October 16, 2007

I'm Back, Still Staring

Woah, I sure posted quite a few quotes while I was in San Francisco last week. Coreen's magical phone with wireless internet access made that possible. Having played with it for a week, I know that I MUST get myself an iPhone or similarly expensive tricked-out cell phone with internet access capabilities. Let's see if I can wait until April when my cell phone contract expires.

Remember my staring problem? Well, I had it at SFO and JFK during my trip and geeked out a bit when I spotted Jacques Pépin sitting a row ahead of me on my Jet Blue flight to San Francisco. Chowhounds and food geeks will know why I gawked a bit. Ok, I didn't have the balls to approach him since I was afraid of frightening him with my enthusiastic babbling about how much my dad and I are fans, have his cookbooks, watch his show.

While waiting for my taxi back to Brooklyn, I stared sleepy-eyed at other luggage-ladden passengers also waiting for their rides and spotted that actor from Windtalkers. Not a fan, so I just continued staring at other passengers.

Now experiencing vacation withdrawal.

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July 24, 2007

Glasto Wrap-Up

I haven't posted in ages mostly because I've been busybusybusy offline. After spending your work day working and writing, you're tired and sometimes any energy you have to write at home is drained away. Lame excuse, I know. I'm trying to get back in the rhythm of posting since returning from vacation.

Anyways I was ankle deep in mud on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean a month ago. Yes, I was rocking out at the Glastonbury Festival. Oh, Glastonbury, you provided such a moist and muddy welcome for this American. You rained on us for 5 days. You threatened to flood our tent. You gave me the softest, moisturized knees as my wellies got stuck and I fell into your gooeyness time and time again. On top of that, you introduced me to some interesting folks and some kick-ass music.

We wandered between stages and saw so many bands that they all start to blur together....The Fratellis Amy Winehouse Bloc Party Bjork Dirty Pretty Things Lily Allen Babyshambles The Marley Brothers The Who and manymany more. Highlights:
dancing around during Mika's set in the dance tent (no mud! no rain! happy music!).
Naked elderly gentleman casually strolling across the Sacred Space one morning.
Escaping the rain by ducking into Left Fields and hearing the legendary Tony Benn speak.
Seeing the looks of horror on burly men's faces as a muddy moshpit opened up behind them and "the mudpeople" sloshed closer and closer.

I definitely didn't have time and energy to see everyone I wanted to see, but there's always next year! Glasto-virgin readers: here are some tips which I learned the hard way for a great 2008 festival experience:
Despite the crap weather, I'm definitely hooked on the camp-out at a festival experience.

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April 16, 2007

Morning/Evening Listening - Travelust Edition

Continuing this thread, I've been listening to a lot of Orient Expressions in the mornings.

Orient Expressions with Imer Demirer at Babylon.

I'm not sure how to classify their sound -- a blend of electronica Turkish folk jazz dance music? When I was in Istanbul last October, I was fortunate to see them perform with trumpet player Imer Demirer during the Akbank Jazz Festival. Standing room only crowd ate up every note. Hahaha--my travel journal contains this sentence, "I'll definitely be pimping OE on the blog" for that night's entry!

So it took me six months, but if you're in Turkey do check out a gig. It will definitely be worth the money and time it takes to find the club (My friend and I cabbed it that night. There's no way we would have found Babylon in the maze of twisty Beyoglu streets on our own).

Listening to this only means one thing -- my feet are getting itchy. I need to get of New York. Perhaps not Istanbul, but somewhere without grimy subway stations packed with pissed-off commuters, the sound of bass pumping from someone's car stereo through closed windows at 3am, mountain of deadlines, sitting on my butt for 9+ hours a day in meetings, in front of a computer. After this weekend, my summer-fall travel plans will finally become a little more clear and hopefully my feet will find some relief.

Currently on my playlist:

AM: Orient Expressions - every track from the album Külliyat
PM: Elvis Costello - "Peace Love and Understanding"

The Costello-version has been stuck in my head since Saturday, when my upstairs neighbor was blasting this song.

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