brooklyn: floating down grand street in daylight

Back in December, I interviewed for a post to lead a trip of college volunteers to the Colorado Progressive Union with Alternative Spring Break. I thought position entailed one meeting before the trip and the actual trip. Oh, how I was wrong. In order to be a site-facilitator, affectionately known as a site-fac, I spent every Sunday learning HOW to be a site-fac, every Tuesday facilitating group bonding, along with a fundraiser and a pre-break coffee-talk. It's not too much (other than baking 10 batches of sugar cookies myself, that was a lot), but when I wasn't budgeting time for any of it, I found everything, at times, a bit overwhelming.

Fortunately, I had the BEST GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS. We all meshed and experienced the best week ever . . . but not in Denver.

About a month into trip meetings and trip bonding, Shikhank (my God sent co-site fac) called CPU. Our contact at CPU told Shikhooo that CPU would no longer be able to host 13 volunteers. So there we were, leading 13 Denver-psyched volunteers off to, well, no where. We had to find a new site, organize housing & such, and psych our group up for the new trip! Our group dropped to a mere 7 after we announced we were Denver-less.

Thankfully, ASB Development Chair Kelly found the Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals in Brooklyn. We weren't your typical ASB group. Half the group met the other half in the vans the morning of departure. We were the first and only group volunteering for a political cause. And I was leading the group solo. Shikhooo's docs banned him from heading to Brooklyn when he came down with pneumonia.

The bumpy road to Brooklyn was no omen. Brooklyn ended up being one of the most successful trips ASB sent this past spring. (There were 13 in total. I think.) At CCLP, we "debriefed" the legal system and delved into the legal infrastructure that fails so many Americans. Susan, our boss for the week, organized a tour of the courts & a private chat with a judge, a meeting with Danny Meyers of the Attica case, a meeting with Derek Sells of the Cochran firm, and some delicious meals including Chipotle! As Susie taught us, the key to a good revolution is a good organizer.

Post-work Highlights with my Brookies:
+visiting Carli who left Chicago 2 years ago for NYC and meeting her beautiful Irish boyfriend
+hanging out in Williamsburg
+debriefing . . . everything
+seeing HAIR on Broadway
+Cafe Wha? . . . and their stellar house band
+running around nyc in the pouring rain
+jazz clubs in the village
+REUNITING WITH TOPSHOP (the only topshop in north america is at Broadway & Spring in SOHO) :)
+cannolis in Little Italy

We were looking up real estate in Dumbo by the time we had to say goodbye. A very tearful goodbye. Thank you, Brooklyn, for a week filled with silly, carefree laughter, twelve amazing [new] friendships, and a renewed faith that a small group of committed individuals can change the world. Or at least a part of it. :) See you soon.





our trip went down saturday, march 20 at 4:30am through saturday march 27, 2010 at 11:15pm.

jump: a photographical exploration of pitchfork twenty oh nine

fashionable p4k volunteers




these shoes were made for rockin'.




chris keating of yeasayer




final fantasy in beirut




hula hoop girl!




PEACE. MUSIC. UNION PARK.












my beautiful roomie waiting for the el with those lovely golden locks

so bloody embarrassing!

After my interview with Scott, I wandered around the VIP section. Press passes don't get you back there, but Scott did. There are really nice benefits to the VIP section - lots of famous musicians walking around all willing to give me a beautiful liner, plus free food & drink. The award for favorite VIP section benefit goes to . . . (drum roll) . . . FIRECRACKER POPSICLES. FREE FIRECRACKER POPSICLES. Did you not LIVE for these tasty summer treats as a kid? Lemme say, I was enthused.

So I walk behind all the stages headed to see some tunes with my icy indulgence, and Chris Bear of Grizzly Bear walks towards me. OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH. IT'S CHRISTOPHER BEAR - JUST ABOUT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND TALENTED DRUMMER IN THE WORLD. BUT on top of it all, Chris Bear was my 5th grade crush, driving my excitement even deeper. For those of you who don't know me, I play[ed] drums and Chris Bear gave me drum lessons every Tuesday in his basement. I was in 5th grade. He was a senior in high school. And he was beautifulllll. Still is. I barely spoke during those lessons I was so intimidated.

A huge smile meets his face and he waves with a giant, "heeey!" Could this day get any better? First, an interview with Scott Hutchison. Now, Chris Bear recognizes me!

"Hey, Chris! How are you?" I say cooly, whipping the firecracker out of my mouth. He asks all about my life - where I'm studying, what I'm studying, what shows I've seen. We chat, then part. AH! AH! AHHHHMAZINGGGG DAY!

As I'm coming down off of my Bear buzz, I notice an odd taste in my mouth. I taste around a bit. That's odd, my mouth tastes like blood. I look down at my beloved Firecracker to find a chunk of my lip attached to the little devil. Then, I notice that there's blood all over my mouth. And chin. And I just saw my former drum teacher turned favorite musician for the first time in ten years. SO BLOODY EMBARRASSING!





all this went down on sunday, july 19, 2009 - which is actually chris's birthday! edward told me the day before. oh gosh, i'm not a creep. i promise. kind of.

sweet summer melodic memories: pitchfork music festival twenty oh nine

With you all excited about this forthcoming Pitchfork, why not tell you, lusters, about my EUPHORIC 2009 Pitchfork?

I snagged a press pass thanks to my wonderful working and loving relationship with those studs at AIR 3 in Stirling, Scotland. (Check out some of their shows at http://www.air3radio.com/.)

Press credentials entitled me to photo pit time worth 3 songs, which usually resulted in a front row spot.

Honestly, I don't know how much you care about my opinion on a performance, so let me just fill you in on the highlights of my weekend. Interviewing Perrin Cloutier of Beirut and sitting on the side of the stage for Yeasayer's rain-filled performance (they couldn't have been more in sync with the crowd) would have made for an epic weekend alone, but the stories improve.


YAY! YEASAYER!


Perrin plays the accordion you hear (not really see). I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's really difficult to shift focus from the ever enchanting Zach Condon. (PS If you've ever heard the liner on PGU by Zach, guess who recorded that?) :)

Now to the GREAT stuff.

I ran into the festival grounds on the last day of the fest with sounds of "The Modern Leper" peaking over the Union Park fence. As the first song Frightened Rabbit song I laid ears on while in Scotland, the melody prancing over the Ashland traffic horns brought my spirit to the happiness I experienced in Stirling. I smiled with glee despite the crowd's complaints to my "excuse mes" to reach the photo pit. Ah, four Scottish-bred men, accents and all, only feet in front of me. Honestly, I was more excited of their nationality than rising status in the music world. After the show ended, I asked Scott Hutchison - Frabbit's frontman and backbone - for their setlist and an interview. In Scottish fashion, he graciously complied.

So there I was, a 20-year-old American sociology student sitting on a baseball-park-bench-turned-glamorous-backstage-sitting-room next to one of the largest musical geniuses to come out of Scotland since Belle and Sebastian. Scott had a happy, welcoming energy to him like a man who knew he was blessed, not only for his current circumstance, but thankful to be alive in this moment. His voice heightened when he discovered we had mutual friends, and he tilted his sunglasses in a librarianesque way to prove he wasn't joking when he told me he'd be a cheese maker or brew beer if he wasn't a musician. The man's not only a great musician, but a great guy. Give his tunes a listen, for the first time or for the millionth. myspace.com/frightenedrabbit


Scott the Scot


I'll end this post for now, so my head can tend to my fluffy pillow. Tomorrow, you're getting my most embarrassing moment EVA courtesy of the VIP section at P4K.




all this went down between friday, july 17 and sunday, july 19, 2009.

pitchfork anticipation

I just purchased a Friday and Sunday ticket to Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's very own Union Park. (I only remember the name of the park because of Union Station...) Really lusters, this festival is the lineup of my moment. Friday features the ever so stimulating (and very sexy I might add) Broken Social Scene. I hopped on the BSS bandwagon pretty late in the game. My friend, Maggie, brought me to one of their shows for free (Thanks, Mags) last last fall (2008). Brendan Canning wooed my eyes, and their magical jams wooed my ears. (I also fell in love with their opener - Land of Talk.) When I was in Scotland, my friend Eric gave me their entire collection including this one live set from Radio Aligre in Paris. That set - in addition to their entire collection - set my ears ablaze with an audiopassion more fiery than my red, red hair. Really. Get that set. It'll change your music soul.


Ok. Maybe Brendan's not your typical dream boat, but there's something about his aura. See him live. You'll think he's cute. And don't deny Kevin Drew is a babe too.

Sunday, now that's the real lineup gem. Both BEACH HOUSE AND LOCAL NATIVES play. Beach House fell on top of my music radar this semester after I interviewed a local artist - Ben Campbell - and all he could talk about was how he wanted to hear some Beach House. BUT the real gold of the weekend belongs to Local Natives. On a road trip to Brooklyn (I'll blog all about that sometime, I'm done promising soon), a friend played this LA-based band. We became so obsessed that we played the album on repeat for the majority of the 15 hour drive. There. And back. You're welcome, everyone else in the van.



So there it is - the anticipation that forced one hundred big ones outta my wallet. Will I see you there?




all this will go down friday, july 16 - sunday, july 18, 2010.