03-31-2010 Bobby Womack

so, i'm out in grand rapids michigan right now for work, sadly missing my philadelphia.  so hard to be away from both my home and the place i grew up right now because our dog, lilly, just gave birth to the first puppy of her very first litter.  and it's a boy!!! more to come i'm sure once the rest of the puppies are born and i get some pictures.

but before all of the excitement back home began, i was having a typical work travel day in grand rapids.  i ate some pretty decent food here and tonight i sat in a movie theater with two other people, who were also flying solo.  perhaps others on business trips???  i saw this indie film called fish tank on a whim...turns out its about a girl who's a little lost in life and turns to hip hop dancing to find herself in her chaotic surroundings.  i saw it in this art gallery space in the downtown area call the urban institute for contemporary art, where on my way into the theater i saw some cool art on the walls that were words spelled out in old cassette tape film.

the last night in my bed and breakfast too... leonard at logan where i'm staying in the princess cecille room complete with spa tub and heated floors in the bathroom.  if you ever end up here, i can highly recommend staying her.

in the movie fish tank, there is one song that predominates the film, and that's a version of california dreamin' by bobby womack, so i'll leave you with that.  good night grand rapids, hello philly tomorrow.

03-22-2010 Orange Juice

My birthday.

 
My birthday jam.  Simple as that.

03-18-2010 Lady Gaga

Today begins my extended weekend vacation and it couldn't have come at a better time because the weather is just fabulous.  I ended my work day and headed off to dance class, where we performed day two of the Lady Gaga choreography for her new single "Telephone" which features Beyonce.  I'm so excited for the weekend because it is the March Koresh Artist Showcase and some of my fellow dancers are featured in one of the pieces.  The shows are at 8PM on Saturday, March 20th and at 6 and 8PM on Sunday, March 21st.  Go and check it out.

There is so much hype around this new lady gaga video for "Telephone".  The images have nothing to do with the song's lyrics but as lady gaga explains in many a interview, her concept was based around how Americans are so addicted to technology.  Really?  Whatever you want to make of it, this video is worth watching,  just because its so weird.

03-17-2010 Big Star

Today is St. Patrick's Day and although I probably could care less, I still enjoyed a nice brunch with some of my friends who were proud to be Irish. 
It was supposed to be an Irish Breakfast eating contest between two of my coworkers, one male and one female, but in the end the tiny girl just ate the whole lunch, which consisted of some meats I've never seen before.  I had a grilled cheese and a salad- nothing Irish about that.

Unfortunately, the day ended with some rather sad news that Alex Chilton of Big Star passed away.  At only 59, the singer and guitarist leaves us with a couple decades worth of incredible music.  I've always been partial to the song "thirteen" so i'm going to make it today's musical tribute. 

03-14-2010 Air

I guess spring is here because its been rainy and gross (but warm) for the entire weekend.  I finally got out today for a little walk to the store and I almost lost my mind when I saw a hypercolor car.  Who would get such a paint job is beyond me but here is proof as to what I saw.  It was purpleish with pink as the other color...ick.

Well, I had to take a picture and I used my new iphone app called hipstamatic to do so.  Its a super cute vintage camera that allows you to change the lenses, film and flash within the app to make vintage looking photos with your iphone's camera.  Its been my new obsession all weekend.


And speaking of obsessions, I can't stop listening to Air's Moon Safari record from 1998.  I've been jamming out to it as though I've never heard it before.  So here's a little sample from the record, so you can flood you ears over and over again with it like i'm doing.  The video features a live version of "Remember" from a concert in Warsaw Poland.  I like how its shot in a tone of blue (sort of reminds me of how this weather makes me feel) and the sound quality is good.

03-06-2010 Crazy Elephant

Full of breakfast foods, I ventured out on the sunniest day of march thusfar to east falls for my friends baby shower.  I made my way to market east and i've never seen the train station so crowded.  on a saturday!!! -so many people rushing by and the trains looked liked clown cars when people were exiting.  Looking around at all of the people and their gift bags, I quickly remembered it was the last weekend of the philadelphia flower show. 



Today my friends Ryan and Megan sent me a link to their awesome music site Polizei Motion which features rare tracks from bands you've probably never heard of but should really want to check out.  These tracks are really superior songs and are hand picked and curated by ryan and megan who have fantastic taste in music.  So you should trust me on this and check out these recordings uploaded from their own personal record stash.  This Crazy Elephant song "dark part of my mind" (1969) is my jam. 

03-03-2010 Mary Wells

sea creatures and baby quilting-these were the handmade gifts we delivered to emily and jeb tonight for their new baby girl, esther.  she was absolutely adorable.  in news, i found out a few hours later that my mom's dalmatian is pregnant and will be having puppies at the end of the month.  yay! while we are saying hello to these babies and puppies, i'm leaving you with "bye bye baby" one of my favorite motown  songs ever.  mary wells had such incredible voice-and coincidentally her middle name was esther.  enjoy 

03-02-2010 Philip Glass

Monday night and another full moon.  I saw it illuminating the sky behind the backdrop of Penn's Landing as I looked down Pine Street.  I only had the iphone camera tonight so the picture was not fantastic.  You have to just take my word for it. 

Still in my work clothes (a vintage dress I bought last year at Sweet Jane),  I met my friend Megan for dinner at Lovash.  We headed to the Ritz 5 where we were joined by Mary and Meg to see the Art of Steal, a documentary on the controversial move of the Barnes Foundation's collection of modern and post-impressionist paintings from its original location, which was willed by Barnes himself to never leave his building, to a new, more tourist friendly location less than five miles away in Center City Philadelphia.  Definitely worth a watch on the big screen but might suggest you skip the heavy meal beforehand and save it for later.

The movie soundtrack was heavy on the Philip Glass but there was also an orchestrated version of Black Sabbath's Iron Man.  I didn't see who performed it in end credits, but if anyone sees this film and keeps their eyes open, let me know.  In the meantime, today's video is a composition from Philip Glass c.1979 made for Sesame Street.  Its pretty mesmerizing. 

03-01-2010 Cat Power

March already.  My birth month and a time for new beginnings.  I spent the weekend helping a good friend move, so like me, she could experience some much needed change. 

This evening, the sky was a unusual color- an overcast of gray with an undercoating of turquoise.  A back lit area over the city landscape on the left, a deep dark shade over the delaware river on the right.  Later on, a full moon lit up the deep beautiful blue sky, illuminating the concrete of the streets.  I think for sure some good times are on the way. 

Since the sky was so perfect, I decided to choose my musical selection based solely on the moon.  If you haven't stepped outside tonight, do so and enjoy.