Dance your cares away,
Worry’s for another day.
Let the music play,
Down at Fraggle Rock.

[photopress:gmf_021206_02.jpg,thumb,alignleft] On Saturday night, I headed over to the Museum of Fine Arts with Andres for the last of the Beats of Basquiat series, featuring Grandmaster Flash. The Basquiat exhibit was ending on Sunday, so this was the big finale. [If you didn't get a chance to make it over to the MFAH, you missed an amazing exhibit - one of the best I've ever seen.] The Beats of Basquiat events were four evenings of music inspired by Basquiat’s work….and sponsored by, inexplicably, Starbucks. Basically, Starbucks turned the MFAH into a big dance club. There was a cover at the door, a cash bar with wine/beer/liquor, dance music with synchronized videos projected on the wall, and a little Starbucks kiosk in the corner with little Starbucks baristas pouring free coffee for people. Kind of strange. I also wonder what Basquiat would have thought about a corporate coffee company hosting this event. Don’t get me wrong, through - I loves me my non-fat, sugar-free vanilla lattes. But the best part was Grandmaster Flash, DJ Jester (who won me over with his mix of ‘Fraggle Rock’), and of course, all of Basquiat’s work.

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I’ve been listening to this amazing CD for the past several hours (I’ve hit the ‘repeat all’ button at least three times now) - Moffou by Salif Keita.  The CD was a birthday gift from Moussa, and I popped it into the player tonight. 

The album is really relaxing, beautiful West African music.  I’m really not familiar with African music (Western or otherwise), so I don’t know how this album compares to any others, but the music on Mouffou is a balance of happy upbeats while still being relaxing and serene.  It’s beautiful..  It’s been a while since I’ve heard an album I liked this much.

Salif Keita has a pretty interesting life story.  He’s the direct descendent of the founder of the Mali empire, and was born albino….which is considered back luck in Mandinka culture, so he was disowned by his entire family and community.  He eventually moved with his music from Mali to the Ivory Coast, then Paris, and then all around Europe.  A brief bio describes his music as combining “traditional West African music styles with influences from both Europe and the Americas, while maintaining an overall Islamic style. Musical instruments that are commonly featured in Keita’s work include balafons, djembes, guitars, koras, organs, saxophones, and synthesizers.”

 

This morning, I saw a woodpecker drilling the hell out of a pine tree.  He was going to town on the tree, and sheets of pine bark were falling to the ground below.  I snapped this picture on maximum zoom level, but still had to blow the photo up even more on my computer in order to make him out. 

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[photopress:dinner.jpg,thumb,alignleft] Spent an evening with the parents in the ‘burbs of Spring Branch.  My mom cooked a very yummy dinner with Korean banchan, grilled fish and miyukgook - seaweed soup traditionally eaten on birthdays.  Yum!

 

[photopress:lion.jpg,thumb,alignleft]While helping my mom prepare dinner, I noticed a new stuffed animal on the shelf.

Me: What is this?
My Mom: 2006 is the Year of the Dog.  So that’s a dog.  
Me: But this is a lion.
My Mom: No, it’s a dog. 
Me: Dogs don’t have manes. 
My Mom: It was made in Singapore. It’s a dog.
Me: What does being made in Singapore have to do with whether it’s a dog or a lion?
My Mom: It’s a dog!
My Dad: It’s a lion that looks like a dog…[my mom starts to argue]…ok, ok it’s a dog that looks like a lion.  Can we eat now?

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This .gif comes from the Sesame Street website, and was colored by yours truly using the graphics powerhouse MS Paint.  Since one of my horoscopes (read below) refers to my creativity, I decided to use some creative license in coloring this picture.  While Grover is usually a dark blue, this Green Grover represents what would happen if Grover (F1) and Kermit (F1) were to bear a child.  Unfortunately, Green Grover never got over being picked on by the other Muppet kids, and developed an ongoing alcohol problem which explains his bloodshot eyes and red nose.   

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 or is it?

[photo taken on I-10W, between Bunker Hill and Voss]

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On Saturday, I had an early birthday dinner with some friends at Blue Nile, a yummy Ethiopian restaurant on Richmond. I hadn’t had Ethiopian since I moved back to Houston (I missed the Ethopian in NYC), so dinner was especially good.

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