Oy Ve! Who Knew?

Let me set the record straight - I'm not Jewish. Not a week goes by that someone doesn't ask me if I am Jewish. I take no real offense to that. In fact, maybe I'm kind of an honorary Jew. When I was in dental school, one of my classmates even insisted that "with a name and a nose like that, you're definitely a Jew". That's fine. In fact, I almost like to perpetuate the ambiguity of it all. I get a small amount of mischievous joy out of watching people squirm when they just assume that I am Jewish, only to have egg on their face when I correct them. After all, isn't it so presumptuous of people to take something like that at face value? I personally kind of find it rude to inquire with somebody I don't know very well about their religion. Same goes for political predilection. Those are personal matters. But all in good fun.

My good friend Paul, who is Jewish, sent me this link called www.my-hebrew-name.com, where you can enter your name and it gives you the closest Hebrew version. He totally wants me to get in touch with my Jewish non-Jewish roots. My name, Bernard, is a pretty old-skool European name, so naturally about 4 different choices came up. I chose the coolest-sounding of the bunch (see below). Now I can totally work the whole faux-Jew schtick! What a badass Jewish dentist name: Dr. Barzilai Hofmann D.M.D., treating Jewish and gentile teeth alike since 1996! I'm getting all ferklempt!

Another Thought Of The Day

Playing Kiss Covers, Beautiful And Stoned

I'm getting pretty stoked for the upcoming Wilco show at the Florida Theater next month. Akemi isn't familiar with any of their catalogue, so I'm posting one of my favorite songs of theirs. This is actually from the documentary about them called "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" (also the title of a great song). It starts off with a really endearing scene between Jeff Tweedy and his son.



Shiny, shiny pants and bleached-blonde hair...

The Awful Blogger

Sounds like the name of an Irish pub, doesn't it?

That would be me. No excuses. This weekend was drill, of course, since I originally thought it was last weekend. It went fine and I got a lot accomplished administratively. Plus, Friday we went out to dinner with my brother and last night we went out drinking with yoga friends. Admittedly, I was hurting this morning. Unfortunately, no yoga, running, or surfing this weekend, so I need to make up for it this coming week. Also, this coming week is the last full week of my current job - the end to quite possibly the most miserable seven months of my career. Thank you sweet little baby Jesus! I even get about a 10-day break in between jobs. Akemi and I have plans to see Wilco in concert on 06 August, then go up to Virginia Beach for a few days to visit old friends. I'm really looking forward to a few days off. I'm also looking forward to working at an office with some semblance of professionalism. It's been said before... all things must pass.

Why Do You Come Here? Why Do You Hang Around?

Recently, a Japanese fan by the name of Keiko Kondo released some old candid photos of the Mozzer at an impromptu meet-and-greet at the Nagoya Station platform while he toured Japan in 1991. Arigatou Kondo-san! You can see more of these of the man, the Moz, the legend if you go to

www.tiptopwebsite.com/websites/index2.php?username=luckylisp&page=39.

I imagine that all of the pompadoured black-leather rockabilly dudes that used to hang out in Harajuku probably dug Morrissey.

Karaoke Champions

Last weekend was quite fun. First off, I made a pleasant mistake Saturday morning. I thought I had reserves drill and I drove all the way out to NAS Jax to find that it isn't until next weekend. So, I returned home, took Akemi's class, then we headed out to Hannah Park for a short surf session until the afternoon thunderstorm rolled in. We went home, cleaned up, and headed out for dinner and to see "The Dark Knight" (which was good, but so loooooong!). Sunday, the surf conditions were still nice, so we spent a good 3 and a half hours in the water. That really took a toll on my eyes, and afterward they looked like I had been smoking the pot all day long. It was embarrassing when we went to Publix, so I wore my sunglasses the whole time. That evening we had a few friends over for a cookout and karaoke. Rob swiped one of his mom's machines and brought it over. Every self-respecting Philippino family owns one (or more). We've been meaning to get one ourselves as we love it with a passion! Here's some pics! No, that's not my twin with an afro - Akemi brought out some props for "September" by Earth, Wind, & Fire.

Breaking My Brain

Upon recommendation by my sister-in-law, I recently watched the movie "Breaking The Waves" (she also does Netflix rental). It was directed by Lars Von Trier, the eclectic Danish creator of "Dancer In The Dark" and "Dogville". This movie took me three evenings to get all the way through it. I'm still kicking it around in my mind. I'm still confused as to if I found this movie artistically great or really just irritating. Emily Watson's character Bess McNeill ain't mentally all there, but yet I found it hard to empathize for her. Stellan Skarsgard (also the math professor in "Good Will Hunting") does a great job as her loving husband, Jan, who becomes paralyzed due to an accident on an oil rig. Though he advises Bess to take on other lovers, he is a much more likeable character. The ending is a little ironic, but I was at least happy with the resolution. I know this movie received all kinds of critical acclaim, but I had a really hard time with it. Check it out for yourself (maybe).

Tonight, National Geographic Channel had a program on Tokyo and how architects and city planners utilize such very limited space for its millions of residents. It was awesome! Though I've been here for 7 months now (!), every time I see something about Japan it still gives me that gut-wrenching feeling of nostalgic melancholy. Not sure what the hell I'm doing here in the U.S.

Big Bertha

Tropical storm Bertha blew up right through the middle of the Atlantic last week and kicked up some pretty righteous surf along the East coast. We were able to enjoy some of it on Sunday morning, before getting back to remodeling. It's funny how the Surfline website described it as only "fair" conditions. They always downplay the quality of the surf conditions, almost as if to discourage people from going out there and clogging up the line up. Well I'm no expert, but I'd say it was pretty damn good - almost Costa Rica proportions. Any bigger than it was on Sunday, I'd have been afraid to get out there. We went down to Costa Rica in 2004, and it was great fun, but I definitely had my ass handed to me on a platter at a couple of the spots we went out to. "Pura Vida" to the nth degree!

My apologies for the quality of the photos - it's really hard to get any decent surf pics without a telescopic lens.

Another Thought Of The Day

Not to inundate you with a bunch of song lyrics, but where does Beck come up with them? Here's a chorus from "Nicotine and Gravy" (from 1999's "Midnight Vultures") that I love:

"I think we're going crazy
Her left eye is lazy
She looks so Israeli
Nicotine and Gravy"

That's quality songwriting!

Studio Remodeling

Sorry I've been such a delinquent blogger for the past few days. So much going on right now. Anyway, Rob has been out of town for the past two weeks, so Akemi and I and a couple friends practiced karmic yoga (yoga through compassionate actions) and remodeled his studio a little by decluttering, cleaning, painting, and reorganizing most of this past Saturday and Sunday. We were quite happy with the results and I'm sure he'll be in for a pleasant surprise when he returns to see it, kind of like "Trading Spaces" or "While You Were Out". We drank a bunch of beer while we were at it, so hopefully the paint doesn't have a lot of streaks in it!


Before (or actually 'During'):







After:

Another Thought Of The Day

Some of the most eloquent words ever put to music:

I was delayed, I was way-laid
an emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
and the pain was enough to make
a shy, bald buddhist reflect
and plan a mass-murder

- Morrissey, "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"

Becktastic!

Our blue-eyed, blonde-haired little scientologist friend has done it again! That's Beck, of course, with a new album entitled "Modern Guilt" (so appropriate). This one was produced by Danger Mouse, co-founder of Gnarls Barkley and producer of Gorillaz album "Demon Days". I read an early review of this album that said it had a real late-60s vibe to it, and I totally agree. Some tracks definitely have a Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" tint to them, or psychedelia-meets-Beach Blanket Bingo. When you download it from iTunes, it comes with a video for the track "Gamma Ray" which has Andy Warhol written all over it. Beck just gets more and more interesting with every album he releases and I'm glad he's here to stay. He's by far one of the most interesting American artists making music today - reinventing himself at every turn. I hope to catch him again live. The Budokan show last year was magical - a once in a lifetime experience. Cheers to my buddy Paul for going with me!

A Great Weekend, An Even Greater Monday

Hope your holiday weekend was good! Ours was active and a lot of fun.

Thursday night we went to Jerry's Bar, not too far from here. Not the most exciting place to go, but at least it's close. We got there a little late, around 10pm, which apparently is the redneck witching hour as a live band started up shortly after we arrived, playing classic rock hits for a bunch of slack-jawed yokels who were stumbling around on the dance floor. Guess since people were blowing off a little bit of steam with the start of the weekend, that night was a little more "red" than usual. I've always been a Led Zeppelin fan, but it's always been a little perplexing to me that an English band from the 70s/80s that sported Aqua-Net perms and tight pants and sang about "The Lord of the Rings" has always been a huge musical staple in the South.

Friday, I got a 6 mile run in, then Akemi and I had a few rounds at Caribee Key at the beach, but left just before sundown to avoid all of the traffic for the fireworks. It was not a big deal that we didn't stick around for them, as there were plenty of fireworks being shot off in various neighborhoods around here that were almost semi-professional. Besides, people-watching from the patio bar at Caribee was loads more entertainment than fireworks. See the pics below (featuring Jacksonville Beach's Royal Mounted Police).

Saturday was the 'trifecta' of activity for me as I ran 6 miles in the morning, then took a Bikram class with Akemi, then went surfing for a few hours. We ended with dinner at a Thai restaurant with my brother and sister-in-law.

Sunday we attempted to surf again (but no waves yesterday), then I took Akemi's Bikram class at 4pm. We grabbed some sushi at "Tama's" at the beach afterward.

Then, today was the day - I put in my official 30-day written notice to terminate my position at my current dental office. What a huge relief!! I'll die if I stay there a minute longer than I have to. It's been both the most miserable experience in my life, but also one of the most eye-opening. It really, really made me second guess, and even regret, my decision to leave active duty. I am moving on to, I think, another practice (limited only to endodontics) which will be a drastically higher quality place to work. I start August 18, leaving me a ten day break between jobs. Looking forward to it. Waiting to restart my professional life in a much more positive environment.

Another Nerd-tastic Achievement

Once again I find myself wasting incredible amounts of time with frivolous pursuits, this time getting all the way to the end of the "The Simpsons" game for the Nintendo DS. It was an infectious, guilty pleasure, and I loved every minute of it. It was probably the wittiest of any of the previous Simpsons games that I have seen, pitting you against a whole host of old video game cliches, Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, characters from "Futurama", and even God in a surreal game-within-a-game stage. The graphics were exceptional, especially for the DS, but what made it the most entertaining was that all of the original voice actors lended their voices to the game and throughout each of the stages the side-comments are hilarious. Definitely worth checking out if you have a DS. (The DS is sort of crack-lite for me; if I owned a Wii I would probably never leave the house.)

Ja, It's Really Gut!

Jackpot! I found a dance club favorite of mine from way, way back (~1988) both on iTunes and YouTube entitled simply "Bring Me Edelweiss" by Edelweiss. It's a great sort of early Euro-techno track merrily combining rap, "The Sound of Music", and Abba's "SOS" to a stomping industrial beat. I'm pretty sure this was a one-hit wonder (maybe only in Europe), but it brings back great memories for me of a dingy little clove smoke-filled teen club/coffee bar at the beach called "Einstein A-Go Go" that I used to frequent in high school as I and my friends were first starting to open our ears to this exciting new genre called "alternative" music. I seem to remember the Goth kids really digging this song - I think it was the whole German-Austrian/"Sprockets" connection - stern, metallic, precise, but somehow goofy and slaphappy in the same instant. The video is even more surreal, and could even be discerned as politically incorrect by today's standards. Ein prosit!

Oddly enough, the former site of "Einstein's", as we affectionately called it, is now "Fionn McCool's", a trendy Irish pub. Go figure.

Our Lovely Ladies

Hey y'all! Nothing profound to post today - just some recent pics of us with our kids. Enjoy!

Another Thought Of The Day

If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes.

- Pablo Picasso

Short Circuit 3

Last night we went and saw that new Pixar dog and pony show, "Wall-E". Just kidding - it was actually great, as expected. I won't ruin the story here, as many people haven't seen it yet. Just a few comments. The CGI is insane!! It is un-freakin-believable what they can do now. The graphics in this one make the first "Toy Story" look like a junior high school project! The textures and colors look so realistic - it really looks like they filmed shots of actual tangible objects - but no, that's all CGI. Also, do the conceptual artists realize that Wall-E looks like Johnny 5 from "Short Circuit"? Does anyone remember that movie other than me? Remember - Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, and Fisher Stevens doing a really bad impression as an Indian scientist. (What? They couldn't hire a real Indian guy back in the 80s?). My favorite line from that movie: "Shit? Where see shit? No see shit". Anyway, there's obviously lots of other influences going on in "Wall-E" - especially Mac computers. When Wall-E reboots it makes the same start-up tone that my Mac makes. The beginning of the movie is very reminiscent of "I Am Legend", with Wall-E being the only intelligent life remaining, and the first 15-20 minutes of the movie contains no dialogue as we see how he lives his daily life (as with Will Smith in "Legend"). Also, Eve absolutely looks like either an i-Something creation or a robot that you might find in Akihabara, Tokyo. And the "Buy 'N Large" conglomerate. Is that Wal-Mart or what? It's funny because my wife asked me if American people will enjoy this movie because it clearly busts on them on two accounts: 1) All surviving earthlings on the Axiom space cruiser are grossly obese and partake in absolutely no physical activity. In fact, they float around on "hover chairs" captivated by holo-phones whilst being fed pureed fast foods. We all could easily be headed in that direction. 2) The ultimate goal of the surviving generation of people is to locate sustainable plant life back on Earth, which would be a tell-tale sign that they could return to the planet and initiate recolonization. This is totally a moral on leading a "Green" lifestyle, something a lot of people have a point of contention with. My answer to Akemi is that in my estimation, people (i.e. Americans) would totally be content floating around in hovering Lazee-Boys watching holo-Monday-Night-Football while slurping down a pureed extra large Meat Lovers' Pizza. Who needs trees? Hell, who needs a breathable atmosphere? Go see this movie - it's worth seeing on the big screen.

Side note - Maria Sangria - if you're reading this, thanks for your MySpace message last month. Sorry I couldn't reply. My account is totally hosed up with them so I can't really use it anymore (in fact, I rarely even check it). I can't really stand MySpace anyway. Drop me a comment some time on this site!