Molt Be Blog: 10/01/2006

Monday, October 23, 2006

NYC and Back

R and I went up to NYC for the bachelor and bachelorette parties of a couple whose wedding we're attending in the Dominican Republic over Thanksgiving. We borrowed R's parent's car and zipped up Saturday afternoon. Immediately upon arriving at another friend's place in Brooklyn (and shortly after I accidentally blew through the Goethals bridge toll without paying) we went out, bought a handle of rum and four of us set about playing poker and waiting for the groom to show up and be surprised. After his arrival, some more poker, tequila shots and a stripper coming by to give a show, we headed out to SoHo. Plans originally were to go to some Bulgarian bar that has a very circus-like atmosphere, but the place was closed. We ended up at Motor City where I ran into Anton Newcombe, lead singer of Brian Jonestown Massacre. He asked if you could borrow the chair I had my hand on. Not recognizing him, I said yes and he sat down next to where I was standing as an Amazonian blonde woman started to massage his neck. I turned to talk to the groom, heard a loud popping sound and turned back as Anton started yelling at me for not having seen what she just did.
"Brian Jonestown Massacre, right?," I asked.
"Yeah, yeah, but did you just see that?!?"
"No. I heard it, though."
"Awesome! This girl is a chiropractor or something."
And that was my celebrity sighting of the weekend.
After Motor City, we ended up a Pianos and then some Hookah bar near First and First. After that, things are pretty much a blur. A good time was had by all. I got back to the apartment we were crashing at around 5am and found R had gotten home from the bachelorette party about two hours earlier. We were out the door in the morning by 11am and back down to DC to return the car by 4. Not too shabby!

Friday, October 20, 2006

Reminder

I need to get this new LCD Soundsystem track off of iTunes. From the pitchforkReview:

Put simply, "45:33" (would that John Cage needed to shed those unsightly post-Columbus Day lbs.) is an original workout mix by LCDS. Commissioned by Nike and available at iTunes, the piece is purportedly based on "an arc designed for running," featuring new music by the band, pieced together like a DJ mix in a fashion that's apparently supposed to help me forget I'm hating life on the jogging trail. And somehow, it almost manages to do that. After taking it on a test run, I can attest that the music really does move forward similarly to my own metabolism, gradually building, holding a modest climax in the middle, and ending on a long, fluffy comedown...
Things really take off at about the 28:30 mark with a horn break, and fast, glittery disco-rock that **PAGING DFA PRODUCTIONS** really should be expanded into a single. The cutting bassline and relentless, stone-faced pulse are almost perfectly tailored for the most active part of a workout-- although, even if you wouldn't come within a mile of a jogging trail on a bet, the hi-NRG is tough to deny. In fact, just when you might be ready for extra oxygen and an IV, the bottom falls into the first of two (!) cool-down sections, beginning with the "shimmering, harmonious tinkerbell cooing" section, followed by the merely "harmonious cooing" part.

-LCD Soundsystem: 45:33: Pitchfork Record Review

Wilco

Just got back from an excellent sold-out performance by Wilco at the 9:30 club. NPR broadcast the show live and will have it available on their site at All Songs Considered for the foreseeable future, if you'd like to take a listen.
Now I'm looking at these Reuters slideshows a bit before heading off to bed.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Yeah, yeah. I know.

OK. I'll admit it: I've been ignoring the blog. Work is busy and I've had a cold for two weeks. I've learned a few things:
(1) The NyQuil-all-night/DayQuil-all-day combination pays off in physical wellness, but melts your brain.
(2) ZiCam doesn't work if you don't take it on a strict every-three-hour basis.
(3) This cold is one of the few that has ever made me really, really hungry all the time.

I will, someday, finish the 3rd part of the India story that I started when we got back in July. Unfortnately, I've probably forgotten a bunch of the little things that happened and make trips interesting. I did carry a little notebook while we were there, so hopefully I can flip through that and remember some things.

More fun: A coworker happened sent me this link
The Ashcroft Group, LLC - Our Team, which points to the bios of those working for former Attorney General John Ashcroft's consulting firm. On nice gem is featured in the bio of David T. Ayres, Ashcroft's former chief of staff and now CEO of Ashcroft, LLC, where he touts being the "he Department of Justice's first annual 'Award for Strategic Leadership,' which was named for him. In 2004". If John Ashcroft creates an award and give it to you, it't not something you should go bragging about. Of course, neither is "Vice Admiral Allen with directing and managing the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the most devastating natural disaster in American history" like Susan Richmond does in her bio.