Dia: Beacon

The New York Times today has an article on the Dia: Beacon, a vast art center in upstate New York.

We have been there twice, with and without the kids, and everyone was really impressed and inspired. The huge industrial spaces alone are worth the trip.

Barack O'lanterns!

This made my day: Yes We Carve

Barack Obama pumpkin carving. They even provide stencils, and, best of all, a page of pun-kins!!

Atlantic Antic

We go to the big street fair on Atlantic Avenue every year. This year the offerings were rather tepid, although you could get an Obama burger or shoes on a platter from Christopher at the Marshall's booth.

It seemed pretty crowded though, so the economy hasn't cast that much of a pall...yet.

The Sound of a Thousand Husbands

So we had a stoop sale here yesterday and the traffic was minimal to nonexistent.

I can just hear the sound of a thousand husbands across Brooklyn saying "We need to start saving money- stop going to stoop sales."

Stereolab, Irving Plaza, October 3, 2008

Photo by Sean Curran

For more pictures see Sean's blog. They came out a lot better than the ones I took with my iPhone.

There aren't very many bands that I would put the effort into seeing live these days, but Stereolab was always number one on the list. So we waited through two unenjoyable warmup bands (the 2nd- APC- was just excruciatingly terrible. What were they thinking?). The sound mix was all over the place, but Stereolab did not disappoint. The set was long- around an hour and 45 minutes, and leaned heavily on their older pre-"Dots and Loops" material. Best of all they played a couple of extended raveups and improvisational jams that were the best parts of the show.

They also played 4 or 5 cuts from their new album Chemical Chords. The songs sounded much less poppy and a lot more like their older material as there were additional layers of organ and fewer of the horn and string arrangements that mark their later releases. Always better, IMO, when bands change up their songs for a live show.

All in all a great concert (well, the Stereolab part) - definitely worth the wait.

Update Here is the set list: Percolator | Neon Beanbag | Eye of the Volcano | Mountain | Chemical Chords | Valley Hi! | Ping Pong | Double Rocker | Ecstatic Static | Lo Boob Oscillator | Two Finger Symphony (New Song) | Three Women | French Disko | Cybele's Reverie | John Cage Bubblegum | ENCORE: Silver Sands | The Emergency Kisses | Stomach Worm

The New Me

I have been meaning to do this self-portrait for quite a while, so I have a picture to use for all my online profiles. Like all great artists (sic) I had a lot of help from my interns, namely Fola Akinola and Richie Blitz.

If you would like a 3D caricature, I am taking orders...