every word of it.

For this New Year’s Eve, I packed my bags and headed east to the great city of Miami Beach.

So this is what happened from December 30th to January 4th

Travel

That jerk off just had to try and blow his dick off before my trip. And what’s that? David Finfrock is predicting Freezing Fog the morning of the flight. What’s happening? Why am I being punished for wanting to go on vacation?

Well, it turns out that the universe isn’t out to get me, things went smoothly. There was no ice that morning, and security wasn’t any more of a hassle than it usually is. And apparently there was even some sort of airport lockdown on the Tuesday I returned.

Hotel

The Chesterfield Hotel is a ‘not good’ hotel. The “deluxe suite” was just a larger than average room. I’m pretty sure the lighting was dim so that way you wouldn’t realize how dirty the room is. The staff, front desk and cleaning, did the minimum work required. And the bathroom shower was terribly unsatisfying.

Would I stay there again?

Depends. If I was going on business, no. If I was going for pleasure, maybe. It would depend on the type of pleasure. Because what the Chesterfield has going for it is location, location, location. And the front stoop.

The Chesterfield is where you want to be in South Beach. You’re on Collins one block away from the beach, Wet Willie’s, Pizza Rustica, and Groovy’s Pizza. And the Stoop? It was the place to be in South Beach from December 30th to January 4th.

The Stoop

It deserves it’s own subheading. The Stoop was essential to a fun trip. It’s where we would go after a long day or at the start of a long day. Hell, even during the long day. You could relax with drink in hand, people watch, and lime. And when the weather turned, it got you out of the wind (mostly).

James

We made the Stoop ours, but really it belonged to James.

One night Drona came back late and thought he saw one of use sleeping in the Stoop. But nope, we were in the room. Who was this mysterious stranger?

The next night, I looked out the window and saw Nikko, Surren, and someone else sleeping in the chair. I asked Drona if Nikko and Surren had made a new friend, but nope it was that same mysterious stranger.

The next day, it rained. When we returned to the hotel, the mysterious stranger had returned. But this time during the day. That’s when Surren noticed that he had a Lebron James jersey.

He was a stranger no more. He had a name, James.

But he was on our Stoop. So we had to move to the other side.

NYE

For New Year’s Eve, I had made no plans. I figured, it couldn’t be too difficult to have fun in South Beach. So after wandering around Ocean Drive, we found ourselves at The Clevelander. And it was a fun night. There were 4 venues – ground floor, lounge on 2nd, roof of building 1, and roof of building 2. I heard Black Eyed Peas – Tonight three times, but I didn’t let that get me down.

A personal highlight: I took a piss while smoking a cigar. Awesome!

Food

What did I enjoy eating the most? If you guessed cuban sandwiches, you’re wrong. It was Pizza Rustica and Groovy’s Pizza. They were both open 24/7 and both delicious. If I had to choose, I would go Rustica. But it was nice to have them both. That way you wouldn’t get tired of pizza. Too much Rustica, go to Groovy’s. Too much Groovy’s, go to Rustica. You can’t lose.

I also enjoyed La Moon, Colombian food in downtown. It was after a long day of seeing the Heat suck it up and wandering downtown, and the Crazy Chicken Moon Burger was astounding. It was a chicken breast combined with breakfast stuffed in a hamburger bun.

Sunglasses

I have a nice pair of Ray Ban’s. I only wear them when I’m driving. I don’t really have a use for them otherwise. I didn’t take them to Florida because I didn’t want to break or lose them. After all, they’re a really nice pair of Ray Ban’s. I figured when I got there, I would buy a knock off pair if I needed any shade.

Turns out, sunglasses are a necessity in Miami. It’s the sun. It’s everywhere. I ended up buying a cheap pair of aviator’s and later breaking them.

Nikko bought a nice pair of Ray Ban’s. He didn’t lose or break them.

Art

I wasn’t going to South Beach for culture, but culture found me.

Close to our hotel was The Wolfsonian. No, it’s not The Smithsonian from an alternate universe where wolves rule the Earth. But it’s a rather nice design museum. My favorite thing I saw was a Ford ad from the middle of the 20th century. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture. But here’s a toaster:

Art also pounces on you when you’re shopping. In the Lincoln Road Mall, the city had an artist studio/gallery. Apparently the city rents studio space. And you’re free to walk in. Just look at this guy using an eMac.

I bet he’s brilliant.

And in the gallery they were featuring Romero Britto. I’m pretty sure he’s the official artist of Miami. His work is all over the city when you look at signs and sculptures. It’s fun

Fudge

I love fudge. Fudge from Trinidad that is. Regular “American” fudge is okay, but it’s not Trinidadian fudge.

I was quite surprised to find Trinidad fudge in Swiss candy store on Lincoln Road Mall. So surprised and delighted, I bought 2 lbs of it. You can too, they sell it online.

Frommer’s

Frommer’s is shit. Why? This sentence

“Opened in 2005 by 70-year-old-grandmother Naomi Wilzig, the museum features Wilzig’s collection of more than 4,000 pieces of erotic art, including Kama Sutra temple carvings from India, peek-a-boo Victorian figurines that flash their booties, and a prop from the sexual thriller A Clockwork Orange.”

Sexual Thriller? A Clockwork Orange? Sexual Thriller = A Clockwork Orange?

Let Downs (and hanging around)

No cart food. I was kinda hoping there’d be cart food. There are tons of West Indians in Florida. I wanted to buy some doubles. Missed business opportunity.

No guys selling Roy Ban’s and Folex’s on the beach. I wanted to be iced out. But there was no one. You go on vacation to the beach, you kinda expect people to be selling counterfeit goods. You’re crushing dreams Miami Beach.

Conclusion

Would I go back? Most definitely. I’m owed more beach time. It got cold and that wasn’t fair. It isn’t supposed to dip down into the 40s in South Beach.

Just in time for Christmas, here is my Christmas Playlist –

Baby Jesus… Born to Rock

1. Low – Just Like Christmas
2. El Vez – Feliz Navi-nada
3. Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – Christmas Eve
4. Saint Etienne – My Christmas Prayer
5. Snow Patrol – When I Get Home For Christmas
6. Sufjan Stevens – Get Behind Me, Santa!
7. Manic Street Preachers – Last Christmas (Live)
8. Vince Guaraldi Trio – My Little Drum
9. Mogwai – Christmas Song
10. Belle & Sebastian – The 12 Days Of Christmas

Just a warning, it’s no Deck the Halls/Jingle Bells/Frosty the Snowman. It’s a little more sedate.

because other Top 10’s are 2 worse.

Here is my Top 12 of 2009. Something to consider – it’s not ranked. It’s just a collection of 12 songs from 2009 that I think are excellent. But if you forced me to pick a #1, it’d be jj – From Africa to Málaga.

1. Bat for Lashes – Glass
   I saw Bat for Lashes live earlier this year. It was my concert of 2009. Listen to Glass with a quality set of headphones, you’ll thank me later.
2. The Joy Formidable – Cradle
3. Florence And The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
   Florence and the Machine was my favorite for the Mercury Music Prize.
4. Delorean – Deli
5. The Drums – I Felt Stupid
6. The Horrors – Who Can Say
7. Peter Bjorn and John – Living Thing
8. jj – From Africa To Málaga
9. Bloc Party – One More Chance
   I think I’m the only one who liked this song. Once you listen to it, it never leaves. That could be a bad thing or in my case, a great thing.
10. Art Brut – Demons Out!
    Contains my favorite lyrics of 2009 – On your visa, it says ‘entertainer’/You’d better step it up or they’re gonna detain you
11. Get Back Guinozzi! – Low Files Tropical
12. Bruno Coulais – Exploration

For your convenience

Quit Adium and Delete

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~/Library/Caches/Adium/Default/Logs.index

When Adium restarts and you open up the transcript viewer, Adium will reindex everything.

So you’ve heard of that new movie The Boat That Rocked, right?

Wait – you haven’t? That’s right. It’s called Pirate Radio here in the states.

Well, in England, it’s called The Boat That Rocked

Apparently, Americans demand straightforward movie titles. And we don’t understand Beatles references.

But at least it isn’t being advertised as a sequel

 

Or a videogame tie-in

 

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, but never got around to it. So since it’s the end of the month, let’s turn this in at the last minute.

Quick summary – ACL 2009 was good. How would I compare it to 2007? Bands-wise – not so good. Weather-wise – much better. I’ll take rainy over heat any day of the week. And 2007 headliners can’t compete with Björk and Arcade Fire.

In my previous post I mentioned that I had a tough choice to make – Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Kings of Leon. I ended up choosing Kings of Leon. And, I chose poorly. King of Leon were such rubbish. Long was smart, he chose Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Afterwards, I wanted to scoop out his eyes and steal his ears so I could experience Yeah Yeah Yeahs live. By the time I gave up on Kings of Leon and trekked to the other side of the park, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were finishing up their encore SADFACE

I still like Kings of Leon, but I wouldn’t pay money to see them live ever again. It was such a terrible show, I decided to rate the bands I saw in KOL. 1 KOL = 1 Kings of Leon Live Performance. I believe I gave using the portable toilets 1.5 KOL.

The highlights of this years ACL?

Pearl Jam. Yea I used to listen to Pearl Jam, but I was never a huge fan. I know a few songs, and I think No Code is underrated. Their show was spectacular. Eddie Vedder is a tambourine genius.

Bell X1. The first band I saw on Saturday after Kings of Leon on Friday night. They were great fun to see, and they were having fun. The exact opposite of Kings of Leon.

Arctic Monkeys. 2nd ACL, 2nd time seeing Arctic Monkeys at ACL. Enthralling show. Arctic Monkeys may be my favorite band of the decade.

Passion Pit. I’ve never heard of Passion Pit before ACL. I selected them the night before as filler between Arctic Monkeys and Pearl Jam. This is gonna sound stupid, but they really got the crowd moving.

Mud. My last ACL was at the end of September, and it was hot. AT&T were giving out fans and they were cherished by all. This year, Friday was perfect. Saturday was rainy. And Sunday was muddy.

And Green Man.

See you at ACL 2010!

This Friday night I will have to make a tough decision. Do I see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Kings of Leon?

I think Kings of Leon would be a better festival band. But, I do like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs more. Loads more. And I have a feeling that they will put on a fancy show. But Kings of Leon, I think their primary function is to play outdoor festivals. What would you do?

Favorite Yeah Yeah Yeahs song – Y Control (Great video directed by Spike Jonze)

Favorite Kings of Leon song - My Third House (On Call B-side)

You know what’s great about having a much younger brother?

They ask you questions like this.

But seriously, I envy Kian. He’s going to listen to Ok Computer for the first time. His life will change forever.

Ok Computer for me really signified the break between 106.1 KISS FM Raishad and 88.7 KTCU Raishad.

I remember I bought it from Hypermart. I had heard Karma Police on the radio. It was a huge single. And after school one day, I asked my mom to take me to Hypermart to buy it. And after listening to it, it was a situation where I wanted all music to be like Ok Computer.

Ok Computer wasn’t my first CD, that was Green Day’s Dookie. But it did start a change in my approach to finding new music. I wasn’t so dependent on major commercial radio. This was 1997. Napster didn’t come into existence until 1999. And I was still accessing the internet using a modem. So the internet wasn’t a big influence – at least not until I found The Perfect Song Facsimile. So it was luck/necessity, I found college radio and 88.7 KTCU. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The next playlist challenge idea was something I stole from The Word Magazine Podcast. I forget the exact situation/podcast, but the idea was to pick a song that you would use to introduce a band to someone who has never heard of that band. The idea being, if they like that song, then they will like the band.

It’s a fun game. Do you go for a hit single that sounds nothing like the rest of the band’s catalogue or a deep cut? If I were doing Blur, would I pick ‘Song 2’ or ‘Tracy Jacks’? Song 2 sounds like nothing else in Blur’s repertoire, but it is one of their most well known singles and would surely win hearts and minds.

So for this playlist challenge, the bands were picked beforehand.

1. radiohead
2. The Beatles
3. Massive Attack
4. Björk
5. Modest Mouse
6. The Smiths
7. Belle & Sebastian
8. New Order
9. U2
10. Jay-Z

Here are my choices

radiohead – Million Dollar Question

I couldn’t pick an album track. I would lose all my street cred. So instead I went with a Pablo Honey B-Side.

The Beatles – No Reply

I stole this song from The Word podcast. They used this as an example – if you like ‘No Reply’, you’re gonna love The Beatles. I didn’t know this song before that podcast, and since listening to it – I think it may just be my favorite Beatles song as well.

Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy

What do you think of when you hear the name Massive Attack? A track with a nice heavy beat and female vocals. And that’s what ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ is.

Björk – Hunter

I’m pretty sure ‘Hunter’ was the first song by Björk I ever heard. It was on The X-Files movie soundtrack which I, of course, purchased. And I think it’s a good introduction to Björk. Hey, it worked on me.

Modest Mouse – 3rd Planet

Modest Mouse will never make another album like The Moon & Antarctica. 3rd Planet is everything you want in a Modest Mouse song – Isaac Brock shouting over guitars.

The Smiths – This Charming Man

What makes a song a Smiths song? Easy, jangly guitars and morose lyrics. Any of their songs would’ve worked. So I picked ‘This Charming Man’ because it’s one of my favorites. The version I picked is one they recorded for John Peel and was released on Hatful of Hollow and probably not the version you’re most familiar with.

Belle & Sebastian – Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying

I used to really be into Belle & Sebastian. This was a hard choice. I picked this one because every few months I catch myself humming ‘get me away from here, I’m dying’ and I have to listen to it again. It sticks with you. The version I used is from their live recording of If You’re Feeling Sinister.

New Order – Temptation 7" Mix

I’m not really familiar with New Order. The easy choice would be to pick ‘Blue Monday’ and call it a day. But I didn’t want to do that. Luckily I had rated ‘Temptation’ 4 stars at some point, so I gave it another listen and realized I was right. ‘Temptation’ is a great track and could only be done by New Order.

U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday

U2 is a band. And honestly, I’m not really that in to them. So, I picked a single because I couldn’t be bothered to listen to all of their albums to do some digging.

Jay-Z – Big Pimpin’

I’m not really familiar with Jay-Z aside from his singles. So I picked his best. This is from his MTV Unplugged album.

I’ve been meaning to write this entry for a long time. Anyways…

So, how /do/ you throw a successful BBQ for 55 people? The same way you get to Carnegie Hall – practice.

The BBQ I had on Memorial Day was #3. BBQ #1 was a small affair – 10 people at the most. And to be honest was just a BLC Happening. BBQ #2 doubled in size, but there were still mistakes. We overestimated the food and probably could have fed 50 people easy.

BBQ #3

People

You need guests at your BBQ. You have to invite people and give them enough notice so it doesn’t seem you sprung something on them last minute. But then you can’t invite people months in advance, because no one knows what they’re doing a month from now. I ended up inviting people 2 weeks before. I figured that would be a good balance. Not too far, not too soon.

But don’t forget, people are bums. The invited will take their time responding, and you’ll be wondering – is no one going to show/is this going to get out of control/does everyone hate me? And it’ll drive you crazy. Because if you don’t have an accurate guest list, how are you going to know how much food to buy? How much drinks? How much plates? How much chairs? All these things and more depend on an accurate guest list. And don’t forget to account for extra. People will bring friends.

So for BBQ #3, 91 people were invited. (Wow, that is a lot!)

Let’s go to the breakdown

Confirmed	52
Maybe	20
No Response	2
Declined	17
Invited	91

So I could’ve theoretically had (52 + 20) 72 people showing up plus any additions. But the actual count was 55.

Confirmed + Maybes	72
Attended	50
No Shows	(22)
Late Additions	5
Actual Attendance	55

Food

So how do you feed all these people? With lots of meat

20 lbs of Chicken (Drumsticks + Wings)
20 lbs of Lamb
6 lbs of Ground Turkey
4 packs of Turkey Bratwurst
2 packs of Turkey Dogs (24/pack)

Also on my receipts

1 Bag of Rolls
2 Bags (Costco) of Hamburger Buns
2 Bags (Costco) of Hot Dog Buns
1 Bag of Chips
Ketchup
Mustard
BBQ Sauce

People also brought

Cheese & Crackers
Eggrolls
Corn
Bratwurst
Salad
Lemon Bar Cake (Extra Delicious)
Cookies
Pies

And I had my mom make

Fried Rice
Potato Salad

Drink

To wash all that down, you need lots of beer. Surren and I decided it might be more cost effective to just get a keg. And you also need beer for beer pong. In addition you need coke.

So all together, we had

1 Keg of Shiner
1 Case of Keystone
3 Cases of Coke
3 Bottles of Wine

People also brought more beer and coke.

But, sadly we didn’t finish the keg. We did come close, but in the end I did have to empty it out down the drain. I think if we used the Keg for the beer pong, it would’ve finished.

Entertainment

If you put people together with food and drink, they’ll find a way to entertain themselves. But to get that started, you need music. It’s there to fill the silence.

For BBQ #1, I ended up buying an iPod boom box. I’m really happy with it. It’s able to produce a nice sound at a loud volume without too much distortion. I could’ve just stuck my iPod in there and considered ‘music’ taken care of, but I wanted to try something different.

Apple has a program for the iPhone – Remote. It allows you to use your iPhone as a remote for iTunes. Apple also has a router/print server called an AirPort Express that has a speaker jack on it. It’ll let you remotely connect speakers to your computer. So if you add all these things together, you can wirelessly stream music from your pc to a remote pair of speakers and let your guests control/vote for music. It’s a great idea.

And my execution was almost perfect. I had a spare AirPort Express that I decided to use. It would create a network, and I would have people connect to that – isolated from my main network. Well, the AirPort Express ended up choking. It couldn’t handle the number of clients. So I had to have it connect to my main network, and have everyone connect to my main network as well.

I also had this bright idea of outdoor Wii/movies. I bought a projector. I made a screen. And I was ready to impress. But, by the time it was dark enough to use the projector, I was too drunk/tired to be bothered to set it up. And I think that if I did, it would have detracted from the atmosphere.

Post Mortem

So what did I learn from BBQ #3?

I should stop worrying so much. I freaked out about chairs. I had 18 chairs, and I ended up borrowing a few. And I think it was the perfect amount.

Do as much setup as possible before. I should’ve put the tiki torches up beforehand.

I needed one more table. The food table kept on running out of space.

Bugs are everywhere, and there is nothing you can do about it. Buy a can of Off and put it out.

It’s a lot of work.

It’s also a lot of fun.