Archives for category: hooray!

Aesthetica On The Go

September 3, 2007 //

In honor of the Labor Day weekend, I thought I would share some thoughts on traveling. I think I really enjoy shows like Globe Trekker and No Reservation with Anthony Bourdain because they allow me to do my vacationing vicariously — neatly edited with a snappy soundtrack, with none of the hassle, humidity or jetlag I might encounter should I actually travel to any of these far-flung locales. A nice vacation in my book would involve a lot of lazing around the beach, chocolate ice cream soda in hand. There are a couple of place, though, that I would like to see in person.

An icon of modernity, Philip Johnson’s Glass House, opened to the public for tours this past spring — and quickly sold out until 2008. For me, the Glass House has a particular resonance because it reveals that modern design and nature must not necessarily conflict, but can exist in harmony. Imagine the view from inside the house — a year-long cinema of the wonders of God’s creation. Architecture and design can have an impact beyond being aesthetically pleasing. This article, “Mississippi Turning,” from Dwell magazine shows how architecture and design has inspired hope and restoration for one community hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.

If I could book a quick architecture/design vacation, I would also visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri to see the new Bloch buildings there. Like the Glass House, these new buildings symbolize a kind of beautiful convergence — in this case, of classical and modern architecture. From the New Yorker [read the full article, “Lenses on the Lawn,” here]:

Its boldness is no surprise, but, in addition, it is laudably functional, with a clear layout, handsome and logically designed galleries, and a suffusion of natural light. Furthermore, Holl’s five glass structures, punctuating the hill, don’t mock the old building as you might expect; they dance before it and engage it.

I love the idea that the new must not necessarily push out or reject the old; sometimes, the new can revitalize and reinvigorate the old. I am sure the are theological and ecclesial implications but I will explore those another day. I also appreciate that many have commented on how the new buildings do not compete with but, rather, complement (and even perhaps enhance) the art pieces they house.

Have a happy Labor Day weekend. Please, stay hydrated!

Categories art, design, family, hooray!, travel

Strong Enough For A Robot, But Made For A Human

August 23, 2007 //

I had the chance to meet up with DJ Chuang yesterday. It is fun to see social networking actually build community and friendships. It was great to get to know him more and pick his brain about a number of topics. We had a nice laugh over the way bloggers might be more likely to recognize one another by their site names than by their actual names. It makes me glad that I didn’t name my site “big nerd” or “xX1004QTaZnKimchigAngstaXx” (those of you in Asian American youth ministry know what I’m talking about).

After meeting with DJ in OC, we ventured out to LA — where we met a friend at the Giant Robot store. GR is probably best known for their magazine, which has covered Asian American pop culture since 1994. Being a fan of the magazine, I was excited to visit their Los Angeles store.

Maybe I had built it up too much in my mind, but when I first entered the store I was a little bit disappointed. To me, it was a little bit too small and a little bit too crowded. We bought our daughter a little Doremon keychain and went to meet our friend at the Giant Robot restaurant, gr/eats. (which, as Jonathan Gold has written, is a great place to eat with little ones).

Being a t-shirt junkie, I went back to the GR store after dinner and — after much deliberation with my daughter — picked up this shirt (and, no, that’s not me in the photograph). It was strange, but returning for a second visit left a very different impression on me. Maybe it was the tasty french fries I had just eaten at gr/eats (shoestring potatoes, yams and bananas) but the second time, in this case, was the charm. Actually, I think it was because the store was pretty empty and I was able to interact with the people working there — we talked about different magazines, music, and they helped my daughter find just the right Uglydoll (which she has since renamed “Sleeping Beauty”).

Community is such a funny thing. We find it in the most unlikely places — even the quickly disappearing indie record store. Whether it is connecting over common interests and life pursuits, sharing a nice meal together or helping someone sift through an entirely too large pile of Uglydolls, we are made to connect with one another.

Categories art, asian american, church, community, design, hooray!, indie, just grinning, reviews, youth ministry

More Illinoise, Please

August 20, 2007 //

I first picked up an issue of The Believer back in the summer of 2005 — mostly because of the great compilation CD, I Am Not Going To Stab You, that came with that particular issue. I find it hard to keep up with those literary-type magazines (all those little words crammed in together, and not enough photos!) — but The Believer has once again delivered the goods with their most recent comp: Cue The Bugle Turbulent.

Of particular interest is the track delivered by Sufjan Stevens, which has become one of my new favorite things. Apparently, the compilers asked Sufjan to write a “rock” song, and so he did. In the Words of the Governor is a face melting barn burner by Sufjan’s usual gentle, symphonic standards. Reviewers have compared this song with fellow Michiganders The White Stripes and with avant-noise enthusiasts Polvo. It’s nice to hear Sufjan and company play it loose & fuzzy once in awhile — it provides a clever counterbalance for the achy acoustic plucking, sweeping strings and peppy horn arrangements we’re used to hearing from them. Listen to “In the Words of the Governor” for yourself here.

Categories hooray!, indie, music, reviews

Maritime and Leaky Music

August 15, 2007 //

Maritime is releasing their new album, Heresy and the Hotel Choir, on October 16th. Until then, you can enjoy two of their “leaked” tracks on music blogs such as Battle of the Midwestern Housewives and My Old Kentucky Blog. [A brief aside: Is it wrong to link directly to the MP3s that the good folks at these blogs have posted (all of which appear to be legally posted, by the way)? I seem to remember something on the internets about bandwidth and/or etiquette but I’m not real savvy on this kind of stuff. Thanks for any advice.] I have been a fan of Davey Von Bohlen’s work since the days of The Promise Ring — download TPR songs at Epitonic, another great music site (RIP) — and these tracks sound fantastic. If only more bands could create ultra-catchy indie pop gems that rhyme “science fiction” with “benediction.”

The evolving nature of the music industry has changed the way artists and labels release their music. There is an article over at Spin called “The Days of the Leak” that chronicles the travails of the music industry as they deal with the problem of music being leaked before the official release date — although it is kind of hard to muster up much sympathy for megastars like The White Stripes, Trent Reznor or Linkin Park.

A little bit closer to home for indie rock aficionados is the early digital release of the new Stars album. Although the physical album won’t be released until September, the band chose to release their album in digital formats in July. From their website:

Friends, fans and supporters of Stars… – July 10th, 2007

…Traditional music business practice says we are to begin sending out copies of this album now. We give advance copies to print publications in hopes of securing features that coincide with our September date. We meet with radio stations in hopes of securing airplay. etc, etc.

Inevitably someone will leak the album.

…We hope you’ll choose to support the band, and choose to pay for their album. However we don’t think it’s fair you should have to wait until September 25th to do so.

We believe that the line between the media and the public is now completely grey.

What is the difference between a writer for a big glossy music magazine and a student writing about their favourite bands on their blog? What differentiates a commercial radio station from someone adding a song to their lastfm channel? or their myspace page?

…It’s our hope that given a clear, legal alternative to downloading music for free, you will choose to support the creators.

………………………………

I heard it said the other day that content is still king on the internets and, after visiting all of these great indie MP3 blogs I tend to agree. I love sites like notcot, TasteSpotting and engadget because they do all the work for me — bringing together the latest & greatest in the worlds of design, food and gadgetry, respectively. And now I’m glad to discover sites like Who Killed The Mixtape and The Glorious Hum, along with the aforementioned MOKB and Midwestern Housewives, which do all the hard work of bringing together new & interesting indie rock songs for our listening pleasure. (Another aside: Anyone know why all these sites are hosted by blogspot?)

Categories hooray!, indie, music, reviews

Is it just Mii?

August 14, 2007 //

After months of pestering my beleaguered wife, our family finally purchased a Wii. Because of its unique playing system, this is a platform we can play with our four-year old daughter — and, boy, does she love it! Actually, her favorite part isn’t really even a game — it is creating virtual Mii characters. In addition to her personal Mii, she has created several others Miis named “Sleeping Beauty” and “Lumberwell.” We’re still scratching our heads over that one. If I ever figure out how to upload the images, I’ll show some of the funny Miis she has created. We’re also still trying to figure out how to get our Miis to look more like us. Maybe I should talk to Kye.

Our daughter has always named her dolls in a very creative manner. It took us weeks to figure out why she kept calling one her dolls “Ray-fa-fa.” Finally, it dawned on us that she had taken this name from her favorite movie, The Sound of Music — specifically, the scene where the Von Trapp children are learning to sing, “Do Re Mi” and they hit the funky breakdown: “Do mi mi, mi so so, re fa fa, la ti ti…”

I’m glad to report that we have managed to avoid any horrific Wii-injuries so far, but I must say playing the Wii is surprisingly demanding. While it probably says more about my physical conditioning than the difficulty of Wii gaming, I’m pretty worn out after a couple of rounds of boxing or after a homerun derby.

So far, our favorites are Cooking Mama (pictured above) and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Cooking Mama is exactly what it sounds like — a game of cooking up different kinds of foods. I was kind of skeptical at first but this game is seriously addictive fun. And, again, surprisingly demanding. Try racing the clock to stir up the batter or chop up some fatty bacon (in actual physical motions with your Wii-mote) and you’ll be sweating up a storm in no time.

Twilight Princess is an incredible — not to mention time-consuming — game. I really enjoyed Wind Waker (despite some negative reviews) and this takes the franchise in a new direction. Strangely, a lot of people end up here after searching for some variant of “Zelda” and “Wind Waker.” Ah, nerdom. Another birthday gift from my wife was this shirt, which pretty much sums it all up.

Categories family, hooray!, just grinning, reviews