Alive and (relatively) unscathed

I AM ALIVE!
Yes, I'm back from Indiana and in one piece. Our parents like each other (so far). It was not without hiccups, but I discovered a couple things:

1. Megabus is the way to travel through the Midwest.
   
2. If you threw Target and Safeway into a blender, you'd get Meijer.
   
3. They LOVE ranch dressing.
4. There isn't much Chinese food in Indiana, but there is one owned by Yao Ming's cousin (or so I'm told)
   
5. Don't forget to bring your keys back to Chicago. Yes, on one of the coldest days of the year, i decide to lock myself out. The worse part was that K wasn't going to get back to Chicago until 7pm (which ended up being 8:30 because she flew into O'Hare), and my landlord didn't get back into the city until 5:30pm. It was 1:00PM when I, in the -20 degree, discovered I didn't have my keys with me... The good news is that I still have 10 working digits.
   

Acoustic thom

If you haven't heard about it already, Thom Yorke, of Radiohead, recently appeared on Jonathon Ross' morning show to give us a little unplugged experience.

You can download the exceedingly beautiful live acoustic performance of In Rainbows' "Reckoner" and Kid A classic "Everything In Its Right Place."

Links to download the material are to stereogum's blog.

Hoosier rents

I'll be celebrating my engagement with K this weekend in Indiana.

It turns out that according to Chinese customs, the groom's parents have to come to the bride family's house to make the formal introduction.

While I imagined some day-long trip from village to village, set in today, its frisconapolis.

This will be the first time both parents meet each other.

Wish me luck,
V

LA in January

I've been a bit behind, but back in January, I had the privilege of going down to New Orleans for a couple days. Since its Mardi Gras time, I thought I'd get my act together and upload some of those pics.

You can see my album on flickr.

Be on the lookout, I'll be posting a few food recommendations in the next couple of days.

Swirl

Looking for something different to do than your neighborhood bar? When my friend Steve came to Chi-town for a weekend, his friend took us to a great wine bar find in the downtown area.

Swirl is a candle-lit wine bar tucked away between Clark and LaSalle. Long and narrow, it allows its visitors to find seating along the wall, naturally breaking up the space into intimate sections.

Saturdays are hosted by a duet of Flamenco dancers and dueling guitars. A glass of deep red wine pairs exceptionally well with the organic guitar sound and seductive dance moves.

Hosted by Ojos Gitanos, its a definite recommendation for a romantic date.

Juerga!

Swirl Wine Bar
111 W Hubbard St,
Chicago, IL 60610

wine and music

Steve with wine

I wish this was my job...

Honda recently launched its Honda Problem Playground ad for its new FCX Clarity model.



Looks like a lot of fun solving puzzles.

The wire leak...

For those of you who are fanatical about the Wire. My friend just sent me a link that has a couple episodes that have yet to air.

Clearly, this is for for the impatient:
http://www.surfthechannel.com/show/Television/The_Wire.html

January beats

January has been a great way to usher in the new year. I not only got over my fear of the bitter cold but was able to spend a couple days in the Nawlins hanging out with the Robby posse. The electronica beats of December lingered on as a more chill V warmed himself

1. *Priscilla Ahn - A Dream: Her voice is simply beautiful. The folksy guitar of Dream spreads a calm into the atmosphere.
   
2. Belle & Sebastian - Fiction: The camera lofts in the sky over a sleepy Boston suburb during the fall before settling down on the street where a boy is just making his paper route delivery. There something serene, quaint, and comfortable about Fiction
   
3. *Adult Cinema - Time Machine: This is a fun, harmless alt. rock song.
   
4. Z-Trip - Everything Changes: Starting with a simple syncopated piano melody, Z-trip starts to layer and build a hip-hop ballad.
   
5. *The Whitsundays - Sorry James: With an old-school sound, this Canadian group pulls its inspiration from the 60s psych-pop sound.
   
6. Spooky - Belong: Infusing a song with DNB beats gives it that caffeinated stomp in my steps as a trudge through snowfilled chicagoland. The warm melodies and subtle chords roll in and out of the composition.
   
7. Ror-Shak - A Forest: Rock and Electronica, two genres that when blended together is a beautiful thing. If i had an ihome, I'd use this song to get me energized in the mornings.
   
8. Narcotic Thrust - When The Dawn Breaks (Cicada Mix): Has all the ingredients on becoming an anthem--atmospheric sound, melodic drift, and pulsing beat.
   
9. *4hero - Morning Child (Danya Vodovoz Midnight House Mix): Slinky smooth with twinkle of soul.
10. Tom Vek - I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes (Phones 12" Version): Fun funk.
    

* Click for download

Saucy Asians

I simply don't get it. I was half listening to the TV and suddenly a lean cuisine ad got my attention. They were advertising a new product that featured an "Asian-style" sauce. This is one of my pet peeves. With only India and China combined, you've got about the third of the population. Does it really make sense to group all of Asia into catch-all category. Do Asians all have a similar sauce? Here's a blurb from their Hunan Stir Fry Beef:

Tender beef steak and whole grain rice with broccoli,red peppers and edamame in an asian-style sauce

Apart from wanting to call Chinese-style sauce because Hunan is a province in China, why throw in a Japanese word like edamame?

We don't often see advertising for lasagnia with an "European-style" sauce. Why should a dish from Hunan have Asian-style sauce?

What rgb is your shoe?

This is an old but great campaign. The original concept, launched in 1983, were white sneakers sold with tools for individuals to customize it as they saw fit.

Fast forward about 20 years. To relaunch and promote adicolor, adidas commissioned a series of directors to create specific shorts. There are seven shorts from a slew of directors--Roman Coppola & Andy Bruntel, Neill Blomkamp, PSYOP, TRONIC, Saiman Chow, Charlie White, and HAPPY.

A nice touch small touch is how they reserved URLS based on the colors RGB code:

• White: www.r255g255b255.net
• Yellow: www.r254g245b006.net
  
• Green: www.r006g146b071.net
• Pink: www.r243g197b208.net
• Blue: www.r023g075b158.net
• Red: www.r213g037b053.net
• Black: www.r000g000b000.net

rorrim kcalb

I've previously blogged about the awesome site Arcade Fire put together some time ago, and it looks like they're at it again. To promote their latest single, "Black Mirror," they've launched a completely new site.

The Melvillesque story invites you to add or strip down the core layers of the songs. Whether its taking out the drums or voices, it's another multimedia extravaganza.