coffee, arsenal fc, and matisse

off to do what brings me joy early on saturdays; head to the pub for food, coffee, a couple of drinks, good people and arsenal fc.

i wish you all could join, but since you cant i wanted share something else that brings me joy; henri matisse (great web site) so in lieu of joining me for arsenal chants, scrapple, and some inappropriate behavior on a saturday before 8am please enjoy one of my favorite prints below, 'interior with dog'

end of the summer party mix ...

alas summer is coming to an end. 

its not a fun feeling. the euphoria that was once poised on the dreams of endless possibilities of weekend escapes, sun tan lotion, havaianas, day drinking affairs, and sunglasses is fading early like the laste august sun. its the same feeling you had when mom took you to buy school clothes. the same feeling at the end of the night when the party has already begun to descend from the summit, and you just dont want to hit base camp quite yet. 

if only we could prevent the invetiable.

well before the roof decks get chilly, beaches get traded for mountains, and the summer party is finally over i wanted to share this mix 'tape'. i dont want you all to say good bye to the sunny season with out one last huuurah. so download this, grab some friends, fill a cooler, find a rooftop/boat/beach/living room/street corner and fight the unavoidable end of summer with us!!!

end of summer mix 'tape' (note: if you dont know how to/cant download from rapid share let me know ... or if on the off chance the mix reaches its max downloads, but that means all 4 of you who read will have to download twice and then some)

1. dance yrself clean - lcd soundsystem
2. alone again - teenager
3. fire it up - modest mouse
4. soft shock - yeah yeah yeahs
5. half light ii (no celebration) - arcade fire
6. fader - temper trap
7. kim & jesse - m83
8. unforgettable season - cut copy
9. dancing on my own - robyn
10. enjoy the silence - depeche mode


just 10 tracks to keep the party going. hope you enjoy, and if you have an end of summer song or two then throw it our way and ill update the 'tape'

sunsets & moonrises

broken embraces ...

so in a proper sunday fashion, ive watched multiple movies that are on demand/netflix queue (add me!) that ive been eying up for a while. rather than give you a complete run down of the movies that have helped me top off a pretty decent weekend, i just wanted to make a quick recommendation of the one the got me most involved; 'broken embraces'.

'broken embraces' (warning: if you arent into foreign films you dont need to check out anymore of this post) is a spanish film made by pedro almodovar. i remember this film caught my eye because of how much i enjoyed 'volver', but i never got to the charles to see almodovars latest when it was around last fall.

heres my stream of consciousness regarding the movie:

• almodovar has a real knack for the detail. the colors in this film are very bright, but not offensive
• it has a classic hollywood feel to it, but in no way is it overt 
• the film relies on the idea of reflection; self reflection being the obvious form taking place in the film and this is accented even more when you think that almodovar wrote and directed this and its about a former filmaker and writer. 
• reflection is even employed as a videography tactic. there are shots from mirrors, windows, doors, and even impeccably polished furniture
• i think he captures the feel of spain like a spanaird does. this is contrasted with another spanish centered movie i like, vicki, christina, barcelona 
• im in love with penelope cruz
• its a bit long (2 hours +), but worth your time on a sunday

'broken embraces' by pedro almodovar 2009

'great scott' ...

so lets get back on the musical side of this blog. the side where it belongs. if not familiar i love turning folks onto all sorts of music, and i love having this platform to do it. remember mandatory mondays (look to your right) ...

well i just wanted to turn you onto one of my personal favorites of this summer. the 'back to the future' title reference is to the new band delorean that hails from spain and whose new album 'subiza' should be spinning in your cars cd player on every late summer afternoon (note: if you have a roof top sound system it should probably be playing on that as well).

delorean nips at the heels of bands like mgmt and passion pit, except they avoid the pop production and bring a distinct muffled yet relaxed european style to there music. its smooth with out trying to be. its upbeat, but not obtrusive. the lyrics are soft, but not feminine (note: feminine is not always a bad thing). its not ground breaking, its just fun. fun like late summer afternoons/evenings should be.

this album isnt going to get a room full of beer pong players to start fist pumping. but when played for a large room full of friends who are enjoying each others company heads will bop, toes will tap, and smiles will appear.

delorean - 'real love'

i got a hunch ...

at the end of last month i got the opportunity to visit my friends 'future mr & mrs lawyer' at their blue country lake house in michigan. i wont bore you with the vintage cars, boozey brunches, scooters that went 60 mph, or cabana chairs dipped in lake michigan. what i really want to talk to you about is the airport news stand.

i really enjoy print media, so therefore i love magazines. at said stand i came face to face with the old dilemma of what magazine to purchase. gq, the old stand by, was my choice for the 1st leg of this jaunt sponsored by southwest airlines, so i was left out on a limb when it came for decision time. fantasy football magazine? no way im smarter than those dudes (note: finished in playoffs of both my leagues in 2009/10). the economist? no, have a subscription ... what to pick what to pick?? wired magazine?!?! the fuck is that? will farrell on the cover? ... articles on iphones v. at&t and the science behind roadside bombs (ied's). two waaaay unrelated topics, but both topics im interested in. could this be a 'post z generational' (you know what im trying to say) magazine?!!? well needless to say i got the magazine and really enjoyed it. in my new desire to marry my life with the modern age, also known as trying to stay 'hip with it, you feel me dawg diggity', i decided to get a subscription, so i can learn about new tech stuff, trends, music, and feel kind of cool doing it. wow that makes me sound like a total badass...

im happy so far and i want to talk about my 'wired mag' lead trip further down the new technolgoy worm hole (a 2010 resolution that was about 7 months late)which brought me to hunch. hunch.com is something like twitter making love to amazon marketplace while facebook and a whacky online survey kind of creep in the background. translation: its a community based (add friends, comments, etc.) approach to defining ones personal preferences on a wide variety of categories/things by linking friends together and asking you a wide variety of questions and then generating responses. its like amazons 'people who bought this also bought this', except it coveres all of that and then gives you suggestions on what you can cook for dinner, places to go on vacation, vintage toys, new york museums, and other super fun and quirky topics. it hasnt defined me, but it kind of knows me ...

ive only been playing around with this for a couple of days, but here are some of the suggestions ive had plus some of the questions ive been asked.

suggestions:

• magazines -  'gq' (agree);  'in style' (ummm did check that i was male)
• books - 'spent:  sex, evolution, and consumer behavior' (interested); infinate jest (intimidated)
• vintage toys - legos (duh!); etch a sketch (still dont understand the appeal)
• professions - artist (i wasnt that good at glass blowing); ad exec (must be my don draper looks)

questions:

• what type of fries do you prefer?
• mac or pc?
• can you do 10 pull ups?
• would you set up a home entertainment system yourself?
• what type of lettuce do you prefer?

interesting to say the least. if you sing up friend me (hahaha) ... no seriously @discosaturday

ok ok ok, the masses have spoken ...

well like 3 people have asked me (one of them being my aunt sammie) why i have let the blog die, and i wanted to address that issue with all 14 of you who have ever opened this page; that includes you the creepy guy in japan!

i havent let this blog die at all, ive just been doing a really good job at neglecting it. its kind of like that house plant my mom got for me at the beginning of my senior year at college. that thing was a beast. it would grow and provide oxygen for us at rapid rates, then id go on a bender/vacation/work week/glass blowing tirade that would inevitably leave that plant seriously neglected. it would sit parched in its arid soil and naked showing only its trunk (ehh more like stalk) eeking out yelps for attention.

eventually i would snap out of whatever i was doing that was way more important and make it my job for the next month to nurse that baby back to health. I never threw it away/let it die off completely ... oh wait until i moved from college ...

maybe that wasnt the best metaphor.

eff it i want write more, so if youre looking to kill time in a cubical, checking on a friend from australia, searching for music, want interesting links, have ever wondered what its like to sell desserts for a living, pictures of food from around town then id invite you to come on back folks!

cheers,
hey steve