carrot cake pancakes
dear brooklyn-
Thanks, Mary, for this one.
Speaking of NYC, there has been lots of musical events going on. Including the sold out LCD Soundsystem mess – that looked like a giant rave. I caught the last hour of it last night on Pitchfork’s live broadcast. I caught Home, All I Want, and of course they closed with New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down with a sea of white balloons dropped onto the crowd. It was advertised on Pitchfork as being a one time watching event and I’m glad I remembered to tune into it. Over at Stereogum, you can watch a bit of it and check out the set list. You can also “Take The Indie Cred Test”. Which is fun.
The night before, The Strokes played a sold out show at Madison Square Garden too. From video of Elvis Costello joining them on stage (he opened!!) it looked like a cool rock show, despite the fact that none of those band members have ANY stage presence, they can play. And they did.
And with more fun with LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy did a DJ session in a series of 89.3 The Current’s called Theft of the Dial. It might be my favorite smart radio pun, ever. (Left of the dial. Get it??) He includes in his set one of my most favorite Talking Heads songs (on my favorite TH record), Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place). When I saw it as one of his favorites it made sense of how the strange rock genius of David Byrne influenced Murphy’s dance punk palate of songs that rise and fall. And after watching the end of their show and how genuine he is, it made me love LCD more than I already had. Thanks James.
monument
jefferson memorial
For those of you interested in my life, the bike is going well. I bought a helmet so please stop worrying. This weekend my parents were planning on coming to visit for the Cherry Blossom Festival, but bad weather and travel plans got them down. It was nice for me though, because I had a weekend here at home without working or entertaining anyone, or traveling to see folks. It has been such a relaxing weekend. With all the free time I barely knew what to do with myself. Angeline and I got over to the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson memorial. There were so many cherry blossom trees that it looked white, like you were looking up into snow. Quite beautiful but cold and windy, crowded and full of tourists who can not control their children. It was fun for an hour. Glad to live here, we escaped after having enough and went on with our lives.
Speaking of which it’s time to continue the habit I’ve built of eating lunch later and later every day. Groove on, folks.
I acquired a pair of shades over Thanksgiving break. Since then, they’ve been making their way around from face to face. Here’s some proof!
Colin: Classic
Sebby: Meow
Antoine: Double-Shading
It was about a year ago that I was leaving the sixteen-degree wind and snow of New England for Los Angeles. There was a beautiful pool at the end of my building, a convenience store stocked with beer a stumble away, and the first week welcomed us with a heat wave of eighty- and ninety-degree afternoons. These were obvious perks of the ICLA program. The apartments were nicer than any students deserve, and there was just something about those counters.
They were about waist-high (for someone who stands six foot two), with white tiles and a large counter space below it. Remember the pull-out cutting board? We didn’t find ours until April! Social gatherings centered around these counters. Bottles of rum, pens, cell phones, keys and old copies of the Ithacan’t were common.
Looking through old cell phone pictures from the past year, I’ve been reminded of the fun we had around the counters.
similar colors about the counter
truly, a work of art
These creations atop the counter are the result of tinkering, malt liquor, and wonder, really.
Three cheers, this new year, to an unsung hero of Los Angeles – the Oakwood Apartment countertops!
Californiacker
Looks like Southern California put on a few pounds over the Holidays…
Not a Goldfish
Come to the surface, ya little fishy!
Any Ithaca resident with a sweet tooth knows of Wegman’s Scoopy Snack section in the back of the store.
“Please don’t mix different priced candies.”
“No Sampling!”
“Use tongs, please.”
But next time you’re there, take a look around and notice the walls -
wall of candy
The whole damn wall, all the way across the Scoopy Section is made of tubes FULL OF CANDY. Which got me thinking, yeah, this is awesome, there is so much candy here, but damn, what a waste. I’m not one to bitch about wasting and feeding hungry children, but there is SO MUCH CANDY along these walls. The tubes are about as big as a roll of paper towels, and six-ish feet tall. Dozens and dozens of tubes, full of Starbursts, Tootsie Rolls, Dubble Bubble, and lesser-known, non-brand-name candy.
I was assuming, “they must just re-use all of this candy to replenish the bins of Tootsie Rolls once it runs out, right?” But no. This candy has been in these tubes since the Scoopy Section first opened. I mean, look at the Starbursts above – the pinks have faded. What a waste.
And another thing, some of the gummy candies use tongs and others have scoopers. What’s the deal? Scoopers are fine for Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids (SPKs), pastel mints and Skittles, but gummy spiders? You expect me to scoop gummy spiders? I’m bound to take a leg off and maybe get three with each scoop. These require a tong.
I’m walking around Wegmans the other day, and naturally, I’m drawn to the beer displays. A huge stack of Budweiser Select 30s stick out to me. Black cans with red type and whitish/silvery designs.
bud select
The label of Bud Select, Budweisers newer, low calorie product, is eerily similar to that of Coke Zero; Coke’s newer lower calorie product.
coke zero
See what I mean?
Budweiser, the original, and regular Coca-Cola have not-so-different labels themselves. Classic red and white, as seen in Labor Day cookout coolers seen growing up.
What does that mean? The weaker of each of the Bud and Coke family. Bud Light and Diet Coke. They’re labels aren’t similar. Blue and silver, with a little bit of red on Bud Light, silver and red for Diet Coke. They’re the “other” in each of the families. The black sheep. Ugly duckling. And what can we say about their drinkers? Women who work in offices, rationalizing the half-dozen eclaires they have at lunch by the Diet Coke they had as a mid-morning snack. “You want a salad?” / “No, I’ll have a Diet Coke. And the rack of ribs.”
think this, but more arm pudge
And the Bud Light drinkers. “Bro, you want a beer?” / “If by beer you mean Bud Light then hell yes Broseph!”
The Gannett Center. Ever heard of it? That’s because it’s what 99% of students call “the Library,” and I’m sick of all this confusion with “what floor am I on?”
Libraries serve as meccas of information, hubs of learning on campus. The library is a place where random groups in class often meet to do projects, but how can any work be done if there is a huge dilemma with meeting up in the first place.
“Where are you? I’m on the second floor.”
“The second floor or the first floor?”
“The second floor. Well the main floor.”
“So, the first floor…”
“I’m on the floor marked 2, the one you come in when you enter the library, with all the computers, and the desks – the main floor!”
elevator signage
In the elevator, this red sign is the only thing helping us out. Next to the “2″ button, the sign reads, “Library 1st floor.” Thanks.
Library First Floor, Gannett Second Floor
This is the Main Floor.
Library Second, Gannett Third
Next floor up.
Library Third, Gannett Fourth
Floor after that.
shaft
And the fifth floor, so deserted, quiet and overlooked that it doesn’t even get a sign. All it gets is this original-issue “Quiet Study Area” sign.
So where are we? When in the Ithaca College Library, keep in mind, you are in a building much greater than just that – you are in the Gannett Center; home of the Handwerker Gallery, the Art History Department, the Anthropology Department, and, of course, the library.
Thanks to Brian Ivory for the phone pics, and the shared angst.
Fall Break has come and gone. But it was a great time for us to stray away from campus and create or find our own art. Let’s see what’s been done in the Thursday and Friday we students have stretched into a five-day bender…
Medium: Chalk on Iron
I found this angry chalk monster on the metal bridge on E. Clinton Street. If you’re leaving the police station after paying an exorbitant ticket for having a party at your apartment, or coming home from the Commons, keep your eyes open.
Medium: Spray Paint on Wood
Don’t know what this means or why it was created. “Chee Dung” it says, with the former word’s letters taking the shape of a pile of the latter word. Looks homemade, though. Rock on!
Medium: Paint on Cement
Junior TV-R major Anthony Palma sent me this “fresh” graffiti straight from East Brunswick, New Jersey. If you can’t read it, I’ll help you decode; NF&ES^>TZ@,{ *.
Medium: Caution Tape on Wood and Air
The least conventional art I came across was Thursday night, when I enter a Grandview basement to find Nate Scull meandering a spider web of caution tape. Cheers to you Scull.
Fall Break is a mere two days off from classes, not even enough time to warrant my five-hour drive back home. Thanksgiving break is just over four weeks away, and oh, the art we’ll come across with nine days away from campus.
Sometimes stuff that sucks can do something cool once in a while. Like when that loser from fifth grade has everyone from the grade over for a huge pool party. His parents hope he’ll make friends that way, but you’re just there for the diving board and Ruffles chips. Bud Light Sucks, I maintain that.
I walk into Wegmans last night and get the usual barrage of Bud Light advertisements. BL Lime, there’s even a new BL Golden Wheat, whatever the hell that is. But this one ad caught my eye…
and the love below
This “tailgate-approved” 24-pack has speakers and an MP3 connection. Ideal for pre-gaming in a parking lot, grilling burgers outside stadiums, or being a bro.
bom bom beedo
I guess this is pretty cool. Still doesn’t compare to the Natty Caddy though.
get our your nattlas
I was warming up to the idea of testing out this speakerbox. Then I got home and, while watching Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” per my Sunday night routine, noticed that some pervert brought 12 condoms, flowers, a corset, and you guessed it, a 12 of Bud Light to some potential rape victims house. Perverts: 0, Bud Light: -1, Natty: 1up.