La Plata Beach

Ever go to a party looking so adorable you almost can’t stand it, only to arrive and find out that all in attendence have actually out-awesomed you?

That’s what happened to me at Armida Lowe’s home recording party this summer.Let me set the scene…A small two-story rental in a semi-dodgy neighborhood south of Greenbelt Road. The only room with people in it is a tiny room upstairs, where around 25 (by my estimation) sweaty, drunk college (and non-student) kids are sitting, waiting, in temperatures that I am positive exceeded 100 degrees, in anticipation for the music to start.

The act is Armida. She wales; strums; beats; monologues. She totally blows your mind for being 21 (at midnight that night, actually). Armeda invited guests via myspace to join her in her house, which she shares with one of my most favorite Marylanders EVER, Andrew (Bucket) Ortuzar (featured on VestisAcademia.blogspot.com last year, and found at myspace.com/themalegaze), by posting an amazingly inventive and absolutely irresistable video. Check it out here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz4ikI49Upg  

 Here are some snaps I got of those fabulous party-goers. How could one group of people make the impossible heat of the summer look like such an opportunity for showing off your who-gives-a-shit side, and make it look so appealing?        

Thanks to everyone who let me take their pictures!  

After much anticipation and hype, Sunday night’s Radiohead show at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia proved to live up to its expectations and more. On a cold, rainy May evening, thousands of fans flocked to the show — some in flip flops and shorts even — anxious to see a band the Wall Street Journal recently compared with the Beatles. (Read that here.) I prepared to flock to section 305, which was the highest level of seating, right in front of the poor, poor lawn-ers.

No matter the level of seats I have or the time I give myself to get to the venue, it seems that every time I go to a show at Nissan Pavilion, I always miss the first song or two. This show was no different. After getting a serious workout on the way to my seat, at around 9:10pm, I arrive to to hear the ending to “All I Need” which just happens to be my favorite song off of last year’s In Rainbows. 

From there, the band transistions and is now in full-force as they jumped into another new song, “Jigsaw Falling Into Place.” Then in “Lucky” the light show takes off while afterward in ”Nude,” the audience shuts up and listens to Thom Yorke sing ”Don’t get any big ideas.” Another personal favorite of mine, “Pyramid Song,” was next (off of 2001’s Amnesiac), and by the sounds of the crowd, it’s definitely a fan favorite.

Next up is “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” which is the fourth song the band has played from their latest album. The best line from that song for me is, “You’re eyes…They turn me…” and I when I hear it, I just melt. Just as I come up for air, I hear a familiar noise, but I can’t quite put my finger on it… 

…It hits me: It’s “Myxomatosis!!” This is the only tune they play from their 2003 album “Hail to the Thief,” which is probably their least famous album, but certainly ranks among OK Computer and Kid A.

As the concert continues, we hear old favorites such as “Karma Police” and “Paranoid Android” which are good songs, but are even better live.

Worth mentioning again is the light show which showcased the guitar playing of Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, and Colin Greenwood the entire night. At every stroke was a powerful beam of light, which made the experience even more invigorating.

In case you’re interested, here’s the complete set list:

All I Need / Jigsaw Falling Into Place / Lucky / 15 Step / Nude / Pyramid Song / Weird Fishes/Arpeggi / Myxomatosis / Idioteque / Faust Arp / Videotape / Paranoid Android / Just / Reckoner / Everything In Its Right Place / Bangers + Mash / Body Snatchers // Like Spinning Plates / Optimistic / Karma Police / Go Slowly / Planet Telex // Fake Plastic Trees / National Anthem / House of Cards

Highlights included “Everything In Its Right Place,” The Bends’ “Planet Telex” and a newer song called “Go Slowly” which I am sad to say I do not have. That song, along with five others are only available on the Box Set of In Rainbows, but I’m sure us college students can find a way to get them illegally…

One of the best moments was when in “Paranoid Android” Yorke sang “Rain down…rain down…come on rain down, on me” no doubt paying respects to the hundreds braving the lawn in cold, rainy weather. Yorke even said, “We know how tough today has been for you guys.”

Torrential rain could not keep me from this show, and neither could my feeling a bit under-the-weather. It was so worth it. That said, I’ll probably never go to that venue again.

I lied. The only way I’d go is if the Smiths reunited.

This is a MOST hilarious menu in busted English:   

http://www.rahoi.com/2006/03/may-i-take-your-order/ 

The United Kingdom’s reproductive technology regulators have just confirmed research done by a team of scientists at Cornell University, who were the first to genetically modify a human embryo. The research was presented in 2007, at the annual American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting, but wasn’t publicized until the research was confirmed. The embryo was injected with a green fluorescent protein. After five days, the embryo was destroyed.

This scientific breakthrough will raise a gigantic amount of ethical dilemmas, including the “designer baby” idea. With more research, parents may eventually be able to modify the personality traits, intelligence and even physical appearance of their unborn baby; all for the right price of course. Genetics will allow those traits to continue to be passed on to future offspring of the first “enhanced” baby.

The upside to this is that with more research, scientists will be able to learn more about diseases, and hopefully, one day eliminate some of the disorders that cause so many people pain and suffering. Seeing as the development of such procedures will take a while, testing on humans will not be happening any time soon. These debates will surely stretch out into legislation and regulation, as will anything when embryos are involved.

Last Thursday, I went to the Riverdale Park Farmers Market. Did you realize that it is only a short bike ride or walk from campus?

I went with my husband and son, and we took the “back” way (simply following the yellow signs set-up, beginning on River Road, just past the metro), through parking lots and residential streets, ending up in Historic Riverdale, appearing like a mirage in a desert of industrial dilapidation.

p1060146.JPG

 The best thing about this market, is that it is on Thursdays, so you don’t have to choose between this and College Park, Takoma Park, or any of the other many weekend markets.  

There was a great variety of stuff! Veggies, fruits, herbs, flowers, jams, bread, and food made to-go. We bought a small order of seriously good mini-doughnuts (I sprinkled on the delicious cinnamon sugar that they had sitting there) and I got some beautiful flowers, as you can see in this photo:  p1060149.JPG

They also had a folk singing lady. She played pop songs in a folk style. As much as folk musicians irritate the shit out of me, it was sort of nice to have in the background.  

 If you take the back way, just follow the signs (hopefully they will post them each week. It is a little tricky, though.  First, take River Road to the street/parking lot that Raytheon is on (just up from the metro). Turn onto this street, and continue past the modern buildings into the parking lot of this p1060150.JPG Pass this building, heading toward what looks like a dead end. When you get to the fork, turn LEFT.Continue on until you see the market. It will be on your right. It is situated behind a sweet old train stop, I think for MARC trains. If you’re driving, park at the train stop and walk across the tracks into the market.

 Thursdays 3-7 pm 

http://www.rpfarmersmarket.org/ 

Some time two weeks ago or so, I ended up looking up Spyro the Dragon music on Youtube and enjoying it and I played Sonic games with my friend Bob. Just about everyone recognizes that the Sega Genesis owns soooo…

I have brought my Sega Genesis on campus and left my 360 home while replacing it with my PS2 and some PSX games. It’s the week before finals and I was getting pretty bored with my 360 and my general disinterest in some of its games, so why not play some oldies?

I placed Sonic & Knuckles with a friend, but I think I’ll do a run-through of the first Sonic. I’ve gotten pretty far in the past and even though I have a thing for dying since my skills have somewhat gone down the drain, I plan to play some Sonic in between studying hours (I’ll be studying for about 4 hours a day…yeesh).

While Sonic the Hedgehog is in the Genesis, I have the first Spyro the Dragon playing quite well on my true love, the Playstation 2. I’ll keep you posted on how the fun goes.

If you wish to partake in Retro Week, bust out the PS2, the original Xbox, your Gameboys of any type, your Dreamcast if you still have one, your Nintendo64 or whatever else you have and play to your heart’s content! This is for the sake of Finals, I tell you!

$5,500,000,000

Microsoft withdrew its bid to buy Yahoo because of that amount of money. When looked at in context, Microsoft was willing to pay $47.5 billion for the seemingly simple search-engine site Yahoo, who was expecting a hardy $53 billion. It is very difficult as college students to grasp that amount of money. You may say that it was stupid for them to argue over such a relatively small amount of money. So, the next time I see you, can you give me $23. That is a relatively small amount of money, and I would love $23.

If I was Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang, I would’ve just accepted the deal. It would’ve provided me an incredible retirement, and a giant smile when they put a check for $47 billion in my hand. Capitalism is great.

Google wins again.

Actress Kate Hudson, 29, was chosen for the cover of People magazine’s annual 100 Most Beautiful People list, on new stands Friday. Hudson most recently starred in Fool’s Gold with Matthew McConaughey (a former “Sexiest Man Alive” winner) and has been frequently spotted lately with on-again off-again boyfriend Owen Wilson. The mother of 4-year-old Ryder appears next in My Best Friend’s Girl which hits theatres September 19 and co-stars Alec Baldwin and Dane Cook.

 Uhhh am I the only one shocked by this choice? I mean she’s beautiful but I feel like she came out of nowhere here. Who would you pick?

Metallica consists of two parts musician and three parts asshole. Led by their psychotic drummer, Lars Ulrich, they are now adding hypocrite to the list.

Remember that time when Napster reigned supreme and file sharing was a perfect blend of speed and seemingly endless amounts of music? Remember when Metallica ruined that? Or, at least tried.

I realize that they had a reason to be upset with people downloading their material without their consent, but they didn’t have to be shitheads about it. Ulrich sent a list of 335,435 people who illegally acquired their music to Napster so that they can be banned from the network. Dr Dre soon joined the bitching contest and another 230,142 people were banned. While systematically destroying their fan base, they also showed the world how money-driven they are. Music is about self-expression and not about maximizing profits. If that many people were listening to my music, I wouldn’t be complaining about it.

Now, considering they haven’t released a decent album since 1997 (ReLoad), Metallica is attempting to follow the paths of bands such as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and release their album online for people to download. They haven’t made it clear if the method would include people picking their price, like Radiohead’s In Rainbows, or even have it be free. I don’t think I need to explain the contradiction here.

It’s clear that they are only doing this because they see the success of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, which further proves my point that they are money-hungry scumbags. It’s perfectly alright to have convictions that are not popular, but stick to your guns and have some integrity.

<—Fart Factory

To the true artists:

Radiohead vs. Reznor

I never thought that there would be a museum solely dedicated to menstruation, but apparently there was one  for many years. Unfortunately, the Museum of Menstruation, which was located in Maryland, closed down in 1999, but this article about it is hilarious.

Side note: a man ran the museum… go figure. 

Museum of Menstruation - article/ review

http://www.mum.org/ -Museum of Menstruation’s website

Apparently, the man who ran the museum wanted to find a larger location for the museum, but failed so is shipping his prized menstruation artifacts over to a museum in Australia. This is old news to say the least, but it is definitely the most interesting thing I’ve stumbled upon all day. Enjoy it if you can, at least laugh about it a little.

 … a dress made out of girly products (courtesy of roadsideamerica.com)