extraordinary performance from Ne-Yo. someone find me the bootleg
**edit** Viacom shutdown youtube's video. See how long Daily Motion will keep it up.
Hey everyone - I've gone ahead and redesigned my blog site. But what do I talk about? Economics, food justice, environment, music, film, personal ramblings, equality economics, and my own personal blend of morality, ethics and wisdom minus the pontification. If you don't like it - complain. Don't be apathetic and lazy. The world'll change without you.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
This is what 24 a day news channels live for
I'm trying to keep up posting for y'all on mondays and fridays (which'll be a TONNN easier when i'm in korea and a half day of east coast standard time) but wow it's hard to think of stuff to write when work's taken over. But wow! what a news cycle day! This is probably just all rehash, but I want this for my own blog records, and to be able to point back to this previous blog post as a day when 24 hour news cycles made sense.
Look at everything that happened!*
(*that i think you should know about)
King of Pop pops - poor taste i know, but check out how it was reported on idontlikeyouinthatway and you'll think better of me.
Shaq goes to Cavs; Vince Carter goes to Magic; Hasheem Thabeet goes to the Thunder; I think it's funnier if use the new york times article to relay a sports story
probably one of the worst ways to use the word 'also' in a sentence, but Farrah Fawcett also passed today.
The Washington Post is saying that the environmental cap-and-trade bill is going to pass by a slim margin when we rouse ourselves for lunchtime on friday. Don't get me started about people arguing about 'deadweight' loss. We should worry about change in business strategy that will completely alter the original data that our projections and graphs are built on that may just reallocate our problems instead of solving and ending up costing us time, money, and effort, but don't tell me you're against something because you're worried about how you'll have to clean stuff that you were supposed to in the first place.
Strip searching kids at school is officially unconstitutional (as reported by a Kansas City Paper no less!) really, I'd make you read the article yourself, but I want to bestow two tidbits so you can safely pass to the next paragraph. 1) while this may seem like a big 'Duh!' moment, this is really one of the earliest, largest, and most tangible decisions that sides in the favor of student privacy when dealing with schools (public or private). Hell, MTV has their own show about extremely biased high school injustice (reported in an equally biased ratings way), and to me, it actually means alot to say that justice can and should be enforced in both respects; that a person doesn't give up their privacy rights to attend school. That's a solid statement that I'm glad is on the books. Granted, some kids are awful (and we all love to blame parenting, and I hope in a later post to draw some kind of syllogism between how we're becoming better workers, but worse role models - but again, that's later). What am I trying to say? It's nice to know that a school administrator can't search a girl's underwear for drugs when there's no tangible suspicion. hearkens back to my TSA Post.
oh, and #2) direct quote from the article: "Justice Clarence Thomas was the only member of the court to decide that the search of Redding was reasonable"re: Clarence Thomas, amazed by the simple pleasures of dishwasher technology
In an alternatively apocolyptic sense, yet another example about how good things (Lord of the Rings - actually releasing an epic, well done feature based on a geeked out fantasyland) into a bad thing (Channel Two in Iran is playing a Lord of the Rings Marathon to keep people inside so they stop protesting)
The socio-political anthropologist in me went ga-ga over this one: Afgan rug tapestries chronicling a history of their country's violence.
and to end on a happy note: Nobody throws a Luau like the Obama's
Mahalo everyone - all the best for the weekend
Look at everything that happened!*
(*that i think you should know about)
King of Pop pops - poor taste i know, but check out how it was reported on idontlikeyouinthatway and you'll think better of me.
Shaq goes to Cavs; Vince Carter goes to Magic; Hasheem Thabeet goes to the Thunder; I think it's funnier if use the new york times article to relay a sports story
probably one of the worst ways to use the word 'also' in a sentence, but Farrah Fawcett also passed today.
The Washington Post is saying that the environmental cap-and-trade bill is going to pass by a slim margin when we rouse ourselves for lunchtime on friday. Don't get me started about people arguing about 'deadweight' loss. We should worry about change in business strategy that will completely alter the original data that our projections and graphs are built on that may just reallocate our problems instead of solving and ending up costing us time, money, and effort, but don't tell me you're against something because you're worried about how you'll have to clean stuff that you were supposed to in the first place.
Strip searching kids at school is officially unconstitutional (as reported by a Kansas City Paper no less!) really, I'd make you read the article yourself, but I want to bestow two tidbits so you can safely pass to the next paragraph. 1) while this may seem like a big 'Duh!' moment, this is really one of the earliest, largest, and most tangible decisions that sides in the favor of student privacy when dealing with schools (public or private). Hell, MTV has their own show about extremely biased high school injustice (reported in an equally biased ratings way), and to me, it actually means alot to say that justice can and should be enforced in both respects; that a person doesn't give up their privacy rights to attend school. That's a solid statement that I'm glad is on the books. Granted, some kids are awful (and we all love to blame parenting, and I hope in a later post to draw some kind of syllogism between how we're becoming better workers, but worse role models - but again, that's later). What am I trying to say? It's nice to know that a school administrator can't search a girl's underwear for drugs when there's no tangible suspicion. hearkens back to my TSA Post.
oh, and #2) direct quote from the article: "Justice Clarence Thomas was the only member of the court to decide that the search of Redding was reasonable"re: Clarence Thomas, amazed by the simple pleasures of dishwasher technology
In an alternatively apocolyptic sense, yet another example about how good things (Lord of the Rings - actually releasing an epic, well done feature based on a geeked out fantasyland) into a bad thing (Channel Two in Iran is playing a Lord of the Rings Marathon to keep people inside so they stop protesting)
The socio-political anthropologist in me went ga-ga over this one: Afgan rug tapestries chronicling a history of their country's violence.
and to end on a happy note: Nobody throws a Luau like the Obama's
Mahalo everyone - all the best for the weekend
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Bonnaroo Post!
A PRELUDE
My dad and I do not build model rockets. We don't try to fix broken appliances or household infrastructure. We don't follow cars, or jet engines, or stock portfolios. I was never a boy scout. He was never overbearing. We don't play baseball.
So google, tell me how in the world a father and son should bond when they don't enjoy the things listed above - Rent and Ride a Tandem Bicycle you say? yeah...
THE BEGINNING
My dad and I went to Bonnaroo. Yes, that Bonnaroo. The story really begins @ Wesleyan, where a guy named Ben worked for my dad's cafe on campus for a few years, and told him about the music that he and this other kid were putting together. My dad loves the stuff he's putting together, lets Ben know that he runs the music portion of the Meriden Daffodil Festival, and invites their band to come and play for their first official gig of their careers together.
Fast forward a few years, and they are absolutely blowing up all over the scene. My dad catches one of their shows up in Boston earlier this past year, and they let us know that they'll be down at Bonnaroo, and that he should think about going.
Fast forward to Thursday the 10th of June, and I'm arriving at the Continental gate, meeting my dad in Nashville in what ensued to be one of the most epic weekends of either of our concert going careers.
THE PLAY BY PLAY
I have to cross reference my notes on this one, and like the SF post, this'll be pretty choppy; but what we lose in seamlessness, we'll gain in content and organization:
THURSDAY
We get on the road @ the Airport in our Suzuki 4 door rental at around 7 at night. The car has been pre-packed with all the essentials, a tent, sleeping bag, beer, cooler, 2 stainless water bottles, cell phone chargers, snacks and goodies to be shared, 2 jugs of gatorade, and a few other nonessential items i'm probably forgetting to mention... oh yeah, like the flashlight and toilet paper - things like that. It's an hour drive that takes 3, and amid a thunderous downpour and tornado warnings we set up our campsite. Of course, once we figure out to set up the damn thing, it looks as we, the tent, and the car have just been pulled out of river. Drenched, travel/work exhausted, and intently sober - we ponder the rest of the evening's activities. We both kind of give each other the, 'well... what are we effing standing around here for?' and start trudging through the mud caked streetways to get inside the concert area, and our showcase ensues:
Passion Pit (THIS TENT) @ 11 pm
FRIDAY
direct quote: "wake up to an open package of oreos and a mud soaked jacket. roll out of the car, brush teeth, put contacts in, change clothes, back into the roo. doesn't feel like i'm going to die yet. good sign."
Moonalice (Troo Music Lounge) 12 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (WHICH STAGE) 4:45
Al Green (WHAT STAGE) 6:00 pm
my cell phone is dying, i am dying, where do these oreos keep coming from? there still two more days? yesssssssssssss
Allen Tousaint (THAT TENT) 1:45 pm
Jenny Lewis (THAT TENT) 5:00 pm
Yeasayer (THAT TENT) 1:45 am
MGMT (THAT TENT) 2:15 am
moe. (THIS TENT) 4:00 am
SUNDAY
Rock the earth Panel - social change through music
Food Inc Advertising
Oxfam
Motion Potion
Erykah Badu
Snoop
Coheed & Cambria
My dad and I do not build model rockets. We don't try to fix broken appliances or household infrastructure. We don't follow cars, or jet engines, or stock portfolios. I was never a boy scout. He was never overbearing. We don't play baseball.
So google, tell me how in the world a father and son should bond when they don't enjoy the things listed above - Rent and Ride a Tandem Bicycle you say? yeah...
THE BEGINNING
My dad and I went to Bonnaroo. Yes, that Bonnaroo. The story really begins @ Wesleyan, where a guy named Ben worked for my dad's cafe on campus for a few years, and told him about the music that he and this other kid were putting together. My dad loves the stuff he's putting together, lets Ben know that he runs the music portion of the Meriden Daffodil Festival, and invites their band to come and play for their first official gig of their careers together.
Fast forward a few years, and they are absolutely blowing up all over the scene. My dad catches one of their shows up in Boston earlier this past year, and they let us know that they'll be down at Bonnaroo, and that he should think about going.
Fast forward to Thursday the 10th of June, and I'm arriving at the Continental gate, meeting my dad in Nashville in what ensued to be one of the most epic weekends of either of our concert going careers.
THE PLAY BY PLAY
I have to cross reference my notes on this one, and like the SF post, this'll be pretty choppy; but what we lose in seamlessness, we'll gain in content and organization:
THURSDAY
We get on the road @ the Airport in our Suzuki 4 door rental at around 7 at night. The car has been pre-packed with all the essentials, a tent, sleeping bag, beer, cooler, 2 stainless water bottles, cell phone chargers, snacks and goodies to be shared, 2 jugs of gatorade, and a few other nonessential items i'm probably forgetting to mention... oh yeah, like the flashlight and toilet paper - things like that. It's an hour drive that takes 3, and amid a thunderous downpour and tornado warnings we set up our campsite. Of course, once we figure out to set up the damn thing, it looks as we, the tent, and the car have just been pulled out of river. Drenched, travel/work exhausted, and intently sober - we ponder the rest of the evening's activities. We both kind of give each other the, 'well... what are we effing standing around here for?' and start trudging through the mud caked streetways to get inside the concert area, and our showcase ensues:
Passion Pit (THIS TENT) @ 11 pm
- Before - who?
- After - fantastic dancy rock with falsetto-ish vocalist, took down the 15,000 person crowd on opening night; thorough impressed
- Song that matters: Sleepyhead - 3.5 million plays on myspace, and you're getting somewhere
- Before - New Orleans boy in a similar GirlTalk vein
- After - mashups are my thing - not as agressive as a GirlTalk set, but much smoother (re: does not use air horns to transition songs), and pulls in tech and drum n bass beats much more often; my favorite of the night
- Song that matters: listen to ZomBmore, and you'll get what i'm saying
- Before - who?
- After - down home country-ish, highlight iconic southern icons (fried chicken, women, down on your luck-ness) and the everpresent slide guitar. not my cup of tea, especially @ 1 in the morning.
- Song that matters: Whatever it is - iunno, ppl like it
- Before - nother NOLA DJ, fuses eastern european traditional dance music into a DJ set
- After - kind of feels like the SNL skit about the whopper virgins
- Song that matters: whopper virgins hulu video
FRIDAY
direct quote: "wake up to an open package of oreos and a mud soaked jacket. roll out of the car, brush teeth, put contacts in, change clothes, back into the roo. doesn't feel like i'm going to die yet. good sign."
Moonalice (Troo Music Lounge) 12 pm
- Before - Dad said G.E. Smith was in the band, and we had him at the daffodil fest a few years back - expecting classic rock and roll set
- After - mellow rock and roll set. mildly lame start to the day
- Song that Matters - didn't hear one
- Before - first band on David Byrne's feature stage - nothing other than that
- After - All female folksy power pop from Oslo, that has a beautifully slinking post-civil war/coal miner's song feel to it; enjoyable live set, listening to their recorded stuff now and it's... not the same
- Song that Matters: Storm; but hear it live - ghostly feel, and higlights lead vocalist's incredible range (I can't find this song anywhere)
- Before - shoegazer, but wtf is shoegazing?
- After - what i know as guitar percussionism, you call shoegazing - and she's awesome at it - definitely making it into my chill music playlists; wish the songs lasted longer and she sung less
- Song that Matters: Bone Chaos in the Castle; veryyyy Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Cross
- Before - son of Ali Farka Toure, first introduced to me by Shawna and L'auberge Espagnole
- After - son of Ali Farka Toure, first introduced to me by Shawna and L'auberge Espagnole
- Song that Matters: Ai Du, bluesy genius, cover from his pops
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (WHICH STAGE) 4:45
- Before - high expectations after Fever to Tell; even higher expectations after Ashley introduced Hysteric to me - indie rockers from new york with a half korean frontwoman who've added power and danceability to their repertoire
- After - expectations met - Karen's vocal strength has improved tremendously, owned their slower songs, and built on the new stuff
- Song that Matters: something went wrong with their synths, so Miss O went acoustic on Maps - song of the day. no question
Al Green (WHAT STAGE) 6:00 pm
- Before - iconic superstar of the R&B and Motown years; part of the hit machine; worried about performance; is a reverend
- After - professional. Had a very Earthfest/Ludacris set (re: 2 minutes of all of my hits) and holds a very endearing, politically rehearsed looking smile. Fills the seats, pays the bills, everyone's happy
- Song that Matters: well, really it's Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone, but he's too happy nowadays; so it's the consummate classic, Let's Stay Together
- Before - saw them @ Voodoofest and wasn't really impressed, but I lovelovelove their music; high energy indie surf rock with pounding vocals
- After - wow; I've never seen a performance improve so much - frontman has gone from writhing about to owning the stage, and the sound set up was *MUCH* better; full discography added to the library
- Song that Matters: torn between Wolf Like Me and I Was a Lover; powerful and uniquely their own sound, but in two very different moods
- Before - Tibetan Freedom; Rap-rock for frat parties; rap-hip hop for geeks; and hip hop for purists
- After - Mixmaster Mike is legit. They brought NAS out. Were surprisingly more instrument oriented, and higlighted my favorite sure shot
- Song that Matters - surprise appearance by NAS, some new song
- Before - frontman to my favorite new wave band of the 80s; aching, aching for a version of This Must Be the Place from Wall Street; but knowing i'm going to be disappointed
- After - space. cadet.
- Song that Matters - it's still This Must Be the Place (highlighting a MGMT version in spite of David Byrne and props to MGMT)
- Before - the Grateful dead of our time; vermonters unite
- After - I am not a jam band fan; but this set fit so well for this place it wasn't even funny
- Song that Matters - could not even tell ya
- Before - mash up king, and I love mash ups like no other; worried about trainwrecking live
- After - I haven't been this amped to be moving around like an idiot with everyone since raving during high school - felt like home in every good way possible
- Song that Matters - point in time when Lil Mama was singing Lip Gloss over the bridge for One by Metallica. yes, that happened. live.
- Before - first introduction to trance music when i was 14; provided only real musical rebellion for me to walk down, and spent my 16 and 17 year old nights in high school (alluded above) discovering that techno didn't suck
- After - so.. this set was supposed to be well over, but there was a fountain people were dancing in, and the music was still really loud, and i think *i think* I heard my favorite track that Armin van Buuren used to choon - Till Ya Drop (by Remy and Roland Klinkenburg) and the night would not end
- Song that Matters - Till Ya Drop by Remy and Roland Klinkenburg - sicksicksick bass drop in the middle of it, but it's only useful when it surprises the hell out of you
my cell phone is dying, i am dying, where do these oreos keep coming from? there still two more days? yesssssssssssss
Allen Tousaint (THAT TENT) 1:45 pm
- Before - more new orleans props, jazzish
- After - where am i and what happened last night?
- Song that Matters - still have Maps stuck in my head from yesterday
- Before - formerly of Tony! Toni! Toné! expectations are set
- After - wow, he's a jerk. but he can put some great music together - older R&B with deep rock and slight gospel influences
- Song that Matters - did a version of Age of Aquarius that probably brought an additional 5 thousand people to the stage
Jenny Lewis (THAT TENT) 5:00 pm
- Before - Dad says she's the Alanis Morrisette of this generation. wait- this generation? is this generation no longer my generation? wow...
- After - he's pretty much right - cept she's more ironic and less bitchy and less weird - but of course, there's time
- Song that Matters - Acid Tongue's the big one, but I loved Pretty Bird - take your pick
- Before - toured with MGMT, theatrical stylings
- After - looks like GWAR without feeling scared; turned offbeat songs into epics; got to hang out with them back stage and Ashley really likes them - who knew?
- Song that Matters - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse; but only if there's a giant paper dragon beheading on stage; otherwise, it's Gronlandic Edit
- Before - Dad's absolutely favorite artist; new wave movement, but a songwriter at the core
- After - really the first act from previous generations who really took the stage - *and* it was an acoustic show -hella impressive
- Song that Matters - for me, it'll always be veronica; but that's only because i had a crush on a veronica in 6th grade aaaand i didn't really listen to the lyrics of the song
- Before - I *think* there are former At the Drive-In members in this band, and they've got a song in Guitar Hero IV that Chu likes to shred to
- After - pretentious. didn't enjoy it at all. no energy to the set, and started yelling at fans for wanting to hear earlier stuff. Honestly, they're not asking you to play Freebird - chill
- Song that Matters - One Armed Scissor; yes, that song is done by At the Drive-In
- Before - on my itunes playlists under 'the indie bands you probably would like if you had the time to listen to and absorb their lyrics, but until then, only one of their songs is making it into your playlists, and it's the one that everyone knows'
- After - gets the 'Did most to sway me to fandom' - another epic set on the THIS TENT, *and* the first encore that I've seen/remembered
- Song that Matters - The Hazards of Love, pts 1-4; a journey with ye olde french sounding strumming
- Before - band i grew up with; from the angry downward spiral, to the epic prowess of the Fragile to the amazing use of crowdsourcing to popularize Year Zero, trent reznor is a role model for all
- After - omg, it's his last performance in the states for a long time - AND I'M HERE! yesssss
- Song that Matters - always will be Hurt; hated that Johnny Cash had a version of it, and hated that it was so good
Yeasayer (THAT TENT) 1:45 am
MGMT (THAT TENT) 2:15 am
moe. (THIS TENT) 4:00 am
SUNDAY
Rock the earth Panel - social change through music
Food Inc Advertising
Oxfam
Motion Potion
Erykah Badu
Snoop
Coheed & Cambria
Friday, June 19, 2009
While you're waiting for the weekend to begin
I swear, the bonnaroo post is coming soon, but first I've gotta clear out my google reader and update y'all with my internet trawling highlights.
Google Reader is a google web app that will automatically send your favorite news articles, blogs, and web page updates to one central location, allowing you to view, email, and share your own personalized, filtered news content. If you decide to sign up for one, let me know, and we can become buddies, and I'll be able to share this blog (along with my other findings) with you on an instantaneous basis.
to continue the geek out - here are the highlights from June 1st to today!
Microsoft continues to try to take over your life without you knowing in the Mordor sense apparently, the latest windows update installs something onto firefox, which allows websites to upload content to your computer without you knowing. and oh yeah, you can't uninstall it, because microsoft disabled the uninstall button, and you can only remove it by removing windows registry files (removing windows registry files = high risk of continual system crashes). OR! you can use internet explorer! jerks.
Obama follows my date night recommendation Dinner and Broadway show, but I really can't help but extoll the tremendous virtue of the restaurant they went to - Dan Barber's fantastic Blue Hill, a spot that is linked directly to the Blue Hill farm in mid upstate New York. RE: local, sustainable, healthy (pricey), elegant, and tremendously amazing menu options.
View Larger Map
GTA 5 - Boston? ok, that's not what's going to happen, but the blog article and related links talk about how Boston's finest is going to arm themselves with semi-automatic weaponry.
Origami, meet your maker German artist who creates his work by only folding paper. un.real.
Apparently, at a zoo across the pond, a rat has been standing up, and stealing food from a leopard. not the same moral message as ratatouille, but life's real in the real world.
only 935 more articles to go until my readerbox is empty!
Google Reader is a google web app that will automatically send your favorite news articles, blogs, and web page updates to one central location, allowing you to view, email, and share your own personalized, filtered news content. If you decide to sign up for one, let me know, and we can become buddies, and I'll be able to share this blog (along with my other findings) with you on an instantaneous basis.
to continue the geek out - here are the highlights from June 1st to today!
Microsoft continues to try to take over your life without you knowing in the Mordor sense apparently, the latest windows update installs something onto firefox, which allows websites to upload content to your computer without you knowing. and oh yeah, you can't uninstall it, because microsoft disabled the uninstall button, and you can only remove it by removing windows registry files (removing windows registry files = high risk of continual system crashes). OR! you can use internet explorer! jerks.
Obama follows my date night recommendation Dinner and Broadway show, but I really can't help but extoll the tremendous virtue of the restaurant they went to - Dan Barber's fantastic Blue Hill, a spot that is linked directly to the Blue Hill farm in mid upstate New York. RE: local, sustainable, healthy (pricey), elegant, and tremendously amazing menu options.
View Larger Map
GTA 5 - Boston? ok, that's not what's going to happen, but the blog article and related links talk about how Boston's finest is going to arm themselves with semi-automatic weaponry.
Origami, meet your maker German artist who creates his work by only folding paper. un.real.
Apparently, at a zoo across the pond, a rat has been standing up, and stealing food from a leopard. not the same moral message as ratatouille, but life's real in the real world.
only 935 more articles to go until my readerbox is empty!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Logistical updates
Hey everyone,
much love for the emails/comments on my journey to sf - just doing a few housekeeping items today:
-updated the 'just look' and 'just watch' sections to hold the latest san francisco pictures and duck hoochie video.
-removed the double 'just follow' entry on the left side bars
-took off the imeem music player (verrry buggy) and replaced with my radio account on thesixtyone.com. Hit the play button and you can scroll through the songs that I've 'bumped' (liked), comment on the song, and if you really like it, open your own account (referred by kjderosa!).
-moved the 'just remember' links down a scoch. it was annoying, and taking up too much prime time real estate.
and that should do it. I'll let y'all know when I get the 'eventual art' tab up (probably not until I can scan some of my work in), and (as expected) the proposed title is 'just art'.
Coming soon! in the next issue: local food sourcing! Drew Barrymore! MGMT! Of Montreal! NAS! and all of the other goings on at this year's Bonnaroo, as witnessed and participated through a father/son bonding experience. I want an effing emmy.
much love for the emails/comments on my journey to sf - just doing a few housekeeping items today:
-updated the 'just look' and 'just watch' sections to hold the latest san francisco pictures and duck hoochie video.
-removed the double 'just follow' entry on the left side bars
-took off the imeem music player (verrry buggy) and replaced with my radio account on thesixtyone.com. Hit the play button and you can scroll through the songs that I've 'bumped' (liked), comment on the song, and if you really like it, open your own account (referred by kjderosa!).
-moved the 'just remember' links down a scoch. it was annoying, and taking up too much prime time real estate.
and that should do it. I'll let y'all know when I get the 'eventual art' tab up (probably not until I can scan some of my work in), and (as expected) the proposed title is 'just art'.
Coming soon! in the next issue: local food sourcing! Drew Barrymore! MGMT! Of Montreal! NAS! and all of the other goings on at this year's Bonnaroo, as witnessed and participated through a father/son bonding experience. I want an effing emmy.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
June on the West Coast
A Weekend in San Francisco
A prelude:
So, my perception of California stems from a very wild perception as the land of opportunity, mystical, magical place where everyone is really friendly, the weather is always awesome, and happiness grows on trees; and not the government utitility privatization, budgetary crises, the horrid WE garden, smog, pretentious, prop 8 hypocrisy that tends to jade the public perception. Nonetheless! There are many a thing that makes made me feel like california was disneyworld on top of an icecream sundae in a chocolate waffle sugar bowl, but it really boils down to the following stream of conscious thoughts (and entertainment plugs):
My love for Groove, an indie movie about the San Francisco Warehouse rave scene in the early/mid nineties; my love of sunlight and all the smiley people from the west coast I met on the east; the very wrong assumption that being in a different time zone meant that waking up at 7 AM PST is really like waking up at 10 AM EST everyday; the food and farming culture (albeit built on the backs of the Grapes of Wrath) and my overall desire to be around diversity, tolerance, innovation, execution, and social responsibility in an urban sprawl.
San Francisco is that - and everything else.
Before this blog post bores you without content, here was my agenda and commentary highlights for y'all to enjoy; and perhaps join in one day; as this is a city I would love to live in for lots of days of my life.
FRIDAY
oh, and there was a fire, a manhole explosion, and an earthquake while i was there.
And the truth is I've been dreaming of some tired tranquil place
Where the weather won't get trapped inside my bones
And if all the years of searching find one sympathetic face
Then it's there I will plant these seeds and make my home
~Conor Oberst, June on the West Coast
A prelude:
So, my perception of California stems from a very wild perception as the land of opportunity, mystical, magical place where everyone is really friendly, the weather is always awesome, and happiness grows on trees; and not the government utitility privatization, budgetary crises, the horrid WE garden, smog, pretentious, prop 8 hypocrisy that tends to jade the public perception. Nonetheless! There are many a thing that makes made me feel like california was disneyworld on top of an icecream sundae in a chocolate waffle sugar bowl, but it really boils down to the following stream of conscious thoughts (and entertainment plugs):
My love for Groove, an indie movie about the San Francisco Warehouse rave scene in the early/mid nineties; my love of sunlight and all the smiley people from the west coast I met on the east; the very wrong assumption that being in a different time zone meant that waking up at 7 AM PST is really like waking up at 10 AM EST everyday; the food and farming culture (albeit built on the backs of the Grapes of Wrath) and my overall desire to be around diversity, tolerance, innovation, execution, and social responsibility in an urban sprawl.
San Francisco is that - and everything else.
Before this blog post bores you without content, here was my agenda and commentary highlights for y'all to enjoy; and perhaps join in one day; as this is a city I would love to live in for lots of days of my life.
FRIDAY
- United Nations Square - this is a pristine government center with a cool 'growing' tree exhibit on the middle lawn, with tons of homeless people in various states of ebriation
- Chinatown -omg, so many hills, so much dimsum, so clean, and soooo many faux jewelry stores playing bryan adams
- Union Square Shopping center - their Westfield shoppingtown has a spiral escalator and a touch screen navigation map
- Telegraph Hill - had some photos up of this peak point; the walk up there was terribly steep and sweaty, and I was really hoping to see some "wild" parrots, but maybe it's not the season? no parrots = not happy; but a great view
- grabbed some sustenance at a spot called Caffe Greco - where the tiramisu is spongy, the lattees are frothy, and the wifi is free - in.heaven.
- walked a bit north and hit fisherman's wharf - the wildwood/timesquare/harboryard of San Francisco. Not doing that ever again, unless i'm dragged there by tourists in fannypacks, and high socks, and who use digital SLR cameras with autofocus and spf 45. but they had that cool crocodough (breadadile?)
- Lombard street - the crookedest street in the city - another horrendous uphill walk, to see tourists drive down what looks like a life-size version of marble works, or something from the Mouse Trap board game.
- Ate a vegetarian, buddhist inspired restaurant by the eastern side of the GGB - decent fair, nice camera shots, but nothing spectacular. not even going to post the name here, it was that unmemorable
- HAIGHT ASHBURY! highlight of the Friday - hipster,sketch,singles area, littered with tattoo shops, cafes, dive bars, music shops, head shops, and cafe sunshine - a small hookah spot a few blocks down haight where I met some people who did film production and talent search work for fox searchlight and I may be realizing an opportunity, or at least, a very cool hobby. Kind of represents everything I could dream of - the cool, the ambition, the socialability, the easygoingness - all to a backdrop of trip hop, breaks, and atmospheric drum and bass. Not to mention the lemon mint hookah, and the melon/honey mix i got to sample out. end of day, and I'm exhausted from work and play. which moves us on to...
- woke up at a suitably reasonable hour; grabbed a cup of arabic joe at Phil's Coffeeshop on the explicit recommendation of Dave, and was gratefully impressed. eff starbucks.
- but really, why did I wake up early (re: 8:40)? Because of the CUESA Farmer's Market - where I could gush about for a good 2k plus words, but I'll limit myself - suffice it to say that I spent the entire morning there, ate oodles of samples, left with a lunch of goat cheese made fresh that morning, strawberries picked fresh that morning, an heirloom tomato that was as purple as it was red, and a small loaf of french bread, still warm and crusty from the oven. oh, and also these guys were performing:
- Balmy Street - trekked out on the BART subway system to see the free art of San Francisco - aka, this one walking block down balmy street that has the impressive murals I took some photos of in the last post
- back to haight-ashbury for some relaxing, and caught a quick bite at a mexican shop there, as well as another coffee and some more free wifi - at this point, my feet are starting to feel hella sore and painful, as we're now approaching my 10th walking mile for the weekend
- walked through golden gate park. and i'm going to throw this out there: golden gate park > central park. Refer to my previous posts, and if you don't believe me, check out my national geographic film skills:
- So from there, I mosy my way up the 29 bus (at this point i'm ready to saw my feet off) and head out to land's end and china beach. At this point, I'm feeling a huuuuge wave of relief and accomplish, for after 12 years of spitting my mouth on it, I've made it to the west coast and dip my feet in the pacific. A dolphin starts surfacing (AND I HAVE THE PICTURES TO PROVE IT!) and all seems right with the world. A sign? most definitely.
- hit one more coffeeshop back in the tenderloin district, meet up with a few people for dinner at Tataki, a sustainable sushi restaurant in a trattoria setting with Yann Tiersen (Amelie fame) playing in the background, catch the last half of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon up in Russian Hill for movie at the park, and call it another night. i've got only one more day, and that's
- we're up a little bit later now - and I get to catch brunch with David and Karen @ Serpentine, a spot a little south of their place (and in the same warehouse district where I dreamed of raving in!). They are fantastic people (and hella cute together) and I really can't say enough about how grateful I am to them, but they deserve this embarassing shout out. Serpentine had incredible ingredients, the coffee wasn't burnt or watery, and the bloody mary had a glorious morning kick to it.
- took some more shots around Union square area, looked at things i didn't want to buy, and got to see a tango performed by the San Francisco Argentinean society to a back drop of a nike town building poster - who was the poster of? LeBron James? ARod? Matt Cassell? Nope - it's Christiano Ronaldo. Nike is choosing to advertise an iconic world soccer player over any American sport export. Crazy. it's the little things like that; those are the things that make me smile about the city - like wait times showing how long the buses will take; or the advertisements for mcdonalds, clearly labeled "this advertisement does not necessarily reflect the views of the San Francisco Muni" or something like that; or how the colors are so deep; or the food is so earthy; or how the sun shines when you get cold, and how the wind gusts when you get warm. I was able to grab a convertibl minicooper that last afternoon and drive over the GGB, down into Sausalito (the watchhill/hamptons), drive down the western coast, listening to Franz Ferdinand and the local radio new music show, and the local radio pop station (which plays Faithless, Vaiio, Annie, and the Klaxons) and hip hop (hyphy still strong; federation, keak da sneak, mistah fab)
oh, and there was a fire, a manhole explosion, and an earthquake while i was there.
And the truth is I've been dreaming of some tired tranquil place
Where the weather won't get trapped inside my bones
And if all the years of searching find one sympathetic face
Then it's there I will plant these seeds and make my home
~Conor Oberst, June on the West Coast
Monday, June 8, 2009
San Francisco - picture highlights
To brighten this Monday morning of yours, check out a few highlights from my weekend in San Francisco - don't worry ma, the pictures from Haight didn't really turn out great; for some reason. I will be commenting on my adventures in a later post, so enjoy the tidbits!
 |
| San Francisco 6/8/09 12:18 AM |
Monday, June 1, 2009
TSA Agent Training
Heading out of the security line at the New Orleans Airport, I had the opportunity to overhear the following TSA Security Training session:
'Now, remember - you've really got to look for things. The more you find - the more you get paid, so think about that... Don't be afraid to be forceful when you're patting someone down. I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for being too rough.'
---
In other news, this will be not only my first blog post in awhile, but this is also my first blog post to be sent through my twitter feed, and will hopefully be updating my facebook status. Cross your fingers!
It's my last night as a resident at the corner of Packard Ave and Electric Ave. So, to properly send off this portion of my life (and this incredibly awesomely named intersection) I had this great idea to drink a 30 Pack while listening to Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue... but we're going to have to settle for this blog post and embedded video instead. enjoy!
'Now, remember - you've really got to look for things. The more you find - the more you get paid, so think about that... Don't be afraid to be forceful when you're patting someone down. I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for being too rough.'
---
In other news, this will be not only my first blog post in awhile, but this is also my first blog post to be sent through my twitter feed, and will hopefully be updating my facebook status. Cross your fingers!
It's my last night as a resident at the corner of Packard Ave and Electric Ave. So, to properly send off this portion of my life (and this incredibly awesomely named intersection) I had this great idea to drink a 30 Pack while listening to Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue... but we're going to have to settle for this blog post and embedded video instead. enjoy!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
intermediary
Imeem has gotten a bit proprietary, so I'm looking for a new music player. Brought it back to the voice of our generation. yeahhhhh...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
4 AM News
another segment I'm developing, inspired by the astounding Rives and his 4 AM TEDTalk, I'm happy introduce 4 AM news - one image, one article, and one other, unlikely to make it onto the evening news or CNN frontpage, but deserve credit for their inspiration, entertainment, or importance. So the message is: here are the news I've found during bouts of insomnia that you may not come across that my interest you in your watercooler conversations and awkward silences at dinner parties... if you don't use digg. and if you didn't click on the 4 AM TEDTalk link above, forshame, but here it is again, because I'm going to mao it down your throat.
let's begin! (and don't forget to watch out for the liberal, progressive bias)
X number of items today:
This is an article of the White House Increase in Terror attacks since 9/11
This is a photo of the border between San Diego and Tijiuana
This is a photo... and an article! of China's e-waste
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Rep Yo City - Adios Pantalones
So I'm gonna switch the format of this blog up a little bit, in the style of the colbert report. That is, I'm going to have recurring, thematic blog entries. But they won't be scheduled regularly. So this is like "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" or "Better Know a District" but NOT like "the Word".
make sense? hopefully....
So this is Rep Yo City, an unscheduled recurring blog segment. This is where I try to do things in my city (aka, my metropolitan area) Boston, in the hopes that I'll build up enough stories, experiences, and credible recommendations whenever I talk about where I'm from.Inspired by the staycation, my inability to give directions in boston, and all of those moments when people visit and you have no idea what to do with them.
Rules:
1) Becoming a regular someplace doesn't count UNLESS something cool happens because of it.
2) multiple entries are allowed for the same location IF they are hosting two distinct events.
3) the price of the event should always be listed. I should be given more xanga props (haha! remember those?) for events that are not expensive. I should be given double xanga props for word of mouth events.
4) I can only rep my city (slash-metropolitan area). This means that there will no New Orleans blogging, at least under this category.
Let's Begin.
Rep Yo City! No Pants? No Problem!
I spent the morning hungover from drinks and wings and missing brunch with a friend (which turned out to be for naught irregards) and was about to spend my internet time figuring out what to do for the day, when out of the blue, i happen upon this website. By now, this blog should be filled with pictures, video, comments, and stories of the like, but to brief you (shazaam!), it is a link to what is better known as No Pants Day. What is No Pants Day you ask? It's the day you wear no pants, stupid.
But more specifically, the idea is this: organize a group of people; get onto a subway; take your pants off; look serious; enjoy everyone else's reaction. don't believe me? well...
Now, given my lack of preparation, and my inability to convince anyone else to go and take off their pants on a subway with me (life after college just isn't the same), I grabbed my hat and gloves and trekked out to park street to witness this for myself. I get down to the davis T station pretty late (I bring a camera, but then decide not to use it, because I don't want to be *that* sketchy guy... and I figure there should be tons of pictures online anyways... and my camera battery dies) and I step onto the train into a mass of of people reading books, taking notes, chatting about their day... sans pants. I have to say, I was pretty intimidated by the whole scene, and just kind of grabbed a pole and gripped it for dear life - it was one of those scenarios where I knew what was going on, but they didn't know that I knew what was going on, and I didn't want to ruin everybody's "surprise" so I just kind of played along, but I really wanted to be a part of their club and take my pants off; but then the transit authority guy was there, and I already had a battery-less camera concealed underneath my trench coat, and it could've all gone really sour.
So I just contented myself with their chatter and quietly walked off at the Park Street station, turned about and got a Dave's Fresh Pasta Sandwich. however, on the inside, I was thinking....
OH MY GOD THIS IS HILARIOUS AND AWESOME and only people without sticks up their arses would enjoy it - so many pantless people! so many people walking by! one transit authority officer stone faced! so many drunken dudes from the boston bruins game whiplashing! so many families with small children from the boston bruins game giggling! I was incredibly impressed by the sheer number of people who particiated, how global it is (i think it's 8+ countries in 13+ subway systems; nyc having over a thousand participants last year) and how long it's been around (this is the 8th annual event!)
Needless to say, I will be participating next year - or more precisely, on the actual no pants day. I encourage people to join... and also to figure out if their companies will sponsor it... or if they'll get fired (either one)
and Rep Yo City!
just look - Rally for Palestine
minor post, but I put a mini album (re: less than 10 shots) of one of the rallies for Palestine that I happened to find myself in. Look to the 'just look' section in the middle column. It's around the green area by Copley Square (the site of my favorite summertime farmer's market) - ironically, these pictures are from my trip to the library to figure out how to use my digital camera.
needless to say, I took the pictures before getting to the BPL.
Also, just a few logistical items, the 'just look' portion of this web page will consist of the random photographs that I take, and it's brought to you by the great people at Google's Picasa, a photo-sharing site in the vein of flickr and webshots. I like Picasa because I can link all of these items (youtube, blogger, picassa, gmail) together in one seamless, google's-going-to-know-everything-about-me-anyway, enterprise.
I also figured out how to embed their slideshows first. yeah synergy!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
I'm as old as the day is long
***editor's note***
I went heavy on the links in the post. you've been forewarned.
***/end note***
Today (or at least, sometime during the 48 hour period between the beginning of January 2nd and the end of January 3rd) marks the 24th anniversary of my season premiere in this life.
yes yes, I'm 24 years old. there's that right wing television show, rims have hit inflationary pressure (up to 24's from 22's), the iconic women's curvature is 36-24-36, 24 karat gold, christmas eve, the intergovernmental group of 24... exciting. depressing. ohmygodwhatthefuckamidoingwithmylife-ing.
To mark this special occasion, (besides eating and drinking my face off) I've decided that this year (unlike all of my previous years.... psssh) will be a year marked with destiny, foolish decision making, and big events.
So this basically means compiling a Top n list of great/awful accomplishments by great/awful people when they turned the age of a full earth's rotation (measured in hours... or jack bauer episodes... or teeth... you get the idea). All of my fellow 1985 brothers and sisters should be inspired. or very afraid.
probably both.
************************************
when they were was 24...
...Michelangelo carved the Pieta
...Cindy Lou Hensley met a 42 year old John McCain
...Pablo Picasso painted his Boy with a Pipe, sold at Southeby's for $104,168,000
...Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia joined the Ku Klux Klan
...Tracy i'maTuftsalumna Chapman released her first album
...Thomas Beattie decided to switch sexes
...Ian Thorpe retired from competitive swimming
...Biggie got shot
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