| Memetic Rick Semi-regular ramblings from a Los Angeles transplant, science geek, and home-brewer all rolled into one guy. |
Current Terror Alert Level |
| Memetic Rick Semi-regular ramblings from a Los Angeles transplant, science geek, and home-brewer all rolled into one guy. |
Current Terror Alert Level |
As Jen was kind enough to point out: Mike Patton has a new group/album coming out next week, and it's currently streaming in its entirety on that myspace thing that all the cool kids use these days (even me).
For those saying "who?", Patton is the soundscape genius behind the heyday of Faith No More, the insane clown allegory and Ode to California concept albums of Mr. Bungle, and the weird stuff of late as Fantômas.
Apparently, he's on Conan O'brien tonight (May 26). Hide the children!
I've returned recently to the gym on campus to get my San Fran half-marathon training started back on track. Last week, I managed to drop my UCLA ID on the way to the locker room from the front entrance. I recovered it quickly enough then.
Yesterday, I entered the gym as usual. My problems seem to start with the fact that you need to take out your ID and swipe under a barcode reader (to keep the iron-pumping homeless out?). Once in the locker room, I ransacked my locker to organize the unused gym clothes supply and bag some of the smelliness. Somewhere in that process, I realize that I am no longer holding my ID... again. I unpack everything once more and empty my pockets: no ID. I go out and check at the front desk, where I regained my ID last week: nope. I go ahead and work out and even leave the gym for a run around campus and return: no ID turned in. Oh well, these things happen, but it'd be nice if there wasn't a replacement fee.
One sauna trip and shower later, I return to my locker. The guy with the locker immediately below mine is packing things back up and getting ready to leave. I've never run into him before, but now he says, "Is this by any chance your ID?"
Life can throw you lemons, but sometimes it sends guavas instead.
I've been a little silent to pretty much everyone about this situation, mostly because there was Family Drama (tm) attached for a while. Jen and I returned late Monday from a long weekend in Honolulu after attending my father's wedding. The short version is that he finally met a wonderful lady in Hawaii to move on with his life after my mother's passing three years ago (rightly so). He is an impulsive man, however. Although they just met in January, they were engaged in March, and would have essentially eloped two weeks later if some folks hadn't wanted to attend a ceremony. Thus, Drama from some circles. I'd have been content with visiting Tokyo for one of the reception-type parties.
Since I figure the man knows what he is doing and whatever makes him happy is fine with me, I didn't really have any major issues with this. The whole situation comes with added fun, too. His new wife, Reiko, is Japanese with two sons from a previous marriage. Nobuo is older, around my age I think, and a computer engineer of some variety. Yoshio, the younger one and near Cate's age, is a yoga and "animation dance" instructor. Both speak very little English. Nobuo and his wife couldn't make it, but Yoshio flew in for a whirlwind 96 hours or so.
We all had a good deal of fun together on this trip, I think. Jen and I stayed in a hotel room for the first time, rather than cram into my father's apartment as we've done on all previous visits. This allowed us to chill out as necessary. The newly extended family went to a cheesy club on Sunday night, so we got to see some of Yoshio's moves, too. It's a mix of hip-hop dancing and other freestyle stuff I have little frame of reference for. Searching google for "animation dance" was useless, but I did find a few decent examples on YouTube here, here, and here.
There is talk of possibly doing Christmas in Tokyo. That is the awesome.
(Jen took better notes.)
YouTube posted time-lapse video horror story...
(via Marginal Revolution, an economics and schtuff blog that I randomly subscribe to)
original here
This grad school thing does seem to take a certain amount of time each day...
It makes sense to return to spewing fun things to look at here, though. Here's a collection of stuff that's been accumulating in my collective bookmarks for far too long:
Jen, be careful when you bring up Europop in the future :)
I see your Alcazar (Swedish group, of course) and raise you Belgian trio Lasgo. At least Alcazar harmonize well, although they managed to top themselves with a very silly cover of "Don't You Want Me", apparently. Egads!