First, I want to state that I have this lofty goal to eliminate my credit card dependency. However, my compulsion to support certain 'why-are-these-people-still-under-the-radar?' musicians @ established music venues makes it quite difficult.
Tuesday night when I saw Ari Hest play at the Hotel Cafe I knew the online ticket purchase was worth it-- as are all my purchases, of course. The opener from Ireland, Declan O'Rourke, told the audience that this was his first time playing (or first tour playing?) in America. He had a great sound and one novelty song stands out. It's about an old black crow and it was highly entertaining because there was a fun song introduction and then part of the chorus was him cawing. Not counting that particular song, to me, live, his style was like an Irish version of Ari's so it shouldn't be too surprising if he gains a large following here fairly quickly.
"I can make you move against your will. Don’t it make you sad to lose control?" Broken Voices by Ari Hest
Ari was fantastic with his band, and played a bunch of songs from his early material and CD The Break In, plus newer songs from his project, 52, which included my favorite song, Broken Voices. At some point Amy Kuney came up to sing Cranberry Lake which she co-wrote and sang in a duet with Ari. That was great because I've been wanting to see her live for a while now too.
Ari's vocal ability is amazing. His tone ranges in his songs from baritone to falsetto with impressively flawless lung control. It bowls me over me every time I see him live.
I ran into @KristinJuel during the evening which is always refreshing. Sitting with her I discovered my new favorite bass player, Rob Calder, who has an interesting way of dancing to the beat while he plays. Very entertaining to watch!
The only downer of the night is that there's a rule that non-flash photography is allowed in Hotel Cafe, but video recording is not. Kristin got busted for taking video with her digi cam at some point. That was too bad but at least they didn't confiscate her camera. She had also taken a bunch of still photos. Overall, it was a good night for live music.
"You're the song that I sing that I don't need to practice." from In the Creases by Amber Rubarth.
Tomorrow is Amber Rubarth's show @ The Mint-- http://themintla.com is their site. I refuse to hyperlink to it because it has music that auto-plays and defaults to the loudest volume setting. Way to facilitate an obnoxious user experience.
I love Amber's lyrical ambition and like Ari, she is now based in NY so I try to see her whenever she's playing here. Can't wait to hear her new songs and old ones again that I like. A lot.
I received an invite this morning for Google Wave and with no idea what to do with it. So, I'm watching a Google video on what the intended use for Google Wave is. The video is an hour and twenty minutes long. *smh*
At first glance it seems like a glorified e-mail account, which is what I thought G-Mail was.
I don't know if I like the 'view text while typing' feature being a default setting. I'm a bit of a messy typist. I also wonder about the implications of data mining for users of this service. I am mostly concerned about how Google is planning to use, archive, catalog, and ultimately monetize this potential goldmine of user generated content (UGC) with a EULA (by using this product you consent to *anything the company wants to do*) agreement. I'm going to give it a chance and see what happens.
G-Wave users, what are your initial thoughts?
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!!!
A MINI Cooper S.
I think I'm falling for white...and the extra horses.
I Get Around - Dragonette
Stood Up - A Fine Frenzy
The Weight of the World - Editors
Take Me to the Riot - Stars
I'm an Animal - Neko Case
There is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths
Time is Running Out - Muse
California on My Mind - Wild Light
Beds Are Burning - Midnight Oil
Hate On Me - Glee cast
Running Up That Hill - Placebo
Back in Time - V.V. Brown
Siren Song - Bat for Lashes
mmm... Chocolate. Last Sunday was the 3rd Annual LA Chocolate Salon in Pasadena. I've finally come out of the sugar shock enough to share my experience but my hands are still too shaky to type it all out, figuratively speaking. So I'm going to do the next best thing.
Here's A Salon of Indulgence, Luxury and Chocolate, an article from the Occidental paper, Oxyweekly, which details the event in a way that was fairly close to my experience.
If you missed this event, the next Chocolate Salon is in San Francisco. Chocolate lovers planning to be in the Bay Area in March, don't miss that one. There will be as many as 50 chocolatiers in attendance to LA's 35-- which had one more sample table than this chocolate fan could handle.
georgia cyclone.
i feel hurty.
Alfred Nobel's will states that the Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
I tend to think of the Nobel as an acknowledgment given to someone who has done a lot, or done something really important (for when can we ever be sure that it is the most, or the best?) to promote the reduction of wholesale suckery in the world. If you look back over years, I think you'll find that many winners make more sense under my formulation than under any interpretation (certainly any strict interpretation) of Nobel's. I also tend to think of the Nobel as a reward for a job well done - something accomplished, even if the accomplishment has only been to get something started or recognized. Now, I think there have been some good starts made by this year's recipient, and some important things recognized because of him, but I don't think that's the Nobel committee's point here. This prize is, obviously to my mind, being given as a statement - a message, if you will. If it were mine to give, I don't know that I'd give it as a statement, but it isn't mine to give, and it is well within the committee's rights to give it as such.
I do think there are others who could, and perhaps should, have been given this prize for actions already taken, but I also think that giving Obama this prize on the basic strength of a few actions and a whole lot of promises is a very powerful statement, one I'm not at all upset to see made. It is a powerful statement to say that a few actions and a whole lot of promises have that much strength. It is a powerful statement to say that shit is so bad that just admitting that and promising to try really hard to make it a little better - to use your power for good - deserves an award: not just any award, but this one. It is a powerful statement to say, "We believe you, Barack Obama." And, no, I do not mean to say, "We believe *in* you," but simply, "We believe you." In essence, Obama won this prize for promising not to be his predecessor. He won this prize for having promised to do his best to undo some of the harm his predecessor and those like him have done, both at home and abroad. He won this prize for promising to make America, and therefore all the bits of the world that America has a hand in, or an effect on, or an influence over, less of a train wreck (and we are, in fact, a train wreck right now, spreading our train wreckery just about everywhere we go). Obama has promised these things, and the Nobel Prize committee has expressed its belief in those promises.
But, if this prize was awarded to send a message, it is also a message to Obama. It is a powerful statement to award the Nobel Peace Prize on the strength of a few actions and a bunch of promises. But it is just as powerful a statement to say, "OK, we believe you. We believe you, we honor you for it, and now, because we believe you, we expect you to come through."
Well said, Nobel committee. Here's hoping that everyone is listening.
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