Back to music: New job has kept me from updating as frquently as I'd like to, partially because I have SO MUCH catching up to do that I'm kind of swamped. Since I'm going to be out of town this weekend, I thought I'd throw a couple of NME links your way:

Hear'Say head back to London's G.A.Y. club night: Someone please tell me what G.A.Y. stands for.

Tabloid Hell: Poor Christina. The ritalin obviously isn't helping.

OutKast team up with Fatboy Slim on new single: Three years ago this would have been fantastic, exciting news for me. Now, I tremble in fear hearing OutKast pummeled into submission by a tired, lowest-common-denominator party beat mixed in with boring, obvious samples. Sigh.

Discuss.

"How big a tip did you leave?" Yesterday, Joei (my wife) got a call from a friend (who shall remain nameless) who had just gone to get her nails done. Apparently, the place she went to also gives massages. Joei was well on the way to developing full-on manicure-envy when said friend mentioned how good her breasts felt.

Joei said, "What?" She was confused by the apparent non-sequitur. However, Friend explained that the masseuse rubbed her breasts as part of the massage and that it felt really good.

Joei responded with, "She did WHAT????" Friend asked why Joei was so shocked. Joei, still somewhat incredulous, asked, "You paid some random woman to rub your breasts?" Friend, now a little unsure of herself, asked if it was unusual to get a breast rub when receiving a massage. Joei collapsed into fits of laughter, particularly when Friend insisted that she got the breast rub because she gave such a good tip. (I believe the exact quote was, "Well Joei, you might get your breasts rubbed too if you left a better tip!")

There was much hilarity over this the entire evening, particularly when we went over to Friend's house for dinner. Friend's husband described the entire situation as "a little gay", leading to the classic question, "Do you think it's gay to have another woman rub your boobs? Well, they feel great so I don't care... but is that kind of gay?"

I couldn't sleep for a while after we got home because I kept bursting into spontaneous laughter.

He's baaa-aack... Watch the return traffic dwindle as I try in vain to catch up at my new job.

So, whazzup y'all? Life has been hectic but sweet for your lucky lucky author, who has had the good fortune of stepping into a professional situation where his expertise actually mattters and the company is THRIVING. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I am the king of kings! To celebrate, I purchased a copy of Lateralus by Tool. (Well, not really; I was gonna buy it anyway, but bear with me.) I've only heard the first three tracks, but my calm reasoned opinion is that this is the BEST FREAKIN' ALBUM OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I must see these guys live...