El Día de Seis Flores

Yesterday my housemate came up to me and said, "You know, today is a special day." I said, "Is it your birthday?"

"No."

"Is it the day you first moved into this house?"

"Oh, no, but that's a good guess."

"What day is it?"

"It's El Día de Seis Flores."

He showed me a large hibiscus plant in a room at the back of the house. During the course of the day six flowers had bloomed on it. They looked really gorgeous. The hibiscus originally belonged to his grandfather in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Wet Hot American Summer

I searched out Wet Hot American Summer because I've been loving all things State-related the past few weeks. I found it here. Wow, what an amazingly funny movie.

Japanese Poems

The Kudo's album Light inspired me to check out some Japanese poetry from the library. Here are a couple of my favorite poems from the book One Hundred Poems from the Japanese, translated by Kenneth Rexroth.

"The white chrysanthemum
Is disguised by the first frost.
If I wanted to pick one
I could find it only by chance."

-Oshikochi No Mitsune

*********

"Out in the marsh reeds
A bird cries out in sorrow,
As though it had recalled
Something better forgotten."

-Ki No Tsurayuki

New Bharat Brass Band

There is some great music by the New Bharat Brass Band posted on the stellar Bravo Juju blog. It's very bright and invigorating. Wonderful rhythms, compositions, and ensemble playing.

I also have Bravo Juju to thank for turning me on to one of my favorite guitarists, Joe Morris.

Tori Kudo Interview

I stumbled upon an interview with Tori Kudo, the guy behind Maher Shalal Hash Baz. It can be found at Psychedelic Noise from Japan and NZ.

My favorite quote in the interview is when Kudo says, "Now that I have gained a correct understanding of absolute north, the comical nature of all lyrics about passing through darkness has been revealed to me."

The website also features a great interview with Asahito Nanjo.