Sunday, July 29, 2007

Gone Wedding

I saw Cunty and Dumb-Dumb coming out of the Subway entrance near the Atlantic Center in Brooklyn. I haven't seen them in three years, but it seems appropriate somehow that they would reappear at this juncture in my life. A reminder of the past before a new future begins.

They still suck though.

I'll leave you with a quote from my sister Sharis when we were discussing shopping trips in preparation for the wedding: "We have some hose, now all we need are Spanx." Out of context awesomeness!

Friday, July 27, 2007

Rotation: July 15 to July 22

Rotation
Wild Mountain Nation by Blitzen Trapper | Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon | Fur and Gold by Bat for Lashes | Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters by The Twilight Sad | Zeitgeist by Smashing Pumpkins | And the Glass-handed Kites by MEW | Attack Decay Sustain Release by Simian Mobile Disco | The Trinity by Sean Paul | Bring It Back by Mates of State

Keys, Wallet, Phone...AND WHITE HOT RAGE!

Today is my last day of work as full-time Steven before I run off, get married, enroll in a graduate program and return as part-time Steven. Some people saw fit to give me cards and gifts. Others decided to clean out the fridge ahead of schedule and threw my lunch in the garbage. I got your number, fridge nazi. And while it may seem like I'm sitting contentedly at my computer, perusing the "Items We Carry" pool on flickr, I'm actually quietly seething while brainstorming secure places to dispose of your dismembered body.

Working world? You won't be missed.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Listen: Podcast, no24

Pleasing To Your Ears

I got this one just in under the three month deadline. Silly derelict Steven. Enjoy:
“That’s Not My Name” by The Ting Tings
“Rag & Bone” by The White Stripes
“The Underdog” by Spoon
“Pace or the Patience” by Love of Diagrams
“Music Is My Hot Hot Sex” by CSS
“Sealings” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
“60 Revolutions” by Gogol Bordello
“The Heinrich Maneuver” by Interpol
“Forever Indebted” by Shout Out Out Out Out
“A Message to You Rudy” by The Specials
“Jealous Guy” by Art Brut
“Body Baby” by Pharoahe Monch
“Leyendecker” by Battles
“Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways
“Down Boy” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
As usual, the podcast is available through RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:
* Subscribe to the enhanced podcast. (rss)
* Subscribe to the mp3 podcast. (rss)
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.
* no24 :: Promises, Some of Them Empty (mp3)
* no24 :: Promises, Some of Them Empty (enhanced)
That's it for episode 23. Here is a list of tracks played to date! Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please post a link on your blogs. Please use the hotline: (206) 202-3142. Please tune in for a new episode next weekend.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Stewart's Kenya Journals

As I mentioned earlier in the week, my parents are in Nairobi for two weeks. My Mother is spending the first week attending an international conference for women, sponsored by the YWCA, which means my Dad is left to his own devices. He sends a journal entry to my sisters and I each day. What follows are excerpts from Stewart's Kenya Journals:

Kenya Journal #1

Dear Kids,

Chaos Rules! I guess we should have expected it when the guy said he'd check our bags all the way to Nairobi. We arrived, but the bags didn't (or just haven't yet-- I hope). We flew United to Chicago and only made the plane because the Virgin Atlantic ticket agent walked us to the head of the security line. At London Heathrow, we found the stories were true. We had Two Hours and Twenty Minutes to make the connection and I had to jump the line to get a boarding pass before the plane left (and then they held the plane). This was the day they discovered the two potential car-bombs in London.

One of the things I did was to check the rate we're paying here. The normal rate is $300 a night, but we're paying $140. When I checked the rate, I found that it includes a breakfast in the resturant. We'd been afraid to venture to the resturant because of the way we look (I bought a comb and toothpaste today). It's all in asking the right questions.

I took a trip back to the air port to do a second look for the bags and had a long talk with "Big John" who was driving the cab. Nice guy. The road to the airport, on one side, runs along the edge of one of the national parks (yes think wild animals), but it's pretty far out. Traffic is suicidal here. Literacy is only a recent requirement for driving busses.

Today as your mom and I walked to the Mall, I saw Big John and said hello and shook hands with him. Your mom gave me a strange look and I told her "I know people here," which made the look get even stranger until she figured it out.

All for now, more later as the adventure develops.

-Dad


Kenya Journal #2

Hey kids,

It's 3:00 a.m. local. We're eight hours ahead of you (that's two more than London), so It's 7:43 P.M. there in San Antonio. We haven't been able to completely adjust our circadian clocks yet, so we're still waking up at odd hours. I know I'll be sleepy again in about half an hour, so I thought I'd supplement Journal #1 instead of stare at the walls.

One of the plesent things about our room is the choir. We're right across from the University and every afternoon there is a choir that practices in a courtyard across the street on the University grounds. We know this since we are on the 15th floor and have a great view. The first day they were standing in a circle and swaying while they sang. Today it sounded like church music - hymns. The trafic is heavy on University Avenue and we have the windows closed, but still the music gets in. Ever since the first day, they are sitting down when they sing. They sound great and the volume must be awsome down on the ground floor.

Yesterday I was more restless than today. I woke up just before dawn. I could tell it was near dawn from the volume of traffic going down University Avenue. Just as the busses used to announce the dawn in Oaxaca, the cars announce it here. Regardless, I'll swear I heard the Muzzin's call to prayer. There is a large Muslim population here, so it's possible. It would be broadcast from a loudspeaker from the minerette of the local mosque.

On my air port trip with Big John, I came back to the cab at sundown and there were three cabbies on their knees, heads pressed to a piece of cardboard praying in the parking lot. That's the first time I've seen Muslims in prayer. We didn't even see it in Turkey, but of course they're pretty secular.

The weather here is great. We're at 1700 meters, maybe 6,000 feet. The weather is coolish at night and not sweltering during the day. We're just below the equator, so it is winter here. It rains, or tries to rain every afternoon, but we're not in the real rainy season yet. I think that when the real rains come late in July and over the next two months, the water holes will fill up out in the parks and the game will start to migrate. We're supposedly in the Gnu migration season, but we're really earl and might not see to much movement.

Our suite is littered with drying clothes. Alma washed last night and thinks here socks won't dry by the morning (althought the underwear might), so she thinks she'll attend the conference in the socks I bought yesterday (she forgot to buy any). She told me this just as I was about to wash my own travel socks. I think I'll have to buy another pair tomorrow, or maybe a pair for her.

Well the hour is late (or early -- 4:00 a.m.), and the cycadian rhythms are getting to me.

All for now,

dad

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Things That Go Boom in the Night

Some friends of mine that live in Long Island City had a 4th soirée last night, so I whipped up some Sex in a Pan and stopped by. Their building is a stone's throw from the East River where the barges for one iteration of the Macy's extravaganza were poised to light up the sky. I've seen countless fireworks shows over the years, but none can compare to the visceral experience of being that close. You could feel the big ones thumping in your chest.

Amidst all the sparkle and flash, my friend Carlos, who has lived in NY for ages, said, "Well, this sure beats the last time I stood on a roof watching something explode." HA!

Monday, July 02, 2007

Kin(ya)

My parents are in Nairobi. Shavonne received this message via my Mom's newly enabled Blackberry with int'l coverage:
Arrived safe, minus bags. Tell other kids. E-mail tough. --Dad
Jealousy, thy name is Steve.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Invitations Are Imminent

Liz's Wedding

The invitations for my wedding have been printed, stuffed and mailed so if you suspect you're invited, keep an eye out for one in the mail this week. The design is pretty good and I'll post it here sometime this weekend. If you have any questions pertaining to said wedding, go here. I'll be changing it up in the coming days.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Itchy

I've got "A Message to You, Rudy" by The Specials in my head but I'm stranded here at work with no means of mp3 acquisition to help scratch the audio itch away. Remember when I used to podcast?

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Wine, Design and Potty Time

The MFA Designer as Author program at SVA had their graduate thesis show last night at one of the West Side galleries. I invited Emily along for the free wine, sweeping views of Mid/Downtown and all the ephemera (business cards, condoms, posters, stickers, seeds) that each graduate was giving away as part of their final product.

It was really exciting to see how different personalities interpreted the program’s mission statement, which more or less asks you to develop a market-ready product that is at once personally expressive and socially responsible. Erotic Urban vinyl toys for girls and boys? Check. A tube you can crap in while camping? Check. Turkish typographic identity? Check. All that remains is for me to decide what it is I’m going to make and sell.

Afterward, Emily and I dined at Morimoto on spicy crab, ramen, steamed chicken, pork kakuni and a Sapporo. The food was amazing, but the technological toilet was a tour-de-force. I wiped because I have little faith in a robot toilet's ability to wash all of the shit off of my ass. Then I settled in for the D-Luxe Rear Wash Treatment: warmed seats, oscillating spray, varying intensity and direction, etc. The blow dry was largely ineffectual (keep in mind how long it takes to dry your hands on a standard, wall-mount hand dryer) and the air smelled like mildewed crotch. All in all, I'm pleased to announce that THE FUTURE IS HERE!

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Listen: Podcast, no23

Pleasing To Your Ears

Back in action, spewing out the false promises. AND TUNES! So back off, Pops. Enjoy:
“Rapture” by Pedro the Lion
“Miss World” by Hole
“Hello from eau Claire” by Xiu Xiu
“Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John (video)
“Books From Boxes” by Maximo Park
“Pump Up the Volume” by Art Brut
“Black Magic” by Jarvis Cocker
“You! Me! Dancing!” by Los Campesinos
“Cuts Across the Land” by The Duke Spirit (video)
“The Quiz” by Hello Saferide (video)
“Alone/Alive” by Shapes and Sizes
”Our Haunt” by Palomar
“A Good Start” by Maria Taylor
“Reno Dakota” by The Magnetic Fields
“Chick Habit” by April March
“Drive” by el-p
“Comfy in Nautica” by Panda Bear
As usual, the podcast is available through RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:
* Subscribe to the enhanced podcast. (rss)
* Subscribe to the mp3 podcast. (rss)
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.
* no23 :: Podcast! Music! Talking! (mp3)
* no23 :: Podcast! Music! Talking! (enhanced)
That's it for episode 23. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please post a link on your blogs. Please use the hotline: (206) 202-3142. Please tune in for a new episode next weekend.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Anticipation Vertigo

Today, I decided to revisit the SVA curriculum for the next two years. As I read the class descriptions, I got nervous, dizzy, my hands went all clammy and I got half a stock.

It brings tears to my eyes. Next week is five months and counting.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Complete

SVA
I got into SVA, my first choice for grad school programs. So, um, that's pretty fucking excellent.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Listen: Podcast, no22

Pleasing To Your Ears

I'm a liar and a cheat. You good people had a wealth of thrilling, mind-bending, explosive music coming your way and I tooks it froms ya. Robbed it right out of your hands. Sorry. Enjoy:
“Don’t Give Up” by Noisettes
“To Go Home” by M. Ward
“The Mountain” by Professor Murder
“Citizens of Tomorrow” by Tokyo Police Club
“Only” by Nine Inch Nails (video)
“Teen Age Riot” by Sonic Youth
“Yea Yeah” by Matt & Kim (video)
“9 Crimes” by Damien Rice (video)
“Someone to Love” by Fountains of Wayne
“The Birth and Death of the Day” by Explosions In the Sky
“Lying In the Bed I’ve Made” by Aqueduct
“Fire Island, AK” by The Long Winters (video)
“Bridge To Canada” by Noisettes
“Fall Inn” by The Ponys
“Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals
“Terrible Lie” by Nine Inch Nails
As usual, the podcast is available through RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:
* Subscribe to the enhanced podcast. (rss)
* Subscribe to the mp3 podcast. (rss)
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.
* no22 :: Terrible Lies We Tell Ourselves (mp3)
* no22 :: Terrible Lies We Tell Ourselves (enhanced)
That's it for episode 22. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please post a link on your blogs. Please use the hotline: (206) 202-3142. Please tune in for a new episode next weekend.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Rotation: March 18 to March 25

Rotation
Writer's Block by Peter, Bjorn and John | Our Earthly Pleasures by Maximo Park | Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? by Of Montreal | I'll Sleep When You're Dead by El-P | Friend Opportunity by Deerhoof | Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem | Return to Cookie Mountain by TV on the Radio | All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone by Explosions in the Sky | Pieces of the People We Love by The Rapture

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

An Innoculation Against Failure

Yesterday I passed a friend in Columbus Circle and she asked me if I'd heard back from any of the MFA programs I applied to. That's all anybody asks me these days. A month ago, out of the blue, my days were suddenly punctuated by periodic moments of crushing dread. I would find myself sitting and staring at the calendar on my desk at work for as many as five minutes, my breathing shallow and my heart rate elevated. I didn't expect to hear back from the schools until the final week in March and, as such, that week became the subject of much fatalistic obsession. My own personal emotional time sink.

Shortly after submitting my applications I read "How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul" by Adrian Shaughnessy. Unlike similar graphic design how-to books, Shaugnessy's advice is an invaluable resource with a lot of useful information on how to get a job with or without any professional experience. While I was putting the finishing touches on my application package, my mind was elsewhere, wrapped up in admittedly lame day dreams of 12 hour work days at large design firms, doing everything that was asked of me and soaking up as much knowledge as I could. The fantasy of the (albeit creative) work-a-day world was a defensive mechanism. In applying for school as a self-described outsider, I was less and less sure that my gamble would pay off. I would temporarily assuage my fears by scrolling through my portfolio slides online or catching a glimpse of the extra DVD portfolio cases stacked on my window sill. But those moments would pass and the insecurity would come roaring back in. I kicked myself for ever letting on what I was planning, for ever telling anyone I knew that I'd applied, for laying bare the intensity of my desire to matriculate to friends over dinner.

Work was a realistic option. I wouldn't get into school but I'd get to save $60,000+ and I'd get to avoid the overly romanticized bohemian lifestyle of the impoverished, newly-married grad student. Save your ramen and drippy, Chianti bottle candles. I'd get a job and keep my book and dunny habit. It was a safer choice. I was more secure.

It was also fucking bullshit. Yesterday I got into Parsons The New School For Design and the California College of Arts.

Two down, two to go, fingers crossed. It now seems likely that I'll be in New York for the next five years. It is also assured that in six months I'll be a student again. When I grow up, I'm gonna be a graphic designer.

Or an astronaut fireman.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Things Divine

Dear God,
It's me Margaret. Thanks for clearing up all of those period questions. But now I've got a real doozie. Why did you create the Internet?

Margaret-
Just because.
-God

Monday, March 05, 2007

Listen: Podcast, no21

Pleasing To Your Ears

It's been a month. A bleeding month and I ain't got much to show for it 'cept an audience that is likely growing tired of my bullshit excuses. Aww, don't cry babies. You know I only hit you to show you how much I love you. Enjoy:
“North American Scum” by LCD Soundsystem (video)
“Everything’s Just Wonderful” by Lily Allen
“The Zookeeper’s Boy” by Mew (video)
“Must Be the Moon” by !!!
“Engrish Bwudd” by Man Man
“Cellphone’s Dead” by Beck (video)
“(Antichrist Television Blues)” by Arcade Fire
“Spitting Venom” by Modest Mouse
“Your Southern Can Is Mine” by The White Stripes
“Weird” by Menomena
“There Is No There” by The Books
“Fiery Crash” by Andrew Bird
“Flathead” by The Fratellis (video)
“The Partisan But He’s Got To Know” by Swan Lake
“Shut Up I Am Dreaming of a Place Where Lovers Have Wings” by Sunset Rubdown
As usual, the podcast is available through RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:
* Subscribe to the enhanced podcast. (rss)
* Subscribe to the mp3 podcast. (rss)
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.
* no21 :: Greetings...FROM THE FUTURE! (mp3)
* no21 :: Greetings...FROM THE FUTURE! (enhanced)
Here's some links I mentioned in this episode:
* "(Antichrist Televisions Blues)" originally to be called "Joe Simpson"?
* The White Stripes announce "Icky Thump"
* How to correctly pronounce "de Stijl". Something new everyday, eh?
That's it for episode 21. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please post a link on your blogs. Please use the hotline: (206) 202-3142. Please tune in for a new episode next weekend.

We Thank You In Advance For Your Patience

Tapes and Tapes

Last night I finished 90% of a new podcast, which means it's not finished. But! But! It does mean I will be posting the episode for your listening pleasure tomorrow. And then I'm going to post a new episode next Monday. And the Monday after that! And then we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico! AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO STOP UNTIL FALL OUT BOY AND PANIC! AT THE DISCO AND THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS ARE A DISTANT FUCKING MEMORY!

YEAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!