Media of all sorts

I've been catching up on a lot of online media instead of doing anything food related. Perhaps I should change my blog name again to something less narrow.

Music

Alternate Side is the WFUV's Alternative/Indie Station. Pretty Cool, definitely give it a listen. Before you know it you will be able to pick up on all the music NYers rave about. Most of those bands also show up at various concert venues in NYC so that's a plus. Of course, I always have so much trouble convincing friends to go with me since the bands are not that mainstream yet.

SXSW is the biggest thing where tech/music/twitter/media go crazy.

NPR has great coverage: http://www.npr.org/music/sxsw/index.html

So far I've listened to Heartless Bastards and Decemberists and loved both. So much to look forward to in the summer! Maybe some of those artists will swing by a free summer concert!

New music finds:

//federico aubele http://www.myspace.com/aubele found him from the Wheelman game site of all places. awesome acoustic guitar. would love to see him live (upcoming show in may)

//charlie hunter http://www.charliehunter.com/ I can't remember how I found him. maybe on gothamist or lmagazine. jazz.

// asteroid galaxy tour http://www.theasteroidsgalaxytour.com/# You probably know them from an ipod commercial a while ago. I found them separately and then realized they did an ipod commercial. very bouncy feel good music that doesn't sound like bubblegum.

Video

The Digg guys held a live show at SXSW that was pretty fun.

Who knew Funimation could afford to put up 20 episodes of Ouran High School Host Club online? I breezed through them and had to find the rest of the series elsewhere. Still can't decide whether I had a favorite character or whether I cared for the ending.

Games

DSLite - I just finished the fourth Ace Attorney Game. What a trip. If you like the series, be sure to visit http://www.court-records.net/ This fansite has a lot of materials, official and fanmade. The forum is also rather active and people are very talented. The remixes and spirites are just awesome.

PS3 - While unlocking Wipeout HD levels is quite an experience, I have to say I'm really drawn to it because it's so damn pretty. Some elements remind me of podracing from Star Wars Ep1. After trying Wheelman demo I've decided that while Vin Diesel makes good action movies (hey, I'm definitely going to see the Fast & Furious 4 movie, huge F&F fan), he makes even better action games. Imagine beautiful Barcelona, hot cars, and Vin Diesel driving (and jumping) cars. The driving controls were very smooth, I'm still getting the hang of the specifics such as shooting and targeting while driving. Oh and I have to say the soundtrack is quite spectacular. Perhaps I'm kind of sick of hiphop music for driving games (not that I don't love GTA sountracks, mind you) and wanted a change of pace and some nice acoustic guitar is just the key.

Speaking of GTA, I finally cracked open my roommate's copy of GTA4 and gave it a spin. Clearly, I'm not meant for driving games. How I managed to spend more than 2 minutes backing out to drive home (first driving mission....) and then getting on the cops bad side after failing traffic laws (what, you have to wait for a green light?) is beyond me. After stumbling and coming out of the hopsital a few times, I finally successfully got my first date's number and some nice clothes (arg sunglasses were beyond my budget!) I can see why people like this game. Liberty City is much prettier and much more friendly for driving. The radio presets are life-like and enjoyable.

Bright Eyes

Bright Eyes, from Omaha.
Band info on wiki
Official site
Albums & Lyrics Site (Scroll down to see albums by Bright Eyes. No pop-ups! Yay!)

NPR shows
[Note: you may need do Ctrl+F to search for Bright Eyes since some of the shows feature more than one artist and songs. Also some of them are clips, not full songs. You may also need realplayer]
live show at DC 930 Club
All Songs Considered "Easy/Lucky/Free" and "Train Under Water"
"First Day of My Life". Romantic number.
More All Songs Considered. Three songs from the Album Four Winds: "Four Winds", "Smoke Without Fire", and "Cartoon Blues".
Kurt Orzeck talks about the Bright Eyes Vinyl Box Set
A Chat with Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes
"Blue Angels Air Show", a rarity.
"Take it Easy" and "Lua". two songs.
"Road to Joy" from Album Motion Sickness.


My favorite right now
"Easy/Lucky/Free" (lyrics; video) from the Album Digital Ash in a Digital Urn.

props to V. for introducing them to me. Life would be easier if he just had a music blog himself.
If I missed any "Bright Eyes" related material on NPR, feel free to just do a search on their website.

Ode to Stephin Merritt

Stephin Merritt, of Magnetic Fields, Gothic Archies, and other bands. He plays the ukelele, has a gift for writing love songs (of somewhat untradtional variety), and has a rather deep voice.

He's really the only reason that I even read the 13 books of Lemony Snicket. I heard "Shipwrecked" on an NPR show and just had to read the book since that song was from the soundtrack. The soundtrack "Tragic Treasury" is a collection of songs that were originally part of the audiobooks for Lemony Snicket. There's something about ukelele and accordion, I guess. Not sure if the instruments made it onto the CD since the CD sounds rather synthesized. The live npr piece did feature some nice melodies, though.

Okay, the books were very clever and had tons of literary allusions and references, too (warning, link has some spoilers). Tim Curry was also the best choice for reading the audiobooks. Yes, I've actually had to borrow some audiobooks since the library didn't always have the book I need on shelf. Navigating the Youth/Children section was at once funny and embarrassing. I don't mind though.

Besides the really melancholic Tragic Treasury, I also found good songs from the NPR concert and the help of youtube. The youtube video is a fan creation and deserves attention. She did a great job with the melody and vocals. I think the 3 disc set"69 Love Songs" would be a good investment. In truth, I want to buy everything written by the man.

Okay, no food in this entry but since I wanted this to be a permanent entry for reference and didn't want to start a new blog, here it is. Perhaps I'll do more of this sort in the future and change my blog's name to "Azulet's Delicious Food and Awesome Music Review".

Let's put a bit of food in this entry, shall we?
The LIRR train station is close to a take out stand that sells everything from small baozi to scallion pancakes and soymilk. I've never given much thought to the other foods. This evening, I was hungry, it was cold outside, and I simply was not in the mood to cook. So I walked up to the booth to check my options. Something that looked like Chow Mien caught my attention, it actually is Chow Mien made with vermicelli (rice noodle?). Lots of oil, thin strips of carrot and onions mixed in, it was actually quite good. Hey, quick and cheap ($1.50) is not bad. Although next time I think I'll try the fried rice since it looked quite good too.