This is me and several of my friends in in high school. Eric is in the white hard hat. It's not even worth explaining what we're doing. I'm the only one without a hat. I was that vain in high school -- I didn't want to ruin the...
I am presently in the midst of revising (FTYPAH: "studying") for exams, so blogging has fallen way down the priority list -- still above housecleaning but well below watching "I'd Do Anything" (a). So, I was all set to let the blog go into its usual other-things-are-happening languishing state, but now Eric has given me something to post.Here are a few videos from a recent performance of the Secondhand Ska Kings at Minneapolis' Fine Line. It's a group of people in their 30s pretending they are still in college. But they are betrayed by the fact that they are in tune:On this one you get to hear funky, funky Eric sing. An interesting thing to note is that Eric is always like this. Watch his mannerisms and this is pretty much how he acts all the time. No, really. Go to his house and you'll...
A quote from me, age 12:"Yeah, but I liked Metallica better when Jimi Hendrix was their lead guitarist."I can't ever decide which I like more about that quote: that Eric bought it; or that I didn't know I was totally full of shit in saying...
Here's an actual thing that happened in my life: Some 15 years and six months ago, Eric and I were in the Dominican Republic, wearing wool marching band uniforms, and several hundred people were shouting, "guapo," at Eric's brother. That's the sort of thing you wouldn't think I'd forget, but I had until just...
The other day I saw Suggs advertising fish fingers ("fish sticks" for those of you playing along at home) on television, which elicited a howling response from myself and a sort of roll of the eyes from the child bride. She did this because she knew that no matter what she did, I was going to insist on telling her who Suggs was.My head is a Rwandan minefield of useless pop culture references -- it is almost impossible to hold a two-minute conversation with me without my working in a joke about some person or band you've never heard of. I don't really have a good reason for doing this. When you think about it, it's a stupid way to hold a conversation. What's the point of a wacky reference to Phyllis Diller (a) if it is no more relevant to the listener than a reference to Valerie Bell (b)?...
I added a link to it a few days ago, but I want to draw your attention to my favourite blog at the moment: Overheard in Minneapolis. It's actually a collection of things overheard in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, but that probably wouldn't have as nice a ring to it.The quote that had me laughing this morning was this one, which I imagine is the sort of thing that Eric's wife, Kristin, would say if she had...
Being away from the internets this past week meant I didn't get a chance to wish Eric a happy birthday.Actually, that turns out to be pretty convenient -- it is much easier to with Eric a belated happy birthday than sending good wishes on the day. Because I'm not entirely certain when his birthday is. After 19 years of friendship, I am able to state with unsteady confidence that his birthday falls somewhere between 17 July and 21 July.That four-day window of possibility is better than I can claim for Paul, who I've known almost as long. I think Paul's birthday falls on 12 October but I could be off by as many as 15...
For those of you living in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, remember that the mighty 3 Minute Hero will be performing tonight (Friday) at Bunkers and Saturday at Fine Line. If you don't go see their show the terrorists...
As the three regular readers of this blog will already know, my best friend, Eric, has a proud tradition of sending me pictures of his dog. And I have a proud tradition of making fun of him for doing so. Now he's sent me a picture of Bear looking like this. She is biggest geek in all of dogdom. OK, chwarae teg*, I may be partially to blame for her already having been a bit awkward in the dog hierarchy; I taught her Welsh. But this satellite dish is doing her no favours. Bear will never get asked to the dog prom now.The more amusing picture, however, is this one, where Bear's body is missing. If I weren't so incredibly lazy, I would Photoshop that picture to make it appear that her head has been mounted above some rich chap's fireplace, next to a rhino. As is, the picture has a certain...
For those of you following my life as if it were some ultra-important epic novel, you'll remember that Eric has been known to send me pictures of his dog. On my fridge, I have a Christmas card from him featuring him and his wife in matching outfits*, standing with the aforementioned dog in front of their fireplace. The card says: "Merry Christmas. Love, Eric, Kristin and Bear." Apart from wondering how Eric managed top billing on the card, the thing that stands out to me is that Bear, the dog, wanted me to have a merry Christmas. How do they know that? I have read that a dog can forget about you in as little as 10 hours. If I ever meant anything to that dog, she is soooo over me by now. In a way, it was very cruel for the Johnsons to send me a picture of a creature that never thinks about...
There is a strange sense of immense pride that comes from realising that my best friend's band is on iTunes. It's like he's talented and...
We got Christmas cards today from the Phins, and the Johnsons. I mention that just so they will know that the cards have been received and are muchly appreciated. We're putting all our cards on the modern hearth -- the television -- and are now running out of space, so we don't feel too lonely this Christmas.For our part, we've been ridiculously slow in sending out cards. We got out all the ones to family last week, but I was still sending a few to friends...
