MS MR: Hurricane

See Poliça if you possibly can. I saw them on Saturday with Leah Lin and, just, wow.

Also: they have two drummers. What’s better than one really good drummer? Two, of course!

Turn this song way up on your computer’s stereo and you’ll hopefully get a bit of the live effect.

Poliça: Lay Your Cards Out

I’m not sure what I was expecting from MySpace (newly Myspace), but it quite certainly was not this. Am I wrong to be impressed?

JJAMZ – Heartbeat (I can’t think of a better song for this venue.)

Thanks for the tip Ksenya.

I have long held the position that no one ever should use a “555″ phone number in any movie. Look, if you’re going to spend over $1,000 on the production, let alone millions and millions, then spending $50 to get some random phone number so that the viewer isn’t totally reminded they’re watching a movie has got to be worth it.

But now with the advent of free phone numbers from Google Voice, there’s really no excuse. Might as well get the actor to record a voicemail greeting. And if some weirdo leaves a message, how hilarious would it be to then be able to blog the audio on your movie’s website?

I recently made some nice updates to Jessica and Erik’s Phantom Limb website. It includes new videos made by them and edited by Sienna Urich, as well as a lot of new photography.

Delhi is really wonderful, I hope I can go back there soon. When I arrived, I wasn’t ready for straight-up misinformation as a negotiating tactic, as in Oh! That hotel just burned down a week ago, let me take you to my brother’s hotel!. I got the hang of it eventually.

I saw the Lotus Temple (above, and below), and the “Baby Taj,” also pictured below. I’m looking forward to going back and getting better photos.

I came to Bogmalo Beach in Goa for a few days and ended up staying over a month. The whole time I was at Sarita’s Guest House, which I liked a lot. Goa is known for its rave scene, but Bogmalo isn’t like that at all. It’s very small and relaxed and easy. It’s right near the airport and a naval base, which was exciting because in the evening fighter jets would take off one after the other. Also there were fireworks pretty often. The only annoying thing was all the terrible 90s cover bands that would play at the bars. Luckily they were not at Sarita’s.

I made friends with a guy named Karan who worked at the hotel, and we hung out a lot. Also I met some Americans there (Ross and Rigel) and we had a good time touring Old Goa and going on a spice tour.

Even though the internet was not terrific, it was a good opportunity to catch up on work and to do this New York World site with just launched last week.

I did not do any yoga or meditation or anything, and yet the experience was completely relaxing.

Things I should have photographed:

• Ross and Rigel
• Karan demonstrating the proper use of the boogie board
• The elderly couple I met at the beginning

A site I’ve been working on recently launched: it’s a blog for the Columbia School of Journalism called New York World. The project was managed by Jeff Tancil and designed by Britta Frahm.

If you’re interested in New York City politics, I recommend you check it out!

Wikitravel says that Luxor is the ‘hassle capital of the Egypt,’ and I believe it. Touts will follow you down the street, trying to sell calèche rides, or little stone pyramids, or hash. Kids zoom around on motorcycles, honking pretty much the whole time. Even if the street is otherwise empty.

That said, there’s a lot to see there. Phil and I went to Luxor temple, the temple at Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings. I was pleased to see my alma mater leading the archeological restoration effort. I was told they are “good people.”

Pretty much in every temple there’s a guy who has one corner roped off, and for a tip he’ll give you a ‘tour’ which amounts to him telling you the most obvious possible facts about the monument, like counting off for you the things he sees. “One, two, three, four bees.” It’s easy to keep a sense of humor about it though since the money involved is so low and there’s no haggling, they accept anything. The people selling stuff, on the other hand, are more tiresome. With the revolution the tourist traffic has nearly dried up.

Phil and I had a funny moment riding our bikes back after visiting the Valley of the Kings. The place was closing, and all the guys selling bric-a-brac passed us on their motorcycles and waved. It reminded me of something I couldn’t put my finger on, but Phil thought of it: the sheepdog and the wolf clocking out of work in Looney Tunes.

We stayed at the Boomerang Hotel which was wonderful. On our last day I went to the barber across the street for an overdue haircut. I was glad for the experience, but it wasn’t such a good haircut.

Things I should have photographed:

• Our calèche ride
• The Colossi of Memnon (how did I not photograph this? we stopped there)
• Audio recording of the call to prayer guy near the hotel
• Erin and the French and Swiss people we met
• The kids on the motorcycles
• The koala painting at the Boomerang Hotel

From the Twin Shadow website.

I had no idea this was a thing! When I first saw the image of Die Antwoord that prompted my last post I credited them on originality, composition and execution. But today I checked out the Twin Shadow website and it made me second-guess the originality part. Here are some more “stoppie kisses” from Google image search:

I tried to find an awesome Twin Shadow song for this post but none was forthcoming.

Doesn’t that picture above remind you of a Hefner album?

This awesome photo provides an excellent excuse to post an old song I liked, I think it’s one of Yo-Landi Vi$$er’s best raps. Plus Jack Parow!

But yeah, they’ve clearly mastered the art of promotional photography.

Die Antwoord: Wat Pomp?

I’ve been working on this site for a while now, but never managed to post anything. Anyway, I just recently finished a decent-sized update to the site. Original design by Molly Skonieczny, visual update by Vanessa Yap-Einbund. Take a look, their photography is beautiful!

We stayed at the Australian Hostel mostly, until Phil got sick of the dogs barking upstairs and I got sick of them turning off the internet at 11. Phil moved to the confusingly-named Dahab Hostel, and, since there were no more rooms, I stayed at a place downstairs that was pretty sketchy.

Things I should have photographed:

• Tahrir Square
• The altercation in the street
• Super-Gad
• The couchsurfing dinner at Farfela
• Old men smoking sheesha

Things I should have photographed:

• Sam, Erin and Christian
• Phil running the tables at Tree Bar
• Anything, you know, underwater
• The knockoff liquor stores (John Warner’s red-label whiskey, for example)
• The huge street fight near the coffee shop

After one night at an overpriced hotel, we found another one downtown. We discovered some amazing food, such as something I’d never heard of before called Koshary. We visited the Pyramids, of course. On camels.

But the highlight was meeting up with some people from couchsurfing.org and going on a day-trip with them out into the desert. It was about half Egyptians, and half expats. Everyone was really fun and friendly.

I went on a tour of a spice plantation, which was educational and got me out of the city for a day. If I had been more ambitious, I would have taken a dala-dala bus to see more of the island.

Freddie Mercury is from Zanzibar, which is something they won’t let you forget.

Things I wish I had photographed:

• my tour guide, Omi
• the guys at Warere, esp. Chi Chi
• trivia night at Mercury’s bar
• the old women watching The Expendables subtitled in Chinese and dubbed in Arabic on the ferry
• the late-night scene at the Dar Es Salaam airport

Photo: Lawrence Lucier

I was on this early morning flight with an airline called 1Time Airlines, which I took to be a bad sign. But then they played this song while we were seating, and I felt like well, at least they get my cultural milieu.

Oh Land: Sun Of A Gun

Photo: Bernard Oh

Lately I’ve become obsessed with a Facebook app called The Travel List Challenge.

Now I don’t agree with their choices at all, but, that notwithstanding, did you know how poorly-traveled I am compared to my friends? Jill Diamond wins with 36 places, followed by Minu Aghevli with 34 places, and Maryka Baillie with 33. I, on the other hand, have a comparatively pathetic 18 39.

I’m even below “Average User” who has 23.

There are a few near misses, for example:

• The Eiffel Tower: Yes, I went to Paris with Buxton AES, but not to the Eiffel Tower.
• The Sears Tower: Noah, Dorothea, Megan, Irwin, Tony and I played hooky from school one day and went to the top of the Prudential Tower in Chicago a la Ferris Bueller, but no, it wasn’t the Sears Tower.
• The Statue of Liberty: Have I seen it 100 times? Have I sailed past it on my way to Ellis Island? Sure. But no, I haven’t been to the Statue of Liberty.

There’s only one thing to be done about this sad state of affairs!

At the jump is the complete list.

United States

1. Alamo San Antonio, Texas
2. Atlantic City Boardwalk Atlantic City, New Jersey
3. Crater Lake National Park Oregon
4. Death Valley National Park California
5. Devil’s Tower Wyoming
6. Empire State Building New York City, New York
7. French Quarter New Orleans, Louisiana
8. Gateway Arch St. Louis, Missouri
9. Gettysburg Battlefield Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
10. Glacier Bay Basin Alaska
11. Glacier National Park Montana
12. Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco, California
13. Grand Canyon Arizona
14. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Hawaii
15. Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood, Califonia
16. Las Vegas Strip Las Vegas, Nevada
17. Metropolitan Museum of Art New York City, New York
18. Mount Rushmore Keystone, South Dakota
19. Napa Valley California
20. Niagara Falls New York
21. Portland Head Lighthouse Portland, Maine
22. Redwood National Park California
23. Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado
24. Sears Tower Chicago, Illlinois
25. Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C.
26. Space Needle Seattle, Washington
27. Statue of Liberty New York City, New York
28. Times Square New York City, New York
29. White House Washington, D.C.
30. Walt Disney World Resort Orlando, Florida
31. Washington Monument Washington, D.C.
32. Yosemite National Park California
33. Zion National Park Utah

Americas

1. Andros Island Bahamas
2. Angel Falls Venezuela
3. Cave of Crystals Mexico
4. Christ the Redeemer Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
5. Galapagos Islands Ecuador
6. Iguazu Falls Argentina and Brazil
7. Lake Titicaca Peru
8. Macchu Picchu Peru
9. Mayan Pyramids of Chichen Itza Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
10. Pacific Rim National Park British Columbia, Canada
11. Teotihuacan Mexico

Europe

1. Alhambra Granada, Spain
2. Big Ben London, England
3. British Museum London, England
4. Canals of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands
5. Cathedral of Seville Seville, Spain
6. Cinque Terre National Park Italy
7. Colosseum Rome, Italy
8. Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh, Scotland
9. Eiffel Tower Paris, France
10. Grand Canal Venice, Italy
11. Great Mosque of Córdoba Córdoba, Spain
12. Las Ramblas Barcelona, Spain
13. Leaning Tower of Pisa Pisa, Italy
14. Louvre Museum Paris, France
15. Matterhorn Switzerland
16. Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, France
17. Pebble Beaches of Nice Nice, France
18. Puerta Del Sol Madrid, Spain
19. Rock of Gibraltar Gibraltar
20. Ruins of Athens Athens, Greece
21. Ruins of Pompeii Pompei, Italy
22. Sagrada Famila Barcelona, Spain
23. Sedlec Ossuary Czech Republic
24. Sistine Chapel Vatican City, Italy
25. St. Peter’s Basilica Vatican City, Italy
26. Stonehenge Wiltshire County, England
27. White Cliffs of Dover Dover, England
28. Winchester Cathedral Hampshire, England

Middle East

1. Dead Sea Israel/Jordan
2. Dome of the Rock Jerusalem, Israel
3. Grand Mosque in Mecca Saudi Arabia
4. Hagia Sophia Istanbul, Turkey
5. Petra Jordan
6. Wailing Wall Jerusalem, Israel

Africa

1. Mount Kilimanjaro Tanzania
2. Ngorongoro Crater Tanzania
3. Pyramids of Giza Egypt
4. Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

Asia / Pacific

1. Angkor Wat Angkor, Cambodia
2. Ayers Rock Australia
3. Bora Bora Polynesia
4. Easter Island Statues Polynesia
5. Forbidden City Beijing, China
6. Glowworm Cave New Zealand
7. Great Barrier Reef Queensland, Australia
8. Great Wall of China China
9. Kiyomizu-dera Kyoto, Japan
10. Kremlin Moscow, Russia
11. Mount Everest Nepal
12. Mount Fuji Japan
13. Petronas Twin Towers Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
14. Sydney Opera House Sydney, Australia
15. Taj Mahal Agra, India
16. Temple of the Golden Pavilion Kyoto, Japan
17. Tian Tan Buddha Hong Kong, China
18. Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, India

Update 4/3 My father tells me that I’ve been inside the White House age 7.

Update 4/14 Phil Dunn reminds me that I’ve been to Teotihuacan on the Buxton all-school trip.

Photo: Tommy Chase Lucas

Because I’ve been listening to it so much, I should mention this newish album by Grimes called Visions (Amazon). It’s quite good. Her earlier albums were a bit over my head.

I love this anecdote from Wikipedia:

In 2009, Boucher and her then-boyfriend from Tennessee constructed a 20-foot houseboat, named the “Velvet Glove Cast in Iron,” with the intention to sail it down the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to New Orleans. The cargo included chickens, a typewriter, 20 pounds of potatoes and a gifted copy of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Boucher and her companion adopted the names “Varuschka” and “Zelda Xox” for the trip. Due to engine trouble and subsequent harassment from the Minnesota police, the journey was cut short and the houseboat and chickens were impounded.

Also, the video for this song is worth watching.

Update If you’re near the 2nd Avenue stop in NYC this Friday, you should check out her art opening at Audio Visual Arts. From their site:

AVA seeks to breakfast shadow project theatre music film lecture happening record transmit lunch whittling office garden basement be kind develop front room vacant lot thoughtful exterior sound* motivation friend lasting encounter design holiday this that spirit purpose light vision dinner understand kolob vibe beauty document grotesque strength elderly youth private public here there you yes surround arrive now.

I’m seeing a certain synergy here, because she’s playing two shows at Mercury that night.

Update Oh and I know someone who’s going! Mooshiepoo, don’t even think of taking $200 for that ticket.

I went to Zimbabwe in January to see Victoria Falls. They are beautiful, the land is beautiful, the economic situation there is tragic.

ATMs dispense US dollars, because the local currency is worthless. If you buy something, you can expect the $1s and $5s you get back to be extremely worn and faded, but never torn, which I suppose is the result of a lot of very careful handling. The $10s and $20s are, on the other hand, pristine.