2008 January Archive at Love is Elusive.

Archive for January, 2008

Katharine Visits Sea-Town!

Published on January 31, 2008 in Daily Life, Friends and Seattle. 2 Comments

Last week I was spoiled by yet another visit. I can’t explain how lucky I am to have friends that to come all the way across the country to visit me. It really means so much. Enough of the self-glorification. I’m sorry this post has taken so long to get up (Katharine), and as a result, I have forgotten what happened which days. Anyways, shortly after Addie left another amazing friend of mine, Katharine, decided to swing through the 206. This was much needed, because after Addie left I was really longing for my home. Ellicott City, Maryland is really the one of the only places I consider my true home.

Mostly all my memories are attached, in some way or another, to this place. Ever since my family moved from Columbia, MD to Ellicott City, (a small but significant move, my current house and old house are 10-15 minutes apart) Katharine has pretty much always been my neighbor. I remember her moving in a few months after my family did the same. Really, most of my childhood memories, which I can recall, that are associated with her are very minute. Though she’ll always bring up the time years ago when she tried to be my friend and I blew her off (Get over it!). This past Summer; however, we got back to hanging out and it was long overdue. She has quickly become one of my best friends, and we have definitely made up for lost time.

I took her to a lot of places, we did the usual “touristy” things. We went to Pike Place, accompanied by my friend Tim. I took her to fine eateries, such as the Gyrocery on the Ave, a few Thai spots, and one of my favorite Pakistani restaurants. She instantly fell in love with Seattle. I probably had something to do with it, but I won’t say it. Fuck, too late.

We both enlightened Tim with the fine piece of cinematography that is Notting Hill. Though, a rude interruption from one of my neighbors kind of bummed me out for the night (just kidding, it actually bummed me out for the whole month). We also indulged in another Hugh Grant classic, About a Boy. I pretty much am completely comfortable announcing my love for Hugh Grant and his romantic comedies. Katharine and I share this love, which is always good. Capping off our movie viewing extravaganza, Katharine, Zach, and I went to see I’m Not There at the Uptown. It was partially an event to commemorate the life of the late, great Heath Ledger (God rest his soul). The movie was really quite pretentious, but enjoyable.Now that I think about it, we mostly just viewed fine pieces of cinematography while Katharine visited. But it’s all good, because we both had an amazingly good time out here.

All is pretty quiet on the home front now. I leave for Illinois in a few weeks (I’ll be going for President’s Day Weekend) which should be exciting. Then, at the end of the month, my friend Neil is coming out to visit. I can’t wait for that. Until then, I will look back and reminisce on my amazing friends and their gracious visits to come see me. Really, it’s appreciated more than you would ever know. I leave you with a picture taken by my good friend, Tim Killis.

Obligatory Song: Maria Taylor — Lost Time (Lynn Teeter Flower)

On Repeat: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin — Glue Girls (Pershing)

The Big O (01.23.2008)

Published on January 30, 2008 in RainyDawg Radio and The Big O. 0 Comments

Here’s the edition of The Big O when I took over for my friend Kim’s show last week. As always, the tracklist and links will follow:

1.) Justice — Phantom Pt. II [Soulwax Remix] (Phantom EP)
2.) Radiohead — 15 Step (Live at 93 Feet East, London UK)
3.) Grizzly Bear — Deep Blue Sea (Friend EP)
4.) Cat Power — Song to Bobby (Jukebox)
5.) The Shackeltons — Yellow Cadillac (S/T)
6.) Chris Walla — Geometry &C (Field Manual)
7.) Hot Chip — Shake a Fist [Diplo Remix] (Ready for the Floor)
8.) British Sea Power — All in it (Do You Like Rock Music?)
9.) Conor Oberst — Gone Gone From New York City (Live at the 400 Bar)
10.) Tender Forever — Tiny Heart and Clever Hand
11.) Final Fantasy — This is the Dream of Win & Regine (Has a Good Home)
12.) The Elected — Desiree (Sun Sun Sun)
13.) Maximo Park — Going Missing (A Certain Trigger)
14.) Moby — Porcelain (Play)
15.) Sigur Ros — Von (Hvarf Heim)
16.) Nick Drake — One of These Things First (Bryter Layter)
17.) Ida — Lovers Prayers (Lovers Prayers)
18.) Mogwai — Cody (BBC Sessions)
19.) British Sea Power — Waving Flags (Do You Like Rock Music?)
20.) Bob Dylan — Hurricane (Desire)
21.) Wreckless Eric — Whole Wide World (Stranger Than Fiction OST)
22.) The Snake The Cross The Crown — Electronic Dream Plant (Cotton Teeth)
23.) Grizzly Bear — Shift [Alternate Version] (Friend EP)
24.) Radiohead — Videotape (Live at 93 Feet East, London UK)
25.) Tender Forever — How Many? (Wider)
26.) Glen Hansard — Falling Slowly (Once OST)
27.) Paolo Nutini — Jenny Don’t Be Hasty (These Streets)
28.) Ben Gibbard — You Remind Me of Home (Live at KEXP)

Part I

Part II

The Big O (01.19.2008)

Published on January 30, 2008 in RainyDawg Radio and The Big O. 1 Comment

Sorry for the delay (omgz like the Grizzly Bear LP!). This was a long time overdue. Here’s my radioshow from Saturday, January 19th, 2008. You can find it split up into two parts at the bottom of this post. Enjoy! Here’s the tracklisting:

1.) Okkervil River — Red (Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See)
2.) The Good Life — A Little Bit More (Help Wanted Nights)
3.) Minus The Bear — Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse (Highly Refined Pirates)
4.) Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin — Glue Girls (Pershing)
5.) The Mountain Goats — Sax Rohmer #1 (Heretic Pride)
6.) Aloha — The End (Light Works)
7.) The New Amsterdams — This Day is Done (At The Foot of My Rival)
8.) Dr. Dog — Die Die Die (We All Belong)
9.) Chris Walla — Everyone Needs a Home (Field Manual)
10.) Grizzly Bear — Sorry for the Delay (Sorry for the Delay)
11.) Sea Wolf — You’re a Wolf (Leaves in the River)
12.) Menomena — Wet and Rusting (Friend and Foe)
13.) Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova — When Your Mind’s Made Up (Once OST)
14.) Rilo Kiley — Spectacular Views (The Execution of all Things)
15.) The Manchester Orchestra — Brother (Split Tour 7″)
16.) Elliott Smith — Say Yes (Either/Or)
17.) Bright Eyes — Going for the Gold (Don’t be Frightened of Turning)
18.) Feist — It’s Cool to Love Your Family (Monarch)
19.) The Long Winters — Pushover (Live at KEXP Vol. 3)
20.) The Weakerthans — Civil Twilight (Reunion Tour)
21.) Steel Train — Alone on the Sea (Trampoline)
22.) Animal Collective — Did You See The Words (Feels)
23.) Vampire Weekend — Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (S/T)
24.) Old 97’s — Rollerskate Skinny (Satellite Rides)
25.) Headlights — Words Make You Tired (Kill Them With Kindness)
26.) American Football — Stay Home (S/T)
27.) Dntel — Last Songs (Life is Full of Possibilities)

Part I

Part II

The Big O (01.12.2008)

Published on January 16, 2008 in RainyDawg Radio and The Big O. 2 Comments

Just because Rainydawg is down does not mean I stop working for you guys. I decided to take the initiative to record The Big O this week in my dorm room. It turned out well, and Addison is a very special guest in this episode. It’s split into two parts because it is a bit big (Over 2 Hours). Everyone, enjoy. Lots of hard work and time went into this endeavor. The tracklisting follows. Take care.

Tracklisting for The Big O (01.12.2008):

1.) Nico — These Days (Royal Tenenbaums OST)
2.) Marissa Nadler — Clairaudients [Kill or be Killed]
3.) Owen — In the Morning, Before Work (I Do Perceive Japanese Import Bonus)
4.) Beach House — Gila (Devotion)
5.) Daft Punk — Fresh (Homework)
6.) Beirut — Elephant Gun (Live at KEXP Vol. 3)
7.) Chris Walla — Sing Again (Field Manual)
8.) Panda Bear — Comfy in Nautica (Person Pitch)
9.) Elliot Smith — Angeles (Either/Or)
10.) The Weakerthans — Tournament of Hearts (Reunion Tour)
11.) The Arcade Fire — Age of Consent [cover] (Live in Edmonton)
12.) Feist — Intuition (Unreleased Demo)
13.) The Shackeltons — Yellow Cadillac (S/T)
14.) Sublime — Santeria (S/T)
15.) Aphex Twin — 4 (Richard D. James)
16.) Deerhunter — Cryptograms (Cryptograms)
17.) Vampire Weekend — Walcott (S/T)
18.) Okkervil River — A Girl In Port (The Stage Names)
19.) Animal Collective — Grass (Feels)
20.) Wu-Tang Clan — Rushing Elephants (8 Diagrams)
21.) Conor Oberst — Lua (400 Bar, Minneapolis, MN 12.30.2007)
22.) The Mountain Goats — New Zion (Heretic Pride)
23.) Grizzly Bear — Knife (Live at KEXP Vol. 3)
24.) Sigur Ros — Samskeyti [ ( ) ]
25.) The Long Goodbye — Leading Man (Demos)
26.) Vampire Weekend — Ladies of Cambridge (Mansard Roof 7″)
27.) Georgie James — Places (Places)
28.) Rilo Kiley — Ripchord (More Adventurous)

Part I

Part II

Addison Visits Sea-Town

Published on January 15, 2008 in Daily Life and Friends. 2 Comments

So I am completely sure that everyone has been waiting with bated breath for my next blog update, well here it is. One of my very best friends, Addison (though I call him Addie), visited me here in Seattle this past week. He arrived on Wednesday the 9th and left two days ago, on the 13th. We both had an excellent time. There are few things as refreshing as meeting up with a good friend in an unfamiliar and new setting.

I’ve only done this once before, and coincidently enough it was with Addison this past summer. While he was on a European Cruise this past summer, (baller!) I was in London and we met up for a few days. I’m a connoisseur of London, and therefore showed him a fine time. Including one of the best place to get Doner Kebabs in all of London (this place being in Camden Town, cue Girl in Port by Okkervil River, I’m a geek). I just checked, and oddly enough I have photos from back then. Here’s one of Addison and Myself on the London Eye followed by Addie indulging in some fine Doner Kebab delicacies. Good Times.

On the London Eye

Me buying Addie a Kebab and then Telling him to get in the Cab

Anyways, back to Addison’s visit to the 206. In short, it was great. There was a feeling of comfort and security having him out here that only my best friends could bring me. Everything just felt right and good when he was out here. There was a layer of inexplicable confidence that came with his visit. We also got to catch up a lot and see what was up which is always good. In this hectic College Student Lifestyle it’s often very difficult to keep in touch with everyone, but Addie’s visit was a quick remedy to this problem.

Highlights included grabbing Vietnamese Sandwiches with Tim, Seeing the midnight showing of Paprika at the Egyptian, and watching awful (brilliant?) 80s action movies including Predator and Alien. Sadly, the studio at Rainydawg was down on Saturday night so we weren’t able to be in-studio for the show. However, I quickly fixed this situation and we recorded a 2+ hour show using Garage Band. I finally was able to export this as an mp3 file (I lied, actually it consists of two MP3 files because Garageband kept crashing if I did so as one). This radioshow will go up later tonight. It’s good, I hope you all enjoy.

Other than that, life is alright here. I’ve been crazy sick but I just got prescribed antibiotics so hopefully that will be way better than popping the occasional Dayquil. Throwing up is no fun. I leave you with some music and a photo by the great, Tim Willis.

Obligatory Song:
Panda Bear — Take Pills (Person Pitch, 2007)

On Repeat:
Elliot Smith — Rose Parade (Either/Or, 1997)

Returning to the Fold

Published on January 9, 2008 in Daily Life and Friends. 3 Comments

(View from my room, taken by Tim Willis)

So here I am, laying in my bed in Terry 526. I’m not going to lie, I kind of missed this. I’ve been braving a cold the past few days, and Dayquil has been my bff. But it’s starting to go away, which is good. I think the thing I missed the most is having the city at my fingertips. When I was staying at my aunt’s house in Redmond, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, but it was a bit of a hassle getting downtown. It’s good to be back here and it seems like some sort of semblance of home, so that is good.

The move back into the dorms on Sunday went well. It took a few hours to get my room somewhat live-able but I managed to pull it off. Luckily, my friend Zach was already moved in so we hung out for the rest of the night. I swung by Jimmy Johns and picked up subs for the both of us, and then we watched Point Break. I’ve had quite the desire to see that movie ever since watching Hot Fuzz and finally got around to seeing it. I’m not going to lie, it was badass. The degree of badass that the movie contains has started to increase with each passing day. Of course Keanu lacks acting skills, one of the things Zack could not stand, but I see that as part of the charm in him. To me, Keanu’s lack of acting skills is what makes him such a notable actor. It’s backwards, I know, but I’m a fan. Especially seeing as Bill and Ted is one of my favorites.

Monday was my first day of classes. It was a bit overwhelming going to classes one day after I moved back in but I seemed to do just fine. I had my Intro to Sociology and Human Sexuality classes. I think the good thing about this quarter is that I’m genuinely interested in all my classes, unlike the previous quarter. Hopefully that will allow me to persevere through the quarter. After classes I swung by Film Stop in Queen Anne to pickup my 3200 Film. A lot of shots came out great, I’m really pleased. They are on my facebook, and I shall be putting up a flickr in the near future so keep an eye out for that.

Yesterday was alright. The cold pretty much made me its bitch. I laid in bed for the majority of the day. Luckily I had a lot of new music to listen to which helped me pass the time. On top of that, I only had one class, a two hour Intro to Islam lecture, so the day was pretty lax. After class, my friend Nikki swung by and we kicked it. I made a party out of the incoming NH Primary Results. We indulged on chips and kool-aid while I cursed the nation for the lack of Edwards love. I’m not the biggest Billary or Obama fan, so I was not pleased. Ugh, politics.

Tim swung by a little later and dropped off some music I’ve been asking him to hook me up with. Among them was Live at KEXP Vol. 3 There is a ridiculously amazing live version of Knife by Grizzly Bear on this CD. It’s similar to this Acapella version but I tend to favor the KEXP one. I am surely playing this on my show Saturday, if the servers are back up.

Currently Rainydawg is experiencing lots of technical difficulties. Here’s to hoping they fix it by Saturday night. Saturday’s show should be spectacular. My friend Addison is visiting (he’s supposed to arrive later this afternoon). He is one of my very best friends and I expect his visit to be nothing short of amazing. He’ll be joining me in studio on Saturday so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the problems get resolved. Well, I’ve got my Soc. class right now. Enjoy the updates, I’m meaning to put one more up today if I get the chance. Be well.

Obligatory Song:

The Thermals — Returning to the Fold (Live on KEXP, 2007)

On Repeat:
The Shackeltons — Yellow Cadillac (S/T, 2008)

Winter Break in Seattle

Published on January 9, 2008 in Daily Life and Family. 0 Comments

Let me start this off by saying I apologize for the lack of updates on this site. I’ve spent the past two weeks at my family’s new house in Redmond, Washington and they don’t have internet up and running there yet so I was doomed. But, I’m back in the dorms now and everything is good to go. Expect lots of trivial updates in the future.

Anyways, my winter break was fantastic. All my family on my mom’s side decided to meet up at my Aunt’s new house in Redmond. The house is pretty baller, I’m not going to lie. I always enjoy spending time with my family, it’s one of the few things I value more than anything else in my life. Whenever we get together, there is a feeling of security that I can’t even begin to describe. Myself and 22 others managed to squeeze into my family’s new house and the atmosphere was inexplicable. Lots of shared stories and feasts.

Christmas and New Years were enjoyable. My cousin, Tanya, setup Secret Santa for Christmas, it’s the first time we’ve ever done that. It worked superbly well. My Secret Santa was my younger cousin who lives out here, Aasim. He spoiled me with lots of Vinyl and a pretty sweet shirt. Well done. New Years is always relaxing whenever the family gets together. It’s not the stereotypical go crazy partying kind of thing. Rather, we always get a lot of food, like this year we indulged in lots of Thai food:

It’s very chill. We sit and talk, and I got to play music for the whole fam which was enjoyable. I stuck to mostly just Feist with a hint of Cat Power and Iron and Wine. It worked well.

Other than kicking it with the entire family I got to see one of my best friends, Tim a few times. He gave me a Holga for Christmas which I am infinitely grateful for. My first roll came out terribly, every shot was under exposed. It was disastrous. I’m hoping the following roll won’t be similar. I even got to sit down and have dinner with Tim’s family, which was a treat. I really enjoyed it. Thank you all so much for having me.