Oh snap! Cold snap.

Being dependent on spending time outside for the purpose of both fun and transportation, I'm not such a huge fan of the fall and winter. Due to the fact that I've lived car-free for so many years, and that I do not have the finances necessary to alternate hemispheres every few months, I have now grown accustomed to their existence and have ceased calling for their destruction. Cold happens. Fine. (For me this is an example of my growth as a human being; I used to view cold as a personal and grievous affront. I found it insulting on a deeply intimate level.)

But that does not mean I appreciate Mother Nature giving me the run around, temperature-wise. I will admit that part of me enjoyed the rash of unseasonably warm November days we've experienced, but in the back of my mind I feared it would make things harder for me in the long run. My fear was that I would get cold, like all of a sudden, and I wouldn't be ready. Spread the chilling out graaadully over a few weeks, and I don't so much care. I got tights and gloves and arm gloves (aka arm warmers) and leg warmers and a balaclava. I got gear out the wazoo. So bring it, cold weather, and we'll see who defeats who. But no. Mother Nature had to get all tricksy, like, "Now it's 70°! Isn't it glorious! Hooray!!" only to turn around and say, "Now it's practically freezing, brrrr," and that was like over the course of ONE DAY mind you, which is hardly enough time to get acclimated. This was then followed by, "Hey, how 'bout some SNOW? Snow, snow, snow, all over everything. That's fun, right?" Not to mention between the cold and the snow it rained for forty days and forty nights, and that shouldn't even be POSSIBLE because this has all happened during the course of one month.

All of this has been leading up to me wanting to tell you that I have a sore throat. I am none too pleased about it. I had about eleven cups of tea while I was at work today, and I was only there for four hours. There is a distinct possibility of a regression in the tenuous peace that exists between myself and winter and I may get really, really cranky when it gets cold. I may even go into hibernation. Those bears might be onto something.

For the record there is a time when it is and when it is not to use the term "Oh snap!" I have [re]created a flowchart for you in the event that you become confused and wish to avoid an awkward situation. Like the one I'm in now. Looks like I blew it.



Also, here's a song about bears. There's an unwritten post somewhere about this song, and some other songs this guy sings, and some other bands who may have played with him. Perhaps I'll come back around to that sometime.

Jonny Corndawg - The Life of a Bear

Remember to bathe, boys and girls! Even while you are in dreamworld, bathing is just as important. Otherwise you might find yourself enhusked in a layer of dirt so thick that washing is no longer an option and you'll have to husk yourself clean like a human corncob. Is "enhusked" a word? I bet the dictionary says no, but the vividly disturbing imagery from the dream I had says yes.

Moral of the story: Don't be dirty, mmkay? Even after waking, the unsettling feeling of being unclean remains. If it wasn't 28° outside I might be tempted to find and walk through a car wash on my way to work. If you need help in not being dirty I found you an instructional video that may also improve your dance moves. (You're welcome.)

Pieces of a man

In a fit of musical exploration I went to the Pageant last night to check out some bands I've never heard of. This is perhaps a bit uncharacteristic for me at this particular time of year as I tend to go into hibernation mode in Fall and Winter, but I was helped by the fact that we have relatively balmy weather and that I acquired magical tickets. Score two for the good guys. In the forty-eight hours or so preceding the concert I did a little research on the bands in question to make or break my decision on whether or not I should actually go, and it turned out to be rather enjoyable, though not entirely what I expected.

Headlining the gig was Wolf Parade, who definitely represent themselves much better live than they do recorded. Listening to a smattering of tracks from their latest two albums I judged them to be just so-so, but they upped the energy level quite a bit on stage. Sadly it was not enough to encourage more than a few sporadic and intermittent dance moves from the crowd, but having no expectations I found it enjoyable.

The show stealer, however, had to be the opening act of Ogre You Asshole. I picked out a video at random and it happened to be one of their best songs. I don't know what it is these guys do to my brain, but I like it. Going in I was more excited about seeing them than Wolf Parade. Other than one frantically dancing guy the crowd never really warmed up to them - maybe because it was early? - but for me it was pretty special walking in just as they started my current top pick of their songs. They finished their set with one I've not yet heard but I for sure need to listen to - the bass solo was especially awesome, it's hard to believe anyone can play a bass that fast using a pick. I also did not mind getting Kei Mabuchi's autograph when he walked up and sat down right behind me. Does it qualify as being a fanboy moment if I've been listening to them for two days?

Japanese guys! In a box! Playin' music and havin' fun with confetti. At least the video isn't game show-inspired.


That's the good news. The bad news is I'm having a near-existential crisis over the state of organization of my music library trying to figure out how to file this properly. In what language do I title the albums and songs? Japanese with Japanese characters? Japanese with Chinese characters? Japanese using the Latin alphabet? English translations of Japanese? I am not helped by the fact that I've found the file names and metadata and general info vary between using ALL FOUR of these. Arrg... Ultimately, I feel the best compromise between authenticity and function is to use rōmaji, but I don't necessarily feel good about it. Order... need order... order which keeps me from going to pieces.