Here's to Hooks.

Tea: Assam with Ginger.

Music: Ace Frehley, "New York Groove"

Time: Night.

I had this song -- heck, the whole LP (remember those?) -- back in high school. (And yeah, I had the Ace poster with the smoking guitar on my headboard. Drove my parents crazy.)

Been years since I heard it, though. Until tonight, when I looked it up on (surprise!) YouTube. And there it was, in all its Russ Ballard-penned cheesy glory.

Timeless classic? Maybe not. Got to admit, though, that opening hook's a killer. And if you can hook 'em up front, you can make 'em sing along with just about anything.

Cup XXXVII: Isn't That What Music's Supposed to Do?

Tea: Sour Kumquat Green and Raspberry bubble tea

Music: Holly Cole, "Make it Go Away"

Time: Night

Today, while I was waiting for a news conference, I went -- as I often go -- hunting for cool music videos on YouTube.

I'd never had any luck finding that particular Holly Cole song on the site, but I thought -- as I often think -- "Oh, what the heck. Might as well look one more time."

And there it was -- or there she was, I suppose. But the arrangement was different. Same singer, same melody, same lyrics -- but the versions don't feel the same at all.

The song I first fell in love with (and no, that's not too strong a word in this case) is an aching, running on fumes of fumes, two in the morning plea. It'll think about the next day when it comes -- if it comes.

This one's stronger, acknowledging its weakness but also its strength.

It says, "Yeah, I'm messed up, and hurting, and sometimes I can't see past the next minute. And yeah, I need you to get me through that. But we're going to get through this, and someday, when you're messed up and hurting and can't see past the next minute, I'm going to be there."

And you know what?

The feelings for the first version haven't diminished one bit -- but "love's" not too strong a word for this one.

Tonight's story:

Richard Middleton, "On the Brighton Road"

Cup XV: I've Just Heard a Voice I Can't Forget

Tea: Wild Berry Plum Green

Music: Lara Supan, "Almost Blue"

Time: Midpoint of a pensive night

OK, so I've heard this voice before. But I like hearing it. And you should hear it, too.

I found Lara Supan on YouTube, while looking for versions of Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue." Her take on the song, simply recorded in her living room, may be my favorite.

Check that. It's definitely my favorite. I love the low woodwind in her voice on this song, and the others she covers. She doesn't try to be Elvis Costello -- or Mrs. Costello, aka Diana Krall, whose version I also own and like.

And in making the song her own, she makes it achingly unforgettable. When I think of "Almost Blue" now, this is the version that leaps to mind.

Her MySpace has other songs ... and she has an EP of original material coming out this fall. Yes, I plan to order it.

Give her a listen. I'm betting you'll be hooked, too.

Cup XIV: Hello, My Name is Neville

Tea: Ginger Peach Green

Music: Various selections, played by a high school string ensemble

Time: Morning

I'm not a morning person, when morning is defined as "that portion of the day when the sun has risen but has not yet passed overhead."

I did get to see the son perform with his high school strings group earlier. That's always good.

But at the moment, I am riddled with ennui. In the vernacular, I got nothin'.

Rather than drag you into the great greybrown landscape that is my mind at present, I invite you to amuse yourselves here and here and here.

It's almost noon, rhymes with "soon," which is when I will shed this wet wool around my brain.

Cup IX: Snagged on Pop Hooks

Tea: Ginger Peach with honey

Music: Absolute fluff. You got a problem with that?

Time: Night.

I always laugh when people ask me to name a favorite anything, and music is no exception. My CD, mp3 and WMA collections look as though they should belong to at least six people, maybe seven.

So yeah, I love a good three-minute pop song.

Killer hooks? Check. Tight harmonies? Check. Absolutely nothing weighty to say? We have a winnah!

And because I can't own every song I want, I love to go pop-hunting on YouTube.

Songs like this and this and this. This one, too, and this, and by all means this and this. (And just try to tell me that "Wayne Famous" isn't the greatest rock and roll name. Ever.)

Fine. Let's make it an even dozen: This and this and this and this and this -- yeah, even if Andy Taylor did lift the riff from "Bang a Gong (Get it On).

OK, a baker's dozen: Stick this one on top, and there's a flufftastic bagful of ear pastries.

Not all of the tunes on YouTube come attached to the original promotional videos. The Marshall Crenshaw song, for example, is a fan vid. Still, the music makes it worth sitting through the various homages.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some background la-las to sing.