Night Time Sharpens

So I’ve had about a few weeks off in-between writing and that meant I had some time to go out and play. "Suffer local, enjoy somewhere else” is my motto. First up was a trip to Los Angeles to see the LA Philharmonic. I’ve never actually seen anything at the Walt Disney Concert Hall I realized recently, and made it an immediate must-rectify. So I gathered up some friends who would be free on a Thursday night — aka people without regular jobs — and off we went to see "Beethoven: Piano Concerts 4&5.” I hadn’t realized that you could sit behind the musicians underneath the organ in special orchestra view seats where you face the conductor. That will have to the next thing I try out.

A friend in New York has been hitting up musicals and shows left and right, after never really going to them, and I have been eagerly awaiting his reviews on everything. He goes to them mostly solo and has been absolutely loving it. I told him that he should expand his intake to include some stuff at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. My god sister actually plays harp for the Boston Orchestra and it’s a damn shame that we’ve never actually seen her play there. Another thing to get to. I mean, no need to watch the Celtics minus Kyrie anymore right? Ha.

This slight resurgence in classical music owes much to a visit to see our friend sing with his new choral group in Torrance. They did Brahms' "A German Requiem, Op. 45" and George and I made a whole half-day of it, which was our big day out in March because well, deadlines and children, respectively. The day afterwards I watched the local Poway Symphony Orchestra with a friend’s family. The PSO played some very recognizable tunes but were decidedly off-key, owing to its very amateur status. (My friend’s wife pointed out later that there were no auditions required to join the Poway Symphony, which means if I pick my flute back up, I got a shot to get in.) All this reinvigorated my interest in symphonies and such so c’mon, let’s go to more!

For those wondering, there’s a specific explainer for the difference between an orchestra, symphony, and philharmonic. The short answer is: just say “orchestra” if there are any instruments involved.

• The Difference Between Chamber, Philharmonic, And Symphony Orchestra
• The Best Seats in the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2009)
• LA Phil: Beethoven: Piano Concertos 4 & 5
• Joanna Medawar Nachef Singers

I also hit up the Broad Museum and the MOCA downtown branch while waiting for the concert. I’d not been to either and realized that I haven’t visited any LA museums in years, probably since somewhat regular visits to the Getty. When I’m anywhere else, one of the first things I do is head for museums. I guess I’ve just been overlooking everything in my semi-backyard. The Broad was actually a bit disappointing, as I hadn’t realized it was just one family’s collection basically. Interesting building but it’s also mostly just a giant storage unit and most of the art inside was quite, well, broad and so-so. The MOCA was very small but slightly better, but I think I need to hit the LACMA next.

My faith in random people karaoke was restored the next night. Usually in LA I go to Max Karaoke in either Santa Monica or Chinatown but they are decidedly low budget and very sparse. The Chinatown location doesn’t even serve alcohol anymore, which was a major limiting factor for some people. So instead my friend audibled to Star Karaoke in K-Town, which was a major boon to the night’s success.

I realized one day that with all the karaoke I do I should really be more organized about it. So I started making a spreadsheet of songs that are good for groups, and the genius idea I had was to add tags. So far it’s just a beginning but I’ll be doing some deep research and evaluating individual tracks across three important factors: tempo, difficulty, feeling. Tags include notes like “banned, cut at chorus, deep cut, duet, enders, need a great voice, etc.” I’m sure I’ll be making a separate post with my findings. I think my destiny is to write a book about Asian karaoke. Well, maybe it’ll just be a pamphlet. Either way, I desperately need to codify all my karaoke rules, tips, and suggestions.

As an unofficial private room karaoke ambassador, my basic rules for karaoke are these:

1. Enter and push all the tables to the edges of the room. Nothing I hate more than a static table in the middle of the room.
2. Any songs with long repeating choruses need to be cut quickly. (Most pop songs basically.) I am very ruthless if the energy drags. Cut, cut, cut!
3. Group karaoke is best thought of as also a dance party. Keep the energy high, or at least make sure the crowd is feeling it. When in doubt, refer to rule number two.

This night restored my faith in strangers as a whole as the disparate group of friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends came together for an incredible time. People brought their A-game and were full of excellent surprises. The room at Star was fantastic too, with a long U-shaped booth area for the food, dual screens front and back, and an open area for dancing up front. After a few lackluster group karaoke sessions recently, I had thought that the magic was gone, but now I believe again. I welcome all new friends, but only if you come bearing a microphone.

The last thing we did in LA was to watch Booksmart, which I quite liked but didn’t love since I was no fan of Superbad. Still, it was an enjoyable watch and I love that this was Olivia Wilde's directorial debut. Please watch this movie because it is tanking at the box office and that means America hates books and teens.

Next up: Baby shower in the Bay...

Thinking of a Master Plan

Around a year ago I started my Cool It Now newsletter and now I’m on the fourteenth issue, a special all music themed one! It contains links to an incredible article about the rise of flute rap, as well as a Spotify playlist of my seventeen tracks for the summer. It’s a winner, just like my all Gosling edition from earlier this year. So while the frequency of the newsletter has stalled, the quality has gone up! I mean, I hope. Here are all the past issues, and below is my song notes for the seventeen tracks included in Cool It Now, Vol 1. And for the record, "Paid in Full" is always the best flute rap!

[#14 Music Issue | #12 Gosling-fest | Past Issues ]

1. Bishop Briggs, “Wild Horses” (2017)
This twenty-four year old British singer by way of Japan seems fond of wearing Chun Li buns and got inspired to sing via Tokyo’s karaoke bars.

2. DJ Khaled, “I’m the One” (2017)
I’m starting my hunt for the dance jam of the year, the one I hope will be everywhere on a dance night. This one features Bieber, Chance, Lil Wayne, and Quavo — the latter whom I had to Google to clarify his role in Migos. I’m not 100% sold on it but after ten listens it really sticks in your head...

3. Tegan & Sara, “Boyfriend (2016)
For some reason I haven’t really gotten into T&S’s post-Closer album, Love You to Death. A clear oversight.

4. Khalid, “Location” (2017)
Only nineteen, Khalid is calls upon Eighties new-wave for the cover art to his debut, American Teen. This track is straight alternative R&B though, and is simply ear candy.

5. Lady Gaga, “The Cure” (2017)
Gaga back!

6. Sheila E, "The Glamorous Life, Re-Recorded” (1984)
I have a pretty big hole for songs from the Eighties — FOB life — and am only catching up now. Unfortunately I got addicted to the non-canon version of “The Glamourous Life” because I didn’t know it wasn’t the original. Whoops. If this song gets played on any dance floor this summer, I’m golden.

7. Little Dragon, “High” (2017)
Hey Little Dragon, where you been? “Ritual Union” was 2009, and while the nothing else caught my attention on Season High, this moody confection was perfect.

8. Paramore, “Told You So” (2017)
I know exactly nothing about Paramore aside from recognizing their name. Apparently it’s lead singer Hayley Williams plus a rotating cast. Their new album is a shift into 1980s new-wave also, and I’m digging into it now.

9. Anya Marina, “Shut Up” (2016)
Featured on the Riverdale soundtrack, Marina hails from Ann Arbor, MI and started her career in San Diego. I only knew her previously from a cover of T.I.’s “Whatever You Like.” Her 2016 album Paper Planes has some gems.

10. Drugdealer, “Suddenly” (2016)
I asked Ameer what he’s been listening to recently and he answered “Drugdealer” aka Weyes Blood. That’s enough of a recommend for me!

11. LL COOL J, “I Need Love” (1987)
It’s officially/unofficially breakup season so a little soft side of James Todd Smith always helps right?

12. Hailee Steinfeld, “Starving (Acoustic)” (2015)
I love Stenfeld the actress but I’m starting to suspect I like her better as undercover pop starlet.

13. Marvin Gaye, “The Shadow of Your Smile” (1968)
I asked my friend D for her recent listens and here was her answer: "I've been listening to an obscure [posthumously released] Marvin Gaye record on repeat. The record is called Vulnerable. I guess he lost his woman or something so he's all sad and shit. But I love it.” Clarinets are sad…

14. Linying, “Paris 12” (2016)
Intrigued by a twenty-three year old Singaporean Feist? Yeah, me too. Her voice is penetrating. Oh yeah, Feist herself has a just released new album, Pleasure.

15. WILDWOOD, “Moonrise” (2017)
I can’t even find anything about this artist, and she’s got just one track on Spotify. One shot, one kill.

16. A Taste of Honey, “Boogie Oogie Oogie” (1978)
Recently we looked up our birthday jam, the number one song on the Billboard charts when you were born. Mine turned out to be disco cut from A Taste of Honey. Alright alright!

17. Cat Stevens, “Father and Son” (1970)
The closing song from Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Ronan Keating did a cover of this song in 2014, which is fitting because the villain from the first Guardians was named Ronan the Accuser. Marvel synergy?

MAY: Week Two

Currently listening: Wiz Khalifa, “See You Again.” Yeah it’s the song that they play at the end of Fast 7 during the Paul Walker montage. Yeah it’ll make you want to cry. And they ended the night with this track at a club last week. It was wonderful. Move over Al Green, this is my new closer. Here’s an hour of “See You Again” on loop, just in case you need it. Nine million views can’t be wrong...

This week marked my DJ debut. Yes, my long awaited dream of having someone let me DJ a party finally happened! My friend had a photography studio for her birthday party and her roommate (and me!) in charge of the music. Finally, yes yes yes! Basically I put together my dream dance playlist — mostly girl pop, with tons of Mariah, Janet, and Whitney — and downloaded Traktor.

By the way, Traktor for iOS is incredible. So easy to use and I haven’t even figured out any of the cool features yet. Just being able to semi-mix one song into the other is good enough though. Armed with a playlist that was sure to get the party jumping, I made my debut around midnight… and flamed out. I didn’t account for the fact that people literally a decade younger than me might not appreciate Denice Williams or Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam quite as much as my peers. Argh, Millenials! Oh well.

I was booted after about forty minutes (“Do you have anything newer? More hip hop-y?”) or what I’d like to say was me “taking a break after my first set.” When the party was winding down and most of the crowd had left, I jumped back on the zeros and ones and cranked out more Madonna and Taylor Swift. "But I got a blank space baby / And I'll write your name." Anyway, I have an awesome playlist, please invite me to DJ for you soon. Especially if you’re over thirty.

List of ender songs I was considering (none of which was used, yet):

• Adam Levine, “Lost Stars”
• Ritchie Valens, “Sleepwalk”
• Kanye West, “Family Business”
• Spandau Ballet, “True”
• Debbie Gibson, "Lost in Your Eyes"
• Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”
• 2Pac, “Check Out Time”
• Hall & Oates, "Everytime You Go Away”

I made the stunning realization this week that I don’t have (as) many American friends here anymore! Most of my first semester classmates are gone and of the people I normally hang out with there’s a Brazilian, an Indonesian, a Taiwanese, and a Malaysian. Only one American friend in the bunch! Of course, we mostly speak English so it’s not really that much different. And all our pop culture references are the same.

When I met my Brazilian friend, I swore she was from California because her English is tinged with an American accent (whatever that is). When I asked her how come, her reply was the best: “I learned English from watching Friends. Every episode."

One of the downsides of the past few months in school is that it’s severely stunted my meeting actual Taiwanese people opportunities. As you can imagine, everyone at Shida is a foreigner and it’s far easier to just clump together. So my goal, moving forward is to meet Taiwanese people again!

School’s over at the end of the month but honestly I’m already tapped out. I moved down a level and it got too easy and my previous dedication is just not there. Plus, my classmates are very quiet compared to my previous group and I'm much less inspired to attend. So yeah, I’m out! Now that I have a methodology to learning Mandarin, I can practice vocab on my own and it’s time to get my oral skills up to speed. I don’t feel like my speaking skills have improved much while I’ve been here — mostly a function of knowing only people who speak English well — so in the future, that’s what I need to focus on.

At the rate of 40-50+ new words a week, I’ve probably learned a thousand characters so far, in six months. Of those, maybe I’ve retained half? Chinese goes quick when you aren’t constantly practicing. I wouldn’t say I can read/write that well, but it’s still exciting to be able to decipher basic stuff. Or really simple karaoke songs.

Over the weekend I went to my first Taiwanese wedding. I’d been wanting to attend a Taiwanese wedding because it sounds so different than American ones. To start, you don’t really have to dress up. Sure, you can wear a suit if you want but nicer pants and normal shoes are fine. I’ve straight up seen pictures of people showing up in sweaters and sweats. The wedding I attended was very classy though, so people came looking good.

At the banquet portion of the night, the food was course after course of rich foods: Lobster, duck, fish, crab, steak, etc. It was a little nuts how much there was. Traditionally the wedding is just a massive feast, and this one lived up to that advertisement plenty.

The big difference between American and Taiwanese weddings is that there's no party. You eat the food and then you’re done. The whole affair might take only a short afternoon even. Now I understand why the parents jet out of regular weddings so fast... For this particular wedding, since the bride was Christian, there was a church ceremony (similar to any church wedding I’d been to) so I didn’t get to see any of the traditional Taiwanese stuff. Next time I guess. Overall, a great time and the bride and groom had a singing/dancing portion that was in line with their fun personalities — not at all like most traditional weddings so I'm told.

Speaking of weddings, my sister and AMR’s December wedding was featured in a post from Exquisite Weddings! Click through if you wanna see: "Real Weddings: Georgette and Ameer."

Friday, we discovered badminton. I was unprepared in my camo shorts and no athletic gear. But next time I’m going with a headband and a plan. And I’m gonna win, win, win.

• 30 Pictures of Chinese Wedding Traditions in Taiwan
• Life in Taiwan: The layers of a Taiwanese wedding (2010)
• Traktor DJ: Native Instruments introduces an iPad DJ app you’ll actually want to use
• Badminton World Federation: Simplified Rules

Undiscovered Bum

Listening to: Carly Jae Jepsen, “I Really Like You.” Carly does it again! Hello early summer jam. I’m ready for her latest hit to take over my life. Also I’ve been concurrently listening to a lot of Enter the Wu-Tang. So, you know, I’m either skipping or poseur-ing down the street. Same look.

Ah, so many Wu memories. Remember the Wu Name Generator? I used it to create the conference names for my long running fantasy football league. So the two sides are named “Inscrutable Drama Kings” and “Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses.” It might be time to update those after more than a decade. But nostalgia you know?

My introduction to Wu-Tang was at the hands of JMZ, when we were seventeen. At the time, he was really into doing all the lines and especially the movie open from “Liquid Swords.” “When I was little, my father was famous. He was the greatest samurai in the empire…” I didn’t know Wu-Tang, I didn’t know hip hop, I barely knew JMZ. I didn’t know anything about New York or its boroughs until years later. It took me many listens of De La Soul to figure out that their "Strong Island" was not the same as Wu-Tang’s "Shaolin" aka Staten Island. Rap is geography.

Another one: Loading up Raekwon’s "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” on the drive from San Diego to Santa Cruz to see my first girlfriend. It was, and still is, the longest I’ve ever driven to see someone. I remember just feeling pumped and wondering what would power me through this epic, and romantic, drive. Mainly it was just Raekwon on repeat and repeat and repeat. We broke up three months later.

Lasting image: Watching three upperclassmen people dance to "Da Rockwilder” at a college diversity show. One was the coolest girl in pretty much all of life (still is and I count one of my major life achievements being able to call her “friend”), the second is an award winning chef in L.A. as well as a MFA grad, and the third is a hardcore political dissident for Taiwanese independence. And I believe he works for the company that makes all those Taiwanese animation videos as well. Basically, if you can dance to “Da Rockwilder,” you can do most anything.

Carly Rae, Wu Tang, and I'm finally discovering the greatness that is Fleetwood Mac. Basically my entire (current) music game has fallen off completely since being in Taiwan. Who is Schoolboy Q? What are collard greens? Why did I not know that "I'm in love with the coco" was in reference to cocaine? Because I'm lost, that's why.

Also because I'd prefer to think that the "coco" in question is in reference to the ubiquitous Taiwanese boba chain that expanded to New York last year. My drink of choice at Coco is the "three brothers 三兄弟" which is boba, grass jelly, and custard all in one cup. It's a tall glass of delicious.

• Wu-Name Generator
• Enter the Wu-Tang, 20 Years Later: Who Ya Got? (2014)

Dark Doo Wop

Listening to: Haim, Days Are Gone. This is a tough one as Haim and Icona Pop both just dropped albums. We've been plugging Haim over at The End Starts Today and rightfully so, as the three Haim tracks I've had in my possession have been on infinite repeat. After just a few quick spins, I can confidently say that Haim's debut album is absolutely essential cruising pop. Basically it's summer in eleven tracks, and even though summer is basically over, Haim has officially arrived.

As for Icona Pop, their lead single, "All Night" isn't quite up at "I Love It" level yet, but it's comparable, which is a huge compliment. Where was this track in July? We could have used it at dance parties everywhere. The song's Paris is Burning vogueing video is kind of killer too.

Last thing, I'm a bit late to the MS MR party but I've been digging their 2012 album, Candy Bar Creep Show. MS MR has got plenty of Florence and the Machine in them and I quite like their semi-new single, "Fantasy." I didn't see the Game of Thrones Season Three trailer their other song were featured in but know all about it now. Who knew moody pop and Westeros went so well together?

• NME review of Haim's Days Are Gone
• New Albums From Icona Pop and Krewella: Women, the Loud, the Few
• The Music And Meaning Of Paris Is Burning (2012)
• Pitchfork: MS MR Candy Bar Creep Show (2012) and Secondhand Rapture (2013)
• Why HBO Turned to Indie Bands for the Medieval Tunes of Game of Thrones

If you like anthropomorphic food, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is the film for you. Maybe I've collected anthropomorphic vegetable salt shakers in the past, maybe I've watched my fair share of Veggie Tales, either way, while I hate nature documentaries that anthropomorphize animals -- ahem, March of the Penguins -- I love it when human personalities are attributed to food!

When I saw the trailer for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 earlier this summer, I was already one hundred percent in. After watching the film, I can wholeheartedly give it a superior grade. It's absolutely silly, filled with chuckle worthy puns, and for all illiterates out there, no advance book reading necessary. Fun note: The screenplay was co-written by John Francis Daley, aka Sam Weir from Freaks and Geeks.

A bit of research on the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs wiki revealed that there are "foodimals" and then there are "food people." The latter are "sentient food that have developed a higher-level of sentience and sapience, and posses no animal-like traits and instead have human-like qualities and behavior." The former are animal/food portmanteaus like tacodile, hippotatoes, mosquitoast, buffaloaf, and watermelephants. Do you see how amazing this is? The star of the show for me was the leek, who just seems to be screaming in fear all the time. See? Anyways, Cloudy 2 is right up there with Despicable Me 2 for best animated movie of the summer. If you're into laughing and giggling and that type of thing. Otherwise watch Prisoners, which was pretty decent also.

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Trailer | Posters
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Wiki: Food Animals
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 iOS game: Foodimal Frenzy

I'm back from San Francisco, trying to catch up on all manner of things online. Basically I'm behind on everything but with the help of some late nights and my reunion with my double computer screens, I'll have everything from 2013 caught up and finished with by, say, 2014? Deal.

I scurried back to New York in time for a live taping of Slate's Cultural Gabfest. As a longtime fan, I was more than excited to see Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner in person. I was a little late as usual but settled in on the side of the stage and gazed out into the crowd. It's been awhile since I've looked upon a 99% white people occupied space and been like "Ah, these are my people." However, that's exactly what I said this time, as clearly anyone motivated enough to pay and sit through a Gabfest taping should be my friend immediately.

While I'm here, let me recommend the Grantland Pop Culture podcasts. Grantland split off their sports and pop culture pods and so much the better for it. The chemistry among the hosts are superb and I especially love Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald's witticisms and references. High recommend.

Also, snuck in a ballet the other day, much to the astonishment of friends and family. My Foursquare blew up with comments. Really? Why does nobody believe I would go to a ballet? Did I not write a combined 3500+ words on Center Stage and White Nights? Was I not pushing a three hour ballet documentary on you just a few short years ago? It's more shocking that I haven't been to the New York City Ballet yet.

We watched Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals" because well, animals. It was pretty good and the costuming and narration -- words by John Lithgow -- were a nice change up from straight ballets. One complaint: Apparently it's de rigueur to bring babies and tiny children to the ballet. To the matinee showing at least. I don't get it. There are spaces where it's highly distracting to hear the constant shushing of a baby or to see the physical bouncing required to keep him/her quiet. The ballet is one of those places. This could be a controversial stance but I'm sticking to it.

Also, Verdi's "The Four Seasons" is not the same as Vivaldi's. Now you know. As in, now I know...

• The Culture Gabfest "Live From Brooklyn" Edition
• Grantland Pop Culture Podcasts
• NYC Ballet: Carnival of the Animals
• La Danse: Creating Dialogue From Body Language (2009)

All or Nothing

Listening to: N'Sync, "I Want You Back." It's strange, but I've never seen this video. I wonder if it was as good back then as it is now.

It's rumored that N'Sync is reuniting this Sunday at the Video Music Awards. Is this a dream? Is this time travel? Am I barely twenty years old and back in college again? What is happening?! I know, what kind of grown ass people are still excited about N'Sync reunions?

My friends, that's who!

See, back in college, a lot of us danced together. Like in groups, on stage, for other people. We were always practicing, always hanging out, and (some of us) hugely neglected our studies. Was this the era where I had dyed hair, danced in camo, and wore giant pants? Of course. It was the late Nineties, what else were you supposed to do? One of our getups included raver UFO pants that could turn into a backpack. I mean, how handy is that? So yeah, that was my last year and a half of school. Dance, dance, dance.

Let's rewind back to the 1999 VMAs, when Britney Spears and N'Sync joined forces for a performance that blew our minds. Watch it here, right now. After years of grunge and alternative music and all that sullen stuff, teen pop was back. Boy bands were way back, everything old was new again. It was the Eighties redux with Britney versus Christina subbing in for Debbie versus Tiffany. And Backstreet Boys and N'Sync did their best to become New Kids on the Block. (Did NKOTB have any challengers? I can't even recall.) In my mind, this was a defining moment, my generation's Michael in 1988 at the Grammys. Okay that may be overstating it a bit. But still, it was real good okay?

To be honest, prior to this VMA performance, I had been a Backstreet man. I think all of America was. They had the better songs, they had the cuter guys, they held every edge over N'Sync. But this particular performance exposed their weakness: Backstreet couldn't dance. And N'Sync could. Like damn, N'Sync could dance. And then next year they did the TV head thing and killed it again, officially leaving Backstreet in the dust. Historical note: How funny is it that at the 1999 VMAs, JC is clearly the star, not JT? That would change just a year later, obviously.

Man, that Britney and N'Sync performance, I think I've seen it a hundred times. At least.

This XX Factor article that posits Justin may need this reunion more than his former bandmates is kind of true. I mean, Justin is real boring nowadays. 20/20 was not good. I don't care what you say. The Thicke album is better, the Mayer Hawthorne album is way better, and if you want some more blue eyed artsy pop soul, try out How to Dress Well's "& It Was U." The latter is from 2012 but I just started listening to Tom Krell recently and his Total Loss album was inspired by Janet's Velvet Rope. Sold. Justin is dones. Actually I take it back, I am intrigued by Justin's upcoming gambling movie, Runner, Runner, costarring Ben Affleck. But only because I'm irrationally hoping it'll be almost on par with Rounders.

The N'Sync member actually doing interesting stuff is JC Chasez. After showing off his collection of bow ties on America's Best Dance Crew, Chasez has been spending his time assembling an eleven member girl pop group modeled after the Japanese and Korean supergroups. I am not sure how I feel about Girl Radical, or their first single, a cover of Gwen Stefani's "I'm Just a Girl," but I'm gonna keep an eye on them nonetheless. I'm curious if America is ready for a pop megagroup.

This is probably nice timing and a great idea by JC as he's basically decided to just do a Making the Band without the cuts and eliminations. Since nobody really has to sing that much, and Auto-Tune is a thing now, why not just shuffle his members around? I guess I'm hoping it succeeds. The "radicals" name is terrible though. It seems dated and appending it to every member's first name makes it even sillier. I do appreciate that Girl Radical is decently diverse. They're like 3LW cubed. Plus an Indonesian/Asian.

While doing some obviously heavy research for this post, I came across this book, Girls: Feminine Adolescence in Popular Culture and Cultural Theory. I think I need to read it immediately. It's not often you see Spice Girls and Michel Foucault in the same description. Catherine Driscoll previously wrote a critical introduction to teen films, which makes me believe that we are fated to be friends one day. Or I'll have to fly down to Australia to take a few classes from her. I mean, after this Sunday and the VMAs of course.

• JC Chasez Introduces Girl Radical
• Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines: Beating Timberlake at His Own Game
• 20 Notes on The 20/20 Experience
• Unpopular Opinion Alert: Justin Timberlake's Comeback Is a Bad Idea

Since I'm here, I thought I better do a short compilation of some of my favorite dance videos. No wait, I better do this in a separate post because it could get awful lengthy. Also, I just found out this past weekend that the last Tony! Toni! Toné! is pronounced "to-nee" and not "tone." Whoops. I think I just got my Nineties card revoked. I can't even use my usual "But I'm a F.O.B." excuse because I was in this country for the Nineties. So embarrassing.

Tearin' Up My Heart

Guess how much time I spent this morning "researching" a boy band's background? And not even a relevant boy band like One Direction. Allow me to catch you up onto the wonder that is IM5. Here's their "Disney Dudez" parody. As you'll see, the band contains a black Justin Bieber sing/dress/lookalike, and an Asian kid. More importantly, the (mixed-)Asian one is the cute one. And the tallest. And the most talented. #hotasianboy can now literally be applied to a boy. Move aside Godfrey Gao.

I don't have to tell you that having an Asian American boy band member is unprecedented. I mean, you'll have to go back to MTV's original Making the Band to find a predecessor. Even then, not quite. Bryan Chan got cut early on and I can't tell if Ikaika Kahoano was mixed or what. Neither of them made it to O-Town, but did end up joining forces later on to form their own by band. Trivia: Matthew Morrison was also in LMNT. Yes, a young Mr. Schuester. Mind blown.

Anyway, let's bring it back to Will Jay, trailblazer and soon to be icon. He fucking kills it in the Disney video -- as, ahem, Shang/Mulan -- and he should clearly have fan girls following his every move. Heck, I may be fangirling him. Read his bio. He's got Jason Mraz on there, Al Green on there, and omg, Tribe. A seventeen year old who listens to ATCQ? Just give me the papers to adopt him or date him off to someone I know. Of appropriate age of course. Also, young Will drops Catch Me If You Can references in interviews. What's not to love?

The ultimate capper here is that this boy band you've never heard of was founded by Simon Fuller of Spice Girls/Idol fame and Perez Hilton. "We don't want any ugly ones. We don't want any Joey Fatones, if you know what I mean." IM5 is clearly about to be the next big thing. Can any of them actually sing without auto-tune? Are any of their songs any good? The answers are "probably not" and "definitely not," and but I mean, does that even matter?

And to prove that I don't just go gaga over boy bands, here's a "The Cup Song" cover featuring Kina Grannis and some other Youtube people. Related, I am on the lookout for three friends who can sing, clap, and flip cups around at the same time. Auditions only done in-person, apply via text message. Start practicing.

Heat wave time is officially here. I've never owned this many tank tops in my life and just the other day I caved and got an air conditioner for the apartment. It's hard to hibernate by day when your room is a furnace. This mini 5000 BTU beauty does the job and I'm happy to include it among my growing inventory of "things that control the weather/temperature." Between a space heater, humidifier, and this AC, I'm ready for every season. What I'll do with these items when I move is beyond me.

Living in New York, and staying put in one place for so much longer than I'm used to, has made me pile up stuff. My old "only have what you can carry" rule isn't quite working out anymore. Thus, time to declutter! Here's a nice Medium post about doing exactly that, "The Noise of Stuff." I was also reading a good article about the whole getting rid of extra fluff and living a minimalist lifestyle thing and how it's only for the privileged. The article made some remarkable points but unfortunately I can't find it. The basic takeaway was that privilege wasn't about having the money to buy stuff, but also about being in a place where you can choose where or  how you spend your resources.

I choose to spend my money on multiple shaved ices and bubble teas. As any sane person would do in this weather.

Bad segue alert. You know who has really been decluttering? Danny Ainge! Over the span of a week or so, he tore apart my beloved Celtics and is going into total tank mode. Last time we did this, we whiffed on getting a high pick, aka Kevin Durant, but made out with the revised Big Three and a championship. Now our head coach basically quit on us, and we jettisoned our team leaders and the beating heart of Celtic pride -- along with the guy who maybe jumped the gun on a tattoo. Then we went ahead and hired a head coach who's barely older than me. It's a definite recipe for success.

To be honest, I wasn't unhappy to see the rebuilding start. Next year's draft is supposed to be stacked so if we're gonna hit rock bottom this is the time to do it. When we went to Vegas a few weeks ago, I didn't even put my traditional fifty dollars down on the Celtics to win the championship. It'll be super weird and tremendously sad to see Paul Pierce -- and to a much lesser extent, Kevin Garnett -- wearing the Brooklyn white and black, but I'd rather have them fighting for a title as opposed to rotting away in Boston. Although I did hope they would join Doc, Chris Paul, and Blake Griffin in Clipperland. That would have been an interesting contender.

The biggest question now is what happens to Rajon Rondo. I'm not sure he's a viable franchise cornerstone, what with his sometimes genius level play alternating with huge deficiencies in his game, but I don't want to see him go yet. Maybe he'll take the reins now, without a few old men to slow him down. Anyway, the NBA off-season has been super exciting and I'm refreshing Twitter and checking news like crazy.

• On The End of The Paul Pierce Era and Start of A Rebuild
• What the Pierce-Garnett Trade Means for the Nets and Celtics
• Crashing Invitation to KG and Paul Pierce From a Brooklyn-Dwelling Celtics Fan
• Emergency B.S. Report with Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo
• Why We Watch: Rajon Rondo, Cubist

Starlight Express

You know I love my musicals. Well, now there's a new one that has captured my heart: F#%king Up Everything! I stumbled upon it looking for something Off-Broadway to watch and boy am I glad I clicked on the eye catching title. It wasn't easy to find stuff online about F#%king Up Everything as it didn't officially open until two days after we saw it. For our preview showing, we got to sit right in the middle, two rows back, and had a spectacular view of everything.

"Can Christian Mohammed Schwartzelberg stay true to himself and still get the girl? Or will he lose her to the guy in leather pants? Set against the backdrop of Brooklyn's indie music scene with a gallery of hipsters, stoners, artists, cougars, songwriters and puppeteers, F#%king Up Everything is a rock musical comedy with heart. And ironic t-shirts."

Having had a similar seat for Rent, I can say that I've never been so happy to get an up close and personal view. "Please, spit on me (when you sing), I'm right here!" F#@king Up Everything was part of the New York Musical Theater Festival a few years ago and it had a short run in D.C. before getting ready for its sure to be successful time here.

I'll just say it here: I think F#@king Up Everything is going to be this generation's Rent. Plus Friends. Yes, Rent plus Friends. While the music isn't quite as strong, F#@king Up Everything has Rent beat in at least one category: humor. F#@king Up Everything is hilarious! Max Crumm and Joey Gotay are perfect in their roles and their comedic timing was spot on. Dawn Cantwell is Toni Amos redux -- see her do Janis Joplin here. Overall, there were so many laugh out loud moments that I actually, well, hyperventilated during one part, which was embarrassing since I was trying to not be too loud.

Maybe the show is too cutesy indie for some, some reviews (perhaps written by some out of touch old people?) have been mixed, but I thought FUE was clever in how it sent up hipster stereotypes. And again, the show was hilarious! If you get a chance, see F#@king Up Everything before everyone else starts talking about it. The play just started rehearsing a month or so ago, as you can see by the casting call they posted in January. Amazing right?

The only downside of F#@king Up Everything is the "#@" they were probably forced to put into their title. It sure makes Googling difficult. In this day and age, is it really that offensive to put "fucking" in the name? Concessions must be made to people's sensibilities I suppose.

• Website | Facebook
• F#@king Up Everything part of The New York Musical Theatre Festival (2009)
• Brightest Young Things review | DC Theater review | Capital Fringe review (2011)
• Rock Musical F#%king Up Everything Opens Off-Broadway
• Broadway's Max Crumm to Lead the Cast of the Rock Musical F#%king Up Everything
• Off-Broadway Review: F#%king Up Everything Is Tamer Than Its Title

Mesospheric

Listening to: Music for Ants, "You Just Made Yourself Available: The Breakup Songs Mix."

Can you believe it, I've only gone karaoke twice this year. That number usually represents how many times I used to go per week. Last night, after a bit of soju served in a watermelon, we went to Duet 35, which is located just outside K-Town.

On the list of things that make a great karaoke place, Duet 35 had most of them: open till dawn, relatively cheap, BYOB and food, reliable sound system, mood lighting, great song selection. Repeat, great song selection.

We'd been searching for "Thinkin Bout You" forever and there it was. Sure there weren't many other Frank Ocean songs, but "Thinkin Bout You" was there! Now if we could just find a place with the rest of Channel Orange, I would never go anywhere else. I was also stunned to see that they had Patti Rothberg's "Inside," a track that I didn't think anyone else knew, much less had transferred to karaoke status. I picked up Between the 1 and the 9 at a Wherehouse during senior year of high school and had it on repeat forever. Even then I knew it wasn't the best but I enjoyed it regardless.

I was also impressed that they had Lianne La Havas ("Elusive"), a few tracks off Foster the People's Torches, Joe's "I Wanna Know," and so much new stuff I couldn't identify most of the artists. It hit me hard that I am way aged out of the new release pages. Sad day, sad day. But if you're wondering, it's possible to almost do the entire 10,000 Maniacs Unplugged album, which if it were to happen, would make me automatic BFFs with anyone who could successfully pull off a convincing Natalie Merchant. Additionally, next time back to Duet 35, my friend JMZ and I are destined to perform "Frontin'." Don't wanna sound full of myself or rude...

Duet 35 also had the real videos to some of the songs, most notably all Mariah and Christina Aguilera tracks -- please see Exhibit A. And the karaoke video for Gilligan's Island was straight up Sweded, with a child sitting in a bathtub and D-rate actors as the Professor and Mary Anne, etc. Overall, when we stumbled out of there at half past four in the morning, I was ready to do some more singing/screeching. Last karaoke related thing: While Duet 35 had a lot of indie tracks, they did not have any Tegan & Sara, which is just fine because T&S are the coolest and provided the world with their own instrumental for "Closer" and a karaoke version just for me! Okay, everyone else too.

Big life changes I've been pondering: What to do with email greetings and sign offs. I've one of those people who always has a greeting and an outro. Typically it's just "hey" and entirely superfluous but it feels weird not to do it. And I like to sign off with something too. But after reading this Slate article about the obsolescence of sign offs, I think I should give no sign ons and sign offs policy a go. Please don't be offended if I now sound curt in my emails, I just want to be a part of a movement.

And after a month of waiting, I finally got the Mailbox iPhone app. I don't need another email application, as almost all my email is done on my laptop, but I wanted to see what the hype was all about. What could possibly be worth signing up for that had 600,000+ people in line ahead of me? So far Mailbox is decidedly not life changing but it is certainly smooth and easy to use. One day I hope to get important enough to use it to achieve Inbox Zero. Right now I don't have to deal with hundreds of emails a day, much less a thousand.

• Mailbox: Swipe Your Way to a Clutter-Free Inbox
• Zero Dark Inbox (2012)
• Mailstrom Helps You Clear Out Thousands of Messages from Your Inbox

Also, the other night, I ate firefly squid. They are from Toyama Bay in Japan and look like this. Unfortunately we did not glow afterwards, as that effect would probably have cost more than a few dollars per squid. I'm not generally into novelty eating but I'll make an exception for things that light up. What other foods could I eat that contain bioluminescence?

Twice is Nice

Listening to: Tegan and Sara, "Alligator (Toro y Moi remix)."

A few years ago, AMR gave me the gift of Tegan and Sara. In his usual thoughtful way, he didn't just dump a load of MP3s on me and tell me to listen. Instead he compiled a special "getting to know Tegan and Sara playlist." With such homework on hand, I diligently listened to the songs he put together, and got a taste of what T&S were all about.

Needless to say, I was sold. Not only was their music great, with an underrated knack for making making perfect length songs, but Tegan and Sara were the coolest (identical) twins around -- eclipsing even Tomax and Xamot. Their hair, their tattoos, their personalities, their Internet presence, their dedicated fan base. For example, AMR is a hardcore T&S fan, and anything they release, be it a special edition book, DVD, or box set, he buys right away. He is one of their 1000 True Fans -- although in their case, that number is obviously way higher. While I'm not quite on that level, I am very sweet on them.

Last week, I finally got to see Tegan and Sara live, as they toured in support of their seventh album, Heartthrob. This album is their mainstream push and it's packed with catchy anthems. Their first single, "Closer," is irresistible and the karaoke inspired video even more so. And even though I've been racking up the concerts so far this year, it's safe to say that seeing Tegan and Sara will be a highlight of 2013.

The first thing AMR did with me after I properly consumed his CD -- which was presented without track names -- was to fill me in on Tegan and Sara's background. How the first time they collaborated together was writing lyrics for dance music producers, how they live on opposite coasts, how they started (and continue to) write their songs independently of each other, with a few exceptions. Due to this last quirk, it means that for most of their early albums, you were either a Tegan or a Sara fan. You should be both, of course, but it's good to know which one you're partial to. It turned out that 90% of my favorite songs were Sara's, and I do prefer her higher pitched voice. For example, my favorite T&S song is "I Was Married," a Sara track through and through.

Tegan and Sara Selects
Track list - Zip file
17 songs, 51 mins, 66.7 MB

Above I share with you AMR's special Tegan and Sara Selects playlist, the stepping stone into the world of T&S. It's a gift that he gave me, and now I re-gift to you. Please download it, listen to it, figure out which identical twin is which and then queue up Heartthrob, because it deserves to be on repeat forever.

• Pitchfork review of Heartthrob
• Tegan and Sara Bring New Pop Swagger To New York
• Andy Samberg in Tegan and Sara's Heartthrob: The Interviews
• The Lost Forest Fone! Episode One (2008)
• How to Tell the Twins Apart! (2010)
• Tegan And Sara Describe Their Awkward Co-Writing On Sainthood Song (2009)

The Love Below

Listening to: Pop Etc, "How Will I Know." They used to be the Morning Benders, now they are the less offensive but boring Pop Etc. I am not entirely sure how I feel about this cover, even weeks later, but I love watching Chris Chu's awkward yet endearing facial expressions. And well, it's Whitney.

My friend Ameer, who captains our music blog, is a huge speakerphile. Speakerhead? He cruises audio forums, he's got speakers on top of speakers, his goal is to own McIntoshes. Lots of McIntoshes. AMR has regaled me with many a detailed break down of why such and such an amp is good, or how to compare different set ups. All of which is fantastic, because I can always appreciate learning something new. But it's also ruined me.

Yes, ruined me. I can't have shitty audio anymore. Before I could've cared less what the sound coming out of speakers was like. Give it to me heavy and give it to me loud. That was all. I was more concerned about content than audio quality. Now that I've seen the light, I am prone to scrunching up my face if the sound is bad.

For the past five years, I'd been living with these shitty speakers. They squawk when plugged in, the wires are all fiddly, and occasionally the sound drops. It was a desktop audio disaster. I told AMR that I needed to upgrade my speaker situation and after diagnosing my needs, he was ready with an answer. For $15, I got these beauties: Artic USB-Powered Portable Stereo Speakers. I'd link you to the ten minute YouTube video reviewing them but you'd definitely fall asleep. Let's just say that these are the best bang for your hard earned bucks.

As my fellow Artic owner Meggo puts it, "[they] are petite and portable." To that I'll add that they are plenty loud also, with great highs and acceptable lows. Pump too much bass in there and they'll fail, but for fifteen dollars, these little guys are a steal. Upgrade your life, get some now.

And if you are in the market for great but not overly expensive over the ear headphones, may I pass along AMR's recommendation there too? Purchase some Grados. I recently joined the Grados club -- an exclusive place indeed -- and even though I have yet to test them extensively, I am sure they are the best value out there because I trust AMR. After all, he's the genius who came up with the CD for testing audio, so he can't be wrong.

For all you undiscerning buyers who purchase shams like Beats by Dre or something similar, know that we laugh in your general direction. I'll admit that my dream headphones -- Skullcandy Aviators in white -- are a bit cash for flash, but only suckers buy the celebrity endorsed headphones. If you are really that susceptible to marketing and hype, then please contact me because I have some books to sell you. An outdated Rough Guide to Blogging perhaps?

• Celebrity Headphone Deathmatch (2011)
• Audiokarma Stereo Forums

While I'm here, some more endorsements. Lately we've been all in on Clash of Clans. It's a freemium half farming, half tower defense game. The best part of it is that you can give your clan mates stuff like giants, barbarians, skeleton manned balloons, and wizards. The worst part of it is that the game is a total time suck. According to my in-depth research, if you are a new parent with a compelling reason to be awake every few hours, this game is for you! (Currently I am trying to make the move to Arcane Empires, a slightly more complex and in-depth Clash of Clans. The steampunk theme and artwork alone has sold me.)

A goal this year is to be more organized and on top of my tasks. I tried out Bring Home the Milk, Wunderlist, Astrid, and Orchestra. In the end, I went with Orchestra because it's the prettiest. That and the web interface is the best. Did I mention it's pretty? I've been at least 150% more productive already.

My friend Mel goes to a ton of concerts and she introduced me to Songkick, which is an app that scans your iTunes library and then serves up upcoming concerts you might be interested in. I was testing out Thrillcall before but didn't find it all that useful. Songkick has been a delight already and I'm scared I'm about to blow crazy money on live music.

New York has way too many bands coming through and now I know exactly which artists I'm missing. Ignorance really was bliss -- and cheaper. I'm in the process of trying to figure out a metric for which concerts I should attend but right now it's just a free for all. Seen or about to see: Dwele and Anthony David, Jose James, Tegan and Sara, Walk the Moon, Freelance Whales, XXYYXX, and if I can motivate to Staten Island, maybe I'll be lucky enough to see my OTP, Jewel.

So much of me really wants to use/like Spun, a slick looking guide to food, fashion, and music, but so far I've found it lacking. The interface and design are neat, but the utility has yet to be determined. I'm keeping it around and hoping it gets better. I am also on the hunt for a good weather app. Please recommend.

Also, I'm pretty certain I used "OTP" incorrectly. Oh well. Baby steps.

It's Never Sunny In...

We're hopping out to Philadelphia this weekend, for a quick jaunt. The last time I was in Philly, it was during the East Coast college tour organized by my high school. We visited a lot of top tier schools, most of the Ivys, plus some schools that were actually within reach for mere mortals.

When we toured UPenn, I noticed the abundance of blue safety lights located on campus and said, "No thank you, my sheltered suburban upbringing did not prepare me for this." Now I return, more than a decade later: street smart, intimidating, and afraid of nothing.

Philly is only a short ride from New York -- just over an hour by train, two hours by bus -- so it'll serve as an easy day trip. I'm riding out with friends from here and then another friend is meeting us from Houston. Right now, our plans are to do the Mural Arts Love Letter Train Tour, which takes you to see fifty murals painted by graffiti artist Steve Powers. "The project...collectively express a love letter from a guy to a girl, from an artist to his hometown, and from local residents to their cherished neighborhood." The tour starts at ten in the morning and we're leaving on a seven thirty bus from New York, so we'll see if I'm actually awake for this thing. Wish me luck.

The most important question to answer on any sort of road trip is to figure out "what am I listening to?" At first I was just going to fire up J.Period's Best of the Roots and call it a day but then I realized that so many great artists hail from Philadelphia. So I took it upon myself to make the greatest Philadelphia mixtape. Hyperbole included.

Yo Adrian!
Track list - Zip file
Disc One: Cheesesteak
18 songs, 1 hr 12 mins, 95.0 MB

Disc Two: Hoagies
16 songs, 1 hr 06 mins, 86.4 MB

All the artists from the mixtape are either from Philly, associated with Philly, covering a Philly native's song, or literally singing about Philly -- with one notable TV related exception. The songs lean heavily toward hip hop and New Soul, because that's the sound I personally associate with Philadelphia. As with the Ultimate Mraz, I broke the mixtape into two sides: "cheesesteak" is upbeat and "hoagies" is for easy listening. Or just mix it all up in one iTunes playlist and see what you get.

The biggest omission, aside from some rap artists, is Will Smith. I know, how can I leave off the Fresh Prince? Honestly, I couldn't find a song of his I wanted to put on the mixtape. The obvious choice is "Summertime," but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It's winter now and the song would just be teasing me. So no Will Smith, and no"Motown Philly." I figured "Motown Philly" gets enough love already, and thus I opted for a lesser played Boyz II Men track.

I was delighted to learn that Hall & Oates are Philadelphia, and they're the only artist that gets two tracks. Everyone else receives one. I only got into Hall and Oates last year or so, and I was/am obsessed. Daryl Hall and John Oates met at Temple University and the reason they sound so damn good is because their producers were behind a lot of the Philly soul sound. I don't care if they were co-opting black music, it's too good! Hall and Oates deserved two selections.

Last thing: I pre-loaded images from the Love Letter Train Tour murals as the album art. When you pick a theme, you gotta go all the way right? Download Yo Adrian! today and let's ride.

When Tomorrow Comes

This is a love letter. Yesterday we went to watch Les Mis. Due to poor timing and massive demand for the 25th Anniversary Tour, we were forced to sit in the cheap seats with the commoners. Ugh, hate when that happens, don't you? Pushed to the back and way on the right, we had a tough time making out exactly what was happening onstage.

I mean, of course you can see what's happening, but can you really see? Having watched some musicals from the very front row, I can tell you that the view from the back is a whole different experience. Enter our savior: binoculars! A few months ago I did some heavy research into binoculars as I looked to pick up a new birding hobby. I won't go into the reasons why birding is important but if you want to be a better writer, you should just do it. For my next trick I'm hoping to legally change my last name to "Franzen." Then acclaim will surely follow.

Anyway, seated in the mezzanine but outfitted with my Bushnell Falcon 7x35's, we were still able to see everything. The dirt and grime on Thenardier's face. The scars on Jean Valjean's head. Fantine's beautiful blonde hair piece. For a mere $28.52 investment, we had gone from seeing two inch figurines running around the stage to an up close and personal intimate performance. It was amazing. Through the magic of magnification, we were able to practically experience Javert's obvious halitosis.

If only the guy in front of me hadn't been so tall and so fidgety, my view of the stage would have been perfect. Why move every fifteen seconds guy? If you can't sit still, why are you here? Oh right, girlfriend. Stop moving please! Actually the binoculars helped me see through his head. No, I'm not lying. Because of something science-y involving our built-in binocular vision, the view through the mechanical binoculars allowed me to basically eliminate his head from my view. I don't know how it worked but thank you intelligent designer. You are indeed mighty.

From now on, I'm bringing my binoculars to everything. Sure it might make me a creeper but I'm going to see the whole world so much more clearly. I love you binoculars, five star review and a hearty recommend.

• Slate Cultural Gabfest, "Batman and Robins Edition"
• Jonathan Franzen Is the World's Most Annoying Bird-Watcher
• "My Bird Problem," Jonathan Franzen (2005)

Having not seen Les Miserables in over a decade, I kind of forgot most of the plot points. I know the songs backwards and forwards but enacted out on stage, all of it was kind of confusing. For example, there's a lot of period jumps. Jean Valjean as a prisoner, then as a young man, then as another young man, etc. All those rebels running around singing about furniture. Who were they fighting? And I really didn't remember the end, not at all.

What stood out most from my memory was Cosette's role. In the past, when I thought of Les Mis, I thought of "Castle in a Cloud" first. But upon another viewing, that's Cosette's one and only moment. She's not the main female lead, it's Eponine! (Or an argument could be made for Fantine too.) Essentially Cosette is there to look pretty and be the object of Marius' affection. Perhaps the difference is that when you're young, you identify with Cosette and the other little kid, Gavroche. But when you're older, you realize that they were just minor characters.

And poor Eponine. She's the embodiment of Meantime Girl isn't she? I kind of hate Marius for being such a jerk. How are you asking Eponine to deliver love letters in the middle of a siege? Don't you see that Eponine is willing to die for you!? What an asshole. He doesn't deserve to have "A Little Fall of Rain" sung to him. I'm Team Eponine all the way now. If you are Team Cosette, we are enemies. En garde.

December 14th could be amazing. Hugh Jackman is gonna kill it. Also, if you're watching Les Mis live, don't hum along to the music. Ahem, Mom...

Young, Wild & Free

While driving around listening to "Winter in America" by the late great Gil Scott-Heron (shared over here by AMR at T.E.S.T.), I was struck by one of the lines: "And to the buffalo who once ruled the plains." I thought, man, this has to be the only song with "buffalo" in the lyrics.

Well, after some lyric searching, it turns out that there's a lot of songs about buffalo! Heck, there are a ton of bands with "buffalo" in their name. Buffalo Tom, New Buffalo, Young Buffalo, The White Buffalo, Buffalo Springfield, and my personal favorite: It's a Buffalo.

With all these buffalo things in mind, I thought it was my duty and obligation to create a themed playlist. Also, since the American buffalo is technically a bison, I included a few bison numbers in there too. Without further ado, the best buffalo mixtape you've ever heard, named for the best scene from Dances With Wolves.

Tatanka, Tatanka
Track list - Zip file
17 songs, 1 hr 6 mins, 93.1 MB

Out of this selection, there are quite a few gems. I'd sort them in iTunes from longest play time to shortest. That starts you off with "Winter in America" and ends with "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd." The latter you can really only put up with once but since it's so thematically on point, I couldn't leave it off.

I'm pleased that the mixtape spans a few genres, from rap to indie, to reggae, to house. There's a surprise around every corner. So far my favorite line from these songs is Phoenix Foundation's "I am the mammal you adore." A lot of the lyrics to these buffalo songs are outstandingly silly and that's pretty much as it should be. And if you're like me and wondering what Neneh Cherry was referring to as a "buffalo stance," here's the Urban Dictionary definitions. I'm still a little confused to be honest.

The Buffalo Tom track, "Late at Night," must be especially highlighted because as any fan of My So-Called Life knows, that song has special significance for Angela. In the unforgettable hallway scene, Jordan finally publicly acknowledges their relationship by grabbing her hand as they walk off. I know, you just want to faint, even almost two decades later. Sigh.

You Can Fly, You Can Fly

A few weeks ago I went to go watch a family friend in San Diego Junior Theater's Peter Pan. She's still in high school but does "professional music theater," which means she's balancing academics, practices and performances, along with the usual growing up stuff like hanging out with friends and having fun. I asked her what her daily schedule was like and then I promptly fainted from exhaustion just hearing about it.

Disney is producing this pilot production of Peter Pan and when it's finished, they'll be selling it to other theaters and schools around the country to use. I had no idea that this was as thing, as I figured that high school musicals just, well, happened. I'd love to know what they charge for this kind of thing. No wonder everyone does the same few plays over and over.

San Diego's Junior Theater is like an all star cast of under-eighteen talent. Even though I was expecting some good performances -- my friend herself is an amazing singer -- I didn't realize that this production would be so professional. I mean, the sets and costumes were so serious. When they pulled out Captain Hook's boat, the crowd practically gave it a standing ovation because it was so impressive looking.

The script was really clever too. They did a nice job of having lots of "wink wink" moments for the audience; sidestepping the possibly racist portrayal of the Native American characters; and turned Peter Pan into more of a naughty nuisance -- who was slightly chauvinistic -- which gave Wendy and Tinkerbell room to shine. The script even had some hilarious throwaway references to Shakespeare and Sondheim.

I couldn't get over the fact that some of these kids were like eight years old. How do they get them to dance together? How are they all hitting their marks? I've seen/suffered through some performances from kids and it pretty much amounts to little blobs of energy bouncing around on a stage while everyone oohs and awws. This was no such thing. These "kids" were extremely talented and the show was so excellent. Next month I'm returning for their production of Footloose!

Oh if only I could act, sing, or dance, my life could have been so different. The height of my theater experience was playing Woodstock in a Christian Youth Theater production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." I had basically just moved to America. It was a non-speaking part. The next season I got two minor roles in Pinocchio -- street sweeper and donkey boy -- with again, no speaking roles. But oh how proud I was of having two parts. Near the end of the play I'd have to rush backstage to get into the street sweeper costume, so George and I could match for the rousing finale.

What I enjoyed most about the experience was the after parties of the cast. Ice cream, energy, everyone happy from having accomplished something together. Oh teamwork, it gets me every time!

And if you're looking for some YA books about performers and theaters, may I recommend Lisa Mantchev's Theatre Illuminata series (Eyes Like Stars, Perchance to Dream, the soon to be released So Silver Bright) and Lauren Bjorkman's super hilarious My Invented Life? You'll love'em, promise.

Throwback Thursday: ValueTales

Growing up, my friend Frank had a whole set of these books featuring cartoony illustrations of important historical figures and their achievements. They featured Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller, Beethoven, and Abraham Lincoln among many others. Each title focused on teaching you a value lesson, whether it be leadership, courage, adventure, honesty, or curiosity.

For the longest time I couldn't figure out what these were called. Googling around did me no good either. I had been hoping that my memory would eventually kick in, or I'd meet someone who knew what I was talking about, but after reading Krispy of A Nudge in the Right Direction's post about her collection of US History books, I caved and just texted Frank. Within ten minutes I had the answer I'd been searching for years to find: ValueTales.

Their Wikipedia entry informs me that ValueTales was published in La Jolla, a few miles away from where I grew up, so maybe that's why nobody else knew what they were. Between 1977 and 1997, Spencer Johnson and Ann Donegan Johnson cranked out forty five or so of these. (FYI: Spencer Johnson went on to write the deplorable Who Moved My Cheese?) I also should not overlook Stephen Pileggi's illustrations, as his art gave the series its winning personality.

One day when I own a bookshelf, I will strive to catch'em all. eBay has a lot of thirty ValueTales available right now for $210 in case you're feeling generous. There's quite a few of these volumes I don't recall actually, and really, I need to get educated and find out who Paul-Emile Leger and Ralph Bunche are. I have also never read the Johnny Appleseed one about "love," which could explain so much.

Anyway, a dream project of mine has always been to combine the ValueTales format with personalities from the hip hop community. Imagine a version of these books featuring influential rappers, DJs, graffiti artists, and b-boys. For example, the inaugural set could include DJ Kool Herc (Originality), Crazy Legs (Discipline), Lee Quinones (Exploration), Queen Latifah (Self-respect), Jay-Z (Ambition), Lauryn Hill (Miseducation), Tupac & Biggie (Camaraderie), A Tribe Called Quest (Noncomformity), Kanye West (Humility).

All I need now is an illustrator. And a publisher. And buyers. Don't make me draw these out myself and staple them together. My first Hip Hop Tale will be about my favorite rappers, Gang Starr in the Value of Partnership!


I'm taking pre-orders now for the people in your life who are nostalgic about ValueTales and also love hip hop. These books will also teach people valuable lessons such as using "Using Rap to Teach Pithy Lessons in Business." Actually no they won't. Not even a little bit. I just had to share that article because I found it to be so ridiculous. I mean, I love Rakim and all but if some venture capitalist starting quoting him to me as a way of imparting entrepreneurship advice, I'd be forced to dance battle it out right then and there.

I also hate it when literature T.A.'s try to cram Public Enemy lyrics down their students' throats as a way to seem relevant and cool. We get it guy, you listen to rap music. On with the show already.