Rain Or Shine

It's raining today, but last week (and especially the weekend that concluded it), summer trotted out its feathers for an unofficial kick-off to a festive season in the city. In California, I prefer to distill summer into one of those endless days at the beach, when the sun is eager to rise and slow to set; in New York, it's best captured by one of those outdoor events that blooms and breaks in any of the city's many sprawling parks throughout the season.

When the weather starts to warm, a buzz that you don't see as often in the languid sunshine of southern California starts to kick up in the city. Shorts, sundresses, and daytime drinking spread as the pollen count spikes, and an eagerness to get outdoors invigorates even the groggiest of spirits. Hibernating appetites come to life, quelled only when legs have been stretched and sweat has been lost. The city is primed to boogie.

Summer woke this year with the debut of The Great GoogaMooga -- a food and music festival put on by the folks who do Bonnaroo and Outside Lands. Summer festivals weren't all created equal, but I'm always game to give a new one a shot. This one definitely had its share of growing pains, but given the fact that general admission was free for the 40,000 or so folks who could snag a ticket, I really can't see too much room for complaint. The 2,000 some people who shelled out an extra $250 for the VIP package, on the other hand, might have a right to gripe, but that's another story. I was lucky enough to get the VIP hook-up from some friends, so I won't pretend to bear any vitriol. Generally speaking, when you bring together some of the city's most eclectic restaurants in one place and mix it with live music, I'm a happy camper.

One weekend down, 15 more to go. Hello, summer.

Coffee + a kick.

WTF Podcast with Mark Maron, plus guest Niki Russ of Russ & Daughters.

Pat LaFrieda, Jr.

Anthony Bourdain gamely tangles with a rowdy hipster-heavy crowd.

Crowd is ready.

Some more than others.

The Roots!

Eye For Music

I've been neglecting the part of me that best processes, experiences, and understands the world by Writing Things Down, and it does make me wonder -- in fits of an almost obligatory dread -- if that is a bad sign for someone who intends, in varying ways, to make a life of Writing Things Down. But the part of me that doesn't-worry-about-these-things-because-worrying-about-these-things-doesn't-solve-these-things says its piece, and all the other voices in my head nod earnestly (if somewhat eagerly) and move on with their lives, with a silent agreement (less binding than a verbalized one) to devote more time to Writing Things Down. And here I am instead, working my through a small backlog of photos from shows, taken across the past couple months. There is something to be said about justifying procrastination as merely satisfying other areas of interest, and that is that it is an excuse, and a mostly adequate one.

So these photos were all taken with either my phone or an old Sony point and shoot I borrowed from my roommate, excepting for a batch (noted below) that were taken with a Canon PowerShot S95 point and shoot (more on that below).

The Head & The Heart, at Terminal 5 on March 8th. These guys were a lot of fun -- I highly recommend catching one of their live shows if you can.

Whereas The Head & The Heart are a six-piece band that fill up the stage with their harmonies and size (occasionally swollen even more by friends and other musicians invited to join them on stage to jam out on certain songs), The Joy Formidable are made up of only three members, and play pretty much the entire show with just the three of them. And yet the band's energy, embodied so succinctly in lead singer Ritzy Bryan's sass, sneers, and smiles, engulfs the stage and crowd in the same way. They played Terminal 5 on March 28th.

My biggest gripe with most point and shoots is their deficiency in low light settings. Even a band playing at a fairly well-lit venue like Terminal 5 can be washed out in muddy blacks or blurred into oblivion by a maddeningly unadjustable shutter trying to compensate for the light level. On the other hand, you sometimes end up with interesting dazzles of color and light.

I've been hesitant to invest in a decent point and shoot because A) I already cashed in all my chips for my 5D, B) I really only have a need for one to shoot at venues that don't allow me to bring in my 5D, and C) cell phone cameras have been good enough (and continue to get better) to at the very least cast the shadow of redundancy over point and shoots. But I thought I'd do some research, and borrowed a friend's S95 because it's supposed to be a stellar low-light shooter, the only feature I would prize in a point and shoot. And you know what? It did really well. Not well enough to spur me to immediately whip out my wallet, but well enough to keep the door open on a future purchase. In any case, I'd recommend it for those actually in the market for a point and shoot.

The Naked & Famous were back in town, this time headlining at Terminal 5 (as opposed to their opening gig last year) on April 4th, and their show was the beneficiary of the S95's low light capabilities.

Jumping back to camera phone shots, this last batch is from the Memoryhouse show at Public Assembly on April 21st. Public Assembly is one of those smaller Brooklyn venues, and a fitting place to see a dreamy, shoegaze-y act like Memoryhouse in that it allows for an intimacy that otherwise would've been lost in a bigger space. That said, they spend about $35 on their lighting efforts, but even with that handicap I think it's still pretty apparent how much better the S95 is at handling heavy contrast and higher ISOs.

That's probably more than enough blathering on about cameras. How about some music to fill in the quiet until I commit to writing something more meaningful down?