Aloha from Waikiki

 Wanderlust   

Yay. I made it to Honolulu in one piece....the travel gods smiled upon me and I didn’t have a seat mate on the way here so I got to sprawl out and got some sleep. And somehow I am still tired. But whatevs. I was stoked to get an upgraded room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (read tourist central) and this is my view.

I am off to go exploring in Waikiki before having dinner at the Top of Waikiki....check out the live feed from the dining room here.

Aloha!

I heart NOLA

 Shutterbug    Wanderlust   

It’s the greatest thing you’d ever imagine but you’ll never know until you’re there*

It had been way too long since I had been in NOLA. Coming for the Voodoo festival was genius because it allowed for time to do other things while I was there. I won’t go into all the details but I can sum it up in five points as to why I heart NOLA…

5. The city is a photographer’s dream. Cool, old buildings, awesome people watching and surprises at every turn.
4. People who stay in NOLA love their town and they treat people that appreciate their town with that same love.
3. You can hear live music everywhere in NOLA - often times, it is a random group of musicians on the street corner, but none of it sucks, I promise.
2. I don’t think you can have a bad meal in NOLA. I went on a tour de muffaletta and also visited one of my old favorites, The Alpine, for a decadent last-night-in-NOLA meal. Even the liquor store down the street from our hotel served awesome fried chicken!
1. You can get your alcohol to go in a plastic cup anywhere in the French Quarter.

So a few photos and then I’m calling it a night…

(Minnie and Ox at Napoleon House with a Pimm’s Cup for two)
I was soooo stoked that practically every bar served Pimm’s.

We spent a couple of nights at the Pirate’s Alley Cafe drinking Absinthe and Pimm’s. Jill, our bar wench, was totally awesome. Many props to Matty for directing me towards this awesome bar.

(St. Louis Cathedral from the Natchez)

(Domino Sugar Factory from the Natchez)

(site of the Battle of New Orleans from the Natchez)

We went on the steamboat Natchez for a tour on the Mississippi. I’ve been on this tour a few times and I don’t get tired of it. Of course, the scenery has changed somewhat, but that is to be expected. It’s still a great way to get some history about the area and to see some really cool stuff on the Mississippi.

(New Orleans Courthouse)
Walking around the Vieux Carre is the best. I should have taken more photos but I was on sensory overload. I’ll have to make a list of things to photograph the next time I am there (which will be sooner than later for sure.)

*lyrics are from Pas De Cheval by Panic at the Disco

P.S. Of course, I yelped my way through NOLA. You can check out my reviews here.
P.P.S. The rest of the photos are here.

Adventures in Ft. Wayne Indiana

 Shutterbug    Wanderlust   

I know, I go to the most random places for work. But sometimes, these little towns really surprise me and I actually enjoy my time there. Ft. Wayne, Indiana was one of those towns. I met my friends/co-workers from TX and we stayed downtown in the Hilton for the week. I didn’t really have time for sightseeing, but we kept driving past these cool old buildings so I walked around this morning before I left and took photos.

I loved the County Courthouse. It takes up a whole block and I got photos of three sides of it.

(south side)

west side)

Across from the courthouse was the Tower building.

This building reminded me of buildings in NY - with the art deco entrances.

This was the block across the street from the hotel. Every single one of those buildings were in the National Register of Historic Places.

Not surprised that there were a ton of churches in Ft. Wayne - from my hotel window I could see this one - The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

More photos here.

I also yelped some of the fine establishments in Ft. Wayne. Check out the list here.

Texas State Fair 2008

 Wanderlust   

I went to the Texas State Fair today with my friend from Houston that is in Dallas with me this week. We had a lot of fun so I thought I’d write you a little photo essay.

(A little history)

I’m a total architecture geek, so I had a lot of fun taking photos of the buildings.

(The Women’s Museum)

(The Automobile Building)

(Cotton Bowl Entrance)

(TX Hall of State)

Yes, there was cheesy fair stuff. Like Big Tex.

(Big Tex with the Tower Building)

And floats.

And a multi-media display.

Of course, there was food. We used our handy dandy food locator to pick our poison.

(Chicken Fried Bacon)

We had to try the Chicken Fried Bacon:
Thick and peppery Farm Pac® bacon is seasoned, double-dipped in a special batter and breading and deep-fried. Served with a creamy side of ranch or honey mustard sauce.

It was okay. Almost reminded me of pork rinds.

And the Fire and Ice and Fried Cookie Dough:
Fire & Ice – A pineapple ring is battered and deep-fried, then topped with banana-flavored whipped cream that’s been frozen in liquid nitrogen. The smoking concoction is ladled with strawberries and syrup.

My favorite fried food was the Fried Dinner Roll (which I did’t take a photo of?)
A savory dinner roll lusciously filled with cream cheese and covered with a sweet batter, placed on a stick and deep fried to perfection.

There is so much to see and do, you really can’t fit it in over the course of a couple of hours. But I would definitely go back again. It gets a big TX Star in my book.

The End.

Radio in the Sky

 Rawk Radio    Wanderlust   

I’ve been home for more than a week but as soon as I got back, I had my work schmoozefest (Dan Rather as our keynote speaker and the annual William Hung party - he sang “Achy Breaky Heart”!!!) So I spent zero time thinking about writing. But now that things are relatively back to normal, I can wipe the cobwebs off and get back to my life.

I took my regular flight home on AA and spent some time with the Paste Beat (when I wasn’t napping and watching Kung Fu Panda.) Here is the playlist with some comments.

The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
You guys are missing out if you’re not hip to these guys already.
Van Morrison - Lover Come Back
Interesting pick for an indie rock audience.
Johnny Flynn - The Box
This reminded me of Dave Matthews Band in the “Crash” era.
Elvis Costello - No Hiding Place
Hayes Carll - It’s a Shame
Donovon Frankenreiter - Life Love & Laughter
American Princes - Watch As They Go
Javelins - Out On The Sand
I didn’t take notes on the previous 5 songs. Most likely they didn’t stand out enough for me to care.
Charlotte Sometimes - AEIOU
I love it. It’s chick power pop punk a la Paramore.
Brian Tarquin - Jack Hammer
Another odd programming choice. An instrumental guitar piece that was very prog rock.
Taylor Barton - Rio Grande
This was a breathy vocals romantic like singer-songwriter chick.
KJ Denhert - Lucky 7
Tom Principato - In the Middle of the Night
Buddy Guy - Skin Deep
Song and Wager - Let Me Let You Go
Constantines - Hard Feelings
Another gap in my notes. The Constantines song was also on last month’s playlist.
Judith Owen - Creatures of Habit
Another pop-tinged singer-songwriter chick.
Joshua James - New Love Song
Wasn’t expecting a chick on vocals for this one. (ed. note - Rosey pointed out that this is a dude. Very possible that I mixed this up with the one before.)
Tim Fite - Big Mistake
Another holdover from last month’s playlist. Still alt-country.
Wild Sweet Orange - Ten Dead Dogs
I was happy to see this on the list. I really love this band.
Windsor For the Derby - Maladies
This was one of those easy breezy indie pop songs.
Haley Bonar - Big Star
Another alt-country-ish song but with chick vocals. I’d say think Gillian Welch on this one.
Eef Barzelay - Lose Big
The radio host noted that this was produced by someone in Ben Folds camp. Not that it made a difference. If the note was to make you think this sounded like Ben Folds, the comparison is off.
Earlimart - Song For
This was a welcome upbeat song after a few bummers.
Brooke Waggoner - Young Friend
More of a jazzy feel to this - especially with the piano work.
Goldfrapp - Satin Chic
This was better the second time around - I thought it was boring last month but this time, it was fine. Better sequencing I think.
The Black Keys - Strange Times
This was weird after the Goldfrapp, but no worries, it was Black Keys.
Nena Dinova - Clouds
A Saddle Creek band that I should pay more attention to.
Mates of State - My Only Offer
Yay. I love this song. I also heard it on the piped in music when I was at Old Navy in Dallas. I don’t know if that should scare me, but whatevs, I think it is cool that they are getting some exposure.
The Raconteurs - You Don’t Understand Me
I liked this better last month when it was after Black Keys.
Tilly and the Wall - Alligator Skin
I’ve been listening to this record a ton. It’s awesome.
Izza Kizza - Red Wine
Another song from last month - still good hip hop on the second spin.
Calvin Harris - Acceptable in the 80s
Totally retro 80’s vibe.
The Verve - This Is Music
The new Verve is the old Verve. Good or bad? You decide.

I’m not flying American this month - my TX trip is to Houston on Continental. Same type of plane though so if they have some sort of indie/alt rock radio station, I’ll review then.

I’d also like to get back to writing a radio playlist post or two but who knows how that will go. I’ve got a pile of promos to catch up on and I’ll be in L.A. this weekend to catch NIN at the Forum. So we shall see.

MMJ cancels their Vegas show

 Rawk Shows    Wanderlust   

Grr. According to this myspace blog, My Morning Jacket has cancelled their Vegas show....

“Please note that the September 24th date in Las Vegas at The Joint Inside Hard Rock Hotel and Casino has been canceled due to a casino scheduling conflict, and unfortunately will not be rescheduled on this tour. Anyone holding advance purchase tickets may return them for refund at the point of sale.”

There goes my back-to-back MMJ shows. Which means I have a Southwest flight and a hotel to cancel. But that also means I can do the back to back Kings of Leon shows instead. (Saturday 10/11 in Vegas and Sunday 10/12 here.) Rawk.

Update: Okay, getting a ticket to the Kings of Leon show and changing my flight on SW was a piece of cake. But I usually stay at my timeshare in Vegas and they are booked. Ack, I hate it when I have to do shit outside of my comfort zone. My flight is pretty early the next morning, I could just wing it and not get a room and stay up all night....

Update #2: Staying at a Doubletree near the airport for less than $100. They shuttle you to and from the airport and to the strip, so I save $$ on cab fare. Plus I get double Hilton points. I feel much better.

Radio in the Sky

 Rawk Tunes    Wanderlust   

I wrote one of these posts the last time I took this particular flight from DFW to SAN. I actually have scheduled my next few return trips on this flight just so I could listen to this mix. (Well, kinda. It’s more of a preference for the plane, but the on-line entertainment was a contributing factor.) For full disclosure, I want to let you guys know what is up with the mix. I was trolling my referrals one day and noticed that my previous post was quoted in a marketing reference promoting the placement of songs onto this mix. So these labels are actually paying for the privilege to be on this mix. Honestly, can’t blame them for doing it. They are getting the exposure in Paste and to a ton of potential new listeners that take these flights. Marketing for the new world we live in, I guess.
Dr. Dog - The Ark
An indie blogger nation fave and a great start to the set.
Rachel Sierra Project - One Last Hit
Rachel Sierra Project - Problems (Book O’Love)
Upbeat with a bit of a jazzy feel to it.
(The next three artists are all on the same label – Shangri-La)
The Duke Spirit - Step and the Walk
Another band that I already like.
Neimo -Echoing Pixels
French dance pop that sounds more like an L.A. band.
Trevor Menear - Reason To Leave
Bluesy singers-songwriter vibe.
(Another pair of label mates – Saddle Creek)
Neva Dinova - Clouds
I’ve been meaning to buy this album.
Tokyo Police Club - In a Cave
Nice that Saddle Creek is spending some coin to get the word out about these guys.
Ace Young - Addicted
Another upbeat song – this time more soul tinged.
Goldfrapp - Satin Chic
I don’t know. I’m kinda done with these types of songs. Yawn.
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
Hot Chip - Touch too Much
Every time I hear “ready for the floor” I just want to dancedance. The second track wasn’t nearly as good.
Pop Evil - Hero
”crunchy guitars bringing back the Seattle scene of the 90’s” = perfect for active rock radio.
The Night Marchers - Whose Lady R U
Of course, this rocks hard, but it also has that retro background vocal going on.
Constantines - Hard Feelings
The host called them scenesters and used the term “infectious hooks” when describing this. Uh huh.
Gnarls Barkley - Surprise
I still haven’t really given this album a good spin. I don’t think it’s gonna happen.
Greg Laswell - Sweet Dream
The host called him a “troubadour”.
Tim Fite - Big Mistake
Alt country-ish.
Black Mountain - Queens Will Play
Very layered music with breathy chick vocals
My Brightest Diamond - Inside a Boy
More of the chick chill vibe.
(The host introduced the next two as a “blues set”. )
The Black Keys - Strange Times
Can’t go wrong throwing some Black Keys in.
The Raconteurs - You Don’t Understand Me
Ditto about the Raconteurs.
The Verve - This Is Music
I like that they are back. Though if I didn’t know better I would have thought this was Coldplay.
Izza Kizza - Red Wine
A little hip hop in the set. But not the kind that sucks. The kind that hearkens back to the good stuff like De La Soul.
Mates of State - My Only Offer
Really weird transition, but you should know by now that I dig on Mates of State.
The Boxmasters - The Poor House
Billy Bob Thornton’s band. Surprising enough, not a bad listen.
The Watson Twins - How Am I to Be
This is growing on me.
Tilly and the Wall - Alligator Skin
I’ve been digging on this whole album
Electric Six - Improper Dancing
And oldie but goody to keep the dance vibe going.
Calvin Harris - Acceptable in the 80s
Another hipster dance favorite.