pretty cool stats i didn't know...

Miami’s skyline ranks third in the U.S., behind New York City and Chicago, and 18th in the world according to the Almanac of Architecture and Design.

In 2008, Miami was also ranked the 3rd-richest city in the United States and the world's 22nd-richest city in a UBS study.

In terms of land area, Miami is one of the smallest major cities in the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, the city encompasses a total area of 55.27 mi² (143.15 km²). Of that area, 35.67 mi² (92.68 km²) is land and 19.59 mi² (50.73 km²) is water. That means Miami comprises over 400,000 people in a mere 35 square miles (91 km²), making it one of the most densely populated cities in the United States, along with New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago.

Today, the Miami area has a sizable community of citizens, undocumented populations, and permanent residents, of Argentines, Bahamians, Brazilians, Canadians, Chileans, Chinese, Colombians, Cubans, Dominicans, Ecuadorans, French, Germans, Greeks, Guatemalans, Guayanese, Haitians, Hondurans, Jamaicans, Indians, Italians, Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Peruvians, Russians, Salvadoran, Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Turks, South Africans, and Venezuelans, as well as a sizable Puerto Rican population throughout the metropolitan area. While commonly thought of as mainly a city of Hispanic and Caribbean immigrants, the Miami area is home to large French, French Canadian, German, Italian, and Russian communities. The communities have grown to a prominent place in Miami and its suburbs, creating ethnic enclave neighborhoods such as Little Haiti, Little Havana, Little Managua, Little Brazil, Little Moscow, and Little San Juan.(src: us census bureau)

Just got this on the web today, another offer to pay what you want for it on download. I am only one song in and have heard over 30 samples. Love it!

“Excellent Special FX throughout”
“The best fantasy epic since Lord of the Rings”
“There aren’t enough good fights”
“Three stars, because the paper was too thin”
“One of the most disjointed novels I’ve read in a long while”
“Almost preachy in tone”
“Good ending”
“The Lord hath no scorn like the scorn reserved for one-star reviewers”
“Who wrote this thing, Michael Moore?”
“Definitely not his best work”

3 hours, 15 minutes. 4 encores. amazing.

sigurros.com

the most conflicted creatures on this planet.

"And I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam

And no emotion that’s worth having could call my heart its home."

When's the last time you want to an actual record store? Like where you have to walk through a door and can't just click "download"? Yes, we live inside a blog, but record stores are pretty great. Brandon worked at one (Cheap Thrills Records, New Brunswick, NJ) for a handful of years before the place went under. It's where he cut his teeth, put on fun in-stores, and talked to people face-to-face while trying to explain why they might like the new Pavement and/or Harry Pussy album (all depending). We don't want to get too nostalgic, but it's those sorts of stores (the overstuffed, carefully curated independents) where so much essential music learning takes place. If you haven't ever been in a record store, go watch High Fidelity on your laptop, but take it down a few notches.

Nowadays, a lot of record stores are going under. People don't like to leave their houses anymore. This weekend, though, leave your house to celebrate the first ever Record Store Day. (Mark it on your calendar for next year, too: 4/19, the day before 4/20.) Record Store Day's the idea of a number of independent store owners, who hoped to remind us about the fact that because most folks download their sounds today, record stores as we know 'em are fast going the way of Beta and major record labels. If the livelihood of these people doesn't tug at your heart strings, how are you supposed to have a crush on the cute girl (or boy) working behind the counter when there are no counters to work behind? Maybe more importantly: What happens to the rad folks who know a lot of shit about, say, reggae? Via NY Times:

Some retailers are hoping that the effort is not too late. Jammyland and the Downtown Music Gallery, two East Village institutions -- Jammyland, on Third Street, specializes in rare reggae, and Downtown, on the Bowery, in avant-garde jazz and new music -- are facing untenable rent increases and are looking for new homes.
Jammyland is "the model of what a great record store can be," said Vivien Goldman, the author of "The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers' Album of the Century" and other books. "D.J.'s congregate there from all over and exchange ideas. It's a crucible of music knowledge."

For a local music shopper with a memory of even just a few years, the East Village and the Lower East Side are quickly becoming a record-store graveyard. Across from Jammyland is the former home of Dance Tracks, a premier dance and electronic outlet, which closed late last year, as did Finyl Vinyl, on Sixth Street. Stooz on Seventh Street, Sonic Groove on Avenue B, Accidental on Avenue A, Wowsville on Second Avenue and Bate, an essential Latin store on Delancey Street -- all gone, to say nothing of stores in other neighborhoods, like Midnight Records in Chelsea and NYCD on the Upper West Side.

"Rent is up, and sales are down," Malcolm Allen of Jammyland said as he sold a few Jamaican-made 45s to a customer last weekend. "Not a good combination."

basically, this is an apology.
i still know what's best for both of us, kid.
we've been through enough.
there's nothing left to prove.
the feeling's mutual, but not exclusive.

alibis are only excuses -
allowances for us to abuse the truth.
the truth is i'm done with them.
you may not ever hear them again.

and still they only fulfill so much until
we have to fess up and face the facts
the best we can or live with the consequence...
the resulting accident.

our patience is fading.
consider this courtesy,
if not somewhat evasive underneath.
but even if it just thrills my soul,
or it burns another hole,
i've got to let it go
before we can't.
so long.
you've got to believe there's something better out there,
someone better out there for you than me.

so, there you left me standing
to fend for myself however.
but i'm holding up,
i'm pulling through.
i'm not sure what else you expect me to do.
but i won't deny that i'm taking it hard...
i'm taking whatever's available to me.
you see, that's just the way i deal with grief.

since i left you here
in our destroyed machine,
i fear you've grown immune
to the difference between
whether you're holding on
or you're just holding out.
do me a favor, love.
let me go.
let me lose; before it's too late to choose.

while your pride is numb,
while your face is still young,
while your hands are still clean,
just wash yourself of me.

It's easy to forget that when Elliott Smith first hit the
scene things were a lot different than they are now. There weren't
that many sensitive singer songwriters roaming the underground and
there was still a pretty huge divide between the 'indie' and the
mainstream. Of course that has all changed so much, but when Elliott
first started to get wider attention thanks to Gus Van Sant's use of
his songs in Good Will Hunting and the Oscar nomination that
followed, it was really an exceptionally strange occurrence in the
indie music scene. It kind of marked the moment where much of what
had been a big well kept secret would soon become a part of popular
culture. We can still remember watching Smith on live TV performing
at the Oscar's in his white tuxedo looking so sweet, nervous and
humble. It truly felt like one of US was finally getting their
deserved moment in the spotlight. Of course he lost to Celine Dion,
but there was really no one you would rather get to represent so many
of the underdogs than Elliott Smith. It was like finally getting to
see someone honest and uncorrupted in a mainstream Hollywood setting.
His music was so pure and beautiful, with this uncanny ability to
make the bitter sound so sweet.

"I listened to her music. She listened to mine."

Tell your mom that you're not coming home tonight. You've got your youth, your will, and you're willing to fight. And no conscience, could keep your heart in one piece, there's passion to be found, there's stress, there's release. So, into the open air to soak it all in and live your life like the world owes you something more than, what you have. Like a one way ticket or any free ride, a brand new box to put your head inside. Or a neat, new monument, with your name etched in. A home to call your own, new problem-free willingly withdraw from certainty and lack of sleep on the pure and peaceful path, of stupidity.

Growing gets hard, waiting gets old to you.
I know, that feeling's no fun, it feels like you're out, down and done too.

Oh grow up, when will you ever learn? When will you learn, that candle in the window is going to be the reason your whole house burns. And the money... It's a carrot on a string. There's a horse standing over a black hole basement after losing everything. But your car, you know, it runs like a dream, and your hair and skin are so fucking clean. Everyone looks at you, like you're an angel or something. But we'll take the fake happy over knowing what's wrong and we'll give you the stuff that you need to belong, and hope that's what you need, by a small chance. A quick and heavy dose of acceptance.

Growing gets hard, time is running out.
You'll die, a young and exciting death and you will tell us all in your last breath, "I'm done there's nothing to be happy about."

And we dance, and the flowers come up through the footstep floor mat. And now's your chance, to seize this all, you seize this all, while you're smile hides what's beneath keeps the sadness a secret as we grow old, and take it all with us.

Now, I know, there's mistakes that go along with youth, so choose, to replace or take them with you and I feel so bad now that I'm so old, so angry, so broke, so unhappy, tattooed and ugly.

Growing gets hard, waiting gets old to you.
I know, that feeling's no fun, it feels like you're out, down and done too.
You'll die, a young and exciting death and you will tell us all in your last breath, "I'm done there's nothing to be happy about."

earthhour.org

"embarassed about banging Captain Hook?"

"no, not even a little."

"then why?"

"cause this matters to me- so if i talk about it and it goes away, i'm actually losing something."

i hate this.

eerie.

"...he grabbed my thumb and led me away from the accident. there was no point in watching any more, still i was reluctant to move. 'we have to go find the others' he said. he never looked straight at me. we walked in the grass, around the shack and down to the stream. for some reason, i had never walked down there before. we went into a concrete tunnel, dark but warm. a part of a noise was leaking from the ceiling. now there was that musik again. he sat down and heard me do the same.

'finally we are no one' he said."

you're out there looking for something that you can't even name;
and everybody knows that you'll never be satisfied.

the days when nothing really mattered kinda went the way they came;
the kid's got a brand new suit and he's looking diginified.

"hold on- hold on a minute;
summer's almost over, we should get together one more time."
i already packed my bags, i'll be out at your place at 9.

it brought me back when i heard your name;
i never thought that i'd hear it again.

you said: "i recognize that look."

i thought i learned my lesson but the lesson never took, so

hold on, hold on a minute-
summer's almost over, we should get together one more time.

i walked around the place and everything still seemed the same to me;
i opened up the back door and i took a look outside.

i'm still exactly how i was when i was 23;
the feelings i had back then never changed and they never die.

hold on, hold on a minute-
summer's almost over, we should get together one more time.

My favorite records of the year are as follows:

Arcade Fire- Neon Bible

Radiohead- In Rainbows

The Shins- Wincing the Night Away

The National- Boxer

Stars- In the Bedroom After the War

Pinback- Autumn of the Seraphs

Hope in Ghosts- All Your Departures

Interpol- Our Love to Admire

Justice- +

fabriclive.30- Stanton Warriors

and "think about it", "motha uckas", and "hiphopapotamus vs. rhymenoceros" by Flight of the Conchords

i have never put much effort into this blog, mostly just used it as a gallery of my 'mind's eye'.

however, it won't stop me from giving you my top albums of 2007. coming very soon...

But in my mind
I could still climb inside your bed
And I could be victorious
Still the only man to pass through the glorious arch of your head, o-oh

Oh, you were majesty
Your ropes were heavy
And your cheeks were very red

radiohead announced to the world last night that they are releasing a new album- digital only. the album will release in just 10 days after the announcement, going against every industry standard release procedure. what the real innovation here is the price they are asking: PAY WHATEVER YOU WANT.

if this just got your nipples hard, go straight to this link: http://www.radioheadlp7.com
IN FACT, GO THERE ANYWAYS AND BUY IT. IT WILL COST YOU NEAR TO NOTHING DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU PAY, BUT IT WILL SEND THE MESSAGE TO THE INDUSTRY.


this is brilliant! and radiohead are just the band to pioneer this kind of innovation in a dying dinosaur of a business model, by whom technology has far surpassed by as much as 10 years ago. this probably won't change everything overnight, but it's the HUGE step everyone has been looking/waiting for.

this is all over the blogosphere so i won't overdo it, but i had to put in my two cents as i am excited about my business for the first time in years.

notorious industry ranter/ex-biz guy Bob Lefsetz had this to say:

"This is the industry’s worst nightmare. Superstar band, THE superstar band, forging ahead by its own wits. Proving that others can too. And they will.
This is what happens when you sell twenty dollar CDs with one good track and sue your customers for [file-sharing].
This is what happens when you believe you’re ENTITLED to your business.
This is what happens when music is a second-class citizen only interested in the bottom line."

i also like stereogum's description of this: "a band-sanctioned album leak complete with a tip jar."


p.s. i bought it this morning for $7.00. the site is a bit annoying, as i am sure its servers are on overload. i had to enter my security code twice before it worked. it will be interesting to see how they handle the distribution. it cant be just one site- it would have to be a site with mirrors all over the world. i have to assume they have anticipated this.

'Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death."

--Anais Nin

camdennotNJ: i love her. i need her. my days are empty without her.

i know we are not together, but i also know what it is like when we are.

i never write here anymore.
at the end of the day i really dont
have anything interesting to say.
at least not on a blog.
so forgive my lack of commentary.
sometimes 'silence is golden'.

"...I wonder do you know
If you still love me?

And if you ever come close
And have you ever come close
To coming back to me

It's no secret I still love you
I wonder do you know
If you still love me

I thought it would be
The easiest thing
To keep your heart whole
To keep your eyes dry
To never drop your hand
To always hold it tight

I'm sorry, so sorry
For everything..."

there will come a time gigantic
waves will crush the junk that i have saved
when the moon explodes or floats away
i'll lose the souvenirs i made
la la la

"You look so good in the shoes of an outcast
I kissed your throat every time they said it wouldn't last
But then I knew you, I knew you, I knew you
I really knew you

We fell apart in the parties of the empty heart
We danced the junkies in the shadows of bad modern art
We clicked our heels and we wished we were home
One more tab and your silk hits the chrome..."

"Your class, your caste, your country, sect, your name or your tribe
There's people always dying trying to keep them alive
There are bodies decomposing in containers tonight
In an abandoned building where

A squatter's made a mural of a Mexican girl
With fifteen cans of spray paint in a chemical swirl
She's standing in the ashes at the end of the world
Four winds blowing through her hair

But when great Satan's gone, the whore of Babylon
She just can't sustain the pressure where it's placed
She caves

The Bible's blind, the Torah's deaf, the Koran's mute
If you burn them all together you get close to the truth still
They are pouring over sanscript on the ivy league moons
While shadows lengthen in the sun

Cast on a school of meditation built to soften the times
And hold us at the center while the spiral unwinds
It's knocking over fences, crossing property lines
Four winds, cry until it comes

And it's the sum of man
Slouching towards Bethlehem
A heart just can't contain all of that empty space
It breaks, it breaks, it breaks

Well, I went back to my rented Cadillac and company jet
Like a newly orphaned refugee, retracing my steps
All the way to Cassadaga to commune with the dead
They said, "You'd better look alive"

And I was off to old Dakota where a genocide sleeps
In the black hills, the bad lands, the calloused east
I buried my ballast, I made my peace
Heard four winds leveling the pines

But when great Satan's gone, the whore of Babylon
She just can't remain with all that outer space
She breaks, she breaks, she caves, she caves"

--Bright Eyes- "Four Winds"

this guy is a lyrical genius.

"NOBODY IS COMPLETE. DON'T LOOK FOR THE OTHER, DON'T LOOK FOR THE THINGS, THIS IS NOT THE ANSWER. PLEASE, YOU WOULD NEVER BE AN ENTIRE PERSON. STOP LIVING AS A CONSUMER . NOBODY, AND NOTHING, WILL RELIEVE YOUR EMPTINESS. EVEN LOVE CAN..T DO THAT."

p.s.
(it's a post trying to promote a band, and they suck. should have known by the caps...) i must admit when i thought someone was saying this out loud to millions, not for fame, it meant more.

...and then i think i hear angels in my ears
like marbles being thrown against a mirror
and along the highway where unlucky stray dogs bleed
wild sage growing in the weeds

and some days i don't miss my family
and some days i do
some days i think i'd feel better if i tried harder
most days i know it's not true

iris: what happened to you, roy?
roy: life didn't turn out the way i expected.

oh, how could anyone not love the terrible things you do?
oh, how could anyone not try and help you?
oh, how could anyone try to rip it all apart?
oh, how could anyone not love your cold, black heart?
oh, how could anyone not finally diminish---
the thrill of blood comes instantly; there's only darkness at the finish.

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"sorry, but i've got to go
the birth was quick but the death was slow
there was so much i didn't now
so much i never knew about you

and so we disconnect
the room goes quiet around us
it's called the life effect
will it always surround us?"

"...and so we disconnect
the room grows quiet around us
nothing left to protect
the end has finally found us

the day is almost over
it's almost time for bed
so now you've finally lost me
rest your weary head"

"If you have it, you don't need to have anything else- and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have."

--Sir J. Barrie

I drink good coffee every morning
Comes from a place that's far away
And when I'm done I feel like talking
Without you here there is less to say
I don't want you thinking I'm unhappy
What is closer to the truth
That if I lived till I was 102

I just don't think I'll ever get over you

I'm no longer moved to drink strong whisky
'Cause I shook the hand of time and I knew
That if I lived till I could no longer climb my stairs

I just don't think I'll ever get over you

Your face it dances and it haunts me
Your laughter's still ringing in my ears
I still find pieces of your presence here
Even after all these years
But I don't want you thinking I don't get asked to dinner
'Cause I'm here to say that I sometimes do
Even though I may soon feel the touch of love

I just don't think I'll ever get over you

If I lived till I was 102

I just don't think I'll ever get over you

this is the BEST record i have heard all year. even though i am interpol's number one fan, i doubt that they can top this. hope i am wrong.

"he was gonna go down in flames, that was his style..."
--s. pearcy

when you try your best but you don't succeed
when you get what you want but not what you need
when you feel so tired but you can't sleep
stuck in reverse

high up above or down below
when you're too in love to let it go
but if you never try you'll never know
just what you're worth

and the tears come streaming down your face
when you lose something you can't replace
or you love someone but it goes to waste
what could be worse?...

originally, this is a picture i took of someone taking my blood. i asked a friend of mine to alter it in photoshop based on what i told him.


here it is.

"... Why can you not stop saying what is in yours? Why must you lead, when I want to lead? If I want to dance, I will ask you to dance. If I want to speak, I will open my mouth and speak. Everyone is forever plaguing me to speak further. Why? What... good is it to tell you you are in my every thought from the time I wake? What good can come from my saying I-- I sometimes cannot think clearly, or- or do my work properly? What gain can rise from my telling you... the only time I feel fear as others do, is when I think of you in harm? That is why I am on this porch, Ivy Walker. I fear for your safety above all others. And yes... I will dance with you on our wedding night."

did you ever think of your friends as boring?

did it make you love them any less?

did you ever feel the need to tell them such a thing?

no, because thats not being a friend.

what is important to you is entirely different to someone else.

we are all boring if you think of life in such miniscule terms.