Five things I’m looking forward to:

Los Lobos at the Santa Monica pier. It’s been a couple years since I’ve seen Los Lobos. I don’t think I’ll come away feeling as nostalgic as I did last time, but I intend to enjoy it. Oh yeah, it’s free.

My birthday. I don’t usually look forward to my birthday, in fact I kinda dread it, but it’s different this year. I’ll have a small family BBQ and then go out dancing at one of my favorite clubs/lounges. The DJ is a friend, so I know he’ll play good stuff and not the crappy dance music you hear in other clubs.

The Dodgers having a winning September and making a run for the playoffs, actually getting in to the playoffs; baseball playoffs in general; UCLA football and tailgating for the first time ever at the Rose Bowl.

The start of the fall quarter. Weird, I know. Still, the sooner fall quarter starts and ends, the faster I make real progress toward getting the hell out of grad school. I’ll also get to know the incoming class of students in the program I help run and welcome back the sophomores.

Café Tacuba’s new album, Sino, which will be released on October 9th. To listen to the first single, “Volver a Comenzar,” check out this e-card (have your speakers on). Yes, that’s the same song I posted a while ago on YouTube from a Mexico City concert. The official website hasn’t been updated, and the splash page points to their MySpace page. My friend Hector sent me a link to Este Encanto where you can download the single. A new album means new tour, possibly in December. Hopefully when los Tacubos play LA again, I won’t be able to predict the setlist.