Stuck in CPH

So this has been an...interesting trip, to say the least. I'm not going to go into all the specifics of my experience here, because I don't want to jinx myself before we get back. I will be home by December, thankfully, and will hopefully have some more to share then.

Oh, and in my absence apparently terror in India and woo president Obama. More later (really wish I could get my phone to work properly here...I'd have many more updates).

Deconstructing Pop 2

Barbara Morgenstern

Deconstructing Pop

Tujiko Noriko

More Bumbershoot Pics

Two shots of Estelle during what was the highlight performance for me.

live at bumbershoot

Jonathan Coulton at the sound of young america

Barack Obama: He Completes Us

From last night's Daily Show. I'm obviously throwing my weight behind the man but holy hell this was hilarious:

In Reference to the Choon Below

The lovely lady will be performing (sans Kanye) at tomorrow's Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle. Check it out if you're in the area. Also Saul Williams.

A Moment of Mainstream...UK Style

I'm absolutely addicted to this album, and this song in particular. It manages to string together all the elements of a perfect pop hit.

Estelle feat. Kanye West - American Boy

That was unexpected...

So I did a quick check on the news back in B-more and found out that the queen of Baltimore Club, DJ K-Swift, apparently died this past week in a pool accident. I never had the chance to see her perform live, unfortunately, but on most friday nights we would tune in 92Q, and she provided the soundtrack to wherever we were going (usually buzz). It's one of the things I miss about the east coast, and Baltimore specifically.

In tribute, a quick sample. RIP.

So yeah...Japan

I haven't really taken the time to write up our trip, and I didn't really keep a journal while I was there, something I may end up regretting at a later date. For now, In exchange for the experiences, I feel like something of myself was left behind (though I'm speaking as someone who was there as an outsider, with not as big a concern for money spent, as opposed to someone trying to make a living there).

For a detailed analysis of what we did when, Emily has started recording some of the things she wrote down for posterity in her blog (link on the right), but perhaps later this week, when I'm not all hopped up on cold meds for an ear infection (yes I still get them...studies have shown that I am now officially in middle school again, apparently), I'll give some more thoughts and insights into some of the things I noticed.

Your Daily Dose Of...

Foregoing the usual today in favor of the new Radiohead, because a) the video uses some really interesting tech to create the effects, which you can play with a little here, and b) this is probably one of the best, if not the best, songs on the new album, and my personal favorite.

So anyways, yeah...House of Cards

Back From Japan

Long story short - Great trip. Plenty o' pics to see here and here.

TTYL

Your Daily Dose of ...

Super Sharp Shooter Shooting Super Super Super Sharp Shots

Feeling nostalgic so I thought I'd skip over the house and take it back old school today.  One of the songs that cemented my love for DnB back in the day.  

Ganja Kru - Super Sharp Shooter

Double-u Tee Eff

Some woman, drunk out of her gourd, came up to me a little while ago and yelled at me for "texting." I didn't feel like correcting her. I don't know if she just wanted attention or what, but "hey stop fucking texting man" is probably not the best way to introduce yourself.

The RDS extending to Politics

So some of the sheen has finally worn off of Mr. Obama, and the media and a large portion of the blogosphere are acting like they were somehow betrayed by the fact that this man that they supported has revealed himself to be human. I don't know what people were really expecting. At the end of the day, I think there is now a legitimacy to some of the questions that are being asked, even in regards to his former pastor. However, it's telling that both a) the right-wing noise machine is all but ignoring Senator Clinton's repeated attempts to turn this into a race between her and McCain, and b) while he's been fairly good at rolling with the punches, this is an issue that doesn't seem to be going away. I'm curious to see how this plays out.

You'll Never Dance Alone Again

So my friend Steve was nice enough to burn me a disc of some new music while we were visiting. I've really been digging on Swayzak lately. He managed to take what was good about house and electroclash, cut out the annoying bits (for the most part), and combine them into one good album. Give a listen if you find it.

My Problem with Populism

So as it stands right now, Barack Obama still has a clear lead and strong contention for the nomination to be the next Democratic presidential candidate. Clinton will battle this to the bitter end, because, in part, she believes she's paid her dues and deserves the presidency...one of the things that bothers me about her (the other being her continual belief that hawkishness and down-home sentimentality is the key to beating McCain. A clue? No). But all of the candidates made asses of themselves in appeaarances on WWE Raw this past week, prior to the PA primary. I appreciate the desire to constantly appeal to "middle america" but honestly, I just don't get it. Do people really want someone in charge who constantly has to scrape the bottom of the barrel in an effort to dredge up those last remaining undecided votes? I blame Bill Clinton for this largely...his appearance on Arsenio Hall, the one that many agree overwhelmingly helped sway the tide in his favor, gave credence to the whole populist notion, spawning future hits such as Bush bike riding, Kerry snowboarding, and RAW. Where does it end? Why doesn't it end? It's not a rhetorical question.

Is it Summer Yet?

Today I turned the heater back on. In late April. Usually by this point I shut the breakers down and just leave it be until November. Not this time apparently, because For some reason Fenrir the wolf seems to keep blessing our damn city with his icy breath.

Sorry About That...

So the Caucuses are still going on...The selection of Delegates for the Congressional District and State conventions...55 delegates allocated for Obama, based on the totals for the district, and 400 people running for those 55 seats, each alloted 30 seconds of speech time.  Sufficed to say, we cut out early.  It was an interesting process though, and if I had the time I'd like to go all the way, but it sounds like you have to pay your way there, and I'm just not able to at this point.

Sorry about the blurry pics.  There were lighting problems throughout the auditorium, and we were seated way in the back.  Good times.

Sean Astin??

So at the 43rd district...Hillary Clinton's surrogate was Samwise Gamgee himself...Weird.

A visit from Mr. McDermott

Rep. Jim McDermott visiting the 43rd Precinct Caucus

Caucus again

A speaker on behalf of Kucinich...one day...one day...

Statement by 43rd district speaker Frank Chopp

I guess the governor obviously can't be everywhere...especially places hurting because she just vetoed a proposal that would've helped the students of the university...

More live blogcaucusobamania

Opening statement by the district chair...discussing the future plan...a lot of political platitudes.

Caucuses

Emily mugging for the camera...sorry about the bad lighting...

Caucuses...blogging...more

Some pics from the actual district caucus aud at Lincoln high school in Wallingford. Note the lovely wooden chairs, to make those long student assemblies that much more comfortable. Obama signs on one side, Hillary signs on the other.

Liveblogging the Caucuses, Part II

In line to sign in. There was a ridiculous line to move to the next level, but I just don't know if I'm ready to go that far yet.

Liveblogging the Caucuses, pt. II

Pics from the auditorium when we got here...Woo democracy in action.

Airport Bar...Woo00oo!

Taken at "Jakes Bar" at the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. Apparently Labatt moved their US headquarters to Buffalo...Makes sense...since my first real beer was a blue.

Live at Trimania

DJ Zuk with Sax Accompaniment. Rockin the oldies but goodies. This would count as my "weekly dose of house" I guess.

The Great Industrial Sadness

I am, for the first time in many years, back in my hometown of Buffalo, NY. It's a bittersweet trip; most of my friends have moved away from the city, and of those who've remained, only a select few seem to really be making progress.

I took a trip down the Elmwood strip today. In my youth (not as long ago as I'm making it sound) this was the place to be...a hipster haven, before hipster became a self parody. Walking down here now I see that most of the shops are boarded and shuttered, littered with "for lease" signs that will, in all probability, remain there for some time, being that the city is currently bankrupt. Panhandling seems to be moving its way down the Ave as well. Once confined to the area south of Lafayette, I'm noticing it more and more in front of the remains of Don Apparel and Mondo Video, and further down by Delevan, in front of the former ETS location (they have since moved into a former Burger King...at least one thing to be proud of, I suppose).

More and more, though, what truly surprises me is the dedication of people from here. We ran into someone carrying a Lexington Co-Op bag in Remedy Teas back in Seattle, We chatted a bit, small talk, and then Em in a friendly gesture, made a joke about whether or not he was "glad to have finally made it out of there." The defensive reaction we received was unexpected, to say the least. And a part of me can relate to the sentiment behind it. But not in the sense that the place is what it once was. I came here hoping to find some glimpse of what I'd left behind. Instead, I've found nothing. Just the scarred remains of a city too proud to admit defeat and try a new solution, still holding out hope for the return of the unionized blue-collar middle class of yesteryear. I want to root for my hometown (although the sabres make that harder and harder with each successive game) but there's a reason why educated professionals keep looking outside of the city for gainful employment. Cheap housing will not be enough to revitalize this city, and it's time for Buffalo to stop thinking in terms of what it can offer current city residents and start thinking of what it can do to attract potential residents. If the job market within the city shifts to more college educated pursuits, it might just be the wake-up call the city needs to bring itself into the 21st century. Though with a former city motto of "talkin' proud," it's definately an uphill battle.

3G down in Seattle?

I don't know who reads this thing, or if anyone who does is in the Seattle area, but has anyone noticed sporadic 3G coverage over the last few days? I haven't had any dropped calls or anything, and I doubt the network is at capacity, since there's such a limited number of devices that work on the frequency available, but I'm curious to know if anyone else is experiencing problems.

String Theory

I'm not the scientist in this blog, and I'm a mediocre mathematician at best (a chain of bad teachers...long story), so I'm probably not the best person to be writing about this. Nevertheless, I find it interesting that apparently a composer at Princeton has used String Theory mathematics to graphically represent the "universe of possible chords."

From the article:

Tymoczko's answer, which led last summer to the first paper on music theory
ever published in the journal Science, is that the cosmos of chords consists of
weird, multidimensional spaces, known as orbifolds, that turn back on themselves
with a twist, like the Möbius strips math teachers love to trot out to prove to
students that a two-dimensional figure can have only one side. Indeed, the
simplest chords, which consist of just two notes, live on an actual Möbius
strip. Three-note chords reside in spaces that look like prisms--except that
opposing faces connect to each other. And more complex chords inhabit spaces
that are as hard to visualize as the multidimensional universes of string
theory.

Maybe it would help me to brush up on my geometry before I try and take up an instrument?

Rolled a 1 on a Save vs. Death

News about in the blogosphere tells me that Gary Gygax, the father of Dungeons & Dragons, has passed away. I tip my helmet to you sir, for the many awkward basement years. I propose a collective 20 sided die roll at approximately 10 pm CST in his honor.

 

RIP Mr. Gygax.

The back up that Jeff posted, from the bus I was on:

On the way to Stevens

Apparently there's an accident up here on the way to the mountain. A bad one. I didn't get to take any photos of the accident (and that might be in bad taste regardless) but here's one of the cars waiting to go...

YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF HOUSE - 2-18-08

Another oldie...this one brings to mind Starscape in Baltimore...No idea why...I think I heard Paul Johnson play this one the one year he was there.

Phats & Small - Turn Around

Off to a Rocky Start

UPDATE: 2/18/08: Looks like I wasn't the only one having problems.

I went online this afternoon to try and reserve a Flexcar.  We sold our 2000 Civic late last year, in anticipation of an international move that never occured (stupid immigration laws) and signed up with Flexcar.  The system has been great so far, and we haven't missed our car once since we've been using the service.  In November of 2007 we received notice that Flexcar would be merging with Zipcar, and how this would ultimately be a better deal for all since it meant we would have more access to cars in other locations should we choose to visit them, such as D.C. 

Fast forward to this month.  I get my zipcard in the mail and go online to activate it. No hassle, and I'm given a $25 credit on my new card as a "bonus" (which needs to be used within 60 days of me signing up, but whatever...money's money). The first thing I notice is that Zipcar doesn't have a comparable rate plan to the current flexcar plan I'm on, which gives me the option of $3 rentals in the early evening for certain vehicles on weekends and free nights from 12 A.M. to 6 A.M. on most days. Not a huge loss, since I never really took advantage of the free nights thing. Then I notice that there's a prepayment requirement.  This one's a bit more confusing, since I'm unsure if I need to prepay the amount I'm using the car per month or year or what.  As I understand it, Zipcar requires me as a driver to use a minimum of $50 worth of driving per month on average. I don't know if that one's going to really pan out that well, since there's two of us and we rarely if ever do anything that requires us to use multiple cars.

The final kicker aside from reports that the cards themselves aren't working properly and causing unexpected late fees, is the fact that this weekend, and potentially for the next few days, I'm completely carless. The option isn't even there for me to reserve a vehicle, even though there's one sitting not even 200 feet away from my apartment, I'm not allowed to drive it.  Zipcar has decided that all cars will need to be transitioned to the new system at roughly the same time, and so have placed a lockdown on all reservations until the cars are moved over to the zipcar electronic system (one which, if I understand correctly, treats the drivers like criminals by not allowing them to remove the keys from the car).  When I called Zipcar and asked about this, and about potentially getting a credit since they gave no notice that ZERO cars would be available, creating a huge inconvenience to me and everyone in the city of Seattle, I was told that because no cars were available to anyone in Seattle, no one could get a credit for this, since we were, as he put it, "all in the same boat." Couple this with the other problems we're seeing, plus the fact that I'm not allowed to make reservations for increments of less than an hour, something the Flexcar system ALWAYS allowed, and I'm just not sure if it's really going to be worth the hassle long term.  In any event, they're not really doing a ton to win me over on the customer service front.  

Morning over Lake Washington

7:45 a.m.

YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF HOUSE

Presented for your approval.  This track always used to get the crowd going at Smack Thursdays back at Club Marcella's in Buffalo.  Circa 1996.  JP Soul would drop this track and the place would just erupt. 

Gusto - Disco's Revenge (Mole Hole Dirty Mix)

Final Talley

Looks like yours truly and Ms. E will be delegates at the next legislative convention. Woo!
Final shot of the signing of the Delegates (and alternates).

The boring rules

Explained...

Starting to speak

And the votes are starting in for our caucus...Pledge of allegiance starts it off...

Blogging the Caucus

So today is the Washington state Democratic Caucus. We arrived here at about 12:50 pm and signed in. It's pretty clear that at least our district is heavily going for one candidate in particular. My theory is: Eastern Washington - Clinton; Western Washington - Obama, but I'm hoping to be proven wrong with a sweep. I rock the party Barack the Par-tay!

I've been looking forward to trying this for a while...hopefully this isn't overly complicated. I kind of wonder the point of doing a blog like this though, if everything still needs to be entered on an actual computer at some point. Well...let's hope this is the first of many. At the very least, I'll be able to do direct photos.

So I'm thinking I might try and update this more than once a year...