49-50/365

Calder's Flamingo in Chicago (with the Sears Tower in the background). I took this in November, 2007 and was reminded by my post of his work a few days ago.



Also from Chicago on that same trip, my attempt to reproduce Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album cover, with a photo of Marina City.

45-48/365

For our two-year anniversary, we picked up a cake from Morfey's, the same bakery that made our wedding cake. We went with the Champagne Champagne option, that is, champagne cake with champagne frosting. It was delicious. And if you need an economic incentive, get this: if you buy a wedding cake from them, you get a significant discount on cakes that you buy later.



A pair of tulips from Risa's baby shower.



Risa at the beginning of week 33, in front of bookshelves #1 and #2 (#3, #4 and #5 are hidden from view).



Olympic Sculpture Park. For all you Rocky fans, I believe Calder's Eagle statue in the background used to stand atop the Philadelphia Art Museum steps before it came west.

Losing My Edge

I've never really listened to LCD Soundsystem but I heard this song today and thought it was pretty cool.

Losing My Edge

Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from France and from London.
But I was there.

I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the Internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1962 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.

To all the kids in Tokyo and Berlin.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Brooklynites in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered eighties.

But I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge, but I was there.
I was there.
But I was there.

I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1974 at the first Suicide practices in a loft in New York City.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Daft Punk to the rock kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.

I used to work in the record store.
I had everything before anyone.
I was there in the Paradise Garage DJ booth with Larry Levan.
I was there in Jamaica during the great sound clashes.
I woke up naked on the beach in Ibiza in 1988.

But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.

I'm losing my edge.

I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody. Every great song by the Beach Boys. All the underground hits. All the Modern Lovers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Niagra record on German import. I heard that you have a white label of every seminal Detroit techno hit - 1985, '86, '87. I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.

I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator and are throwing your computer out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Yaz record.

I hear that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables.
I hear that you and your band have sold your turntables and bought guitars.

I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.

But have you seen my records? This Heat, Pere Ubu, Outsiders, Nation of Ulysses, Mars, The Trojans, The Black Dice, Todd Terry, the Germs, Section 25, Althea and Donna, Sexual Harrassment, a-ha, Pere Ubu, Dorothy Ashby, PIL, the Fania All-Stars, the Bar-Kays, the Human League, the Normal, Lou Reed, Scott Walker, Monks, Niagra,

Joy Division, Lower 48, the Association, Sun Ra,
Scientists, Royal Trux, 10cc,

Eric B. and Rakim, Index, Basic Channel, Soulsonic Force ("just hit me"!), Juan Atkins, David Axelrod, Electric Prunes, Gil! Scott! Heron!, the Slits, Faust, Mantronix, Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines, the Swans, the Soft Cell, the Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics.

You don't know what you really want. (x15)

39-44/365

I thought a little red would be appropriate for both my color search and the upcoming "holiday."

38/365

I tried to post this Saturday but evidently my site has the characteristics of a "spam blog," and was shut down for review by the blogger crew. I'm guessing it's all the photos that are often accompanied by not much more than a link.

Catch-up photos and book number six coming soon.

37/365

36/365

35/365

I really wanted to post these side by side but the blog template is not really conducive to such a layout. I always snicker at the Ferrari and Maserati dealership at 12th and Madison but, upon biking past it tonight, I thought of the Hopper painting below (he has a show at SAM that runs until March 1, 2009).

I believe it's worth thinking about the difference between the 2009 photo and the 1942 painting, keeping in mind for whom/what we build cities. Do we build for people or cars?

Though Seattle kowtows to drivers 99% of the time, some headway is being made for those moving about the city by their own power. For example, I used one of the new bike corrals this morning in front of Cafe Presse. Where before only one car could park, there is now room for eight or nine bikes.

34/365

Here's Risa at almost 32 weeks!

32 and 33/365

Slipping

I know, I'm slipping with the photos. I've received scores of emails from infuriated readers. I apologize: this weekend was spent learning about babies and then today I was penning my latest masterpiece, soon to be posted here. I'll attempt to catch up with a beautiful trifecta tomorrow.

As for other developments, there are a few.

1. I am still unemployed but am occupying myself with my classwork, puppy-sitting once a week and looking for volunteer gigs. I have already ushered at On the Boards once and have another assignment there later this month, as well as two at the Seattle Rep in the coming months. I also applied to be an office assistant at Seattle Arts and Lectures. We'll see how that goes.

2. I have recently submitted five applications to PhD programs around the country. The schools, listed in descending order of what I consider to be my odds of admission, are:

-- University of Washington (70-30)
-- University of Wisconsin (50-50)
-- University of Illinois (50-50)
-- Temple (50-50)
-- Columbia (10-90)

3. Economic stimulus? How about forgiving student loans. Click here to sign the petition.