Brave new day

Oh snowjobbers, where did we go wrong?

Just what happened back there? What have we learned, and how can we prevent that terrible silence from happening again?

Ultimately, this is a question for sober historians, not witty clowns of the letter (nor us three). Between chilling August and chilly March, there lies a vast and inscrutable expanse of preoccupations, excuses, dashed dreams, and for some of us, several quarts of rice whiskey. For my part, I recall that, in the embers of the summer, returning to my first childhood album proved much more troubling and complex than I had expected. "Rap Traxx 5", I now realize (too late), is not light listening (I mean, eg. does anybody play Metal Machine Music at a birthday parties?). It took six months--three of them in Asia--to fully reset my sense of adult self. Thank the stars for Thai TLC (dearest Nuong, I'll never forget our time, but I will also forever wonder about your true gender).

Indeed. There was definitely a night in a Nong Khai girlie bar where Shmuel was peeling me off the floor, having been knocked paralytic by a gristly Welsh prize ex-prizefighter with 1 1/2 ears (who knew? The Thai phrase for "I am spoken for gentleman tonight " sounds remarkably like "what's in your pants?"), and I raised my head to Shmu's kind ear and blubbered "Do you remember the blog, man? How did we let it come to this?"

Never mind. Times are pithy and well-paced, while recollections are flimsy and brief. Let's make some new memories. We're excited to be writing for you again (anyone out there?). We've got a lot of hot topics on our minds, needing discussion, and a few exciting new regular features should be coming down the line shortly. This being the interactive Twitscape, we would certainly appreciate your participation through the comment form below--you are likely more clever in writing than any of us.

So let's get to it. TSJ staff, this week's question is: what recent music video do you feel is most representative of the global economic downturn?

It's good to be home.