grand east coast tour

"i ain't got nothin' 'gainst the east coast/you want some people where they've got the most"

i just thought i'd drop a quick word about where i'll be for the rest of my time in the states. as some of you know, i still don't have my start date, but at this point, i'm planning on an august 1 departure. to make sure i see as many people as possible, and...y'know, not spend an entire month at home, where i'd be sure to start making poor decisions out of sheer boredom...i'm planning a GRAND EAST COAST TOUR in mid-july. right now it's looking (roughly) like this:

7/9-7/11: richmond, VA
7/11-7/13: DC
7/13-7/17: some combo of delaware, philly, and nyc?
7/18-7/19 or 20: new haven

if you're around any of these places, or anywhere en route, let me know!

read of the (three weeks ago) day

my friend dave was guestblogging for a while over at attackerman, before he scored his dream job (congrats!). i just caught up on some of his posts, and this one a) picked up on one of my favorite idle, intellectual equivalents of desk toys, the shifting place of superheroes in the american social imaginary and b) made me giggle.

read of the day

i think this is sort of nicely put. the thrust being:

"In fact – and this is what Sotomayor means when she talks about reaching a better conclusion than a white man who hasn’t lived her life – rather than distorting reality, perspectives illuminate it or at least that part of it they make manifest. It follows that no one perspective suffices to capture all aspects of reality and that, therefore, the presence in the interpretive arena of multiple perspectives is a good thing. In a given instance, the “Latina Judge” might reach a better decision not because she was better in some absolute, racial sense, but because she was better acquainted than her brethren with some aspects of the situation they were considering. (As many have observed in the context of the issue of gender differences, among the current justices, only Ruth Bader Ginsburg knows what it’s like to be a 13-year-old girl and might, by virtue of that knowledge, be better able to assess the impact on such a girl of a strip-search.)...You can call it empathy or (as some in the audience suggested ) you can call it understanding or imagination. I called it hearkening to the spirit rather than the letter. But whatever you call it, everyone present that evening agreed that it was what we wanted."

blogrollcall

kitt's kitchen: finally, a blog from one of my favorite humans: a fabulous writer, teacher, and drinking buddy, and (now!) aspiring chef. show her some love, why dontcha?

nepali molly: i'm going to compartmentalize, and start putting posts about my year in nepal on a new blog. wheeee.

a haiku for new haven in spring

squirrel scampers past
twix wrapper gripped in its mouth
probably rabid.

I GETS A COOKIE.

i learned to write my name in nepali script (devanagari) today.
मली
wheeeee. absurdly proud of myself.

daily playlist 6/20/09

"ghostwriter"
rjd2
2002

for when: you need a personal soundtrack

i guess it's really a subgenre of personal soundtrack though. i'm heading into new york for the rest of the weekend, and, as i am wont to do, am planning on building in some just wandering around time. so this is really the kind of personal soundtrack you need when you want to be able to feel like a bad ass, just cold walkin' anywhere. you know what i mean... the tracks that give you a little swerve to your step.

the rest of your playlist:
"can't get enough of your love, babe" barry white
"how long do i have to wait for you?" sharon jones and the dap kings
"here come tha police" vicious vicious*

also: random bonus youtube clip. just...wow.

* really these guys should have been first....i'm going to give them a whole additional treatment another time, i think, because they are the single best band you have probably never heard of

something i will really miss...

...about new haven/yale: going to do something mundane like pay an overdue charge at the library and running across something unexpectedly special or beautiful...like a small exhibit of ketubot from 17th century onwards. the exhibit also included this decorative micro-script version of the song of songs.

true hardness (and poaching blogposts)

word. i'm basically just going to poach someone else's opinion by linking to the review above and posting the video in question. i will add only this: pretty much ONLY jay-z can sound that hard rapping over a freaking clarinet sample.



(now imagine him in a klezmer band. doooo it.)

daily playlist 6/19/09

"timorous me"
ted leo and the pharmacists
2001

for when: you're going to a ted leo concert (!)

yeah, so the theme lacks a certain creativity today...
however, if you haven't managed to catch these guys in the last 10 years they've been making music (in a variety of lineup configurations), you should do it. they started off, as so much great music does, as an experiment. by the time they released 'tyranny of distance', their first full length album (from which "timorous me" comes), they'd settled themselves firmly into mainstream rock sensibilit(ies)... which is in no way a bad thing, as they've remained unbound by any particular rock sub-genre convention (see eg dub sensibility in "the unwanted things" off 2007's 'living with the living', side-by-side with the same album's distortion-laced, savage "bomb.repeat.bomb"). they pretty much rock anything they put their collective hands to...in fact, that's what these guys pretty much are: pure rock. hopefully i'll get some fun footage/pictures tonight, when i see them play at toad's place.

the rest of your playlist:
"tommy gun" the clash
"long nights" piebald
"santeria" sublime

someone gets a cookie.

"The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for the wrongs of slavery."

best intersection of homosexuality and fruit leathers. ever.

seriously, you remember this shit?

if you're like me, your health-food oriented parents fed you these when you were a kid, instead of anything that was COOL and shaped like a DINOSAUR or a ROCKET...made out of SUGAR and BLUE DYE 16....anyway, neither here nor there...best quote ever from my friend (he happens to be gay), who was having his first experience with fruit leathers:

"i want to COVER a woman with these. just like, slap them all over her body".

by god it never occurred to me as a child...but i think he's RIGHT.

cry for help

so my FAVORITE jeans in the world have a couple holes/tears in them, originating from the upper inner thigh, and now extending, on the left leg, all around the back half of the leg, parallel to the ground. now it's kinda unraveled...anyway, this leaves me unable to bend over or really do anything but shuffle when i wear them, for fear of scarring small children.

i'm not very "craft-y" (mmm to say the least... i get all spazzy and panicked like a cat with a laser pointer)...but is someone handy with clothes? what's the best way to keep these jeans just this side of wearable? i'll post a picture when i'm not running out of the house...but in the meantime, thanks for any advice.

read of the day: "suffering and art"

i really appreciated this discussion about the ethics of photographing suffering. there were some good points of practical distinction made (it's easier to preserve moral integrity when a photo is properly captioned and contextualized, and when it is not subsequently commodified). i also found that this comment resonated with me:

“You have to remember that the stronger the image is, the more it hurts,” said Ms. McNally, an assistant managing editor and the director of photography at The Times. “When a photograph of a horrific situation is mindfully and artfully put together, and works on multiple levels, it simply grabs your attention and is more effective. Those pictures tend to live long in your memory because all the elements work together to reinforce the narrative and emotion.”

that's what's most striking for me. i find it almost nonsensical to argue that (barring aforementioned issues of commodification) one can detach the formal/aesthetic and empathetic messages of a picture. like being in love (i imagine), being truly moved, having your "heart wrenched," by an image is both both intensely tragic and intensely joyful. by making these images wrenchingly beautiful, a photographer makes them wrenchingly human as well.

anyway, enough of that serious/theoretical nonsense...back to our regularly scheduled fart jokes.

goodreads = new fun!

Teach Yourself Nepali Complete Course by Michael Hutt

My review

mostly it just sits next to my bed, glaring at me, balefully.


View all my reviews.

experiment with new interwebs thing...

oh man! this is fun!! i can just copy and paste the clicky clicky right into the word box thing. wheeeee.
anyway, i read this book in one sitting on saturday...

The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood by Ta-Nehisi Coates

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
beautifully lyrical memoir and important commentary through a very personal lens on the shifting paradigms of black american masculinity.
see also:
"globalization and race" (Ed) Clarke
"beyond beats and rhymes" (documentary film) byron hurt


View all my reviews.

daily playlist 6/14/09

self-titled
the commonwealth
2009

for when: you need an anthem

this playlist is a little different...but i've been meaning to talk about this EP for a while now, so i figured i'd kill two birds with one stone, and make it today's playlist. in the interest of full disclosure, i should mention that i've known half the band since we were in diapers, but i think that only gives me a better perspective on this record. i've listened to a lot (and i mean a lot) of john mcnamera (vocals, guitar), and ben elder's (bass) music over the course of my life, and i really like the place they've come to on this EP, with the addition of ben paterson (guitar) and ian conboy (drums) to the band. plus, y'know, they'll always give me a shout out when they cover "molly's chambers".

this record is great, because it's not trying to be anything it's not. the lyrics don't stab wildly at profundity. they talk about the basic shit that plagues all of us in our 20s (and, although i don't think anyone really wants to admit it, before and after as well): failing/flailing relationships ("leave me alone/ you know i won't answer my phone/ don't ask me if i miss you/ you know that i do, too") and figuring out what exactly it all means when it seems like everyone around you, is, well, full of crap ("you just can't see original opinions coming from tv...is there anybody out there who can share my point of view?"). they don't do it in the histrionic, adolescent, garage band way, though, but with a sense of playfulness and a degree of resignation that (dare i say it?) reflects a growing maturity and taste in these guys' musical careers.

there's some diversity among the tracks, from the low-key "moon and sun" to the darker, more sexual energy of "she's a rocker" (a song totally made by the march tempo bass and drums underneath mcnamera's growled vocals). they've got the musical chops to do that versatility (you should see john make the older ladies swoon with his frank sinatra stylings), but the commonwealth is at their best on songs like "small hands", "make out party", and especially "youth in asia". these tracks are basically tight, quasi-anthemic pop gems, uptempo and filled with hooky guitar lines, rich call and response choruses, and the little pop flourishes that i'm such a sucker for (syncopated hand claps, anyone?). i can never understand why people would shy away from making music that is just so flat out enjoyable, but i'm happy to report that pop rock is alive and well and living in falmouth, MA.

[sidebar: ben, in addition to his bass playing, is an incredibly talented designer, and (i think?) does all of their graphics...you can check out a small selection of their posters here.]

blogrollcall

cocktail summer: my uncle's OTHER new blog: "...one new cocktail a day, every day, all summer. (Or until my liver gives out.)". have i mentioned how flippin' cool my uncle is?

waiting on tehran

wowza. unprecedented turnout for the iranian presidential elections today. they've extended polling for at least four extra hours. certainly this insane turnout is a good sign for reformist challenger mousavi.

so the eyes of the world are on iran. foreign engagement with iran has been somewhat suspended as people have held their breath waiting for today. does it matter though? khamenei ain't goin' nowhere. how then, would the dynamics of a new government pan out, with a head of the executive, at least rhetorically, more willing to engage the rest of the world? how big an electoral mandate would he have to have to avoid a major whip-cracking from khamenei and the guardian council?

do i actually have enough people who read this to do an open thread?
meh, probably not. go for it, though, and i'll spin some more thoughts later when i make more progress on the annual report i'm supposed to be writing. regardless, between last week's cairo speech, the much-viewed and commented upon max blumenthal video, and iran's election, it's an interesting fortnight in debates on american mid-east policy issues.

UPDATE: no one/everyone (fp bloggers) wins so far. get ready for the whole country to be completely stabby for the next, like, three days while the votes are counted. check out the nyt liveblog here.

BONUS daily playlist 6/12/09

...because i didn't post for a week...

"no te pido flores"
fanny lu
2006


aside from being a shameless hispanophile, i like a lot of spanish-language pop music (as an enormously broad category) for a few reasons. practically, it's great to listen to while trying to read or write. my spanish isn't bad (although there are some who would contest that), but i don't find myself constantly distracted by the lyrics the way i sometimes do in english-language music. on the other hand, it's more energetic than a lot of the strictly instrumental stuff i have, so it keeps me focused (ummm y'know, unless i'm spending time blogging about how productive it makes me...never mind.) second, fanny lu has pretty much ruled the latin pop charts for the past two years. compare this to some of the utter crap that makes it onto the us charts: t-pain? katy perry? yurk. [caveat(s): 1. i have no idea who half the artists on the current billboard charts are...don't know what the hell the kids are dancing to these days...2. i'm sure plenty of stuff on the latin charts is crap too...this has more to do with my visceral reaction to vocorders and general old lady crotchetiness about the state of pop in america than anything else]. third? HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO THIS VIDEO??


the rest of your playlist:
"nada valgo sin tu amor" juanes
"pa' calor" rosana
"a eme o" andrea echeverri

daily playlist 6/12/09

"what i'm looking for"
brendan benson
2005

"being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up; these are the best days of our lives"...the ataris said it (although no one but my inner 13 year old wants to hear them sing it). i've been thinking a lot about transition...watching my friends graduate, and preparing for a pretty big transition myself. the pop-punk lyrics of bygone years now feel like rationalizations of adolescent angst and bad decision-making (cf summers of 2003-2004). but, there are some newer songs that, with their simplicity and whimsy and confusion, in an (ever so slightly) more grown-up way, evoke the simultaneous hope and fear and nostalgia that the process of transitioning (and trying to claw your bare-handed way up the steep cliff face that is adulthood) inspires.

the rest of your playlist:
"new soul" yael naim
"i feel it all" feist
"darlin' do not fear" brett dennen

no posts til sunday

i am going out of town, so no posts for a few days.
please feel free to enjoy these other fine products.
*jazzjazzjazz*

daily playlist 6/4/09

"penniless patron"
sean hayes
2007

for when: you need to get away

..."would you like to sail away? maybe we could go to spain" offers guitarist sean hayes on this track off of his 2007 album "flowering spade." hayes, especially on "flowering spade," shows a deft hand for a range of styles, from the jazz-inflected syncopation of "all for love" to the midtempo americana of the title track. "penniless patron" is more similar to the latter, but a downtempo near lullaby, crooned over a spare guitar riff with a faintly keening instrumental descant woven into the bridge. not everyone is gonna love this kind of low-key folk rock, but i think lying in the sun listening to this album is one of the most soul-soothing things you can do.

the rest of your playlist:
"california" joni mitchell
"hannah" ray lamontagne
"human thing" the be good tanyas

an excellent point...

the lovely sarah k. smith of wonkette pretty much hits (at least one) argumentative nail on the head in the whole sotomayor life-experience-and-impartiality/insane-old-white-men-calling-a-distinguished-latina-jurist-a-racist kerfuffle.

"The horror, that anybody would admit that judges can only aspire to impartiality! Why, that is sort of like a journalist admitting they can only aspire to objectivity. In other words, it is a concept that absolutely enrages conservatives while it just seems like a given to other Earthlings. The point is this: the only people who can reach judicial decisions from the taint of racial or gender bias are people free from the taint of race or gender itself, which is to say, white males."

wheeee! sanity at last!

more on this later when i'm not working...

daily playlist 6/2/09

"pushing and shoving"
man/miracle
2008

for when: you need to work off some hipster angst by just cold shakin' your flannel-clad limbs.

i won't vouch for all of the rest of their (limited) catalog, but man/miracle's single "pushing and shoving"'s simple, charging ahead guitars and slurred vocals are saved from generic post-punk/indie-garage rock blandness by a bounding energy and perfect pop accents like off-beat handclaps....it all comes together in a way that makes you want to get off the couch and whirl around in circles with your arms waving.

UPDATE: woops! forgot the link to the song.


the rest of your playlist:
"sweet dreams sweet cheeks" los campesinos!
"moped" thao with the get down stay down
"i won't lie to you" let's wrestle

BBQ tofu

ok, this is a quick one, because a) i have no idea what measurements i used, and b) it looks so dubious in a picture that if i posted one, you would never try it, and you SHOULD, especially if you're a tofu doubter.

the idea of huge slabs of carcass slathered in tomato paste and brown sugar usually doesn't light my fire, but i started warming up to the idea after watching hours of BBQ specials on food network this weekend (hey, when you're spending the weekend on a godforsaken 19-mile strip of sand off the coast of jersey in the loving but modestly dysfunctional bosom of your family, you'll do a lot more, up to and including low-quality heroin, to maintain your sanity).

i didn't abide by any of the many regional distinctions when i made the sauce, i just sort of cherry picked the ingredients i thought i'd like:
tomato paste (i actually strained and blended a can of organic diced tomatoes, which tasted great, but was, admittedly, a little chunky)
mustard (just the yellow kind, about four tablespoons)
brown sugar (i dunno...half a cup? could have used less)
white wine vinegar,
olive oil
sriracha
garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, salt, pepper, chili powder...wheeee.

preheat the oven to 325, and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. slather some sauce on the pan and lay down drained, 1/2 inch slabs of tofu. coat the tofu with more sauce, and bake until the sauce is baked into the tofu (about an hour).

blogrollcall

pictures of my favorite forts: once you get past the disappointment of realizing that this is not, in fact, dedicated to the sheet, bunk bed, no girls allowed style forts, it's pretty easy to get sucked into the detailed architectural details and military histories in these well-written notes on fortresses from every corner of the world and every time period.

what would you like to learn today?: one-a those there "video blogs" all the kids are dancing to. from the man who brought you "pictures of my favorite forts", it's a testament to what a yale degree, four years teaching in a brooklyn public high school, and no felony convictions (yet!) can get you. you send in a question, and will answers it. anything at all. really. try him.

buzz, boom, and sizzle: my uncle's wicked sweet new true/slant blog on technology, pop culture, and their intersections. nepotism, wheeeee!

daily playlist 6/1/09: "this old heart of mine"

"this old heart of mine"

the isley brothers

1966

for when: your heartache can only be properly expressed through the bari sax.

...or you just need something you can dance around to in your desk chair without falling out. warning: don't judge this by the 1989 rod stewart version, which makes me throw up a little in my mouth (although you may want to watch the music video, for larfs). you don't have to be feeling particularly ache-y in the cardiac area to love this track. i'm not, but for whatever reason, it's on repeat in a way that's making my roommates look at me oddly. it's also the song that i've sent to stressed, finals-taking or job-applying or apartment-hunting friends for like the past three months, and more than once i've been told it was the perfect musical panacea.



the rest of your playlist:
"moanin'" charles mingus (for the bari)
"tears dry on their own" amy winehouse (for the belt-y, melt-y, dance in your chair heartbreak)
"baby i need your lovin'" the four tops (for the old school video footage...because god forbid they're remembered for the 2009 grammys tribute, which, with the jonas bros' creepy performance with stevie wonder, was a night when soul died just a little).

farewell, emusic...

i am, as we, er, blog, contemplating what is going to be my final emusic purchase, for now at least.

oh dear emusic, while i'll miss your free samplers and your literate editorials which relieve me of having to form my own opinions, i've decided to cancel. my ipod doth overflow already with your bounty (should have gotten the 80 gig) and i often forget to use my downloads...and when i move to nepal, $11.99 > 10% of my rent.

SO. now, monthly music dumps will just be concerts, and i'll be trying to do right by this blog (and simultaneously work through my enormous backlog of music), and post a track or album per day w/ post-title moniker "daily playlist".

out with the old, in with the "stop spending money and maybe post every day, dontcha know."