visuelle Ode an das Bier

and i am liking the digital macro
of this canon-sita

the victim/model was a
Spaten Optimator
The classic German dark beer, bottom fermented 'Doppel Bock'.
Flavor profile: Full bodied with a deep dark color and rich roasted malt flavor.
Original gravity: 18, 2 %
Alcohol content: 7,2 %

sehr sehr gut!

Albert Hofmann dies

thanks to my friend
the fountain valley lounge lizard
who daily sends e-mails to a group
of friends, 'the dj-list' as we refer to it
packed with music news and music related
events, i found out today that
Albert Hofmann, the chemist who synthesized LSD
died yesterday at age 102

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/lsd-inventor-al.html

and strangely enough just 2 weekends ago
i saw a documentary at the History Channel called
from Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey
where this scene was recreated:

{Edward's text}
"Hofmann was a synthetic chemist who worked for Sandoz Laboratories, now Novartis, in the 1930's when we began studying chemistry of ergot, the common name for a fungus that grows on rye, barley, and some other plants. Hofmann devised a technique, making a series of derivatives of lysergic acid and began looking for medically useful compounds. His 25th compound synthesized in 1938 was lysergic acid diethylamide.

On April 16, 1943 Hofmann would return to the 25th compound and began testing the compound on himself. Three days later on April 19th, he would ride home on his bicycle after an "extremely small dose" which left him to highly psychedelic experience. To this daysome celebrate April 19th as "Bicycle Day".
{end of Edward's text}

{from}
"I had to leave work for home because I was suddenly hit by a sudden feeling of unease and mild dizziness," he subsequently wrote in a memo to company bosses. "Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror," he said, describing his bicycle ride home. "I had the impression I was rooted to the spot. But my assistant told me we were actually going very fast." Upon reaching home, Hofmann began experiencing what he called "wonderful visions." Three days later, Hofmann experimented with a larger dose. The result was the world's first scientifically documented bad trip. "The substance which I wanted to experiment with took over me. I was filled with an overwhelming fear that I would go crazy. I was transported to a different world, a different time," Hofmann wrote.
{end of from}

I think is worth mentioning that Hofmann was never
and advocate of the use of LSD as a recreational drug
he actually referred to LSD in his book as "his problem child"

but regardless of his intentions surely
the psychedelic area was product of hallucinogenics
the 60's came and tickled our perception
revealing some beautifully (and sometimes painful)
sensations, altering the conscience of humanity forever

i have never personally tried LSD... but
sure i have had one or two mild psychedelic experiences
and i am an advocate and approve of responsible and sensitive!!
experimentation, and of alternative methods for
psychiatry and mental health

and talking about experimentation
so here i experiment with my broken camera
an altered purple at the end
of my little canon who really is 'tripping'
into a limbo-ish state...

[purple]

and recommended reading on the 60's
some literary journalism mixed with
hysterical realism mister Tom Wolfe's
anecdotes "on the Bus"
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
my wrenched paperback

café tacvba rocked Coachella

one of the best performances of
Cafê Tacvba that i have ever seen in my life

Dejate caer
let yourself fall

check out the little dance
respect for los pinches Tacubos
they were great!



"our grandfathers and grandmothers, they said
that is not true that we come here to live,
we come just to dream
the best medicine,
the best medicine is a simple as

dejarse caer, let oneself fall"

and i recommend you to watch until the very end
you might even dance too...

ah, i still cannot believe i was right there
i remember these moments oh so well!

and here my own home-made version of
Las Flores, unfortunately i wasn't still
skilled enough with the movie features
and it's a trunked song, oh well
read above... the stupidity? ;)

a woman, and some wandering stars under a desert sky

what i saw on saturday
and she just wants to be a woman...


thank you youtube users!
i have a complete version of the song too
but trapped on my hard drive...

and also the by-now infamous
plier-acoustic version of wandering star
the guitarist was playing the neck of his guitar
with a set of pliers, for a violin effect? amazing!
and dont' miss the ending of the song with
Beth's amazing voice... a night, i will never forget!



i cannot stop repeating
"i was there!, i was there!"

Coachella 2008

Coachella, was a great experience
i can still feel the electricity going thru my system
even if a long hot trip
it was all worth it
we got there around 1PM and saw the imponent
main stage, the Coachella stage


announcing its delights


i will try to get more into detail as i post
more photos and movies i took during the event
but for starters...
here some of the art displayed...





surely the main events of the day/night for me
(and i am suspicious for most of the Coachellos...)
were 3 the main events

during the hot afternoon
Café Tacvba!
they delivered a right on fun set
mixing Spanish and English while exploring
their mexican wittiness... the crowd was great!
specially when the singer called the event:
Mexi-Co-Chela



also great were the guys from Man Man
they sound a bit like older messy songs of Tom Waits

secondly, the german godfathers of electronic music
die Herren Kraftwerk
i have seen a complete Kraftwerk set at the Hollywood Bowl
a couple of years ago, so i was happy to see them again
delivering their computerized beauty and wonderful videos
and they were a great mood setter for what came next...
also i got to practice my German since they open the set
with a "hearthy machine-read" Guten Abend
and finish it with an Auf wiedersehen...



but truly the magic of the night was
Portishead!
a flawlessly delivered set
mixture of the old melancholic moody songs
like Glory Box or Wandering Star
(an acoustic version with just a guitar, some pliers
and wonderful Beth Gibbons voice...)
that mood of oldish spy noir film they deliver
battered in the new more noisy experimental album
borderlining sounds almost ala Autechre

they surely stole the night
Beth Gibbons puts her heart and soul in every single note
and so her band... i would drive many hours thru the desert
to see them again



surely, was magic at night in Coachella this past Saturday

and impressive was the set of mister Prince too!
back singers, horns sections and the party on!
unfortunately i didn't stay for his whole set
as we needed to drive back to San Diego, but i got a little taste
he really puts the party where he goes
also he puts corny silver hearts around the stage
but what an impressive set of musicians!

leaving for Coachella

the menace of an over heated desert
stands firm! 100° F (37.77777777777778° C) at the
Coachella Valley

but then, often happens that what appears
so threating, ends just as a soft memory
like this April's 15 sky... its threat faded
in some drops and moisture and now so dry
again... so



no fear! and in a couple of hours i head to the festival
and while i am gone
in this little meantime i leave you some music here
my friend perro (aka dj ix, aka my boss at work grrr)
has been writing and producing electronic music
for a while now, at least since i met him in 2001
listen here his latest song
and for some more, click on looprication

and now to sleep a couple of hours
before driving into the desert
the Coachella Valley that will be
a sizzling sea of desert full of adventurers
swimming among the sweet floating music

and shall i wear flowers on my head?
no! i am not that hippie...

Willkommen in Kalifornien!

ich freue mich auf diesen Sommer!
I look forward for this Summer
Espero con gusto este Verano

very happy today!
since i got confirmation
on two joyful Deutsche visitors
coming this Summer
hopefully they will have a great time
in San Diego
[here San Diego's Trolley at American Plaza station]



and i hope we can take over the rest of the
Golden California Republic!
from South to North, and back South
all the way to the North of México... ahhh



and why not? maybe even some
New Mexico and Arizona...

Welttag des Buches - World Book and Copyright Day

"Im Jahr 1995 hat die UNESCO den 23. April, den Todestag von Shakespeare und Cervantes, zum Welttag des Buches ausgerufen. Die Idee des Welttages geht auf eine alte Tradition in Katalonien zurück, wo an diesem Tag Buchstände auf den Straßen aufgebaut werden und rund um das Buch ein großes Fest gefeiert wird."
-from an article in Deutschlernen.net

"23 April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity."
-from the UNESCO page

and remember to always read!
if you can't get a hold of the best selections
read at least the back of the shampoo bottle
remember there is always rooms for improvement
and something new to learn
es gibt immer etwas zu lernen
just a year ago i had no idea how to say
the phrase above in german or anything in german
for that matter, but i started reading and going to class
and now in 8 months i can say
es gibt immer etwas zu lernen!!
dann lesen Sie bitte weiter!
please read something
and after a good read enjoy
das Bier des Tages
the beer of the day
la cerveza del día



this rather hoppy Czech Lager
Brou Czech Lager
ahhh! with some cheese and crackers
very ala Wallace & Gromit
mmm, cheese and crackers
and books... mmm, wunderbar!

another old story i wrote on 23: buildings

to photograph buildings

buildings are silent entities

but one day i seemed to hear one whispering close to my ear...

"... is OK for you to photograph us, because you look at us with eyes of love..."

they buildings were right. and since then my favorite photography is that of buildings

these are old pictures, from October 2005... and since many years before, this affair with buildings...

strange happenings/requiem for a camera

today i got a new little camera
a point-and-shot
Canon Powershot SD1100 IS

i had an older point-and-shot
Canon Powershot A310
my little companion for many
thousands of photos, many trips
and many friends and family

this past week
and because the lens of my alpha
is not working
i have been using the old little canon again

this past week i took a couple of photos with it
like this one from today, today's parking lot



and how little did i know when i took this picture!
just today around 5 pm (17 Uhr)
that would be one of the last photos i would be able
to take with it

but things happened
today when i came home with the new camera
i tried to take a picture of the new camera
(the battery charging) with the old camera

and like an omen or a curse
in that moment the old camera broke!
the image just went strange, very strange
on the lens as you can see below
it still takes pictures, but they look like this



the whole situation felt as it was not possible
to take a photo of a part of a canon powershot
with another canon powershot
strange!!

i just think is an extremely weird coincidence that one camera broke
just a couple of minutes before the new one was battery charged
and ready to go...

i have phases in my life when a lot of coincidences happen
i remember 2005 being a year full of strange happenings
then it stopped for a while

but today's coincidence is just the second one
of these past days: in a sort of unusual way
i came across a person that have lived in this
same apartment, details will follow soon...
but yes, it was also strange
oh well

hope tomorrow to go out for a couple of testing pix
happy to have a new little camera
but sad that the older one had to break...
i am so sentimentally attached to it...
i will still keep it, maybe the canon-fairy
who broke it, might fix it back as well
ehem, ehem... did you read that little fairy?

schönes Wochenende
have a lovely weekend
que tengas un bonito fin de semana

coachella

just 8 days for
Coachella
and i am getting excited!
this music festival will be
the Woodstock of my life
even if for me will be just
1 day of music & peace

i have seen many bands live before
but i don't remember ever going
to a properly called 'musical festival'



there are 22 bands playing on Saturday
but my main interests are

Portishead
Kraftwerk
Prince
[yep, this is his official site
a black page, ah! {smile}]
Café Tacuba
Sasha & John Digweed
Animal Collective
[i am really really curious to see
these animal collective, watch the video below
and you'll understand why, i really like that
little strange song, great dissonance!]
also
the Cold War Kids
and
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

there are various stages
so i am sure some of the bands i want to see
might play at the same time
a day of tough choices, high temperatures
dessert, and all the music you can take!

san diego radio sucks
has an 'almost-daily' follow up
and count-down with some
of the bands performing at coachella

here your dose of Grass
courtesy of Animal Collective



and about this sort of song
the village voice wrote:

If all this sounds strangely disjointed, consider the facts: The boys are always grinding, making music in combination with any given member or members, other random people, themselves. (The first official Animal Collective disc, Here Comes the Indian, was released in 2003, but various incarnations of the group, principally Dave and Noah, had already put out five albums.) And as of this past summer, none of them even lived in the same city—Dave was in Paris with his roommate, Black Dice's Eric Copeland, playing music of their own. (Brooklyn's Black Dice, it should be noted, began as one of those antagonistic bands, violently interacting with their audiences.) Although it would be cool if they were, Animal Collective aren't actually holed up in some woodsy commune in the far reaches of East Williamsburg.

People understandably jump to such conclusions when they hear drums and see clam diggers. Animal Collective do exist on the fringe of a pattern—call it crunch, because that sort of sounds like crunk—principally composed of fringes.

bere-nism of the day

think. think. think.
think. think. think.



well? nope!
nein, nein!!
better... d·e·t·a·c·h...
d · e · t · a · c · h !!
[like in sure NOOO obsessing over font sizes or word spacing nor font colors at 11 Uhr 43 Minuten, but hey! what are you gonna do?]



ahhh, better now? huhh?
if only one always could...

The Buddha made it clear that the detachment of a noble disciple (ariyasaavaka) — the detachment connected with the path — was not essentially a physical act of withdrawal, let alone austerity. Kaaya-viveka was valuable only if seen as a means to the inner purging and mental transformation connected with the destruction of craving. This is illustrated in the Udumbarika Siihanaada Sutta in which the Buddha claims that the asceticism of a recluse who clings to solitude could lead to pride, carelessness, attention-seeking, and hypocrisy, if not linked to the cultivation of moral virtues and the effort to gain insight through meditation.

or in my own very rough words
"don't crave too too much...
let it go, play it low,
and keep it cool! (wink, wink)"
-myself quoted here
now is the Buddhi-nice thought of the day

39

ich habe heute Geburtstag
today is my birthday
hoy es mi cumpleaños



and i know strange vibes been around
my life for the past days
but yet i wake up today
and i am thankful for being alive!
for having lived 39 years already
even if it doesn't really feel like 39...

i am thankful for having friends and family
for being alive
for having a very little house
a very little car and a job
also i have a very little but lovely red pet
all in my life is barely there and nothing is too big
not so flashing
all is modest but i am OK with what i have

and i am sure the ones that remember me
wish me well,
i might be remembered even
in other continents! eh! ahh!

so even with a broken camera
i do have a lot to be thankful for...

and yes! i make a lot of mistakes
but life is to live and to learn
so i hope i am growing personally every day
and ... yeah strange to be 39
but ready to keep on living
and bring on the next 39!

i hope you leave your little message here
to celebrate with me being around for 39 years
if you'd like to share this day with me!
even if just online

and i am not an expert on astrology
but the characteristics of my sign
Aries, sound a lot like me...
specially the stubborn part

and here how i looked age 38
just a couple of days ago
with my still OK alpha
ah sighs...



and here how my broken alpha
portraits 'the time'...

alpha

oh very sad situation
this Sunday morning
my alpha's lens is not working
stuck...
sad, & here one of the last photos
i took with my alpha just yesterday
of a dying flower... not a sign
one can just hope...

my favorite drug

ah!
can smile now
taking doses
of my selected drug
música...

listening to 3 of my favorite
online radio stations

KCRW.com
national public radio
from Santa Monica College

Brainwashed Radio
a non-profit online broadcaster
of excellent music hosted
on Brainwashed.com
producers of rather
obscure music
such another of my favorite bands
godspeed you! black emperor

Otto's Baroque Musick
ah! Otto's online selection
of early baroque music
is great for changing mood
from too modern
to mild-lunatic from the 1600's

no wonder tonight
is my turn to smile!
tonight sounds eclectic indeed
been from
Air
to
Loscil



all the way to
Bach's Brandenburg Concertos


so if you want to smile also
maybe you should check them out too'
they are free and international,
like the world-wide web...

and by the way, if you want to know how all this got started
in mean, 'the internet'
dont' forget to read:
Where Wizards Stay Up Late,
'the origins of the Internet'
full of interesting facts that helped formed
this web, that you & me now so placidly 'surf'

der Wortschatz

so another day
still my philosophies/ideas about life
and the reasons for existence
lingering on the air of a Californian spring

but at least today i have learn a couple more
of german words, courtesy of
Kapitel 10 Wortschatz Quiz morgen Nachmittag

more than mnemonic techniques
what i do to memorize the new words is
to write down a couple of times the words
on a little notebook that resembles
the work of a lunatic, am sure...
if found out of context

and funny enough one of the phrases to learn is
So ein Mist!
so the expression reminded me of this little book
On Bullshit, by Harry G. Frankfurt



and more repetition of words
good way to scare away the existential neurosis
writing words in German a diestra y siniestra...
now excuse my spanglish
but to also to fill out the space on this picture
i remember tonight another also small (slim over all)
book but with a great content
The Book of Tea, by Kakuzo Okakura
as i mentioned in one of my very first posts
a must read, regardless of being a tea drinker or not



and to finish this day
not sure why
sure out of moodiness i came out with these
set of self-fractioned-portraits
unfresh from tonight
tired dark circles under eyes
and to wake up tomorrow at 6.30 am
sechs Uhr dreißig morgen





at least i already have the pijama on this one



good night!
zzz... und zzz, and zzzz
y... a-ha! todavía no me he dormido
pero ahí voy!

strange day/keine Deutschstunde

i went to work early today.
'cause i had class later.
but i got up too too early.
so i got too sleepy.
and that allergy pill.

and on the way to work.
i took this picture.
properties file:
Today, April 08, 2008, 8:02:26 AM



so. after all.
i didn't make it to class.
i feel guilty.
i know i shouldn't.
but i feel the guilt.
that one of the lazy student.
faul, langweilig Studentin.
but i came early(ish) home.
and been doing nothing interesting
since then.

this morning's menacing sky.
should've been a warning.
a cold day it was.
still is.
12° below the average
temperature for this time
of the year.
that might explain.
why.
what?

junk

just as there is junk food
there is plenty of junk literature

when i feel a little too susceptible
and don't want to really question
my intellect nor my soul too much
i stick to junk...
both, food and literature

being afraid that a too-good book
might caught my interest too deeply
or could drive my soul to ponder
over the subtilities that form
the filigree of one's soul and core...
good books get to the core
cheaper novellas, don't.
or a too great meal could awake
senses are better to keep dormant

good things awaken you
and sometimes to survive
one has to be a little dull
somehow aloof...

so this past Sunday
like under a spell
i read over 200 pages
of Mrs. Diane Mott Davidson
first "culinary mystery"
Catering to Nobody
that actually is kind of a 'cute'
mystery, a divorced woman
whose supports her 11 year old
with catering businesses and gets involved
into a murder...

so while i chowed down some really fatty fries
i read recipes mixed with murder



junk, sometimes so good for the soul
even if not for the heart, and certainly
nor for the intellect...

oh! and i have junk socks too!
my mother gave me these
kitty-socks
they are sort of silly and
not very adult...
but they come in very handy
when i run out of clean laundry



'cause sometimes you have to rehearse
your disconnection notice
[this is an amazing live version!]
and then stop playing the diva games
and wear anything...
but the mild lovely noise cuddles me
yes this mild noise
does beautifully corrupts my soul
but no danger on it at all ...
this my band of always



and there is a SYR

lali puna

Es war Sonntag
it was Sunday
era Domingo



and
[Where do you want to go?]
[Where do you want to go now?]
[Where do you want to go today?]

Lali Puna
one of my preferred bands
i haven't listened to them in a while
but tonight... this song



Micronomic
It’s so hot in here
It’s burning outside
And all your teenage idols
have left the building
Haven’t you seen the signs of the time?
Where do you want to go?
Where do you want to go now?
Are you the last to know
they’ve changed your future
Where do you want to go?
Where do you want to go now?
Where do you want to go today?
It’s so hot in here
It’s burning outside
Everybody’s leaving
Say they will make it on the other side
Haven’t you seen the signs of the time?
Where do you want to go?

the weekend so far

Friday night - 18:00 Uhr
and the weekend started with
ein kaltes Bier
a cold beer
una cerveza fría
Full Sail Amber



and by
Samstag Nachmittag
Saturday noon
Sábado al mediodía
looked like this

Tomaten, kleine Zwiebeln und Avocado
tomatoes, green onions, and avocado
tomate, cebollines, y aguacate



and a little later
Tomaten, kleine Zwiebeln und Knoblauch
tomatoes, green onions, and garlic
tomate, cebollines, y ajo



plantita intermezzo



and finished Saturday with
anderem kalten Bier
another cold beer
otra cerveza fría



one of my favorites
Red Stripe
a Jamaican lager

blue déjà vu

déjà vu time!
i used to live in this house
this is the back door
the file's properties read
Monday, April 25, 2005, 6:34:00 AM

so i created this image
3 years ago, this blog not existed yet
so many things were so different!

now my atmosphere is not so teal

that's quiet a while
yes 3 years ago

and then that was home
and this song from 2004!



and now this is it
not so blue
but not so dark on the edges either

teal and surrounded by a black circle
seems that, i saw the world
in 2005
now i feel like a newborn
with an old soul

"Ah, böwakawa poussé, poussé"

one of my favorites
John Lennon's songs is
#9 Dream

and after about 25 years of
have listened to it
i never really knew all the lyrics to it

english is my second language
but rock music
[properly and by definition written in English]
is my first choice

and many times i have fallen in love
with a song, without understanding all what
the singer was singing, i could fall in love
with a song just
'cause it 'freaking rocked'!!
heck yes!

but tonight, after 25 years or so
i realized, a-ha!! Web-reka!!
this is what the internetsss are for!
to look-up what the heck is john lennon babbling
over some bucka bucka come-so come-so (???)
[what i made of it!...]
so indeed!
i googled the lyrics to the song
and yep! the words really meant nothing
just something on a dream
but then i googled more!
and remembered this great site
SongFacts
[just wish the data base was bigger already
and more to my favorite musical genders oriented]
so here the ideas, i guess more than facts
over #9Dream
i bet John looks from the sky at us
laughing at our attempts to decipher
his stoned dreams, ha! what a crazy
great lunatic man he was, admirable!
just a lovely john lennon dream though
his #9 dream, by the way...
his dream has given me so many hours of pleasure!
and...
"Ah, böwakawa poussé, poussé"
"Ah, böwakawa poussé, poussé"
now... i endlich know...



i recommend you to get rid of your shoes!
and sing along, and if you want and nobody is
watching, you should dance too...

my blue suede shoes

i got myself a pair of blue moccasins
from the traditionally made
Minnetonka brand
and wow they are comfortable
and incredibly comfortable and soft!
[oh no! just wrote comfortable twice...
damn, now it's three times... ]



oh! they feel like gloves on my feet
more than shoes...
and tomorrow, yes! tomorrow
my new blue suede shoes [smile]
shall be tested on the streets
ah!

and i just hope that nobody
steps on my blue suede shoes
und ganz selbstverständlich...
from 1956!
mister Carl Lee Perkins



and since then, we still rock n roll
then and now! and
shall we dance?

my eyebrows hurt (the sandwiches and vermouth edition)

yes!
i know it sounds idiotic
but my eyebrows hurt!
not the hair itself
but more the bones that go
right behind the line of the eyebrow

a strange pain, like a muscular pain
not itchy, the skin not sore, and not a headache
really... but
just... pain?

oh my eyebrows!
ach meine Augenbrauen!
¡ay ay mis cejas!
[this translation made me laugh
i am such an idiot translating this
but i laugh, hope you too!]

mmm? i've been working a lot with
Photoshop and dealing with a
detailed image today, and i squint my eyes
sometimes a lot...
and i read a good load of Deutsch last night
'cause i had der Kapitel 9 Test

and it's April's Fool
April! April!
[...in Deutschleid heh heh]

so anyway, this day did fool me
and end up being... the day!
the day...
of the fool-me eyebrow pain

still hurts!

and i wrote something about this day
on a piece of paper at school
a sentimental note and then i couldn't find it
some kid at school might be laughing over me now
or worse, just on the floor, so...

so i will drink a vermouth
i don't think people drink vermouth straight anymore
i drink it straight, but with ice
my mother says it's an old's people drink
but i have a vermouth once or twice a week

my favorite one is Cinzano
but this one Di Torino Rosso that i found
at Trader Joe's is pretty decent, not the best
but not like there is a lot to judge over a vermouth
or is there?
...
Il Vermouth è un vino aromatizzato vecchio di...6000 anni...



and yes... technically my mother called me old
yes, i might behave stubbornly old-er sometimes
manchmal manchmal...
a veces, a veces...

so that's why i cure myself with these
sandwiches
oh sand-wi-ches, like that, slow... and soft
thank you John!, Earl of Sandwich
for this rather international mouthwatering word
with no translation required word...