When you blink your eyes...

I have been planning and working on this new revision of my website off and on for about 6 months now. I decided to move to a new host and build everything in python on top of django. Its been a great learning experience. There are many features I want to add but I felt it was at a stage where it was good enough to transition over from the previous site.

I am now off of wordpress and created the blogging (hate that word) system I call Blink pretty much from scratch on django with the help of a lot of reading and trial and error. There are still some features I want to add such as full searches, but its mostly there.

The photography section is still running off of the flickr api. I had to re-do it with beej's flickr API instead of the version I was using before in PHP. I built a custom photo display system with the help of a few tricks from mootools and a lot of trial and error. I still need to streamline the javascript but it should work ok for now.

The music section is now fully automated off of all of the digital music that I play with the help of last.fm webservices. I plan on adding a lot more features to that area as time goes on. I just added the cover art over the weekend with the help of Amazon Webservices. Its not 100% accurate but generally pretty close. Part of it has to do with albums that are missing from last.fm or bad id3 tagging.

I'll write more in detail about these but I'm tired now and I need to finish my taxes.

The last couple of evenings I've been listening to Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks on vinyl on repeat (manual repeat). I've had it for awhile but hadn't totally absorbed it like I have until recently.

I've been on a big Bob Dylan kick recently. Trying to get most of his albums on vinyl when I can. I have found a few good record stores around the west village. The other day I was in one on Bleecker Street called Slider records I think it was. It was packed with records, the guy said he's not able to sell them as fast as he used to. I was look ing for the Dylan records I didn't have yet. He showed me a copy of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. I had actually obtained it the previous weekend but he mentioned the album cover was taken on the same block we were on. I'm not too big on touristy kind of things, but it felt warm and inspiring to know that Dylan had walked those same streets.

My appreciation has grown for him more and more over the years. When I was young I used to think it was some weird man with a funny voice, I didn't understand it. Now I consider him one of the better artists of all time. Up there with the consistent accomplishments of someone like Picasso. Even if you don't care for their work, they deserve some kind of respect and admiration for how much they kept changing and challenging themselves while continuing to produce quality work.

I kind of prefer some of the later 60's and early 70's albums of his at present even though its all great. New Morning is probably near the top of the list. Blood on the Tracks is moving up quickly. It has an amazing feeling to it over all. Contemplative, warm, soothing, and personal.

I saw the Handsome Furs last night at Bowery Ballroom with Emily. I'm always up for seeing most any Canadian rock band and even more so if they have any relation to Wolf Parade.

The Handsome Furs are Dan Boeckner and his wife Alexei Perry. The music is much moreo stripped down than Wolf Parade as its just Boeckner on guitar and vocals and Perry on the drum machine/keyboards. I have only heard the album a few times and I did start to get into some of it. I enjoyed them more live than I thought i would. Boeckner has some excellent talent for song writer and singing.

I was impressed with the way they played the first single I heard a few months ago "The Handsome Furs Hate This City" from their album Plague Park. They started the first half of the song with both of them on the same tiny synth wiggling around to the music.

We didn't stay all the way through the entire set because it was getting pretty late and it was a school night but I enjoyed it quite a bit. I always enjoy going to the Bowery.

I've spent a considerable amount of spare time on and off over the past several months working on an updated revision of my website. I decided to take on the task of building a blogging system on top of django instead of using wordpress. I started teaching myself python and django about 6 months ago and have enjoyed working with it quite a bit. I knew it was going to be a big project to create a blogging system from scratch for blink, but its not exactly from scratch with all the built in support django has.

I'm getting close to a version I can consider turning over to from the old site. There are still many things I want to accomplish but I've missed writing in the blog as I've felt kind of in limbo from the old site and spending the spare time working on the new revision. I have moved all old posts from my previous systems which were on wordpress and prior to that blogger into this new system.

I feel like I'm much more organized with the way I develop and make changes to the site than old versions. I'm really working on making something maintable and easy to add features too. I will write more about the features I have completed and what I plan on doing in the future soon.

I was just watching the Led Zeppelin Song Remains the same concert film again on VH1 classics. Every time I watch that performance it blows me away. It is one of the greatest live music recordings I've seen. In addition to all the members of the band being at their peak, the videography and editing is outstanding as well. The way they intertwine mini-plot music video sequences with the live performance and backstage and fan interaction really gives you a sense of being there. I also like the fact this happened just a few miles away from where I'm at right now at Madison Square Garden.

Its almost unreal how great Jimmy Page is on the guitar in this. You can tell he knows what a total bad ass he is and how in control of the instrument he is. It makes me think of what a joke so many other bands are that pale in comparison. He's wearing those wild moon and star bell bottoms along with perfectly clashing embroidered matador-like small jacket. Throughout it I was thinking of a show I saw about the band once about how Page was into black magic and that could partially be what catalyzed the band's demise in the end. I'm not sure what that guy did to get so great, but its truly remarkable. With practice anyone can become a good guitar player, but few are truly great and innovative. He's always been up on my list of top guitar players of all time.

I really like how they tie in the band's theme of fantasy and mysticism with each of the mini music videos. Some of them are quite hilarious and odd but fit perfectly with the show. One of my all time favorite songs of all time is The Rain Song and the performance here is no disappointment. The videos add a visual compliment to Plant's Tolkien influenced songs. I just read here that the sequence of Plant during The Rain Song was shot on his Welsch farm. It makes me want to visit there some day.

Apparantly they were showing this to advertise a newly released version of the film for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. I need to get a copy of that and maybe buy a copy for other people for Christmas, its truly a great work of art in many ways. I'm not so excited about the idea of Led Zeppelin touring again, reminds me of the Pixies coming back, I just don't think it will be nearly close to the same. However, with this film you can see the band at their prime which is truly a high standard that many bands have tried to copy but very few have come close.

When I stepped out onto the sidewalk this morning to go to work it was a bright sunny day, perfect temperature. I got the song Cemetry Gates by The Smiths in my head after that, the line about “a dreaded sunny day, so I meet you at the cemtry gates.” I wasn’t really dreading the sunny day I just like that song a lot. I then put that track on my iPod and listened to The Queen is Dead album on the way to work on the crowded subway. The perfect end to the journey listening to that music is there is a huge poster of Morrissey as I step out of the Subway on about 53rd and Broadway. Before this poster was put up within the last month it was another Morrissey poster that had been up 4-5 months advertising the last time he came to town. Its always refreshing to come back to the Smiths, I never get tired of them. This is real music.

I was invited to go see The National the other night with my friend Emily. This was the opening night of a new venue in midtown west / hell's kitchen called Terminal 5. I had high hopes for the place because its owned by the Bowery Ballroom people who have the best venues in NYC. The venue was in kind of a warehouse district on the far West edge of Manhattan. It was really great inside, 2 upper tiers, excellent sound. Not all that different from the Bowery Ballroom setup which is perfect.

The opening act was this girl who goes by the name St. Vincent. I liked her. She performed solo with an electric guitar with various distortion pedals and a drum machine. In some ways she reminded me of Tom Vek + Feist. Her voice was beautiful similar to Feist, but St. Vincent is more arty and unpredictible which I liked. Sometimes adding crazy effects and loud distortion. She also switched back and forth to a second microphone with an effect that sounded like a tinny Billie Holiday. Overall, enjoyable performance.

The 6 members of The National appeared on stage not long after that. I was expecting them to have more beards, but only the drummer did. They played all my favorite songs and they sounded better live. I had read there are twin brothers in the band, I think they were the 2 guitar players. The lead singer was a taller blonde fellow, I like his voice a lot. It took awhile for the first album to grow on me last year but then I liked it from then on.

Fake Empire, the first track on their current album, Boxer, was outstanding. The dynamics of well done live sound engineering and the acoustics of the space were just right for their sound. They had a 2 piece brass section that came in for several songs including this one that added the perfect touch. I had wondered on the recorded version if it was just a synthesizer or something, but its really a trumpet and trombone.

I would definitely go see The National live again. This may be the second best live show this year I've seen next to LCD Soundsystem. I would also recommend Terminal 5. Its much, much better than the Roseland Ballroom which is a few blocks from where I work. Roseland is more expensive, too big, bad sound (at least the show I went to). Bowery Ballroom just does live music the right way. I'm glad they were able to expand into this new venue and bring more great shows.

I came into Webster Hall with a friend waiting for Animal Collective to start. We were there a little over an hour and 15 after the doors open, seemed like it should be about time for them to start.

After a beer or 2 we realized a band was already playing, it was some kind of weird electronic ambient music. I was wondering who the opening band was. I saw them set up 2 skeletons with prom dresses on or something on each side of the stage. We walked in closer, I didn't know what to make of the music yet. I was trying to figure out what this band was. There was one band member on each side of the stage at what looked like drum machines and some keyboards for each of them, no computers, all analog. There was a singer at this point always singing through some voice distortion system in a weird creepy, carnival like voice.

At one point the music got very loud, a sound that was somewhat like a blender was blaring through the venue. Then a barrage of trumpets came through as the beat started to come in. I noticed some what of a island flavor to the songs, it was dancey and electronic, and almost dub/reggae at times.

Then at one point I heard some words I recognized, I couldn't exactly place it. I knew I liked this song and had heard it recently but it didn't really sound like anything I could remember. This was a progressive interesting sound, it wasn't quite like anything else. I was wondering if it was this band Battles my friend John had recently introduced me to. I had only heard a few of there songs, I was wondering if it was one of those. I knew they also had distorted vocals and used electronic equipment in this way. I even sent a text message to John at one point when I was sure this was Battles, I felt silly when I realized it wasn't them.

Then I heard what sounded like the Animal Collective song "Peacebone" start playing off of there new album with somewhat of a polka beat. I checked and the same band was on stage. Although, the song was much different than I remembered. It did not sound like the recorded version. Was this Animal Collective all along? I thought I knew the music pretty well. How could I not recognize Animal Collective's music? I had listened to Strawberry Jam at least 5 times since I've had it. I had listened to Feels tons of times.

I saw the edge of a cymbal from my viewpoint but couldn't really see a drummer, I never saw the cymbals move. If this was Animal Collective I knew that Panda Bear should be on drums. Then I heard him sing, it was unmistakable the Brian Wilson sounding falsetto. Later I saw him actually play the drums while standing. The drums were only played a few times the entire night, mainly all drum machines.The songs became more recognizable at times, at least the lyrics once I realized it was in fact Animal Collective. I did not know what to make of this, but I knew I liked it, whatever it was. I wasn't really mad the songs were not played like the songs on the albums I loved. I respected the fact they wanted to do something totally different with the songs and I thought it was done pretty well for the most part. I talked to a few people and the crowd and some hated it, some loved it. One guy said he had seen them play live a few times and they normally play the songs different than the albums. "Who could win a rabbit" was hardly recognizable to me, only by the lyrics did I finally catch on. It was almost as if they were covering themselves.

At one point in the show Avey Tare mentioned something about the monitor sounding too "bassy". The whole show was very bass heavy and reggae sounding. Its hard to describe the weird spin they put on all the songs. I don't know if it was for halloween or what, being halloween is still a month away.

I never heard or at least recognized my favorite AC song "Did you see the words?" but I did enjoy the show quite a bit. They left the stage to return for no encore. The lights didn't immediately come on and people began to change for them to return but they did not. I enjoyed the band's audacity to play the songs in this way. I thought it was a success but could see how some fans wouldn't like it. Overall, a great experience. It didn't beat out the LCD Soundsystem performance earlier this year but this one is up on the list.

I woke up this morning to a phone call where my family sang a harmonious version of happy birthday to me. It was the best birthday wakeup call I could think of. It immediately reminded me of the short track on Aphex Twin’s Drukqs album called “Lornaderek”. Its a short recording of what sounds like his parents calling him on the phone and singing happy birthday to him. I just listened to it and at the end his mom says “Happy 28th birthday Richard” which was also an interesting coincidence. I think this is the beginning of a magical year.

I finally got to see Tokyo Police Club last night. I had tried to get tickets several times but they always sold out quick. I got these tickets several months ago and was excited to see this one wasn't sold out yet.

The Bowery is one of my all time favorite venues to see live music. Every time its been a pleasant experience. A good show is always sold out but they don't seem to oversell the tickets so there is room to move around and even get a chair to sit down in sometimes. It has 3 bars at 3 different levels and you can usually get a drink in a short amount of time. The sound quality is always superb. The sound engineer always finds that perfect sweet spot between loud and powerful and blowing out the speakers like they do at a lot of venues. The mixing has generally been very good as well and last night was no exception. You can really feel all the instruments and the vocals come out clear and loud. The capacity is perfect, not too big or too small. It even has a balcony level where you can get a great view of the crowd and stage. To top it off the ticket prices are very reasonable, only $15 for the one last night. I went to see Kings of Leon at Roseland Ballroom several months ago. I think it was in the $30-$40 range. The place is too big and the sound sucked compared to Bowery.
Tokyo Police Club is a band of young Canadians from Toronto that have been receiving some acclaim over the last year. I read about the hype and wasn't sure if I'd like them. It is in that indie rock/pop realm, but they do it right. Its not that same old sound you hear from a lot of bands in this genre. Their music has a really fresh and exciting feeling it. I first got the A Lesson in Crime EP earlier this year and listened to it quite a bit. A few weeks ago I downloaded another single and EP from e-music which are also solid. I didn't know about half the songs they played at the show so I'm hoping the release a full length album soon.
I was pleasantly impressed with this show. They really played well, it sounded better than the recorded material which is not often the case of live music. The key was their energy and the amount of practice they have been gaining with constant touring. There is something special about seeing a band who's been touring so much and really love and believe in their music. The keyboard/percussion player was going nuts playing with so much energy. I thought he was going to break a blood vessel pounding the tambourine into his wrists so hard.

I think what really sets them apart is the young singer. He really has something. He was wearing the trendy super tight girl's jeans showing off his bird legs. He kept kicking his left leg up behind looking like a flamingo or something most of the show. I'm not sure their age right now but I read something about them being 17-18.

Overall I thought it was an excellent performance and heightened by the great venue. Off the top of my head here are a list of bands I've seen at Bowery in the last year, I need to keep going back more often.

• The Rapture


• Tapes 'n Tapes


• Cold War Kids


• Dr. Dog


• Junior Boys


• Sunset Rubdown


• Les Savvy Fav