So I'm driving in my car with Anya today and we hear the Paul Simon song, "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard." She informs me that Paul Simon made a surprise appearance at a Jazz Festival while Dave Matthews was playing his set. She said that they performed that very song that was on the radio, but when he came out, she had no idea who he was. She told me that she asked one of her friends at that concert if "Neil" Simon was the same person who wrote the eighties hit, "Call Me Al." I told her that he was not the same person. Neil was a world famous playwrite, and that it was "Paul" Simon who wrote "Call Me Al" and "Me and Julio."

Crazy Anne.

So then we're driving on I-35 a few minutes later listening to Oldies Radio 98.7. I K-Luv my oldies. "The Sounds of Silence" came on the radio and I made the joke, "Hey, it's that playwrite Neil Simon again, playing with his kooky band Simon and Garfunkel."

It got really bright in my car when all of a sudden, a HUGE light went off over Anya's head. "You mean that Paul Simon is the guy from Simon and Garfunkel???!!!???"

Taken aback by her lack of pop-culture knowledge, I found myself on the verge of hysterics. Not only did she not know much about Paul Simon's solo career (which is understandable because his solo career is spotty at times), but she didn't know that Paul Simon was the brains behind the Simon and Garfunkel operation.

I had an immediate flashback to Okinawa, Japan when I was driving my friend Brandon around the base. "Roxanne" came on the radio and Brandon asked me if it was Sting or the Police on the radio. It can be an easy mistake to make if someone is really savvy on pop-culture to not know the difference between a Sting song and a song by The Police. But my dear friend Brandon hadn't put 2 and 2 together, and had NO idea that at one time, Sting had been the frontman for The Police.

Tangent over--

Anya thought that Simon had been one of the singers first names, at which I replied "If that was the case, it would have been called Paul and Art."

She laughed pretty hardily over that little snafu for a few minutes. If I hold to pattern, I should be annoying her with my little Simon and Garfunkel comments for the next few months. "Hey, it's that Art Garfunkel and that guy named Simon on the radio again."

Boy that Neil Simon is one helluva songwriter. Maybe I'll head down the Fair Park and catch a Paul Simon play or something.

(Anya's watching me type this.)

matt out