A Destination a Little Up The Road

Gifts that Count

2007-12-08T07:24:00.001-08:00

I have a gift giving obsession; but not just any gift. The gift must be perfect, thoughtful and unique. Something that makes them say (or at least think), "how did she know?" However the problem remains that i can never find this perfect gift for a decent price. Well i think i found a couple of solutions to giving a perfectly unique gift, without maxing out your student credit card and thus having no books for next semester.

My first store pick:

MoMAStore.com! Give a great big "thank you, thank you, thank you!" to the Museum of Modern Art for having a retail store . . . online. Because i have very very little money (if that), i decided to take a peek in the "less than %50"gift selection. Here are some personal picks that WOULD get, if i had the money:

Hugging salt and pepper shakers, for my sister. She lives with her fiance, so luckilythese are masculine enough for him as well as her. $25.

Rainbow maker, for my best friend Pamela, a taurus, who appreciates beautiful things. $38.

Sheet music paperweight, for my boyfriend, a music lover and recent manager of a company who wants to start organzing more efficiently. $22.

Tea stick infuser, for myself and also for my boyfriend. We're tea lovers. $20.

My second store pick:

Threadless.com! This online-only store features clever tee-shirts and hoodies designed by hundreds of artists. the tee-shirts are designed, voted on, and those that get the most votes to be manufactured, are made and then sold at the store. With an endless selection of amazing tee-shirts (essentially works of art on fabric), you're destined to find the right gift. And they're cheap too. Here are some suggested picks for the people in our life:

Peace vs. Hate, for the socially and politically aware. Starting at $10.

Green glasses, for the spectacle clad (like me!). $10.

Movies ruin books, for your well read friends. $10.

Splatter music, for musicians who think outside of the box. Starting at $10.

Cowboys vs. Indians, for the politically correct.

And here's a pretty one, Swirl world. $10.

If God decided to give me more hours at work and a higher wage and the privilege of being paid weekly, instead of bimonthly, then by all means, i'd purchase the heck out of all of these items. But because i can't, i hope this blog was helpful to you so that you can. And then you can let me come over and look at your cool new stuff.

- Jessica

Conchords Save HBO

2007-11-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

To be honest, The Sopranos wasn't that good. Six Feet Under? Whatever. Sex in the City? I can do without. That's why when Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement came to town, I felt a relief (and regret after cancelling my HBO account). Reaching out to a completely different demograhic as the aforementioned shows, the Flight of the Conchord's possesses a kind of funny and lighthearted appeal that we just haven't been given before on HBO.

Here's a background:

Bret and Jemaine are part of a two man novelty band called the Flight of the Conchord's (in fact, it's a real band that the show is actually based on). After moving to New York City from New Zealand, the naive duo not only deal with the pressures of having an unsuccessful band, but also the pressures of the intercity, girlfriends and body image; however, that is not to say that this show only consists of depressing misadventures - it is a comedy. And to illustrate it all, the guys perform their songs, without making you feel a little embrassed for watching a musical (essentially, that is what it is). One of my favorite performances: Leggy Blonde, a performance fronted by the Conchord's manager, Murray, after finding out his crush no longer worked at his office.

I want to express what I love most about this show, but I'm in between three things. 1) The friendship between Bret and Jemaine. Though the two are both grown men, their friendship is like that of young boys. Watch Jemaine trying to cheer up Bret. 2) the character, Mel (played by Kristen Schaal): their only fan who happens to be obsessed with them. And 3) Jemaine's performance as David Bowie, who appears to Bret in several dreams to give him advice about his body image in an episode. It's genius. Pure genius.

So it's a tie - and if you watch the clips, you'll see what I mean. Between an endearing relationship, and quirky character and the best impression ever of the best musician ever, this show has become HBO's savior and one of my favorite shows of all time.

like, totally OMG

2007-10-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

radiohead. new album. no label. on website. oh lord, they are so badass.

go get it . . . now (or, i guess on the 10th)

Enhancement

2007-09-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

well the other day when i came onto the computer, my dad had decided to change the desktop picture to one of his photos.

thinking it was an eyesore, i firgured "maybe it just needs a little enhancement." and this is what i came up with.

aaah, much better.

Here Comes the Bride

2007-08-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

My sister is getting freaking married. The initial enthusiasm and excitement has worn off a bit and the emotion has set in, for me at least. i found myself on the virge of tears looking at engagement cards and bridal shower cards. just the image in my mind of my dad and my sister walking down the aisle makes me want to grab a box of tissue and go through it in minutes. oh, life. how it changes so drastically in the blink of an eye.

now begins my pursuit toward becoming the maid of honor. i will get that title, i will! i will rock the hell out of it. i will give the best damn speech ever. and i will planb that bachelorette party and i will get those of brides maids in line. and i will tie every last bow and straighten every last fork and compliment my sister on every last style and decision she makes. i will be Maid of AWESOMENESS.

so, good luck to me and even more to the bride to be: my sissie.

anyway, i have to finish a draft i started a while ago. bye bye.

updates

2007-08-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

okay so i have a couple of updates to make. peter bjorn and john and junior senior. i have pictures and videos to prove how fucking awesome junior senior was, but peter bjorn and john are little bit more low key. well a lot more. anyway. gravy train played with junior senior and they were pretty much nuts. anyway, here we go.

the drummer from the opening band of PB&J. i don't know the name of the band, but i did run into her on hollywood blvd one night.

Peter

Bjorn. But no John :(.

my girlies, Pam and Masa on our way to JS.

Ze Boyz, Sebastian and AK.

this was from gravy train, and i guess i have a little showcase of this guys because he's basically amazing.

about to kiss a girlie.

about to take flight in his tightie whities

so this is of gravy train. i'm showing it because of the strange noise i make at the end. i just don't understand what i was trying to do or why. i don't even remember the moment, really. but masa and sebastian seemed to enjoy it. so here you go:

Senior and JD Samson from Le tigre after singing "Can I Get Get Get"

Junior the Jenius

and everyone together in perfect harmony.

aaah what a show!

I Know a True Thing About Love

2007-08-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

you can't love someone more or less. when you love, you love. but when it comes to how to love someone, you can love better or worse.

okay, so there you have it. i figured that one out last night and ain't it the truth.

P, B & J

2007-08-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

a crowd really knows how to fuck up a good show.

the difference between men and boys? who knows.

anyway, there was just a little bit of violence, a little bit of drunkenness, a whole lot of obnoxiousness . . . all from the crowd. poor me and sebastian, just trying to see a good show. instead we get bombarded by idiots. complete idiots.

well next up is junior senior! and then arcade fire and lcd soundsystem (the genius behind the lyrics in my "about me" section)! and then air! aaaah yes. i'll write another blog later that's a bit more interesting and maybe more personal too.

okay goodbye.

Tomorrow

2007-07-31T01:51:00.000-07:00

this year has been a year of music discovery. well, not only discovery, but appreciation . . . of music i haven't really taken a second look at. oh and also a rebirth of appreciation for bands i already liked. here's a list:

- peter bjorn and john
- arcade fire
- belle and sebastian
- april march
- feist
- junior senior
- david bowie
- otis redding
- stevie wonder
- the supremes
- the delphonics
- james brown
- seawolf
- architecture in helsinki
- deerhoof

which lead me into tomorrow: peter bjorn and john! oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. when we first got the tickets, i wasn't terribly excited, but the more i listened to them, the more i anticipated seeing them. it's going to be so much fun. i cannot wait. oh my gosh.

anyway, this week is finals week. and that's all i have to say about that.

oh and i'm starting a nikon D200 fund. so help me, not by donating, but by saying "no, jessica, you don't really need that trinket box for your earrings right about now" or "no, jessica, do not walk into that forever 21". deal? shmeal.

it's 2 am which means bedtime.

why i hate avril levigne

2007-07-31T01:48:00.000-07:00

i kind of hate her more than the lindsays, parises and britneys. at least they've snorted coke, gone to jail and shaved their heads like real adults.

that was really pessimistic. let me start a new post.

Fiona

2007-07-17T23:03:00.000-07:00

So as a proud female who grew up in the nineties, i can safely say that i am a Fiona Apple fan. yes, i hate men, and yes, i am emotional; however, there is one thing about fiona that i kind of feel embarrassed of. and it sure is not when she said her "bullshit" comment on national television after winning an MTV award (which was actually a quite dignified moment of hers, you should check it out). after being a fan for about 8 years, i just came across the video for "First Taste", one of her earlier songs, thanks to youtube.com. The song is beautiful. the video is . . . nineties. very nineties. i don't want to sound like a stereotypical idiot. so I'll just have you watch the video and you should understand.

see what i mean. but don't let this one fool you. Fiona's still one classy lady.

ah, that's better.

Here We Go!

2007-07-09T01:45:00.001-07:00

Feist Show

2007-07-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well, because i'm a shmuck, i don't have any pictures from the Feist show. But i will try to describe it as colorfully as i can.

It was held at the Wiltern which is a great place, but has very little general admission. about 80 percent of the venue is seated, so of course we got the seats all the way at the top (though it could have been much worse) even though Sebastian got the tickets two months ago. We missed the Grizzly Bear, the openeing act, and had gotten there just in time to watch them set up for Miss Leslie Feist. Above the stage hung christmas lights which got me very excited and endeared to me even more (oh, Feist, let's be best friends). Okay so we sat and sat and sat and then finally! The disco ball hung from above the stage (just behing the christmas lights) started up as the keyboard from "honey honey" slowly seduced the audience. and then the disco ball went faster and faster, a nice contrast to the lowkey speed of the song. then she came out. The stage was a cobalt blue and feist was a crimson red. well her dress and tights were. so she popped from the background very nicely. she wnet into her song and it was quite nice, of course. I don't remember what she played next, but she soon got to "when i was a young girl", which is one of my favorites. when she got to the part that i can sing ("all wrapped in white lineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen"), she whaled. and then she leaned toward the auience and in a singing tone said "come on everybody lemme hear yooouuu" and everyone whaled in the Feist fashion. except for me. because i'm a bit of a wimp. anyway.

after that she sang words to us. she told us we were a chorus of strangers, still singing. and then she had each section of the venue sing a different tune. we were the highest. or maybe in the middle. i don't remember, but it was great.

she continued the show singing all the good ones, except for "inside and out" which is my !!!!!fucking favorite!!!!! (you can tell by the exclamations and cursing that i'm pretty serious here). but anyway, it was okay. i was happy anyway. she ended with "sea lion" (with help of the Grizzly Bear), encored, and ended her encore with "let it die", which almost always brings me to tears.

me and sebastian were the only ones in our section who were dancing and clapping and movin' and groovin'. he said it's because we're latin. which is pretty true. then on the way back we got one of those cheap concert shirts for five dollars. one guy got mad at us because we wouldn't buy his (no, a medium will NOT shrink to a small), but it's okay. hopefully someone helped him out that night.
so then we went home, satisfied, charmed, endeared and ready for the next batch of concerts we have coming up.

Week O' Concerts

2007-06-25T02:03:00.000-07:00

Last week was a good kick-off to the summer. With Pamela in one hand and Sebastian in the other, we headed off on Monday to the Glasshouse to see Architecture in Helsinki. I guess all i can say is that they're an indie band. When I think about the whole (i mean WHOLE, like every nook and cranny) spectrum of genres, i know very very little. My best attempt is experimental/indie. Well anyway, we danced and carried on. There are six members in the band and they frequently switched instruments. If one was singing the rest were la-la-la-ing or na-na-na-ing. Lots of jumping up and down and clapping hands in the air to the beat. The opening acts were Nosaj Thing and Yacht. We missed Yacht because we were too busy getting amazing Little Caesar's pizza (local shows call for local dinners), but we saw Nosaj Thing and he was quite sensational. He sampled "Technologic" by Daft Punk and that's when we woo-ed and clapped. Anyway, we had a great time; but wait, there's more . . .

Thursday night we went to the Echo to see Sea Wolf and were again taken aback by the awesome opening acts. Grand Ole Party and Evere st graced us with their presence. GOP was lead by not only a drummer but a female drummer and a guitarist and bassist accompanied her - nice and garagey. Everest had a twang and a hop, reminding us of Wilco and at times Beatles' Sgt Pepper. Sea Wolf played "You're a Wolf" (their single) beautifully and me and Pamela couldn't help but want to share conversation over tea with the female keyboardist. Watch out for the cellist, though - she had a bit of the crazy eye.

Everest

Sea Wolf

So i guess you could say we had a good week - getting musically enlightened and all.

Jessica

Hello Readers

2007-06-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

This is one of my first blogs and on that occasion, I wish to not only tell you a bit about myself but also go over what this blog is all about. Okay, first about me.

- I'm Jessica. Hello, how are you?
- I'm 20
- I'm going to Mt. SAC, majoring in respiratory therapy and workin' for the man as a staff photographer and most recently a blogger (the man being the mountaineer, but i guess it's more like a good man, bar the negative connotation)
- I'm dating Sebastian who occupies a lot of my time with adventures, artistic inspiration and gushy cuddling
- I want a black kitten and want to name her Sepulveda after the LA street
- I love photography very very much but need a challenge, pronto
- My best friend is Pamela and she understands me very well; I guess you could say that she's got me down all the way to China Town
- My family and friends are very important to me and if you want to be one of them just holler because making new friends is like planting delicious Basil and watching it grow (i hope you get that)

Okay and now about my blog. This summer seems like it's going to be jam packed with summer-lovin', weight-losin', friend-makin', class-passin', music-appreciatin', innerself-growin' fun. So here's kind of an attentive list of what I'd like to cover

- recaps and photos of highly anticipated concerts (feist, junior senior, etc . . .)
- videos of things that I've been making lately
- photos of trips to the beach, LA or family gatherings
- information of my favorite artists (music, fine art, literature)
- reviews of movies
- extremely boring personal ventings about life and how cruel and unfair it is (you really don't have to read those)

Yes, well, there you have it. I think I'll get started on some of these blogs. Goodnight and God bless (if you're into that)

Jessica

Labyrinth

2007-06-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, you know what I'm talking about. Goblin Puppets, Jennifer Connelly, a maze and the great David Bowie.

Tonight I watched about 3/4ths of the movie Labyrinth and it was an experience. All right, so i fell asleep but I was tired. Anyway, my BF/BFF4LIFE decided it was time. I had heard that it was good and that David Bowie's package was a sight, so I agreed.

I really like fairy tales, so this was really enjoyable. I could imagine people saying right now, "oh come on Jessica, WTF?" but I mean, Jim Henson directed it, so you can't blame me.

for more movies starring Mr. Bowie visit http://imdb.com/name/nm0000309/

Jessica

P.S. i would want nothing more than to show you a tantalizing picture of bowie and his buldge, but i have Windows Vista and it doesn't let me do anything fun like that. so, sorry.