Babies

Went to Joy's beautiful tea-themed Baby Shower yesterday. Besides Michael and a room full of ladies, there was another expectant mother and a big 6 month old boy, babies were on everyone's mind...

Little Mary Jane socks. It would be worth it to have a baby girl just for these...

The Most Depressing Day of the Year

My yoga instructor announced that today is the most depressing day of this year. Wow, what a way to start class. She said that scientists have done statistical research study proving that today, January 22, 2007 is the bleakest day of this year. Because of mounting debt from Xmas (no more cheery lights), failed New Year's resolutions (people are back to smoking, drink, [binge] eating, giving up on exercising, etc.) and miserable weather (Southern California being the exception, it's in the 70s today), the majority are just feeling bummed today.

So to pep up this Blue Monday, I met Wiggles at VietSoy for some yummy lunch. I tried the new lemongrass soup. Shit, it's vegetarian but the broth is insanely flavorful, just ridiculously good. Somehow, I'm not feeling that depressed today...

Viet
I can't believe we showed up with almost matching shemaghs! I almost wore my green one today!

Gato Herói

Went to OCMA last night for The Happening, from the same people who put on the awesome Moonshine Festival a few years ago. Not as epic but still rad... Orange County is really where it's at these days... I mean it.

This is the new Gato Herói. Formerly known as Creme, Robin recently changed it due to legal name issues. Inspired by Argentinian jazz musician, Gato Barberie, Gato Herói is just sick, new logo (but same cat), new wetsuits, new boards and the raddest rash guards ala Zoolander (you could really wear these out).

Alex & Robin shaking hands in front of the new Gato Herói. I don't know which one is selling himself to the devil here. They're both pretty sick.

Harry Daily in front of his awesome works of art. I wished I would've gotten one but they were all sold out by the second nite.

Andy & Ashley Davis. Andy designed The Tyde's second album cover, "Twice." He has a rad shop in Costa Mesa. Andy goes by "Ando" which is sort of eerie but super cool as I go by that same name but with an extra "n". We're so connected.

(Ann) Don't Cry

Dj'ed at DubLab again and this time, my set was very self-indulgent; I am dizzyingly self-absorbed with absolutely no restraint... (I mean isn't what this blog and almost everything else I do is all about?)... I mean the title of the set in itself is pretty bad... I'm wondering if this is my year of magical thinking...

[I have the mp3 of this set if anyone wants it. Just let me know.]


1. Destroyer - What Road - Your Blues LP

Where do I begin? Everyone already knows how much I love this guy. Currently, one of my favorite lyrics, "I'd been working on some open-ended shit. I was looking for an 'in' and that was it..." That pretty much sums up what I've been doing these days...



2. Pavement - Ann Don't Cry - Terror Twilight LP

Sadly, their last record from 1999, not as transcendent as previous outputs but there are a few gems here such as this one...



3. Spiritualized - Stop Your Crying - Stop Your Crying 12" single

The epitome of everything that is Spritualized. Just glorious. It's church.



4. The Go! Team - Everyone's A V.I.P To Someone - Thunder, Lightning, Strike LP

Just started listening to this record again. This track reminds of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with the Burt Bacharach horns and harmonica but more low-fi. I love this song.



5. Mark Eric- Don't Cry Over Me - A Midsummer's Day Dream LP

California soft pop circa 1968-69. I've been listening to this record on cassette for about 10 years and luckily for me, it was reissued on CD a few years ago on the awesome Rev-Ola label. His lyrics are really macho but turns out he was a sad sack; he fell out of place in the Jimi Hendrix Cream world. Mark was also a Hollywood actor and appeared on The Partridge Family and other TV shows. The singing and subject matter of this track sort of reminds me of Lou Barlow.



6. Jarvis Cocker - Heavy Weather - Jarvis LP

Been waiting for this record for a while now... And it did not disappoint.



7. Vic Godard & Subway Sect - She's My Best Friend - Singles Anthology

A Velvet Underground cover, early British art punk with so much pop.



8. Camera Obscura - Lemon Juice and Paper Cuts - Let's Get Out of This Country EP

A b-side which I think is better than any song on their new gorgeous album. One of the loveliest voices out there right now.



9. The New Pornographers - Streets Of Fire - Twin Cinema LP

The second of four Destroyer songs in my set (well Dan Bejar penned it so I consider it so). This song comes courtesy of his work with The New Pornographers. Love love LOVE it...



10. Velvet Underground - Femme Fatale (Diff Mix) - 1966-4 Scepter Studios, Norman Dolph acetate

Here's a track from the infamous acetate that was on eBay recently. This version seems to be the same take but with alternate falsetto backing vocals. What girl doesn't love Nico?



11. Ariel Pink - Crybaby - Worn Copy LP

Mr. Rosenburg makes the best lo-fi out there right now.



12. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Everything I Cannot See - 5:55 LP

Lyrics by Jarvis, music by Air. My favorite track on this album. The swirling piano reminds me of French pianist, Richard Clayderman, which is not a bad thing.



13. Primal Scream - (I'm Gonna) Cry Myself Blind - Give Out But Don't Give Up LP

Recorded in Nashville three years after "Screamadelica," this is ultimate rock'n'roll ala Stones, a departure from their ecstasy filled dance days (or the good ol' days as I like to refer to it).



14. Babyshambles - I Wish - The Blinding EP

Who cares about his effed up personal life? The music is good and that's what matters. The beat is tight on this track; I'm definitely feeling an English Sublime here... Definitely not a waster.



15. The View - Same Jeans - Same Jeans single

Signed to James Endeacott's new record label, 1965 Records (the year he was born), I witnessed this new Scottish band make their LA debut a couple of weeks ago. They look like they are 12 years old, very green but the two singers have great tone and catchy songs to back up the hype. Babyshambles, part II.



16. The Explorers Club - Forever - Oblitus Sum Perpolire Clepsydras EP

This new South Carolina group is the closest thing to the Beach Boys these days. Played a couple of shows with them in the South and they are amazing live... The singer is definitely channeling Brian Wilson...



17. Paris Sisters - I Love How You Love Me - (Phil Spector) Back to Mono (1958-1969)

This never gets old.



18. The Mountain Goats - No Children - Tallahassee LP

What can I say? Over the top, perversely and ironically funny and gleeful. I'm glad I don't have any children... yet... :)

"In my life, I hope I lie,
and tell everyone you were a good wife.
And I hope you die,
I hope we both die."



19. The Mountain Goats - Woke Up New - Get Lonely LP

The new record, as guttedly personal and sneeringly cheerful as ever. John Darnielle is a genius.



20. Beach Boys - Cuddle Up - Carl and the Passions LP

There's so much love here but to me, it's the saddest, most heartbreaking Dennis Wilson song ever. It's winter dude, cuddle up.



21. Swan Lake - All Fires - Beast Moans LP

The third Dan Bejar song from his new group, Swan Lake. I still prefer Destroyer though.



22. Bob Dylan - She Belongs To Me [Alternate Take] - No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7)

The ultimate version. Kinda weird that I bought it at a Starbucks somewhere in Central California...



23. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Way - Cold & Wet 12" single

Originally on "Master and Everyone", this live version rules.



24. Destroyer - Trembling Peacock - This Night LP

And so it ends with Destroyer. Like I said at the end of this set, "One of my favorite things right now."

January 10, 2007

Today is my mom's birthday. She is 58 years old today. I hope to be as rad (and graceful) as she is at this sagacious age. Other notable birthdays today are Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, George Foreman & Linda Lovelace (same year as my mom's!).

[Oh yeah, btw, Coco Chanel died 36 years ago today. :( ]

Mom chilling on her honeymoon circa 1969.

NYE's Eve Reunions

Went to Spaceland last night to catch Mystic Chords of Memory and The Minor Canon. It was a night of reunion of sorts, a lot of old friends catching up on old times... some things never really change...

This is Mystic Chords of Memory with Nobody.

Chris & Jen: newlyweds, musicians, health enthusiasts, rad people.

We went to Josh's studio afterwards to continue the party and "jam." We played Destroyer & VU songs which was great fun for me. Josh made us chant, yoga style which wasn't really flowing with my smoke and Jameson-induced state.

Some random people showed up and there was this kinda cute girl in particular whom I was really interested in. She looked like she just shopped at Forever 21 from head to toe (which isn't so bad) and started playing drums (alright) and then picked up the acoustic guitar and started playing & singing "Under My Thumb" (alright) and then wanted to play Yes songs which everyone put an end to right away (like instantly). If we had let her continue, she probably would of busted out some Pearl Jam hits or something awesome like that...

I slyly took this of Trisha rocking it on percussion. BUT the real focus is on that cheetah-like guy in the background - what is Chris Holmes doing in Josh's studio all of the sudden?!?!? Chris Holmes (of W.A.S.P) is notoriously known from the rockumentary, "The Decline of Western Civilization, Part II: The Metal Years," where his mother, present in the background, listens to her son discuss how much of an alcoholic he is. And I think he still is considering he had a big gulp bigger than the size of my head as we were anxiously waiting for the sketchy bathroom at 3am while this "lady" was putting on her "makeup",... or should i say "fixing" her makeup...

A Day in the Life (FOB, Part II)

I was told that I followed my dad everywhere; here we are with his male friends drinking soda (as alcohol wasn't permitted).

Third World hut construction: I like that saw being used to cut the bamboo and the man with the cigarette.

The "Angelina Jolie" of her day hanging out with us.

Check out our Sunday Best.

When we first arrived, we made a traditional prayer offering, a thanks.

FOB*

I've been scanning old faded photos of my parents' wedding and having them reprinted all nice and glossy for the family room. I'm surprised how many they still have considering they brought them on a Chinese Junk from Vietnam. Speaking of which, I came across pics of my family when we were at the Songkhla Refugee Boat Camp in Southern Thailand in 1980.

Since I was in a coma during that week we were on the boat, fleeing for our lives, I have no recollection of any memories until I came to America. The story that was told to me was that my dad decided for us to leave Vietnam after he had visited his cousins in Hanoi in 1979. My parents loved Vietnam and never intended to leave after the War but after seeing how worse the conditions were in Hanoi than Saigon (and it didn't look like it was going to get any better), my parents made preparations for the family to escape soon after.

We fled in the middle of the night, dressed as peasants (with newly coiffed boy's cut) pretending to head off to the central farmlands. My parents left everything behind, material possessions didn't mean anything, just the opportunity for their two young daughters to have a future. We were on a boat for a week with no food; my mom gave me her water ration while she drank her own urine! (whoa, yeah it was heavy). Pirates raided our boat and took anything of value but luckily, no one was murdered or raped like so many before us.

We landed in Thailand and the government officials didn't want to take us in (this was during the high tide of the boat people flight from Vietnam to SE Asian countries and they couldn't accommodate everyone) but an American journalist interjected on our behalf with some international human rights law so thus, we ended at the Songkhla Camp for 6 months as we waited for my Grandfather to sponsor us to America. Of course, there were a lot of religious proselytizing in these camps and my parents converted to Catholicism from Buddhism during this time.

Here is a shot of our sizable group who survived the escape. I'm the little survivor in the middle right with the hot red shorts.

Here I am with my uncle, aunt and older sister with a scowl on her face. Obviously, these were not the best of times for us. I had a biafra belly and an excessive tan; I don't recall sunscreen as one of the amenities available at this camp.

I noticed that there were a lot of photo ops in front of the boat. I guess we're just proud and feel very lucky that it didn't sink on us.

There are loads of books out there on the Boat People but I highly recommend Sr. Chan Khong's "Learning True Love: How I Learned to Practice Social Change in Vietnam" which is when I first really learned about the Vietnamese Diaspora. Oh yeah, the author and I are both tigers.

* means "fresh off the boat"

Chuc mung Giang Sinh

Feliz Navidad. 聖誕快樂. frohe Weihnachten. веселое рождество. vrolijke Kerstmis. 즐거운 성탄. Buon Natale. メリークリスマス. Joyeux Noël. Καλά Χριστούγεννα. Merry Christmas!

This is what it looks like this Xmas in Southern California.

Sano
Downtown HB