Back from the not much of a surprise but still a good party. Forgot to mention this last night, but the odd thing of the trip was, when I got to Columbia and went to check into the hotel (hotel to increase chances of secrecy altho as it turns out I coulda just gone and hung out at Pru Corner all afternoon) it turned out to be the same exact hotel I stayed in the only other time I've ever stayed at at hotel in Columbia. Which was for Pru's wedding. Which was in that very hotel. It had changed names in the intervening years which was why I hadn't noticed from the website.
Cleaning up a few loose odds 'n ends from the week:
1. Huge benefit concert in Dakar to raise money and awareness to fight malaria. Youssou N'Dour, Khaled, Orchestra Baobab, Baaba Maal, and more. Hopefully they'll release a CD version soon.
2. I guess if they can't pry it from yr cold dead hands they can always Photoshop it out later.
3. Excellent article in today's NY Times about Rachid Taha. If I can find a non-reg-required link I'll post it later. Annoyingly, altho we received the EP with "Rock el Casbah" at XDU, we still haven't gotten the full CD of Tekitoi
4. Pleased to discover that NY Press is now online, so I can get my Jim Knipfel fix without having to wander the streets of Manhattan in search of an NYP box that's neither empty nor filled with Chinese restaurant takeout menus and/or empty Starbucks cups.