Now I have to ask myself, “Could Neutral Milk Hotel really be getting back together?”

YES: He said it.

Well, kind of. During his Sunday night show at the stately Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey, at All Tomorrow’s Parties: I’ll Be Your Mirror, Mangum repeatedly implored the crowd to sing along with him. Like his Friday show before it, audience participation was low. (This isn’t unusual for these recent set of shows. It seems fans are too awestruck at the sight of their idol to dare vocalize during what may very well be the first and last time they see him perform.) But this night, Jeff asked the crowd to sing the horn melodies and added, “Scott [Spillane, one of the four members of Neutral Milk Hotel] is not here to play horns. But he will be soon.”

NO: That doesn’t mean a reunion is planned.

Mangum specifically mentioned Spillane and no one else from the band. While that’s one step closer to the full Neutral Milk Hotel roster, Spillane has previously joined Mangum on this tour at a stop in Montreal, so a Magnum/Spillane pairing isn’t a new development. We would still be missing Jeremy Barnes and Julian Koster.

YES: Right, but I’d bet money there’s a reunion planned for the Mangum-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties in December.

Spillane plus Mangum equals half of Neutral Milk Hotel. They’ve played together so we know there’s no bad blood there. What about the other two members of the band? Barnes and his band, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, joined Mangum on stage for a couple songs Monday night. Koster played with Mangum in 2008. All four members of the band will be together in December at the All Tomorrow’s Parties Mangum is curating. (Also in attendance will be just about every single person who has ever performed with Mangum in the Elephant 6 Collective, a group of artists including the members of Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal and The Apples in Stereo.) What better place for Mangum to stage a Neutral Milk Hotel reunion than at a festival where he has selected the acts himself?

NO: Mangum and Co. have been together several times before and there’s never been a full reunion.

Jeff has made appearances at friends’ shows, including during sets by the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise, but we’ve never had an honest-to-goodness reunion performance once. There’s no reason to expect anything different this time.

YES: He’s releasing new material.

New to you and me, at least. After a decade of sporadic appearances, Mangum is appearing in public regularly leading up to the November 22 release of boxed set including unreleased material. After baby-stepping back into fans’ minds with a private show in Brooklyn last December, Mangum has continued to pick up steam — playing more shows and adding more dates.

NO: This tour is to promote the boxed set. No new dates have been announced beyond the end of this year.

Even if Mangum is testing the waters that doesn’t mean he’s ready to dive back in. It’s likely whatever elements made Jeff want to disappear from the world of indie rock stardom are still present today. (During one show at New Jersey last weekend, a fan shouted, “Don’t ever leave us again!” The audience groaned, but Jeff handled it well: “Do we need to go see my therapist together and work this out?”) Mangum has an army of obsessive, worshipping fans who no doubt have unrealistic expectations for any future material Mangum may produce. That kind of pressure can’t be easy to deal with. Though Mangum probably isn’t hurting for cash by lo-fi indie standards — even a decade after its release In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was still moving units — the upcoming boxed set and the tour could just be a trip to the bank for Mangum.

YES: He’s made no attempts to separate himself from the Neutral Milk Hotel name.

On concert posters, it’s “Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel).” Mangum even introduced himself at his performance to support Occupy Wall Street as “Jeff of Neutral Milk Hotel.” Then there are the songs. Other than a couple of covers (e.g., Daniel Johnston, Roky Erickson, Minutemen) Mangum is playing Neutral Milk Hotel songs. Of course, that’s what his fans want to hear, but considering that many former front-men refrain from playing their previous project’s material when they go solo, that seems to me a sign that Mangum hasn’t given up on Neutral Milk Hotel just yet.

NO: There’s no indication of new music coming from Mangum or Neutral Milk Hotel.

Mangum hasn’t debuted any new original material on the road. Most bands try out new stuff before it makes its way onto an album.This is just a victory lap for Mangum, a little bit of closure and a chance for his fans to see him one last time before he disappears forever.

YES: It would be really cool.

It would. It’s been 13 years since the world has seen a Neutral Milk Hotel show. That means any fan under the age of 30 has probably never seen the band play together. (The baby from Live at Jittery Joe’s doesn’t count — that was a Mangum solo show.) Besides getting a chance to hear these cult classic songs live with full accompaniment, a reunited Neutral Milk Hotel could mean new material.

But perhaps the question should be would a new album or a reunited band live up to fans’ great expectations? Maybe. After going into see Mangum this week with unrealistically high expectations of my own, I can confirm that some experiences can live up to the hype. If Mangum — who, let’s admit it, isn’t particularly charismatic, gifted at guitar, or the best singer — can exceed expectations, I’m confident Mangum, Spillade, Barnes and Koster could do the same on a stage together.

• I’m not answering a phone call between 2pm and 10 pm Friday to Sunday. Learn how to text and make it a good one. If you want to meet up, I’m going to ask for the following things:

1. What show you want to meet at.
2. Your exact location. (We call it triangulating. Pick two distinct locations that you’re equidistant from.)
3. The time. Service will likely be delayed. Adding in the time you sent the text helps immensely.

I guess in a way this all started Wednesday. I was watching the Voice finale results show. Finalist Vicci Martinez did a “Drops of Jupiter” duet with Train lead singer Pat Monahan. For proof of how much I dug this duet, here is a tweet of mine from that night:

“Has enough time passed that “Drops of Jupiter” isn’t a guilty pleasure? If no, forget I asked. This never happened. #thevoice”

Last night I was taking a shower before going to bed. With my ADD, I sometimes start singing in the shower without even realizing it. Somewhere in the middle of “Drops of Jupiter,” I realized I was not the only one singing. First, panic set in. I knew I was the only one in my apartment, as my brother is back in Chicago for the holiday. I was trying to remember if I locked my front door. Then it hit me. The other singing voice had been coming from outside in the parking lot. I looked down to see a female nurse, my presumed duet partner, and two security guards laughing hysterically. I quickly shut the window, as I heard the laughter continue from outside. Sure I was embarrassed, but would have been much more so had they come by moments earlier when I was singing “Edge of Glory.”

Laugh all you want about me singing Lady Gaga, but I won’t apologize. That song is catchy as shit. Bill Simmons agrees with me. He tweeted about it being impossible to get out of his brain, weeks after we both saw Gaga perform the song at the American Idol finale results show. Plus, The Big Man himself, Clarence Clemons (RIP) solos in the song. Besides, there’s plenty else to laugh at in this story.

It’s an older, wealthy San Antonio crowd with a lot of floral print dresses. A hipster who looks wildly out of place is sound checking the mics and a video man tells a woman sitting next to us to hurry up and put on her lipstick, so he can film it. I don’t know what that footage will ever be used for. A video displayed on stage shows two members of Earth, Wind and Fire saying they now consider Monster “part of our family” and we find out that they’re working with Monster on headphones. Another section of the video has someone introduce them as their favorite all-time band. The woman behind us vocally agrees. She will do this extremely often. Then we’re ready to start and they bring the band up on stage.

Bjorn introduces the band and it quickly turns into what Caitlin aptly describes as a SXSW-esque panel, but with a distinctly San Antonio style. Bjorn has been doing commercials for his store for years and turns out to be a solid interviewer. He starts out by saying he was tickled at how easy they are to talk to. Then Bjorn turns to the crowd and says “You are our favorite customers” and the whole crowd says “Awwww!” before he follows up with “And it wasn’t just those who spent the most money who get to be here…but you did spend some money.” The band talks a bit about their early beginnings and says some of them are from Chicago originally, as the woman next to us cheers for Chicago and then quickly spills red wine all over her own dress. At least it didn’t get on her sequin-lined iPhone.

There are some good questions and answers, like “How did ‘Shining Star’ change your lives” Bjorn asks. “We never came home again,” they reply, to the delight of the crowd. After a few minutes, Bjorn decides to bring up their tour manager for an interview, but it’s never really clear why. He has nothing to say. It was nice that the band has known him since he was a little kid, but no reason to interview him. Don’t tell that to overly excited woman behind us. She can’t get enough. From here on out, I’ll put her reactions in ( ). After Bjorn “asks” “I get the sense …the families?” the band talks about their family vibe and says “We chose to be role models.” (Wow!) “Lifting the consciousness of humanity, spreading love, kindness.” (Ahh.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

I smile every time I watch this video Andy and I captured at Earth, Wind and Fire’s headlining show at New Orleans Jazz Fest.

Next they talk about getting old, saying “A lot of parties after shows? No, we’re hopping into bed. We’re turning 60 this year.” (Oh my God!) “Drink the green tea. Drink it. Drink it. More fun now than we ever had, eating healthy.” (Oh! Oh!) “We start the show at 8, you’ll be home by 11. We walk our friends out after. Some have canes now.” “Will you be stopping any time soon?” (Ogghh! No!) “We don’t think about stopping. It’s who we are.”

“Get your wallets out,” Bjorn advises the audience. “Monster is now in the headphone business. Did you know that the headphone business is now bigger than the speaker business? They’re not in the $10 headphone business. They’re in quality headphone business.” He tells us that Beats by Dre is by Monster and that Earth, Wind and Fire is now launching their specially developed in-ear headphones. They’re called Gratitude and will cost $229. “But wait, you also get Ginsu Knives. (Ha!) OK, you don’t get the knives, but if you prepay, you get 20% off.”

The band sells the headphones well, saying that their music is recorded in layers and what usually takes five listens to hear, you’ll now pick up on the first listen. There’s separation between voices, interlay with the horns and it’s the best way to hear their remastered material. “Hear Earth, Wind and Fire the way we heard it when we recorded it. Listen for frequency from high to mid to low. These are very balanced throughout.”

The whole band signed this pic (from Jazz Fest) and Ralphie (right) said he wished he had a copy, so I gave him one. He told me he’d frame it.

Bjorn tells us that he had trouble with the in-ear buds at first and lost a tiny part inside his own ear. His wife had to take it out with a pair of tweezers. He insists we make sure we get the right fit for our earbuds so they stay in our ears. “Gotta find the right fit, folks.” They come out in August and they are in production on over-ear headphones to be released two months later. For now, Earth Wind and Fire will wander among us (Ooooooooh!) and sign autographs and take pictures. We made friends with the people at Monster and they said we may get to test out some headphones and compare them when they come out. I can’t wait. If they sound half as smooth as Earth, Wind and Fire still do, then I won’t even mind if there’s an old excitable lady yelling things as I listen.

For Caitlin’s very similar, yet oddly different take on the night, click here

Click here to view the embedded video.

Obviously, you know the original with the “Yellow Submarine” version, but I’m pretty sure you don’t know the reggae version. Enjoy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a look back at the 62 songs dedicated to you for your 62nd.

Let’s kick it off with Black Joe Lewis. It’s a really great band in Austin. They seem less than thrilled to welcome out-of-towners. God forbid they get some more fans:

RT @blackjoelewis: Gettin ready for the worst week of my fuckin life. There’s a lot of characters in town this week

H another guy who’s fresh to Austin and is ready to be one of those kinds of people who brags about their zip code:

Hasn’t stopped you before RT @shueytexas: I’ve lived here 14 months. Can I whine about out-of-towners yet?

Jenn’s pretty excited to come up with a new hash tag. She tweeted this a couple days into this account being created. I’ll un-thank you now:

Oh yeah? Pretty sure ya didn’t. RT @JennBrownFilm: Why, yes, I just coined the term #sxswhine #sxsw #thankmelater

Reactions to the account were mixed:

Some people enjoy it. Some whine more RT @lhdumitru: I got RT’d by @sxswhine…not sure if that’s a compliment or not, but i’m thinking not

I honestly don’t even know what this tweet is trying to say, but I think he’s whine-ing:

RT @richardgallegos: sxsw lame. too cool for the friends that matter. as usual times two to your favorite blog.

At least these conscious whines were amusing:

RT @TheEasternSea: I so tired of not being retweeted by @sxswhine #sxsw #meta

Meta whine: RT @TerrisLinenbach: Who gives a shit if you give a shit about people who give a shit about #SXSW

The Air Sucks- These assholes hate everything and will never be happy. I assume. They were clearly here for SXSWi and their nerd tendencies are coming up a bit strong. It’s not good for them to be out of their homes this long.

On the plus side, my body forgot what it’s like to breathe real air, and is actively rejecting it. #sxsw

It’s you. RT @BearOnTheRun: I don’t remember #sxsw smelling like vomit smothered asshole.

Did @bearontheRun show up? RT @benkepes: Um…. this #sxsw party really smells bad…

RT @slaughter90210: SXSW made me realize there are very few things worth waiting on line for–not free food or booze, certainly not a party.

What a nightmare RT @sherylyulin: I have no idea how I am going to fit all this swag in my bag. #sxsw

RT @ClementineNYC: In the theater do not order onion or mac and cheese motherfuckers it smells !!! #sxswhine

Yah, guys. Never again! RT @ClementineNYC: My friend was just bitten by a huge WASP inside Alamo theater : DONT go there#sxsw

RT @PamTwitted: Sore feet, calf spasm,full belly and brain = homebound from #sxsw for tonight

That couldn’t make less sense. RT @ericfleming: #SXSW; the place where the beer’s not free enough.

So much for daoism… RT @daoism: #sxsw keynote: “be authentic. Show thought leadership. Transpar”… blah barf gag

Music-

RT @shirley_beans: This flight hasn’t even taken off and already they’re talking about must-see-bands. Ughghhgh #sxsw

RT @MikeRozycki: Oh, and #SXSW music people really need to step it up a notch. Bushleague, guys. Come to win.

RT @tamaslocher: too much noise #sxsw

Lines = Whines It makes sense that the most whines were about lines. People get in a line and have nothing better to do than to bitch about it. I have a couple thoughts. First off, tweet effectively. Say something like “Pure Volume line took half hour, but at least it’s moving. Getting longer now.” Give information. These tweets provide nothing. Except Sean O’Neal’s. And he still decided to be snarky. Second

Yup. $3.39 a gallon for the line. Wait, What?! RT @Gotyalookn: I bet the line to see Kanye is as high as gas prices

S(Whine)X(whine)S(whine)W(hine) RT @zachpollakoff: LineXLineW #SXSW

RT @defunkt: Mobile apps are such a hit at sxsw because what else is there to do when you spend most of your time waiting in lines

Whines. Whines. Whines. RT @seanew15: Lines. Lines. Lines.#sxsw

RT @hipsterrunoff: Just saw a pack of irrelevant bloggers who were furious that they were told to ‘wait in line like every one else.’ #sxsw

Unibomber on 6th RT @Merredith: The lines are silly. You could put a serial killer in a bar w/ free drinks – line’d be around block. #SXSW

I’m in the line too. Try “conversation” RT @TweeterTots: Hey MTV, learn how to entertain your lines. This blows. #sxswhine

The MTV Woodies #sxsw line is rockin’ RT @shivvy: They’ve been squealing, shouting & generally being annoying for like 2 hrs now.

And again… RT @ultra8201: Playing angry birds with @candice_brooke at the woodies. Or should I call them the waities….

Everyone is complaining about the “lines” RT @5thchildmusic: I’ve never seen coke snorted so casually before. #sxsw

RT @seanoneal: Took 90 minutes for PureVolume to get through ~ 25 people. I’d wish PV to go out of business if I knew what it does.#sxsw

Yeah, whining. RT @damjanov: Is anybody here at #SXSW doing something that doesn’t involve standing in a line?

You must be hot, wearing those Uggs- I made a tweetdeck column of “SXSW ugh” to find these winners.

She says what we’re all thinking RT @chelseD: ugh i hate myself.#sxsw

“Ugh you can add my “i just made an ass of myself to the guy from !!!” to the sxswhine……shite” -text I received.

RT @kaitlinmaud: @sxswi I want this half hour of my life back. Ugh.#sxsw #kickass

He may now… RT @Fasshonaburu: Ugh saw my old evil boss at#sxsw a zillion people here and I see him. Don’t think he recognizes me

Mean Boys- I was especially mean to these jokers, but it was so easy.

Only if you use $90 for Hooked on Phonics RT @ClomeMalone: I look fucking great in a cowboy hat. Who whats to donate me ninety bucks? #Sxsw

Much like hooking up with Dent… RT @dentmay: fun at first, leaves a bad taste in your mouth. #sxsw

Why bother ever waking up? Might as well give up… RT @dweingrod: Ugh sxsw time change night. Why even bother with 9:30 panels tomorrow

Douche- Everyone who isn’t me is a douche.

Honeys on your left. Put ‘em both together, we can party all night! RT @gabriellearon: Douche bag home boys to my right #faderfort#sxsw

So they’re “douche bags” RT @titsmcgee19: Just saw my face in the mirror and noticed these bags under my eyes. They look pretty douchey.

RT: @violetblue Fleeing #SXSW tech parties of such massive fratboy/fratgirl douchebaggery I want to stab my eyes out with golf pencils.

What is SXSW? There were literally dozens of these coming through the #sxsw stream. They all drove me nuts, but none more than this one. She made a hashtag instead of looking it up. Be lazier. Please.

Creating a hash tag was easier than googling? GOOGLE RT @ElielLyn3: Can somebody PLEASE tell me what #SXSW is?#SoConfusedAndOutOfTheLoop

Celebs- You had to know Michael Ian Black would whine a lot. I only captured a couple of them. Surprisingly, Doug Benson took a minute away from getting high and not being funny to whine about all the free alcohol and movies that he didn’t “love.”

RT @DougBenson Finally saw a movie at #SXSW that, to put it delicately, was not my cup of tea. Because it was a cup of shit. #WithOnlyOneGirl #DLM

Wait a few days RT @michaelianblack: Never realized how much I dislike music until hanging out in Austin, Texas during #sxsw.

Poor dougie RT @DougBenson: Please stop buying me shots, Austin. I want to remember my time here. And my name. #SXSWhat

RT @DougBenson: Can’t wait for 2:15am Fri., when streets of Austin will flood w/ vomit. I love the smell of sausage and puke in the morning.

RT @jackcuellar: THAT IS NOT AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR, @tedleo! #BrokenPromises

Ahem, @jackcuellar RT @tedleo: @sxswhine I never said “acoustic,” I always said “solo” and usually add “electric” Blame someone else, Whiny!

To explain, Jack whine’d about Ted Leo. We RT’d and Ted Leo thought we were the whiners.

Used to be Cool- When I started coming to SX, no show had more than 40 people

RT @jamesoliphant: Not to sound like just another aged hipster, but I do remember when #SXSW was cool.

RT @valstreit: What happened to #sxsw? It’s infiltrated by furries and booth babes? #sxswi

Really? That’s what you chose to whine about? Really?

No mmm’ing. No bop’ing. Frowny face, indeed. RT @marialikesmex: missing #hanson at #sxsw

Try “tipping” RT @andrew_j_rosas: Hey Austin, let’s work out a secret handshake so us locals don’t get charged $5 for Shiner. How ’bout it?

All by myseeeeelf. Don’t wanna be… RT @chlooeeee_: So ready to go home. Tired of feeling like I’m here at #SXSW by myself.

How dare kids try to enjoy music? The nerve! RT @SideOneTrackOne: Just saw a kid with his own platinum badge.#stupid

HA! breathe RT @SideOneTrackOne: He was 10! You make me me feel like I’m taking crazy pills! Now excuse me, I’ve run out of the room crying

Not Hacker Dojo!! RT @dustball: Lots of #SXSW people are home#sick “Cough by Coughwest” I might even have to miss Hacker Dojo happy hour

Night, champ RT @cswanger: dragonslayer? #sxsw #ugh I’ll be asleep in 5 minutes, so checking out. Rather sleep in bed than a Paramount seat

Alicia contending for whine MVP RT @aliciacorbett: Someone please save me from this LA douche bag next to me at the bar.#sxswareyouoveryet

How will you survive? RT @LeAnn: I’m at a party for #SXSW and they are serving warm fruity martini’s. #grossgrossgross

RT @ngoodey: The next time I go to #SXSW I must remember to bring a sherpa. Powerbooks carried for a day can get heavy.

RT @Andylanger: Just ate on 6th. Waiter was snooty+dismissive until he figured out we’re townies. Who mistreats tourists in this economy?

Twitter sucks today, huh. If only there was other entertainment… RT @rideincircles: Twitter sucks today. Saw the strokes and Moby.#sxsw

@jenniferzhenyu: I’ve made up my mind, #sxsw is too stressful.#ACL for the friggin’ win.

James Blake & Kanye & Jack White & …. RT @zachpollakoff: I can’t wait to make a top 10 list of bands I wanted to see but didn’t see. #sxsw

Inanimate Objects - I like to blame wristbands and phones for my bad time

Yeah, suck it, inanimate object! How dare you be on me?! RT @sailorlegs: And I said fuck you to my ifc wristband.#worstwristbandever

RT @eachnotesecure: #sxswi folks, I know you had fun, but wearing your badge at the airport doesn’t get you any more swag

You should be tripping over free food. FAIL RT @y2kemo: It took me an 1 hour to find a place to eat. AN HOUR! #starving #sxsw

RT @kimmediately: Music wristband is made of the hardest plastic ever. Already driving me nuts and I’ve only had it on a few hours#sxswhine

Please tell me you understand how ridiculous it is to use the remaining part of your dying cell battery to tweet about how it’s dying…

Battery almost dead. I know what to do about it! RT @ultra8201: Oh hey there 20% battery life remaining warning!#stoptextingme“whereyouat?”

RT @kellyarobinson: “20% Battery remaining.” shiit. #SXSw

Business cards are OVER

Who will never call you… RT @teritheberry: I swear #sxsw is just a week to give my number out to a bunch of complete strangers.

Business cards shouldn’t exist RT @teritheberry: and I don’t want them to. Last thing I need is some homeless guy named Pee Wee calling me.

RT @ulovei: Just received about 15 business cards that will go into my “see you next year at sxsw” pile.

Get. Me. Outta. Here.

Fuck the fuckin fucksticks right in thier fuckspot RT @FiestaFlores: Wish a lot of these lousy fucks would get the fuck out of Austin.

Goodbye Kris & thx for all the 4 square check-ins no one cared about RT @youmansrules: goodbye austin and thanks for all the traffic #sxsw

Oh, honey RT @jamberahmed: SOOOO Over #SXSW. Can’t wait to get out of this town/ traffic jam.

Kanye’s Beautiful Dark Twisted Nightmare

Sounds like a beautiful, dark twisted nightmare RT @LisaPastor: missed the kanye signup…what is wrong with me?! #sxswhine

Ya can’t even spell sxsw. Wasting time. RT @ddelacorte: Still in line for Kanye, hoping I’m not wasting my time. I’m hungry damn it.#swsx

Thanks for all the whines. Let’s send it home with these two…

Don’t move here RT @Lolitamusic_mx: People in Austin DO NOT know how to drive….and Bikes.everywhere. ugh.#imarunoveryoubitch

RT @kellyhclay If I never come back to #sxsw it will be too soon. #iwanttogohome

Free Download: Girl Talk – All Day

Also, I recommend watching until at least 1:52 for the water spill and Jess’ hilarious face.

A lot of people probably know we get down with Phish and Zappa and the Talking Heads, but Avril and Alanis and Bon Jovi and Ace of Base!? I know. And I even left off some really embarrassing ones like Spice Girls. It was weird, but we went on that musical journey together. There’s no one else in the world I’d rather have grown up learning to love music with. Have a wonderful 24th birthday, Suz! Can’t wait to see what we get into next. 

1. Neil Young “Old Man”

“24 and there’s so much more.” You’ve got so much going and your life with grad school starting and your whole life ahead of you. I know you’ll do fantastic things.

2. The Simpsons w/ Michael Jackson “Happy Birthday Lisa”

We’d always bond over the Simpsons together and to a lesser extend Michael Jackson. Thanks for always liking my interests. “You gave me the gift of a little sister and I’m proud of you today. Lisa Suzy, it’s your birthday, Happy birthday, Lisa Suzy. Lisa-Suzy, it’s your birthday. Happy birthday, Lisa Suzy!

3. Bette Midler “Wind Beneath my Wings”

No offense To Bette, but she had nothing on mom singing this song to us before bed. I had to include the Beaches clip for added effect. Hope you dig it. “Did you ever know that you’re my hero?”

4. Dean Martin “That’s Amore”

Mom may have been the singer in the family, but Dad has a killer “That’s Amore” in his wheelhouse. And when he’s got a good groove going, you know he’s CLS and everyone listening feels like a W.W.C.D. (Winner winner, chicken dinner.)

5. Hall and Oates “Sara Smile”

The song mom changed her name for. What’s not to love. Hall and Oates on a slow jam. “When I feel cold, you warm me. When I feel I can’t go on, you come on and hold me. It’s you and me forever, Sara. Smile.” I know she’s smiling on you today and always, Suz.

6. Alanis Morisette “Ironic”

In the history of Middle School talent shows, no performance got an hour long standing ovation until you and your friends pulled off an interpretative dance to Alanis’ jam in 6th grade. OK, maybe it wasn’t your finest moment, but you owned it! And man did we love that cassette tape.

7. Ace of Base “The Sign”

While we’re on the cassette tape jams, how can we leave this monster hit off? We played it to death…”Under a pale moon, where I see a lot of stars.” Eventually, we had to say “Is enough enough?!” I gotta say I loved listening to this again. And it opened up my eyes.

8. Bon Jovi “It’s my Life”

This really is the guilty pleasure section of the mix. I don’t know why. I don’t know how. This became our pump up anthem. Maybe early high school? It was always tongue in cheek, but (fist pump, fist pump) it’s my life! I’m pretty sure we were even laughing at ourselves the entire time, but oh man.

10. Avril Lavigne “Sk8er Boi”

I blame Torrey.

11. Ben Kweller “Falling”

Alright, let’s be serious. We didn’t only like shitty music back in the day. Ben Kweller was (and still is the man) and we went to his show at the Metro with Claire and snuck our friend Lisa in. He lives in Austin. Come down soon and visit.

12. Phish “Aveinu Malkeinu”

Jew songs! We had to listen to a lot of pretty weak ones over the years, but thankfully Phish covers one so we can be the ones singing along while everyone else is confused. OK, fine, they know what’s up too but still. It feels cool to have somewhat of an inside joke with Phish.

13. Joni Mitchell “Little Green”

This one always makes me smile and think of you, little Green. Be a gypsy dancer. Keep being one with everything green in the world.

14. Janis Joplin “Summertime”

Janis is the epitome of cool rocker chic and of course you pulled it off big time with your Halloween costume a few years ago. Perfect song for a summer birthday girl. Though it’s so dark, it must have been a Chimpy’s or Flick birthday .

15. Frank Zappa “Camarillo Brillo”

I love that you’re as into Zappa as I am. This was the first Zappa song I ever heard off my favorite album and you had it on your Facebook profile forever, magic mama. I heard you threw a mean tarot. What kind of a guru are you?

16. Neil Young “Vampire Blues”

Speaking of halloween costumes, you were a pretty bad ass vampire two years ago and in your album caption you referenced this song and said you knew I’d catch it. Of course I did.

17. Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime”

Who’s up for some Talking Heads? I know I’ll always get a yes from you on that one. Especially when we’re feeling like we’ve stopped making sense. Well, how did we get here?

18. David Bowie “Kooks”

Our family is pretty kooky. From naked family to the nicknames to man, I don’t even want to get into it. I’ll let Bowie handle this one. But “if you stay, you won’t be sorry cause we believe in you. So take a chance with a couple of kooks hung up on romancing.”

19. Phish “Wolfman’s Brother”

I’d rather be Po-man’s brother than Wolfman’s brother. I was at this show and wishing you were there with me. Our Phish paths really need to cross soon.

20. Phish “Suzy Greenberg”

Suzy, Suzy, Suzy, Suzy. Don’t listen to Trey. You’re a genius. And you can be a sociologist w/o a neurologist visit.  Yay Phish Tour!

21. The Beatles “Birthday”

The obligatory b-day song. Hey- look at ‘em dance!

22. Passion Pit “Sleepyhead”

Time to move forward with some new bands. I recorded this one myself a few weeks ago in Austin, but Passion Pit is a Cambridge band, so get to know your hometown boys well, sleepyhead.

23. The Grateful Dead “Uncle John’s Band”

It always comes back to the Dead. Why not a 1980 Halloween show?

24. The Beatles “In my Life”

The ultimate closing song. This song is about going back through your life and no matter what you’re drawn back to one person. You’re the person I’ll always have in my life from when I could first walk until forever. “Though I know I’ll never lose affection for people and things that went before. I know I’ll often stop and think about them. In my life, I love you more.”

Have a wonderful birthday and oh so many more.

Love always, Brachoo.

@AndyShore Let me start this by officially congratulating the Chicago Blackhawks on winning the Stanley Cup. I do this, because the following post is a direct result of that victory. My phone got misplaced almost as soon as the Blackhawks scored the most awkward Stanley Cup winning, OT goal of all time. I was too busy not being able to sit back down, high-fiving friends and watching the Hawks skate the Cup around the ice.

Zack tried to call me at some point during that time. He left a voicemail, and oh what a message it was. He was singing “We Are the Champions” in his best falsetto. He’s been championing a Podcrash intro for a while now as well. I think we might have the basis of a great one. This is very rough. My brother was too drunk and without proper equipment to get this done last night. I cut this together myself, since I was too excited to sleep. What do you think?