music.shuffle

i have always had a love|hate relationship with apple's shuffle mode. it's not really random. but sometimes putting an ipod in shuffle mode can lead to shuffle magic- where songs you forgot you have play in an order of strange [somewhat] randomness leading to a pretty sweet groove.

which is what happened to me today. shuffle magic also led me to admire all these album covers:

also grooveshark has this new widget function which is pretty much o for oarsome. ENJOY.

two things

that go together. rainy streets:

and this song:

CHROMATICS / TICK OF THE CLOCK (Original "NIGHT DRIVE" Version) by JOHNNY JEWEL

hot chicks.gilded

described as "the last gentleman of the old school" and "a great beau" peter marie was an admired new york socialite of the gilded age,  and in retrospect perhaps something of a creep. when he died in 1903, he bequeathed his collection of miniature paintings to the met, which  they promptly rejected on grounds that it did not quite qualify as art. our contemporary ideas about art seem to be a bit less uppity and the new york historical society is now holding an exhibition of the paintings.

what's really interesting about these paintings is that he commissioned them slowly over many years and only society women whom he deemed  beautiful and worthy were given the honor of sitting for a portrait. thus marie ended up amassing a private collection of 300 pictures of local new york babes that he could enjoy at his own leisure. i imagine him sitting in his private man-boudoir twirling his moustache and quietly gazing at the wall of images whilst smoking a pipe and planning the guest list to his annual ball. [not certain if he actually had an annual ball, but surely wild seven course dinner parties
a la the age of innocence?]

i especially like this painting of mrs. arthur henry paget. the opulent egyptian getup is great, and i like the idea of someone wearing fancy dress for a society portrait:

neet.stuff

bloggers seem to love favorites lists. i think in general lists are popular because they are like the soundbite of the internet. i don't want to promote this need to distill information down to a top five behavior or even the practice of coveting shit i can't afford, but i do think from time to time the web offers some nuggets of neet stuff that may be worth looking at and passing on. so here's a short list.

-->this beautiful interactive diagram of the evolution of dance music:

-->twin peaks meme. there seems to be a resurgence in interest. i recently rewatched season one [netflix streaming catalogue gets better and better], and realized i was 14 years old when i first saw it! it still holds the emotional visceral impact it did when i was just a kid. in my televisual memory, twin peaks was a harbinger of sorts. it was perhaps the first in what has now become the norm for cinematic serial television. and strangely enough, it was on network television.  ALSO young kyle mclachlan- SWOON. these onset photos are great:

the soundtrack and music by julie cruise is pretty much a classic. even in remix form:

Cruise . Dorfmeister . Huber - falling (FRW Lounge Master 2011) by FRW Team

-->achtung tribute album. when i was young i desperately wanted to go see depeche mode when they toured for "violator." but i was denied on account of being 13 years old. later on i did manage to see them for "songs of faith and devotion." they were fantastic live and what's so cool is that they are STILL bringing it. lots of good covers on this tribute, but i can't stop listening to demode's "so cruel."

06-Depeche Mode So Cruel by fagnermorais

-->the pale king, david foster wallace's last unfinished novel. i am about 1/5 of the way into this. it's quite a tome and i won't bother outlining the plot. salman rushdie put this on his best book of the year list, which is like two great flavors colliding into one. the writing is incredibly modern and fascinating in style. sadly DFW died tragically. as it turns out he lived in the town just next to my own hometown. does that count as six degrees of DFW?

--> star trek: the next generation season 8 doesn't exist. but it SHOULD. someone please turn these gold pressed latinum nuggets into teleplays and send them via subspace signal to paramount.

happy.halloween

just terrorizing the galaxy...another day at the office.

vanuatu

i recently spent a week in vanuatu and it was of course beautiful. the short lazy days were punctuated with hazy sunsets and this really specific smell. it's the smell of burning leaves and trash while that doesn't sound very lovely it's actually a particular kind of smoky smell that has the effect of instantly transporting me back to the time i visited karachi as a child. i don't remember much beyond the smell and feeling of being there, but i always breathe in deeply and enjoy the nostalgic memory....

tossed salad and

scrambled eeeeegggggs....

out west

las vegas is such a photographic iconic sort of town that it's hard not to get caught up in the moving lights, colors and carnival aspect of its landscape. but what i also enjoy about vegas is that it's also a town people live in. not far from the strip it gets real suburban and then gives way soon after to something resembling small town rural america. the banality of this combined with the stark desert surrounding everything makes for something as interesting as what lies within the city center.

lately

apologies for the extended layover. the ride got a bit bumpy. but i've touched down again and will be returning to my regularly scheduled flight pattern. please stay tuned...

"Lately" Sean's Smooth Edit by Smooth Agent Records

this morning

a reprieve from the rain and gloom this morning. and then a visitor hanging out under the window...feels a bit like spring.