lykke li and bon iver

two of the favs together for an extra special pairing. LOVE LOVE LOVE! thanks mokb and gvb!!!

cal academy of sciences

place i can't wait to visit when i'm home: california academy of sciences. i can't wait to go to the greenest museum in the world. i've been hearing about the place since ester told me about it when she was working at the old academy. i got even more jazzed when i lived blocks from construction. the museum is money tho $24.95 unless you go on free wachovia wednesday (third wednesday of the month). i'll have to tap my pals for in's.

mmmmmmargot

most anticipated albums: "animal" and "not animal" from margot and the nuclear so and so's. i'm feeling bad that i haven't been focusing my indie rock love to margot. i think it was that crowd at the last concert i attended that decreased my interest. however i have been listening to their daytrotter session intently tho and now that margot has beefed up their imeem page i am thoroughly jazzed. i must say i'm digging "as tall as cliffs" here is footage of them practicing it.


did you see casey working the percussion tree? there's also really great footage of the gang in sf crossing great highway at ocean beach. two of my favs together. love love!

bell @ sound fix

most likely to grow up to be bjork: olga bell of bell. her crooning, loops and synthes are so close to bjork's that if you closed your eyes you'd swear it's her. i discovered her via stereogum back in late march. i missed her at the delancey then, so i didn't wanna miss another opportunity. surprisingly, the show at sound fix started fairly on time, quarter after 8. of all the shows i've been to at sound fix, this was the most mellow. they tend to be crowded and start an hour late.

in any case, bell had a good crowd. she opened with claps to "echinacea" and went into a 5 song set. i believe she was hoping the AV would work out for some pretty visuals, but sadly sound fix lounge lady could not make it happen. it twas okay because olga charmed us with her lush haunting melodies. she did not play bjork's "it's oh so quiet". my pal dermot told me that bjork actually covered it from betty hutton's "blow a fuse". the original is uber cute. play below.

daily show!

best show taping: daily show. virginia (pictured* to the right) was awesome and got tickets to the daily show taping for tonight months ago. she extended an invitation to me and i would be a fool to deny the pleasure of a mr. stewart. last week we discovered aaron "two-face" eckhart was going to be the guest. to say i was psyched was an understatement. i have been a fan of his since "in the company of men" and did you see him in "the dark knight". nuff said. he was much more handsome in person than on screen. he even made reference to his bay area roots calling out the raiders. dude aaron, wrong bay area team. you know it's all about the niners. it's okay i'm still jocking aaron.

here is the episode. annnnd, here is my favorite part below. enjoy!



reason to go to a wednesday taping of daily show: the toss to stephen colbert. it's cute because before what you see below, jon complimented stephen on what a lovely daughter he had. just compadres until the cameras turn on i guess. also, on wednesdays they tape the opening of the global edition. BONUS!



*photo credit to julia macfall.

glass house

future field trip for 2009: the glass house. oh golly, my golly gee! v sent over the news about tickets being available for the glass house. it is a bit pricey for the starving artist, but i think it's worth the trip. mandatory tour too. looks like you can take metro north to new canaan, ct from grand central. who is down? we have to get tickets before they all go to the richie riches. it's like the getty villa of the east coast. it tis $$$$

catch before it closes trip: dan flavin institute. okay, i've been waiting to make the trip to bridgehampton to check out this neon church action, but the deadline for the 2008 season is october 12. shar's gotta get her to the hamptons. didn't think i would say that huh?

niners win AGAIN

reason to celebrate: niners 31, lions 13!!! that's a winning record for now - 2 and 1 baby!

picnic in the cemetery

best place for a picnic: under holly's weeping beech tree in woodlawn cemetery. i have been meaning to head out to woodlawn for a picnic since holly mentioned how the old timies did so. me, holly and virginia parked under the gould beech. it was perfect. it's was like nature's tent. after lunch we climbed the branches a bit. twas fun! i'll be back to woodlawn for the fall and winter. it's the bestest.

unexpected visit: duke ellington and miles davis' graves. duke has this really amazing tree providing sheltered, while miles' has this kinda unflattering tombstone in my opinion. what do you think?

basia bulat @ highline ballroom

most anticipated show: basia bulat at highline ballroom. i have been dying to see basia for months and months now. i passed on her may show because she wasn't the headliner and it was at terminal 5. i'm glad i waited. her concert was sadly not sold out tonight. it was seated though, which was nice for a long week. she was every thing i was expecting. charming and sweet with that raspy voice of her's. sigh! love it! she didn't play her covers of daniel johnston's "true love will find you in the end", sam cooke's "touch the hem of his garment" or the strokes "someday", but she did play a cover of bob dylan's "you ain't going nowhere".

she got through most of all her tracks on "oh, my darling" with extras like "gold rush", which is a tribute to the moshers of yukon county. she saved "a secret" and "i was a daughter" for the last half, ending with a gospel hymn "hush".

i got this and had her sign it after the show. she was uber nice and obliged with a lot of picture taking. i asked when she would be back but she didn't know. (sorry jac!) she did say she would be back tho.

basia extras: here is a quick interview she did on wnrn - charlottesville, uva a couple days back. also, a really fun video of her playing "before i knew" at scott's food court. then, another of her in the subway playing at a grecian gardens flower shop. enjoy the autoharp!

sadness!

belated bad news: 12 galaxies closed. man, i found out about this music venue closing in sf from my pal dennis last night. it broke my heart namely because it was a sweet little spot in the mission to hear tunes and made me even sadder that i'm not up in the know of my hometown. i'm sorry san fran. i miss you lots, but this place called brooklyn seems to be detracting me from my always #1 love for you. i will be better i promise.

oh, 12 galaxies...i still remember that vetiver concert that started 2 hours late. it was so worth it. i miss me some frank chu. what will he do? protest the closing? he rules and makes me miss the kookiness of sf. BIG HUG to you sf.

chris johanson totalities

belated gallery visit: chris johanson totalities @ deitch. i've been meaning to stop by earlier to see this exhibit and finally got a chance this afternoon. the installation is an adult maze of colorful wonder. shar hearts it. i love chris' play with space.

it's funny because at the end everyone seemed to turn back the way they came, but smarties could see the outline of a door that leads you back to the start.

get there before october 25 or you'll be sorry.

doveman covers "footloose"

best tribute to a pal: doveman's "footloose" album cover. oh man, i stumbled across this gem this morning on my queuing of my npr player. it's a glorious re-imagining of a classic 80's pop soundtrack reimagined to stripped down piano and plaintive vocals. reminds me of grandaddy without the funny sound effects.

noah & the whale @ union pool

belated first ny gig: noah and the whale at union pool. the guys said they were "doing a great job containing their excitement", but i on the other hand could not. it was a long wait to see these boys since they were slated to hit new york back in late july and had to cancel. they were well worth the wait nonetheless. i was annoying gal and weaved my way to the front so that saki could have a prime spot to take this pic of charlie and a certain unnamed whale.

the set covered most of the new album: "shape of my heart", "mary", "give a little love", "rocks and daggers", "2 atoms in a molecule" and the ubiquitous "5 years time". they also played a new tune but didn't catch the track's name.

charlie announced the break in tradition by busting out a electric guitar and enlightening us with a "punk" song. he headed over to the amp to "punk" up the show and checked in with tom on the harmonium. didn't you know harmoniums are punk rock?
best cover for an encore: the smith's "girlfriend in a coma" by noah and the whale. the boys hopped back on stage. i was really afraid of a repeat of the laura marling show, but they didn't disappoint. she was missing by the by and lindi ortega had to jump in the backing vocals on "5 years time". anyhoot, noah's rendition of "girlfriend in a coma" was a treat. they had me at the first 3 chords.

most unexpected run-in in the bathroom: doug, the drummer of noah and the whale and brother to charlie. when he hit the stage, i came to the realization that just 10 minutes ago i let him pass by me in the bathroom to use the sink. i noticed his boyish good looks there, but thought he was a billyburg hipster. he is polite. he thanked me for moving. since the run-in in the loo, his shirt was mysteriously unbuttoned to reveal a nicely toned chest during the set. i know one lady that enjoy that. you know who you are.

laura marling @ bowery ballroom

shortest set: laura marling at bowery. wow and wow, i have never been to a show at bowery when the headlinder didn't even encore. her short and sweet set was fine partly because she sang all the songs i knew and saved "alas i cannot swim" for last. if you haven't already, you should check out her morning edition session from july 4th. lastly, she's playing a free in store at the union square virgin megastore along with opener johnny flynn tomorrow.

sadly missed: noah and the whale. i was hoping that the boys would make a guest appearance as they are due to start their us tour tomorrow. unfortunately, they did not show. maybe laura will be at their gig tomorrow at union pool. i'll let you know. for now, here is a blackcab session that they did together back in 2007.

new bloody obsession

new bloody obsession: true blood. shar has a sweet spot for things that are vampire. when i heard alan ball's next project would be centered around these blood suckers. i couldn't wait. shar grew up on the vampire diaries (which is WAY better than stephenie meyer's twilight series), anne rice's vampire chronicles and was a fan of lost boys.



ya vampire news scoop: l.j. smith is coming out with a continuation of the vampire diaries entitled damon. in your face, stephanie meyer!!!

niners win!

reasons to rejoice: niners 33, seahawks 30. i'm nowhere close to winning this week's pigskin pick 'em's, BUT that all doesn't matter because the niners won. i shed tears inside because everyone knows shar doesn't cry. hurrah for the niners! too bad nedney couldn't have kicked it in regulation to save us from playign that ot. nonetheless, we pulled it out and this faithful is a happy gal.

argh revelation: we could have had aaron rodgers instead of that guy, you know, alex smith. my brother says well he had a whole different scenario with the packers. he got to sit back and learn from farve. we put that kid smith out there his first year. well, now we got an old vet leading the charge. he seems to be holding strong.

swoon: swimming cities of switchback sea

must pre-gallery haunt: socrates sculpture garden. i had been wanting to check this place out for months now and since i was in the general vicinity it was a no brainer to stop by. on view was the 2008 emerging artists fellowship exhibition. though i had to dodge the mini-marshes among the park, the pieces were all playful and inventively constructed. i wanna go back for the outdoor cinema series and concerts, which i totally missed this summer because of travel schedule.

best way to feel like a modern castaway pirate: swoon's swimming cities of switchback sea. i have been anticipating this exhibit since my first visit to deitch lic. the idea of float boats as pieces of art was intriguing and seeing them in person was nonetheless ahhhhmazing. i wanted to don my sailor pants and bust out a bandana. i'm so glad i caught the last musical and theatrical performance. mostly monologues about the history of the boats and it's inhabitants scored to the fine instrumentation of dark dark dark.

thanks to the crew that came out: saki, virginia, mike, jenni, jac, eric, corneliu, mel, jen, sue, jason, david and alan. send me pictures!

more fashion

all time fav ANTM: elyse sewell because...view self-made video.

bullseye bodega

random lunchtime sighting: bullseye bodega. on a trip to sunrise, julia noticed the bullseye bodega. it was wacky looking, kinda like an andy warhol pop store. they got a bunch of the go international designers in there, but one would think even more discounted price tags with this 4 day store front. they got some michael graves housewares too. get there before september 15 because it will be going, going, GONE.

to coop, or not to coop

best decision of my week: park slope coop. i finally went to an orientation last night after being shut out on monday for being 6 minutes late. i heard about their nazi-like rules so i wasn't entirely surprised. they claim cheap local organic food. i like local and organic, but i'm not completely vigilant about it because i'm chinese and cheap. oh and i read ominvore's dilemma and pretty much made me feel better about the local, organic movement. you should read it. it's goooood. so here's my pro and con list:

pros
close to home
community based
work once a month
new friends
cheapass spices and cheese
extra plastic recycling


cons
strict rules
not that cheap produce
no coke b/c of this
only saturday and sunday evening shifts
$100 "investment"

spectacle: elvis costello with...

most rewarding contest: jenny lewis spectacle. i was perusing jenny's my space and bam a contest to see her at the apollo for a taping of a new show by elvis costello. i made the cut by emailing quick enough. i was psyched to go to the apollo theater finally. i rubbed the stump as i walked in for luck a la amateur night. the place was not packed and we (mike was the lucky person who got the other ticket) were able to move up to the 7th row. we had a perfect view except when the camera guys were in the isles.

added bonus: she & him. dang skippy! i really lucked out because not only was jenny lewis on the bill, but zooey and m.ward too. SCORE! there were a few cute jenny and zooey backing vocals action to synchronized swaying. it was uber good stuff. here was the set list as i could remember it:
change is hard (she & him)
pretty bird (jenny and elvis on guitar)
one headlight (interview interlude by jakob dylan)
war is kind (jakob with elvis on guitar)
carpetbaggers (see photo above - elvis with jenny and zooey on backing vocals)
straight to hell (joe strummer cover by elvis and jakob)
what's so funny about peace, love and understanding (the gang: elvis, jakob, jenny, zooey, matt; plus johnathan rice on guitar, father-daughter drummers pete and tennessee thomas)

star sighting of the night: diana krall (#11). i looked at her straight on when i was leaving my seat. i was like whoa mrs. elvis costello. no one seemed to notice her, but what caught my attention was her pinstriped blazer with crest on breast pocket.

shar hearts football

reasons to love football more than i already do: sorry the upload of the pic was teeny tiny. shar's football skillz have served her well taking the first week of pick em's. katie gave her a good run for her money and i know she will be back to take the pot next week. too bad the niners couldn't pull out a win. i'm still picking them for the whole season. it's a rule of the faithful. sure they were ranked in the bottom 5 for the power rankings. who doesn't like an underdog?

notable cover

notable cover: everybodyfields covering smashing pumpkin's "today". i've been a fan of their alt-country twang since i heard them featured on npr's song of the day. i missed them shortly there after when they played union hall. i missed them again last week at irving plaza. they also recorded a great daytrotter session. you should download it. it's free. they are coming to the blender theatre in gramercy. anyone been there? it looks fancy and pricey. shar's not rich.

jenny lewis - acid tongue

best guest appearance in an album preview video: ben gibbard for jenny lewis' acid tongue. these kids go back. she provided vocals for postal service and he sang on jenny's first solo effort.

sample sale spectacular

must kitschy sale: fred flare sample sale. i heard about these sales prior to my move to brooklyn and now that i'm here i totally had to take advantage of it. i braved the impending tropical storm hannah and the crazy g train schedule to make it to greenpoint. there wasn't a huge amount of stock, but i did get $2 sunglasses. i've been wanting some and didn't wanna spend a fortune. i was there when they marked down the glasses from $5 to $2. good thing because i was debating between this pair in black on the right and another style in green. now I have them both.

so the new retail space for fred flare is cozy,and right on the corner of meserole and leonard. grand opening of the store is friday, october 24th. i'm sure there will be fun uber cute stuff and activities to be had because it's a party.

best crafter meeting: lotta jansdotter. i went to her open studio sale since i'm an avid fan of her prints and housewares. for some reason, i wasn't expecting her to be there and was taken aback when she said hello. i was a super geek and bought a plush whale and asked her to sign it. she was puzzled but obliged me. mr. whale will be accompanying me to the noah and the whale gig at union pool. :)

mel kadel @ cinders

must show: mel kadel at cinders gallery. oh my golly, her stuff is really ahmazing. (thanks kristin for the scoop) she does pretty small scale drawings on coffee stained paper, busting with colors that evoke suessian childhood memories. it's fun. it's crazy. it's cute. go see it, you won't be sorry. her opening last night was well attended. i really want her book that was on sale. maybe i might have to go back and get it.

most random tangent about coffee: stumptown coffee is coming to brooklyn. red hook to be exact. i am totally biking there for my coffee fix. i cannot wait. the store will be on van brunt. once this darn tropical storm stops i'm going to bike over to the hook for some ikea swedish meatballs. mmmmmm! then, once the stump is open. i'm there. you should be too.

wake-up!!!

best 7am route: northward along the east river. wiki and i am had our AM walk going northwards instead of southward as we did the morning before. weird thing is that the waterfalls were off. i didn't know they ever shut off. i don't think they are conserving h2o since it's pumping from the river. anyhow, it looked like this. it's nice to experience them at the crack of dawn and bummed they were off this AM. maybe i'll go back tonight to check on them.

must listen: the 80's: were they really that bad? - atc. this segment had me in stitches. enjoy!

new roomie, temp digs

best new roomie: wiki. shar hearts dogs and wiki is one of her favs. so when young and kenneth had to go away for a show, i jumped at the chance to dogsit. i miss walking dogs at the sf spca and this was so much better. just look at that face. pretty much 24/7 with this cutie pie. she's the sweetest thing ever.

flashback to childhood: chinatown. i grew up in sf's chinatown from k-8. it's been something that's shaped my life and probably one of the most unique experience a gal could have. i went here although the original campus on stockton and clay is now a grocery store. darn you 1993 quake. so this morning when i embarked through ny's chinatown to work, it was like old times. walking through chinatown in the wee hours of the morning totally reminded me of trekking to school. same fish vendors stocking from trucks. delicious sweet pastries baked to perfection. it brought me back to a simpler time when all i cared about was playing chinese jump rope and homework. i was a nerd, but a happy nerd.

bicycle brilliance

belated biking: shangra-li unveiling. i bought a fuji bike over two months ago, and finally took it out on loverily labor day. it's an old cruiser in the hue of purple. sexy, no? my first mini ride was to clinton hill, which required me to navigate atlantic avenue. let's just say i felt like i was going to get run over easily. man, i wish there were bike lanes. i really do heart biking. i used to bike all over copenhagen when i was a wee exchange student. copenhagen ruled though with their huge ass bike lanes and massive amounts of bikers that always made me feel safe in numbers. not so stateside, but i'll brave the streets alone until the bicycle fun club (aka mike, eric and i) team up to shred the streets of nyc.

most looking foward to: nfl kick off - thursday, september 4. are you ready for some football? shar is, um, always ready. in fact, this is me a week ago during my lunch break. oh look what i encountered?so shar loves her some pigskin action. anyone interested in seeing brett favre in all his ny jets glory? even though favre bumped my QB crush chad pennington from his role with the jets, i can't help but see the ol' cheesehead in action before he really retires.