So Over It

I'm so over
tools:
and douche bags:There's a reason why I'm as cold as I am and I'll be even colder when the school year rolls back around.

Currently Listening to:
New Buffalo - Inside the Corrections

Deep into Ladytron

Velocifero

Helllllsssssss yeeeesssss!

Fleeting the City

I just returned home from vacationing in California this past week, and have decided that I will one day live in a Santa Monica beach house along the shore and volleyball nets. After a fun but stressful year, a week in the blazing sun mile-high palm trees was exactly what I needed.

Stepped off the plane onto Santa Monica beach:Lookah that sky:My house is that one in the middle:
That one, with all the sun:
Then we went to the Promenade:
There were tons of street performers:
Also went to Laguna Beach where small town galleries and artists seem to kick back and take it easy. Trey's forest house:
Beach down the street. We found a message in a bottle:
Laguna:
Citywalk indoor skydiving (it looked SO cool):
From the Observatory, after watching an awesome show in the planetarium about flying through the universe:
LA:
I wish I took more pictures but we also visited Hollywood and went to the BJ's of all music stores, Amoeba. We watched Ironman at the Cinerama after having dinner next to 2 very pretty trannies; they definitely had me fooled.

Jason took me bike-riding along Venice and Santa Monica with all the muscles and orange people. The beach culture there is really amazing; there were so many surfers, bikers, beach bums, beach volleyballers, etc. etc. The energy at the beaches was so positive and light and laid-back. The beaches were the best part of the trip (duh).

Now I'm back, in Queens, where I'll be staying for the rest of the summer until we find an apartment. Summer classes start on Tuesday but I look forward to them, as well as going to Shelter with the cutie patoodies.

Currently Listening to (non-stop):
Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut album is SO good.
Their previously released Sun Giant EP received such praise that they will undoubtedly have no trouble selling this album and their shows.

Fleet Foxes are a bunch of scruffy hippie musicians from Seattle who, though they play a more traditional form of music, play damn well. They're obviously influenced and inspired by 1960's and 1970's psychedelic rock but that's not necessarily a setback, since their vocals are perfectly harmonious and the instrumentals are impeccably in sync to form such a crisp and pleasant sound. Their music also contains the depth and echoing acoustics to make you feel overpowered, if listened to with good headphones.

Fleet Foxes is touring right now and will play a show at the Bowery Ballroom on July 9th, which I plan on attending. I can only imagine what Josh Tillman's voice sounds like in person. He also does some solo music on the side, and his latest album is called "Minor Works." Amazing.

Visiting Dodos

Today was the last day of class. We had our final critiques for Concepts and it went well. I have to say that this might have been the best year of school thus far. Both my fall and spring sections got along very well so it's been a really fun year (despite the incredible amount of work).

Biting Jessee's head:
Cubism/Yohji Yamamoto:
Alex's face, Raeana giggling, Caitlin being awkward:
Then we went to have lunch at the Olive Garden because we're classy:
SO cute:
As of 3:00PM I've been watching Nicktoons on the couch and uploading photos. My brain will not do more thinking than that. Love love loves. Then Saturday morning I'll be flying out to California until the 24th.

On Repeat:
Dodos' The Visiter has been on repeat for the past few weeks. Their unconventional play with conventional instruments can dub their sound similar to Animal Collective ("Feels"). I'm really attracted to their drummer; he's definitely one of more outstanding drummers of a band I've listened to in awhile. I've posted "Fools"and "Winter" on the music player below.

Loves loves.

MP3: Dodos - Fools

Little Tings

Olafur Eliasson is this Austrian artist who focuses on people's interaction with their environment. MoMA gave him the entire third floor to mess around with people's perceptions.

The corridor was bathed in yellow light with a frequency so high that it eliminates color perception; everything was in shades on yellow and brown:
A room full of spotlights on the ground, but some of them reflected off mirrors, confusing people as to which is an entryway and which is a mirror:A small hole-in-the-wall with surrounding mirrors:A room with a rotating sheet of glass and a spotlight that created the illusions of walls:A trickling waterfall with strobelights that made the drops seem like they're frozen in time:There are several other parts to this exhibition and going through all the them gave me a bit of a headache; it was THAT trippy. It was also very interesting and fun to see the tricks behind the tricks since the work was all exposed for the visitors to see. "Take Your Time" will be on display until June 30th.

So many good things going on:
Portishead released their third album, Third, after an 11 year break. It's more psychedelic rock than electronic this time around, but it's still very Portishead with Beth Gibbons' softly high-pitched voice. I admire them for thinking outside their signature sound. Most of their melodies can be considered experimental, like the track "Machine Gun," which starts off with a fast tempo beat.

M83's Saturdays = Youth sounds like a bittersweet ode to 80's new wave. Lots of long, echoing synth chords.

Also had a good weekend with friends:
Hung out with Trey and the boys Friday night. Planned on doing homework, that didn't happen.

It is Laaleh's birthday and we all sneaked into her apartment for a surprise birthday last night. Played Uno until 12AM. Homework didn't happen again.

Today I'm going to play with the babies. Still don't feel like doing homework.

School ends in a week and a half.

Currently Listening to:
The Ting Tings - Great DJ