#4: Muppet Nina, The Agony of Defeat, Kind Words, & A Psycho Magnet.

Before I met Nina, I used to think that photos of me as a small child were the most adorable thing in the world ("Look--he's wearing Tupperware on his head! Where's the camera?!").

Now I know better, namely that they are the second-most adorable thing in the world. Just look at her. Jeez. The Soviet-era stereophonic sound system doesn't hurt the overall effect, either. Sometimes, it's fun to imagine a world populated by all of your friends Muppet Babies style, where everyone has adultish heads and personalities glommed onto undersized bodies. Or maybe that's just me. Actually, let's forget that was ever brought up.

It's a nice ensemble she's got workin', though: the patterned bib (but she's not eating?), what appears to be some sort of smoking jacket, and capri pantaloons. What a style icon.

This weekend saw another unfortunate UM Hurricanes football loss, this time a shellacking to a team with a starter named Peanut Whitehead. No joke. Anyhow, that effectively ends our season in a rather premature manner. At least Notre Dame got spanked; there's always a little bit of joy in that.

On the site front, things are looking good. We've already received some really nice feedback from people via our MySpace page, including one person who wrote that he found the idea "very unique and comforting." Meanwhile, our blog has been read by people in places as far away as Canada, Peru, Greece, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, and the Philippines, which is super exciting. And no, we're not spying on you creepily; Google Analytics does a nice job of putting visitor info into colorful maps and pie charts for us. Mmm, pie.

Music, you say? One of my favorite and perennially underappreciated bands, Spearmint, have a new record coming out. "Psycho Magnet" is one of the most instantly infectious tracks from Paris in a Bottle, a record that just may get some attention as Rough Trade has apparently signed the band. The song has a gigantic chorus and a bouncy new-wave bass line that ensure its catchiness. Previously, Spearmint's records were being released by an excellent but very low-visibility German label called Apricot Records. Download the track and let me know what you think.

If you're more visually oriented, apparently there's a video:



xoxox
Danny