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Monday, April 28, 2008

The Kanye West show

I reached a few conclusions after the Kanye West Glow in the Dark show at Journal Pavillion Saturday (April 26) show:

1. Kanye West may not be the "greatest star in the universe" as hyped during the show, but he comes close.
2. The end of April is too cold for an outdoor show (and I've got the cold induced by freezing for five hours to prove it).
3. There is way too much alcohol for sale at the Pavillion.

First off, I don't want to neglect mentioning that openers Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. were phenomenal. Interestingly, although Fiasco went first, he was, clearly, much better known to the crowd than N.E.R.D. and got lots of back-up vocalizing from the way hyped crowd as he ticked off Hip Hop Saved My Life and Superstar. N.E.R.D. also was a crowd-pleaser, particularly when Pharrell Williams brought up a very authentic-looking group of ABQ-area ladies for a song whose lyrics seemed to consist of, mostly: "I want to fuck tonight/I feel horny." (Although he did bleep out the F-word, so maybe I just have a dirty mind. Not). I was particularly happy to hear Rock Star, a song I can no longer play in the car because I have gotten two speeding tickets from playing it while driving. It just kind of makes you want to lean on the gas.
But folks were there for Kanye and he delivered. Unlike many rappers who sound like ass outside the studio, West was high energy and his rapping was flawless. The theme to the show was, um, Kanye alone in the universe. His spaceship has become lost in space and he can only communicate with its computer (named "Jane"). I'm sure I'm not the only person who was thinking, wow, how David Bowie is that? Or, well, maybe I was, given that the average age at the show was about 20 and the average blood-alcohol level about four times the legal limit. Still, the technical aspects of the production made it an out-of-the-ordinary experience for a hip-hop show and if it had a little bit of a geek-meets-megalamania flavor to, so be it. Kanye's sing-along version of Good Life was particularly intense and brought the house down. Gold Digger also was a great one, and worth noting that West bleeped out the N word while singing. But not the F word on other occasions. I should have some theory for the selective self-censorship, but I don't.

2. It was freaking freezing outside, which was good for sales of Fiasco's hoodies, but not so good for those of us not in the mood to chalk over many bills to keep from catching pneumonia. Achew. I can't begin to imagine how the many girls wearing almost no clothing managed to survive. Unless, somehow, drinking a lot keeps one from feeling the cold.

3. Speaking of which, before the show even began, I witnessed young-looking girls throwing up in the bathroom and banging, drunkenly, into one another everywhere I looked. It's beyond me how the Pavillion can sell SO MUCH booze at a venue that you've got to drive in and out of. I mean Jaeger Meister shots? Also, one can drink anywhere (there are no designated drinking areas so popular at Santa Fe events), so any kind of control over minors having access to liquor is zilch, from what I could tell. I hate to sound super old or super Santa Feish, but the whole thing seemed like a DWI waiting to happen. Also, a coffee stand wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.

At any rate, I'm glad I went!

(cross-posted from Artistic Overdose).


Friday, April 25, 2008

make me popular

So, I am now a blogger on Huffington Post, although I must confess I have no idea what that means or how it works. I guess I will find out. The one thing I'm fairly certain of is that it will go better if you all go here RIGHT now and become my fan and leave comments and stuff. Cause, um, I guess that's how this Internet thing works?
Am full of sushi and extraordinarly exhausted for no reason whatsoever. It's been a tiresome week and I can't believe I have a work-related trip to DC next weekend. OK, no need to think about that right now. So, yeah, we're all clear on the making me popular thing? At least on the Internet.

Yesterday's radio show

Better late than on time...I mean never.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

the midwest & I

I am one of those coastal snobs who thinks the midwest mainly exists as a place where one changes planes. I exempt New Mexico, at least Santa Fe, from this equation because, you know, Santa Fe is so unique and beautiful that, like most of us who live here, I have a probably delusional sense of superiority just 'cuz my zipe code is 87501 (oh wait, I guess it's actually 87507, not that I ever get my mail anyway).
So when everyone I know was hating on St. Louis and telling me it was a "shithole," I assumed they were right. I mean, you know, Missouri? Find that on a map. Well haters, St. Louis is actually pretty cool. Now, granted, I got to hang out all weekend with my homegirl Samia AND see The Roots, the best band in the world, and see them with, maybe 600 people, in a college gymnasium. And they sang Seed 2.0 for the encore and did a totally amazing hip hop history lesson throwing in everything from Kweli to Salt n Pepper. But aside from all that, St. Louis also has numerous awesome independent coffeehouses (one of which is huge, in a four-story house), a very large and dynamic restaurant scene with numerous cuisines we don't got here and if I'd stayed another month I could see The Roots twice more, not to mention Erica Badu. So, coffee, food and music, what else do you need? Plus, we found a really, really good bookstore.
It was weird to be somewhere where you can smoke inside at coffeeshops and bars, though. And, I have to admit, we had to move outside because I couldn't breathe and my eyes were burning. Who would have dreamed it? The bar we went to last night, Cafe Venice, was amazing: the entire place is covered in all different sorts of mosaics, everything from very studied, artistic ones to just funky walls with marbles and toys in mosaics. Everywhere you looked, there was something cool to see. I kind of wished the boy was there, because he's artistic (when he's not changing IVs for the injured, that is), but maybe it's good he wasn't as he'd probably feel inspired to mosaic his entire house and I'd never see him again. Anyway, here's a few pics from Cafe Venice, and then i'm off to shower the plane smell off of me and edit the cover story.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Take me to st. Louie

Well, here I am at the sunport, blogging on my ailing sidekick. And
apparently sitting next to someone who knows me. Can't wait to sleep on
the plane! Hung out on the new train party last night. More later!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

say it ain' so

My eyes tell me it's snowing. Snow fell on my head as I walked Nero this morning. But my heart? Say it ain't so, it says. Say it ain't so.
I'm off to the radio station!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I think I'm turning Japanese

No, I really don't think so. Unlike some people I've known, I've never had a fascination with any other culture or a desire to appropriate it or live somewhere else. I belong to no land and no one. On the other hand, Japan does have several appealing components: I wouldn't be considered particularly short there AND I'd be surrounded by sushi.
The Times has had a least a few trend features that I filed (mentally) under the tag: Things Are Weird in Japan.
The first related to the the ubiquitous use of QR Code in Japan. Which is totally Minority Report and, thus, I am kind of obsessed with it. (Yes, yesterday's post was in QR code. I was kind of inspired to do that after Zane sent me an email in QR code. Maybe the entire paper could be in QR code from now on?)
Growing so popular, the code is now turning up on scarves for cripe's sake.
But nothing, NOTHING, I tell you, has stuck in my brain as much as this story about people dressing up as soda machines in Japan to hide from attackers. I have brought this up in conversation dozens of times since I read the story; I just can't get over the photograph. Love it.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

break it down, peeps

qrcode

Thursday, April 10, 2008

this is only a test

So the news today is that the FCC has approved a system so the government can send everyone text messages when there's some kind of horrific emergency. The brain trusts on the morning news shows were quick to point out how easy this will be because "everyone knows how to text." Indeed. I can't help but envision just how our future emergency text messaging system will go down.

GOVT: FYI: Under attack.

ME: OMG, totally freaking out.

GOVT: Remain clam.

GOVT: Sorry, meant calm.

ME: Drivng hm rt now. Sht, just ran rd lite.Gs I'll stp and get sx mo. of wtr.

GOVT: LOL, me 2.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

live to blog another blog

Slate pretty much demolished The Times' weird blogging kills story. And it really begs the question: How does a story like this get published?
Now this April 7 Albuquerque Journal story about one mother's crusade against anti-depressants, on the other hand, is an important and timely story. Or, at least it was when we wrote it on March 5.

overheard at the dentist

So yesterday, while getting my teeth cleaned, the hygenist told me that she cleans inmates' teeth part-time at the prison. And that Wednesday, she would be cleaning accused cop-killer Michael Astorga's teeth, because all inmates get their teeth cleaned on their birthdays (prompting the not-very-liberal thought, on my part, that not only was I paying for my own teeth to get cleaned, I also am paying for Astorga's; not to mention, given the high-end dentist's office I was in, I found myself thinking all sorts of not-politically correct thoughts, like, can't they get a hygenist who doesn't work on inmates?). Anyway, I don't know how true any of this is, though, as from what I can tell Astorga's birthday isn't until next month.
Meanwhile, have I mentioned how sick I am of going to the dentist?

Monday, April 07, 2008

taking my life in my hands

The morning news people were all a twitter this morning over this New York Times article about how blogging may be fatal, which includes the wonderfully hilarious line:

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic.

I'm surprised there hasn't been a study yet on how blogging affects one's health; there seems to be a study on everything else.
The 24/7 news people seemed openly amused by the idea that blogging was stressful, one of them noting, with a lobotomized and overly white grin, "We all have stress!"
Well said, shiny, happy news people, well said.
OK, better keep this short; I have a long day to live through.

Friday, April 04, 2008

hear hear

Annoyed by Web sites' links? Me too. Click for a great article on just how annoying they are.
And then click here to vote in the Best of Santa Fe contest.
And then read this New Yorker article on the death and life of American newspapers. And after you do, let me know if I should read it. I'm trying to conserve my eyesight.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

cracks on a plane

I could have done without this story about how inspectors looked the other way when Southwest Airlines planes had cracks on them. I mean, I'm not really a nervous flyer, but that's mostly because I tend to be in denial during the entire thing.

woosh

sorry, between being sick and being busy, the blog has been taking a back seat (Back Seat Blog?). Here's the latest vidcast of Honey and me on the radio.