Wednesday, April 22, 2009

An Earth Day Haiku

Happy Earth Day!


Sigiriya, Sri Lannka

Our greenest moments
Pausing, breathing, living now
In awe of Earth’s hum

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A Bit of Bushwick Street Art

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Monday, April 20, 2009

Brooklyn Flea is back!

I wish the above photo better illustrated the sort of terror a group of guys toting brass instruments can create in the makeshift aisles of a crowded outdoor flea market but the idea of busting out my camera somehow slipped my mind as we tried and tried to evade them on opening day of the Brooklyn Flea Market on Saturday.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for live music but on a sweltering day, as I make my way through an antiques/craft maze, searching for hidden treasures, it's about as enjoyable as giving my cat a bath.

Here's to hoping the band was just a bonus for opening weekend.

Also new this year is the addition of the Red Hook food vendors' infamous Pupusa Truck.

I'm torn here too. Pupusas are ridiculously tasty but the line to get them stretched halfway across the crowded courtyard.

Perhaps also a special treat for opening weekend? Or at least until the ball fields are back in business for the 2009 season? The Pupusa Truck can't be in two places at once, can it?

One thing's for sure -- it's starting to feel a lot like Summer!

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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Mustache sidewalk!

Where else? Williamsburg. I wonder where it came from... Perhaps the Funky Face Disguises vending machine?

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Through The Lens: Eldridge Street


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Friday, April 17, 2009

Brooklyn Flea Opens!!!!!




This Sat., April 18 with 3 free gifts if you can find them in this scavenger hunt!

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Friday, April 10, 2009

Dear MTA, you suck.



yeah, as much as I entertain the thought of moving elsewhere I think about NY's public transport and feel relieved. As of late, not so much . . . even though $103/month still comes out cheaper than destroying the earth + car insurance, but c'mon, MTA, help a sister out!

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Sunday, April 5, 2009

Ladyhawke lights up Bowery

The night was Tuesday, March 24; the spot was Bowery ballroom. And while many of my friends were packing up and getting ready to hit Miami for some Winter Music mayhem, I was checking out New Zealand pop star Ladyhawke.

After opener Hearts Revolution finished up (and my ears stopped ringing -- they were loud,) we waited for Ladyhawke to take the stage. As we did so, my throat began to dry up and I noticed a smokey aroma in the room. Apparently, a nearby building caught on fire and the deadly fumes were infiltrating the venue.

We waited a good 45 minutes until they decided to crank up the A/C to clear out the smoke and it was deemed safe for the show to go on.

Clad in a Nirvana t-shirt, Ladyhawke took the stage and proceeded to belt out her roller skating rink-style jams for about an hour. Highlights included "Paris is Burning" and an encore performance of "My Delirium."

Overall, it was a great show, well worth the after effects of smoke inhalation that plagued me in the days to come. If Ladyhawke swoops into your town, I highly recommend checking her out.

Note - I was disappointed when I didn't spot Brett or Jemaine anywhere in the audience. Come on New Zealand, represent! Also, I think Flight of the Conchords is conjuring up an unrealistic idea of what New Zealand is like in my mind, one where it's a tiny farming country and everyone knows each other.

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Ellen's got the power!

The Friday before last turned out to be a night of epic going out proportions as I paraded myself from the East Village to Gowanus and eventually to Greenpoint's Studio B.

We stopped by one of my favorite new venues, The Bell House, for the record release party of Brooklyn's Obits. I thought they played a solid set but some people in my crew longed for their smaller previous performances and found the sound problematic.

Studio B boasted a killer lineup featuring Gui Boratto, whose last album Take My Breath Away I highly recommend, and label owner, clothing designer, producer extraordinaire and general badass DJ, Ellen Allien.

Gui went on shortly after we got there. His set lasted well over an hour, almost 90 minutes in fact, and while it was good, it got a little old.

Ellen opened up with a Burial-esque number called "Rusty Nails" by Moderat (Modeselektor and Apparat) whose self-titled first album will be released on her Bpitch Control label later this month. (Catch Modeselektor in one of their few North American dates at Webster Hall next month.)

She proceeded to play real, actual records for the next two hours. It was refreshing to watch someone dig through crates, beat match by ear and mix just like in the old days - with no computer in sight!

My only complaint is that she played one song twice. And it wasn't a filler record but a rather memorable number that sampled Snap!'s "The Power" in big buildup, blowup style. Maybe the raver bouncing around behind her throughout her entire set in the DJ booth distracted her?

We also saw a girl get kicked out for climbing on a speaker. Twice. Oh Studio B... Good times!

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Thursday, April 2, 2009

Certainty Shelter



My job is a little crazy. (OK, it's a LOT crazy.) But one of my favorite things about that madness is the circle of fascinating and talented people I've met and get to work with everyday there.

Today, following the perennial sh*itstorm that was my day, the coworkers and I set out to Canada art gallery in the vicinity of Chinatown to check the opening of my boss's solo show entitled "Luke Murphy - Certainty Shelter."

With the use of three Geiger counters pointed at a vase filled with Uranium, Murphy creates "perfectly random" radioactive bleeps which translate into aural beeps and moving visuals projected onto three walls in a dark room.

The result is strangely hypnotic and most definitely the kind of thing Murphy could bank with if he got into the business of setting up chill out rooms for raves.

Check out some videos I took here or check it out in person at Canada gallery. The show is up until May 3rd.

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"New York is like a big pahr-ty, because music everywhere you can dance"


The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London on Vimeo.

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