Kitty Power

Passing The Time

Let Me Ride

Breathing Fire Doesn't Look Good On A Resume

Willie Williams - Armagideon Time

The decision for me not to move was actually an annoying one. I had been racing around scouring listings and checking out places for a good month and a half leading up to the end of the year. I'd only ended up with a handful of places I really liked and the one I got as far as picturing my stuff there and calling up my future takeout places was snatched away in the time it took me to fax fourteen pages of information to a stranger. The real estate market is a bummer. I'd designated my holiday off time between the 21st and the 2nd as do-or-die hardcore moving time and it was going pretty shitty.

And then there I was the day after Christmas, coming home from a long night out at the local. I got as far as the inside stairs (because the front door isn't always quite locked. A highlight of slumlord living!) before I looked in my bag to find no keys. And I had a crystal clear picture of putting my keys on the couch earlier and perhaps neglecting to put them in. I put out a 2am call to my mom (she was super thrilled with that, let me tell you) for the emergency spare set and surprise, she had neglected to keep them in a safe place because I hadn't bothered asking for them in the three years I'd lived there. Sonofabitch... I crashed at her place (thankful she'd moved back to Brooklyn, but not so much that she'd defeated the whole purpose of the spare set), went to look at another shitty apartment the next morning before trying the super (didn't have a pair) and Ant (who was in France unbeknownst to me) without luck.

The last resort was a local locksmith and I got quoted a $75 price (before tax) that I had to grin and bear. And natch, it wasn't quite as easy all that. The one lock was always a pain in the ass and it turned out to give the locksmith a load of trouble. So over the course of the next three hours when I got a new knob, lock, and faceplate for my door and was out $165, a thought bubbled up: fuck it, I'm not moving. And I weighed the pros and cons. The temporary poverty was about the same for either option, likewise for the aggravation. But instead of handing over an arm and a leg to someone new and still having to figure out a way to move all my shit, I'd deal with the slumlords and area I knew and could get a chance to live alone for a bit while I redecorated and all that. So I called the management company and got a new lease sent over and here I am. Broke as shit, but sorta happy, if unsure how to motivate myself to start over. I'm super lazy and poor, but moreso lazy, and riding the slumlords to get all those things we ignored too long fixed is a full time job. Also finding a new roommate is gonna be a bit of an adventure. Ah well, we'll see what happens.

This Stuff Is Starting Now

I Was Hoping You'd Pick Up

The Brothers Johnson - I'll Be Good To You
Al Haca - Dial Zero
Thelma Houston - You Used To Hold Me So Tight
Gary Wilson - Chromium Bitch
Whodini - Five Minutes of Funk

Talking Only Me And You

Andreas Kauffelt & Toby Izui - The People

Most exciting news of the week for me: Soft Circle is opening up for The Sea and Cake at Warsaw. Yes!

My site is still kinda broken. This post is dated from when I started scribbling in it, but is definitely not today. In case you care, the cast thing has become less devastating as time has passed. I'm less bandaged (even though both feet are in the act now) and am back to wearing regularish shoes. It's gonna be a while before I can slip on anything with some height, though if you see me semi-normally, you know that's about par for the course except I can't if I wanted to. Instead, my stupid knee is the hobbling culprit. Oh the good times! My mother wasn't kidding when she said you fall apart rapidly after 25.

Life at the new mothership is pretty rad so far. Minus my hideous ID photo in which I'm frozen for posterity as a bewildered 12-year old with a fat neck. I've been obsessing over that quite a bit.And also last.fm which I just got my shit together and joined. (Please ignore the random Goo Goo Dolls songs sprinkled in. Thanks.)

And now for a story: some weeks ago, I went to see the Battles show at the Seaport. It was one of the few summer early Fridays I had managed to take advantage of and I'd had a nice nap at home before coming back out. I spent most of the show squeezed against a storefront while random packs of tourists went back and forth from booze cruises and the Water Taxi, but I had a pretty good viewing angle and the sound was great. After the show, I wandered further downtown away from the mass hipster stampedes and had a nice burrito at Chipotle before grabbing the J.

Across the aisle were some drunkie girls that seemed like a bit clueless college girls and at Fulton, this random dude got on. From the start, he made me uncomfortable practically boring a hole into my head with his eyes. I was sure not to make eye contact and not squirm. But when he responded to the drunkies' goodbye at Bowery with "goodbye you stupid sluts!," dude got upgraded to crazy fast.

The teenager across from me eyed him nervously out of the corner of the eye. New York kids' reactions are always along the lines of "is this motherfucker gonna lose it or what?" and it reinforced my feelings of uneasiness. A pretty woman on a date sat next to me and chatted with her guy and the man across eyed us both like steaks on a plate. She got off at Marcy and he whispered something in her direction before sitting down next to me.

I dug up courage somewhere and eyed the side of his head icily as he made a production of removing his headphones to talk to me. He turned to me and said "are you going to keep looking at me like that?"

"Yes," I replied, in a stronger voice than I expected.
"Why's that?"
"Because I'm wondering why you're sitting next to me."
"It's a public transportation, sweetheart," oozed the bastard.
"Okay, that's fine. I'll move then." And I got up to wander halfway down the car. Sometimes I wonder what's the point of being in the conductor's car if it doesn't make you feel an ounce safer.

He eyed me the whole time I walked and stood in the doorway and then when I sat at Lorimer. I refused to look and when I rushed off at Flushing, my heart beating in my ears drowned out what he yelled after me. I walked to the newest non-local local eying the sidewalk behind me every other step. Sometimes people are crazy and you'll never know what they'll do. My night was ruined from there. I haven't taken that train since.

I Want To Kiss The Concrete

Skeletons and The Girl-Faced Boys, You'da Been Better Off

I haven't been having the best luck health wise this year, but I'm trying to avoid even thinking "worst body year ever!" The latest saga is my foot. I've been feeling pain in it for a while and my no insurance head in the sand fix was to get some arch support and stop wearing flat ass flip flops worked for a bit. But the other day, it became pretty unbearable and I got tired of hobbling along, so I used my 4-day old insurance (we heart The Freelancer's Union!) to stroll over to the podiatrist and get it checked out. I was hoping for a nice sturdy insert and some painkillers, but instead I got a soft cast and next week I go back for the real way. Yay me? I guess I'm gonna get my money's worth out of these months of insurance I just paid for. And amazingly, I woke up this morning finally not in pain for first time since I don't even remember. So, it's heading towards all good.

The drawbacks are: 1) strangely, a bandaged foot is a prime target for stepping on. Goddamned jerks. 2) It doesn't really get me a seat on public transportation. I just end up with funny looks really. 3) I'm showing up to my first day of the new job looking like an accident prone dumbass. Ah well. 4) This more or less ruined a really fun weekend I had planned. Hard to dance in a cast and boot. 5) The only places I'll probably be the next couple of weeks are work and my damned fourth floor walkup. I think my couch and I will develop a very special relationship.

In other life, this job transition is very nerve-wracking for me. I really liked the place I left today. Not only because it was a great port after feeling so adrift back in the spring and helped me gain a lot of confidence and pride in my abilities, but the people were awesome and taught me a lot and working for one of the motherships (even as a lowly freelancer) does have its advantages. Now, I'm transitioning across town and it's like Monday is my first day of school. I'm sure it'll turn out great, but it's very overwhelming at the moment.

Lately, I've been listening to the old Skeletons album, the new Battles, and Oui and the latest Sea and Cake. Considering those are the three groups I've been obsessively going to see this spring/summer, I'm sure that's not very surprising. Oui was unearthed when I was randomly browsing through CDs. That CD is very junior year of Wes, sitting on the porch of 68 High with Alex and Tino and the crew. I've been thinking a lot about random school times since my brand new Facebook obsession is putting me in touch with randoms I haven't seen in years and the reunion is looming. Five years! I was musing the other day that the current class going in there is Class of 2011 and I'll be 30 when they graduate. Then I thought how my brother will graduate high school in 2017 and I decided to stop playing that game. I need to learn how to live in the present more. Most of the summer I've been looking in the rearview or getting ahead of myself.

These Girls Are Smart

My blog has been stuck in breakdown limbo the past week and change. It figures that I don't actually have the urge to write until it was all fucked up. Hopefully everything's back to normal now. Here's a post that's been waiting impatiently for primetime:

A few months back, I went to the !!! show and the opening band was terrible. Actually, terrible is too nice of a word for their level of suckiness. It was a painful experience that I will always come to when I think of worst performances I've ever seen (up there with M.I.A. in Miami a year or two ago, but that had more to do with her crap songs than utter lack of everything). This group was basically made up of chicks dressed like Stephanie Tanner -- complete with side ponytails -- and their music was utter garbage. Listless atonal clamor with hipster posturing. No fucking thanks. So imagine my surprise when I got my weekly podcast download and song #2 sounded strangely familiar except, like, decent. I did some internets research and it was that same shit band shined into diamonds with a fucking good remix. And I've been listening to it all week…willingly! I hear there's a blizzard forecast in hell…

September is a good music month. On my radar, the free Battles show Friday (August 31st but close enough) at the Seaport (I even have the day off so I can avoid the working until shit late and missing the show predicament I usually find myself in trying to see something there.) (ETA: Went! And it ruled. More on that night to come later); GZA/Jamie Lidell @ McCarren Pool; The Sea and Cake (again) @ Warsaw; Fujiya & Miyagi @ Bowery Ballroom; and the old fan is considering checking out Underworld @ Central Park. It's fairly typical for me that I'm planning days to stay up late when I'm starting a new job in a couple of weeks. I'm moving from midtown to…midtown. Actually only going across town to the West Side where the food is at least 10x better. A girl can only eat so many sandwiches for lunch, Now I can eat hot food from the supermarket! Progress!

Oh Shit!

Fucking Christmas on the last fucking day in July!

And Bill's posting Nona Hendryx songs. Oh, lovely day it is!

You've Got Your Leather Boots On

The Sea and Cake, All The Photos
Depeche Mode, Something To Do (Black Strobe Remix)
DRS, Gangsta Lean
Cherelle, I Didn't Mean To Turn You On
Green Velvet, Answering Machine
Royksopp, Only This Moment

Aaron, formerly known as The Outer, is a very mean man. I told him last week that I was gearing up to see Green Velvet and he called me a nu-raver. Just...no. I swear, a girl goes to a few parties where they're still spinning that goddamned "Never Be Alone" (let it die, fuckers, it's like 3 years old now) and then she gets tarred by association. Pish. I'm actually going through a major house and techno phase. Three fave songs of the moment: "Shake and Pop;" Atjazz, "Love Someone;" and Andreas Kauffelt and Toby Izui, "The People."

I originally had big music plans for the weekend, but I went to the Battles show Friday night and they were especially kickass, but it was kind of a series of misadventures. I won tickets from a contest, but missed the confirmation email by leaving work not minutes before and didn't get to say I'd be there, so that ended up costing me $14. The show was originally supposed to be a doors @ 8, show @ 9 deal, but the concert got combined with the party/show that would've happened after it, so everything was pushed way later. First band went on at 11:30 as was finishing up as I was outside waiting to get in (no big loss). Then, the second came on at 12:30 and their set was just...a lot to ask at 1am. Not to say they were bad, it was just a bit too jarringly psychedelic noise rock for the middle of the night when you don't know when you're finally getting out of there. Not to mention, the in between set music was disjointed as hell. I was sitting down and tired by the time Battles came on, but it was really worth it. It might have been one of the best shows of theirs I've ever seen. But, it killed any urge I have to see another performance for like...a good week.

Nobody Gets Too Much Love Anymore

Believe it or not, this reminds me of college a little too vividly:

As for me, a bit busy. Launching a big project in the next couple of weeks and totally focused on that. Plus it's gorgeous outside and even a computer freak like me highly appreciates sitting in a backyard under the shade with a drink and some bbq and hanging out with my friends. It's gonna be light for a while.

All Of Me I Give To You

I've been feeling like my current music selections were getting a little stale and spending a lot of time listening to podcasts to hear some fresh shit. Here are some fun new(ish) to me finds:

Skeletons and The Girl Faced Boys, Git
GhostlyCasts first exposed me to the band and sheer repetition put them into my head. I saw two shows in one week and I'm an official fan.

Kathy Diamond, I Need You
I was sitting here at home earlier with the Out of Range podcast going while I was half asleep and I sprung up when this song was playing. I must've rewound it about three times before I got the artist name.

The Knife, Like A Pen (Hearthrob Remix)
You know, I don't remember where I first heard this song at this point. It must've been at a club one night because now that I know it, I hear it all the time now. I didn't get a name though until I heard it on the XLR8R podcast.

My Brightest Diamond, Workhorse
GhostlyCast also introduced me to this song, but the Lusine remix that I can't track down no matter how hard I try (though granted, I haven't tried that hard). The original version still cool.

Marco Polo feat. Masta Ace, Nostalgia
I'm in love with that fucking song. The video (despite me posting it) is on the corny side because there's such a thing as too '93 in this day and age. But any song that has Aaron and I bonding over its sickness is an A+. So far, I've only heard on Fat Beats Radio, but then again, I haven't listen to the real radio on purpose in god knows how long. It could be the #1 song on Hot 97 and I'd have no fucking clue.

James Chance and The Contortions, Contort Yourself
This one's just for shits and giggles. I was just reading about him the other day and it made me remember I like the song.

And a super fun video bonus remembered thanks to an ILM thread:

Rest Your Sad Head and Let That Shit Go

A moment of silence for Helga, my formerly indestructible HP that conked out on me. I had it about two months shy of 8 years, so I can't be mad and getting above and beyond my money's worth of it. I've been saving up for a shiny laptop for while and today I bought another HP tower that I'll pass along to my mom once I get my piggy bank ready for the laptop buy. A $400 computer was still lightyears away from what I've been working with all this time. Luckily, I've been slowly migrating my info to my external hard drive for a few months now, so no big info loss. I'm still vaguely confident that I can transfer settings, but it remains to be seen. That poor computer survived 8 years of moves, dust, good writing, bad writing, many IM conversations, angry emails, overlong blog posts, music downloads, and days and nights of overwork. The new computer clean slate feeling is kinda interesting. I feel like everything happening around/with me right now has something to do with salvaging the good pieces and/or rebuilding from the bottom. I don't mind really. Change is a very good thing.

The other week found me venturing into Midtown on a Saturday night. Very strange since the last thing I do when I leave it on Friday evening is clamor for more. I was off to check out this new to me band that I'd been digging for more info about. The show was in this art gallery, hidden in the shadows of office buildings and delis and theater row. The space was transformed into a maze with sculpture and writings decorating the walls. I wandered in, looking for the music that was promised to be at the end. I saw a band, not the one I was there looking for, sitting around and taking apart equipment. I looked at them, they looked at me, and wandered away. I came across this guy, looking like an antsy hipster complete with the shaggy hair, hoodie, and classic sneaks (shelltoes in this instance), and we struck up a stilted conversation as I asked where the refreshments were hiding. Our chatting would reoccur as the night passed. The place was on the miniature side. Three turns and you were either out the door or back where you started. I tried to wait patiently for everything (the set to start, the drink girl to replenish the supply, a lightning bolt to hit this girl who started some story with "not that I'm a racist, but..."), but mostly aimlessly walked around and around. That guy was from SC visiting for the week and one pass we talked about the upstate region and its little cities and towns. I felt a twang slip out and I missed my old summer trips for the quickest of seconds.

And then the band played, mostly acoustic with the music going low as the mike-less singer sang. I was mesmerized by the bass, all strings and neck. I stood in the corner on a bucket and tried to keep my balance and take a pic or two with my shitty camera phone. Almost at the end, there was competing noise from a sax player and drummer playing out front on the street. They wrapped up quick and suddenly and everyone ventured outside. The discordant noise brought down a tourist to complain about her lack of sleep. She walked about and fumed helplessly and everyone watched the showdown between her and the saxophonist amused. I used the lull to stroll off the next destination. There were no more fireworks to be had there that night.

I had a choice of parties to go to with one big possible drawback to them all. I was playing the shell game and trying not to be where The Boy could end up. But true to form, I paid my money and bought my first drink and looked to my left to see his friend and then him sitting there. Figures really. I kept to myself and this random I knew from the neighborhood where I used to work and he hovered around like the mosquito you can't quite kill and finally just ghost. I coped with the Long Island Iced Tea special and chugging to calm my nerves. Too bad my stomach wasn't so happy as time went on. I spent the next day at home lounging like Sheba and considered how fun it would be to live somewhere where my past wasn't always been thrown in my face.

Tuesday, I attempted to see a show by the old faves, but fatigue and the noxious crowd turned me back. Instead I went to the 2nd show of the week by Saturday's group. There again was that guy from SC. We had another strange conversation and he confessed that he was at the show for lack of a better option and stir crazy. I gave my condolences on that and perched myself by the bar hoping for a good watching angle. It was a good show again and I was happy that I got it together to see them. That guy had disappeared before the show was over. I hope he had a good trip.

I Wanna Be Myself Tonight

Video time...because I'm too lazy/tired/without free time to write something.

Marco Polo feat. Masta Ace, "Nostalgia": Makes me wish I had a whip (or license for that matter) to blast this song out of the speakers.

Fugiya & Miyagi, "Ankle Injuries." I'm super pissed I missed them a few weeks ago, but it's NYC and they'll be back.

Res, "They Say Vision" Where the hell has she been hiding? I want a new album...stat!

Doves, "The Cedar Room." Lost Souls is a kickass album still.

Oh, you know who. The damned song is in my head and I can't shake it. Plus her outfit in it makes me laugh and laugh...

Every Day Is Saturday Night

I'm annoyed. (A quick aside, I often think how fun it would be to have some Movable Type hack – yes, I am a blog nerd, And what? – where you could have mood displays a la Live Journal. And then I think, well first of all, my mood would usually be annoyed, so it'd just be redundant. And also, I can save that for my real LJ where I can go on and on and on in private and non-cryptically. So, this is a dumb aside basically. My prerogative. Whatevs.)

It's a shame I'm salty because things are really not bad. My new favorite pastime is podcasts by East Village Radio, Stones Throw, and XLR8R. New to me – or even, memory jogging – music is always good in my book. Hours and hours of fun that is. The weather is nice, really nice. I had a good weekend split between much needed rest and reconnecting with folks. Brunch and a nice stroll through the nabe even fit in there. I saw a fun show by Kenna
last week at the new Luna Lounge and had the loveliness that is an Iona cider. I ran into one of the few Wes kids who it isn't (that) painful to see and I had a funny text convo with Justin when I got fooled by hisdoppelganger. He said he was at PB&J and I was confused about that until...er, about 20 minutes ago. I'm so out of the loop with what the kids are listening to nowadays.

Anyway, I think it's just one of those states where the good is awesome and the bad fucking pisses me off. The problem (if it can even be called that) stems from being a little too focused right now. I had myself on overdrive and did what I had to do, so now it's like I'm in that mode and I don't know if it's worth it to slip out. I feel like my game has been elevated and now I don't want to go back. Still, I know there's a significant amount of fun missing. I just feel stiff or something. I guess that's to be expected. It's been a big two months for me. So, I'm just a bit restless and impatient. I don't have it in me to wait around and hope I make square pegs fit in round holes. I'm tired of settling
and being jerked around. That's how I spent most of the past three years at the wrong jobs and being with the wrong people and spending too much time feeling bad. I'm not exactly sure what I want, just that Ihaven't found it yet. Clear as mud, eh?

Should I Just Sit Out or Come Harder?

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, Back Home
The National Trust, Stages
33hz, I Know
The Sea and Cake, An Assassin
Nino Moschella and Shawn Lee, Kiss The Sky
Kool Moe Dee, I Go To Work and video bonus:

The Rolls and Waves

This past week, I've just been trying to keep my equilibrium going. I'm one of those people that need a neutral balance or else I'm going to fall into the hole. Last Thursday was a pretty shitty day, for instance. I got beyond drenched out in the rain, had some very not so good interviews, found out my insurance was cut off, and just felt super alone and loserish and overwhelmed most of that day. That great mood carried on to early Friday when I tried my best to just stay under the covers and cry before I got the call about some more interviews and then had some drinks and tried to perk myself up.

I ended up at a big party at 3rd Ward that night. I was determined to enjoy myself and succeeded. There was an annoying interlude with this random who latched onto me early and wouldn't leave me alone. He was too old, marginally funny, looked like a lost member of X-Clan (well, not that there's anything wrong with that part), and had this really irritating habit of singing in my ear. I had to break out some stealth moves to finally shake him. Good thing about huge warehouse parties is you can go hours withough running into a person again. I ran into Benny and Tim and ended up talking with Benny about their group and an upcoming show. He said that they were looking for singers to do background stuff and I (strange for me) volunteered. Er, haven't done more than entertain my cat in four years. That's going to be an adventure. And then I wandered around and around for hours before escaping at 8am into the insanely bright sun. It's always tough strolling in somewhere in the dead of the night and finally accepting that it's daytime and you need to go home. We party hard.

I made a new friend Sunday and I shall call him Red (for obvious real life reasons). We went to Floyd's and didn't play bocce (which is almost blasphemous) and then to see Disturbia. Which made me really hot for Shia LaBeouf, until I found out that's he's not even 21. You'd think I'd be on some what's good for the goose is good for gander since I'm hard pressed to think of the last guy I dated/liked/whatever that's not older than me, but yuck at younger guys. I'm sure I'll change my tune in 5 years or so.
Last night was another Battles show. Most of my time was spent wishing bodily harm on this group of jerks who decided that no matter what the song, a mosh pit was needed. The boy came over at the end all "you're here, cool, I was going to text you to see if you knew about it, but here you are." Blah. He should make himself useful and get me a damned Battles bag. I've talked so much about it this week that the crazed need is awakened.

This week was kinda tough. I've been worrying a lot about the job situation, natch. Good/bad effects: weight loss. The "so stressed that I'm despairing" diet works wonders. But I've been working my ass off the past couple of weeks and it paid off with mad interviews and finally today, a new job. I'll be freelancing as a PM/producer at an agency that could eat my old one for breakfast, so I'm really excited. And I even have nothing but goodwill (today at least) towards my old boss for forcing me onto the market to make a living wage. Yay for me!

It's A Grand Old Time

The The, This Is The Day
Grace Jones, My Jamaican Guy
TTC, Dans Le Club
Stetsasonic, Sally
Rhythim Is Rhythim (aka Derrick May), The Strings Of Life
Photek featuring Robert Owens, Mine To Give (Deep House Vocal Mix)

Make Some Lemonade

T. S. Monk - Bon Bon Vie

That's my new favorite song. I've known it for years, but while I was browsing the goods I couldn't bring myself to drop tons of cash on in the Adidas store in Miami, the DJ put it on and I cornered him to get the name. I came back to NY and Soulseek wasn't being helpful and Bill thankfully gave it to me. It's such a strange song, very upbeat music with some really depressing ass lyrics. It fits what I'm going through right now.

I've been holding a post in draft all week because I couldn't find the right words/tone or encrypt things like I usually do. I'm going through a really bad time and I can't write cute around it. I just feel lately like every good thing that happens to me has some swift negative counter and it's bringing me down.

Miami was great, warm fun (minus the hotel losing my reservation, the fruitless lines at the Scion parties and getting shafted at hotel bars -- no matter how many times I go, $12 well drinks will never be okay). A highlight was making a friend at the Robert Owens show and geeking over the artist behind Strings of Life. Yay house and techno!

My doctor was harassing me while I was down there and I made an appointment with her for the Friday after I got back. I started seeing her over some random phantom pain in my knee that had been bothering me for a while. She did a complete physical (I'm fat and weigh a lot more than I used to, no shit) and took a heap of blood and got the results while I was away. It turns out that my joints are fucked and I have an appointment with a specialist to see if it's a bad disease or a worse one. Um yay? ETA: It's the mild version of bad. In case you were sitting on the edge of your seat or something.

Funny thing about Friday, I also got laid off that day. I was having a hellish week back at work and totally swamped with work. My boss walked up to me at 6:15 all "can I talk to you for a second?" and I said no because I had a shitload to finish by 7. Yet she was insistent and I went to find out to my surprise that I was out of a job. I don't even know how I felt. I was pretty relieved yet also frightened since being out of a job when you might potentially be really sick is no good. My work friends rallyed for me at the local bar and that was nice. Despite my evil boss and being overworked and grossly underpaid, I liked my job and most of the people there. It makes me sad to have that suddenly taken away from me, but I'm not really worried about landing on my feet. It's weird being home during the day. I've working more or less straight for the past 10 years, so I almost don't know what do with myself without a job, even if part of me just wants to fucking relax and write like I never have time for and collect unemployment for a minute. Instead, I've been applying and doing interviews and thinking about where to apply. I don't think I know how to relax sometimes.

Last night was the Battles/Prefuse/Soft Circle show at the Bowery. The show sold out last week (over the weekend? I dunno), something I didn't discover until I checked online to get the box office address to go buy a ticket. I made new friend off Craig's List (off the strictly platonic section, pervs) and got to go. (Thanks again, E!) I've heard a lot about Soft Circle, but never heard the music until yesterday. It was pretty rad, one man band drumming with droning vocals and electronics. Prefuse did a drum-less set with him and two dudes on the turntables/mixers/electronics. One of them was this DJ from LA called The Gaslamp Killer. Last year in Miami, he DJed this party I went to and dude's an experience. He's like a mixtape come to life or something. After/during/between a song, he starts with the hype man shouting business. It's half entertaining, half annoying. Battles was great also, but by the time they took the stage, I was already over the edge of drunkenness with no return. A fun result of that: I ran out of cash in my pocket, so I used to my credit card to buy a drink I didn't need. And to kill the tab, I bought drinks for Prefuse, Beans, and some of their friends. How random.

As I vaguely feared, I ran into the boy at the show. He rolled up on me when I was chatting with E before the show started and I eyed the drink in his hand really warily. He said that he read the email (actually MySpace message) that I had sent him, but he'd been busy and hadn't had time to respond (whatever, fuck him). I didn't really say anything in return and for once in his life, he took a hint at the awkwardness and went away. I ran into his friend (the one I've seen at Sputnik a few times and have a pretty good relationship with considering) and told him about the job situation, so when I ran into the boy again later, he said: "sorry to hear about your job, but you're one of the most resourceful people I know, so I'm sure it'll work out for you." Which was nice, but way to pass on my bad news, friend! We had a nice conversation which was strange and I said as much. He invited me over to hang out with him and his friends and I didn't. I feel good about the whole thing though. I wanted a nice postscript to the whole thing and now I have it. I'd rather look forward to something new than keep looking back.

The end of the show is a drunken blur. Somehow somewhere I fell and hurt my elbow and sorta broke my phone (thank god for cell insurance!). I cabbed it home and woke up in bed fully clothed. I've spent most of the day convinced that I lost my phone and was inconsolably hysterical for hours (missed two phone interviews also...yay me), but there it was randomly a few minutes ago when I bent down to get my fallen pen, off and taunting me. Meh. At least it's here. Sometimes shit just works out...sooner or later.

Here's My Life Long Anthem

Like Back In The Day, Love

Winter '07 faves:
-- that damned song/video. I guess I wasn't watching VH1 Soul enough when that came out the first time. And I'll admit to a perverse pleasure in singing "no not any more!"
-- Dragons of Zynth. The trick is getting my shit together to get to one of this month's residency shows.
-- Nino Moschella
-- The Let's Mix Love mix with the greatest opening song I've heard in a while.
-- The stupid word blipster and the great site it has spawned.
-- Actually enjoying myself at parties again. It was bound to happen I guess.
-- How fun it is when the shoe is on the other foot. Gotta love the boys who didn't give a shit months ago suddenly having a change of heart. Tough shit, babes. You missed the bus.
-- Kings of Tomorrow "Finally" and its 10,000 all awesome remixes.
-- Jay's video entries
-- "Nothing says birthday like free shit and porn and open bars!" 4 weeks! And we're going to meat heaven this year. The countdown begins.

Yeah, That's My Name

Metro Area, Dance Reaction
Stereo MCs, Connected
Dazz Band, Let It Whip
Alice In Chains, Nutshell
Black Dice, Smiling Off (Luomo Remix)

And new addition to the "one of my favorite songs EVER!" list: The Egyptian Lover, Freak-A-Holic

Cause You Cold Busted!

Happy Holidays to all!

I wanted to post the Squeeze "Christmas Day" video because it's one of the most tripped out holiday songs I've ever heard, but I'll substitute that with "The Rain" because the lyrics are on par with that other video's visuals.

Everywhere I Turn

Voom:Voom, Keep The Drums Out
Whodini, One Love
Manu Dibango, Soul Fiesta (Chateau Flight Rework)
Lords of the Underground, Funky Child
Royksopp, Remind Me

-- with my favorite commercials of the moment as a bonus. Both on the old side, but the 2nd will be starring in a Times Square billboard I had a hand in getting together.

I Suppose You'll Never Know

One of the few cool things I can say I got into from the boy: Gary Wilson. There's a show Saturday night, but for once, I'm being good and not spending a 1/5th of my budget (these are lean, lean times for me) on one thing. Is it wrong to wish I was a real music blogger for half a second so a girl could get a damned free ticket? Ah well. It's going to be a rad show regardless.

Another good upcoming show prompted Alex calling from London to note that the lineup read totally as something I would've planned myself.

Warp Records and Bleep Present
An NYC Live Spectacular
Saturday 18 November 2006

Jamie Lidell
Battles
Man Man
Clark
James T Cotton
Warp & Bleep DJ

Kiss The Girls And Make Them Cry

MC Lyte, Poor Georgie
Toto, Georgy Porgy
Big Daddy Kane, Smooth Operator
Marley Marl, The Symphony
Meli'sa Morgan, Fools Paradise

You Got To Get Over It

The Breaks and VH1 Soul are rocking my world right now.

Foster Sylvers, Misdemeanor
The DOC, It's Funky Enough
Shyne, That's Gangsta
Quincy Jones, Summer In The City
Sade, Nothing Can Come Between Us

Relax Yourself And Let The Sugar Love Flow

Timex Social Club, Rumors
Feist, Mushaboom (Mocky Remix)
Camp Lo, Coolie High
Bauhaus, Kick In The Eye
Level 42, Something About You

Wake Up and Live Forever

Note: this post has been liberated from the unpublished archives and I was just too lazy to update most of it

August was a super strange month for me, with a lot of deja vu-inducing moments. Wacky neighbor friend who gets a little besides himself after some drinks? The DJ looking cute but ultimately ridiculous to me? A boy who should be in the past, but I'm having random hangouts with him where I just kinda shake my head and wonder why? What fucking year is this really? And I've been on my broke as a joke diet and looking downright early 2005 lately. Sayonara, chipmunk cheeks! Until the next round of cheeseburgers at least.

And me flitting about until real life ultimately comes slapping me in the face. Trying to be a grown up is really hard work. Sometimes I'm juggling like a pro, others things just get broken and I have to get out my superglue and try my best to fix it. I've spent a lot of time thinking about social superficiality and the few things and people that really have brought me joy in random, flighty ways. It's funny that I went in a week from saying that everyone's social MO is to greet drive-by style to wishing that I had broken myself from that pattern with the ones who were really special. Like the wonderful AG, gone now but briefly a bright light in the after dark world for me.

I've definitely seen more shows lately than I have in a while. PrincessNella and I went to Amsterjam thanks to a guy at work with connections. Busta: weird and leaning on the newer shitty material and not looking so hot. LL: the awesome! He did songs I forgot I knew from all through his career. But, he teased us by not going totally shirtless. He's looking less bullish lately. It would've been super hot. Foo Fighters: I really thought I sorta liked them until this show. They did the newer hits which blow and every song just ended up annoying. That might have been because the mosh pit erupted right next to me. Fuckers still do that shit? Christ on a cracker! We escaped to the lovely scene of a chick giving her pedophile boyfriend bus head in the corner of our eyes. As my dad used to say before he went all suburban, "you pay your fare, you get a show." Eww...I'll pass.

We wandered through Queens lamenting the utter lack of post-10pm eats and ended up in a spot familiar to me, near where Trendvickster lived before her big Chicago move. I marvelled at the time I used to spend in the area and how long ago the bulk of the '03 hijinks seem. Then off to Greenpoint where work and my life combined in fun ways. I felt really glad about how different everything is for me than it was six months ago. I don't regret the leap a single moment, even though many of these months have been painfully tight. The happiness will always win out.

In the past month, I've seen a few celebrations of love and commitment. I'm in a place where I'm happy to see really loving couples because I think "one day, that'll be me." I don't feel a rush, but in doing this ridiculous palling about with the boy, it makes me feel more acutely what I'm missing. There's not really anything I can actually do about it, but just sigh I guess.

They Got The Steely Dan T-Shirt

I'm such a lady, but I'm dressing like a ho....aurgh! Shoot me. No more VMA clips. I'm a little amused by the resurrection of Timbersnake. It only makes me feel worse for my real 'Nsync fave, JC. Dude doesn't stand a chance in the pop world at the moment. He'd be better off doing some random ass XLR8R-approved techno/electro collabo and trying to recast himself as hipster avant garde.

Banksy v. Paris: video | flickr set | news article. Maybe it just makes an asshole but I think you almost deserve to get a doctored version with "That's Hot" on a megaloop if you actually purposely go out to buy a Paris CD. [via Abe]

Interview snippet:

10. What do you think of laptop DJs?

Its whatever, I dont think anyone likes seeing someone checking their Myspace profiles for new messages from hot girls during a set.

If youre gonna act like a performer, then do something magical.

Laptop DJs should be hidden in a black box because its distracting and very unflattering what they are trying to do.

Ouch.

I've been having more than a few moments lately (especially when I start to think about the upcoming new apartment hunt) when I think it might be fun to pick up and go somewhere new. And then I remember I can't drive and/or speak more than the basics of a foreign language and that I'm broke and then that nips itself in the bud. And then I had one of those "it can only happen here!" couple of days and I really forget about that.

Thursday night, I left work and went downstairs to the boy's lair. We're friends it seems..at the moment...I guess. I'm just the type of person prone to silly entanglements, but I'm trying to get better. (In an aside, I've decided to blame my guy friends for that. Besides them giving me mostly ineffectual advice, I must be the only girl in NY with a horde of attached guy friends who know nothing but...other attached guys. What are the fucking odds for fuck's sake?! Since I'm left to my own devices, all I've got is recycling and the internet. le sigh.) We palled around about dumbo, then went to the birthday party for this band guy I used to harass the hell out of. The boy intro'd me with a "you remember Candice..." and I got the unsure blink of recognition, but at least he didn't say "you're the bitch who used to get on my nerves!" I might have if the situation was reversed.

Everyone at the party besides me and a handful of people were giants. I'm about average height, so it's very strange to be somewhere that 95% of the crowd is 5'10"+. It makes me wish I had a spare pair of heels stashed in my bag to at least be in the same atmosphere as everyone else. One of the other shorties was this random who was very weird. She and the boy are friends of friends and they were chattering away. She looked at me once like "are you lost?" and then again after some time had passed like "hmm..you're not going away..." What did I do? Well...nothing. I was drinking and passing the time, I didn't really feel any way about her besides amusement. When he wandered away for some reason, she gave me the grilling (why do they do that?!) and I was pretty blase. She perked up when I said I lived in the Heights and she dropped that her boyfriend lived a block over from me on Lincoln. Well...bully for him. Soon after, she poofed and I'll admit I got a slight thrill dropping to the boy about her bf living in my hood. He kinda visibly deflated. I might have hid a snicker. Good times. But, some good advice: let's just avoid the hero at 3am, even if someone else is paying. It'll just make you feel bad the next day. Seriously.

Saturday night, I was representing for the office at a coworker's DJ gig. Also there was this guy we work with that I had a crush on until I realized a) we'll always be working together, so it's to my best interest not to be that into him b) he resembles a young Tom Cruise circa Risky Business and reminds me of how much I always hated that guy with his dead eyes and chicklet teeth. Poof! Crush gone. Biggest thrill of the night was hearing "Sweet Freedom" and then spazzing with the DJ partner about how much we love Michael McDonald and how a yacht rock mix would be the sweetest thing ever. Yacht Rock...bringing people together. Also, being at a party in Williamsburg with the '06 crowd of FOA hipsters made me feel like I was 40 years old. Deliverance now!

Alafairnadia and I took in a show at the shores of the Gowanus Sunday afternoon. I love shows in random ass places. We heard good music, got a new DJ hero, and even got to see Justin...though saying hi almost got me a broken foot. Ouch. Amusement was making a bathroom line friend by talking shit about how slow the people in front of us were and running down how we and others reacted in other lines. Kids gotta get their kicks where they can I guess.

So Does Everybody Else

First, the quotables:

"What ruins polka for me is that it's all guys from Minnesota singing about milk and cookies"
I laugh. "Or cheese and bread!"
"Or the Mall of America!"

"Okay, I've figured it out. They're either gay or German or gay and German."
"I can see them being all those possibilites."
"Yeah, they totally seem like they're gonna make out. They need to just get it on already."

"That's the cute girl? She's not even that cute!"
"I. Know!"

More TK.

Cause I Can't Even See Myself

Wonderful yet totally absurd.

Mocky, How Will I Know You
Jamiroquai, Do You Know Where You're Coming From
Roy Davis Jr, I Know What You're Thinking
Hall & Oates, Gino (The Manager) (blame my Yacht Rock marathon)
Kenny Loggins, This Is It

Turn Up The Eagles The Neighbors Are Listening

I ripped the whole Steely Dan boxset (and what?!) to my Zen the other day. To say I'm on a kick would be an understatement. I want to go to the Atlantic City show. It's a SD/Michael McDonald double bill. All my Yacht Rock dreams come true! Man, I loved that show. I'm so sad it's gone.

I was stuck upstate half the weekend and had the chance to sit around watch videos mindlessly for a bit. Cassie really is a Ciara knockoff. That's like someone making a Conway version of a Chinatown Prada bag. Totally unnecessary. Deja Vu is the latest in highly stupid disjointed videos. Look at B shake her fake hair! Is she in Savannah? WTF is up with all the gloves? Zero dramatic tension in the video. Her wide-eyed look face shows what a crap actress she is. And the "hey everybody, look what I learned in African dance class" section is just even more bizarre. Someone stop putting Keyshia Cole and her non-singing ass on songs. She's like the famous version of the teenage girls on the bus who wouldn't know how to stay on key if they're life depending on it. Enough with the wet cat sounds. Hate!

DFA79 broke up...that's a shame. That was a kickass live show (minus the idiotic "banter").

I can't remember for the life of me where I got this link from but this is hilarious. Dude was a super dirty old man:

I'm On It

Er, so I really fixed the comments this time. Sorry to Alafairnadia and the creatively named theglow@shonuffizabeeatch.com for the rejection. Re-comment away!

It's a fucking scorcher in the city. 110 heat index for today and Wednesday. Utterly brutal! Needless to say, the bike is staying at home until it has passed. I'm really not trying to pass out from heat stroke in the middle of Fulton St or something.

To all those who've expressed their concern over the past post: eh, you know me. It's usually all doom and gloom cryptic-cakes, but not for the reasons you'd think or as bad as I made it out to be. It's mostly all good. Minus the fact August is going to be a really financially tight month for me. No Chicago trip. Sorry, Trendvickster and David! But, guess who's getting lean and mean? Try the girl who lives on the top of a hill and has to carry her bike up four flights of stairs!

Weirdness of the week: I inadvertantly got the urge to check up on Farmer and I found out that he's like buddies (at least photographically) with my favorite Soda waitress. No way! Why he can't be friends with the bitch we all hate who almost got her ass handed to her last week? Ugh. He's tainting everything!

We're very much on Ghostly's jock right now (and so is XLR8R!) ...and in a parallel aside, if you can identify this DJ (we suspect Bodycode cause that's what we think we heard at that party), you might be my new best friend. ETA: It's Adam X. Music critics are good for something after all! We should've known better to listen to an idiot tripping off Sparks. He did play Bodycode though, if I'm not mistaken. Speaking of that party, it was fun as hell and kids were even dancing. But the obscene amounts of alcohol might have helped with that. I even quipped: "since when do fucking hipsters like techno?" That is the question of the summer.

Believe it or not, someone called me "Candizzle" yesterday and my head didn't explode. I only made a half-hearted threat of bodily harm even. While smiling. Ugh. I'm getting soft in my old age. I'm such a sucker for a pretty face.

Love Me In Your Language

I'm so boring that I have my apartment all to myself for 4 days and the most exciting thing I can think is "yay! Now I can finally clean!" Sigh.

This week's pet peeve: guys who think they're too slick for their own good. They're so transparent and just end up looking stupid and greedy. In some ways, I've given up masterplanning. It never really works out as planned and/or usually takes up more time and energy than I'd rather be devoting. Nowadays, I'm either into it or I'm not with gradients for both. I'm trying to avoid unnecessary trouble. I'm tired and working on limited time.

I'd rather occupy my time riding around Brooklyn and thinking up fun little summer mixes:

Roni Size/Reprazent -- Share The Fall (Full Vocal Mix)
Faithless -- Insomnia
Daft Punk -- Too Long
James T Cotton -- Oochie Coo
Voom Voom -- Bounce
33Hz -- Hot Flashes
Kudu -- Love Me In Your Language
Willie Hutch -- The Glow
Talking Heads -- This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)
Thievery Corporation -- Originality
Steely Dan -- Pretzel Logic

Those Days Are Gone Forever, Over A Long Time Ago

Bernard Wright, Haboglabotribin'
Steely Dan, Pretzel Logic
Man Man, Feathers
Cheryl Lynn, Encore
Handsome Boy Modeling School, I've Been Thinking feat. Cat Power

You Just Think Too Much, And It's Such A Crutch

The office party...hella fun. And I can diffuse my grudge against the guy from 10 because he was cool also. Maybe the original chatter episode was an off-night. Trendvickster and Alafairnadia were my guests and we drank and ate to our heart's content, then wandered over to Low Bar where the excitement was spitting out a dumpling mere moments before I bit into it and got an unpleasant surprise. Damned food allergies.

Rest of the weekend has been chill and no further than the locals. I've been breaking out the bike and riding in the park. I've discovered that my fears of total flabby uselessness were mostly unfounded. I might be riding to work sooner than I figured.

I've been really into the "new to me" musics also. Last week, I finally got around to ripping some M3 promos (That should be my spring project: rip all these random CDs, so I can get rid of them.) and discovered some cool stuff. New Dabrye! Woo! Also been exploring the James T Cotton alias. Considering that I pretty much like all his output, it's funny that I haven't reached the Herren/obsessed with everything he does level yet. Give it time I suppose. Loving the Jimmy Edgar and Multiply Additions. Listening to Gnarls Barkley and it's just work background music minus about 3 songs. About to jump into Voom Voom and rediscovering K&D DJ Kicks. Lets just preemptively say that my spring playlist is glitch hop, techno, and downtempo stuff and call it a day.

What Is The Question Again?

To start off with an aside: Prefuse @ Summerstage on August 13th! Woo! Now, I feel even less regretful than I did yesterday (that is to say not very much) about totally skipping the May and June dates. I love summer in the city. Everyone swings by for free sooner or later!

Jamie Lidell show #4: ridiculously amazing. Alafairnadia and I made good on our promise and trudged the whole er, 7 or 8 blocks to Southpaw. Jimmy Edgar opened up his set kinda shakily.and we wandered around, coming face to face with Justin. He's my personal gauge of if where I am is gonna be good time or not. Ain't no party unless he's there, etc. I'm amused when people say that about me. I barely even go out anymore and free and/or cheap drinks are my standard of fun really. Anyhoo, we wandered back and the Edgar set picked up considerably. I'd never heard of him before, but now I'm a sorta fan. Yay for new music!

Jamie came on the stage and killed it. It was very techno heavy (but not as meandering and noodly as the Rothko show), but had straight up versions of things like my fave song "What's The Use?" and "Music Will Not Last" plus the Edgar/Lidell live collabo for "When I Come Back Around." "Game For Fools" and "Multiply" as the encore. And the encore was when things got interesting. He had to go the audience participation route. Too bad most of the audience was filled with utter fucking freaks. This one chick, who we'd been contemplating beating with a shoe for most of the show since she was running around screaming and vamping, was the first one to the mic and was all "Jamie, I want to rock your world!" Then came the guy who said: "I want to make romance in your body!" Er, what now? Not to mention the other clowns who decided to house the mic since they got confused and thought they were on Star Search. And all that before everyone got on stage and this "singer" decided to torture us with her painfully off key melodies before breaking into a rap. Chaos. And that was our cue to bounce.. David quipped when I was telling him the story that perhaps Jamie Lidell is the hipster Usher. Could be...

Amusingly enough, the one piece I forgot to mention about that party is what became the thing today. I work the floor above this company that's a big shop for music people of a certain ilk and am forever seeing these kids who work there in the elevator. Especially since there are only two and all. For the first week or two of work, there was this one kid I was seeing just about everytime I rode it and then one day riding my bus. And then there he was at the party! Curiosity killed the cat, etc, so I introduced myself to him saying we worked in the same building and stuff and he was all, "oh. yeah. I've seen you around" completely disinterested and intro'd me to some other guy who supposedly worked there too and disappeared. I was like "okay, dick, fuck you too" and didn't think anything else about it since I stopped seeing him after that as those things go. It'd be one thing if I was hitting on him (I wasn't), but a) I'd had a lot of $1 vodkas b) I was still the new girl around the office/building and I was just excited about running into someone I recognized from there c) I'd had some open bar stuff too before those $1 vodkas, so I was just being happy drunk friendly overall and him being kinda lame pissed me off that much more.

Fast forward to today when I'm coming out the building and dude's standing on the curb with some boxes. I wasn't going to say anything at all, but he's all like "hey!" I reply "hey" in a whatever tone and go about my business. Later on, I'm sitting at my desk and I spy this dude at the office door talking to one of my coworkers. And then he looks my way and waves. I kinda frown and look around all "is he waving at someone else?" and then wave back with a sorta puzzled expression when I establish that I'm the one. And then dude comes inside and walks over to me and starts shooting the shit like "hey! remember we met at that party? I wasn't sure if you recognized me earlier. I'm DJing the office party tomorrow" and on and on. And I reply kinda half frowning, hella confused. He blew me off and now he's acting like we're cool or something? See, this is why I've given up on guys for the time being. They're fucking bipolar. Plus that was embarrassing because I could see my coworkers all "hmm...who's this random?" And I'm dreading having to shoot the shit at the party. Utterly lame. Moral of this story: no point in being nice to the douches on 10.

Footsteps On The Dancefloor

Bobby O, I'm So Hot For You
Vitalic, Polkamatic
Womack & Womack, Teardrops
Gonzales, Take Me To Broadway
Hot Chip, Playboy

Flash Forward

I need a new computer desperately. After too many years of service, my girl is about 3 months from the scrap heap. I'm trying not to get too heavily seduced by the iMac at work, especially now that the Mac action I remember well (a.k.a. the computer being a total fuckup) is beginning to rear its head. Laptop? Desktop? Mac mini? iMac? Decisions, decisions...

I'm getting back into that old habit of raging and working during the week and taking Friday as the day to go to bed at like 10pm and get a breather. It's weird getting up around 8:30am on a Saturday morning well rested, and also to see all these text messages and voicemails like "you out?" but the good night's sleep is amazing. I'm loving the new job, even if it's kicking my ass a bit. It's hard for me to be clueless and I'm working hard to soak up all the knowledge I can. Every frustration is a lesson at the end of the day. I still don't regret a thing though. It's so worth it.

Last week was a bizarro blast from the past type deal. Except for a silly little crush that I'm intent on not letting get anywhere, I'm detoxing from liking anyone and the inevitable crappy patterns that follow. I came to the conclusion that it's pretty much a waste of vital energy and I'd rather be hanging out with my friends or getting in shape to ride my bike to and from work or staring off into space than being as frustrated as I used to feel all the time. Life's too short yadda yadda.

Anyways, I was at a friend's party and saw that guy who had given me his card some months back. I'd been running into him for about a week straight and got like 0 recognition. So, I walked up to him and started shooting the shit and then he remembered and was sorta flirting with me just like he had before. So, the pessimist in me was right and the cards don't mean much. Weird. Over that, I was wandering around at the same party and came face to face with The DJ. He's looking like hell, must be on the sniff and water diet. Our common friend mocked him when he turned away and I mentally patted myself on the back for having all that just kinda stall from the start. Dodged a major bullet there. Last Friday was my inaugural "stay in and sleep," so I missed the "Farmer has taken up residency in the nabe" bombshell. It's one of those things that sorta amuses and irritates me at the same time. We saw him Saturday and he looked ridiculous and out of place. It's not really worth thinking much more about on my end. I'd probably hardly ever see him anyways. Out of sight, out of mind.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the spring and summer, especially now that I have two cents to rub together again. I was painfully broke for a good month and it's nice to let go of those "how am i going to make ends meet???" nightmares. I'm starting to get back into my swing of things. Looking forward to the Four Tet DJ Kicks. Catching Jamie Lidell Wednesday at Southpaw (hoping for more Bowery/m3esque and less Rothkoish). We're loving and hating Hot Chip at the same time. They're so fun on record, but total wastes of time in person. Though, I am giving them one more chance in the summer -- because it's a free show. They're playing South Street Seaport in August, if i recall correctly. Something random to leave you with: I've got almost the whole dance routine from the Sean Paul "Temperature" video memorized. Love it!

From Here To Polarity

Favorite thing said to me on the birthday: "Your music is really turning me on." Peaches is good mood music for a relapse.

That reminds me of an exchange I had a few weeks back. Dude was like, "so what kind of music do you listen to?" and my response was: "techno. And Man Man, and Prefuse 73. And The Sea and Cake. But mainly, techno." I'm not really sure where that answer came from.

The Kelley Polar show was fucking something. I've seen some spectacle heavy shows in my day, but it took the cake. It was like Ladyhawke the musical. Pretty fun and entertaining though. Dude was wearing armor strung through with Christmas lights that would alternate being lit and not. The kicker was the disco lights deal with the chest plate during the encore. Woo boy. The crowd was pretty much dumbfounded through most of it and after a certain post, most just gave up the gaping to chatter. It reminded that I don't really like the KF main stage as a venue. And if there was any justice in the world, that would've been an M3 performance. Drunk people at the Surfcomber's heads collectively exploding. Ah well. Always hope for next year. I appreciate songs like "Ashamed of Myself" that I barely gave half a listen to before a lot more now.

The birthday itself was pretty low-key and consisted of me watching soaps and lounging (like every other day last week) until sundown approached and I started to feel like an idiot for neglecting to line up any real plans for the day. Katebklyn and the boy came to the rescue and I went from drinks to more drinks and fun chatter to even more drinks and the whole day perked up. It was a nice day and I feel like I have a really good life. The night winded down a bit unexpectedly, but ultimately a lot of fun. The birthday party was overwhelming yet very chill. The DH posse represented in full force, Wes friends rolled through, PrincessNella, A, and Trendvickster had oldest friends bragging rights, The Director and girl came, my mom hung out with everyone, and I drank most of those lined up drinks and shots without a wince. I am a professional after all. It was a little hard to get up before noon and hit the shopping trial with PrincessNella the next day, but I survived. Saturday night wasn't the nice weekend cap like I would've hoped though. Between a homicidal cabbie, overly aggro dudes everywhere at my favorite party, and the boy holding me hostage with his emo shit (ugh...we just don't work!), I was really stressed and unable to even enjoy myself. Fucking sucked.

Less than 10 days until I go to Miami! Woo! I need to make some money and get my trip list together. And the strangest thing I've noticed lately: the more weight I lose, the younger I look. Weird.

Nuggets

The "it's not like I have something else better to do" edition.

I might be the last person to jump on the YouTube bandwagon, but there's an 80s videos playlist. Oh hell fucking yeah! It's like VH1 Classic, but not having to leave the room to watch. Awesome!

There's something pretty damned cool about saying: Academy Award winners Three 6 Mafia! The performance itself was pretty much only interesting for the incredulity of seeing a choreographed pimps and hoes tableau and Taraji Henson (terrible dress aside) singing her ass off like "yeah, that's right. I'm singing the hook. Who cares if I may never make it to this stage again?!" Plus it's good to see some non-coached to the point of barely showing any emotion winners for a change.

Spin band of the day: Man Man!

Things are...interesting lately over on the nabe site. The two topics are pretty similar to me really with the whole junior Crimestopper, vaguely crusaderish "teach him a lesson!" strain going through them. Total powderkeg in my opinion.

No Parking On The Dancefloor

Okay, I might be overindulging this week. I woke up crazy fuzzy Thursday morning and convinced myself that my cell phone was lost the night before. I went back to Subtonic and searched all over, feeling super discombulated in the meantime. I, of course, didn't find it and began considering the fucked luck of losing a phone 3 months before gettting one practically for free and thinking I'd do an eBay search for a new one. And also that someone might be calling Madagascar from my phone. (Phone aside: my contract is up in May and I was thinking of getting a 917 number again. Anyone think it's worth it? The two people I know with landlines's long distance bill would thank me.) I moaned and whined about it all day and night, only to get home at 2:30am and discover that I'd left it my pants from the night before. (Yeah. I'm an ass.) And then I went on Friday night (and got a case of the fuzzies when bartenders at 419 I haven't seen in a good year and a half recognized me) and vomit is never a good look. Now I just feel like refried shit. I'll rest up tomorrow and Monday.

But the past couple of days have been fun. Alafairnadia and I went to a Playgirl party where they gave us the most swagtastic goodie bag (toys for days, dude) I've seen in a while. I saw yet another ANTM judge in the flesh -- which brings my grand total to 3 plus my wacky encounter with Janice. Since Twiggy doesn't count, Tyra and I crossing paths is now inevitable!.The mag itself sucks donkey balls. Way to make naked men really unexciting, ladies! The female nudity is about neck and neck in it for one thing and the whole thing is just thin and toothless. The only advertisers are like Boys Gone Wild and bigdickchatroom dot com or whatever. The best part of the night was free drinks, the not so much when the bartender kept coming up to where we were and then ignoring us. Lamer.

The most exciting part of my week has been a sudden influx of great new (to me) music. I DLed this really fun mix by Ulysses featuring "No Parking On The Dancefloor" (among other things I must get the names of) and I'm getting my Miami dancing conditioning on. I've finally accepted that I'm going to actually use My Space and I've been making friends with musician pages. Even discovered a new Prefuse production! Woo! (Speaking of him, "Illiterate Interlude" on the new album is hilarious. I actually have heard people say that about the last one. And people say dude doesn't have a sense of humor!) And I've somehow ended up obsessed with Gonzales and Cosmo Vitelli through some musical links I followed. Be my pal. Here's some songs:

TTC - Dans Le Club (Gonzales Piano Remix)
Daft Punk - Face To Face (Cosmo Vitelli Remix)
Push Button Objects - 360 Degrees(Prefuse 73 Remix)

And let me talk about this week's pet peeve: My job title is trafficker (traffic coordinator, if we want to be specific) and unless you work in marketing/advertising/production, you probably don't know what that means. (I, of course, don't talk about my job because I'd like to leave voluntarily and not be fired for blogging or whatever). But hey, I don't want to assume no one knows cause sometimes they'll surprise you. So when people do the annoying "what do you do?"/how does my job stack up to someone else's thing, I say "I'm a trafficker" and every FUCKING time, the reply is "human or drugs?" People, just no. It might have been chuckle worthy the first time, but now: no. Not original, just stop. Sorry. Had to let that one out.

And This Ship Will Sail, And This Heart Won't Die

Lately, I've been emerging from my cave in a big way and despite a few ill-advised late nights, it's been a lot of fun.

The most awesome thing to happen to me last week was getting a midday IM from Kate on Wednesday asking what I was up to that night. I had vague plans to meet up with the prodigal Alex, but was focused on trying to get through a shit afternoon at work. She let me know about a private Man Man show going on about 3 blocks from where I work and I was on that like white on rice. I hadn't seen them perform since last summer/fall and to say it's like a new band now would be the understatement of the year. So, I was stoked! I was wandering about the party, a-chattering with Kelly and Kate and Alex and randoms. The saddest news was hearing that I had missed out on an intro to my favorite writer ever. I've been joking since that it would've been a headline worthy event: "Blogger Shanks Critic MacGyver Style With Hairpin."

I wasn't sure what I thought in the moment of the show and all the new elements. I was trying hard to hear everything fresh instead thinking "X wouldn't have been done that way before." The new drummer is the shit as advertised and the present band member interplay is really tight and awesome. My overarching thoughts were that apparently guys in Philly look like lost cast members from Napolean Dynomite and that the group was even louder and noisier now, something I didn't think was possible. I got the new record (yay!) and I was really kinda bewildered on the first listen, but now I really love it. I can compare it in my mind to how I felt about Mama's Gun after Baduizm or One Word Extinguisher after Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives: they did something I wasn't expecting soundwise and once I stopped looking for the carbon copy of what I loved before, the shining moments came out. But, enough of that. In a nutshell: beer hall + Psycho Beach party = the shizz. One of my fave new songs: "Tunneling Through The Guy."

Post-show, I ran into Aaron and friends on the street and made a detour to wandering the town with them before heading to the special version of Pure Fire, a party I've been meaning to check out for a while now. I was semi-bumbling and I propped myself up near the bar and drank water, while watching Poltergeist play out on a screen and chatting with some dude about the randomness of watching Poltergeist at a party. In writing my email address down to get on the mailing list, I realized I was probably drunk and stupid, and also since I haven't written print in so long that my former calligraphy class honed handwriting was looking kinda chickenscratchy. Bah. And I'm lame because the first thing that popped in my head to request at a grime party was "Pow." Le sigh. Would "Stop Dat" have been better? I dunno. After I left, I was thinking of that song though. I met and chatted with Chris about the podcasts that I hadn't been listening to until this past weekend...because my throwaway comment about being an iTunes hater got me shouted out in the weekend newsletter. Fuck iTunes(!), but those podcasts are great. One of them has "777-9311," one of those classic songs I always forget I adore until I hear it and the stars align...or you know, something.

But you know what I haven't done in the past week? For one, get a good night's sleep. But most importantly, not go to the Battles show. I just broke and tired all last week and couldn't do it. I heart Battles though and I would heart them more if I could magically find a Battles bag for sale like on their site or something. Ahem.

Wow, it's Valentine Day...just another day really. I plan to run straight home after work and curl up with the one I really love today: Helga. Happy VD!

ETA a special exchange with Alafairnadia:
Jamirakid: eww i'm chatting with the boy now
Jamirakid: i refuse to mention VD
Jamirakid: bah humbug to that shit
Alafairnadia: hehehe
Alafairnadia: VD?
Jamirakid: you know
Alafairnadia: er
Jamirakid: it's officially the 14th....
Alafairnadia: oh oh
Alafairnadia: I was like vin diesel?
Alafairnadia: sorry. I already anti-celebrated. I'm done.

I'm Gonna Spread Some Information

Shuggie Otis, Inspiration Information
The Clash, Clampdown
Armand Van Helden, Flowerz
The Sea And Cake, I Will Hold The Tea Bag
I Wayne, Black Woman

It Ain't Easy Having The Attention Span of A Flea

Work. Sucks. I don't think I've left the office before 7 in almost 2 weeks.

I got interviewed for the paper about my neighborhood and talked the poor man's ear completely off. If I get more than a quote or two, I'll definitely link it.

My favorite line in a music review this week: "He appears in the CD booklet's foldout poster in a suave love-man pose—slit-eyed, shirtless, with rippling washboard abs and a goatee whose lustrous sheen could only have been achieved with the aid of professional landscapers." Second best line: "Give this guy a ceiling mirror and a vat of baby lotion and he'll be set for the night."

Jamie Lidell's gonna be at the M3 Summit! Holla! If they can get Tiga on a bill, then it really would be golden.

A quotable that would never make Overheard In New York:
The Doctor: But why would you have casual sex with multiple partners?
The Patient: Erm....because it's fun?

It's Like That

All year, I've been telling myself that I would get my shit together and submit a proposal for the Pop Conference. Everyone made it sound so fun last year! And I had a topic I thought was pretty meaty (Trapped In The Closet and the mainstream success of the chitlin circuit) and have been definitely not shy about music punditry over the internets -- as poor Anthony's email box can confirm. But in typical form, the deadline's fast approaching and of course, I haven't written anything yet to send off. Oops. I think I'll go anyway though. I've never been to Seattle and I will ask probing questions and/or jeer for kicks. The meantime, I'll try not to let dumb things elevate my pressure and try to hold back the "eat a dick" in correspondence. After all, my (forthcoming) list o' 2006 resolutions includes see at least one creatively satisfying idea through and stop selling myself short. As harsh as I'll ever be on anyone, I've always been my worst critic.

In case the title doesn't make it obvious (or perhaps the album on the sidebar), I've surrendered to Mariah for the moment. I haven't really hated her like I did in elementary school when I cursed "the annoying bitch hitting the stupid notes only dolphins can hear" in forever -- I even bought the #1s collection thingy in Discorama some years back for $6.99 I believe. The songs I've heard so far -- the singles really -- have caught my ear (well except for the latest one), but watching her videos really bother the fuck out of me. The desperation is usually wafting off the screen. She's always preening like a horse (show my left side! left side!) and usually wearing something real questionable. In the last video, was that her soccer outfit from when she was in junior high? Just no. Or maybe I just secretly still hate her and a few catchy JD productions isn't making me feel otherwise. That's what I suspect.

Music Makes Me High: Roundup Part 1

I actually may have discovered more music this year which really isn't that surprising guess. I did pick up and go to Miami for the express purpose of hearing music 24-7 and the rest of the year just followed. I learned a lot of things by osmosis and followed the musical links. It's been a very good year for all that. This year, KP was into:

1. Favorite New-To-Me Finds: Chateau Flight, Liquid Liquid, Four Tet, Handsome Boy Modelling School, Dub Trio, Beans, Battles, Diverse, In Flagranti, Dry & Heavy, most of the Massive Attack catalog

2. I Gave Into The Hype And I Actually Liked It!!: Jamie Lidell, Death From Above 1979, LCD Soundsystem, Dizzee Rascal, Kanye West, !!!, Fannypack, Kelley Polar

3. Most Awesome Bits of Revisted Youth: Nine Inch Nails @ MSG and Jamiroquai @ Nokia Theater

Anways, my best of what I was listening to all year, in no particular order:

Albums:
33hz, 33hz
Chateau Flight, The Meal
Death From Above 1979, You Are A Woman, I Am A Machine
Dub Trio, Exploring The Dangers Of
Four Tet, Everything Ecstatic
Jamie Lidell, Multiply
Prefuse 73, Surrounded By Silence
Run The Road
Sam Prekop, Who's Your New Professor?
Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, Moods and Grooves, Vol. 2.

Songs:
Amerie, "Talkin About"
Damian Marley, "Welcome To Jamrock"
Fannypack, "On My Lap"
In Flagranti, "Bang Bang"
Jamie Lidell "Multiply"
John Legend, "Ordinary People"
Kanye West "Gold Digger"
Kelley Polar "Cosmological Constancy"
LCD Soundsystem, "Disco Inflitrator"
Mariah Carey, "We Belong Together"
R. Kelly "Trapped In The Closet Part 1-Infinity"
Tiga "Good As Gold"

Not Even New Shit That Wouldn't Let Me Go
Brandy, "The Ritual (Chateau Flight Remix)
Massive Attack, Mezzanine
The Jones Girls, "Nights Over Egypt"
La Caution vs. Chateau Flight, "Deserts et Lezards"
Dizzee Rascal, Boy In Da Corner
Urban Renewal Program
Asian Dub Foundation, "P.N.K.B. (Dry & Heavy Remix)
Boogie Down Productions, "The Bridge Is Over"
EPMD "Crossover"
Talking Heads, "Born Under Punches"
Disco D + Princess Superstar, "Fuck Me On The Dancefloor"

Favorite Shows of '05:
1. Winter Music Conference/M3 Summit -- March '05 -- If only for the sheer numbers of people that I saw including Los Amigos Invisibles, Tortured Soul, 33hz, Mylo, The Glimmers, Ellen Allien, Killa Kela, Digable Planets, Mark Farina, Donald Glaude, Marques Wyatt, Slam Dunk, Greenskeepers, Ben Watt, and more that I don't even freaking remember (and some I want to forget). It was music overload. Nothing even came close to topping it.

2. Dizzee Rascal @ Irving Plaza -- 4/23/05 -- I'd only started listening to him a few weeks before the show and I got my ticket on a mostly ulterior motivation, but the show was classic. A hip hop show top to bottom. Dude has massive stage presence and it's really impossible to look away. I was a fairweather fan before I got there, but seeing every song get twice the recorded energy made me a true blue.

3. Beans/Battles/Prefuse 73 @ Bowery Ballroom -- 5/7/05 -- It's almost hard to believe that I had never seen Prefuse do more than a little spinning until May...especially with me being all obsessed and all. So, I rectified that fully this year. He came and went earlier this month and I didn't even pause. No more Prefuse for another year or so. But, this show was the 2nd of the two night stand and Trendvickster and I did it up. I hadn't given more than a passing though to Beans (though I knew of him), so I was blown away by his performance. Full of personality that dude is! (and he's been really cool when I've run into him since.) Battles came from nowhere to blindside me the first night and I was still all about them the second. Likewise, Ian Battles is very nice, considering I badger him about that damned bag every time I see him. I think Prefuse could've banged a garbage pail along to a CD of the music playing and I still would've loved it, but live drums and keys along with the samples was the shit. It definitely enriched the flavor of the songs and gave it enough weight to fill the room and then some.

4. Dub Trio/Nisennenmondai/Tyondai Braxton /Prefuse 73 @Rocks Off Boat Cruise -- 9/18/05 -- As The Director joked, the incredible concert with no words. Awesome musicians every last one, but you know what? My favorite part was being on a boat on a warm fall night spitting distance from the Statue of Liberty. That was an incredible sight that I haven't seen in too long. That was a true "I Love NY" moment.

5. Nine Inch Nails @ MSG -- 11/3/05 -- I've never ever been to an arena show and I've kinda regretted it over the years. And then I remember that I'm usually broke as fuck. So, now I know that in an arena, you can barely see shit and you're just one of a mass of thousands of people, but dammit, it's exciting! You feel a part of something bigger than yourself. And it definitely helps when the band on stage is playing most of your favorite songs and the sound is immense going all the way to the back row. It rocked.

I Wanna Show You How I Handle Business

We've since softened our "no like!" stance on the new Tiga. There's more than a handful that we like, but we haven't gone back to it yet this week so...meh. We finally let curiosity get the better of us and got some Kelley Polar. The one song so far is like delicate disco or something. We like...very much. Everyone I read (of the critic variety) is making year end lists. And since I like wasting space on randomness, I'll do one too..sooner or later. What'll probably be on it is pretty no brainer. Every album that I actually got around to listening to fully the past year more or less. But, we'll see it when I make it up.

Meanwhile, take these:

Dub Trio, Sick Im Kid
The Jones Girls, Nights Over Egypt
Chateau Flight, Les Antipodes
Diverse, In Accordance
Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cutter
Man Man, Tear of Octopus (Adam Sparkle Remix)

It's Kinda New

*sniff* I can't even go! B-but it's Cielo a-and Tiefschwarz! Life can be so cruel.

Anyways, music thingy making the rounds (via Alafairnadia):
"Da rules are: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to."

1. Chateau Flight, Les Antipodes (Malik Dub)
2. The Jones Girls, Nights Over Egypt
3. Hot Hot Heat, Talk To Me, Dance With Me
4. Death From Above 1979, Go Home Get Down
5. Kanye West, Crack Music
6. Damian Marley, We're Gonna Make It
7. Black Box, Everybody, Everybody (Le Freak Mix)

Hmm...my 7: Cupcake, Jay-V, Anthony, David, Bill, Hani, Mac, and the blogless Tantrum.

You Supplicate

Believe it or not, I just noticed the inverse relationship between the level of my job satisfaction and the amount of time I'm chained to my desk. I've been more negative than usual about the whole thing in the past month or so and it dawned on me, "that's because you scraped the November vacation and have been working non-stop since March, more or less, genius!" So, this week (until Friday at least), I'm hanging out around the house, watching As The World Turns (so good lately!), eating chips, and curling up next to my cat for midday naps. It's like a perpetual weekend and therefore, wonderful. But, I still am at a point where I'm ready to be a media bitch somewhere else.

I don't actually have nothing to do of course. I won tickets to a show at Canal Room tonight. Oh man, I love to win. Since I don't have anywhere to be early, I get to go to all those early week events that I usually wisely avoid just so I can get my lazy bones up and out easier. And then Wednesday, I've got the extra special plans of getting the gas meter read and my semi-annual checkup at the doctor's! How awesome! Thursday's going to be fairly pesky, in terms of feeling like a zombie on Friday morning, because the DHers are having a Festivus party. My head preemptively hurts already.

All around, things are pretty great right now. I let my nerd out and downloaded Firefox and now I'm in love with an internet browser. I'm asking for gift cards and/or money for Christmas, so I can make up the difference between my little pile of saved pennies and what I need to get that laptop. I had a delayed reaction to actually going off to listen to DFA79 after the show and I'm loving it! More energetic non-emo and slightly sleazy rock, please! If I wanted to dwell on things bugging me, I could consider the present fissure between Farmer and I (too much to get into really. It's always complicated) or the Friday emotional crisis I had where I wondered if all this stuff related to the boy is some sort of sign about him (no, no, no...we're not going there on any level). We're not unpacking those bags because I think it'd be nice to try and have December be like the only month of the year without some sort of romantic/emotional garbage getting me down. More kitty snuggling, less wallowing the dumps.