Lotus 2008

Once again Lotus was loads of fun.  I volunteered on Friday night for a free Saturday night wristband this year which was a good deal.  Saw lots of cool shows including Pistolera (above), Little Cow, The New York Gypsy All Stars, La Musgaña, Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko, Marta Gómez, and I capped it off by dancing my heart out to Funkadesi.  Well, I guess the real cap off was hitting the after party with The New York Gypsy All Stars and some really drunk members of Solas.

Now, I think I need a nap.

MTV Nostalgia

So I’m watching VH1′s best of the 90s and it is taking me back, way back, flashing my life, my memories, and my relationships before my eyes.  Seriously back.  Back to the days of MTV.  Of good MTV, before boy bands took over, and before continuous reality television.  Do you remember?  Really remember?  MTV used to be the place we went to to learn about new music, new genres, to see what our favorite bands looked like, to learn about music news, to relate, to celebrate and to grieve.  I watched the premier of Thriller on MTV, swooned over George Michael, and pretended to understand when Freedom hit.  We watched John Norris on MTV continuously when River Phoenix died in 1993.  And we mourned 6 months later by watching Kurt Loder on MTV when Kurt Cobain died.  I was a freshman in college.  I also was watching MTV years earlier with my brother when I first heard Nirvana  and their video for Smells Like Teen Spirit changed music forever.  Even earlier, I watched 120 minutes with Matt Pinfield, who told us about new alternative bands, and watched MTV Raps that got me dancing with early rap, before Eminem, Tupac, Coolio (remember him?), and Dr. Dre took over.  Kevin Seal, Adam Curry, Martha Quinn…they were early, funny, music smart, and influential.  The serendipity of videos and therefore music that you were introduced to was wide, strange, annoying and awesome.

When my dad had to go in for an emergency appendectomy when I was in elementary school,  we had an ever ending line of babysitters for three days solid, but one constant (much to my mother’s chagrin) during a hard time…MTV.  Just ask Andrew.  I won’t say it got us through a hard time, but it was there.

Pop music.  Huh.  It has shaped my generation, shaped my life.  And really, MTV was there for me though much of my adolescence up to about my sophomore year in high school.  The next generation, our kids, what will they call on for their music memories?  YouTube?  MySpace?  Do I lament, or do I celebrate the new media?  MTV and  Unplugged created some of the best music ever.  What is the impetus for groundbreaking music these days?  But maybe music these days is freed from the confines of MTV.

I’m sure I am not the only one to write about the nostalgia and demise of MTV, and surely not the best.  I admit that my music preferences aren’t the most sophisticated, and I understand and credit the critics that derided MTV as glamorizing music and focusing on everything else besides the music, even in the heyday of the mid 90s.  But to misunderstand the impact it had, is to underestimate.

Once upon a time I wrote about songs that reminded me of friends.  The list is endless, forever swirling memories of good times and bad…but mostly good.  My memories are tugged harder by music than they are by almost everything else, more than movies, more than tv.  Remember a good/bad time and think of the song that goes with it.  You know what I mean.  I hope you also think of me when you hear these songs. Here we are now, entertain us.

Summer Lotus

Tim and I kicked it to 3rd St. Park to watch Slavic Soul Party and they were fantastic!  Tons of fun, both watching the music and watching the crowd.  I have video on my flickr, but still learning my new camera and had it on the wrong setting and so the focus goes in and out. Anyone else have any gypsy music recommendations?

Thinking

Things I think about: food, coffee, being passionate about my work, quilts, fabric, Loki, Tim, classes, going back to school, work, work, work, am I eating enough fruit, going to the farmer’s market, Web 2.0, interns, photography, SPEA, The Commission for Sustainability, recycling, living green, whether I can see the New Pornographers in concert, being a good person, travel, friends, organic food, allergies, natural leave-in conditioner, exercise, switching to gmail, having a baby someday, paint colors, books, The Clash, religion, gardening, health care, family, whether I should get new highlights, crosswords, publicity, and politics.

In no particular order, and not meant to be inclusive or exclusive.

Soup Making

It was super delicious, but I am curious about the food styling at Vegetarian Times.  My soup:

And from the magazine:

Mine seems a little murky in comparison. I think they left out the blended beans step for the photographs.  Hm.

Tim and I went and saw the Joe Strummer documentary yesterday, it was fantastic.  I’d link to the site, but hearing a raw version of White Riot without any music is a little disconcerting (and sticks in your brain…well my brain anyway).  And you know how to google, its called ‘The Future is Unwritten’.  Watching the movie makes me want to listen to The Clash and it made Tim want to get the band back together.

After the movie, I got a text from Marcus who was at Yogis before the IU game.  Glad I got a chance to see him!

White Pants

I know the Numa Numa video came out years ago, but have you ever seen the original video?

If you can watch this with out dancing, there is something wrong with you. What isn’t there to love about homoerotic white panted Moldovan boy bands dancing on airplane wings?

Yes, this is also how I spent my Friday night.

Go Easy. Step Lightly.

Stay free. No, it isn’t a tampon ad. They are lyrics to one of the best songs by one of the best bands ever: The Clash.

Which brings up the question…if you could only listen to one song by your favorite band for THE REST OF ETERNITY what would it be?

AJ came to visit over Easter weekend and we did nothing but eat/drink and talk about bands, movies, books and travel. C’est tout. Really. Oh, well we went to Houston and saw a game and the French Masters from the Met exhibit at the MFAH.

p.s. White Man in Hammersmith Palais. Hands down my favorite song by the Clash EVA-H!

OK Vday Baby Go

Know these are old, but because its valentine’s day, and because I irrationally love these videos:

Here It Goes Again

and

A Million Ways to Be Cruel

While we weren’t as synchronized, these remind me of Kitchen Dancing with Cyn. And one more…

AMWtbC on ice

The last one is for Abby, wherever she may be.

The Returns

I don’t remember whose idea it was. In 1992 on a snowy November morning , Dad and I drove to an airplane hangar at the old Stapleton airport at about 4am to see Bill Clinton speak on his last whirlwind tour the day preceding and of the elections. He was late. We waited. And waited…but it was worth it. I was excited about the election and I wasn’t even old enough to vote. But maybe because I wasn’t old enough to vote, I was pretty self righteous at 17 and thought that a vote could change the world. And even though I couldn’t vote in that election, I felt part of the process.
Fast forward a few years and though I an a regular voter am sort of jaded about the whole election process. Especially 2000. But yesterday was exciting all over again. Well, I guess not really here in Texas, but in other parts of the country. It can make a difference, and will.

So, sarahstim.com went down and is pretty much back up in its retro glory. This is the first design dating from maybe 2001? I can’t remember exactly when. I have updated my book page (I know you were all really waiting for that), and we added some photos from the botanic gardens and a wedding Tim went to in IN earlier in October.

We saw Social Distortion recently, which was really fun. We rarely get out to concerts anymore…and that was a good one. I don’t know if the movie I want to see has come and gone, or not released yet. Also? Why are movie websites so terrible? I mean really.

I need to set a regular blog schedule because the new job and new traffic is kicking my ass. But I’ll be back. But not in a second term Arnold way. Really.

Enough Already

With the cedar! I think that for next year, I am going to save up all my vacations and take them back to back in January so I can be out of range of the devilish cedar reach. Unfortunately, January is not the best time to visit most of the places I want to go, either here in the states or abroad. Maybe next year I will just buy a bubble…

On the other hand, I do enjoy living in a convention city because it means visitors! Ashley just left (well she is still in the city but staying at a hotel now), and my parents are on their way Friday. While Ashley was here, we went out to dinner (often hilariously, well hilarious for us), and um, watched movies. We saw Brokeback Mountain which was wonderful, and A Very Long Engagement, which had a few too many blowed up bits, but very good as well.

Since then I’ve been reading…finished up the Clash book which I loved and now all I want to do is listen to their music. Next I am trying to decide if I should read a book that I don’t really want to read for a book club. I would like to join the bookclub and can’t decide to suck it up and read it, or wait until next month’s selection. There are so many books I want to read, so I don’t know if I want to waste my time reading a book that I don’t think I will like. Because, yes, I am a snotty girl reader.

After company, I will be on to finishing the top for my 2005 Block of the Month quilt for AJ. I am having a little bit of a quilting delimma, but sure to work it self out. I can’t wait to finish it and send it off to my favorite brother. I hope it gets done before Christmas of next year! I am also excited and ready to go on my 2006 Block of the Month quilt, only to be disappointed at being sent the wrong fabric that I had ordered online. Hopefully the replacement will be here before the next class in Feb!