it's not up to you

bjork. you weirdo. you foxy, you bebe le strange you hang out with matthewbarnetta. you really make me wonder. and you say this:

"i mean, the human race, we are a tribe, let's face it, and let's stop all this religious bullshit. i think everybody, or at least a lot of my friends, are just so exhausted with this whole self-importance of religious people. just drop it. we're all fucking animals, so let's just make some universal tribal beat. we're pagan. let's just march".

her new record 'volta' comes out in a couple weeks and i love it. i just like that she pours herself out there and makes an imprint that goes way beyond "oh, that is bjork" - i think that just does not give her the credit she richly deserves. her music is nearly impossible to describe unless one takes the simplist of routes and just minimizes it to "just bjork". there is a certain sound, thing or whatever that makes her music more yours than hers after listening. one gets his or her own impression and leaves with something that might be similar but is quite different than the next person. like her or not, she doesn't seem to care. i get that reminder and the strangest feelings when i listen to this record and her last two previous (and completely difficult) releases - specifically, i always have choices. how they affect other people is what is the difficult part.

leon on me

"some people live their lives like the meaning of life is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain
when this is fruitless, because true happiness can not be found in pleasure, and pain is unvaoidable.
the true meaning lies in traveling through these experiences".

leo tolstoy.

i get a lot from this but mostly this - there are no guarantees of outcomes in life so try everything. it is always worth the risk.

kritickal

ever been to rehab? me neither but kinda. nevermind. the new wilco album "sky blue sky" is the plat du jour here and i have been listening to it for close to a month now. soon to be released i got a copy illegally (let's not act like that is not possible) and i am kind of enamored with this band who i like a lot but never seem to just put both feet down and just love. i got really close with everybody else's fave "yankfoxhotl" and deservedly, exquisite record for sure but sky blue sky seems to reach me in a different way. no bouncy, proficient yet wonderful production by o'rourke but a more stripped down, almost simple approach makes this lp just that much sweeter and effective. the song "hate it here" was playing in a coffee shop about a week ago and it sounded great amidst the coffee orders, grinding and just the usual ruckus one hears at a coffee joint. i already liked that song a lot yet hearing it and having to pay a little more attention to it, i found tweedy singing to me when he was singing the other soong "shake it off". shake it off! indeed!

great songs? you bet. slight and well written: definitely. yfh? no. smart? rhodes electric piano? good chops? check. check. check.

alphabet

when was the last time you wrote somebody a letter? not a card but a handwritten letter placed in an envelope, stamped and sent it off? i just did and i must say it felt satisfying. very satisfying. i once wrote many a letter to people but email just takes this once incredible form of communication and put it in a different place in our minds. i got a handwritten letter not too long ago and it was so amazing albeit short and to the point. and i am fortunate to have a friend in town who writes letters, thank you cards (for the simplest of things too...very kind) and it really has an affect. i need addresses so i can send more letters and for thirty-nine cents, this has to be one of the greatest deals going. hell, cards work too and i am going to hit up sas for some more of her exceptional cards.

nah x2

memories of good and bad can be difficult. and today i believe is a day which i cannot seem to remember if an incident, the worst day and best day of my life, happened or not. i recall many details but the exact day remains unclear. i was working at the metropolitan towers as a temp. i received a call from my agency and they in turn asked me to return a call to my friend betty in so.cal. to cut a long story short, she told me my mother had died. i probably told you the story on how she found out and then called me - which is detailed and strange for sure so i won't get into that. back to memories...this is such a blur. i don't know what day betty called me and worse yet, i don't know the day my mother died. all i knew was that she was dead and i felt it. and i still do. i consider today the anniversary of my mothers death and i am posting this thought..."don't wait!". don't wait to tell your parents anything that you have been wanting to say. good stuff would be nice but damn it, this is a selfish move i am requesting so say whatever you must but say it! and let's not just keep this to parents, say it all to your friends, sisters, brothers and dogs and cats. say it all people because if you don't and things change - like say, death, your chances are mighty slim unless you believe in something i just don't.

if my mother was alive she would be simultaneously pissed off and happy i wrote this. pissed because it was about her but pleased knowing that what i ask of you is the shit. period.

thanks to rn, mp and eas! for my memory does serve me properly and they met up with me on this very day six years ago and that means a lot.

it's not

well people are tricky,
you can't afford to show,
anything risky, anything they don't know
the moment you try, well kiss it goodbye

so baby kiss me like a drug, like a respirator
and let me fall into the dream of the astrounaut
where i get lost in space that goes on forever
and you make all the rest just an after thought
and i believe it's you who could make it better
but it's not - no it's not

barely there

have you ever listened to something then you just can't stop listening to it over and over.

here's the video to the one of the many songs by panda bear i can not for the life of me stop listening to.....so, so good!

bee eye tee

yes, i am b.i.t., back in town.

and thanks for the love from all of you expressing how you missed me (aw!) and asking for some time from your friend who loves istanbul and grapefruit juice. am i jet lagged? no but i will tell you this, if you say

oye!

one of my oldest pals washburn once told me our actions not our words show us who we really are.

and i take a lot away from that. these words have not rung so true than as of late for i was just today in the middle of talking to someone telling me one thing and then doing another later. we are all full of complexity and contradictions, this i do my best to understand but why say something only to later not honor your own words? i have no easy answers for this and wish to just be at peace with the idea of expectations and people in general. and mostly, with myself.

something about being in istanbul really pushed this point and it is resonating.

and really, its not a matter of life or death...what is?









time to take over...more about istanbul soon. time to sleep.

closest shave

i had an idea after being here a couple days in istanbul...get a haircut and a shave. let's face it and i don't mean to be crass, but the men here all have moustaches and seem, er - hairy. well, enough of my observations and onto my finding a barber - which was easy, they are everywhere! well, seeing one on an alley like corridor was highly alluring combined with the place had two chairs and both barbers seemed to be on their way to seventy. oh yeah, the place was completely blue on the inside. i cannot attach a photo which i will do later but i did proceed with the haircut and shave plus more. the haircut, simple stuff since i do not have a lot of hair...i got my head washed after with some very hot water. i jumped when it was poured on me but not nearly as much as when i was getting lathered up for the shave. you see, the man next to me getting a shave made a slight but noticible jump as he got nicked...holy crap. i can see the blood through the white foam on his face but that was that. my face is completely lathered and out comes the blade. by the way, no english has been spoken except my saying thank you. the shave proceeds and my barber suddenly changes his tone and starts what sounds slightly arguementative with the other barber. holy crap pt. II! this was not the most unusal thing so i just relaxed and just thought, this is fun. slowly and steady, i proceeded to get a clean, nearly flawless shave. yes, i got some blood spilled but after the blade was put away, i got a face rub with what smelled like and FELT like lemon juice or something like it. if you are thinking, that must sting, well it did like a bee sting as it slowly went away. phew. then my barber - the other at this point is drinking beer - give my head a major rub down, powders my face and then proceeds to massage my temples, ears and the top of my head. i am on about 40 minutes at this point where he cleans up the white powder *huh* and hits me on the back as he removes my towel from my back. i left and got some fresh squeezed pomegranate juice to relax with. my total for this barber experience...15 turkish lira = 11 dollars.

pix coming soon after i get home soon but this was the istanbul experience i think i will look back at and just marvel that was not historical.

here comes an irregular

ever get the feeling you have been cheated? of course you have and that is an uneasy feeling for sure. in istanbul one must suspend a certain sense that you, or me to be exact, are a westerner. i mean, i hate the idea that we must separate one world from another and frankly, that is not what i am doing here however i get asked if i am spanish, japanese and even turkish during my time here. personally, i am kinda complimented but i say i am american, from the us.


today going to the spice market again was fun and just hitting the perfect amount of insanity. the next stop was to the right, to the turkish bathouse. for 54 turkish lira which currently hits about forty usd, you get time in the very hot steam room, a massage and a complete bath including a major scrub down. no, please don't go there - and i am talking to you bksmag - this was crazy good after a couple days of walking and checking out this phenomenal city. sb thinks it is at a crazier level than tijuana when it comes to the hawkers of goods but we both laugh at the entire debacle of being asked if we want a carpet or something else we never EVER would want. i like the turkish bath experience so much i think i am going to hit it again before i leave.

amigos mas ultimos pero hasta entonces, permanecen arriba no bajos y recuerdan que alguien le ama. laters!!

esperanza pt. I

a friend sent this quote to me about 2.5 years ago after not talking to each other for an extended period of time.

"i soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within."
-lillian smith

now she told me to go to bed. thanks for both sets of words.
it is late in istanbul. more tomorrow...

fred travalena!

today was such a sleepy day. it was grey and i took a long, long walk. yes, i got lost. so i hopped on a bus and took some photos from the top half. yes, i got lost again. i did not matter for i found a post office to send a letter.

and as much as i want to write about the ica and the wonderful peter seville pieces there or maybe i should write about the national gallery or even trafalgar square, i rather hit some old freaksauce and i mean the wonderful world of you tube again. in complete wtf tradition, here is jermaine jackson with two members of devo from some eighties show.

AND they are introduced by fred travalena! talk about a has been who never was...

heathrow is an early call tomorrow and then i land in istanbul. i am off to bed and then let's see if i can post more nonsense but i promise no more of this junk.

won't you shoot my neighbor(hood)?

today i finished our photo shoot for shooting portobello as indicated below. well, i am pleased with what we completed yet i feel as though i could have been more creative. the 5ive clues as supplied by rough trade records were as follows:

FIXED CLUES
Clue A – An iconic building, the vision of “the man with the Midas touch”.
Clue B – The host with the most, counter culture at its best.
Clue C – This Xtra Large record label makes music behind Thom Yorke’s Eraser.
Clue D – Alice once kept his pet Coopered up in this unlucky place.

OPEN CLUE
Clue E – Performance (anything related to performance, within the music theme)


now these are the two of the five we sent in...ugh. that's someone we found in the top shot for clue d: the portobello hotel. and right here for clue b is a homage to rough trade records. oh well, it was fun and that is what counts, right? i will link to the site again after they have posted the winners and i believe most if not all the pictures submitted. until then, goodnight...remind me to tell you all about my melotonin dreams. no wait, don't.

ask me ask me

another day of sunshine? sure, bring it on! and good thing for sb and i were signed up to do the photo scavenger hunt called shooting portobello sponsored by the nice folks who brought you the fall and mozzer's group in the 8t's. what a great concept and i was totally down so off we went after we had our clues emailed to us. sb was keen in figuring out the places whereas i gave some musical knowledge to assist but barely for the internets once again was our tool. we went to the hotel where alice cooper's snake had a bad time, we checked out where the entire side of a building had the mural completely dedicated to thom yorke's solo record "the eraser" and we also went to a building where the man with the midas touch designed. hell, i still have to take more fotos to complete this thing today! i will report back again dear friend once this mission is complete and fotos will follow.

after shooting and eating a falafel, i had to check out more of the flea part of portobello and found some records to look at...all too damned expensive and not that exciting. but i did have some great people watching, checked out some english vintage wear and sat in the sun reading about istanbul. all of that was nice but now it is time for some more, ahem, culture. so i am off to the british museum while sb goes to the gym...and good move - mind blowing. like the met in nyc, this behemouth is best tackled on a 'choose a room/era' and go check it out. i choose to go and check out the chinese room, then to this special exhibit on italian 20th century prints which were exceptional. one in particular struck me by georgio deChirico "ed ecco un gran drago" which translates to "and i saw a beast rise up from the sea". not so metaphysical but more something you'd see in some apocalyptical vision - this drawing was great!

sunday sun. sunday's son.

teenage wasteland

the royal albert hall. it is an underestimation of words when one thinks of the many people and performances there. i decided i must take a tour since this was the home of the famous and in my humble opinion, revolutionary moments in modern music..."JUDAS!!!" is all i can say.

a strange yet sunny day in london and i am going inside this hall for a hour seems almost crazy but i must. i was the youngest of the 21 person group at double 4's and one of the three from the us of a. still, i was excited because i just had to take in where so much historical shows have happened. ok, mostly the dylan thingy as noted above but still, here stands the place. the guide was great and she even said people like hendrix, eric clapton have played there as well as more "iconic" performers like sinatra and liza minelli have also. LIZA? whatev. the place is phenomenal and exquisite in its beauty. we got to see the queens room, go from the top to the bottom and hear some of the soundcheck of the band which were to play later that night. who you ask? you ask correctly for it was the last half of the who performing to a sold out show later that night and yes, i got to hear a good chunk of the soundcheck!! mostly drums, then guitars then all of a sudden, the opening keyboard riff from 'baba o'riley' and i am awe struck. then the guitar part, it sounded loud and live but please note immediately, this was not pete townsend nor roger daltry at this soundcheck but still, i was felt pretty taken by the entire thing. i left feeling as though it was a good call to check it out and i refrained from yelling judas!

later that night sb and i headed out to hammersmith to have some indian food at sagar which was rated one of the finest vegetarian indian places in all of london. it did not disappoint! i saw they served dosas and that got me excited considering i only know of a place in bellevue that serves them near my place. we ordered quite a bit of stuff and not one thing was even close to uninspiring. the okra dish we had and the saag paneer was pitch perfect. i went straight into a food coma and i was so damn tired, i opted out of going and seeing damon albarn's latest nutter fest, the good, the bad and the queen. good thing too because they were coming on way too late (after midnight) and i did not want to watch john cooper clarke before them. and damn it, a mighty expensive ticket too at $80 dollars! it was also sold out and who knows what a scalper would have charged me...

give me coffee and tv instead.