Luxury update / BT Express / Sha Na Na

The other day I wanted to transport my upright bass and my son at the same time. After decades of being used to the subcompact lifestyle, I was a little shocked to find that I could fit both of them in the vehicle at the same time rather than having to arrange a series of multiple trips. Bizarre.

 The Midnight Special served up an episode from 1975 with B.T. Express and Sha Na Na:

B.T. Express, it turns out, are really good. Tight, danceable, bass heavy, no filler, no ballads, hypnotic dance moves, flute solos, excellent taste in 70s goldenrod clothing. I'm mesmerized by the lead singer's insistent and unergonomic tambourine shaking. The prude in me is a little put off by the orgasmic moment in the middle of "Do It ('Til You're Satisfied), but has to admit that it makes sense. 

Then Sha Na Na comes on and... I don't get it. I'm trying to contextualize this absurdist greaser-nostalgia act in the context of the late 60s and early 70s, and heaven knows I love absurdist humor, but this is like fourth-order nostalgia at this point. And it doesn't help that the performance is notably half-assed and all over the place compared to the laser focus of BT Express. Maybe they were over the hill at this point? Maybe it made more sense in the context of the times? I guess I'll have to talk to the boomers in my life.

Gentrification notes/Yoko on CD/website

Dear little downtown Milwaukie, Oregon, getting all grown up and having multiple vintage stores and a record store. I biked to B-Side Records & Vintage after dropping off a bunch of the boy's cat manga at the library and there's some good energy, even if I, as someone who has entirely too many records and too much kitsch on hand, am not likely to drop much money there.

TIRED: $20 used Elton John records
WIRED: $3 NOS Yoko Ono CDs

I picked up some late-period Yoko Ryko reissues (Starpeace, It's Alright (I See Rainbows) etc.) on gleaming digital media and plopped them in my CD player. Their particular flavor of futuristic 80s cheese (this is a compliment) goes great with that icy laser sound. You can almost feel the beams glancing off her awesome oversized sunglasses.

It's a little sad that I haven't updated my website in years and years. Considering yoinking what I put up a long time ago (developed on Dreamweaver 5.5 back when) and just going with good old-fashion HTML. Will report back.

Guadalajara 2025 part 2

Tuesday we are gripped by FOMO and decide to do it all. We go back to the best vegan restaurant for brunch and are delighted that they have merch featuring their cute vegan cave people. 

We take an Üüüüübür to Tlaquepaque and tourist it up. We buy cute souvenirs, visit the Taller de Dulces at Nuestros Dulces where we see delicious sweets being made (for pretend at least) and make out a good portion of the rapid candy-focused Spanish. The boy asks for a small lollipop in delightful Spanish and everyone seems pretty charmed. There is some sadness that rompope will not work on the carryon. 

On a hot Tlaquepaque afternoon I have a nieve de agua, yerbabuena (spearmint) with lemon, and it is completely perfect for the situation. I remind myself to remind our local water ice (and video and espresso) emporium to try something similar. 

I pay six or eight pesos to use a pay toilet in the back of an endlessly fluorescent electronics bazaar. Each stall has more dubious phone cases and more bright lights than the last.

We head back to town and stop by Nimia, the sort of arts and crafts and clothing and jewelry store that would be my go-to for thoughtful creative gift-giving if it were not several thousand miles and one national border away. We get some very cute art for the wall. They also sell paletas and ice cream sandwiches from a charmingly twee little window. The boy does not say no.

Wednesday we cram into a tiny vehicle to go to the airport against the awe inspiring sunrise over endless industry. The Guadalajara airport is pleasant and efficient and we spend the last of our pesos. LAX is awful, especially in comparison. We make it back to Portland, my mom takes us home, and we try to process it all.

RLLRBLL/Lorena Álvarez/The Bats

I got a chance to see RLLRBLL last night for the first time in ages. Man they're good. As they have shrunk down to their core trio over the decades (!) they have cut out all the fat, just lean volume all around. I was positioned in front of the subwoofer at Bunk Bar so I got to take in all of the bass heroics. New album Gilliam contains no major chords per my accounting, all minor, and drops the line "God I love the Wipers" in "Negate" - is this their Youth of America?

The boy got way into the charming game Alba: A Wildlife Adventure and so I got to hear its great soundtrack again. Lorena Álvarez's discography is also great, it turns out. Great video for "La Boda" featuring dancing dogs, a butt with a smiling face, and a rainbow-striped cardigan that I would totally consider stealing. 

 

The Bats have a new song and it sounds exactly like you would want it to sound, which is to say it sounds exactly like the Bats. Also, the video features some pretty sweet vintage (folding?) bikes: 

Guadalajara 2025

TL;DR the author and his family visit Mexico - this may be edited later

With the kid in dual-language Spanish immersion and myself desperately needing to (1) practice Spanish and (2) see the sunshine before July, we decided to treat ourselves to a trip to Guadalajara. Why not. The flights were relatively cheap and it looked exciting.

The flight (our kid's first ever, and JL's first ever trip outside the US!) was pretty calm, thank goodness. We weren't sure. We had shown him some "Flying on an Airplane!" type DVDs from the library and brought the Steam Deck so he could play endless Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip on the plane. 

Layover in LAX - I had forgotten how crazy it is (the boy kept saying "why is this airport a shopping mall?!"). We eventually make our way to the Aeroméxico gate at the farthest end of the airport where we realize we are among the only English speakers there. All right, party's on!

Airport hotel shuttle. I am immediately glad I did not rent a car - I'm too timid a driver, I'd get smushed. We get hotel food and I realize I should have boned up on how to do things like ask for the bill, how to tip, etc. Oh well. The waitress is gracious and helps me with some of the lingo. Our room overlooks a trucking yard, which is endlessly fascinating to the boy the next day.

The next day we take an endless Üüüüüüber to our fancypants Colonia Americana Erbenb. The neighborhoods slowly change before our eyes from bonfires-at-night to building supplies to coffee shops and boutiques. The view from the Erbenb is nuts. Crazy sunsets and sunrises. There's a brunch restaurant on the block that only serves black food.

We walk and walk and walk. Chilaquiles every day. Coffee. Bookstores. New flowers and hand-painted signs at every corner. Great design on every brunch menu. Flyers on every corner for desaparecidos. Men's names called out in spray paint as an abusador. 

Friday we go to the zoo. It's a great zoo and the kid is a great age to take to the zoo. The heat is a problem for boyo and Oregon-bred spouse, so we head back to the Erbnb and they rest in the AC. I head out on a MiBici and ride around looking for a restaurant. The restaurant is not there, but I ride more and make notes of new places to check out. Biking here is fun. I lurch through intersections, assert my place in the street. It feels awesome.

I fail to get dinner and bring back potato chips. Oh well.

Saturday is a rest day because I get the dreaded traveler's dyuhryuh. It takes me out pretty bad but I recover quickly. I may never eat potato chips again. The Erbnb host's description of the suite mentioned "small gatherings on the roof" on weekends, but it turns out this small gathering was a high-volume dance party that shook the ceilings until 1 am. Fortunately, I was totally spent and passed out at 10.

Sunday we get more great chilaquiles in a candy-colored hole in the wall and I hurry back to catch the last hour or so of the Vía Recreactiva, in which the city closes down a bunch of major thoroughfares and people actively transport themselves through the city. It feels spectacular to be part of a huge crowd, from hipsters and goths on rollerblades to kids popping wheelies on BMX bikes for blocks.

We only brought two books for the boy, Garfield: Fat Cat 3-Pack Vol. 16 and My Cat Is Such a Weirdo Vol. 5. He has read each of them about a trillion times and has started reenacting scenes from both. The kid dresses up as a chef and pretends that My Cat Is Such a Weirdo is the menu, so we end up ordering a lot of "THUD-OOF!" and other delicacies.

So many little cars.

Monday we take the bus to Centro and walk around the cathedral, the central plazas, the grid of narrow shopping streets. The boy is mesmerized by a barrel organ. We take the last ride on the carousel before it closes for siesta.

MORE TO COME

Luxury middle age second-hand item alert

I bought two larger newer things to replace two smaller older things:

(1) We bought an electric vehicle, a Nissan Ariya. Second-hand, of course, but with very little use. Massive depreciation and the tax credit finally brought this cushy crossover into our price range. It is massive compared to my previous subcompact gas vehicles, but my kid calls it the "comfy-mobile" and is not incorrect. We're closer to weaning ourselves off fossil fuels in the household - just need to replace our gas water heater. 

(2) My old cheapo second-hand exercise bike finally started making horrendous sounds after a little over a year of frequent use, so I drove said electric vehicle up the mountain into Happy Valley to buy an open-box exercise bike off Craigslist. After much effort*, I assembled the thing, and while it, too, feels massive compared to the previous model, it is smooooooth, and I am less worried about waking the kid, who somehow slept through the incredible racket of the old one. While riding it, I've been playing Ys games (this time Memories of Celceta) and they are good cheerful low-brain action for keeping the legs moving. If you do Steam, most of them are on sale right now.

 *Said effort largely due to a Z-tier translation of the assembly instructions (naming and shaming: Xterra SB600), in which the various parts are referred to by a number of different part numbers, never consistent. My day-job mind struggles to imagine what would have led to this sort of error.

Cosmonox @ Firkin Tavern Portland 2/28/25

I'll be playing the squeaky card reader thingy plus a couple actual instruments this Friday at the Firkin Tavern in the rainy city of Portland, Oregon, USA. We open up the evening, hooray! Our musical brothers and sisters in the Vardaman Ensemble will be showing their latest evolution. (I'm not sure they've actually changed since the last time I saw them, but I think it's fair to assume.) I don't know Water Shrews yet, but they do have good taste in opening and closing bands.