My friend Kyle is in town for business and we met up after I left work. Since Kyle writes for DCist and his own blog Information Leafblower, we talked a lot about blogging and music writing. We discussed being paid (a rare occurence) vs. not being paid (the -ists) as well as being published in print vs. writing online. I was telling him that I wrote for Spin for a very short stint, just contributing blurbs for their back-of-the-book events section, and that the lead time was insane and four months later they still hadn't paid me. Then, lo and behold, look what was in the mailbox when I got home!
As I was driving home I heard Sade's "No Ordinary Love" on the radio for the thousandth time and it really hit me how romantic that line is: this is no ordinary love. So here's the video:
Last night I saw some great friends and went to three different events, all within a one-mile walk from my office.
I started by walking a few blocks to the Tempest Bar to celebrate Eve's birthday and hang out with a bunch of my fellow SFist writers. Last year Eve graduated from being the unpaid and uber-talented Editor of SFist to landing a rare blogging job that pays, courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle. For those reasons, and also for her secret and sordid indie rock past, Eve will always have infinite amounts of cred in my eyes. Plus she's just really fun to hang out with. Happy Birthday Eve!
Afterward, I met up with Audree to watch her fire dancing class. They happened to be practicing in an alleyway that was half a block from the Tempest Bar, right by the San Francisco Chronicle building. They've been practicing for about 6-8 weeks now without fire, and last night was the first time they actually lit up. I've known Audree for several years now, and I was so proud to see her take up a new skill so quickly! She was a natural at it and didn't show any fear or nervousness, even while swinging balls of fire around her head and body. I love it when you learn or see something totally new from someone you've known for a long time.
Eve happened upon us as she was walking to her car and Tim snapped some photos. Audree's in the black shirt. Read Eve's writeup about the scene on the Chronicle's Culture Blog.
Then Audree and I went to see Spoon at 330 Ritch. The show was pretty good - they played a nice mixture of old and new songs, and I got a thrill when they played "Fitted Shirt". Such a great song about such a strange subject. I saw JV and a few other friends I hadn't seen in awhile, and then we called it a night.
Tomorrow's Vox Hunt will be: "Show us an "I'm crushing your head" photo." This is a preview.
Video: Show us your favorite TV show or movie with puppets.
Sifl & Olly! Sifl & Olly Show! (Rock.)
Spoon is playing Popscene this Thursday at 330 Ritch. The longstanding show series rarely lands such seasoned artists - usually it's up and comers or buzz bands - but I guess Spoon's looking for buzz on their new record, or an excuse to play a small show (they sold out the Fillmore the last time I saw them here). I'm going to brave the late set time and cramped conditions for my love of the band.
Update: Hmm, half an hour later and I've been sent links to five songs out of a total of 10 on the album. Sigh. Looks like I still stand behind the open letter to purveyors of fine mp3 blogs that I posted in my TypePad blog on May 31, 2005.
Today I made a voice post with my coworker and, um, a goat, and then I wrote a haiku in an official news blog.
All in a day's work.
I wrote three posts today that will, in total, eventually be read by thousands of people (and in LJ's case, commented upon by hundreds already). Actually I just posted them all today, I've been writing them over the past few days.
Writing to large audiences is a huge challenge which brings me great anxiety, but also a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes when I'm done my brain feels like oatmeal.
And now I'm going to see Birds & Batteries at Hotel Utah, and take a break from the internet for at least twelve whole hours. Good night.
I was feeling a little stressed out just now, but then Jeff sent me this with the description "next tour opener". And I felt a whole lot better.
The best way to get recommendations for new music is to listen to someone you trust.
Because I love her music so much, I trust that I'd love most anything that Feist loves, so I was thrilled to find an old "celebrity playlist" she created for Rhapsody two years ago:
1. Soon this space will be too small - Lhasa
2. I'm A Fool To Want You - Billie Holiday
3. Whispering Grass (Don't Tell The Trees) - The Ink Spots
4. Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers
5. Tryin' Times - Roberta Flack
6. O Leaozinho - Caetano Veloso
7. Pushover - Etta James
8. Things Are Getting Better - N.E.R.D.
9. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
10. Pull Up The People - M.I.A.
11. Cayman Islands - Kings Of Convenience
There's much to investigate there (and some stuff I already knew too) but the one artist that stood out upon my first listen was Lhasa (a.k.a. Lhasa de Sela). Looks like she put out two records in the US, the last one in 2004, both of which I've been listening to via my Rhapsody subscription (despite the recent @^$* price hike).
I've been Googling and reading about her, but haven't found any recent information. So where's she been for the past few years, anyone know?
