One Day

I'm going to have a coffee shop where writers, students, and general lost souls can scribble in their notebooks or read a book, and it will play music like this:

Daft Punk's Tron:Legacy OST

It's been a long time since I posted anything non-writing related, but I'm back on another of my music binges.

New York Mag's Vulture posted a 10 minute compilation video of Daft Punk's soundtrack for Tron: Legacy this morning. After an appropriate number of repeats, I sifted through the associated songs and found this set from scene 224.

This isn't my favorite song of those listed, but the stuttering back-beat, and what sounds like a shovel scraping against cement, really caught my ear. That sounds unappealing, I know, but press play and give it a chance to see what I mean.

Pop in a pair of earphones, and even with the volume down low, something about the balancing and production makes all of the sounds pop and pulse in the back of your head with crisp amplification. It's almost like you're sitting in a theater with the sound coming from behind you on a sub-woofered sound system. Impressive for lame Apple earbuds, no? Or rather, impressive on Daft Punk's part.

I'm sure these songs are so soothing to my ear because they mimic the pacing of a heartbeat. At least, I remember reading that that's part of what draws us into certain songs -- 808's and Heartbreaks! (Note: since fact-checking is for work, I refuse to do it when posting my own entries and cannot stand by the validity of this comment. Nyah!)

It's entirely possible that every other track sounds like this, but I only noticed that amphitheater effect here. In any event, the entire soundtrack is worth listening to -- particularly if you have a job that requires sitting at a desk everyday and get distracted listening to lyrics, like me!

Zis, my friends, is ze perfect in between.

Update:Unfortunately, Pitchfork Media is saying that these songs are fan-created, not Daft Punk created. Regardless, I still recommend them because they are wicked fun to listen to.

J-School and All Its Terrors

6 weeks in. And, as such, I am on deadline for my (can't remember how many-eth) 700 word story. It's my second story in my "beat," or in non-school slang, the neighborhood I'm covering for the entirety of first semester. One story per week, every week till Christmas. My writing better improve, or I will be one sorely upset cub journalist.

More descriptions to follow about j-school life and all the tumult that it entails, but since I'm on deadline and I only JUST figured out the angle for my story that's due at 9am AND I'd like to get a fair amount of sleep tonight, I'm just going to leave you with my pump up song for the entire week.

It's a rediscovered fav, a song I haven't heard in months but caught in a bar somewhere recently. It touched a nerve. Holler at your girl.

xoxo,
See

Kanye's New Single

Coldest Winter. It's heartbreaking. This album is going to sell like nobody's business. Vulnerability in a single dose from a man who has made his career on ego. It's so sad how fascinating that is.

For Your Ears

Tracks that deserve a little aural fixation:

T.I. -- Swagger Like Us (feat. M.I.A., Jay-Z, Kanye, and Lil' Wayne)

Ne-Yo -- Miss Independent (feat. Lil' Wayne, Kanye and Jay-Z).These boys love to work together. Talent magnetized to talent?

On a similar musical note, I am currently addicted to Pandora. I love the way it breaks down each song into its "musical genes." Like, R&B tones, syncopation, dissonance. It pulls out all the technical aspects of composition, puts it in layman's terms, and finds songs that have the same qualities and make-up as your suggested one. I was impressed that Pandora even managed to make up a Japanese channel off my "Utada" request. Well done, American company. Well done. They also have incredibly informative podcasts, if you're willing to take the time to listen. This one does a great job of breaking down dissonance and consonance, even if it is a little heavy on the technical music terminology.

I think I'd go crazy if I didn't have my music. Looks like your plan worked, Momma See.

Summer Loves

Watch: Mad Men. As if I even need to tell you about this, most likely
if you've watched any television, read any online news source, or
turned on any radio, you'll have heard what an amazing show this is.
Nominated for 17 Emmys (and already winners of 2
Golden Globes) this show is like intellectual crack. For a glimpse
into 1960's society (and, let's just put it out there, our current day
society) this show delves into all the stuff you didn't think possibly
existed, but did, and all the stuff you wish you knew more about, but
don't. It's painfully ambiguous in regards to relationships, pasts,
and futures -- and reflects so amazingly our reality that you can't
help but see a little bit of yourself in every character. Second
season premiered a little more than a week ago, hop on the bandwagon
already so you don't hear all the juicy spoilers ahead of time.

-- Sidenote: The Hills season 4 premieres on August 14th. I don't
watch it. I just, you know, read about it whenever I see an article
about it. Or, um, try to catch re-runs. Or, umm...whatever. It's a
cultural phenomenon. Don't judge me.

Listen: The latest addition to Timba's team, Izza Kizza, just dropped
his mixtape last Wednesday for free on his myspace page. While my
opinion of Girl Talk's Feed definitely improved over time, I'd say
that the first listen through of Kizza's album was on the same level
as my initial reaction to Night Ripper. HELL OF GOOD! My favorite
track so far is Don't Stop Go! but, each track grows on you the more
you listen to it. Zomg, the buttery hip-hop goodness even made me
groove at my desk. Embarrassing? Yes. Uncontrollable? Unfortunately.

Read: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. This is possibly the biggest
pop-culture drop that I've done in a long while (minus aforementioned
Hills premiere), but after her big appearance at Comic Con with juicy
tidbits about the film version's development, even I got suckered in.
Plus, it's August, and who wants to read about Vampires around
Halloween? That's so cliche. It's like the smutty romance novel you
don't want anyone to know that you're reading, but you can't detach
from your hand. I already read 200 pages, and I only bought it 36
hours ago. 18 of which I spent sleeping. Chew on that one. (Haha,
punny. I swear one day I'll recommend something of greater literary value.)

Buy: Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten at Steve and Barry's.
Everything is $8.98 (I'm not kidding) from jeans, to dress pants, to
tshirts. The line is surprisingly well-tailored, and while the
material is not the greatest (and I have yet to see how it handles
wear and tear) there is something incredible about slipping on a pair
of jeans that costs lest than $10 and watching them hug in all the
right places, and fall to just the right length. Plus, I can attest to the fact that their cotton tshirts can even withstand a sturdy round in the dryer and maintain its general shape and form even though you meant to hang dry it so it would never shrink.

Pop-culture overload brought to you by endless hours of internets and
lazy summer weekends. Gotta love it.

Sick Beats Never Felt So Good

As Girl Talk's newest album. Feed the Animals dropped today, and in typical "I'm an awesome Artist" style, Gillis has made the album acquirable from donations of any amount (including 0).

Jury's out on whether this mix is better than Night Ripper, but I hate to say that from what little listening I've done so far, it's pretty good, but not as good. I'll have to wait till I've heard it on speakers. It gets pretty badass a little later, probably closer to 7-8 minutes in on the seamless mix -- which is opposite from Night Ripper in my opinion. NR starts out really strong, gradually loses steam through the middle, and ends a bit weak.

Anyone want to go to GT concert? If we combine our powers for good, maybe we can get tickets this time before they sell out immediately.

Oh Me, Oh May

So many movies, so much music, so many life changes. Wait, those don't really relate, do they?

My absolute favorite part of traveling is, funny enough, the time in between places. Especially after work started, I rarely find time to journal. After regularly journeying from coast to coast, I always found my most soothing and contemplative moments squished into a center seat somewhere in Cattle Class; which is probably why I knee-jerk to pulling out my moleskin as soon as I've snapped my seatbelt into place. Maybe it's because I don't have the option of wi-fi. Actually, that's likely. Or, maybe it's because I just plug my music in and do nothing but put a pen on paper. No distractions, and no necessity to conduct inane conversation with the person next to me. Or, is it because leaving familiarity gives me a sense of freedom and quiet honesty? Probably some of the first unfiltered honesty I'll experience with myself in however long its been since my last trip. I'm always more creative, more adventurous, more alert and less inhibited when I'm not around everything that I know. But, isn't that everyone? That's what studying abroad was -- what happens in ______ stays in _______, right? What you think about on the plane, stays on the plane? Or, it trails behind you like cans on the Just Married car, clinking against the concrete, reminding you to take some time and untangle everything before you return home dragging that beat up metal crap. How quaintly existential of you, See. That was actually just a vague gesture at explaining why I've been a lazy bum and haven't posted in three weeks. But, you just got to Seattle, how can you possibly have been that busy before all this?

Oh, well just you wait for the daring exploits and tales of the city about our intrepid soon-to-be living in Nob Hill trio. Close read that one.

Upcoming topics for discussion:

1. Sex and the City. Three days till Thursday's premiere. I hope against all hope that it won't be the train wreck that Indy was last week, which might have been a better movie if I was deaf. Or blind. Or in a coma. I'll broach that later.

2. Gossip Girl (TV and Book version!) Reading the book at 23 makes me think Cecily von Zeigesar is a master of satire and irony. Thinking about how I would have read it at 14 makes me want to never have children. Or at least, if I do, sit down and have the birds and bees talk when they turn 8. No, wait, 4 1/2.

3. Summer albums are dropping everywhere we look. Usher. Coldplay. Chris Brown. Movin' mountains won me over since Raymond's hearkening back to his origins -- angsty love song ballades. For his upbeat siiiccckkk club sound: Play Me. (No pun intended...ish). Viva la Vida is going to be another Coldplay classic -- props to the group for integrating classical sounds with current day pop. They did it oh so long ago, but the best part is how they've kept it going. R.I.P. The Verve. Chris Brown, well, need I mention Forever? But, that's so 6 weeks ago. His now it song is Last 2 Know.

4. Rogan for Target's GO International line. Till June 28th. Saharan prints. Trendy. Cheap. Go buy it.

Till I'm back from my travels up north and more capable of structuring and writing a coherent entry, here's a little current music joy to partake of:

Clazziquai - Lover Boy

Really, music is sometimes so much better when you don't have to worry about insipid lyrics. Here's looking at you, Chris Brown. Also, see Clazziquai's song "Romeo N Juliet" which will pop up in the menu, on the far right, after this song finishes playing. They sucker me in with their Jazz sounds. Tricksters.

Bump, Bump, Bump

I'm currently on a huge House/Techno music kick for some unknown reason. Although, if I can get my hands on this french album Le Bapteme by M (Mathieu Chedid) then there will be a quick deviation. However, until then, here are some joyful songs:

JJ Flores & Steve Smooth - Being in Love
Stellar Projekt feat. Brandi E - Get Up, Stand Up
Plumb - In My Arms
Gravity Rainbow Van She Remix - Klaxons

Yes, Plumb. Don't ask me how she went from pop to house, but she did. For a taste of the French album, see below post!

Thank G-d Someone Noticed

Pianists are getting way out of control with their onstage showboating. (cough, Lang Lang, cough) So, thankfully, someone started talking about it. I don't have much patience for it -- a reason I've never gone to see Lang Lang in concert, and why I will vouch for Yundi Li even though he's an @$$ offstage -- but it's nice to see that Bernard Holland at the nytimes took note. <3 nytimes, <3 Bernard Holland. Musicians these days are so talented, and they're discovering and making use of that talent earlier and earlier; but, zomg do some of them not understand stage presentation. I have the utmost respect for well nuanced pieces, but like Holland makes reference to -- how can you expect to create the type of nuance needed for difficult pieces if you're too busy doing the macarena on stage? And I say this having gone through an awkward phase of "stage movement" after a summer with a bad teacher, so this isn't some unfounded critique of the musicians. You might be able to fake it well enough through overly bravado-ed passages of Liszt or Brahms, but you won't get very far in with subtle phrasing and color playing Chopin's Nocturnes or Ravel's Jeux d'eau rolling around on your bench like a playful river otter.

Rant, rant, rant. Nostalgic/happy post to come later!

Singing in the Shower...

Is definitely one of God's kind gifts. Now, granted I have the glory of my own shower to revel in this opportunity, but that doesn't mean I won't still advocate that everyone, young and old, personal bathroom shower and res-hall shower(s), share in the joy despite their surroundings! Just don't blame me if you get yelled at. *insert non-committal smile here*

I haven't posted in awhile (cause at the moment I enjoy my day jobs and actually have some modicum of "work place respect" -- check back in a month, that may have changed) but I come blazing back with my recommended shower tunes for your enjoyment as V-day rounds the corner. Coupled or single, optimistic or cynical, belting these melodies at the top of your lungs makes all your woes fall to the wayside.

Classics:

Journey -- Don't Stop Believing
Tom Petty -- Free Falling
Neil Diamond -- Sweet Caroline

Fun New Stuff:

Fall Out Boy -- The Take Over, The Breaks Over
Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown -- No Air
David Guetta -- Love Is Gone

And, as a general not necessarily shower add-on, Timbaland's Shock Value still really whips booty. It's been almost a year since the album was released, and that man has still got me hooked. If you've tuned into a radio at all in the last couple months, you know Apologize is still running strong (read: overplayed). But there's a reason for it, and the rest of the album is pretty much of similar quality. Be sure to check out Bounce, One and Only, and Time. The last of which can be repetitive, but is perfect for running and working out.

If you know what I do daily -- cause let's be honest, I don't really want to put a name to the blog -- keep your eyes peeled for new pieces coming out soon. (Chinese New Year and V-day related) Wheeee exciting!

. : simple little stuff : .

Today is a day of simple pleasures. Perhaps this is my attempt at remaining "zen" as my curious away message stated yesterday, but indulging in the little stuff has been incredibly satisfying for some reason.

Here's my list of little stuff that kept bouncy and smiling. Hopefully at least one thing on here makes you smile too:

1. Good Music -- Feist is fabulous. She has such a laid back jazzy sound that is just so conducive to the fall weather that's beginning to settle over the Bay Area. Both albums, The Reminder and Let It Die have kept me pleasantly relaxed and calm. So far she's been accompanying me while I write/read/work and not while I drive, but I have a feeling she'll be good in any setting. (Thanks to D-Ha for the albums). Also, I need to get my hands on some French Jazz, because Feist's "L'amour Ne Dure Pas Toujours" or Love Does Not Last Forever makes me miss French terribly and remember why I always thought it sounded prettier than English.

2. Postsecret -- This blog, which I will perma-link on my sidebar from now on, appeals to my emo-artsy side. People from all over the world send homemade postcards to this guy in Maryland with an anonymous admission of some secret. The postcards are very creative, and all convey some idea that people don't feel comfortable saying out loud or confronting. Not to say that I think people shouldn't confront their problems, but I suppose in some way this allows them to do that, and if you feel this helps you then that makes me smile. This postcard isn't my favorite, but if I posted the ones I felt most deeply, I'd be revealing some secrets about myself now wouldn't I?

3. Fun New Gadgets -- in the form of new headphones and a cordless optical mouse. Since Big Bro has mysteriously misplaced my old mouse, I was forced to purchase a new one. I promptly felt dated and out of it when I realized that cordless mice are now the way to go. Apparently I'm 5 years behind in mice technology, since I actually asked if there was any lag time. The last time I hung out with someone who used a cordless mouse (because, surprisingly enough in college most people I know only used regular mice) they were brand new, jumpy, and had lag. Silly, outdated, fuddy-duddy See, cordless mice don't have any of those problems now.

4. Cafés - In particular, Douce France in Palo Alto. Some really delectable panini-like sandwiches, cute little pastries (heart-shaped cookies with strawberry filling!) and damn good coffee. If you're a Proscuitto fan like myself, I recommend the Angelo sandwich. I get cravings for this place all the time. Good thing I make a point to go there once a week. Oh, it also reminds me a little bit of Panaficio with how homey and comfortable it is. Add to that the free wireless internet they have and begin rejoicing, if you're an Internet junky like myself who enjoys good food.

5. Laughing with friends and family. Laughing makes people happy, laugh more, it's good stuff.

Ok, that last one was "hokey" as Big Bro puts it. My excuse for today is being rushed. Got to scamper off and run errands, so unfortunately this entry was cut short.

Quickly, though, in response to Mr. Tim and Mr. Maietta's comments on yesterday's post, yes, heart disease is a big deal. Thank you, both, for expounding on the benefits of alcohol to my heart even if it may slightly raise my chances of getting breast cancer. You have ensured that I will enjoy a life of intoxication and inebriation. Justtt kidding. Ha. But seriously, check out their comments on yesterday's post as both included good information about heart disease and the benefits of alcohol.