04.28.06
Posted in music, coachella, adam, bloc party, depeche mode, eric, ernie, hella, madonna, mylo, scissor sisters, she wants revenge, the like at 6:28 am by admin
Yeah, it’s true — this is my first time ever using Northern California’s premiere word: Hella. But it was the only thing I could think of that rhymes with Coachella other than Nutella, so you can certainly understand why I had to make the choice I did.
Tomorrow I depart with Ernie and his friend Adam to meet up with Eric and his posse (or harem, perhaps) of what are certain to be tendy, beautiful SoCal boys so that we can party our asses off poolside at a luxurious Palm Springs vacation home, inbetween dancing our asses off at Coachella, SoCal’s most fabulous music festival.
The schedule is jam-packed for Saturday and Sunday and I’m going to get to see some artists I’ve never seen live, one that I have, and potentially a lot more that I’ve never even heard of. Here are some of the acts that have me nearly wetting myself:
- Depeche Mode - I can’t believe that I’ve never seen them live! Along with Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys, DM is one of those bands that has completely defined my taste musically, and for whatever reason, I’ve been missing them every single time I’ve had the chance to go.
- Madonna - Stereotype police! The reality is that Madonna puts on one hell of a show, and even though I’m going to be seeing her in San Jose in May, seeing her in the Sahara Dance Tent (a smaller venue for certain) is going to be as close to having her in my own living room as I will ever get without chloroform and duct tape.
- Scissor Sisters - *swoon* I’ve loved them since I first heard their album and their tracks are probably at the absolute top of every playlist I’ve ever made. And Jake Shears (a.k.a. Jason Sellards) shall someday be mine.
It can’t come quickly enough.
- Mylo - I just recently discovered this DJ. His infectious song In My Arms samples Waiting for a Star to Fall by Boy Meets Girl, and Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes. Any song that mixes these two cheesy 80s staples has got to be by someone who kicks some serious ass. And he went deaf briefly this year. How dramatic and deliciously tragic!
- She Wants Revenge - This band reminds me of Dead or Alive. Dark, a little bit dancey, and a tiny bit pained-sounding. I haven’t listened to most of their album, but the tracks I know are really intriguing.
- Bloc Party - I don’t need to elaborate on this one.
New wave retro rock is still fashionable, no matter what anyone tells you.
- The Like - What I Say and What I Mean is the track by these hot rock chicks that got me really interested in their music. Girls who aren’t afraid to sweat and play guitar are hot.
There are also a few more artists I might be seeing (lord knows there are enough to choose from) but I will save that for after the show is over, the sweat stops flowing, and the porta-potty line shrinks to a manageable size.
Until then…
Tags: adam, bloc party, coachella, depeche mode, eric, ernie, hella, madonna, music, mylo, scissor sisters, she wants revenge, the like
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04.27.06
Posted in IM zen, berlin, disco, gay, germans, germany, twink at 9:52 pm by admin
Brian: haha mmm germans
Brian: berlin’s like a twink bar
Brian: except that the disco balls have been replaced by street lights
Tags: berlin, disco, gay, germans, germany, twink
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04.22.06
Posted in social, adric, alcohol, andy, badlands, birthday, cold stone creamery, dkny, express, karaoke, kelsie, nate, rocky horror, shopping, the mint, youtube at 4:06 pm by admin
Ah, another birthday! This is a big one too, since I can now apparently get cheaper car insurance and rent a car without having to pay an exhorbitant and unreasonable amount of money!
My birthday morning started with a 7:30am phone call from Kelsie, which I promptly ignored and silenced since I was trying to sleep in. She insisted later that she was only calling so early because she wanted to be the first one to leave me a birthday message, but sometimes I think that she forgets the Central-Pacific time difference.
With the amount of work I’ve been doing lately, I decided that I should at very least take one day to treat myself to some of the finer things in life — namely clothes shopping at Express, cake batter ice cream with almonds, caramel, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups from Cold Stone Creamery, and a fancy-schmancy clay mask and some DKNY Be Delicious cologne from Sephora.
After my self-indulgent day of shopping and ice cream, I spent the evening consuming excessive amounts of alcohol (in the form of lemon drops, kamikaze shots, and Long Island iced teas) and singing my ass off at The Mint in San Francisco with friends and co-workers who went out of their way to make sure that I had a good time. Thanks to Nate, I had a drink in my hand for the entire night, which certainly kept things interesting.
The first (and only) member of my group (besides me) to go up to the mic was Andy, who did a stunning rendition of Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror. I had only heard about the magnificence of Andy’s well-rehearsed stage act, but finally getting to see it in person was quite the experience.
Thankfully, I had the forethought to capture part of his ground-breaking performance for all eternity so that I could present it here:
My songs were It Must Have Been Love by Roxette, and later in the evening, a very drunken rendition of Higher Love by Steve Winwood. What I remember most about the second song was that the words on the screen were highlighting a bit too fast for me to actually keep up with. I also could swear that a whole group of “fans” were clapping to the beat in the front, but I might have been having some sort of rock-star fantasy. Isn’t it sad that I would choose to have my rock star fantasy to a Steve Winwood song? … *sigh*
As the evening of karaoke tapered off and the posse began to leave, eventually only Andy and Adric and I were left. Someone had the clever idea to go to Badlands, so we stumbled for a few blocks to get there. I only really recall a few things:
- Andy meeting some Southern boy whose number he was upset that he didn’t get
- Adric wandering off to dance with someone he knew
- Discovering that there was a second bathroom at Badlands that I never knew about
- Feeling tired and wanting to leave (which Adric later described as me being “pouty”)
Andy drove us back to his place, where Adric & I crashed on his sofa bed and were awakened in the morning by Andy’s obnoxious roommate and his boyfriend, who felt the need to use every loud appliance possible while we were attempting to sleep. Before leaving, Adric and I had a lovely time trying to psychoanalyze the disfigured characters in the ugly art Andy’s roommate chose to hang above their television in the living room. The martini-holding, poorly dancing party-goers in the photo each had stories of their own — from the Romanian woman in the black dress who clearly was a manipulator, to the gay guy in the middle who was clearly the fifth wheel, to the subservient Asian girl in the red dress who would do whatever her Romanian friend told her to.
The burning question that everyone seems to ask at birthday-time is whether or not I feel any older. Honestly, I really haven’t had time to process it. I know that at this point I’m halfway through my twenties, but it doesn’t really bother me that much. I keep telling myself that thirty isn’t nearly as old as it used to be, but as I continue my march towards 3-0, we’ll see if I continue to feel that way. One of the things that I’ve learned from my father (who still looks great in his fifties) is that you’re really only as old as you allow yourself to be.
As long as I keep on singing, winning stuffed animals from claw machines, and watching cartoons, I don’t think I’ll grow up.
And that’s okay with me. Seriously.
Tags: adric, alcohol, andy, badlands, birthday, cold stone creamery, dkny, express, karaoke, kelsie, nate, rocky horror, shopping, the mint, youtube
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04.10.06
Posted in art, crack, graffiti, keith haring, murals, new york, new york city, procrasturbation, whitney houston at 12:40 am by admin
In terms of turning graffiti into a respected art form, I can’t think of any well-known artist that had more of an impact than Keith Haring (1958-1990). Haring’s “Barking Dog” is hanging over my bed, and one of his famous untitled “crowd” prints is the main piece of focus in my living room. I find myself drawn to the simplicity, the day-glo colors, and the cultural significance of the pieces.
While I lived in the New York metro area, I never got a chance to go and see any of Haring’s famous murals, but during my random web-surfing procrasturbation yesterday, I came across one that I had never even seen photos of before, titled crack is wack. This double-sided mural was painted in 1986 on a handball court at 128th St. and 2nd Avenue, and is still there today.
Besides the obvious Whitney Houston images that the mural’s catchphrase evokes, there was something about this public project that amused and inspired me. In an unrelated yet convenient crossing of coincidences, I was playing with Adobe Illustrator CS2, which has new features called Live Trace and Live Paint, which allow for the easy transposing of bitmap images into vector paths.
With some contrast adjustment, an hour or two of tweaking, I ended up coming up with an interpretation of crack is wack for my desktop that pleases me. I decided to use Live Paint to fill in some of the bright day-glo colors that Haring is known for, and added some reflection and depth to make it a little more interesting and eye-catching.
Tags: art, crack, graffiti, keith haring, murals, new york, new york city, procrasturbation, whitney houston
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