I'm interested in a strawberry fight

You know what would be awesome?

Having a dj at my next party.

Hmm.. but given space and noise-level restrictions at the ol' apartment, that's probably not going to happen. (Sad, I know.)

All is not lost, though; what would be second-tier-awesome is to get my hands on a projector and throw this video of Adrian Lux mixing his Vanity Fair #2 mixtape up on my living room wall. I'd be cool; a so-fresh dj in my house for the greatest hour ever; people would talk (in a good way). haha.

Adrian Lux - live mix of Vanity Fair #2
http://www.discobelle.net/2009/03/14/adrian-lux-vanity-fair-2-mixtape-video/ (video)

The video is courtesy of the show "Svartklubb" on Swedish cable channel Z-TV (which I found through the Discobelle blog, purveyor of all things Swedish-music.. really, purveyors of good music all over the world!). I hope they keep up taping/posting these mix sessions; I dig something about the setup, so simple and cute; I dig the black background and the Hackers graphics (I love that movie, by the way). ;)

~~~

But yeah.. when's this Adrian Lux fellow coming to tour in the US? I'm interested in a bikeride and a strawberry fight (video); it's been awhile.

Hotel options I could get down wit'

My parents are coming through San Francisco next month and, as a good son, I'm doing a little research for them on where they should stay here in the city. They've made several pilgrimages to SF over the years, and have been guests at a wide variety of places, including various Holiday Inns on one end and smaller European-style bed and breakfast's like the Red Vic and the Hayes Valley Inn on the other. (I try to steer them towards some of the local flavor contained in the latter choices.)

They've enjoyed all these places, even with their quirks (or perhaps because of them); who doesn't get a kick out of the many young mid-western punk panhandlers in the Upper Haight? That said, my mom requested recommendations for something more, um, familiar (and with an elevator) this time around; so in that vein, I've been looking at straight-up, modern, city hotels.. while still trying to given them a unique SF experience.

In the course of the research, I came across an article on "The Coolest Hotel Designs in California", as chosen by California Home + Design magazine. In fact, a couple of the hotels I was looking at for my parents are actually on this top-10 list: Good Hotel and Hotel Frank; and rooms in either can be had for about $100. Cool stuff.

Here's the full tenner:

1. Good Hotel in San Francisco
2. Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles
3. Custom Hotel in Los Angeles
4. Hotel Frank in San Francisco
5. Viceroy in Palm Springs
6. Ivy Hotel in San Diego
7. Thompson Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills
8. The Standard Hotel in Los Angeles
9. The Parker Palm Springs in Palm Springs
10. Hotel Tomo in San Francisco

Yeah, so given that this list covers the whole of California, it's got *my* imagination going to maybe do some hotel-exploration myself (with at least one other partner-in-crime, natch); and the ones down in Palm Springs are especially appealing to me. You see, I could always -- always -- use a nice cocktail-by-the-pool after a few days of hard climbing and camping in nearby Joshua Tree National Park. haha. And beyond the two hotels mentioned above, a commenter on the original article says to check out the Ace Hotel as well.. and from their website, I think that's another solid option I could get down wit'.

To the desert! In style!

Ready To Be Strepped?

I skipped the December "cycle", but I'm back with a new mix for the Spring edition of my mix-CD-by-mail club. Let's call this one "Strep Out Onto (the Dancefloor)".

Tracklist:

01. If I Know You - The Presets (video)
02. Shooting Stars - Bag Raiders (blog)
03. Little Bit (AutoErotique Bootleg Remix) - Lykke Li (blog)
04. Strawberry (Kocky & Trash Remix) - Adrian Lux (blog)
05. The Electric Road - Morgan Page vs. Lifelike (blog)
06. Dawn of the Dead (Station X Remix) - Does It Offend You, Yeah? (blog)
07. Black History Month (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix) - DFA 1979 (blog)
08. Anything, Anything - Dramarama (video)
09. Ceremony - New Order (video)
10. Heartbreaker - Metronomy (blog)
11. Kelly (Lifelike Remix) - Van She (blog)
12. Kilometer (Moulinex Remix) - Sebastien Tellier (blog)
13. Let's Call It Off (Girl Talk Remix) - Peter Bjorn & John
14. We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off - Jermaine Stewart (video)
15. Hold Me (Breakbot Remix) - Pacific! (blog)
16. Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson (video)
17. Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarus (blog)
18. Iran So Far - Andy Samberg & Adam Levine (video) **

** This last track doesn't fit on the CD, so it's an, um, web-only bonus. That's probably for the best because the video brings those love-lorn lyrics to life! Besides, the laugh-track embedded in the song makes a lot more sense that way. haha.

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Into the mail with you!

If you're interested in a copy, let me know.

Run straight down to the SFMOMA for Dystopia

The SFMOMA's next film series, "The Future of the Past: Utopia/Dystopia, 1965-1984", starts TODAY and runs Thursdays and Saturdays through April 25th.

Mar 7th @ 1pm: Westworld, 1973 (video)
Mar 7th @ 3pm: Logan's Run, 1976 (video)
Mar 12th @ 7pm: Logan's Run, 1976 (video)
Mar 21st @ 1pm: Soylent Green, 1973 (video)
Mar 21st @ 3pm: A Clockwork Orange, 1972 (video)
Mar 26th @ 7pm: A Clockwork Orange, 1972 (video)
Apr 2nd @ 7pm: Fantastic Planet, 1973 (video)
Apr 4th @ 3pm: Fantastic Planet, 1973 (video)
Apr 9th @ 7pm: Stalker, 1979 (video)
Apr 11th @ 1pm: Stalker, 1979 (video)
Apr 16th @ 7pm: Alphaville, 1965 (video)
Apr 18th @ 1pm: Sleeper, 1973 (video)
Apr 18th @ 3pm: Fahrenheit 451, 1966 (video)
Apr 23rd @ 7pm: Fahrenheit 451, 1966 (video)
Apr 25th @ 1pm: Alphaville, 1965
Apr 25th @ 3pm: 1984, 1984 (video)

While I have heard of most of these movies (and their place in pop culture), I've really only seen one: A Clockwork Orange.

A Clockwork Orange. Wow. I've got a weird association with that movie from high school: whenever I was hanging with a certain group of friends we'd start watching that movie only to get through the first half hour or something.. at which point our attention would turn towards more pressing matters like stealing lawn ornaments or driving around in circles while yelling random shizz out the car windows all night. We had our priorities. ahem.

Yeah, so, I assumed the whole movie was about chronicling the misadventures, ultraviolence and all, of Alex -- "Your Humble Narrator" -- and his crew. Little did I know, at the time, that it wasn't a futuristic snuff film, that it would, instead, be posing questions about, for example, the nature of man's free-will and the need to balance individual freedoms versus social stability (and if that needs to be the zero-sum game it's so often portrayed as). I don't think I was ready to tackle those subjects in high school anyway; hmm.. maybe that's why we never got past the first third of the film?

In any case, I'm planning on checking out at least one of these films, with "Stalker" at the top of the list. But depending on how my schedule shakes out over the next couple of weeks, I may try for "Sleeper", "1984", or -- yes, I could use a refresher on it -- "A Clockwork Orange" too (especially given a personal appreciation for language -- in many forms -- developed over the past couple of years).

~~~

Whoa! "Westworld" is about to start! Run straight down to the SFMOMA; you've got 10 minutes..

Ten until The Twelves

I'm definitely a big fan of The Twelves; you may know this.. I've mentioned them a few times, for example, here and here. I even flew over to NYC last December to see them live at the Famous Friends 1st Anniversary party (and get wasted on Red Bull and vodkas -- whoa!, flashback -- hey.. it wasn't my idea initially, but I bought into it very quickly). Let me just say that you should ask for the "big cup" when ordering drinks at Club Europa. haha.

In any case, they be back on tour in US; and I'm seeing them again, this time in San Francisco. You should too.

> The Twelves at 103 Harriet; doors at 9pm.
> http://www.blasthaus.com/calendar.html#twelves

The show was announced after I had posted my last concert list; place The Twelves between Cut Copy and Simian Mobile Disco, date-wise.

Mar 12th: Cut Copy @ The Fillmore
Mar 14th: The Twelves @ 103 Harriet
Mar 15th: Simian Mobile Disco @ Mezzanine

As for what-we're-in-store-for -- if I, ahem, remember correctly -- The Twelves live show had a few more bangers than I was expecting at the time, given the spacey Fred-Falke-esque remixes I had heard from them up until then. But the opening dj's had gotten everyone in good spirits and into the groove. And anyways.. I can definitely get into a night of bangers in and of themselves.. especially when there is some disco-ee-electro-shizz thrown in there for good measure. These guys can mix!

~~~~~

ps. Tickets for Devendra Banhart (video) at The Independent go on sale this Sunday at 10am PST; show is on April 14th.