false alarm

just came back from the bank, went upstairs, took off all my coats and hoodies, i could hear the static charge i was carrying, took off the koss cans and went to switch off the ipod *snap*, *crackle*, *pop*, i look on my ipod screen.

please contact ipod support at www....

i was scared for my life. i shocked this thing to death? i remained calm. the screen went kind of monochrome grayish white(like my old Apple IIC monitor), then shut off entirely. i turned it on and it took extra long to boot up, but afterwards everything seem to be good. next time i must remember, during the winter, coming up the stairs of a wall-to-wall carpeted house, to ground myself by touching a piece of metal before touching the ipod. and you wonder why i hesitated for so long to get an ipod...

Langerado Music Festival Florida March 11th and 12th

This sounds like one hell of a lineup. I may have to try to go to this. In my 20 years of living in Florida, I don't ever recall having been in Sunrise, Florida. I'm not even sure what part of Florida Sunrise is... Ah, its between Miami and West Palm Beach, thanks yahoo maps.

Wilco, Ben Harper, Black Crows, Flaming Lips, Robert Randolph, [nyc contingent: Secret Machines, Antibalas AfroBeat Orchestra, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah], Lake Trout, RJD2, Kid Koala (I thought he quit DJing?) and more.

I haven't seen the prices, which I'm sure are high, but it sounds like a lot of music for one place, even if it is spread out over two days with people camping out in tents and what have you.

eh, I probably won't go...

Joy Division Movie?

Just heard on sirius radio that there is to be a movie about Ian Curtis' life and that Joy Division (or what remains of it as New Order) is reforming to record new music for the film's soundtrack. Wow, I actually learn more listening to Left of Center than Pop Rocks, since they rarely speak. Just the other day I heard of the bright eyes quote "singing is bad for the voice but good for the heart," a quote that I happen to like.

Despite the various incarnations, music is universal because its rhythm appeals to the physical manifestations of our human spirit, namely breaths and heartbeats.

random images pt 3

random images pt 2

random images pt 1

how the big apple got its name

1920's era jazz musicians picked it up from stable guys and horseracing people from New Orleans who considered NY races and NY gigs to be where the big money was. And since a horse, up for a big purse in the NYC, can't get paid off in big money himself, the lingo promised him a big apple. So high paying New York City gigs and record dates were thought of as a "Big Apple" for musicians too. A sports writer in those days, John Fitzpatrick, picked up on the lingo and called his column "Around the Big Apple." If you go to 54th and Broadway you will see that the city officially recognized him by renaming the corner where he lived, "Big Apple Corner." There was a club called The Big Apple on the corner of 135th and 7th Ave (across the street from Small's Paradise). The corner is marked by a whimsical display of an upside-down apple announcing the location. See these sites and more on a Big Apple Jazz Tour.
>>>

Dedicated to bigapplejazz.com, since that is where I just obtained this information from, cut and paste style ;) Their new store, which has just opened up in Harlem's historic jazz district, is having its first in-store perfomance this Friday night. Several lineups focus in on the work of the beloved Nina Simone. No cover, music will run from 6:30 to 9:30.

Also, since many February shows are now sold out, a fairly close to comprehensive NYC March music guide is beginning to be compiled for chainbreaker, stay tuned...

Scottie Pippen now a writer?

Well after reading this one thing is for certain: whoever was Scottie Pippen's English teacher needs to be fired. Regardless of his obviously Chicago-biased perspective, if you get front tabs on the nba homepage you should at least be able to form grammatically sound sentences within your first two paragraphs. But hey, he's a champ, right? So we'll cut him some slack. Perhaps over time he'll evolve into another Peter Vescey, God knows we need more cynics walking the earth publishing NY doubt and negativity at will.

Here is some criticism of my own: without Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen was about as good as say, Larry Johnson during his tenure as a Knick. Sure he's one of the NBA's 50 greatest players. But lets look more closely at the chronolgy of his career. He may have put up decent numbers for a few seasons and of course that one all star game, but what did he accomplish without MJ? I'm trying to remember. Oh, that's right: Zilch. What did he do on that supposedly stacked Houston Rockets team in 1999? nada.

Everyone in the world is tearing the trade to pieces before the first game has been played. If you're a paid writer, do you try to ride the waves of commonality and hope you find approval in kicking a team when they're down or do you try to be original and find a new voice with a new angle?

Some things never change Scottie, and Knicks fans everywhere still don't like you even now that you're a writer.

Good Poems

I saw this at Barnes and Noble and thought it a pretty funny title for a poetry collection book. I'm sure this may be a good read for poetry, but why such a bland name? Please excuse the quality of my camera phone, I didn't have my sony digicam with me at the time...

Isiah's Next Move Is Coming -Is It His Last As Knicks President?

Apparently Steve Francis is on his way to New York. Since today is only tuesday, I take these reports with a grain of salt, but realgm is usually pretty reliable. New York will give up Mo Taylor and Jamal Crawford, possibly Penny Hardaway in exchange for Francis, who has become a problem in Orlando's eyes.

At this point in Isiah's career with the Knicks does he ask LB about trades before completing them? Francis and Marbury in the backcourt, how will they have time to pass to Curry? With neither of them over 6'2", how will they defend some of the bigger two guards in the league (I know there must currently be some two guards as tall as 6'9").

What remains to be seen is if NY still has enough chips to land Theo Ratliff or Darius Miles. I wouldn't be too happy to see Kenyon Martin end up on the knicks but trade rumors continue to swirl as Thursday afternoon's trade deadline approaches. LB is continuously asking for a better shot blocker, so any of these three players could become Knicks soon.

By Friday could NY have a team with this semblance?

PG Francis
SG Marbury
C Curry
SF Jalen Rose
PF Theo Ratliff

Bench:
Nate Robinson, Quentin Richardson, Channing Frye, David Lee (I hope he's still here), Jerome James, Jackie Butler, Qyntel Woods

V-day gift

Great shirt, too bad I didn't know of this gift possibility until after valentine's day.

Greetings from the Blizzard O' 2006

Two feet of snow. After this much shoveling of the snow I consider myself an official northerner. I took my bike in order to get to church today. I find it easier on my ankle to balance the bike on snow rather than walking on snow/ice. Afterwards I also picked up some groceries with it at the local Korean grocery store. My new panaracer pacelas worked real well in the wintry mix conditions, much better than the 700X23C slicks I had been running. Also, these are rated at 700X32C, although I measured an actual width of nearly 28mm, it is far more comfortable nevertheless. I was still able to fit the SKS race blade fenders on there, even though they're only supposed to fit up to 23C tires -just did a bit of finnagleing with the bendy part of the metal and pulled them up a bit. Perhaps they don't work as well/look as flush as they would with a 23C, but I would like to avoid having to buy a whole new set of fenders if possible.

Recent experiences include...

Had Pukk for lunch today with Robin. Pukk is a small, chic, vegetarian thai place on 1st ave, kind of hidden between 4th and 5th street. We went around 2pm and it was empty when we arrived except for one customer. Kind of a narrow place when you walk in, but not claustrophobic like some of the NYC vegetarian places (Red Bamboo, Curly's, VP2,Zen Palate uptown 76th street, and so on). The place is adorned with thumb sized tiling everywhere and the bathroom features a fancy sink system that I had to note here. There is a raised stone where the water hits the sink that throws you off the first time you use it. The food was quite tasty, without being spicy. I had the lunch special which came with a soup and salad, and the main course was duck with veggies in a tamarind sauce, all for 7.50. Robin's food was even better than mine, but I forget what it was called. It had chinese broccoli. The service was good except they gave us no water the entire time (we didn't ask but still, I think it a standard to give of the h2o). Oh yeah Robin had the PAD SEE-EW BEEF. Good stuff...

Finally saw Walk the Line. That is probably the most Johnny Cash music I've taking in in one sitting, but I enjoyed the film overall. I didn't think joaquin phoenix looked too much like Johnny Cash, but the acting by him and Reese was believable and the movie is entertaining overall. I didn't know too much about Cash or his music aside from Walk the Line and Ring of Fire and the album recorded in the prison. I guess the next music movie I should see is either Ray or the new one coming out about Neil Young.

I'm streaming soma fm indie pop rocks through itunes, it's pretty annoying because when i listen to this station I like to guess the artist, and the way itunes is configured default, you have to wait till it scrolls through a bunch of useless information before it tells you the artist and track name. Just let me verify if it is Blonde Redhead already damn it! It was them...

Had whole foods coffee today at union square. if you put enough sugar in the raw in it it tastes almost as good as the Mud Truck coffee.

Went to see the knicks get blown out at continental airlines arena last night in east Rutherford, NJ. I wore my Knicks hoodie and cap. I must say that however pathetic the knicks were, I was impressed with the arena (formerly know as the meadowlands) and prefer it over MSG. It's just roomier, doesn't feel so dark and stuffy like the garden. More leg room for tall people. Don't get me wrong, I am loyal to the knicks and MSG, and hate the Nets (especially Vince and Kidd) but they have a spacier, more modern area that is more pleasant to see a game in. I actually like it better than the orlando area. Too bad the nets will only play there for a bit longer before the whole downtown brooklyn instant skyline takes form where the current railyards sit. oh, wait, is that a bad thing? I guess for the communities over there right now it is, but no doubt the nets will sell more tix where they originally were from (Brooklyn Nets is actually more old school than New Jersey Nets).

...As a side thought I have decided the way gmail instantaneously spell checks is pretty scary, its as if it is secretly scanning in your words as you type because the moment you hit that check button it is already finished spell checking... Big brother is watching, and spell checking evidently.

Knicks: 'It doesn't look good to me' sentiment echoed throughout the world

this article sounds so much like the rant I made earlier today that I had to put the link here.

That will be the day Isiah

If Isiah Thomas, who, considering recent events, may very well not know his ass from a hole in the ground, makes a trade for that piece of garbage/ex Net/formerly cocky bastard/current looser Kenyon Martin, that may be the last straw for me as a Knicks fan. I have bled true orange and blue since 1988, the first year I was a real Knicks fan, and I've been loyal and patient all this time. This newest rumor is unacceptable!

WHY do we seem to acquire nothing but historic enemies:
Chris Childs was a knick Killer
Antonio Davis: former knick killer
Jalen Rose: famed knick killer
Dikembe Mutombo: knicks killer
jerome williams: knicks killer

I've no doubt in my mind if Michael Jordan and/or Reggie Miller were still in the game today they'd already have been traded to the knicks by now, years past their prime of course.

It seems that whoever controls the knicks lately runs the knicks into the ground with their hometown people.

Scott Layden, who came from the Utah Jazz, imported many Utah products and undersized front court help to the knicks'dismay during his reign.
Shandon Anderson Utah Jazz
Howard Isley Utah Jazz
Keith Van Horn played for Utah in college
Antonio Mcdyess broken knee caps
Clarence Weatherspoon 6'5" 270lb power forward that couldn't play a lick for the Knicks
Othella Harrington 6'9" Center every nite he had no chance against NBA centers

Isiah Thomas has constantly traded for chicago players because he is from chicago
Antonio Davis - chicago bull
eddy curry - chicago bull/chicago high school
jalen rose - chicago bull
quentin richardson - from depaul, chicago
jamal crawford - chicago bull
jerome williams - chiago bull

this is chicago bull sh*t! Isiah can draft but he's no better than layden at making trades, just imports from a different geographic region than Layden.

I've went along with all of this, plus tons of losses this year and last and all the years before, but, I can not accept Kenyon Martin on my team. He rudely humiliated the Knicks for years, taunting everytime he scored. He never would have been crap had he not had Kidd hooking him up with easy baskets. And don't even think about bringing Kidd over here either, that is just as bad.

When Starks was traded to the Bulls at the end of his career, he didn't want to play for them because of the Knicks-Bulls history. That is what I call loyalty and honor. Isiah, you have no sense of Knicks history. If Kenyon Martin gets traded here, it will be a slap in the face to any knicks fan with a memory.

The myspace contest that never ends

In an effort to motivate myself I have recently decided that I may in fact be better off being a competitive person. You see, I am naturally competitive. Call it innate, a biologically cultivated pattern amongst humanoids, whatever you like, when I think back it is what I can recall about myself. I grew up wanting to be a leader, playing sports, doing breakdancing competitions, neighborhood bmx freestyle competitions, playing video games... When you think about it, school itself was quite a competitive thing, the whole grade system is founded upon it:

"You're an 'A' student, I expect more from you than the others."

Mind you I wasn't consistently an 'A' student, 'B' student or 'C' student (it all depended on how interested in applying myself I was that year). Progressive schools such as New College, Evergreen and Full Sail have done away with traditional grades, which only proves to me that this issue is real and not just in my mind.

Some time during high school I started to read eastern philosophy/spiritual books and picked up on the "everyone is equal" vibe that usually results in viewing comparison as something negative. This has been an underlying problem for me. I doubt anyone would argue that everyone is equal is not the underlying culture in our materialistic society. Yet why is it considered healthy to compete with yourself but when you extend that same spirit with others its considered treading the path of unhappiness? Engineering school was highly competitive, "kill the curb" kind of place that encouraged the competitive spirit. I'm sure business school was the same kind of unfriendly environment, not sure how liberal art schools in general would have been. I'd guess that there is a fair degree of competitiveness there as well since there is the speculation of who is going to make it, who isn't, who has got the art skills, who is faking...

As of yet, I have not joined myspace. This competitiveness issue is one of the reasons why I have not joined myspace. It seems in theory to be a good idea, networking friends/people, but when peer pressure (whoa, you're not on my space? I've got a gazillion friends on there since 2004) and trendyness (oh, you like that band?) all factor in, it is a turnoff. Yet when I see what other people are doing with their lives the challenge to live my life to the fullest might motivate me more to focus on what matters most -not that I know exactly what that is for me yet, but still the point is an increased sense of URGENCY.

It is part of our culture here in America to be competitive. The car, the house, the spouse, the kids, the SUV, the fixed gear, the suits, # of myspace friends, the 60gig ipod video, the jack russel, all status symbols devised to see how you stack up with the Joneses. My brother is always annoyed with me when I ask how things compare to other things. In his world things just are (eastern philosophy view) and there is no need to discuss what differentiates them. I don't like to be scolded, and when he points this out to me it leaves me thinking: "if things are not to be compared, how is description at all possible?"

I find this to be true especially when it comes to music or basketball, two things I've been passionate about my whole life. Describe a band. Sounds easy to do, but can you do it in a way that does not label them in a 'category' or more obviously, compare them to other bands which they may have been influenced by? It is possible, but difficult, and I'd wager most people would at first instinct use comparison as a means of description.

When I see through it and choose not to compete, everything slows down, which can be good and/or bad at the same time. The crux of my point here is that perhaps things have slowed down too much. Perhaps I do have to see what the Jones are up to (joining myspace is like having an RSS feed for the Global Jonses, in this generation). Yet I don't want to join myspace. Besides the few cool people on there that are/could be friends, it's a bunch promotional people trying to outhip each other by trying to be arty and in the know. No really, I don't care if you like Johnny Cash or Betty Page.

Who knows, I'll probably jump on the bandwagon and join, if anything to catch up with old friends, but I am weary of/looking forward to the competition. I now finish here with some words from J. Krishnamurti, one of the influential writers I just alluded to moments ago.


Most people think that learning is encouraged through comparison, whereas the contrary is the fact. Comparison brings about frustration and merely encourages envy, which is called competition. Like other forms of persuasion, comparison prevents learning and breeds fear. Ambition also breeds fear. Ambition, whether personal or identified with the collective, is always antisocial. So-called noble ambition in relationship is fundamentally destructive.

...One must obviously be free of ambition, of competition, of envy, greed. And that's a very difficult thing to do because envy, greed, and ambition are the very substance of the psychological-social structure of which we are a part. Living as we are in a world made up of acquisitiveness, ambition, competition-to be entirely free of these things and yet not to be destroyed by the world is really the problem.

Antonio Davis out, Jalen Rose in?

apparently its a done deal. oddly enough the two teams involved face each other in about 20minutes from now. I'm not sure if Jalen will be ready to suit up for the knicks. I'm not sure of Jalen's salary, but Antonio Davis wasn't working out for the knicks and can be partially blamed for ending the 6 game winning streak.
...well i'm off to the chad van gaalen show at mercury lounge tonight.

February Shows -

The tricky tenor sax player from Sex Mob kicks off my list for February shows in the NYC. This list was compiled from several sources; I omitted their asterisks and supplanted them with my own. There is also a small addendum for a few upcoming Boston shows. Sorry for my lack of formatting, but since this isn't work, I rescind my apology. If there's no venue listed, it is probably at Webster Hall.

Thursday 02/02/06 Briggan Krauss Quartet
*Free*
9, 10.30. tea lounge, park slope, brooklyn

*Fri 2/03 8:00 PM Chad Van Gaalen, Marissa Nadler, Cheyenne, The REMAINS OF BRIAN BORCHERDT Mercury Lounge 21+ $10a/$12d
Fri 2/03 8:00pm Low, His Name is Alive Southpaw 18+ $15
Fri 2/03 8:00 PM M. Ward Warsaw All Ages $18.50
sat 2/4 Elysian Fields @ the stone $10 (though from experience I'd bet they'll say its more at the door)
*Sat 2/4 @ mercury lounge Say hi to your mom, new roman times (whats up Orlando band?), summer lawns, the king of france at Mercury lounge
Sat 2/4 Avishai Cohen with mark turner @ Jazz Gallery 9, 10.30 $15
Sunday 2/5 Calla, lake trout, favourite sons @ maxwells 8.30 $10
mon feb 6 @ bowery his name is alive, low.
*Tue 2/07 7:30 PM Matt Pond PA, dios (malos), Willy Mason Bowery Ballroom 18+ $13a/$15d
02/09/2006 Supergrass Pilotdrift
2/9 the damnwells @ maxwells
Fri 2/10 6:00 PM Feist, Mates of State, Jason Collett Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall 18+ $25a/$30d
sunday feb 12th @ bowery she wants revenge, electric six, rock kills kid @ Webster?
2/13 She wants revenge, electric six @ maxwells.
*2/13 Saint Etienne @ Irving
Tue 2/14 6:30 PM Elysian Fields Mo Pitkins(Valentine's Day All Jazz Show) All Ages $14
*Tue 2/14 8:00 PM Cat Power, Memphis River Band Town Hall All Ages $22.50
*2/15 be your own pet, detachment kit @ knitting factory
*2/8 Dave Douglas and Keystone @ Zankel Hall (at Carnegie Hall) 27, 32.
*2/16 Enon, Violator, The Glass @ The Delancey
Thu 2/16 7:30 PM Cat Power And The Memphis Rhythm Band NYU Skirball Center All Ages $20
Fri 2/17 9:00 PM The Dirtbombs, Be Your Own PET, The Size Queens Maxwell's 18+ $13
2/18 the dirtbombs @ southpaw
Fri 2/24 7:00 PM Bad Brains, Leeway, Ensign, Upnrunin, Charge CBGB 16+ $15
Sat 2/25 Bad Brains, Leeway, DNME, The Vacancies, Bedouin Soundclash CBGB 16+ $15
2/25/2006 Stars Magnet
2/26 RJD2, Acelayone @avalon 20, 22.
3/1 Dropkick Murphys, Sick of it all @ nokia theater $25
03/02 - Ted Leo + Rx Brooklyn, NY - The Hook*
Thu 3/02 8:30 PM Belle & Sebastian, The New Pornographers Nokia Theatre 16+ $30
3/2 Test Icicles @ Mercury Lounge $12
Fri 3/03 9:00 PM Smoking Popes, Annie Hayden Maxwell's
3/3 Belle & Sebastian, The New Pornographers Nokia Theatre 16+ $30
*Sat 3/04 8:00 PM Smoking Popes, Bayside Northsix 16+ $12a/$14d
3/6 Sisters of Mercy, the warlocks @ bowery $45, $50 (almost didn't write it when I read how much)
3/7 the subways @ bowery $13
03/08/2006 NADA SURF Rogue Wave Inara George @webster
*3/10 metric@webster
3/10 Early man @northsix
3/13 Isobell Campbell @ Joe's Pub $15
3/15 walter wolfman washington @ coda - fantastic live blues from new orleans
Fri 3/17 8:00 PM Stereolab Town Hall All Ages $25
3/18 Jenny Lewis @Irving
3/18 Stereolab Town Hall All Ages $25
*Sun Mar 19 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw: Sam Prekop w/ Archer Prewitt
Tue 3/21 8:00 PM Matt Pond PA, Youth Group, Blood Feathers Northsix 18+ $12
3/26 Ted Leo + Rx @ knitting factory $12
oneida 4/8 Webster
4/09 & 4/10 Wolf Parade @ Webster Hall
4/20 Robert Pollard (of guided by voices fame) @ irving $20

BOSTON
Mon 02/27/06 Belle & Sebastian, The New Pornographers Avalon
Tue 02/28/06 Belle & Sebastian, The New Pornographers Avalon
Tue 03/07/06 Metric @ the roxy