Oh, Say Can You See!

This past weekend, Rob and I Mega Bused it down to Washington, DC. It really was a killer trip, made even more killer because we stayed with Rob's college friend James, who just happens to be a DC tour guide. James' sister also just happens to work for a congressman and it just so happened to be one of two weekends a year that The White House gardens are open to the public! As soon as we pulled into the parking lot on H Street, just a stones throw away from Ford's Theatre, it felt great to be in DC.




The history of the city is just palpable. When we walked passed The House Where Lincoln Died, it was eerie to realize that so many scores ago Lincoln, himself, walked down that street. James gave us a plethora of knowledge as we walked around Capitol Hill. Our first stop was the quiet National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During WWII. This memorial sheds light on something that I don't remember learning too much about in school, one of the moments in our history that is looked back on as an error in judgment but deserves to be remembered. It brought to memory a heartfelt book, Snow Falling on Cedars, which tells the story of a Japanese American family that was sent to an internment camp during WWII.




After a jaunt around the truly magnificent Capitol building, we walked down The National Mall past The Smithsonian Castle and subsequent museums. (James Fact - The Smithsonian was funded by a British scientist in the 1800's who never set foot in America, but was enraptured by its history.) The air was cool and crisp as we walked past The Washington Monument (James Fact: The monument is actually two toned, as the stones used to build the structure about a third of the way up are different from the stones above them. The construction was halted during The Civil War, and by the time it was resumed, the stones in the quarry had changed composition.) As we reached the Reflecting Pool, I realized it is not as clear as you would imagine up close, but once you ascend the steps of The Lincoln Memorial and turn around ... the view beyond the Pool and Washington Monument all the way to The Capitol is awe inspiring. I also couldn't help but but hear "Forrest!" being yelled by Jenny, as I walked past this body of water immortalized in pop culture.




The Lincoln Memorial is really incredible, as I Have A Dream is etched into the summit. When you realize the scope of that speech, it is humbling. You stand where Martin Luther King, Jr. himself stood and imagine how powerful it must have been in 1963. Lincoln sat looming before all of us tourists in his memorial, but he was not intimidating. I really just wanted to stare at him, as he has always been an historical figure I would love to sit and chat with. He looks so stoic in every fuzzy, black and white photo of him ... but I always wanted to hear what was brewing underneath. (Stoic in every picture except one in The National Museum of American History, where he looks drunk. I really hope he was at the time, he deserved it).



We walked through the Korean War Memorial, which was really something. White statues roaming through the jungles of Korea, are poised in interia for all to see. It made me realize that I also don't know as much about that war as I wish I did. Our next stop was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. I was struck by how many names are on that wall. (James Fact - The youngest name on that wall is a boy of only 15.) As the years have gone by, friends of the fallen have come to pay their respects and leave beer bottles, notes, motorcycle helmets, etc. in honor of their friends. All of these items are being put on display in their own little museum. To understand these men as people who rode motorcycles, drank with their friends, read books and had families and dreams is really inspirational.




The apex of our trip was our visit toThe White House. Now, I wish I can say that we sat down for a beer summit with Obama as Bo frolicked and Sasha and Malia played on their awesome monkey bars, but alas I can not. Although, we did get to walk around the grounds and gardens and get an up close and personal view of The White House. One thing we kept pointing out our whole time in DC, was that the buildings are all so stark white! It looks like they are white washed every week and The White House is no exception. The lawns are immaculate and the shrubbery is perfectly coiffed. And while there is no cabbage patch of kids in The Children's Garden, there are chubby hand and foot prints of the children of past presidents captured in cement. The Kitchen Garden was beautiful and something that Michelle Obama has really taken pride in as First Lady.

In the 2 1/2 days we were in DC, we took in a tremendous amount. We didn't make it to Arlington or hipster spot Georgetown, but we rode the metro, which looks like a space station, and drink at a few great bars, most notably The Dubliner and Kelly's Irish Times. It definitely is a city that I would love to visit again, a city that is home to some of the most important moments in our country's history.

www.papertrailmusic.com

I have been slacking in the blog department as of late, but I am happy to share the latest news in my blogging ventures! My very first concert preview on an official site was posted this week! I have always wanted to write for a music blog, reviewing concerts and CDs or just dishing some ideas/opinions on the music industry, and now I have been given the opportunity to do so. My hope came alive when I was browsing CraigsList and came across PaperTrail. It's a really cool music site that covers an array of bands and does so by giving readers a unique insight into the music industry.


Check out my post on the upcoming My Morning Jacket concert at Terminal Five!





I'm excited to see where my relationship with Paper Trail will go, hopefully it leads to many more posts!

Eat, Pray, Love or Work, Work, Work ...

Dolce Far Niente; sweetness doing nothing. This Italian ideology struck a nerve with me while I was watching Eat, Pray, Love last night. There is a scene in the movie where a magnetic Julia Roberts is sitting in a barber shop with her Italian tutor and his friend, and they enlighten her on the Italian way of life.



It's no suprise to hear that Americans are work obsessed, and I'm not downplaying the desire to be ambitious or wanting to be successful in your career, but at what cost? Luca Spaghetti, a truly jovial fellow, explains to Julia's character Liz, that while many Americans work their asses off and feel guilty at being away from their computers, Italians universally uderstand that they deserve R&R, and have no qualms at enjoying it. Luca makes a joke about "Miller Time," and that in America, there are designated, appropriate, yet limited, times to take a load off. In Italy, when an Italian wants to enjoy life, there are ample opportunities to do so. To me, that is a perfect way to live. (Luca also jokes that most often, when Americans have time off, it is spent consuming Millers - but hey, you have to let off steam somehow!)


There are 52 weeks in a year, and at my current job, you have to work a full year to gain 1 week of vacation. After a 3 month probation, you get ONE personal day every 73 days! When you sit back and think about it, that's ludacris! This is life, and to think of how many hours you toil away behind a computer, it really is a downer. I see, and have seen, people working 60+ hours in a week, not counting endless hours on blackberries, never skipping a beat for lunch, and it is still not enough. I am a student in the school of thought that completely stands behind a 3 day weekend, or at the absolute very least, universal summer Fridays. There is too much to experience in life to cram into a Saturday or Sunday. And even if you did choose to just sit back & really relax, dolce far niente style, 3 days would be tremendous.



To balance this argument, I have to say that I am completely grateful to have a job that affords me a wonderful apartment and the ability to enjoy time off with my friends, creating memories that make us happy. When my friends and I touch on this subject, which is very often, it usually ends with a "that's life" shrug. But who says "that's life" is justified? A more accurate sentiment would be, "that's American." I'd love to have a daily siesta and minimum 4 weeks vacation, which is standard in most of Europe, but unfortunately, that aint the case! What's most important, and most realistic, is to (apologies for the cliche) live life to the fullest. I am optismistic when thinking of what can be accomplished on limited vaction and time off ... and that's what keeps me going.

With that being said, sometimes I just can't shake the gnawing feeling I get when I'm at work or commuting & wishing that I was free more often. I acklowedge that this feeling is directly related to happiness in the workplace, so I hope it subsides once I'm truely at peace with my career. Nonetheless, it creeps into my mind Monday-Friday, usually btwn 10am-6pm. (Side note; loving work or not, I think I'll always be a proponent of a 3 day weekend!)

I realize that our society is rooted in a maximum productivity mindset, but I just wish there was a way to re-evaluate this with a compromise that puts less emphasis on working yourself to death and more on enjoying life. We all deserve la dolce vita.

Chuck Klosterman; Penman Extraordinaire

I first read Chuck Klosterman's Killing Yourself to Live about a year ago and my only regret is that it took me this long to read another work of his. It was the first reading experience I had that compelled me to do extra curricular research. Chuck makes an eerie conclusion that Kid A predicted 9/11. While reading that book, I listened to Radiohead and felt what a teen must have felt during the 70's listening to Dark Side of the Moon and watching The Wizard of Oz.



I'm 115 pages into Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, and he has me wrapped around his little finger. Now, I realize that this book was written in 2003, and as a collection of non fiction pop culture commentaries, you would think his work would be dated. Oh contraire. He has the ability, like my other non-fiction idols David Sedaris & Augusteen Burroughs, to make you think "holy crap, my thoughts exactly!!" as you are reading their written words. And while I don't completely agree with everything he writes, like saying Coldplay is the "shittiest fucking band I've ever heard," the way this book is relating to recent discussions I've had is uncanny.

I will outline the similarities:

Exhibit A)
This weekend, Rob told me a story about a friend of his from college who wrote a paper on the song In Your Eyes, and how, by simply holding up a boombox, John Cusack entranced women all around the world to fall in love with him ... Well, Chuck begins this book by blaming John Cusack for completely ruining his own chance at love, by having tricked his girlfriend into believing in "fake love," as seen in Say Anything. (In this same chapter Chuck also calls Coldplay a mainstream knockoff of Radiohead ... Rob emailed me mere days earlier making a similiar argument!)

Exhibit B)
On Saturday me and Rob were also talking about movies and got on the topic of Tim Allen. If memory serves me correctly, I think we were discussing the merits of Tim Allen's famous-ness even though we could only remember 3 things he has done; Home Improvement, Toy Story and The Santa Clause. The Tool Man isn't exactly someone who comes to mind often, but Chuck illustrates the fact that Tim Allen is among the leading contributers of the widespread notion that guys only like beer and football. I chuckled to myself and kept on reading ...

Exhibit C)
Now this one just plain cracked me up. Rob's aunt recently gave his brother her Murphey Bed. A Murphey Bed is a functional sleeping compartment that also serves as a storage space, and conveniently folds up onto the wall! Genius. In a chapter comparing and contrasting Marilyn Monroe to Pam Anderson, and the notion of sex icons marrying athletes, Chuck points out the fact that Jane Russell was married to Bob Waterfield and slept in a Murphey Bed. Now this may seem trivial, but who even thinks about Murphey Beds these days?! Chuck points out the strangeness of this mental image, but it just made me want to sleep in a Murphey Bed even more.


Hmm ... I think I actually just illustrated the many similarities that Rob has to Chuck Klosterman but still, it's uncanny! One way or another, Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs has been on my mind all day & with that, I'm going to continue reading. Stay tuned for more on the wonders of Mr. Klosterman...

Jack White, Legendary Musician of Our Generation.

The Dead Weather failed to dissapoint last night at The Bandshell in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I am so happy to have seen them live, not only because of their unique 'take no prisoners' sound, but because Jack White is one of the greatest musicians of our generation. From The White Stripes' minimalistic edge to The Ranconteurs' power-pop rock twang through The Dead Weather's (I'm stealing this description from AMny) "scuzzy, spooky, '60's garage rock"; he is a creative genius. And while he fronted the White Stripes on guitar/vocals, and Meg banged away on the drums, Jack proves he is also a tremendous drummer. There is nothing more enthralling than seeing a pale figure dressed in black, adorned with top hat and feather, banging on his drums with mallets.



What's awesome about Jack White is that he completely commands the stage. When he lit Alison Mosshart's cigarette with a blow torch, you knew he meant business. His witty banter was on point at this show, and in his quirky shaky voice, he poked fun at the hipster enclave of Brooklyn by saying, "I bet you read Brooklyn Vegan ... any other vegans in the crowd out there? Come on stage and we'll kill a cow together." You can't help but think, I wish I could bust people's balls like that!

As insane as he is on drums, he is even nastier on the guitar. It's a sight to see, as he attacks both drums and guitar, and lets out his raw vocals. I do have to say, I agree with Rob when he said that the encore was way louder, and in our opinion, more powerful than the first set. But that may have just been a technical glitch with their amps. My short stature was also tried at this show, as we stood around really tall guys making weird squealling noises. Regardless, the encore ended the night on the powerful note we expected it to.



Now, the front woman of The Dead Weather is Bad-Ass. Alison Mosshart, also of The Kills, crawled and snaked her away around the menacing stage; taxidermy abounding and huge eye looming. Jack & Alison have great chemistry together onstage. A tad more believable than the we're-brother-and-sister JUST KIDDING we-were-really-married relationship of The White Stripes. Her voice has a haunted quality, so when she sings that she wants to hang you from the heavens , you'd better get out of her way. Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stoneage and Jack Lawrence of The Ranconteurs complete this troup of musicians.


(see the taxidermy!)

Jack made a comment during the show that Alison thought the crowd wasn't "feeling it." I think we proved them wrong by giving them the energy they needed so we could hear more. Either that or his "if you're not happy, you'll have to deal with her," threat, set us straight.

.Dave.Matthews.Band.

I'm feeling inspired as I sit here in my DMB Summer Tour 2010 t-shirt, & begin to tell the tale of my musical escapade. On Friday, me and my pals went to the Dave Matthews Band concert at Citi Field, it's always a thrill to see them live. I'll digress to a little backstory, which sheds light upon our love affair with Dave and Co.

Merrick, NY - 2001. When I was in 10th grade, me, Lindsey and our friend Rachel (who we saw at the concert for the first time in 4+ years!) used to hang out in Rae's den and play Under the Table and Dreaming or Before These Crowded Streets and dance like a bunch of hippy nutjobs ... it was a great time to be 15. (These were also the years we had co-ed sleepovers but kept the doors locked so the "boys couldnt get in!") These girls, plus our friend Hillary, introduced me to Dave ... and I am forever grateful. I've spent many a night, when feeling melancholy or down in the dumps, and always felt better after hearing i will go in this way, and find my own way out ...

Now ... back to the story at hand :)

Flushing, Queens - 2010. We tailgated with Korn and his family; big props to Momma Korn for hanging with us in the parking lot. It was nice to catch up as we eagerly anticipated the show. We downed a beer or 2, and with no bathroom in sight, realized we were in quite the quandry. Lets just say, we made use of The Space Between ... (see Roe's facebook pictures for more details)

After collecting ourselves, we made our way into the stadium where we ran into Rae and her posse, including her mom Nancy(!). I then had a bit of an unfortunate situation with my flip flop, which broke while we were in line for $6.00 pretzels. I can officially say that I've walked through parts of Queens and Manhattan, with one bare foot. My frustration didn't last long however, b/c no sooner than I was cursing the moment I decided to wear those sandals, the lights went up and Big Eyed Fish began.



(Photos from May 2010 Connecticut show, Courant.com)


For me, being at a Dave concert is a profoundly exceptional musical experience. Conditions for the ultimate journey include a) an open air venue b) plenty of room to dance and move c) enough room to master your electric air violin while not hurting the Dave fan to your left. Without sounding amazingly cliche and corny, there is just something that happens when they perform. It goes beyond the fact that it is music being played and lyrics being sung; something transcends and the air becomes electric. The entire band; bassist Steffan Lessard, our hero violinist Boyd Tinsely and drummer Carter Beauford are master craftsmen at their art. (RIP LeRoi Moore) Tim Reynolds brings his electric guitar skills to match Dave's acoustic; teddy bear trumpeter Rashawn Ross and sax player Jeff Coffin round out a band that I am inspired by every time I see.



(Boyd Tinsley, from whom we emulate the air violin)

We heard every song we hoped for, except Alligator Pie, but no hard feelings. Classic songs from Rapunzel and Ants Marching to Jimi Thing and Don't Drink the Water plus new favorites, Lying in the Hands of God, Why I Am and Shake Me Like a Monkey had us singing and dancing the entire time. DMB truley is a jam band, playing #41 for 20+ minutes. Ah, that song is incredible. It's songs like that and The Stone, Warehouse, Dancing Nanices, The Dreaming Tree ... the list goes on, that exemplify the emotional prowess they bring to music. They included in the first set one of my favorites, Gray Street; an incredibly sad yet inspiring song; Dave's aching vocals are meant to be heard live.




Needless to say we were beyond satiated when the show was over, although sad that we'll have to wait until 2012 to see them live again. They do deserve it after 20 years touring, and I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.

Good Old War, Good Old Time

Yesterday was a perfect day. I can't help but sit back after days like this and think, yeah, work may get on my nerves and I'm no millionaire, but when you can enjoy the free time you do have with friends and family, then that's what it's all about. Sorry for getting all sappy ... i just can't help myself :) So Keri came to my apartment around 1, and it was great because she hadn't been over since the winter. We chatted for a while and then walked down to Lindsey's, got snacks at the deli, juice box wine at the liquor store and headed to The Great Lawn to meet Roe. The 4 of us sat on a blanket, on a seriously beautiful day and talked for hours. Fun afternoon.




Around 8:30, me, Rob, Nicole, Lins and her bro Luke went down to Webster Hall to see Good Old War. I've anxiously waited to see them again for about a year. Last spring me and my friend Dan went to a Straight Light Run concert, and a fun trio of folk rockers from Philly opened for them. This fun trio of folk rockers, was Good Old War and a beautiful musical following was formed. My sister Kerry met us there with her friend Phil and his friend Chris, who is in a new wave band called TVTV. They're also playing Webster Hall in a few weeks. As we walked in we were greeted with the raw vocals of Audra Mae, who really looks like my friend Rachel from highschool! I ran into Audra in the bathroom and told her this more than once, lol, a few $3 PBR cans and I like to be friends with everyone! We were all blown away by the next band, Yukon Blonde, with hair all over the place they rocked the house down, in a classic southern rock way. Ironically enough, they are not even from the south, but way up north in Vancouver! They were incredible. They closed their set with all musicians from the 3 bands up on stage jamming together, a great thing to see.

Before Good Old War went on stage, I strolled over to the merch table to buy their latest album, and couldn't help but introduce myself to one of the band members, Daniel Schwartz, their unbelievable guitarist. He was super nice, even told me he liked my dress -- yeah, yeah I know, this isn't Almost Famous, but it was still neat! It's so cool when you actually meet and somewhat talk to members of a band that you listen to every morning on your commute, its a little surreal. They finally took the stage, and their performance exceeded anything I even remembered from last year. A nice mix of music from both albums & even a little accordion before getting off the stage to sing with everyone in the audience. Their sound is perfect for the summer, fun folk rock tunes that you want to sing out loud and dance around to. If that was the mandatory behavior of the evening, I think I passed with flying colors. All three of them are phenominal muscians. Daniel, not only plays acoustic guitar, but an electric guitar he has on a stand all tuned and ready for him to rip into during Weak Man, while his acoustic is still strapped to his body. I think my favorite song is either Looking for Shelter or Window, and I was happy to hear them both.



Right before we left, once again I couldn't resist the urge to say Hi to Keith Goodwin from the band, and snag a picture with my sister. It was a Kodak moment. One of the best/fun shows I've been to recently.




http://www.myspace.com/goodoldwar


After the concert I went with Rob to his cousin's apartment uptown, a dream apartment on the first floor with a patio and backyard, only few New York renters ever see. A nice place to unwind after an action packed day. I only hope that there are more weekends like this as the summer goes on. And even though I barely had enough strength to go food shopping today, it was well worth it.