Lollapalooza update

Cause I know I'll be busy the rest of the week and i'm wide awake (at 430...)

Lolla so far:

Best friday:
1. The Black Keys- not surprising in any way. nonstop play with flawless control and perfectly amazing stagemanship. got me so excited for playing in the fall.
2. Radiohead- Gotta admit, wasn't a Radiohead fan at all before but now I respect the heck out of them and can actually stand Yorke's voice now cause I know its spine tingling power. Fireworks + amazing light show + insane stage setup (architecture amazing!) + Fake Plastic Trees + no expectations = me shaking a little from the mere awesomeness of the moment. only mewithoutYou and lucero have ever done that to me before now.
3. Grizzly Bear- One of my greatest regrets I didn't stay around for more than 3-4 songs (don't wanna talk about it...)
4. CSS- Pretty amazing stage setup + more changing (in a very sexy way) than Of Montreal
5. The Cool Kids- Left CSS early for this, but I don't really regret it. Damn good set and it was in the shade.

Best Saturday:
1. Wilco- First time I've seen them sober. Amazing. Gave me so many ideas for the fall
2. innerpartysystem- I'll post about them after this, but no idea who they were before. amazing though. it's like thursday+ratatat+minus the bear. I could easily see them touring with mwY or something
3. Spank Rock- Damn these guys are good showmen. plus there was a girl dancing next to us pretty much topless.... little strange, but still kind of funny
4. Broken Social Scene- one of the biggest regrets of the day.... Angel wanted to go see lupe so after maybe two songs we headed out. BSS were awesome though for that short time.
5. MGMT- Good solid set seen from across the field (was standing waiting for Brand New). Wished I had stood closer but it was absolutely packed there....

Dissapointments:
1. Brand New- Seriously? Guys, quit taking yourself so seriously. You will never be Radiohead so give it up and go back to being emo again.
2. Uffie- Girl: dye your hair back and we'll talk.
3. Stephen Malkmus- so bored i had to walk out....
4. Bloc Party- was expecting better.... everyone jocks them so hard...
5. Rage Against the Machine- Knew it'd be terrible and they proved me right once again.

Tomorrow:
1. Girl Talk
2. Nine Inch Nails
3. Kanye
4. The National
5. The Whigs
6. Alot of not being at the fest cause the lineup isn't the greatest tomorrow....

hood internet-broken social scene/ r. kelly

funniest song i've heard today.
watched these guys a few weeks ago at their record release party at sonoteque. pretty good, but i was exhausted and had work the next day so i didn't stay long. just heard this song on imeem though and thought it was funny:

the hood internet-Broken Social Scene vs. R. Kelly (I'm a Flirt)

sat through a lecture on this the other day.... one of the partners at my firm talked for an hour and a half on the first design competition that SOM did with SANAA for the world trade center site. most of the projects presented were pretty terrible or at least underthought or overly narrative or something (granted i doubt very much i could have done any better or ever will.... ) but there was one image shown that i liked alot simply cause i hate it's alternative soooo much.




This is the SOM train terminal design. huge area that feels delightfully preston scott cohen with a dash of pure som simplicity and "down-to-earthness".
Compare this to first THINK group's (Shigeru Ban, Rafael Vinoly, Frederic Schwartz, Ken Smith) Boring....

doesn't really inspire any imagination or anything...

then there is this monstrosity. jeez i hate this guy so much.




man, i am so pessimistic.

good song. perfect for my weird-ish/ very very bywater mood.

The Avett Brothers - Murder In The City

Death of an Emo

This is too good....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/22/russian.emo

Russians waging war on Emo's. I can only imagine first an escalation of spending at Hot Topic, followed by a veritable arms race of Equal Vision and Drive Thru Record bands followed by a full scale "missile crisis" of sorts involving eye makeup and cries of "daddy doesn't love me".

New DragonForce

DragonForce released a new song off their upcoming album yesterday. Absolutely intense. I've listened to it multiple times now and every time I feel more and more epic.
DragonForce- Heroes of Our Time

Dragonforce - Heroes of our time
by 666iago666

Running

Turns out the US olympic running team will be the only decent team we've got. Lagat (formerly of Kenya) just became a citizen and secured a 5k and 10k spot.

I'm also super impressed by some of the younger talent... Bobby Curtis (St. X in louisville's own) got 6th in trials. Will only get better. Just look at these times. Nice tight pack. Good competition, but still far off the records.
1 Bernard Lagat Nike 13:27.47
2 Matt Tegenkamp Nike 13:29.68
3 Ian Dobson adidas 13:29.76
4 Bolota Asmerom Oregon TC Elite 13:31.24
5 Chris Solinsky Nike 13:32.17
6 Robert Curtis Reebok 13:35.00
7 Stephen Pifer Colorado 13:37.46
8 Matthew Gabrielson Reebok 13:38.06
9 Brent Vaughn Nike 13:39.15
10 Thomas Morgan ZAP Fitness 13:47.76
11 Kyle King ZAP Fitness 13:51.03
12 Ryan Vail Oklahoma State 13:54.77
13 Jonathon Riley Nike 13:57.58

Looking forward to it

there just aren't enough manifesto's these days....

But I found one that I like. It speaks about what Jordan and I were going for in our solar decathlon house in much more blatant and forceful (and intelligent) terms.


http://www.mantownhuman.org/


Go to the Our Position section.

Excerpt:

We believe that a more critical, arrogant, and future-oriented cadre of architects and designers can challenge the new eco-centred, beurocratic, anti-intellectual, fragmentary, localising consensus and in this way can lay the ground rulesfor overcoming the cozy rut in which architecture now finds itself. To do so requires a stance against the prevailing culture of pessimism, so that a new, more exciting, more challenging, more assertive architecture can emerge as part of a more strident society.

We assert the right to experiment with new forms, processes, and materials regardless of their environmental provenance. We fundamentally oppose those who downplay aesthetics in the service of the so-called natural world, but, in the service of the human centered world, we do not to decry the creation of buildings that prioritize utility and functionality irrespective of aesthetic sensibilities. We suggest that architects should dare to fail. Good architecture need not have an ethical dimension. 'Responsible' architecture is safe and seldom 'Good'. 'Good' architecture need not be responsible.

This is a design for the Porsche Museum by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects from Vienna, Austria. They just won 1st place in a competition in Amman for a ‘Darat King Abdullah II' center (like another "hey united states, i have a huge dick" moment from the mid east). The design for it is here.
Unfortunately they lost to Zaha Hadid.... Hadid's design was just another recycled hadid idea... terrible.... The other proposals were equally blah, especially Portzamparc's. That firm has gone downhill since Borel left.
Anyways, here's the Porsche museum which I like. Kind of like a merge between Preston Scott Cohen, Neil Denari, and Zaha Hadid (old days)

studio gang's aqua tower

Really quite dissapointed in this building so far... Extraordinarily boring for such an interesting firm. Been to the site a few times, and it seems pretty shoddy... I guess its better than the Trump fiasco...




Essentially just a rectangular building with extended floorplates. Not only is it far more expensive, but it is taking much longer to build because they have to pour each floor individually, wait for it to dry, then move all scaffolding. Similar to how cathedrals were built in the middle ages.







These images don't really show the dense context it's actually in. and that last image doesn't show the gehry plopped right in front of it... I'm also kind of mad by that last image... I mean come on... Its competing against one of my fav. skyscrapers in the city... Oh well.

gas receipt circa 1930

This is a receipt from my great grandmother. pretty telling really..... Not the gas cost at the bottom of the list.

one of the worst things i've seen in a while. well rendered i guess but damn.... archtiects shouldn't be colorblind. it should be a requirement.

graham parks

I kinda like these landscape type things. it'd be neat to use one of these prints for the background for a rendering. not sure if that's moral or not.... it'd still be intense and really really pretentious








That last one gives me ideas.....

found via suckerpunch

Graham Parks

Charlie Patton

Can't get enough of this lately....

Patton was one of the greatest blues players of all time. He is also one of the most underrated. Considered the Father of the Delta Blues, he got Robert Johnson, Howlin'Wolf and John Lee Hooker on their way (JLH then got BB King on his way and Johnson got Muddy Waters).

He is also from the same area as my dad. Hinds County (Vicksburg) represent.

Devil Sent the Rain
Mississippi Boll Weevil Blues
Shake it and Break It
Spoonful Blues