And... Go.

The song of the summer will be Kanye West and Daft Punk's "Stronger". In-f***ing-credible. I've so far only heard it as a minute-long clip on a mixtape and as an mp3 taken from a radio broadcast in the UK (which has the DJ talking over large portions of it). It's not officially released for a little while. And it's already my new favorite thing. It tears Daft Punk's classic "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" apart, and then rebuilds it as an unstoppable juggernaut of synth-fueled hip-hop grandeur. A beat to slay the mightiest dancefloor, and the best lyrics of anything Kanye's done by far. "Let's get lost tonight. You could be my black Kate Moss tonight. Play secretary on the boss tonight..." This is the jam. This will be the tune to drop at every party. This will create sex on the dancefloor in a way nothing has in a few years. That is all. You heard it here first. -PAR

It's funny, I've worn through probably four or five pairs of batts since moving to New York. And every time, I've just had to throw the old ones out and buy new ones. If only I'd known that there's a place on the Westside Highway that specializes in re-facking them... -PAR

A quick flip backwards through some pictures from the last few months. (Now that I'm able to get things from my Trekphone to my laptop again...) Lots of crazy. Lots of fun. Lots more to come. -PAR

This past Monday was the final day of the coffeeshop . Before catching my bus down to Charlottesville, I dropped by, did shots with my bosses and coworker , chatted with my best buddy Angus (who's thwee and a hawf), made fun of the guy who was asleep against the memorial wall, and spent a few last minutes goofing around at Alt. In a few weeks we'll rise again, like a phoenix from the ash and rubble. Renovated, clean, more family-friendly, with expanded menu and a new name and logo... But this was a last huzzah for the old-guard East Village hang-out that we knew as Alt.Coffee. Nice way to go out. -PAR

Then, one day, it's seventy degrees outside and margaritas start seeming like the best idea in the world. Time to start seeking out rooftops and patios. I'm catching a bus down to Charlottesville on Monday. Spending the better part of the week there, with few places to be or events to attend. An actual real-live vacation. Yeah. Spring is thus far a totally disjointed series of phrases and images that I'm not even trying to form into a cohesive whole. It's just stuff happening and things flashing by and falling-over tired and laughing a lot. The music needs to be louder. Sure, I'd love another drink. You're doing what? I'd love to, but I'll forget, could you remind me later? We need more of that. Open the windows. Yes, move to New York. Check THAT out. Yeah, I should probably get more sleep. High-five! Yes, please. I'll get to that one in a second. You like-a that one so much, we playa it for you again now. Easy, buddy. Faster. ...

It won't stop raining in NYC. And it's not quite warm enough to be enjoyable. It's just a cold and wet and dreary. Rain not even coming down, but streaming horizontally so umbrellas don't make much difference. Iced coffee is all that's coming between me and falling over, giving in to the 80-odd hour work week I'm winding up. Well, iced coffee and Mike Doughty's redition of "Looks" coming over the stereo. Perfect rainy day tunage. This upcoming week: the last few days of working at the coffeeshop before we close for renovation/transformation. Seeing a rock show with a cute girl. General exhaustion, margaritas with friends, dealing with taxes, buying tix for my trip to Ch'ville at the end of the month. Transmission continuing soon. -PAR

...And the next thing you know, it's full-on springtime. Daylight savings shakes everything up, time starts accelerating, kick the windows open to get some fresh air and turn up the stereo. My life suddenly kicks back into high gear between theater gig, planning next visit back to Ch'ville, being smitten with girl and pop music, other as-yet-nameless project taking too much of my time, coffeeshop what I work at closing to renovate, planning next stage of DJ career, and all the usual idiot revelry that comes with the being young and foolish. -PAR