The What Foundation

Yeesterday, I woke up bright and early for another day of Sunday school. For reasons, I will not mention how much my teachers yelled/were intolerant of barely-audible humming.. Oops! Just did. Sorry Gary. Anyway, afterwards we went for some fine dinin’ at Mixteco, a Mexican grill. As a result of a compromise with Sam (he didn’t want to go out to eat), we promised him we’d go to a comic book store after we eat. Of course, it was filled with violent, sexual, disturbing images nine year olds usually wouldn’t – or at least shouldn’t – see. But luckily the guy helping us was very nice and thoughtful, so we ended up with a more kid-appropriate comic. When we were checking out, they gave us a mound of free Marvel promotional stuff. One of the freebies was a Wizard of Oz sketchbook, which I thought was pretty cool. I’m just glad Sam’s innocence is still intact.

Later, a couple of our friends came over. We sung Greg “Happy Birthday” in false Opera voices and make-do harmonies. Then we watched “Toddler & Tiaras” on TLC, a [disgusting] child beauty pageant show. Six year olds dressed like thirty year old strippers is so disturbing, especially when they’re spray tanned and wearing false teeth. But the craziest part is the moms. Mostly ex-Miss [Insert State or Small Town] winners, the mothers on the show are i-n-s-a-n-e. The only mom we saw that was actually bearable was the “natural” girl’s. She was not a beauty queen herself and had a strict “only for fun” policy at the pageants. Her daughter wore no makeup and had a sweet, real smile (as opposed to the uniform troll-ish smirk). She ended up as “first runner-up,” but after a recount it was discovered that she actually won! Go natural girl!

After we had seen enough of the “plastic children” as they’ve come to be known, we headed off to Leonas for dinner. Aside from the ’70’s Sony promo music videos being blasted by eleventy hundred TVs, it was an enjoyable meal. We played TV trivia against people at other tables and totally owned. A lot of the questions were strange (Which doctor wrote blah blah in 1878?) but we somehow attained a national ranking of 111 out of thousands. Interesting.

On Saturday I talked a little about Andrew Bird. It led me to an awesome video of him performing in some basement. That man is veerry talented with a sampler/looping pedal. And the violin. And guitar. And vocal chords. Delicious music. Whatever song it is that he’s playing in the video has a most bittersweet melodies, it will make you joy-cry. Check it out.

I should’ve mentioned this before: Lux Interior, the beloved rock n’ roll frontman, passed away this month. He suffered from an unfortunate heart condition leading to his death at 62. He was – is – undoubtedly one of the most unique and influential icons of punk rock. Too bad this CBGB’s legend had to go so early. In honor of his memory, let’s look at some rather unflattering pictures of him and his bright stage presence, performing with The Cramps.

On an odd note, a couple days ago I discovered a thing called the National Headache Foundation. Okay, what the !@#$? Apparently there is such a thing. On their website, they state “The National Headache Foundation exists to enhance the healthcare of headache sufferers.” Furthermore, “It is a source of help to sufferers’ families, physicians who treat headache sufferers, allied healthcare professionals and to the public. The NHF accomplishes its mission by providing educational and informational resources, supporting headache research and advocating for the understanding of headache as a legitimate neurobiological disease.” Despite it’s ridiculousness, I am kind of interested in joining. In fact, I’ve got a headache right now. Help me NHF! Like Stephen Colbert: I Am A Headache Sufferer (And You Can Too!). Where’s that sign up sheet…