joygantic

LCD Soundsystem

Last year Jason had raved about LCD Soundsystem, which is basically James Murphy + musicians, but I'd never gotten around to digging into their music.  Fast forward to last Saturday when I was preparing to travel, a standard part of which consists of looking on Rhapsody for new tunes.  The new album, Sound of Silver*, was being featured so I loaded it onto the handy dandy Sansa Rhapsody Player I so love and hopped on a plane the next day.  It's really good stuff: a collision of punk rock and dance music that perfectly melds organic energy, rough edges, and an unstoppable beat.  I listened to it over and over.

Yesterday morning I was in a cab leafing through the New York Times.  I love the NYT but the Friday edition?  Not so much.  It's weighted down with all sorts of event listings for things going on in New York and since I can't recall when I was last here on a weekend those listings just taunt me.  But there in the corner of one page: LCD Soundsystem, Bowery Ballroom, SOLD OUT.  Crap.  I dialed the concierge at my hotel to see if they could make some ticket magic happen and she told me she'd put "her girl" on it. I didn't really have much hope in this strategy; if I wanted to see The Lion King, though, I'm sure she'd of hooked me up right away.

I traded business cards with people, ate the chicken served at lunch, and listened to speakers call for the need for mobile advertising standards while I surreptitiously scanned Craigslist on my phone for available tickets.  No dice.  I resigned myself to a missed opportunity. 

But I couldn't help but check Craigslist one more time when I got back to my hotel.  There were no tickets for sale but I noticed somebody had posted asking for a ticket. But of course!  You don't get what you don't ask for!  So I posted: "WANTED: 1 TICKET FOR LCD SOUNDSYSTEM TONIGHT" and wouldn't you know it, three minutes later I had an email from Cara, who's boyfriend had fallen ill and had a spare ticket.  Turns out she moved to NYC just six months ago from Seattle, where she lived just down the block from where the Capitol Hill shootings occurred. 

Oh, and the show itself? One of the best--and most fun--live performances I've ever seen. My dear peeps on the West Coast . . . LCD Soundsystem is playing in SF on May 1st at Mezzanine and in Seattle on May 2nd at the Showbox.  Don't miss them.

*Listen to Sound of Silver for free--you just need the Rhapsody browser plugin.

33 is the Magic Number

My last full day off was 33 days ago.  It's been a fantastic, albeit exhausting, stretch but I've got 8 full hours of sleep under my belt, a magic ticket to a sold out show tonight, and time tomorrow to decompress with w visit to the gym, a nice brunch and a possible trip to MOMA before I hop on my evening flight out of NYC (upgraded!) tomorrow for a rendezvous with the beautiful Dia.  Tons of work in the pipeline (all good stuff) and a garden to plant and a massage to be had on Monday.  I'm looking forward to digging back into non-work goodness.  Yay!

Goldfish Living in a Deep Fat Fryer!

"A bit of verve"

Lots to share about the product launch we did--the reason I'm currently exhausted and itching for a day off--but I'm too tired at the moment for a full recap.  You can get the gist and read about the talk I did to day in this article in the leading mobile trade magazine . . . apparently I have "verve," "expounded," and "cracked wise."  I'll take that.

"Alex, I'll Take Silver Linings for $1,000"

That was Amani's line today at brunch when we were discussing the fact that a year ago something horrible happened in our community.  A couple of days later we met in the most messed up stressed out situation imaginable and then we did a project and now here, a year later we dear friends and memories of that fucked up weekend are coming back.

Update:  Anniversary articles from the Seattle Times and the Seattle P-I

Rachel Ray: The Money Shots

She's so approachable and expressive, how can you not love Rachel Ray?    Wait.  What I meant to say was that she grates on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard.

via

Our Neighbors Are Selling Their Houses

Here and here.

This is a very good thing.

The houses are in pretty bad shape but sit on adjacent lots which combine for a massive, nearly 11,000 square foot in-city lot. I expect they'll be torn down and we'll see triplexes go in.

Tired to the Bone

Exhausted and my attempt to sleep in failed miserably at around 6:45am. It's been quiet around here as I've been working on a bunch of stuff for next week.  I'm staring at a scary list of things I have to do today, and then tomorrow it's up at O'Dark Thirty to catch my flight to Orlando.  Until I looked at a map yesterday I was under the mistaken impression that Orlando was, like, on the beach or something.  Nope.

INT - CHENEY'S LAIR - AFTERNOON

Proving once again that one of our sharpest minds is Matthew Baldwin.

Balls

Ever have a conversation that just sticks with you and plants a perspective, often a metaphor, in your brain for ever more?

The most momentous one of these I can recall was a conversation with my dad, when I was very young, which created in a flash an awareness of the concept of "cause and effect."

Less momentous but more appropriate to my current mood is a conversation that I had years ago with my friend and then boss, Ian, on the subject of focus.  The metaphor was "moving the ball forward" and he quickly deduced that I was moving a lot of balls forward but some of the most important ones were not being moved forward enough.  That's stuck with me ever since. 

It's also the case that with a bit of perspective I realized that I was one of the balls that he was trying to move forward.    

This is one of those weeks when a lot of important balls need to be "moved forward" and a couple need to be prevented from rolling off the table.  As another mentor once counseled: "Don't drop the ball, just put it gently on the ground and walk away."

While metaphors can be dangerous, deceiving you into thinking that you understand something you don't, the ball metaphor works for me.  There's always a lot of balls to be juggled in my world--and obviously I like that or it wouldn't be such a constant--so my constant challenge is to make sure the right ones are being moved forward or gently set on the ground.