2007

It's that time of the year where all the hipsters decide on who listened to better music this year.

Albums:

1. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
3. The National - Boxer
4. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
5. Radiohead - In Rainbows
6. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
7. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
8. Sondre Lerche - Phantom Punch
9. Blonde Redhead - 23
10. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature

Songs:

1. Arcade Fire - Intervention
2. Jens Lekman - Postcard to Nina
3. The National - Apartment Story
4. The Shins - Turn On Me
5. Radiohead - Bodysnatchers
6. Editors - The Weight of the World
7. Interpol - Pioneer to the Falls
8. Blonde Redhead - The Dress
   
9. Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
   
10. Feist - 1234

Shows:

1. 3/20/07, Explosions in the Sky @ Webster Hall (NYC) note: this one might be a little biased :)
   
2. 10/27/07, Jens Lekman @ Webster Hall (NYC)
3. 05/08/07, Arcade Fire/The National @ United Palace Theatre (NYC)
4. 03/14/07, The Shins/Viva Voce @ The Theatre at MSG (NYC)
   
5. 09/21/07, Metric/Crystal Castles @ Webster Hall (NYC)
   
6. 07/15/07, Of Montreal @ Pitchfork (Chicago)
   
7. 01/20/07, Exit Clov @ Black Cat (DC)
   
8. 08/03/07, LCD Soundsystem @ Lollapalooza (Chicago)
9. 10/06/07, Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem/Blonde Redhead/Les Savy Fav @ Randall's Island (NYC)
10. 04/07/07, Sondre Lerche @ Webster Hall (NYC)
    

road trip

We went to Virginia for Thanksgiving weekend on a whim. I forgot to take pictures so I will list interesting things that were encountered:

• There are way too many shitty McDonald's everywhere. But who doesn't know that already.
• Mikey did not fall asleep on the way down (very impressive!). But was knocked out for 95% of it on the way back.
• Jesus was everywhere.
  
• Puppy weiner dog fell asleep on his lap for two hours straight. Cutest thing evar!
• Futons on the floor are pretty comfortable. I wish I could say the same for a shared twin air mattress.
  
• I found out that I like sweet potato pie.
• It is way too easy to over eat in the south.
• I still don't quite understand how he doesn't have a southern accent.
  

this post about picking apples really needs a cute title

what do you do when you're craving tastydelicious apples?

YOU GO APPLE PICKING, THAT'S WHAT YOU DO.

first, though, you pass a bunch of dunkin' donuts and miss your turn somewhere in new jersey and consult the map. before you get lost, you pass the plant detective. then you turn around, pass some dunkin' donuts again, and get back on track. when you get to the apple farm, you pay a dollar and get a bag for twenty-five cents. (before you exit your vehicle, you finish eating lunch and a brownie. you save room for apples, though.)

you eat lots of apples to ensure that a particular tree is, indeed, producing tastydelicious apples. it's just good quality control.




the apple trees are in rows and labeled by kind. you find certain kinds seem to be more popular than others, so you gotta knock down apples from waaaaaaay above-like with other apples. some guy complains that all the apples "taste awful". you dismiss him as being a giant douchebag.

before you leave, you check out the pumpkin patch.




and try to pick up a huge pumpkin in a show of strength.




but soon your strength is sapped, and the pumpkin triumphs.




filling up your apple bag, you go to the weighing/checkout barn and learn that the apple farm's ATM was stolen yesterday. who the fuck does that? wondering if there's a roving gang of apple farm cash machine thieves out there somewhere, you contemplate how easy it would be to steal one of the little pumpkins from the front of the apple farm. you figure the ATM theives probably thought the same thing.

the drive home takes you past a sign marked "diner: a restaurant". is it a place to eat, or a documentary film? you don't have time to stop and find out: you've got apples to get home.

he's sneaky!

Two weekends ago, Mikey and I were out with Dan and Katie. As we were walking from one tourist infected area of the city to another we passed by Lush. As soon as I mentioned I had never been inside, Katie immediately turned us around leading the four of us back towards the store.

Like any other girl I like my overpriced soaps and bath products (but at least these are handmade from real ingredients!) As I was picking up various soaps to smell them I would make an either I love it or a oh hell that's awful comment. I ended up not buying anything, despite seeing things I wanted.

Fast forward to last friday. I picked Mikey up from the train station and he handed me the Lush bag shown here. To my surprise, everything I said I loved was in the bag. That sneaky bastard was taking pictures of things I liked with his iPhone! Also, I should mention that he had to go to 3 different stores before he found one that was open at 8:30 pm. Aww. :)

/sappycute post

hauling her cute ass around the city, a prologue

submitted below for perusal by interested parties is the current, unordered list of activities and events in which to be indulged upon dr candy's return to the new york area. thank you for your participation in this program.

1. return trip(s) to serendipity3.
2. an adventure to sundaes & cones, the most aptly named place in the city.
3. arcade fire & lcd soundsystem @ uh, somewhere. mikey forgot where.
4. ben harper @ radio city, assuming mikey can get over his aversion to getting anally irrigated by ticketmaster.
5. central park picnics! wooo
6. six flags (no seriously this time, it's all planned out with people)
7. koronet.
8. lots of flickring around the city.
9. attempting to duplicate popeye's biscuits.
10. more museum days! WE JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH PHARAOHS PEOPLE
11. maybe coney island one day? whatdoyathink, candy?
12. chelsea market, home of the fat witch bakery.
13. ice cream run scavenger hunt!
14. watching every john cusack movie we haven't seen.
15. shake shack (hopefully on some sort of chocolate custard day!)
16. flipping through every used record shelf on st mark's.
17. dinner and dessert evening in little italy

quick recap of mikey & candy taking on chicago

the biggest mozzarella sticks you will ever see, leaning tower replica, giordano's and his first taste of chicago pizza, giant shiny bean and millennium park, creepy face fountains, best view of chicago there is to offer, a red moon, dark silent lake, lcd soundsystem -> deaf ears, candy is unable to use a battery hand held fan, long el rides, chocolate covered strawberries, first fights, aquariums and museums, parking fees, more chicago pizza, top of john hancock building, superbadass movie, dinner with parents, skirts, picnic on the beach (we're the best at these).

cupcakes are like hugs with icing

Mikey told me I should blog about the odd dream I had last night:

The grass in our backyard lawn was getting long. I came out of my house to find that there were now cupcakes sprouting out of the grass. All different kinds of cupcakes too. So when people went to go walk on the lawn they would get frosting all over their shoes. They would look down, totally confused.

If I knew how to lucid dream I would've tried one of those freshly bloomed cupcakes.

movements

spotted on iTunes just now:

"Tenebrae: Second Movement" - Osvaldo Golijov, as performed by Kronos Quartet

it's free, so you have no real excuse, unless you're a neckbeard who refuses to use iTunes. when you're done, make sure to buy the first movement.

things to do when mike visits

1. lollapalooza
2. take him shopping
3. picnics
4. museums and stuff
5. second city
6. chicago pizza
7. millennium park
8. lincoln park
9. cruise down lake shore drive
10. six flags?
11. gameworks
12. meet the parents
13. movies
14. take massive amounts of pictures and post to flickr/blog
15. fall asleep on the chicago el (applies to mike only)
16. play with his iphone (applies to candy only)
17. free grant park symphony concert
18. fireworks on the lake

(will add things as i think of them)

keep a light on those you love

The dog I grew up with, died this morning. It was my decision to put her down. Her quality of life was too heartbreaking to see every day. It was a quick and painless death. But the moment I saw her eyes turn lifeless is the worst feeling I've ever felt in my life.

I still remember the first day I saw her, when I was only in 3rd grade. My mother walked in holding her in her arms. She was so tiny. So tiny that it was my idea to name her Mini. And for the past 16 years, I loved this dog with everything I had.

I couldn't stop listening to this song today:

MP3: Editors - The Weight Of The World

thx for the warning, guyz.

I recently found my picture on the fairfield physical therapy website. I have a feeling my picture will be on this clinic's website 4ever. They never update the thing!

tracks

INT. SUBWAY CAR -- NIGHT

A WELL-DRESSED PANHANDLER addresses the packed tram car. In his late-30s or mid-40s, he is surprisingly well-groomed for a beggar. He hasn't shaved in a couple of days, however, and his voice is a little scratchy.

WELL-DRESSED PANHANDLER
(loudly, to everyone)

Before I get started I just want to say that I'm not tryin' to bother nobody, but please hear me out. This is embarassing, degrading, demoralizing, but when you hear what it is that I have to say . . . you'll understand why I'm doin' it.

Four months ago, I moved here with my newborn son, Nathan, and my wife from Vermont. I just graduated from a six-week security guard training course, which I graduated from at the top of my class, and I'm here tonight asking for your help.

I have to be in Jamaica tomorrow morning at 12:00 with $400 to start my new job, and I have $383 so far. What I'm asking you folks here is that you help me with this last $17.

He turns to address the back half of the car as he goes on.

WELL-DRESSED PANHANDLER
(cont.)

$17, surely you can help with anything. I'm missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime because of $17. Anything you can do will help me and my son out, please.

The man stops talking and stands still, arms out from his hips expectantly, like a king who's just asked his servants for the baubles around their necks.

CLOSE ON THE MAN'S ANKLES shows track marks peering out from the lip of his white socks.

here comes a special typeface

http://achewood.com/index.php?date=07052007

I absolutely love this comic and you might consider this an example of why.

spooky action at a distance

we just saw the new Pixar movie, Ratatouille. cutest movie ever, despite being about a rat. it was quite the splendid date, and candy said i was a complete gentleman--I didn't try to feel her up once!

that just means I have to try harder next time, I guess.

what did one firecracker say to the other firecracker?

...my pop's bigger than your pop!

The fireworks this year seemed a bit lackluster (or maybe I'm just not a dumb struck kid in awe anymore?). But it had its moments. Check out more pics on the flickr.

On second thought, maybe I am still a kid. I really wanted one of those glow in the dark things and some sparklers.

MP3: Voxtrot - Firecracker

welcome to earf

tomorrow is the first day I've had off in six weeks. tonight, I celebrate with fried chicken. candy had this to say:

"it is an american holiday. and what better things do americans do besides eat fried chicken?"

there's only one thing we do better: blow stuff up.

please explain to me the scientific nature of the whammy

Roswell! Roswell!

Where's Scully and Mulder when you need them? By the way, I hear the X Files sequel is inching closer to reality with both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny on board.

MP3: The Shins - Phantom Limb

to be removed only by owner

hola, webinet. we're starting to build up some tags, so I thought I'd give an explanation of each.

apple - things we post about fruit-based desserts.
ears - posts about the NSA's satcom network.
eyes - wherein we use the word "rod" a lot. heh, rod.
nyc - mostly pictures of small towns in Africa.
rx - read, execute privileges.

iPhone hysteria

here i am, in the middle of iPhone hysteria at the old orchard apple store. it's actually not so bad in here, even though there's only one table dedicated to the phone. You can kinda see the crowd of people around it behind me.

p.s. omgthephoneisfuckinhawt.

mikey attempts to buy an iPhone

mikey-san: "how do I figure out if my credit is good enough to join the iPhone club?"

Apple Store Dude: "you don't. you buy the phone, take it home, activate it, and then you get approved."

and then I left and got lunch instead. good job, AT&T. hurrr.

shoot me now

hey guys, let's make a law that tourists and New Yorkers won't care about abiding by, and that the NYPD will never take the time to enforce because they have more important things to do!

"take your medicine =("

Considering the fact that I will no longer be covered under my father's health insurance when I turn 23, I'm in a scramble to get every health issue taken care of by the end of July.

• Eyes: done today and my vision hasn't gotten worse! ...not that it could get much worse.
  
• Physical exam checkup: this has to be done and sent into school in two weeks. Otherwise, I can't go to clinic. I just received the forms today. Way to go, Seton Hall. I hate you too.
  
• Dentist: Ugh
  
• Meds: I'm going to sneak in one more month of my stupid antibiotics the day before my birthday.
• Liver: The above medication has a possible side effect of: your liver may be shot to shit.

MP3: The New Pornographers - The End of Medicine

sexy motherfucker

in addition to pissing off music execs by giving away his upcoming record in UK newspapers[1], prince is letting people download a single from said record free (no cost, no DRM) before the release. yes, I'm linking to a Prince song. if you have a problem with that, please direct yourself to the Department of Partying Like It's 1999 and fill out the one of the forms in the box marked "forms for giant weenies who don't like awesome stuff".

Prince - "Guitar"

[1] apparently, putting CDs in papers in the UK isn't an uncommon practice. neat.

oh my indieness

you may notice a little box on this page with some band names. you may or may not recognize all of the names at any given moment. here's one of those names:

Fujiya & Miyagi - "Ankle Injuries"

Wait, what?

This is not cliche at all.

woo

I'm in yer blog, postin' bout emergencies.

hello world

if this had been a real emergency, people would be freaking the fuck out.