South and Surly?

It has been six years since my last post on here. The question is "am I still the surliest man on the Southside?"

Let's take a look at each of the requirements.

1. Man. Check.

2. Southside. I have lived two different places since my last post. One was on the Northside for about 9 months. But a year ago I bought a house within the city. Less South than before, closer to Downtown. But still South, so check again.

3. Surly. This is the hardest one to meet. I have not been feeling very surly. Things that would have used to get me in a surly rage seem to just blow right by. However, I will try, dear reader, to once again be the Surliest Man on the Southside. To help me with this, please comment with items that you suspect will set me off in a cantankerous fit.

Tulip Time vs. Pandas

I hate Tulip Time. More specifically I hate the traffic, which I guess means I hate the Tulip Time tourists. It took me way too long to get to Menard's yesterday. And that "new" Menard's is just awful. Unless you are looking for some milk and a DVD rather than grass seed and lawn soil. But I sure do LOVE them pandas at the National Zoo in DC.

Obligatory Best of 2007 Post

Ok, here they are. BK's Musical Best of 2007:

Best album:

Sky Blue Sky - Wilco

Runner-ups:

Our Love to Admire - Interpol
Foreign Domestic - Tim Keegan
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank - Modest Mouse

Best song:

North American Scum - LCD Soundsystem

Runner-ups:

Don't You Evah - Spoon (yes, covers are allowed)
Icky Thump - The White Stripes
Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning) - Kaiser Chiefs
Wait For Me - Dean and Britta

Best concert:

Yo La Tengo, Freewheelin' tour, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

Best venue:

State Theater, Kalamazoo MI, Modest Mouse

Most courteous crowd surfers:

Modest Mouse, State Theater, Kalamazoo, MI

Worst venue:

Orbit Room, Grand Rapids, MI, Interpol

Worst crowd:

Interpol, Orbit Room, Grand Rapids, MI

Best concert with least expectations:

The Paper Route, Knickerbocker Theater, Holland, MI

BK Heart Cookies

I'm not exactly sure where this photo came from, but it appeared on my phone Saturday night. What could the cryptic "B, K, and heart" mean? I think someone might be trying to poison me...

Halloween

We've got Captain Bones on the left and Stripey the Tiger on the right. We first did the neighborhood a little bit, and then headed to the dorms when it started to rain. The rain cleared quickly and there was a big rainbow. In the basement of one of the dorms there was a cemetery. Captain Bones liked the "dead humans" and Stripey fancied the "moving ghost." But of course the Cap said "it wasn't scary to me" and according to Stripey, "we is brave."

The Teddy Bear Habit

I started reading it once again yesterday. Fantastic YA novel. One of my childhood faves. I'm trying to remember when I first read it; 1st or 2nd grade maybe, but that seems a little young. I think George Stable and Rob Fleming would get on well. I just learned that there is a sequel, Rich and Famous, so I ordered it on MeL.

Yo La Tengo Tonight

At Calvin. Supposedly an "almost-acoustic" show. With almost any other band "almost-acoustic" would be a turn-off. But not with Yo La Tengo.

And a little background from Wikipedia:

"The band's name comes from a baseball anecdote. During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into the 160-pound Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" which is "I've got it" in Spanish. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by 200-pound left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn "What the heck is a Yellow Tango?".^[1]

The band wanted a name that sounded foreign in order to avoid any connotations in English and Kaplan is a devoted baseball fan. However, it still irks them when they are asked the origin of the name. The band once performed a cover of the Mets theme song "Meet the Mets" during a benefit appearance on radio station WFMU's pledge drive. A track on I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is called "The Story of Yo La Tango" in apparent reference to an all-too-frequent misspelling of the band's name."

Hopefully someone will ask them tonight "what the heck is a Yellow Tango?"