I just did my 'MmmBop Dance' and feel most merry. All it takes is a few long-haired Oklahoma boys . . . um, I think I'll stop that sentence right there.

Anyway, I'll now share a brief, but amusing (at least to me), Hanson story. My friend Mike (of Mike'nDavid) loves music. And Mike is an amazing fellow when it comes to music. Loves the blues; has an extensive collection. His boyfriend is an opera singer. Together they have hundreds of CDs. He loves old-school punk and classic guitar rock. The Ramones, the Stones, Clapton, Iggy Pop, Ry Cooder, Lightning Hopkins, Pinetop Perkins, Robert Johnson.

And Hanson.

I tease him no end about this fact. This music-loving guy . . . the one who is even upon occasion a music snob . . . has a weakness for bubble-gum pop.

He attempts to justify it. Hanson write their own songs. They play their own instruments. They are real musicians, not just well-miked dancers. They just happen to be young and their music somewhat pop-sounding.

Valid arguments to be sure. Usually after he makes them, I bring up the fact that he also likes Britney Spears.

Normally at this point he tells me to fuck off and starts getting grumpy.

Tee hee.

Needless to say, whenever we go out to a bar or restaurant, he goes straight to the jukebox. He always chooses some great classic rock or old country or punk. If we're at a good Irish bar, it might be some good Gaelic music or Irish protest rock.

All of which I enjoy as well.

After he comes back to the table/bar/whatever, I go over. I always choose music I'll enjoy, not unlike Mike's choices, but maybe a little more top 40s pop. Invariably, I also manage to find the two or three songs that will annoy Mike.

In a few of the bars it's 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion. To Mike (and many guys I know) listening to Celine ranks up there with chewing on glass on the list of fun things to do. Me, I love her. And I know that song lasts just short of forever.

Tee hee, again.

There are also several bars that have compilation CDs. In two of the bars we frequent, those compilation CDs have Hanson's 'MmmBop'. Mike never seems to remember this and never bothers to read what's on the compilation CDs.

So it always comes as a surprise.

We'll be sitting there, engrossed in a conversation, when the opening chords play. He usually doesn't catch it, but I do. I start moving my shoulders in time with the music. By the time the lyrics start, I'm doing a seated version of my 'MmmBop Dance'.

This is the point that Mike seems to be shrinking into himself.

Because people are instantly able to tell which table chose Hanson. The table with the weird dancing guy and the obviously humiliated one.

Considering how grotesquely self-conscious I usually am, I'm amazed that I do that. But fuck it, I'm having fun. And despite his protests, I know Mike does, too.