Thanksgiving Travels
Exactly a week ago Bronwyn and I were landing in Seattle to spend Thanksgiving weekend with my parents. Travel there and back went by fairly uneventfully; the supposed ravening hordes of holiday travelers massed in record numbers went more or less unnoticed by the two of us. We packed light (carry-on only), checked in online beforehand, and as a result just needed to go through the security checkpoint.
As it were, this is my least favorite part of traveling. We still have to contend with the ritual of removing shoes, removing jacket, removing baggy of liquids, removing laptop from laptop case, and placing said items into two plastic bins while still juggling a boarding pass in hand as we pass through the metal detector and… oops, forgot the belt, take that off, too… and then don’t forget the other half of the process as one hastily gets dressed and assembles their belongings while baggage and bins pile up behind them.
It wouldn’t be half as bad if we weren’t required to remove our shoes. It’s not the time involved that concerns me. It’s the scrambling to reshod oneself, the hastened bending over and hopping about, that I find particularly belittling. I think a lot of the process is just to establish a power dynamic between the security personnel and the traveler. As a traveler, it’s hard to maintain a modicum of dignity under such circumstances. Meanwhile, while travelers are at their most vulnerable, security watches with an objectifying gaze and this is what really sours me on the process. The overhead P.A. proclaims that security is there “to serve us” when in reality travelers are forced to oblige the demands of security or else. The degradation, of course, extends past the metal detectors as one can see with the instances of passengers being trapped on the tarmac for hours on end or made to stand in hot cramped corridors in the airport (read that article, it’s a good one).
Truth be told, we zipped right through the checkpoint even with all the ridiculous security measures. We’re good little travelers and know how to pack so as to avoid any hassle. Regardless, being forced into such a submissive position irks the hell out of me. And while I need to comply if I want to see my family, the tourism industry and thus the economy as a whole is taking a hit as international travelers decide they don’t want to play ball.
Give us back our shoes! Give us back our dignity!
Filed under Politics & Activism | Comments (2)Socially Conscious Shoes
My taste in clothing has been veering towards that of an old man as of late, in that I’m really digging lots of itchy wool clothing of the tweed, herringone, and plaid persuasion. As a result, I am totally enamored by this L.A.-based company I just discovered, TOMS Shoes. Check these out:
Love it. What’s even better is that the company is socially conscious. For every pair purchased, they donate a pair to a child in need. That is awesome.
I tend to be fairly cynically when it comes to the various campaigns many companies will put on to jump on the charity bandwagon where they might donate a couple percentages of their profits to causes while the goal is more to boost their public image. An example would be the Product(RED) project which feels like a thin layer of “altruism” is used to rationalize heightened levels of shopping and a branded self-satisfying conspicuous consumption. There’s a pretty good criticism of it by Robert Peston on the BBC site where he points out that while the campaign has raised $18 million, it has also spent $100 million in advertising and marketing.
The validity of a one-to-one matching donation is hard to argue. I could buy a shiny new $199 iPod and “give” to charity… actually they don’t even state how much they donate. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it’s 5%. So $10 goes to (RED)… all of which gets spent on advertising. Alternately, I could buy a pair of shoes which results in… a donation of a pair of shoes. Sweet. As an added bonus, I don’t get laden with annoying (RED) branding telling the world how good I am. Instead I get plaid!
The only important fact that I can’t find is where and under what labor conditions these shoes are made. I don’t care if they’re made in the U.S.A. (I expect them not to be), but anti-brand shoe company Blackspot Shoes makes a point of ensuring that their sneakers are made in a safe, union-controlled factory. I’ll have to shoot TOMS shoes an email or something to find out what the deal is.
Filed under Art & Design, Politics & Activism | Comments (3)Taking it to the (non-competitive) extreme
I’ve never taken much interest in the culture of competitive sports, either as a spectator or as a participant. I don’t follow professional or college foot-/basket-/baseball. I love cycling, but haven’t watched more than half-an-hour’s worth of TDF footage. Lance Armstrong doesn’t inspire me (plus he’s apparently dating Ashley Olsen. Ew.). I also really enjoy Lindy Hop and other social dances, but absolutely can’t stand most of the ballroom dance (or dancesport) world. Too much focus on competition and strict routines and the minutia of arbitrary “technique,” not enough attention to the spontaneous interaction between dance partners and music - y’know… dancing.
That being said, I still like the idea of pushing myself physically, and every now and then I think it would be awesome to do something that most people (including my fiancée) would think is crazy. I’m feeling that urge now as registration just opened for the Spring Death Valley Century and Double Century. That’s 100 or 200 miles of cycling through a desert that is known for things dying.
I’m not really worried about being able to hit the 100 mile mark. I’ve done the equivalent of a metric century (100 km, or about 60 miles) on a fixed gear and slightly drunk. That was for the Tour De Strand, a bicycle bar hopping cruise, where I rode 15 miles out to Santa Monica, 15 miles down to Redondo Beach hitting bars along the way, then turning around and going home. No problem there. No need to train, just get on the bicycle and go. So for the real challenge, I’ve got my eyes on the 200-hundred mile mark.
Why would I want to do something like that? Sure, there’s the sense of personal accomplishment, and the realization of one’s potential. But mostly it’s the bragging rights. I don’t need to compete and win; I just need to finish so that I can add the accomplishment to my list of quirky fodder when playing Two Truths and a Lie, like the time that I rode my Vespa from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in the middle of the night in February (It was frakkin’ cold. I recommend going during the day.), or the time I hung out backstage with George Clinton of the Parliament Funkadelic after possibly the greatest concern I have ever attended, or the time I beat Battletoads on the NES (not an emulator with save states).
One of those is a lie, and I’ll give you a hint. I really did beat Battletoads. Yes, really.
I’m still not 100% sure if I want to do the double century, but the more I think about it, the crazier it sounds and the more I’m attracted to the idea.
Filed under Bicycles & Scooters | Comments (4)New Toys (and old ones)
The concerts last weekend were, of course, good times. I picked up a decent amount of swag, including vinyl from both Saturday Looks Good to Me and Of Montreal. However, to listen to it meant I needed to get a new turntable. I broke my previous one when Bronwyn and I moved to our current apartment. I was hooking it back up, but accidentally used the wrong AC adapter and fried the circuits. I had been meaning to get a replacement, and the new records from the weekend were a good reason to finally get around to doing that.
I opted for the Numark’s USB turntable so that I could turn all my analog stuff into mp3s. Haven’t installed the software yet so I don’t know how well that works, but I’ll let you guys know once I’ve done a few records. I’m on a 30-day trial membership of Amazon.com’s Prime service, which offers free two-day shipping, so I ordered the turntable on Sunday, it shipped Monday, and arrived today. It would have arrived yesterday, but nobody was home to sign for it, so I had to stick around this morning to wait for the delivery. Not bad turnaround, though. If I ordered more stuff off of Amazon.com, it might actually be worth it to me to pay the $79 a year for that quick of service.
Now you know when you pull out an old coat, reach into the pocket, and find a $20 bill you had forgotten all about? I had something similar happen when I pulled out my crate of records that had been collecting dust since my old turntable broke. Last year, Of Montreal put out 2000 copies of an double LP full of remixes off of Satanic Panic in the Attic and The Sunlandic Twins called Satanic Twins. I thought I had missed out on getting a copy and was ready to pay to download the mp3s off of iTunes (they’re one of my favorite bands so I will happily pay to support them). It turns I do actually have a copy that had remained unopened because I didn’t have anything on which to play it. Score!
Another toy that I picked up two weeks ago (the reason I started my Amazon Prime trial membership) is a new point-and-shoot camera, the Canon Powershot G9. I needed an alternative to my DSLR that I could easily throw into a bag without having it take up the entire bag, and my old point-and-shoot - a 2.1 MP brick by Olympus, was ready for an upgrade. This camera is absolutely freaking awesome. Fantastically sharp and beautiful images, great color reproduction, and easily accessible manual controls. And with optical image stabilization, an f/2.8 lens, and a fairly usable 800 ISO (even a passable 3200 ISO) it’s a great low-light camera which is perfect for me. Plus it takes an external flash so I can share the same system for both it and my DSLR. Here’s a few photos I’ve taken with it:
I’ve got my dancing shoes on…
And I feel alright.
It is extremely hard to focus at work right now with the oncoming dance party that will be the weekend. I will be seeing not one, but TWO of my top-five favorite bands in the span of 24 hours. Tonight, Bronwyn and I, and a couple of friends are going to Of Montreal at the Avalon. I’ve been a fan of theirs since The Gay Parade, but their last three albums - Satanic Panic in the Attic, The Sunlandic Twins, and Hissing Fauna, You Are the Destroyer - have continued to pump up the pop-dance power at exponential steps while still holding true to their unique psychedelic sound.
Here’s a photo I took of the band when they played at the Echoplex (more photos from that show here. And I have to admit, Kevin, the lead singer, is one of the few guys out there that I would man-crush on. I mean, totally secure in my heterosexuality here, but can you blame me?
Anyways, so that’s Friday. Saturday evening, Bronwyn and I will be seeing Saturday Looks Good to Me at The Echo. They haven’t done any videos, but here’s a recording of a live performance. Forgive the bad sound.
That video was done in February. I saw them in March at Spaceland where Fred Thomas, the lead singer and mastermind behind SLGTM, said there was no longer a female singer in the band. I wonder if that’s still the case as that really changed the sound of the group for the worse. Thomas is a fantastic songwriter, but the female vocalist in the band was necessary to add the extra bit of pop that Thomas’ singing alone lacked. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the March show, but it just wasn’t the same.
After the SLGTM show, Bronwyn and I will be switching shoes and possibly outfits for a different kind of dance party as we head out to our alma mater, Pomona College, to bust out the lindy hop moves at the Swing Jam. The 5-C Lindy Hop Club was something my friend Stephanie and I resurrected at the Claremont Colleges, organizing and teaching lindy hop lessons and putting on dances. Three years after graduating, I am so happy to see that the club is still going strong. This year they’re raising money for charity while offering raffle prizes from local donors. That is so awesome. I feell like a gushing parent. It’s definitely grown beyond what I was able to accomplish during my time at the colleges and I’m happy to head over there and support them this Saturday, even if it means sore feet on Sunday.
Filed under Music | Comment (1)Round 1 - Fight
You’ve probably seen that clip of the break dancer kicking the baby. Well, here it is again, but this time with Street Fighter II sound effects for maximum LOL-age.
Filed under WTF? | Comment (0)