Monday, August 7, 2006, 12:28 AM - Dancing, Friends
A little postcard arrived in the mail while I was in SF to point me towards L and L's wedding website. If I had any doubts about them being the most adorable couple ever, they were forever banished by the dance previews, the tandem banana seat, and orange flowers. I feel ridiculously honored that they've asked me to say a bit at the ceremony - everyone should have a weditorial from a quirky single girl, right? I've been reading up on court decisions but staying away from Neruda and Rumi. I must think through what to say before election madness descends and I lose all capacity for interesting phraseology...they certainly deserve something special.
;)
Wednesday, July 26, 2006, 12:44 PM - Dancing
LA is proving to be a treacherous place for an impulsive music person like me. When I was in a moderately cranky mood on Monday, I realized that I could wander over to the Avalon and snag a ticket to Gnarls Barkley. Sunday night they dressed up in their MD/St. Elsewhere best, but Monday it was pompadour-laden, poodle-skirted rock gear (note the shirtsleeve cigarette at the far right of the photo). Probably my only chance to watch Cee-Lo lovingly comb through a wig, and well worth the price of admission for a few completely transcendent songs. (Can you believe there was a concurrent J5 show Monday night? Good thing I had seen them recently, or I would have had a terrible time deciding. I like Los Angeles.) This weekend is shaping up to be fabulous for dancing - friday night El Circo party (with the raver dad crew from SF in town) and then Saturday night Nortec Collective downtown for free...
Thursday, June 15, 2006, 07:10 PM - Dancing
Last night was wonderful - it's easy to forget that a playful, connected fast-ish dance to live music is the purest joy I know (except maybe for 3 feet of fresh powder...).
;)
Friday, May 26, 2006, 08:13 PM - Politics, Dancing
Some things are inevitable, although unhappy: Desmond Dekker died.
Some are totally preventable: U.S. Marines may have massacred 24 Iraqi civilians.
Friday, May 26, 2006, 08:08 PM - Dancing
;)
Last night I (successfully) eased my way out of a tempestuous day with the pure joy of a Jurassic 5 set. It was a super special treat to see Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow on 4 turntables, spinning an all-45 70s fabulous set. When the night's best beat is based on a skipping record, you know you're witnessing a transcendent and abstracted level of dj skill. It's kinda exciting to now be part of the hometown crowd for the people who are my favorite djs these days -not to slight the forever-untouchable Bay Area's DJ Q-Bert- and it was just the kind of ego-soothing loss of self I needed to be in the middle of that crowd.
Saturday, April 29, 2006, 03:32 PM - Dancing
of my new job is that my office is on the next corner from the Hollywood Amoeba record store. So far that means I've gotten to sneak out to see in-stores from Calexico, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and my favorite from this Thursday - the Coup. Nothing like a set by some radical Marxist Oakland rappers (and some amazing breast-facilitated scratching by the wonderful Pam the Funkstress) to make a Bay Area girl feel right at home in Hollywood.
Thursday, February 16, 2006, 12:14 PM - Dancing, Friends, Food, Technology
one new alternator belt
three boundlessly enthusiastic dream job emails
one long relationship rant
two dozen roses (four confused neighbors)
two chive dumplings
one hour of pure samba bliss
I can't complain, really.
Monday, February 13, 2006, 12:28 PM - Dancing
I've never been to Mardi Gras, so my empathy for New Orleans as Fat Tuesday approaches is pretty abstract- but somehow the least I can do to manifest an American pre-Lenten bacchanal is support Brazilian carnaval festivities here in SF. Last night I went to Ara Ketu, one of the most popular blocos from Bahia. The crowd was almost completely Brazilian, and it was so wonderful to be caught up in a little bit of the frenzied abandon. My samba muscles are creaky this morning and my clothes were sprinkled with beer by the end of the night, but I am so happy I went. ;)
Wednesday, February 8, 2006, 08:45 PM - Dancing
Could a journal article more perfectly blend two disparate elements of my personality? AVPR1a and SLC6A4 Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated with Creative Dance Performance describes the correlation observed between two neurochemical components (the serotonin transporter SLC6A4 and the arginine vasopressin receptor AVPR1a) and higher scores on measures of social affiliation, absorption, and spirituality among dancers when compared to athletes or non-athlete, non-dancer controls. The article goes on to speculate about how higher capacity for social affiliation and its physical expression through dance may have fulfilled evolutionary functions and continue to underlay propensity for things like altered states of consciousness among dancers. One has to love the side observations about ecstasy use and the rave scene (researchers are in Israel, as some of you may know at times a huge producer of X for the international market). There is a way in which it's somewhat disconcerting to see components of one's personality type linked to a neurochemical substrate, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time until many of our traits are found to correspond to chemical signatures and genetic quirks. As long as they find something along the way that I can put in the water to increase the average dance capacity of the population, I'll be happy.Thursday, January 26, 2006, 02:17 PM - Dancing
Fayard Nicholas died a couple of days ago - he and his brother were some of the greatest tap dancers, especially in their dancing together. Within the swing scene, there's been some resurgence and interest in the last few years in tap - really one of the great american art innovations, and sadly underappreciated by most. There's a too sweet clip of the young brothers here. Back Next
