Like Meghan, I shall be taking a small hiatus for a week or two. The site will actually probably be down during this time as well (for house construction projects). So get your fill of the Kingdom of Squirrels today or tomorrow. When we both return to our blogs, I'm sure we'll have all kinds of things to share.

Listen to Brassy. The lead singer's name is Muffin. I dig them.

We got free tickets to an advance screening of "Lost in Translation" last night. This new film from Sofia Coppola (yes, that Coppola family. see also "The Virgin Suicides") is very beautiful, funny, sad. This is not a fast-paced story. She has a great way of handling silence and imagery with restraint, just letting the camera linger, which tells much more than dialogue or fast editing ever could. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are both wonderful as Americans "trapped" in Tokyo who find each other amidst the insomnia and displacement. The title of the film is perfect, the soundtrack is wonderful and the footage around the city -- capturing all kinds of craziness, differences, beauty, light -- makes it feel like it was her first time there (I may be projecting, as I've never been to Japan). I loved it (we all did) and recommend it.

You know how I'm always beggin' and wishin' for a way to dump my digital pictures from my camera to my iPod? Well, I couldn't wait any longer so I went out and bought a portable device: Sima's Image Bank (CP-150). Measuring about 5.2"x3.3"x1" the Image Bank is a portable USB 1.1 hard drive with SmartMedia and Compact Flash (Type I and II) slots. I had to buy a MemoryStick to CF adapter for my Sony camera. This thing is very basic and functional -- no extra frills here. But it seems to work great. It copies everything (no matter what) from your memory card to the internal 2.5" drive. It also will never write over any files, it always makes a new folder of data, no matter what. I got mine with a 10-gigabyte drive for only $99 at TigerDirect. Watch out -- I went to MicroCenter yesterday and they had the older version for $199 with only a 3.2 gigabyte drive and the big nasty USB connector! The manual shows you how to upgrade the hard drive using any laptop IDE drive. The only really inelegant part of this device is the battery pack, an external battery holder. Works with Windows or Mac 9 or X. Hey, it's no FlashTrax, but it is about $400 cheaper!

Just thought I'd mention a decent and nicely-designed blog I found via my "Aged" photo mini-scandal: MedicMom.

My credit card keeps jumping into my hand... somehow... must.... resist... temptation.... uurrggghhhh.... 15" Aluminum PowerBook.... backlit keyboard... new wireless keyboard and mouse... but where is the ability to hook up my digital camera to my iPod for on-location picture transfer and storage?!

Today's PhotoFriday theme is "Faith" and just as I posted my entry, I heard the news from a visitor that singer Johnny Cash passed away. I need to listen to some music now.

I am an ass sometimes, without trying in the least. I was listening to Radio K yesterday on the way to work and turned on the radio only to hear "Werewolves in London," a song most reviled in my universe. As an avid supporter and listener of the K, I did my duty and called in and said, "As an avid supporter and listener of Radio K I'd just like to voice my displeasure with the song you are currently playing. Thanks." It's not like you can't hear it on at least two other stations 3 times a day. Anyway, the DJ was like, "Yeah... OK..." and then I hung up and went in to work. Whereupon I learned about 15 minutes later that Warren Zevon (singer of said song) had died the night before. Ur... Sorry Warren... But I still hate that song.

Matrix Ping Pong (without any computer effects) is the funniest darn thing I've seen in ages. Well done live-action by a Japanese theater group. [via marcescobosa]

Augh! Now I've got an itch that I have to scratch -- the new 40 gigabyte iPod (that's 10,000 songs in your pocket!) was introduced today! Oh, and new iMac updates. Next week's announcements? PowerBooks?

Salon.com has an article about Bjork ("All hail the ice queen") claiming it's time to crown her as the most important pop musician of her generation. Isn't that what I've been saying all along?

Got up super early today to head over to St. Paul for the St. Paul Bike Classic to raise money for the St. Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium. It was a superb day for a bike ride through the city and the 30+ mile route was just challenging enough. The refreshment stops along the way were most welcome (mmm, muffins). It took Meghan and I (and the rest of the crew) about three hours to complete. Oh! and we saw the blue B.U.G. piece heading west at the end of the ride, too. Crazy but cool.
Tonight we headed out to Fuji-Ya for some sushi to celebrate Bill's 36th 35th birthday. Happy Birthday, Bill! We had great food and great company -- his folks have so many hilarious stories. Unfortunately, Jack couldn't join us (we missed you, Jack).
OH! and I almost forgot about the Pom Car in the Fuji-Ya parking lot! Somebody has it really bad for Pomeranians. Like in a sick (but creative) way. I love the little ears and the black rubber "fur" coat on the car! The Trans Am style hood painting I could do without, however.

Spent Labor Day weekend up on the south shore of Lake Superior in Wisconsin. Camp fires on the beach every night, amazing star viewing, northern lights, badminton, mountain biking, sailboating, game playing, swimming in the lake (Brrrr!) ... a fabulous weekend with fabulous weather. And no emergency trips this time!
Tommy's amazing bike accident was a personal memory highlight but I'm glad he didn't get hurt. And even though Meghan didn't think she'd like the mountain biking, she did a great job and emerged victorious.
Oh, and Austin, Austin, Austin. He's sleepy.

The theme this week is "Aged" and I have a picture that fits in two ways.