Strangers in the night

The best thing happened to me the other night. I was waiting (in the disgusting heat) for the train at 23rd Street when a man and a little girl got off. I instantly recognized the man. I'm almost positive he's Japanese and he has crazy bleached blonde hair so he's pretty recognizable.

When I worked by Madison Park, I'd eat lunch there or take breaks with my coworkers. Almost every time we'd go to the park, we'd see this blonde Japanese man with his adorable little daughter. She had a bowl cut with short little bangs. The first time we saw them, she was probably about 2 years old, still learning to hold her balance while running around on the bumpy grass. We figured they must live nearby because they seemed to be there every afternoon. It was sweet to see. Eventually, we felt like we were watching her slowly grow up. When I saw her the other night, she looked at least 5 years old, baby fat shed away but still the short little bangs. I couldn't believe it was them. I hadn't seen them in years. I don't think they saw my gaping face, thankfully, and eventually I got myself together and got on the train, smiling all the way home. It's moments like this that make me love the city.

One Les Legend

I just found out sad news... legendary guitarist Les Paul died today at the age of 94. Though he obviously lived a full and seemingly happy life, it still saddened me to see another legend leave us. From what I hear, he had been playing weekly gigs in NYC for the last 20 years. Amazing. Before leaving for Japan, I did a bunch of NYC things I never got to do in case I didn't make it back here again and I'm so glad I did because one of them was seeing Les Paul live at the Iridium. He was amazing, playing completely at ease and with such joy. Scott and I waited in line outside hoping we'd get in and were one of the last to sneak in. We were surprised and pleased that it was still such a hot ticket.

A few things struck us the most. One was how frisky and slightly inappropriate he was with his sassy, much younger, female bassist. His comments were charmingly sexist, if that's possible, and he was pretty lewd! Another thing was how supportive he was of fellow musicians, especially young up-and-coming ones. He invited several unknown talents to the stage to play with him, one of many things that must've helped keep him young. And of course, his amazing talent. So smooth and quick with his fingers. It was truly a thrill to be in the presence of his musicianship.

Luckily, he won't be forgotten. The Les Paul guitar is the most famous electric guitar in the world and he also invented multi-track recording which changed the world of music forever. There was this amazing PBS doc about him I saw a few years ago. I just remember how much Les purely loved music and everything he invented (guitars, recording equipment, etc) was all in the name of that love. He used to record with his wife, Mary, and wanted her to backup her own vocals. Eventually he figured out a way to split tracks so that there were "two" Marys. That kind of simple inspiration is so incredible to me.

Les Paul, you will be missed.

Phantom phone limb

My cell phone was stolen this week. Total bummer. But I now realize how I attached I was to it and how crazy everyone looks on the street clutching onto their phones, texting and checking texts and doing whatever else makes us feel secure and connected. On my way to the police station (I have to do a formal report for my insurance... that was a first and a whole other story!), I felt so aware of people and their phones, it seemed everyone had one and was punching info into it, engrossed in their private worlds, some people with one in each hand! It started to feel really creepy, like some Sci-Fi movie where they show the future and how humans are all reliant on some technology and become all zombie-like. Of course, I'll replace my phone, but I just hope I don't get all zombie again.

Star hunting

Last week I was in LA visiting my folks and we went out shopping to The Grove. It's this fancy shopping mall they opened a few years ago where I'm told famous people shop. Actually a few years ago we went there when it had just opened and I spotted Jake Gyllenhaal and Kirsten Dunst at the Apple store, but I will say that aside from some staring, they were pretty much left alone to browse like semi-normal shoppers. This time, however, there were these two women, apparent stars (but my mom and sis and I didn't recognize them) hounded by video cameras, regular cameras, paparazzi, and bystanders. It was nuts. I guess this is what is shown on those TMZ-type shows which as a side note, I've been noticing the actual news often sites as real sources now. That I find is disturbing. They'll say, "According to TMZ..." which is so strange to validate those paparazzi weirdos.

Anyway, back to the story... the cameras were all crowding around them as they were trying on sunglasses outside and they were just snapping and filming away like mad. The strangest thing is that it was so quiet, the "stars" weren't saying anything like "back off" or "stop" and the cameramen were just getting as much footage as possible. All you could hear were the snapping of cameras and flashes. It was really eerie and creepy. Then when they moved to another shop, my mom was almost run over by the entourage. Even if you didn't want to be a part of the mob, you were stuck in it. We still couldn't figure out who the stars were, but I guess we'll find out on the tube soon enough.

Sour music video

Scott and I were happy to help out our filmmaker buddies Masa and Maggie with this very cool Japanese music video (maybe my students in Japan can catch it on TV!). I will tell you, now that we've gone behind the scenes, it is really hard to act. I hand it to Johnny Depp and all those other people. It is tough stuff taking direction and making things look natural. I wish I could've smiled more but I was concentrating a lot.

Congrats to Masa and Maggie on their hard work for this awesome video! Thanks for letting us be a small part of it!

The future is canceled

I stumbled upon this ominous sign while walking around Brooklyn today. Perhaps it's fitting on a day that marks an end of an era.



I'm talking about the switch from analog to digital TV. It actually happened! Most people probably don't care or hardly noticed because they have fancy paid TV, but as I am a proponent of free TV and broadcasts in general, and stubborn about paying for such things, I am one of the affected. I will miss the site of snowy TV and trying to angle rabbit ear antennas just so, banging on the tube to get a clearer picture (all classics). Gone are the days. It is indeed a sad day. Everything about digital TV feels so cold and robot-y. But alas, our previous President deemed it so and now the day has arrived. Good luck fellow analog friends!

Spilled silk

As we've steadily had more lactose-induced, er, issues lately, we decided to try switching over to Silk Soy Milk for a while. So far, the results, if you will, are excellent. And I must say, it tastes quite good. Kind of lighter than traditional milk, but sweet and it surely is silky. I feared it might taste watered down or grainy, but it has been delightful. I think I had a bad experience with an old roommate's Rice Dream once where it had rock-like bits in it and tasted all watery. In conclusion, though slightly pricier than regular milk, we recommend Silk if you're having problems with the dairy digestion. Soy is the solution for so many things.