salsa classes for the past few months and met a lot of fun, interesting people at the dance studio I've been going to in Houston, but despite having seen some FREAKING AMAZING dance moves, miraculous ons, actually, NEVER have I witnessed a miracle among the folks I dance with which can compare to what happened a couple Thursday ago...

After a dance class a few students meet up at California Pizza Kitchen to wind down, chat, and talk about dancing and whatnot. Eventually a mass contact information exchange ensues. A couple of girls have their iPhones out and of course are smug and elitist about it... at this point I only own a lowly Blackberry. But ONE girl is particularly smug about her iPhone, as we notice it is covered in a lovely pink case with pink jewels.

I find myself thinking, really, iPhone chick? Does it have to be that girly, cool and chic? And apparently it does, because the OTHER girl with the iPhone immediately starts gushing about how much she loves the cover and wants one for her birthday or something like that. Ridiculous, I know, but its the truth. And herein lies the miracle: iPhone girl 1 reaches into her purse and graps a spare iPhone cover she just had sitting there and gives it to iPhone girl 2. The exchange goes something like:

iPhone girl 2 "Gasp! this is so sweet. How much do I owe you?"

iPhone girl 1: "No. you keep it. I insist"

iPhone girls 1 and 2: tears of joy and hugs.

Everyone at the table: rolling eyes while hearts secretly melt, overcome by the generosity and serendipity of the moment.

Thanks Tara, and Ilsa. It was a beautiful moment I won't soon forget.

The northern foxes hunt the southern coyotes.
The coyotes once foraged for fruit, but now hunger for milk.
It is strange to me how alike they both appear.

I ask a man why his ranch is empty.
He answers: my sheep had no water, this land is cursed.
Banditos stole the water, and the sheriff joined their fold.

Approaching the western expanse of America's armpit.

Javelinas raid our campsite, and antelope step gingerly round our tables.

Smoke wafts northward, lazily

So much beauty in dirt...

Big Bend National Park

I had a dream

Adam Sandler was playing backup quarterback for the Cowboys - he quickly hurt his arm, which was good because their regular backup guy was pretty jealous that some lamebrain actor could just walk on and take his job as a publicity stunt. To Adams' credit, he was taking the job seriously and had really progressed and done an admirable job learning his role and developing his skills. Then the kid who played AJ in the Sopranos was about 3 years old,and took his car for a joyride. He played a trick on a cop and was able to get away by stealing an old red pickup. It was in some crazy muddy, hilly place in the middle of New Jersey. Then it was my brother Ruben and me in that stolen red pickup and we were in San Antonio/Houston combined trying to get home. We drove through a drainage ditch to get away. We were in some really dirty, poor neighborhoods and driving in reverse until we got to the freeway. We drove way out of town then got back on course. At first Ruben had to make a doctors appointment, but then it was actually an appointment to spray someones house for bugs, or treat their swimming pool with chemicals, I forget which. San Antonio/ Houston had about 90 loops running around the city, kinda like a topographic map.Then we were interviewing a former prison gang guy about personal fitness. Then we were at the prison watching the electoral process - a debate between 'Gabriel' and some other guy trying to be head honcho among the Latino prison gang. Tony Danza supported Gabriel, as well as some old prisoner. Mr. Jefferson liked the other guy, who looked a lot more rugged than Gabriel. I figured if Mr. Jefferson liked him he had to be the obvious choice, even though I had no idea what his name was. I'm going back to sleep now.

Oddity shop in Forth Worth

Its five oh seven and two pair of shoes lay upon my workspace.

I should probably be getting home, but the guilt of tasks neglected keeps me from leaving just yet.

Anyhow, the traffic is only going to annoy me and I'll get home at the same time whether I leave now or half an hour from now.

Seventeen dogs are barking outside Barkers' corner sandwich studio.

The butcher takes bread and dips it in grease before he throws it to them, and in the ensuing scrum, the dogs begin to question the wisdom of fighting for their bread.

Tamale stuffed chicken breast... Thank you, Central Market.

Getting in my car on the way to work- I saw a cluster of balloons, blue and purple, rising, floating away menacingly.

Dude, I didn't even know text blogging could be done without twitter. Well, maybe I did but was too lazy to set it up before.

I can't stand it anymore...

Had to share this from the vaults - an old Peter and the Wolf performance from Loralee's place I recorded on my mp3 player. Sorry if the quality isn't up to snuff. You audiophiles will have to forgive me, but I think this song is fun. Marceline Day woulda loved it, SLC'er that she was.

PS - has anyone heard of flute beatboxing? I had no earthly idea it existed, but have to admit, I thought this was pretty cool - especially the second half.

Mellowfied

Here's hoping ol' Red and the gang make a stop in H-town as they head out east. Have been listening to some of their 'new stuff' lately and i thought it was purty.



music page on myspace

From impromptu sessions at the House of Pies

A real conversation we actually had

If we start now, in this very moment.

...Okay...

I'm afraid to speak now

I think we have to get over that fear.

Did you say "you" or "we"

"We"

Oh, come on - you're going to have me write "Did you say
you or we a million times".

Come on, this is never going to work if we don't write, or
record our whole conversation.

Okay.

So time to get over the nerves.

But am I supposed to be funny?

I don't care; I think - I think we just need
to write everything down.

Okay, whatever you say. If that's what you say,
then we shall do it.

(awkward silence)

Lol

Yeah, i think it just becomes funny in and of itself.

I think that's a good place to end it.

Okay.

From "Pretty Good Jokes"

A guy went to the pet shop to buy a singing canary. When he got it home, he discovered the canary had a broken leg so he took it back to the store to get his money back. The pet owner said "what did you want, a singer or a dancer?"

-Doris B., Ft. Myers, FL.

Mr. Spock goes to Dr. McCoy and says,
"Dr. McCoy, I believe there's something wrong with one of my ears.

"Yes, Mr. Spock, you do have a point there!"

-William Dunbar, Ottawa, Ontario

It is Written...

I think this song was on a Pineapple Express trailer also, but I feel a lot more socially conscious letting it get stuck in my head thanks to Slumdog Millionaire. It has been stuck in my head and has been slapped on to the playlist for my next shindig, whenever that is. May it get stuck in your head as well. Once again, Merry Christmas.



I fly like paper, get high like planes
If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name
If you come around here, I make 'em all day
I get one down in a second if you wait

Sometimes I think sitting on trains
Every stop I get to I'm clocking that game
Everyone's a winner now we're making that fame
Bonafide hustler making my name

All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!)
And (KKKAAAA CHING!)
And take your money

Pirate skulls and bones
Sticks and stones and weed and bongs
Running when we hit 'em
Lethal poison through their system

No one on the corner has swag like us
Hit me on my burner prepaid wireless
We pack and deliver like UPS trucks
Already going hell just pumping that gas

Third world democracy
Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B.
So, uh, no funny business

I had no idea - but MIA samples from this song by the Clash - "Straight To Hell"



I love how much you can learn by wasting time.

You be my Charlie, and I can be your George.

I'm gonna let y'all in on a little secret - this probably isn't an offical music video for this song.

Ah, yes, the youtube 'music video' - that masterpiece of do-it-yourselfmanship that is the song set to ambient background video by anyone with some time on their hands. (And the desire to get a favorite song on youtube to be shared by all and not feel bad about distributing music for free.)

The CD cover for Low's Christmas CD states something to the effect of "despite the commerce involved, we hope you will consider this our gift to you." And I do. I think it's a gift. And I'm happy to regift it to you all. especially since someone (well, at least someone and three or four other do-it-yourselfers) already regifted it by posting it on Youtube.

Enjoy. Merry Christmas. May you find joy via gift, regift or otherwise.

because I like songs that love the sun

Beulah - Burned By The Sun

High above the bordertown

I can see the golden ground

If I wasn't looking down

I might have lost you in the miles

Ocean blue and foaming white

Surround the body of my flight

As I flew out of sight

You were turning in the stiles

And I know what it means to you

And I know what it means to me

And I know how it feels to be

Burned by the sun, the sun

I love the sun

Now I'm sleeping on the sand

Of an unfamiliar land

And I'm dreaming up a plan

To get you on the breeze

And I'm staring at the speck

Of the map laid on the deck

It's time to make a trek

On forgiving seas

Gardea

When I was like 6 or 7 years old, my brother Rick was just learning to speak and put words and sentences together. He quickly became a master at stringing funny stuff together, and remains a master of comedic timing to this day. I don't remember when it happened, but one of his best malapropisms ever was combining the words "great" and "idea" to form one of the words I have loved most in my life, "gardea". I think this word should be propagated throughout the English speaking world. I'm perfectly content to keep it within the family, but then again, not really. I felt to share it with all, and there you have it. Maybe the word should have an apostrophe, but I wouldn't know where to put it, since the 'gar' part was a mispronunciation of 'great' by the young Ricky. I guess that would place the apostrphe near the front, rendering it g'ardea, but the word combines before the 'dea' part, so maybe it should have two apostrophes, to make it "g'ar'dea", but nah. To simplify, I'll just leave it with no apostrophe. My brother's contribution to the English language is:

gardea: noun. - A great idea. "Ricky interjected saying, 'I've got a gardea - let's start a shell company in the Cayman Islands and sell bootleg Simpsons gear'."

Sunday Morning Bubble Gum

One of the great things about going to church at one in the afternoon on Sunday is the chance to listen to A Prarie Home Companion on NPR before I head out. There's always great state fair type acts, and this was no exception. This is Kristin Andreassen, who apparently sings with a group called Uncle Earl from Boston, MA. I read somewhere this song won the "Lennon Award" for best childrens song two years ago. I don't know how big that is, but it's a good thing it finally got to my ears. Hope this player embeds correctly. I think it's called Crayola Maybe I was all ready for bubble gum becasue I watched Madagascar 2 friday night and was all ready for bubble gum and sunshine. In any case, Enjoy.