What's Up Ninjas?

So here's a run down of what's been going on since we've not been paying much attention over here on Alex.

- Jen got a house and graduated from college. Big ups. Huge ups. Especially for the 3.9 GPA. How about a little applause? Yeah, that's right!

- Been working pretty hard and yet hardly working. Dad joke. In honor of John H. Martin's birthday this week, I had to.

- Jake and I got a dog. The handsome Henry. He and Otto are not getting along, but these things take time. He is a rather high energy doggie however, so last night he received his dinner in a snack ball. Roll for kibble, Henry! Otto observed from his roost on top of the refrigerator.

- We have some new blogs to share with you:
Geoff Johnston's The Hanging Brain. This is where Johnston does and says all the stuff you never expect anyone--with the exception of Geoff Johnston--to do or say.
Noah W. Bailey's Tha Juggalizer. After a recent video viewing of Insane Clown Posse fans (aka Juggalos) at the 10th anniversary "Gathering" celebrating all things ICP, Noah has now taken it upon himself to turn unwilling celebrity 8x10s into effing Ninjas up in this piece, yo. It's amazing how horrific "clown" make-up can make Angela Landsbury.

-You can also follow us on Twitter at @nerver or @squee_23 and if you play XBox, you can ask us for our gamer tags. We slay at Peggle!

What's new with you?

UPDATE: Henry was a sweet doggie but we discovered he had a taste for cat tail that couldn't be satisfied even after he unfortunately got a couple of bites of Otto's.
Otto is just fine now. His tail is no worse for the wear and he's calmed down a lot. The animal behaviorist we worked with agreed they could not live together and to return him was the best action, given Otto's traumatic past abuse and having no idea of Henry's early life. We were very emotional about the decision, but it turns out it was for the best because Henry has apparently found an awesome, loving no-kitty home!! I hope he got to take his loofah dog toy with him.

My New Favorite Blog

It comes from the Dallas Observer's own, but I don't think I'm biased. I think I'm just a grammar nut with a good sense of humor.

So let's welcome Everybody Needs a Copy Editor to the roll.
Best part? Submissions are encouraged. And c'mon, you know you've seen a sign or something with an awesome typo in the last--what? five minutes? Send 'em in, peeps.

D-Town Boogie

Check this, yo.
Introduction to D-Town Boogie from Dallas Observer on Vimeo.
My first bit part...the least I could've done was stand up straight. But Brittan rocks the house.

This freaks me out so much...

Thanks to Matty for this incredibly bizarre fitness video. There's no way in hell we're ever posting documentation of our WiiFit shenanigans, so nibble on this nugget for a while. I have no idea what is up with the poodle-puff muscles and frankly, I'm not sure I want to.

Speaking of the Matt-tastic, though, I want to congratulate him and his lovely on their impending September nuptials! I've purchased a truckload of Kleenex and and waterproof mascara just for the occasion.

In other news, I'm a terrible blogger. My mid-year resolution is to stop over here more. In my lengthy absence from Alex, us DO music peeps busted out the Dallas Observer Music Awards issue, I got to go to an awesome narrative workshop in Archer City--where I was honored to meet THE Larry McMurtry, Texas' king of storytelling and I've inadvertently eaten cow's heart (just a peek at an upcoming food review). Now, with the timestamp urging me bed-ward, I'll say night-night and promise that I'll do my best to post more!!

Women's Chorus, Not Constantinople

Can't claim the find on this one. Pete at DC-9 gets credit. These ladies go to town on some They Might Be Giants. As I commented over there, I think the performance was lost on the audience. I could be wrong though. There could be a slew of TMBG fans at Women's Chorus events.

Best Promo Ever

For the complete, original post, hit up Unfair Park here.

Frankly, I feel these were the true inspiration for Anchorman. If only there was mention of the Octagon.

Go Eat Here

Out on the hunt for Jen's new seating arrangement, we encountered some crazy shit this weekend (I'll keep count for you).

First, the Plano Bazaar. As some guy yelled "Miguelito!" over and over again, we looked for DFW Furniture Direct. We also found a baby Jesus statue (two) that I wish I'd had my camera on hand for. Lying prone, he, with locks of luxurious brown curls, had his arms in position and an expression on his face that seemed to say, "Who me? Sorry!" in a ho-hum sort of sit-com way. Awesome. And he was two-feet long.

Then we discovered the pho place. Pho Que Huong--which is not as cool pronunciation-wise as Pho Kim, but still has a nice ring to it upon first glance--had some dynamite Pho for a chain eatery. And it was cheap. Jen and I put away some pork gòi cuõn, bbq meatballs, pho and cà phê sû'a dá (pardon my accent marks, some of them are proving elusive) for about $10.50 a piece before tip. Now, just cut it down to one appetizer or none, go with water instead of the coffee and it'd be an even cheaper and still freakin' hearty lunch. Plus, we overheard stripper talk (three), saw some guys hanging out listening to Tejano by one of those windmill fill-up-your-water-jug places (four) and then found the furniture place where Jen procured her seatery. Success!

We then proceeded to get lost (five) on the back way to IKEA where, batteries are hard to find but extra stuff you don't really need to buy right then isn't. We did, however, leave with cups of icey lingonberry soda, which we did so very much need. Delicious.

Tonight

I'm So Excited

Also: 100 more pages and then I will answer the phone and discuss Harry. Also, three more days until the biggest, hairiest writing deadline of the year has past. Fingers crossed I live to tell... (Why, oh why did Scholastic choose the same week to release the book?! I struggle to work, read and sleep.)

Plan Ahead

Do what you will on your day off tomorrow (Happy independence, America.), but Thursday has a must-go show on the list:
Links for the listening: The Naptime Shake Daniel Folmer RTB2

AVS is A-OK!

Go here now and buy the inaugural zine from one Allison V. Smith. Seriously, do it. Go now. It's got crazy awesome photos in it that she kicked out in 2006 (43 pages worth to be exact). Signed and numbered. It's 20 bucks (which, for the work of Ms. Smith, is practically nada). Full color, yo. For reals. Support local. Word.

Update in Angel Case

The reward for information concerning the Belmont/McMillan animal abuse case has now increased to $6,000 thanks to contributions from neighborhood citizens and businesses.

Avi over at BarkingDogs.org has also posted the story and forwarded it to more than 1,000 people on his mailing list. Nice work, Dog.

Donate, Browse, Buy, Whatever...Just Help Lucy

And kudos to Boca Tinta's Amanda Newman for donating 10% of the door from this Thursday's show at Dada to Lucy's sugery fund. Read more about that (and the details of the sale since the flyer is so dang small) here.

If You Weren't There Saturday, You Missed Out...

...but our super friend-o-Alex, Noah, has saved your ass at least where Dove Hunter was concerned at the Zac Crain for Mayor Benefit CD Release party at Good Records. He recorded some of their tunes and has posted them on that amazing YouTube.

Unfortunately, Sir NaptimeShake provides us with no footage of Erika of the Heartless Bastards' set or that of Baboon, wherein they played much of their badass lastest album. But here's "What Turns Inside" by Dove Hunter (which is also the song featured on the ZCFM07 album):


As well as "The Shore":