Ghost Beach

Is it summer yet?



via zack by way of vibe

Twin Shadow "Golden Light"

dance dance dance

Literary greats in bathing suits

10 of em at flavorwire.

Here's Truman Capote in short shorts.  summerrrrrrr

Best Coast "The Only Place"

An outright ode to westside life.  Ready, Summer.

$1,000 per spiral

Is this a joke?  You can be fined $1,000 for throwing a football or frisbee at LA County beaches this summer.

wow.

Star Slinger "Mornin"

I don't know what this is but I like it.  Nothing like a good groove, right?  Prepare to be transported to a mid summer Friday afternoon.

Guac before it's guac.  I'm making this before this summer's done.  You mark my words!  

:: My version ::

- avocado

- tomato

- lime

- cilantro

- almonds

- jalapeno 

- salt

summer playlist

Spotify is such a time suck. Today, I woke up, spent four hours clicking through Spotify, got my hair cut, went sailing, then came home and spent another three hours on Spotify. yikes.

Firstly, I think everyone should spend an afternoon in my apartment listening to music. It's pretty amazing. The light! The sea breeze! The windows! I'm bragging. But it's just that good in this tiny studio.

Secondly, if you're not on Spotify, you should join. I put a playlist together for Art's bbq tomorrow. It's nostalgia porn. It goes from yacht rock to 90s hip hop to 70s R&B and makes a lot of pit stops in down south gangsta rap. Yeah, there are four Lauryn Hill songs (not including 2 Fugees tracks) and three from Janet Jackson. I do miss good female MCs. Janelle, Nicki, no pressure.

Click here for the evolving playlist.

Happy Friday!

We're sailing tomorrow. Robert just got a spinnaker (see example below) for the boat. It replaces the traditional jib, and when it billows out like a balloon in front of the bow, it's called flying. swag.

It'll be all of our first time giving it a go with the spinnaker. Wish us luck.

Sexy McSultry, leaning on a main sail, won't be joining us on our voyage.

I can't believe it's August already

This summer, my first as a west sider, has just flown by. I can't believe it's August already.

Two destination weddings, one in Maui and one in Denmark, have easily been the highlights. Happy occasions, amazing locations, great friends.

Elizabeth Weinberg's photography, with her naturally-lit and sun-drenched style, screams summer. The first four in this string are hers.

yay 'merica!

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone. Here's an old school summer bbq jam for ya.

Summer '11 Soundtrack: Tribe Called Quest

Just decided that Midnight Marauders is going to be part of my Summer '11 soundtrack. Classic track, great video:

Wiz Khalifa "The Thrill"

feels like summer

William Devaughn = Summer

A few hours removed from the longest day of the year, and just a few hours until my first visit to the Hollywood Bowl, it's officially summertime.

This ditty has been at my fingertips for many a summer season, and always feels right this time of year.

the beginning of our farewell to the italians

Ace Hotel, Palm Springs. Lots of Italian friends. Even more man-nipple action.

Summer! Let the games begin.

Memorial Day '11 from nanooksvinyl on Vimeo.

Summer '10 Recap

I put together a little montage from our summer. My liver hurts from just watching this.

Summer 2010

SS10 Soundtrack: The Official List

I posted in March and again in May about Spring/Summer soundtracks. Now that I'm about ready to pull my winter comforter out, it seems like a good time to post what my SS10 Soundtrack ended up being.

Mainstays:

+ LCD Soundsystem This is Happening

+ Beach House Teen Dream

+ Arcade Fire The Suburbs

+ Delorean Subiza

Also a big part of the soundscape:

+ Broken Social Scene Forgiveness Rock, Caribou Swim, Washed Out Life of Leisure, Wild Nothing Gemini.

But, at the end of the day, how much less fun would Summer 2010 have been without Boom Boom Pow and:

El Sistema

I watched a TED presentation a couple months ago that got me all fired up about Gustavo Dudamel, the hot young musical director of the LA Phil.

Traditionally, youth symphony orchestra competitions have been a monopoly of elites (you would have never guessed that, right?) - internationally (London, Vienna, etc) and socioeconomically. Venezuela wasn't even on the radar, let alone the poorest children in Venezuela.

Thirty-five years ago, this charismatic pianist, economist, and activist Jose Antonio Abreu founded El Sistema, an innovative youth education system, to both teach lower and middle class Venezuelan children music and to help them develop confidence, responsibility, and ultimately become thoughtful, contributing members of society.

When Abreu started the El Sistema in 1975, only 11 kids showed up to the first rehearsal. Since then, Venezuela has become one of the top five youth orchestras in the world, consistently in contention to win the "Orchestral World Cup."

Gustavo Dudamel started playing violin as a boy in El Sistema. Now he's the musical director of the LA Philharmonic and conducts the world's greatest orchestras.

I'm going to both of Dudamel's shows, chock-full of crowd pleasers, this week at the Hollywood Bowl - a nice, summery and inexpensive way to see him, as he spends most of his time at the Di$ney Concert Hall. Tuesday I'm going with friends to see him lead the LA Phil in Gershwin's "An American in Paris" and "Rhapsody in Blue." Thursday, I'm taking my mom and dad for my dad's birthday to see him do Ravel's "Bolero."

That said -

Photographer :: Ruben Cox

Photographer Ruben Cox' show "River Pictures" opens at the Hi-Lite in downtown LA this Friday. It's a photo essay of lazy summers on the river in his hometown of Highland, North Carolina in 1990s.

Curator Audrey Landreth notes, "Cox's images capture real moments that speak to a greater experience: an American experience of fleeting summer and youth, the thrill of cool water on warm rocks; of goose bumps and distant laughter, of not wanting the sun to go down."

By appointment only. Let's go.

via