Self Indulgent Year End Post. The 2011 Edition.

I’m going to chalk 2011 up to the year of  life lessons. Some really good and some not so much! I look forward to removing the eyes from the back of my head. I think that’s all that needs to be said about that. I’m going to wrap this year up by thinking of all the good stuff.

And here it is!…..

Books!

Some really good ones this year. After the Slash and Duff books, read back to back of course, I could probably teach a course in Guns N Roses if there ever was a need for such a thing.  Notable exceptions from this shot are Tina Fey ‘Bossypants’ (I spend a lot of time in airports), ‘Everyone Loves our Town’ (morbid curiosity), ‘Record Collecting for Girls’ and Nile Rodgers ‘Le Freak’.

Places!

2011 killed it in the travel dept.

Barcelona I miss you. I can’t say enough good things about this trip. We ate like kings, hung out with great friends and finally fulfilled my teen dream of seeing Pulp.

Dublin/Amsterdam

This was a real quick trip for work but it was amazing. Eric and Tony make damn good travel companions. We experienced the wasted masses in Dublin, saw a great Washed Out show and walked the canals in Amsterdam at night. Not bad for a couple days of work!

Chicago/Pitchfork festival

I have to say that this ranks in my top 5 all time best work related adventures. No Age destroyed in the heat and Fleet Foxes headlined to the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen a Sub Pop band play to. It felt like a thing.

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.

(click on picks for performances)

Sam Birthday Breakfast…..yup.

Good times courtesy of Sam and Richard. We are in a heavy metal rickshaw.

El Paso

Sometimes you just need to go home. El Chuco, Hell Paso….whatever you want to call it. Home.

Costa Rica

Wrapped the year up with our annual retreat. The sunshine and thermal pools were much needed.

It wouldn’t be a wrap up without a playlist. Spotify of course. I still haven’t tired of that shiny new digital toy.

Added a few more last minute sleeper hits on this one.

2011

Now I’m going to head out the front door, take a long long walk around the lake, shake off the old and start looking forward to the new.

Happy New Year!

EXITMUSIC

I, rather predictably, am in love with this Exitmusic song ‘The Hours’.

Damn Girl….

http://www.anothermag.com/reader/view/4685/Jaime_Lee

 

Nothing Stays The Same

After multiple co workers made fun of me moaning about the closure of Emo’s, and after I resisted the urge to shout “fuck y’all!!”, I started thinking about all the shows I saw there during college. I even enlisted the help of some of my best friends so we could swap favorite memories/shows and we all realized that while we spent endless amounts of time there from 1997-2001 we remembered being there more than we remembered most of the bands. The memory loss probably has more to do with vodka tonics and Lone Star than anything else, but the same shows stuck out to us all. Some more than others. The Faint on Athena’s birthday. The big room had finally re opened and it was absolutely packed to the gills with sweaty kids dancing their asses off. Jenna fainting during Modest Mouse b/c it was so damn hot inside. The White Stripes after Keaton’s graduation dinner. Me losing my voice at L7 when I had a radio shift right after the show ended from 3-5 am. I sounded like I was IN L7 after that show. Made for good radio I’m sure.

I don’t listen to some of these bands anymore but I know they played a tiny part in where I am now and I’m glad to have seen them all. There were more for sure and hopefully one day we’ll dry out and remember who was making all that noise while we were busy chatting and drinking.

But for now here is my sappy “I’m gonna miss you” Spotify playlist.

(I’m sorry but that Riverside shit doesn’t count.)

emos

End of Summer Jams

This fake Summer was kind of a drag but as the days start getting shorter and the trees start to turn I’m just surrendering to the fact that it will be fall soon.  Never mind this warm snap we’re experiencing in Seattle.  The doom is near. So as we say goodbye to Summer….here some of my (not)Summer Jams of 2011. Oh and new pics on the Flickr from my whirlwind 5 trip to Dublin and Amsterdam. I fell in love with Amsterdam. Polite orderly people, clean design everywhere you go and beauty all around. What more can you ask for?

Peace Out Summer…..

 

Gloomy Summer

We had 4 days of amazing sunshine.

It’s gone.

This Still Corners song ‘Cuckoo’ seems fitting for the never ending June (now July) gloom.

Le sigh.

Barcelona

When we started planning our trip to Spain we had big big ideas about all the cities we were going to see. First we’d hit Barcelona, then Valencia and then maybe try to head north to San Sebastian. But once we had our first night out in Barcelona it was clear that we weren’t going anywhere else. It’s just far far too much fun. The next 8 days would be spent eating, drinking, hanging at Primavera Sound, and taking in as much of the city as possible.

First highlight….PULP. I’ve been waiting to see this since the 9th grade. Needless to say it vastly exceeded my expectations.  It was amazing to be in a sea of people dancing and singing every word (even when they were wrong it was ok) and drinking in every last second of the set. Total fucking magic. Even the deeper cuts they chose were mega hits. Now that’s how you do a comeback show.

A quick note to most front men …..YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. See below…

Primavera also just became my favorite festival. The Spanish do that shit right. And the fans knew how to have the time of their life without being obnoxious. I didn’t see ONE chest thumping brosef moment the entire weekend.

And then there was the food. It was our mission to eat our way through this town and while I am sure that there was much much more to be had, we made a pretty good dent in our short list.

Best food of the trip was Quimet I Quimet.  Cold tapas made with the freshest ingredients and the most amazing flavor combinations. I was honestly a little scared to bite into my salmon, greek yogurt, honey & balsamic montadito but after one bite I had to restrain myself from grabbing Roberto’s out of his hand. The entire experience was amazing. If we’d had one more day in town I am sure most of it would have been spent sampling more of the menu.

Other notable meals were had at Biblioteca, Cal Pep, breakfast at the Santa Caterina Market and El Jardi.

And then there was the hang time. Meeting up with friends from all over the world was such an amazing treat.

We did as much of the museum & historical site circuit as our feet could handle and I must say that we did a damn good job of hitting the highlights.

MACBA, Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, Miro Museum, Picasso Museum, La Pedrera, Frederic Mares Museum….we did it all and more. The only thing we could have and should have skipped is the aquarium. Turns out they are still depressing. Even in Spain.

The last day was rainy so we just wandered the streets shopping and taking in sights between snacking and ducking for cover when the showers started. There was still so much to see!

We’ll be back.

Hedi Slimane/No Age

No Age is featured in the new issue of Hedi Slimane’s ‘Man About Town’. I about died when I got the request. Just being in the same email space as his team was enough for me. Issue is available now.

I wonder if it would be too much to ask if there is an extra pair of these boots laying around? A girl can dream.

Niki in the Woods

This week Niki & the Dove played their first show in the US. It was so fun hanging out with our new Swedish friends. The trip highlight was our journey to Issaquah for a video shoot in the woods. It was 9 very damp hours in the wilds of suburban Seattle. I think the end product is going to rule.

http://www.myspace.com/nikiandthedove

Facing East

There was a time when I wouldn’t have told anyone about Facing East. It was simply too small and tables were too hard to come by on a weekend. That is until they expanded to approximately twice their previous size. It’s still always crowded but the turnaround is quick and it’s just mean to hide something this fantastic from your friends.

I feel like the only thing keeping this place from becoming a local treasure is that it’s in…..Bellevue. I know, the dreaded trek across 520. It’s not an easy sell. Oh and did I mention that it’s in a strip mall tucked behind a bank?

I actually dream about the pork bun sandwich. It is just too too good. Sweet and savory and fatty but not too fatty…..it’s perfection. The five spiced chicken, twice cooked beef and soy glazed chicken with basil are pretty much our staple dishes. I stepped outside my routine and got noodles with green onions and soy last time which is perfect if you’re hungry but would like to remain functional for the rest of the day. We usually go into a pretty major food coma for an hour or two after leaving Facing East.  I know it’s not easy but get in the car, suck it up and submit to a weekend trip to Bellevue. You won’t be sorry.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/facing-east-taiwanese-restaurant-bellevue