Chocolate Covered Bacon

CMJ Detox

2011-10-26T01:34:00.017+03:00

Christy and Oliver rocked the boat hard in the desert to kick off the most amazing week of the year! It was a bi-coastal binging, liver dancing all week.

For those of you who don't know... I'm too tired for explaining. Google "CMJ Week" for a more provocative description. Here is my take away.

REPTAR! ARRGH! Heard this DJ-ed a couple places, including from one of The Smiths.
Stuck in my Id by reptarmusic

Royal Teeth! After chattin with da Smiths' bloke, this kid Joshua told me the streets in New York are terrifying with a van load of band shit, and said he was playing the next night to which I responded: "Word." So Shirley and I went. Very awesome live. Holla NOLa!!
Wild by RoyalTeeth

Blue Kid. Fiona Apple meets Adelle. Really got the chills from her voice. The rest of her band seemed to be placeholders, but this Blue Kid has incredible talent and an amazing future.
The Dismemberment Song by Blue Kid

Big shout out to cousin Stabone... Only the strong can run with us. He came out for the Fader Fort and the College Buyers Lounge where we saw 42 Below rock it... I mean the Kickdrums.
The Kickdrums - Had Too Much To Dream Last Night by The KickDrums

Final Word: If there is an event sponsored by Odoul's next year, I. AM. THERE.

Recession Musical

2011-09-24T23:49:00.002+03:00

Double or Single dip, it's time for us to hunker down and work with what we've got!

Diego Stocco - Music From A Dry Cleaner from Diego Stocco on Vimeo.

Mode of Transportation

2011-08-11T15:20:00.003+03:00

This is how I get around yo!

I take the Sicilian train to the Buffalo Chicken uptown, then I get off at White Slice and walk to Grandma's!

Stay Cool

2011-07-22T21:15:00.004+03:00

Been on holiday for two months or so. Settled back in the boroughs and burb. Keeping busy and making progress. Trying to conserve energy and not type much; here is some new digs to stay cool with:

CCB loves BBC! Tried linking just the original but couldnt work it out. The original and Led Zero are great.
Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle by Bombay Bicycle Club

Kodama (rough) by Unsui

New Navy - Zimbabwe by future classic

POMPEYA - Cheenese (Lipelis Remix) by POMPEYA

May Forward - Commencement

2011-05-25T07:12:00.011+03:00

its funny how when looking toward the month of May it always appears significantly longer than any other month, but it isn't. May has been a time of transition. For me it usually means the end of one thing and the beginning of another. And the weather sees the greatest difference from start to finish.
The whole month I find myself saying "this summer, I plan to do this..." and with so much to juggle it feels like summer is an indefinite distance away. But in reality May is just as short as any other month then pretty soon its June, which to me is full summer mode.

Each week this May has had a specific task.
Week 1: Finish Studio (Degree Project/Thesis)
Week 2: Set up YES!
Week 3: Graduate!
Week 4: Pack! Move!

Photos will follow shortly. For now... I apologize for the delay (as noted May has been busy) but I was fortunate to have the honor of representing my colleagues/classmates as their student speaker at the Architecture Commencement ceremony. With minor editing here is how it went.

"Dean Collangelo, Dean Lindsey Dean MacKeith, I thank you for this incredible opportunity and experience to be here; and I also like to thank my colleagues, fellow graduates for giving me the opportunity to be up here.
I have to recognize my parents and family for a supportive upbringing and allowing me to get to this moment. And my friends, for helping me stay afloat through this enduring and now rewarding process. It has been a long ride, congratulations thinkers, designers, innovators, graduates! What a great day to be a WashU Gator.

A masters degree in architecture or urban design is an intense experience. Its like art camp meets boot camp... An incredibly insecure combination that you learn to accept. We grow thick skins but also patience considering we are forced to get along and see each-other in a dramatic range of states.
Throughout the curriculum you grow and change, and the school changes as well.
In fact.... there was a major identity crisis here when Obama took office. Replacing fear tactics with hope was not an easy mentality for architecture school to adopt.
But we learn from experiences and move on. And I am excited to see how all of us move forward.
As for me... well I figured it would be a great idea to stick around St Louis and start a fencing company, or maybe a sign company that makes signs which read “street not thru” and “trespassing, violators will be prosecuted”
But then I thought ditching architecture would be backing away from the challenge. so instead... I decided to take the advice of my first studio professor... I’m enrolling in community college to learn digital modeling. This isn’t a joke. At final review I told people I stole a rendering from the Alberti program for kids and they believed me when they saw it.
I’m hoping to get a lot out of this class.. and I really hope, in the not too distant future that someone develops a 3-d printer that can print skyscrapers. It would help my dream practice a lot.

Graduates, you are smart peoples. And I want you to make the right choice... I want you to become architects. Or I want you to walk over to participate in the art ceremony and receive your MFA with a concentration in Architecture. I cleared it with Carmen. He says its cool.

A Masters degree in architecture or urban design doesn't give you bartering power to justify your concept. It’s an accredited, objective, requirement to becoming an architect.

We can look back to Givens for support and inspiration but we cannot think of our experiences here as the most creative opportunities of our lives.

By definition practice and academia must be separate. They are dissimilar but one cannot exist without the other. But it becomes a problem when the real and ideal plot different trajectories.

And if we think problem solving in the built environment is too conservative to explore our talents.... then how comfortable and satisfying is it to say that our most innovative abilities and creative expression could be describe as hypothetical, or possible, or academic.
Architecture is not a possibility. Nor a metaphor. It is an applied discipline and we as a generation need to regain control of it.

As emerging professionals we should not isolate our creativity. Design should be defined as a broad, sophisticated way of thinking and it should be applied along the entire process from the beginning to end.
We must hone our abilities without losing creativity.

This isn’t an easy task that's why the world is lucky how smart we is. But there’s some bumps in the road that need to be addressed.
#1 Inflation: if you don’t what inflation is... its costing you 90$ to rent this funny cap and gown you are wearing, that’s inflation. The ratio of student debt to salaries is at an all time. So in a way, we are being forced to innovate. Frank Lloyd Wright said his most successful projects were on the tightest budgets! So lucky us, cause our budgets seem to be tight.

#2 Globalization: America is no longer a melting pot... its now more like a salad. And never before has an American education become such a commodity. Its a great resource having such a diverse student body, and we need to learn how to build these relationships effectively.

I don’t know, and don’t wish to know how each of us should go about exploring this. Naivety has a lot of suspense. Stephen Holl called it a Brutal Manifesto for us to undertake. and other great practitioners who visited during our time can help shape perspective.

Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne mentioned that his favorite part of architecture is “its unique and amazing ability to specifize.” Specificity should not be confused with possibility. In fact they are opposites but have a similar thought process.

After returning home, Cho, Minsuk, principal of Mass Studies said the greatest thing about Korea is the vast amount of opportunities you have to screw up at such a young age. Risk taking can have longer term payoffs.

Wiel Arets wishes he was as vulnerable as we are. Absorb as much as you can without letting yourself become categorized.

So there you go. I’m not exactly sure how to go about it but make sure you are vulnerable, specific and screw up a lot.

I was going to try and end this on some sort of epic Oasis-lyric, or Braveheart finale but all I could think about was Doritos and the ocean and loud music, which to me is pretty epic. So just do this... close your eyes and try and remember the stomach aches you got from anxiety, lack of sleep and hopelessness during a late studio night. Try and remember how much you love the dungeonous Whitaker lab and the plotters. Then replace that memory with whatever your version of loud music and Dorito’s is.

We worked incredibly hard to get here. The faculty has groomed us for this next step. Go forth, confident, stubborn, naive.
Just make sure you don’t lose touch with how architecture makes you tingle inside.

CONGRATULATIONS... You... are... done."

Fear of the... Everything else

2011-04-25T19:10:00.007+03:00

In the same spirit as Jordan's post from last November I have a lot to do but not a lot of time.
Although its almost the opposite because with a little more than a week to go I seem to have nothing figured out besides a 1/4 inch section! I hope my building stands up.

Plans might help. Perhaps a model as well.

Imagining History

2011-04-16T13:03:00.008+03:00

I guess as a child or teenager even, or college student or even a young adult, we look up to higher society and government and can be naive and think that the people on top and in power are the most just and honest of all, with no incentives. How foolish of me to think this way.

When we are young though things can seem dramatic and inspiring and peak an imagination that's hard to contain. Disney World for example possesses a euphoric buzz that only children of a certain age can understand. While other places or foods or things in a more daily proximity can achieve the same; like playing man hunt in the neighborhood. The rest of us just don't get it. And depending on age we might dismiss these imaginations as silly or uncool.
But if and how our initial fascinations shape our future is an interesting question.

When I look back there has always been a level of physicality to my nostalgia and imagination. I remember order, decoration, structure, horizon, texture. A specific space or place was always what intrigued me. Perhaps this is why i wanted to become an architect.

So why do i bring up these things?

The Board of trustees and Mayor of Garden City NY (a very affluent town) ...and by very I mean some people blow dollars out of their noses instead of boogers... anyways, the board voted last month to demolish St. Pauls School. To me this is like if the governor of Florida decided to shut down Disney World. Built in 1879, St Paul's is a beautiful High Victorian Gothic school that was used for over a century. It hasn't been in use since 1991.
As a young kid it scared the hell out of me and brought to mind haunted ghosts, whereas when i grew older it carried more of a fantasy vibe with trying to imagine what its like in the past. And even today it evokes this feeling of Academic discipline, enforcing and motivating students to study hard.

It really boggles my mind that these people can't see things the right way. Or perhaps I am wrong and also so stubborn that it's impossible for me to see otherwise... but I think most would agree with me.
The board thinks that as residents and people in power they can make a decision for the towns population, while also disregarding the 140 years history of the building and it's people who have enjoyed it. St Paul's was built in honor of Alex Turney Stewart who founded Garden City.

Wikipedia says it costs 100,000$ to maintain St Paul's each year. For Garden City that's the dust on a penny, when you consider the average household income is 104,000$ and median home price is 460,00$.
Why would you want to tear down the most beautiful piece of architecture in your town? You want to wreck the building which was constructed in honor of your towns founder? Is it Greed? Well I am sure an amazing historical gem of architecture has some market profitability to it. Have we no respect for history? Is the only way to preserve it is through words or images?

There is a referendum vote on April 27th for the village to float a bond for 3.75 $ million dollars in taxpayer money to fund the demolition. If anybody knows anyone in Garden City, please tell them to go and Vote No. We can't keep destroying our history in America.

You can also help out by visiting http://www.savestpauls.org/ Or their facebook group.

Here is more photo's and a neutral look at the situation and Garden City. http://www.scoutingny.com/?p=2616

One Month

2011-04-08T01:59:00.003+03:00

School will be over in May!

Need a summer job!

4 Days in a Minute:20

2011-02-16T14:32:00.009+02:00

In architecture education a good portion of the cash is going towards the creativity, experience and wisdom of my faculty and how they help nurture and advance my design processes, whether it be through spatial experience, graphics or using new computer programs to better represent your ideas. But if you expect to learn a new program or method constructively you will most likely get this:

"If you want to learn it go to a community school."

Which in reality means:

"I'm really smart, you fool. My time is so valuable to you that it shouldn't be wasted on me helping you learn a program. You should teach yourself.
... and I probably don't know the program anyway."

With that said I did grudgingly make a video using a program I have never touched before. I think it came out okay. But I surely spent too much time on it due to my lack of knowledge with Adobe Premiere, which in the end made my weekend frustrating but hopefully productive.

Enjoy.

Sunday Suspense

2011-01-20T01:46:00.017+02:00

I remember in June of 1994, in the prime of my youth and appreciation for athletics I was so excited one night that I ran around the block clanging pots and pans as if ringing in the New Year. The Knick's had beaten the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the eastern conference finals and were on their way to the NBA Finals. At that point, my concept of excitement was pretty naive due to youth, but it along with my nerves reached a new peak.

This time around the nerves are more dominant, but I can't say its less intense, there's just a bit more maturity when the excitement is processed. But IT REALLY FEELS GOOD, insanely good beating the Patriots. It's like that best piece of steak you have ever tasted.
The Jets are New York. A talented team with great camaraderie and big mouths. Just like Oak and Mas' back in the day defending MSG. I can't wait till Sunday. Rex is my man, Sanchez is well... lets just say 'learning' and I couldn't agree more with Cromartie; Brady is an Asswhole.

GO JETS! (And screw everyone else, cause we don't like you either)

I can't decide which is the most awesome picture what do you guys think.

________

I think this one takes the cake, cause it makes me smile and feel warm inside.

Goodbye Lover

2011-01-06T18:40:00.006+02:00

Dearest Henry, Doggy, Lover, Snuggle-Pup,

I look forward to our mornings when you gnaw at my door and spend my waking hour on my bed, although your customs may be weird I don't mind petting you under the collar in exchange for you licking my hand. And Ive enjoyed our days as businessman, trading couches for cheese and game shows for stuffed toys and squeaky bones.

I'm not sure what rumors you've heard or if you've noticed the over population of books and clothes in my (our) bedroom these past couple days, but I just wanted to tell you the truth myself. Yes, it is true I am leaving you. I'm leaving you for a bitch, her name is Architecture School. It's in a place far away, too many a barfing in the backseat of a car. A place called SLo MO which, believe me buddy, moves painstakingly slower than your mornings and afternoons spent on the couch.

Although as bad as I feel about myself, I know you have been cheating on me with those nasty dirty dishes before they go through the dishwasher, licking them so glutinously. So that takes a bit of my guilt away. But, how could you do that?!?! Did you not just see me put the dishes there?

I do still love you Henry. Just do me a favor and try to remember me when I come back years (dog years) from now.

Sincerely,
Guy with beard who stays home all week

Good Riddance 2010

2010-12-21T03:56:00.010+02:00

Is anyone happy that this year has finally come to an end? I sure am. Pick your poison 2010 had it all.
Besides two exceptional bashes in the family (though I have come to boastingly believe that my family is an exception when it comes to almost anything) 2010 was one of the less rewarding experiences for me. There is not much I'll cherish nor much of a source for nostalgia.

The holiday monsoon-turned-blizzard which stranded many while doing equal damage across the country last week was a fitting end. Although it wouldn't even raise an eyebrow when you look at the year as a whole. 2010 hosted some of the worst natural disasters.
Earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, Floods in Pakistan, The BP Oil spill (human error gets a bogey on that one) and many others. I sure hope 2011 goes a bit easier on us.

Politically 2010 wasn't smooth sailing either. Things can't be good when Jon Stewart (who is coming to be the most reliant news source) is forced to hold a 'Rally to Restore Sanity.' The media likes to think that as a country we are completely polarized (because its good for ratings.) Obama's liberal base began to lose hope. And on the other side the most popular character is a grizzly wrestlin' woman who everyday sounds more and more like Stephen Colbert with the one difference being critical; she's serious he isn't.
Say what you want about the lame duck session, but I bet most American's would choose to describe their government in 2010 as "extremely frustrating."

All I want is a high speed rail line on the east coast that doesn't cost 150$ each way. So I don't have to sit on a smelly bus in traffic on the ugly ass New Jersey Turnpike while going from Penn Station to Union Station. Is that really hard people? Come on.

Also for 2011 I'd like for everyone to get along better and really try to think and more importantly put into action ways to make the world a better place.

I plan on finishing my Masters Degree in Architecture so some think that's good for the world. But if there's anything Ive learned, its that the hypothetical can only be valued as a possibility and holds no water when compared to the gratification and understanding accrued from physically making or doing something.

I plan to drink and get merry and wash away 2010 on NYE with some good friends. I'm looking forward to it, and more so 2011. I hope everyone has a great and safe holiday. See you in 2011, lets do it.

KIIPIS!

2010-12-14T21:29:00.008+02:00

I'm really happy for all my friends who just finished up their degree project thesis this past weekend. I wish I was there to celebrate with them, we've been through a lot together and have traveled great distances.

I was supposed to be on the same schedule and time-line but due to my self disciplined TO from school, I'll have to wait till Spring to join them in there rank as Master.
I wish them all luck in their diversity of paths, and look forward to keeping in touch.

Enjoy some Partner photo's from their future firms.

Don't VOTE! (For him)

2010-12-10T06:08:00.021+02:00

As opposed to my previously patriotic contribution this one's less rosy. Although I have to say that my supposed beverage of choice 'Hater'-ade (as noted by some friends) doesn't come unwarranted. Its usually brewed from a high-dose of frustration that's pretty common.

This Saturday all college footballs big personalities and previous winners of the sports ultimate prize will crown a new Heisman Trophy winner here in New York. This season has some incredible student athletes vying for the individual achievement, and some not so incredible.

In case you haven't heard anything about the front runner, either on or off the field, here is a little bit about Cam Newton, or as my brother has coined more appropriately Scam Newton:

"Newton again violated the university's honor code by putting his name on another student's paper and turning it in. Newton was caught after the instructor asked the real author of the paper why he had not turned in his work. Newton turned in a second paper to the instructor, but that paper was later found to have been purchased off the Internet."

0 for 2 buddy. But before the University of Florida had the chance to academically discipline Newton, he had already withdrawn and skipped town enrolling at a junior college in Texas. Which served as the negotiating table for his 'pay for play' options to re-enter a major conference. His pops said just a scholarship wasn't gonna do it, try 6 figures, and then he got convicted for shopping his son. But due to the NCAA's stone age legal process they can't think of how son Cam had anything to do with it. BS.
It's inevitable that he'll get caught, so why vote for him now when there are other more incredible candidates out there? Here are the letters I just mailed out.

Dear Sam Bradford, Archie Griffin, OJ Simpson, Roger Staubach and all Heisman Winners,

Don't vote for Cam Newton. A vote for him would compromise the quality of the amazing piece of history which you worked so hard for and deserved. Voting for Scam sends a terrible message to student athletes and promotes misconduct.

Sincerley, James and the World

Soon ESPN will start airing promo's with the jolly tune "Its the most wonderful time of the year" in reference to Bowl season of course, while showing highlights and upcoming matches making all us pigskin cravers warm and jiggly inside like holiday egg nog. But as much I love it, it get's me drunk off Haterade how corrupt of a system the NCAA has gifted its national championship to.
The BCS is terrible. Football is the only sport where the NCAA does not crown its champion, and CEO's of the BCS bowls rack up yearly salaries of 500,000$ (for operating one game) while nickeling and diming the schools participating. There has been many a written why the BCS is terrible so I wont indulge, lets just hope it changes.

GO DUCKS!

Vote for Andrew Luck. He is the best QB in the country and is an ARCHITECTURE MAJOR! (Told you architects are smart)

Although we'll see how far he gets with that degree considering he's only a sophomore but is expected to be tops in the draft.

Infra[Fail]ure

2010-11-17T18:38:00.010+02:00

The Oak beam's at Oxford's New College Dining Hall were replaced in 1860, using trees 500 years old. The trees were from an Oak grove on campus which was planted when the College was first developed.

When a local tri-stater thinks of the George Washington Bridge they don't appreciate it, they dread it. The fear of making a 10 mile trip on the Cross Bronx Expressway and over the Hudson in 40 minutes, has caused us to render the structure as awful. (I do agree in some part, because going to Jersey is nothing to be excited about.)

But wait a minute, heaven forbid we even have that bridge.

That dread we have is a result of NOT DOING, of not building and not enhancing our infrastructure to adapt to our GROWING population. When the GWB was built in 1930 the population of the metropolitan area was 8.6 Million. In 1960 when the bridge expanded to two levels (which luckily the engineer had accounted for when initially designing) the Metro Population was 14.4 Million. Today it's nearly 20 Million.

This past month the LIRR temporarily cut service drastically in order to make way for its self proclaimed "Modernization" campaign. While I am happy to see investments in our physical infrastructure its dumbfounding to hear that the main "modern" adjustments made were to replace a switching system that was 100 years old.
100 YEARS OLD? It takes us THIS LONG to invest in our infrastructure? And I truly doubt the new system will last half of 100 years.

Things that are infrastructure are what people blindly take advantage of.

We have become so accustomed to the bold initiatives of past governments and society, that instead of seeing them as great marks of our country and economic strength, they are instead a burden for taxpayers to maintain.
We are so close-sighted that the future (when it actually does get some attention) looks glum and lagging. Why are we the only advanced country without high speed rail? Why is our energy technology so outdated? Why is it now that we are just starting to TALK about this?

Recently New Jersey's Governor Christie pulled state funding from a rail tunnel between NJ and Manhattan, killing 6000 jobs and the largest U.S. public works project under construction. I'm sorry to tell you this Mr. Christie, but the demand for transit infrastructure and the population of your state isn't shrinking.

We need our infrastructure to parallel the innovative minds of our country.

VOTE!

2010-11-02T15:59:00.011+02:00

I don't like to write about politics because unfortunately it divides us more than unites us. Which is an oxymoron considering we elect people to work together to advance our country, but instead they just end up in Washington bickering like stubborn teenagers. Uhh yeah so with that said... Just disregard that and don't let this discourage you, cause today is Election day! So get out and Vote!

Look at all these passionate Americans and voters who went to the Rally to Restore Sanity this past weekend. All are passionate about how great our country is, and want to make it even greater by working together with others no matter what walk of life they come from.

We need ideas that will advance us
(duh... Architects in the US would have it way easier w/Metric)

But we should never exploit our fear.

While we might take offense from others' beliefs...

We have to focus on what unites us.

Aww Hell Yeah. LI represent!

So go out and Vote! All you sane peoples' voice must be heard. (Atleast I think everyone who reads this is sane.) And as Jon Stewart says:
"We live in hard times, not end times. We can have animus without being enemies."

Farewell

2010-10-25T18:24:00.010+03:00

Sorry to throw out this buzzkill to all of those contributors, dancers, and supporters of CCB, but the Wedding Issue has concluded.
It's time for us to enjoy our beautiful Fall weather and set assail on our various courses.

Charles and Karen!

I had a great time, but need to lose some weight.
Looking forward to seeing everyone around the holidays.

I mentioned this before but I do have these photos at greater resolution and lots of others so please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like some.

Round Due

2010-10-14T16:54:00.012+03:00

L+C:

Site of Ceremony and Reception at Gainey Vineyards, accessible via Hayride.

Mrs McCaffrey, and the Bridal Party in thought

Its funny meeting cousins' cousin's while celebrating more cousins.

The diverse, unique and frankly weird California landscape never fails to impress. Being from Long Island the topography in CA is well appreciated and all the funky things that go along with it are just great, like the shrubs, the hawks and rocks formations. Morro Rock and Guadalupe Dunes were my favorite. Let alone, ocean is awesome as well.

J+B:

The Shisle is more familiar terrain for me, considering Steve and Lu have a house there and we visit every summer. Still a beautiful setting. The sunset made for a terrific golden hour, or as others persist 'magic hour.'

This is cousin Al in the middle. I haven't been able to get in touch with him since the wedding. I just get his agent who keeps telling me "he's busy."
Al's best man toast at the dinner was... well... it'll be pretty hard to beat.
Following a quota of funny stories he put Bobby's whistling talents on the spot, making him whistle for Jen. Of all songs in the world, Bobby picks "Bicycle Built for Two" who knew he would pick that? Well after Bob's recital, Al asks us to serenade them and tells us to look under our seat cushion lyrics to Bobs jingle. This was followed by a collective "Oh no he didn't."
Whereto Al responds during our ensemble with a "Hell yeah I did" while doing a lap inside the tent on his gift to Jen and Bobby. A Bicycle, built for two.
I was marveled. I heard one person fainted. If you read this Al, I miss you.

Decadent and delicious dinner with two long tables. To each section there own cheese ambassador.

Ca and Re showing how it gets done... and who brought this guy?

Round 1

2010-10-13T02:05:00.010+03:00

Enough strategizing about how to write about these killer blowouts.
The point is Food + Family + Booze + Dance = Yay.

I had to make the file size smaller in order to upload these photos. Feel free to ask if you would like the original photo.

J+B:

Hey Sista's

Finally after a combined 4 hour and 3 day travel delay the Dunn's made it!

I haven't quite figured out the best way for night/dancing shots. I think I have the shutter speed and ISO settings down but its hard to focus. Hopefully I will figure it out soon.

L+C:

Christy took us to this awesome creekside BBQ/Pub place for some post wedding Tri-tip

I cant wait till either my sister brother or I get married, there would be an epic dance-off between Team Steve-0 and Danny Mac versus the Patton Ladies. On second thought it could get pretty ugly.

Bi-coastal Rave

2010-10-11T16:53:00.020+03:00

Consider this the "cocktail hour" post of the wedding issue. The Santa Ynez valley and Shelter Island couldn't be more far apart. Both incredible places for incredibly unique throwdowns.
After a week of detox its hard to put these moments in the past, but I couldn't be happier for my family.

Jen and Bobby are a big basket full of bright ideas

Lauren + Clark with no sweat pulled off the wickedest party

Actually everything about both of them was perfect. Well except for one thing... stupid American Airlines, who tried to put a buzzkill on my sister and cousin's party wheels. If airlines were smart at all they would have sponsored these weddings, considering how fun they were and all the brilliant execution that went into them.

Wedding Blitz

2010-10-08T06:57:00.005+03:00

Welcome to the Chocolate Covered Bacon Wedding Issue!

Weddings are fun, cousins are awesome. A cousins wedding is probably the wildest, craziest, best thing in the world.
We traveled to two corners of the great USA in the past six weeks to revel in matrimony, and celebrate new cousins.

Much more to come on the tale of these two epic bacchanalia.

Graphic Overload

2010-10-01T03:50:00.013+03:00

I have been brainwashed by architecture. Everything we see is designed. Fonts, lineweights, and swatches program every billboard, packaging label, Espn score chart, and hot dog vendor.
As a designer we wanna be the best, if not then really really good when it comes to graphics and artistic expression. Personally, I often feel overwhelmed and nauseous. Cheese and rice, I even wonder what the spacing ratio is on the Helvetica bold label for the MTA Subway signs. Thanks architecture.

I mean how can I not get jealous of say this guy... heywookchan.com Hey's a good guy and student at WashU. He does everything. I claim music is a passion of mine, he makes it.

Also, I recently found the blog notcot.org via Jordys links. Its the conglomerate Meccah of cool stuff from the internets. If I didn't value my personal time I would probably go through every single one of those pages, picking things out saying "ooh cool Modern Minimalist" or "that's a nice color set I could use." How did I get this way?
Where does this get us? Maybe this is teaching me to not care so much about graphic stuff... (Which I should be doing in the first place.)

Simplifying things, I really enjoy just making stuff, like crafting furniture or as categorized 'Industrial design.' I take great comfort in the physical construction and the process of making. My friend Jono said to me once "drawing by hand is great because you are always working with the final output." Which I found quite, well relaxing really. Its less stressful when you have part of the end product right in front of you.
I have a number of ideas for building/making things, mostly keeping in the same spirit as my trusty (although could be more functional) Muffler Lamp.

In this wake of a graphic overload, its healthy to focus on design that has more depth than my 1/4-inch thick laptop screen.

King Chimes

2010-08-28T22:56:00.017+03:00

Its easy to start to feel old when someone younger than you produces incredible work.

I guess architecture requires maturity as opposed to naivety considering the "work" involved is realized in something way more complex that of a canvas or mp3 or film. A building has a lot of consequences, its beauty isn't in its temporariness.

With that being my academic approach, architects are also artists and its impossible to not appreciate other realms of artistic expression. Russ Chimes has been a favorite of mine for the past year or so and his latest electro addition is no disappointment. Its a new EP and film featuring an incredibly talented and young (-er than me) director named Saman Keshavarz (samankeshavarz.blogspot.com.) I was inspired to write a dissertation on "The Glorified Idealization of the American Landscape built by European Social Constructs." But we'll see how far I get.

http://www.russchimes.com/

Part 1: Never Look Back is the first in a 3-part series from Russ' forthcoming EP. Each tune and respective music video release simultaneously. The next one should be posted this week. The trailer is awesome as well.

The Ocean

2010-08-26T00:59:00.004+03:00

The famed 'Lido Torpedo' strategizing

Preferably colder is more refreshing. Jump in and swim real hard, get close to the bottom and try to not move at all, while hoping no waves break close above up on the surface. Listen for silence without even the ringing in the ears. Waiting for that moment of just complete nothingness before the air in your body pulls you up to the surface.

That's the greatest feeling on earth. Floating in free space while concentrating on silence is ultimate relaxation therapy. You're trying to clear your mind with no distractions, while your body is suspended in neither tension nor compression.

Our bodies are 70% water, similar to the earths surface. I'm sure there is some research or writing on the therapeutic power of the ocean. Real estate values obviously benefit from the oceans proximity. But for me its just something I can't live without.

Smallest World

2010-07-20T18:15:00.007+03:00

After spending an entire semester "mapping the world" talking about connectivity and globalization with a professor from Holland but was more present in Holland than the US via his iPhone, we believe the world is shrinking.

Except when you visit a place as remote as Shelter Island, you begin to appreciate how big the world is. Shelter Island is a quiet harbor island between the two forks out on Long Island. Its about a hundred miles east of New York City and is only accessible by ferry. The residents never built a bridge because they don't want the congestion and development that goes on out east, just south of Shelter Island in the Hampton's. So it is a very quaint relaxing landscape, not to say that quaint and relaxing doesn't also attract the high-end real estate market.

When I was biking around after a day at the beach I spotted a sign for an Open House/exhibition featuring paintings from a contemporary artist and a house designed by contemporary architects for sale. My sense of schmoozing curiosity couldn't say no, so I biked around the bend and after ladies entered in with sun dresses I followed with bathing trunks and wet hair (both equally appropriate for the Island.) The house was very sleek and contemporary. And after meeting one of the polite hosts we started a quick conversation. She said "have we met, you look familiar?" As often as I hear that in elevators and bars and respond in disappointment, I had never been more certain, there was no way I was in someone's memory all the way out here on Shelter Island.
Continuing conversation, she mentioned she received her MArch from Columbia and when I discovered she was Korean I started explaining my semester in Seoul... till she cut me off "You were on that tour of the Urban Hive and Boutique Monaco in Gangnam." [Seoul] Where to I responded perplexed "Uhh, yeah... and you were also."

House on Shelter Island for sale by architects Morris + Sato (Corcoran)

7,000 miles away... Urban Hive and Boutique Monaco

...

2010-06-23T21:10:00.012+03:00

11:48:23 EST Time...

I just calculated on our DVR that one second after the referee of the England - Slovenia match blew his whistle ending the game, crowning England group champions and Slovenia the runner up... justice... finally... prevailed.

Perseverance has never been greater, justice will never be more moral.

In that one second England goes from winning the group to its runner up.
Slovenia goes from qualifying to elimination.
And Team USA goes from elimination, from a tie; a tie that lasted for 11 days; a tie that would have lasted another 4 years; a tie that was worldly, historically controversial; to a 1-0 lead and becoming the greatest defiers of adversity in all of sports, advancing, winning their group.

Just when doubt was too painful for their own country to endure, and the rest of the world started to get a bit comfortable. Team USA reminded us who we are, and what we are capable of.

So take that Slovenian players head-locking Clint Dempsey, hugging Michael Bradley for dear life, who still can't prevent a beautiful, deciding, American goal. Take that Komam Coulibaly. Take that England. Take that FIFA. Take that World.

The USA is here to stay and is roaring.

May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather. Here's to America's colors, the colors that never run... and Landon Donovan who never stops. GO USA!!

...of the Subconscious

2010-04-27T17:28:00.009+03:00

In the presence of architecture reviews and finals it's easy to begin to:
A. Doubt your idea's
B. Lose Confidence
C. Constantly ask yourself 'What the hell am I doing.'

But when you get into a good rhythm with working/designing it can feel somewhat zen almost subconscious. This track from Yppah is not new, but recently discovered. I find it quite helpful for my working methods. It helps me relax and focus.

Yppah - Gumball Machine Weekend

It also has a beautiful tint of summer being right around the corner, which seems so far away right now. California here I come... eventually, well for my awesome cousins wedding. But this song is pretty California also.

Two Doors Up

2010-04-14T05:32:00.006+03:00

Not sure how long they have been around but I am enjoying what I am hearing now. Two Door Cinema Club from Ireland just released there album "Tourist History" Tuesday! Its great. I was needing a band and album refresher, been listening to too many singles released lately, and I really found this band to be quite the pleaser.

"Something Good Can Work" (MP3- right click to save) Is the perfect pick up if you need one.

Catch them live they are touring across the states pretty soon, some of the shows are with Phoenix should be great... unfortunately it looks like there is a detour around Saint Louis. myspace.com/twodoorcinemaclub

Artist of Summer 2010

2010-04-07T06:47:00.014+03:00

As you know and as I have broadcasted on many occasions my affection for music, here is my effort at being a stockbroker for talent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwnefUaKCbc

I have never been so certain before of an artist that will become famous. Janelle Monáe is the most incredible new artist you will hear this year. Artist as in singer, songwriter, performer, and story. She does everything. Her narrative is quite odd and bold at times but is very poetic and really ties everything together with a nice pro-active jab for equal rights and opportunities.

I first came across her in Fall 2008 when I found her crazy but incredibly well done video and song "Many Moons." Since then I've become a big follower. I actually got to see her for free last summer on my birthday outdoors in Brooklyn, boy she does not hold anything back. She staged dive a couple of times and was painting on a canvas throughout her entire performance, until the end when she gave it to a young fan. Knowing her talent I have always said to myself 'when'... when will she explode on a national scale.

Janelle Monáe - Tightrope (ft. Big Boi)
(right click and save for MP3)

Now with the new video and date set for the release of her album, I am convinced her reign will begin soon. The fact that she is on the cover of Eleven, the cooperative music magazine from the Colleges throughout St. Louis shows that she's really gaining momentum. Her album drops on May 18th. So after that expect her to skyrocket.

CCB takes leave... back into SLo MO

2010-03-25T20:58:00.002+02:00

I guess this concludes (for now) the journey of life and its quest for meaning.
James and brother gringo John are both suspended domestically now, but for only an indefinite amount of time. I'd like to keep exploring of course.

Its funny how you discover and learn things most when you don't think and just do. If there is anything I learned this past year, from living abroad. Its more about the amount of knowledge I don't know. I really don't think you can ever learn anything about yourself or the world, unless you change your lifestyle and challenge yourself every once in a while.

The lifestyle back here in Saint Louis is rather well uninspiring frankly. And if there is anything I have learned about being here it is that I am not a school person. Some peolpe just don't do well at school, not because they are dumb or lazy but because of the system. School doesn't really decipher talent or skills. It just further categorizes us. Sure it can be a place to expand your boundaries and challenge your ideas, but what does that mean if you don't work well within the hierarchical system? If you can't tell I'm starting to get burnt out.

I am currently scheduled to be finished in December, till then I'd have to put my life on hold. Well with a little summer fling of course. It be an injustice to the rotation of the earth and seasons if summer wasn't taken fully advantage of.

Panama City

2010-03-10T02:38:00.002+02:00

So, as all the schoolchildren return to school, my summer ends as well. I'm in Panama City now -one of the many legs of my long trip home. I finished up at the orphanage and InglesTec yesterday and got on an early flight this morning. I got to go on a tour today and see several cool parts of the city. Also, the Panama Canal is AWESOME.

But, my hotel isn't exactly in the greatest 'hood and all the people here seem a bit touched in the head, particularly compared to Davidians and Boqueteños. Also. now that its dark I{m told I shouldn't go outside around these parts. So, I{m about ready to come home.

¡Orphanage Update! - I went to Casa Trisker for the last time yesterday. I was a little bit bummed. To our surprise, most of the children were there and not in school. When I asked how come no one was in school the kids responded that there papers were not in order. So, that means the employees didn't arrange the proper paperwork to re-enroll the children in school.

On Thursday, we held a charity quiz night at the bar and raised $140 for the orphanage. In two weeks we raised a total of $240 for that and the GEM Project. (Guess who was responsible for the quiz content¿?)

I was quite excited to bequeath the baseball equipment and football to the boys yesterday. I was hoping I could give it to them directly, but after speaking with Bob and Pat, we decided it was best if I left it with them. That way they wouldn't break anymore windows or hurt any of the younger kids. Also, that way it won't disappear. Bob and Pat are highly suspicious of the Trisker employees and think that they often steal items donated to the orphans and bring them to their own families. Bob and Pat have donated unbelievable amounts of time and money to the kids there and have never once heard a thank you from the staff. They bought numerous toys for the kids for X-mas this year which they are now unable to find anywhere on the premises.

I found out a little but about the background of my boys. Angel was born when his mother was only 14 years old. She was allowed to live in the orphanage along with Angel. However, when she turns 18, which is fairly soon, she has to leave. She has to find somewhere else to go. Angel{s mother also suffers from some type of mental handicap. I also found out that mi sobrino Juan was actually born in Trisker. His mother is also a resident.

I'm going to miss those boys. The other day most of the kids were at the beach, but Angel was not allowed because of 'porto malo' - bad behavior. I was kind of proud of him for some reason. Ha!

I'm going to say my prayers and go to sleep. Thankfully there is a squad of police officers who mill about the area and often times chill in the lobby.

More Amazing S**t About Panama

2010-03-07T18:27:00.007+02:00

CCB seems to have had a pleasant gala evening in St. Lou. Too bad we couldn't have included some bits from Panamania. I'm sorry I haven't added to the blog lately, but I've been incredibly busy lately. Well, I've lost my sunglasses and my ipod is finally dead so I'm about ready to head back to the good old US of A. But, in the brief time I have remaining I will try to put up those posts I promised. So, without further ado here is "More Amazing S**t About Panama".

As I have mentioned before, Panama is the banking hub of Central America. And they take their banking pretty seriously. So serious that each bank in Panama (even in a small mountain town like Boquete) has a an armed guard in a bulletproof vest and metal detector stationed outside each branch during banking hours. I was reluctant to get to close to take a photo, but that's one of the guards there. If you want to make a deposit or withdrawal or even to make change, they give you a once-over with the wand, pat you down and then let you in.

Here is the machete rack at the local grocery store. They have an assortment of machetes of various sizes and uses at affordable prices.

Observe the price. A 2 1/2-foot-long machete will cost you $3.60. I'm not kidding-I didn't pull that price tag off of some other product like Corn Flakes. The supply is pretty plentiful and maybe the machete lobby is particularly powerful in Panama City so that may be the reason for the low, low prices. Let's compare with a box of Corn Flakes...

That's right machetes are cheaper than Corn Flakes.

In addition to machetes they also have Hamm's beer. To you this might not mean anything but, my father drank this for years before it was discontinued in New York (or they stopped carrying it). I must have fetched my father roughly one thousand of these over the years. New York distributors stopped carrying it around 1995/1996, so I never really got to have one. They are about 55 cents here and they don't taste too bad. Otherwise I haven't seen since they disappeared. They still have the same can.

This is hard to see because it was taken at about 1 in the morning. April and I were coming back from the bar on a Saturday night and we saw this pickup cab pull up around the corner. And all the people who were waiting for it at the bus stop crossed the street to get in. More and more people (almost all Indians) kept approaching the cab. I began to feel terrible because there wouldn't be enough for all of them and this was probably the last cab they would be able to get for the night. However, the driver spent about 10 minutes on the seating arrangements and he fit every single person. There literally must have been 15-20 people in that vehicle and I was amazed. Then he took off towards the mountains and we waved goodbye.

It's Up!!!

2010-03-06T03:56:00.017+02:00

Currently on the North wall in the West corridor of Givens Hall on the campus of the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University stands my graphic journal from my entire year of 2009. All of the intriguing stuff I collected from 9 different countries this past year is on display in a chronological mapping till the end of March.
If there is two things I learned while pinning up... and collaging and binder clipping and readjusting my exhibit, one is to not underestimate my ability to hoard shit, and the second is the collective value of friendship. This is a rare and awkward cheesy cameo for me on CCB but friends really do bring out the best in you and ultimately want to help you succeed.

Brendan was a great attribute. I don't think there is a greater love-hate relationship between anybody else in the world. We tend to heckle and exchange barbs all day. In the end he was happy to tee up all my crap

Saint Joneaux (JB Dowse) as always was a positive inspiration and assistance.

This is Jordan Elyse Adsit aka PIE! I'm sure you recognize her, I was lucky to have her in both Helsinki and Seoul and she was unlucky to have me as her roommate both semesters. Ha! We had a blast! I'm sorry if she appears a bit blurry in this photo but that couldn't describe her mentality any better. She is such a fast, efficient worker and I couldn't have asked for anyone better to help me pin up. She's a great designer especially while helping, thanks Pie!

Nick helped with supplying some of the materials

My history professor from Seoul was visiting our school and program, he enjoyed the exhibit.

I'm really happy with how it turned out and I'm certain my friends had a fun time putting it up, certainly more fun than me. Thanks also to Anna Lask, Shirley Banker, Willie Mak and Vaclav Malek.

More Pictures

2010-02-20T06:57:00.006+02:00

Here are some more pics. There are still a bunch more to come. I apologize because I know its either feast or famine with these pictures (usually famine). But it takes just about forever to upload the damn things and I've been really busy otherwise. Give me a break, will ya? Jeez.

Terraced farming. It's hard to tell how steep it is from the photo but thats a Double-Diamond at least, I assure you.
You better cut out that cock-a-doodle-dooin' little fella, or I say- I say, I'll make some pollo McNuggets outta yous.

Coffee pods.

Coffee beans.
Juan Valdez.

Bird.
This was from a hike we did. That's the volcano.
Monkey.
Super Bowl Sunday. Pooch. Futbol Americano.
Some Indian kids staring at you with those eyes, peering deep,deep, all the way down into your soul. When they look at you they know your secrets.

-----------

Carnivale Update: On Monday evening I went a-walkin' and came across a softball game being played by some locals (the teams were made up of males and females ranging in age from about 8 to about 50, it was amazing). Within literally five seconds of watching I was asked if I wanted to play. Of course. I hustled into left field. It turned out to be a good acquisition for my squad as I went 5-f0r-5 with 3 RBIs and two nice plays in the outfield. The game almost ended prematurely when our only ball went into the river, luckily our savvy outfielder headed it off downstream to pluck it from the water.

On Tuesday we went to Dolega to see what all the fuss was about. We found Dolega, normally an empty, dusty outpost on the way to David, swarming with human beings eager to get some sinning out of the way. The local music hall was throbbing with people and the aforementioned unfathomably loud salsa, merengue and Spanish rock music. Behind it there was a miniature stadium for cockfighting. This was like the Madison Square Garden of cockfighting; it was well-lit with terraced seating and had a sort of chicken lockerroom and weigh-in area. But, it probably had more spectators than a Knicks game (Daaaammnn - Zing). We watched for a minute or two then determined it wasn't a particularly interesting thing to watch.

While observing some of the dancing, two interesting gentlemen approached us and offered me a seat to dance with Nancy. They were pretty drunk and seemed unable to speak English or Spanish. They were nice fellas but defnitely odd. One of them even straight up asked me if they could have Nancy but the other told him that she was my girlfriend. We decided that was a lie we could live with so we ran with it. We also determined that they were authentic Latin American drug dealers albeit on a very miniscule level. After we'd had enough of them we slinked away and hopped on the bus back to Boquete and that was our Carnivale experience.

State of the Blog

2010-02-15T22:15:00.002+02:00

In the coming days I will try to get some good posts and pics up. The last few days were a bit disorienting; I had to postpone a trip to Bocas Del Toro this weekend (because I had to do someone's job for them) and now we have a ton of new volunteers with us. So, we may be busy and it may be difficult to get access to the computer. The day finds me in a bit of a bad mood because we couldn't go to the orphanage today and there are no English classes today or tomorrow because of the holidays. I'm also dedicating some comp time to the ol' soul-crushing job search.

But, I promise I got some good material forthcoming, including "More Pictures", "David: City of Wonder/City of Blunder", "More Amazing Stuff About Panama" and "Mas Que Un Amigo (More Than A Friend): The Tale of a Schoolbus Named Andresito, Jr." I actually have a lot of photos but they are currently stuck on April's camera or they are in my email and I can't get them to load properly.

Also, Carnivale is here and is a monumental event in Panama every year so expect a blog on that. How monumental is it? Put it this way: One of my students explained that when he was younger his friends used to pawn cherished posessions and sell their own blood to get money so they could travel for their Mardis Gras celebrations. This is a culture that takes their partying seriously. Nearby Dolega is supposed to have a wild Carnivale party. I may have to check it out.

Meanwhile, here is a mini-post:

On Thursday before I went to David, I hiked way the hell up into the mountains. In addition to some awesome sweeping vistas, I saw some interesting wildlife up there. On the side of the road I saw a bit of roadkill. It was a toad the size of my foot (I wear a size 12 Nike), and its guts had been squished out of its mouth not unlike when you accidentally step on a packet of mustard or ketchup. Briefly afterwards, one of the badass hawks that patrol the area did a few loops no more than 15 over my head, which was pretty cool. By the time I headed back down I was feeling a bit skittish and thats when I encountered a 6 foot snake (black with dull yellow bands around it) crossing the road. It took its sweet time and I kept my distance. It finally slipped
into the grass and through a hole in a rock wall and I was on my way. Other reptile sighting: one day when getting dropped off at InglesTec, the taxi driver brought my attention to a being snooping about the office's backdoor. It was a big-ass, ugly-as-sin iguana the size of an overweight housecat. It's tail was at least as long as its body, if not more. I went in the front door and came out the back to show my colleague, Milsiades. The thing was hard to see on the gravely parking lot but when it saw us it ran away like former San Francisco 49er Ricky Watters (I know thats an obscure reference but that's what it reminded me of).

CCB Exhibits!

2010-02-11T20:19:00.007+02:00

Hey, sorry to but in on brother Bucks Panamania, but I figured some good news couldn't hurt. So in case you haven't heard I am going to be pinning up an exhibit of an idea I had featuring my studies abroad!
I attached the PDF of my proposal, so you can figure out the idea. The plan is to have as little words as possible and get this... no photos! Sounds pretty ironic for me right? Well I am trying to portray what life/culture is like in the cities I lived in and visited, and instead of presenting my experience the way I saw these places (through the lens of my camera) I thought it would be great to see how the cities choose to present themselves.

I'm hoping the no photo's will make it more powerful. I am still working out some of the logistics. What do you guys think?

So if you are in Saint Louis around the 26th of February please come by Givens hall for the opening reception /happy hour. There will also be exhibits of student work from a couple of the abroad studios. My Parentalones are coming. Can't believe they are gonna make it to SLo MO!

...resume Panamania...

The Orphanage

2010-02-08T16:19:00.002+02:00

Warning: This post will be more somber in tone. Also, no pictures with this one, sorry, we're not allowed.

On Mondays and Fridays I go to the Casa Hogar Trisker which is a state-run orphanage about 15-20 minutes outside of town. The kids range in age from 1 to 13. When you show up, many of the children approach you saying 'Tia' or 'Tio' (meaning 'aunt' or 'uncle') which is both hearrtbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Most of the kids were taken out of their homes by the government because of abuse or neglect. Also, abortion is illegal in Panama, so in many cases these are children whose parents simply could not afford to take care of them. Some of these kids have had it real tough, but they're pretty happy at the home for the most part. It's just unsettling to see various scars and burns on kids so young that were likely not acquired on the playground. I could get into it more but I won't.

While the government does a noble job of taking these children out of abusive or neglectful homes, they really don't do a great job of caring for them in the orphanage. Most of the employees are there to collect their check and at times are difficult to find. For example, I hit a kid in the face with a baseball the other day (you can imagine how great I felt after that) and I couldn't find anyone to help me help him. I picked him up took him inside then went to the kitchen to fetch the nino some ice for his bruised eye (I was thrilled the next time I came that he had no bruise and he grabbed a mit with the utmost alacrity and enthusiasm). The employees are basically government bureaucrats who care for the children with all the warmth and tenderness a DMV employee cares for your license plates. Much to my dismay I learned today that children have died in Trisker. The latest crisis there has been that the running water supply has been cut off/damaged and sometimes downright non-existent. This problem has persisted for ALMOST 3 WEEKS!!!

I could also go on and on about the bureacratic nonsense, but I won't.

OK, enough of the sad stuff. Most of the kids are tough as nails, but really good, cute, fun kids. I bought some baseball stuff down when I came and the older boys are usually psyched to throw the ball around. There aren't many grown, young men who come to the orphanage so when Oscar or I come they usually get pretty excited. I got a football today let's see how they like that.

Eventhough these kids don't have a thing in the whole damn world, it doesn't seem to bother some of them. I believe the happiest kid in the entire world lives in Trisker. Angel, who is probably 3 or 4 is one of the cutest kids I've ever met and I almost never see him without a smile. Him and his best pal Juan have more fun than anyone I've ever seen. He came up to me saying 'Aleseme' (I think, which I didn't know until later means, 'pick me up'). After I scooped him up once I had to do it for every kid in the orphanage. Now, I'm like a ride in the goddamned Magic Kingdom.

If I had the funds and was married, yadda yadda yadda, I would try to adopt little Angel and Juan. But, supposedly adoption is next to impossible for American parents in Panama. Sometimes I wonder if they would be happier at Trisker than in the States.

Anyway, I have to head out right now.

On a lighter note: Way to go Saints!

Abuelita Anita, My Panamanian Grandma

2010-02-03T16:04:00.003+02:00

This is a little example of how charming and cool Panamanian people are...So, last Wednesday our group participated in this 'community cleanup' with a lot of the Americans and locals in the area (notice the trash bags in my left hip pocket). Boquete has a problem with people just throwing their trash in the street so this was a town-wide effort to get our collective shit in order. Plus, new president Ricardo Martinelli was supposed to come to the town square the next day and Chiriqui-native and current Philadelphia Phillie, Carlos Ruiz was supposed to come on Saturday (neither of whom showed), so we had to whip the place into shape.

So, anyway, as we're cleaning up one area this little old lady joins us with one of those nifty nails-on-a-stick that comes in handy for this type of task. After a few minutes she tells Angie of an area she knows that could really use some picking up. So, Angie sends Julie and me with her. We get in her car and head up to the hills while she tells us all about her family (she has three daughters living in the States) and the town of Boquete.

She takes us for an impromptu tour of Boquete's upper regions while she tells us more about everything, while Julie and I are wondering where the hell we are going and when we're supposed to get to work. Instead, little Abuelita Anita takes us to a nice little cafe/dessert place that makes great hamburgers and strawberry desserts/confections and the like. The lady comes out and greets Anita with a big hello. Anita tells her what we're doing and then buys us fresas duros, which are like popsicles made from the frozen juice of fresh strawberries. It was quite delicious and refreshing. The waitress gives us two free big bottles of water for cleaning up the town and we were on our way.

I finish my duro in the car and think, 'Surely, we must be going to do some work now'. Anita buys some eggs from a guy on the side of the road and then takes us to her house to drop them off (her house and property are gorgeous by the way). After a few minutes inside she comes out and says she'll give us a ride into town. In one area with litter strewn about she slows down and points out that this was what she was talking about earlier. But, she keeps right on going. Julie, comfused and clutching her rake asks "Should we get out and start cleaning?". To which Abuelita Anita responds "Oh no, I just wanted to show it to you. I have to go into town. Maybe you can come back another time. I will make you fresh lemonade from the trees in my yard."

Haha. Amazing.

So, by the time we get back into town everyone is finished. Anita heads into the supermarket and we go back to the apartment to get ready to go to David. Not only did she save us from a thrilling hour and a half of picking up garbage but she essentially bought us ice cream to boot! While everyone else was toiling away we were enjoying a pleasant duro-filled hour with our Panamanian grandma. Thanks Abuelita Anita!

(The promise of fresh lemonade may be too much to pass up so I may have to field an expedition to go back there.)

Notes: I finally got some pictures of the bus so I'll write one up about the bus soon. I also want to do one about the craptacular city of David. I'll need pictures though. I'd love to get pictures of the natives, especially the kids but I'm scared.

The English program is really great so far. So is working at the orphanage.

Super Bowl - I'm rooting for the Saints. I know this is old news but what the hell is wrong with Brett Favre? You know he did that so he can play another year.

What I Do Everyday.

2010-01-28T16:34:00.005+02:00

I'm still in the midst of figuring out a schedule but this is basically how my day goes:

The mornings are usually different everyday. Sometimes we have projects to work on other times we don't. For example, last week we did a bunch of different tasks; they can include working with kids, helping the handicapped, participating in the literacy program or doing environmental work. My favorite thus far has been going to the orphanage and playing ball with the muchachos and going to literacy and helping the Indian kids learn how to read. I'll add separate posts for those later. I think I'm going to go to the orphanage on Monday and Friday mornings and to literacy on Wednesday mornings. When I don't have anything on the agenda I compose poorly-worded posts for this blog or I look for jobs (I usually don't get very far because I get pissed off that I don't have any skills, experience or advanced degrees and I'm almost 28. -awesome).

So, in the afternoons I head down to David by bus, then take a taxi to the English school where they need a lot of help. I love going there because the students really want to learn. They range in age from 15-45. As Renny, the sassy, sharp-as-a-tack, retired Texan who runs the school says, these are the working poor and it is becoming more and more important for them to learn English. English is becoming more and more important to the economy of Panama. If these students can learn to speak English with some degree of proficiency it can improve their lives tenfold. It's an incredibly valuable skill.

I usually work with students either individually or in small groups, doing pronunciation or conversation. Renny loves having me around because it gives them a chance to listen to how a native speaker pronounces things. My new goal is to create an army of middle class Panamanians who speak English with a thick Long Island/New York accent.

I also like to help out at InglesTec because it gives me a chance to use/improve my Spanish. It also reminds me how freaking ridiculously hard English is. Explaining the intricacies of English through my limited/broken Spanish is no easy task but its definitely fun and interesting.

So, when I'm all finished I head back to Boquete. My colleague Will usually gives me a ride and drops me off at a dingy bus stop where he heads off on the road to Potrerillos. Sometimes I wait there from 30 seconds to 30 minutes for the bus to come by (and I pray it stops). I am also incredibly tempted to pop in the Jardin Tres Estrellas, the crappy, open-air cantina across the street (its the worst-looking place in the world, but it somehow has one of the biggest TVs I've ever seen). By the time I get back to Boquete, its dark. I get some food, read and go to sleep.

Notes: More pictures to come.

Julie yesterday mentioned that she has not had a rude encounter with a Panamanian yet in the two weeks we've been here. Neither have I. They're all incredibly friendly and charming. I can't wait to tell you the story of my Panamanian grandma Abuelita Anita who bought me ice cream yesterday.

Pictures

2010-01-26T17:38:00.006+02:00

The view from our front porch. That's sort of the central plaza.
This is the view from our back porch, looking north-northwest. That big son of a bitch in the back there is the Baru Volcano. Should one of these wild parties disturb her, we're all goners.
Boquete in the morning looking eastward.
Boquete to the North.

Boquete. Photo courtesy of Angie.

This creature was snapped by Angie in one of the hostels here. It was the size of a teacup saucer.

Interesting Points of Interest, Boquete Ed., Pt. II

2010-01-23T18:29:00.003+02:00

Culture (Cont'd) - OK, so the partying...Last weekend was my first weekend here and it happened to fall on the annual Boquete Flower Festival. This is Boquete's busiest weekend and it attracts dozens of food, beer and merchandise vendors from around Panama. They all set up in or around the town's municipal gardens which are on the east side of town. This festival has been known to attract as many as 100,000 people. So, imagine your quaint little hamlet overrun with a boisterous multitude fit for a Michigan-Ohio State game.

The music at the festival is the big attraction. At the north end of the gardens is what they referred to as a 'travelling disco'. It's a series of musical stages, dance floors and DJ booths set up especially for the feria. When the sun goes down that's when the party really begins. They play their music unfathomably loud.

Everything was loud. People. Music. Motors. Whistling. Shouting. Fireworks. At all hours of the night. The parties wouldn't end until 4, 5 or 6 in the morning. The fair was probably a quarter to a half mile away from our house and it literally sounded like a raucous party going on in the party upstairs. The volunteers had to wear ear plugs when they slept because the walls were so thin and there was so much noise coming from the street.

By Monday night, the town was back to normal and was almost disturbingly quiet. It's pretty much been that way ever since.

Panamanians don't party all the time but when they do, they do it right. I went to another party last night at the English school and they did it up big time. Panamaniacs.

Economy- It's hard to tell what drives the economy here. Most of the poorer people here work the land picking fruit or coffee or they are artisans and merchants and sell their wares on the streets. Despite the rockiness of the soil, it must be packed with nutrients because they grow all sorts of stuff here; carrots, corn, onions, potatoes, plantains, and even strawberries and oranges. The people also dabble in a bit animal husbandry as there are a lot of horses, cows, goats and sheep and a ton of chickens that cock-a-doodle-doo all day long. There is an established service economy in Boquete and there also seems to be a decent amount of construction going on. There are a lot of poor people (mostly the indigenous) here but the area is not impoverished. Every once in a while you'll see a flashy SUV cruise down the street. Also, some of the properties in the hills go for $300,000+ (Boquete is also traditionally the vacation area for rich folks from Panama City).

Gringos - There is a significant expatriate community in the are surrounding Boquete. The other day I met a nice woman named Penny who was from the UP of all places and graduated from U of M and the Law School (she said there is another prominent alum in the area as well). You'll see a lot of old white hairs around here because it is a good area to retire because it is so cheap. Supposedly, there are some unions in the States that encourage their workers to move here after retiring. It is kind of disheartening though, to see decent, hard-working, middle class Americans and Canadians having to retire down here because they can't afford it back home.

Food - The food in Boquete is OK. It won't knock your socks off but I like it plenty good. Some of the other volunteers had complained that the food here was bland. However, its mostly chicken or pork and rice and beans which is right in my culinary and gustatory wheelhouse. It's all I ever make or eat at home. You can get a nice big heap of food here with some sweet platanos to boot and it will set you back $3.00.

Beer - Panama has about 5 nacional beers: Atlas, Balboa and Panama (clever name) are the most popular. I prefer Balboa; it tastes like Heineken if Heineken didn't taste like shit. Atlases, Balboas and Panamas are all $1. Beer is literally cheaper than water. One of the newspapers in Panama City conducted a study last year that showed Panamanians drink about 5-6 times more beer than water.

Coffee- It's a shame I don't drink it because Boquete is supposed to have amazing coffee. The agricultural and atmospheric conditions in Boquete make it the best place in the world for growing coffee. Up in the hills the coffee plants are all over the place and even grow on the side of the road. The beans themselves come two in a red, filmy pod. It takes roughly 45 beans to make a single cup of coffee and all the beans have to be picked by hand. The indigenous men pick them all day, load them into gigantic bushels and then walk them an hour into town. So, as you can imagine it might not be lucrative of a career. But, if you want some coffee I'll see if I can send some to ya.

That about does it for life in Boquete. I'll be back soon with a special blog devoted entirely to my fondness for the bus. And I'll post a run down of what I actually do here.

On a side note: Can someone please tell me what the hell the Jets are doing in the AFC Championship Game? Are they really gonna go to the Super Bowl when I am in freaking Panama of all places? There's really no doubt in my or anyone's mind that they are gonna win the whole thing now. You've got to be kididng me.

Interesting Points of Interest, Boquete Edition: Part I

2010-01-21T16:23:00.002+02:00

Boquete is a very charming place to say the least. It's a small town but it feels very busy and it attracts lots of travellers, both of the upscale and backpacking variety. The surrounding area is very beautiful as well. I would absolutely recommend a trip here. I really should get some pictures up so you can see. But, without further ado, here are some facts about this place:

Geography: Boquete is nestled in Panama's mountainous central ridge. We have mountains to the north , east and west. To the south is a sort of high plains area that leads down to David, the swamps and eventually the Pacific Ocean. There is also an active volcano, Volcan Baru, just northwest of town. The whole area was shaped by volcanic material and there are rocks everywhere. The small yet powerful Rio Caldera runs through town bringing water that drained from the upper mountainous regions. There are lots of hiking trails, natural pools and waterfalls in the areas outside of town. Boquete is at an elevation of about 4,100 feet making for a very salubrious climate. The air is perfect-remarkably fresh and clean. It's cool and dry and the sun shines almost directly overhead. I have to go to David everyday which is near sea-level and I would say there is a 15 degree difference. All the precipitation comes from the north and it's cool to see it spill over the mountains as it approaches town. Sometimes gusts of wind barrel down the valley and shake the hell out of our house.

People: Panamanians are a good-looking bunch. The country of Panama is fairly diverse; most of the people are mestizo but there are considerable populations of blacks, whites and Indians. In Boquete, however, there seem to be fewer blacks and whites and much more Indians. The
Latins and Indians have such beautiful and exotic features and some of the women are downright beautiful. There are a lot of children here and they are incredibly cute, particularly the Indian kids. Indian children will stare at you like you're a freaking giraffe. They gaze at you with these gigantic, unblinking, almond-shaped, onyx eyes taking in every photon of your bizarre appearance. Sometimes I can't help myself from cracking up a bit but they just keep staring at you. If I was some type of elderly aunt-like character I would have squeezed every nino cheek in Boquete to the bone by now.

Culture: I hate to use the cliches "colorful" and "vibrant" to describe their culture. I feel that those are patronizing terms used by crusty, white people to describe any culture that is different, poor and less developed. However, at the risk of sounding crusty and white, the culture here is colorful and vibrant. Panamanian culture is simultaneously both more enthusiastic and more relaxed than ours. Most of the people I have come in contact with are somewhat shy, even laconic. I think it is considered a virtue to be reserved. As one of my students wrote in a practice sentence "I would not suggest talking a lot". However, collectively, their culture is much more expressive.

I know I'm speaking in generalities here but its true. I'll explain more later.
And good God do these people know how to party...

That's all for now, I have to get back to the house and see what we are doing today and then go all the way to David this afternoon.

So Far

2010-01-21T16:09:00.002+02:00

It's been going pretty well so far. All the other volunteers are pretty cool and interesting and we all seem to like it here. This week we've done various projects and I've gone down to David in the afternoons for the English program. Going to David can be a huge pain in the ass. You have to take a bus then a taxi and it takes about an hour or longer. Plus, English I forgot how ridiculously hard English is. So, by the end of the day I can't speak English or Spanish. English is really tough for some of the students but they do very well for the most part. I will try to get more into the nuts and bolts of the programs later on.

Disclaimer

2010-01-21T16:04:00.002+02:00

I apologize for my lackluster blogging skills. I don't really like going on the internet and I'm the only knucklehead here who did not bring a camera or a computer. Plus, I don't really have much time so all my posts are hurried and haphazard. Despite all this I'll try to do it once in a while and get some pictures up.

Boquete, Day 1

2010-01-16T18:33:00.002+02:00

So, I made it. I actually made that connection from Tocumen Airport (which is out in the middle of nowhere) and Albrook airport. They are a half an hour apart, my flight was to leave at 4 and at 2:30 I was still literally in the back of the plane waiting to get off. Customs was like 10 feet from the gate. I waited on line for a little bit and then spent literally 10 seconds at the desk. The agent rifled through my docs, stamped my passport vigorously and uttered a sharp and terse "Bye" and that was the only word she said.

My cabbie made mad moves and got me to Albrook where I was sweating it out waiting to check in. Luckily Air Panama doesn't seem to give a shit about all this checking-in-an-hour-beforehand nonsense and if you get there with 10 minutes to spare they'll board you no prob. There I met up with April, another volunteer heading to Boquete. It was nice to see an American face among the whirlwind of rushing and confusion.

We arrived in David and took a bus ride up to Boquete. The bus had about 70 people in it, it took about an hour and cost $1.50. Ha! Everything here is incredibly cheap.

Boquete is a lively, happening town. This week is a huge festival here so there is party and noise all night long. Anyway, it seems pretty cool. I'll add some more later but I have to get my act together.

Panamo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!!!!! Interesting Points of Interest About Panama

2010-01-15T00:25:00.005+02:00

Despite claiming to be an expert in history and geography, I realized that my knowledge of Panama was largely confined to hats, canals, Van Halen and Mariano Rivera. However, it is a land of contrasts. Mira:

1) Panama City, the capital, is located at 8 degrees N latitude and 79 degrees W longitude, putting it roughly due south of Buffalo, New York and at a latitude similar to Lagos, Nigeria. This will probably the farthest I will ever go without leaving the Eastern time zone.

2) The national currency of Panama is: the U.S. dollar. Surprisingly, Panama uses the U.S. dollar, which makes life easy for me. It is also the hub of Latin America's banking industry. Much of the country's economy is based on an advanced services industry similar to the U.S.

3) Because it is a center for banking, it is one of the richest countries in Central America. Much of Panama City is extremely modern and new and would probably interest brother Jimbo immensely.

4) During the 1980s, Panama's banking industry was maligned by rampant money-laundering schemes involving much of Latin America's drug dealers (i.e. in the 2001 movie Blow, Johnny Depp's character George Jung deposited all his ill-gotten gains in Panamanian banks). However, they have sinced cleaned up their act, meaning bad news for guys like Jung.

5) Despite it's wealth, Panama has the 2nd most unequal income distribution in Central America. It also has terrible rural-urban and education gaps. Literacy is 90% or higher in the cities, however it falls to roughly 60% in rural areas. These are some of the reasons there are volunteer groups throughout Panama, like the one I will be with in Boquete. Overall, though, Panama has made great strides in poverty reduction over the last 10 years.

6) Boquete is a small mountain town in western Panama, about an hour from the Pacific and three hours from the Caribbean. I was under the impression that Boquete was something of a quaint mountain town. However, it has a population of about 20,000 making it slightly smaller than good ol' Rockville Centre.

7) In 1671, Captain Henry Morgan led 200 of his buccaneers across the moutainous, mosquito-infested isthmus towards the beautiful, shiny new Spanish settlement of Panama City. The land and heat took their toll on the men, forcing them to eat dogs and even their own belts. However, right as they were on the brink of mutiny, they stumbled across an abandoned outpost that had been vacated by someone who had heard of their approach. However, they left it stocked with grain, eggs and chicken which the weary, hungry pirates ate with gusto. Morgan then led the newly-invigorated men into town and proceeded to raze the shit out of the place. The beautiful city was burned to the ground and rebuilt 5 miles down the road. The ruins of Panama Viejo are still a popular attraction in PC. The bloodthirsty, gold-hungry, scallywag Morgan is one of the most fascinating figures in New World history. The Spanish colonists were so terrified of him they literally thought he was an incarnation of the Devil. As a hairy gringo with the last name Morgan myself, I am curious to see how I will be recieved.

8) In 1903, Panama gained independence not from the dastardly Spaniards, but from their whacky southerly neighbors, Colombia. The U.S. was very helpful in their quest for independence and as recompense were essentially granted full control over the Panama Canal. The canal is undergoing a massive expansion. Construction on a third set of locks began in 2007 and is expected to be completed in 2014.

9) I had heard that Panama was a very safe place for travelers and my old pal Wes confirmed that for me as he has traveled to the area several times. Unfortunately, according to the State Department, Panama now is designated with a 'High' crime warning. They said the eastern border with Colombia is particularly dangerous (FARC even operates inside Panama) and most of the violent crime in PC can be traced to Colombian narcotrafficking. Luckily, I'll be in western Panama, near Costa Rica which is kind of like Canada (I'm guessing, compared to Colombia at least).

10) Panama hats actually originated in Jamaica. They were popularized by Jamaican workers who brought them and wore them while working on the canal. I have no idea why "Panama" by Van Halen is called "Panama".

So, there it is. Now you are ready for your trip to Panama. I'll see ya later. The next time you hear from me I'll be in Panama. Wish me luck and I'll catch you later.

Panamania, Part II

2010-01-15T00:03:00.002+02:00

A lot of people have asked me why I'm going to Panama. To make a long story short: I had some time, I had some money and this seemed like a unique way to help people in need. I don't know how much help I'll be but we'll see. Plus, it will be a great opportunity for several other reasons. But, for the most part I don't really know what to expect.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is going to be rough. I leave from NYC at 6 AM. I get into Panama City at 2 PM at which point I have to get my bags, get through customs, get a cab and get to Panama City's other airport for my other flight which leaves at 4 PM. That's the last flight of the day so if I don't make it I have to spend the night in Panama City and try to get a flight the next day. The odds aren't exactly stacking up in my favor. But, some of the other volunteers are in the same boat so I may meet up with them tomorrow night.

Panamania

2010-01-13T22:44:00.002+02:00

In the pre-dawn glimmer of Monday morning I heard the USS Jimbo fire up and shove off from our driveway. I peeked out the window to see it sputter towards the Great Midwest and thus ending Jimbo's year of exotic adventures.

Jimbo will be in St. Louis for the next year finishing up his architecture degree so he asked his big brother to take over the ol' CCB blog. I'm leaving for Panama on Friday to volunteer in a small mountain village for 5 weeks. I think Jimbo figured that Boquete, Panama is a little more exotic and provide a bit better material than St. Louis, Missouri which he refers to as 'SLo Mo'.

My blogging abilities differ from Jimbo's in many ways. For example, I don't know anything about architecture, even less about music and my photography skills are non-existent. The last time I took a photo of something it was with one of those disposable cameras that probably don't exist anymore. And eventhough I hold an English degree from one of our most expensive (and therefore best) universities, little Jimbo, an architard, is a better writer than me. This is a source of deep personal shame as it puts me third (out of 3) on the sibling depth chart.

However, Jimbo and I are similar in that we both have gigantic Godzilla-like calves that astonish Asian people on subways. Wait til the Panamanians get a load of these gams.

I'll try to keep everyone updated on what goes on in Panama. I'm not sure how much computer access I will have there but they want us to keep a journal so I will try to use CCB as journal when I can.

USS Jimbo

2010-01-11T04:08:00.003+02:00

The return journey to SLo MO begins early tomorrow. It will be long. A 16 hour drive with a stopover somewhere in Ohio. My green Nissan Maxima from back in the day at Hobart (Senior year) just got refurbished, it sounds like a boat so we can call it the USS Jimbo. Lets hope we make it! Luckily ill have Vaclav (from WashU + Helsinki) for the ride. Perhaps unlucky for him!

1.1.2009 - 12.31.2009

2010-01-01T04:33:00.010+02:00

I'm ending 2009 right now in ironic fashion to how I lived the entire year; Static on the couch of my parents house, battling a schizo cold, and stable sinus congestion. Apparently the air in New York has a lot more in it than Seoul.

Like expected I was hoping to run and gun it in New York City this evening and see many people and many places, capping the year off victoriously, but unfortunately my state has immobilized me. Which I find quite OK actually. Maybe suitingly, like all long journey's at the end they require rest.

2009 was epic.
I'll raise my shot of Sudafed to toast the year...

Thanks to all the dedicated followers of CCB.

Cheers to the suspense in life that comes from uncertainty.

I hope the future brings a new map to navigate.

Thanks Mom + Dad.

Thanks Pie.

Thanks Russ Chimes. http://www.myspace.com/russchimes

Thanks Seoul.

Home

2009-12-28T18:03:00.004+02:00

Merry

Christmas

CCB Wins Third!!

2009-12-22T18:09:00.003+02:00

Before I rap up Seoul or get into the holiday here is some great news! I have mentioned this to some of you already but in case you haven't heard I came in third for the WashU photo contest! Here is the link!

http://www.wustl.edu/washufocus/index.html

The contest was intended to find the photos that best embody the "WashU experience." So photos of students and life around WashU were encouraged, so some of the winners may look cheesy.

The photo I submitted is a self-timer shot from our trip to the Great Wall in China. For winners they professionally print out and frame a 24"x36" and exhibit it in the student center before giving it to the winner. I'm pretty excited!

Longest Day of My life

2009-12-15T16:57:00.004+02:00

On Monday I experienced the longest day of my life. 38 hours total.

It started with the ending of my last Sam-cha in Korea. Sam-cha is a term used to describe 3rd round, usually third rounds have significance when going out in Korea. They mean something more than just a night out being that it was my last night in Korea I believe it qualified as a Sam-cha. The first rounds were fried chicken and Korean BBQ.

By 9 AM I was up packing and soon on my way to the airport, I then landed by8 AM after an epic ten hour flight. I was crammed into a window seat with my sweatshirt, jacket and one of my carry on bags but couldn't have been happier that all my junk was with me and venturing back home.

When I landed at SFO after a 10 Hour or -7 hour flight depending how you look at it. I was fortunate enough to be reacquainted with a friend of mine. Alyssa is one of my great friends from Hobart who volunteered to pick me up from the Airport and take me around. She commented; "You always just randomly pop up on me in California." Which is quite true but great because we always enjoy our time together. So after a walk around the park and a stare at the ocean we went to In-N-Out Burger before returning me to SFO for the final leg of my journey. It was great to see her.

After another 5 hour jaunt in the air I eventually made it home to New York in the comfort of my family its great to see them. I miss Seoul indeed, but its hard to not be excited at home with Christmas, New Years, and all my family.

Beginning of the end

2009-12-11T04:45:00.005+02:00

The weather is cloudy and rainy two of my great roommates have departed and the studio is emptying a little bit each day. I don't want to leave quite yet but this bittersweet-ness is getting a bit tense. So with that noted, I am looking forward to my final "rentre à la maison."

I have met quite the amount of great Korean individuals. And architects of many kind. When you experience things in life you tend to be pulled in certain directions. Those directions ultimately determining your path; path of life. It is really interesting right now for me, considering how much in the future Korea can, and will influence my path.

Studio process:

Final

2009-12-07T16:46:00.002+02:00

Review

12 Hours

'cant explain more.

1 and 2 Weeks

2009-11-30T02:28:00.007+02:00

My time in Seoul... and Korea... and Asia is coming to a close shortly. Hopefully the close won't be too long, I'd love to get back here some day.

In one week I will be done with my studio project and in two weeks I will be home back in New York. Within that time frame I hope to never rest and continue to explore... and (I guess) present my work well also. Actually I am really looking forward to completing this terms work. June, my studio professor really has been a great friend and mentor. He has pushed me to challenge and solidify my ideas, pretty fun. The week after review I'll pretend I am a tourist to Seoul and try to see a lot of sights, and live it up.

By the way I am really STOKED about my first minutes back in the US! I have an almost 6 hour layover at SFO. So I plan to jump on the BART, run around San Francisco, hopefully meet up with my great friend Alyssa and before getting on the plane... scarf down one animal style at In-N-Out Burger! So as much as I'll be missing Korea, that morning and lunch in San Francisco will make my homecoming glorious.

I really will miss my Urban Issues class.

Oh and for those who wonder what I actually have been working on this semester (or why I am here) here's some photos of one of the many models I have made. I know people might see this as crazy (which is pretty valid I'll admit) but its supposed to be a conceptual model of an apartment complex and how units can be arranged or stacked.

Adopted Family T-Giving!

2009-11-26T08:14:00.015+02:00

Andy (Babe) and Jordy (Babe)

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It culminates with the best of the best... Family, Food, Football.

This is the first year I will be spending Thanksgiving outside of America and without Family. Luckily I have great roommates here. So they are my new adopted family. We get along really well and enjoy our time together, and have helped eachother grow and adjust to the new culture. Friday will be our day of celebration with our friends and professors.

Willie and Nick

If Jordy, Nick, Willie and Zimm are my adopted family then Taejun is our step brother. Of course we get along as step brothers. To be correctly Korean Taejun is my older brother. Hyung-Taejun. I couldnt have survived here without him... thanks older brother.

Zimm lighted the fire by motivating us for the whole turkey day feast.

Happy Thanksgiving!

99th %... No thanks

2009-11-24T16:22:00.007+02:00

In a world of architecture its so easy to get lost in your work and methods. And life seems to be outside the box (studio) while you're stuck in it. It's easy to get competitive and try to be the best. Luckily here in Seoul the culture requires you to get out. We go out for everything, which as you can imagine I am 100% in full support of. Competition is a different story.

If you study really hard or have worked forever at a specific task you are probably in the top percentile of that particular facet of life.

In life I'd hope be in the 98th percentile at a bunch of things as opposed to being in the 99th percentile at one thing. Here is my list; inspiration and motivation:

Architecture:
I am 70% finished with my Masters so I guess this qualifies me more than the majority, but I don't really have a drive for it compared to other things. Maybe it's just been architecture overload for me for the past couple years and perhaps my sub-passions have helped me focus and motivate me to continue architecture.

Music:
I use the term music in a broad matter here. Its so refreshing to find a new song that I enjoy. I research music a lot. Mostly through blogs and bands that I like. There is a song or type of Music for every occasion or emotion, or train ride, or movie. If you want to hear what I'm listening to now, just shoot me a line. Going to a great concert is an incredible physical and mental experience... ha that kind of sounds like sex. Maybe that'll help explain!

Cities:
There is nothing more suspenseful to me than venturing to a metropolis that I have never experienced before. I love riding on the subways or just walking around parks, or finding particular demographic neighborhoods. I love bars, fish markets, alleys, coffee shops, churches, and local people. I'm pretty established at researching and determining the vibe a particular city projects.
My list of international cities has doubled this year. So I've learned a lot.

Photography:
Ok this one is a bit vain... Though, I'd like to think someday I'd be pretty good at this.

Drip Castles:
I could probably give up all the above to just spend my entire life at Lido West (pre or post-high tide) studying drip castles. All day.

What are some other peoples' 98th %?

The Future

2009-11-16T09:01:00.006+02:00

Whoops I forgot to tell you guys... a week before we went to China I saw the future. No I'm not kidding it was the future. It was ehhh... ok I guess.

Actually it was pretty wicked. We went to Song-Do City in Incheon about an hour west of Seoul for our Urban Issues class. It's a master planned city in the process of being built. Half the site is currently water. Its being built on "reclaimed land." Or in simpler terms: dirt thrown into the sea.
Crazy eh? The motivation for Song Do City is to create an international free economic zone. Based on its in really close proximity to the airport (15 minutes.) When we asked one of the Urban designers if the project was setback at all she nodded with certainty "yes" and said completion has been pushed back till 2015.
I said to myself "pushed back, 2015, are you kidding me?" Can you believe all those lots will be skysrcapers by 2015? Unbelievable.

You can see the new bridge to the airport in the background. It was built over water. Now they are pushing earth under the bridge into the sea, to make land for the city.

Come on little kiddies lets go to the fair to learn about the future city!

I vote that if we ever come across another planet that we let Korean developers take handle of it. They could build that shit up in seconds. Uhhh well that might not be a good thing. Lets just hope Song Do works out.

Dear Santa...

2009-11-13T08:47:00.000+02:00

I have been a very good boy this year, and I have worked weally hard...
I weally weally want a Kowean twuck!

I see them all over town and they are the coolest things ever. They are so small and have wheels the diameter of a frying pan, and people half the size of me drive them. It could help me a lot when I'm back in St Louis. I could bring big materials like sheets of wood and 2 x 4 around town to help me build things.

PLEASE Santa. I really really could use a Korean pick-up truck.

Love,
Jimmy

Best of the Rest: Beijing

2009-11-07T05:07:00.005+02:00

Here are some of the other amazing sights in Beijing. I need to get back to Seoul though.

The birds nest is probably the biggest victim to inaccurate criticism. It was seen by the whole world last summer via the television but the scale and tectonics of the building are incredibly impressive when experienced up close.

Forbidden City

We were lucky to meet some great friends to show us around the city this is Fan Fan and Way Suwan they are Urban Planning majors at Peking University which is one of the top schools in a nation of 1.3 billion. They were very kind and showed us around the Summer Palace.

Lama temple. Inside this temple is an 85' Buddha carved from a single trunk of white sandalwood... unreal.

After trekking to Cuandixia my camera battery had died. Which was quite relieving really. So the last day and night was spent wandering the hutongs and neighborhoods by foot with no camera or Ipod.

It just felt awesome.

A picture is only worth a thousand words. Go explore.

Tunes: Fall Music

2009-11-02T09:14:00.010+02:00

As a music binger it's probably healthy for me to broadcast my passion.

When fall comes around my brain usually has a hard time functioning on my recent go to genre - Electro. I don't really care for bittersweet songs that remind me of the summer, but I need something that's more laid back and sophisticated. A type of music that has a matured (like the weather in Fall) feeling and perhaps urban vibe. So I always find myself returning to Trip-Hop.

Trip-hop works because it gives off the same erie feeling that can often be associated with the Fall. Days are getting shorter and colder, trees lose their leaves, summer is over... winter is coming. Its change.

6 Underground from the Sneaker Pimps is probably the best example of trip-hop. It has a great quazi-creepy feeeling but is still relaxing. It make's me want to go ride around the Berlin metro on a cold Fall night. Pretty random and odd but kind of cool right?
I'm sure you have heard a couple of trip hop songs The Garden State soundtrack is an example. Among my other top trip-hoppers there's Morcheeba, Massive Attack and one of my favorite bands of all time Zer0 7, who just came out with a new album last month that I think is great.

In other tunes news here are some lyrics that inspire me.

"This aint a song its a call to arms"
Sam Roberts Band Up Sister

"I've taken far too many chances on these less than idealistic romances"
Los Campesinos! We are All Accelerated Readers

"Yeah, I've got love handles but I cannot handle love."
Said the Whale Howe Sounds

Small Village Detox: Cuandixia

2009-10-31T05:58:00.021+02:00

After a wild night out with my great roommates and some fun new Chinese friends I luckily found an awesome way to kill a hangover. Get myself out of town, into the mountains to an ancient Ming village and hike! Gotta sweat it out!

Cuandixia is a 2-1/2 hour bus ride west of Beijing. The village is a well preserved vernacular mountain town, dating from the Ming Dynasty 500 years ago. The buildings were in the traditional Chinese courtyard style, all built out of stone from the surrounding mountains.

My favorite part: Every part of the landscape that wasn't at a high pitch was terraced with exquisite stone wall's. It was so hard for me to comprehend that these walls were all bit by hand in the course of the past 500 years.

Unintentionally, while trying to kill my hangover I had to make sure I wasn't going to kill myself! While hiking and getting lost I found myself on top of this rocky ridge. With steep drop off's on either side. A bunch of hiker's spotted me and after a language clarification, said "You are lost, come down here, very dangerous." They were really impressed by a foreigner hearing and visiting Cuandixia and liked talking to me and taking pictures. Here's the ridge and the buddies.

From the top you can hear all the noise from the village and if you yell you can hear your voice bounce off the mountains and dissolve through the valley.

The pace of life in the village was relaxing. I walked through the village and hiked around all day, at around 5 o'clock the sun was already far behind the mountains and the berry pickers and sweet potato roasters started to pick up shop. By 7:30 it's pitch black. And walking around the town at night is just as entertaining. Walking around is great in the dark and you settle in the courtyard where you are staying and talk with the other visitors, with a bottle of Tsing Tao

As Jono says "you gotta detox before you retox."
Haha- but nothing too crazy this time I was in bed by 10:30 and up hiking at 7:o0 the next day! I highly recommend visiting here one day if you are hungover. Its worth the trip.

Peking Daze

2009-10-29T10:46:00.007+02:00

Perhaps the context of my visit to China was quite significant to how I viewed it. We flew to Beijing on Saturday around noon. Here's how things led up to that.

Thursday: worked in studio all day, and all night
Friday AM: slept for 2 hours total pinned up for mid review
Friday PM: spent 6 hours listening to architecture dialogue about our projects, followed by a Korean dinner on the floor with our professor and reviewers, Couch-beers and PACK!

So in contrast to the way I usually approach trips to other places or let alone countries I never visited, there was no suspense leading up to Beijing at all! Willie, Nick and I were planning to go to an additional city in China but never had the time to figure things out. So it never hit us till we checked in at the airport that we were going to China. Funny yet exciting.

The whole time I was there, it was hard to convince myself that I was in China. Disorientation coupled with amazement; an interesting context. However, the longer I stayed the more I was impressed and became accustomed.

Here is our trip to the Great Wall. I believe it doesn't need much explanation.

This is Sabrina. She is a great new friend. She was working at the Day's Inn where Jordy and Andy were staying and was jealous/interested when she was helping us book a cab for the day to the Wall. So instead of being jealous, she came!

A nice lady we met on the hike mentioned that the Great Wall is the biggest public works project in the history of the world.

"I'm in China!!!!"

12 Km - Jinshanling to Simatai

Must See List: Beijing + China

2009-10-27T15:26:00.007+02:00

Sorry to all those loyal CCB followers for leaving you hanging for so long! I couldn't log onto blogspot while in China! I took over 700 photos so I need to filter them a bit. Here is a quick tee.

Beijing was....

Well its hard to explain how it felt. It was the first time since I was young and saw the Parthenon that I felt the power of history right around me. Except this time was different. It seemed that not only was I observing incredible past civilizations, but that I was also in the middle of History and the world evolving. The temples, hutongs (alleys) and people of Beijing all possess a consistent vibrancy. A culture with life in it's rawest and most basic form. And a built ancient history that is incredible but doesnt feel detached from the present.

A couple for now...

Lama Temple

Great Nick Wallin' it up

Sacred Way at Ming Tombs

Ancient Ming stone village

Review Tomorrow China Saturday

2009-10-15T08:24:00.004+03:00

We are all hunkering down for mid review which is tomorrow! (Friday)

Well not too seriously hunkering down because I did go to the South Korea vs Senegal Soccer game last night! It was awesome! Korea 2-0!

So now I have to get working on my 2000 unit housing project! What should I call it? Does anyone have any ideas? Here is a thing I did for studio on photoshop, maybe that could help.

HAVE A GREAT DAY... and week ILL BE IN CHINA!

Birthday greeting for Dad

2009-10-09T03:59:00.010+03:00

Dear Dad,

I was on the subway with Willie the other day. And he had this confused look on his face. He mentioned that his odd look was due to a group of older suspicious men. Willie said "they are looking at you funny." So I turned around and they gave a little smirk. The men then made this gesture with their hand's to imply something large and they said in broken English something along the lines of "so big" and that's where it shifted from confusing to comedic. The small Korean men were marveling at my large calf muscles.

Thanks dad, you made my day along with a bunch of random Korean subway riders. I have been hiking that mountain behind studio a lot so you'd be proud to know that my legs are becoming even more disproportional to the rest of my body.

Happy Birthday,
-jimmy

For those who don't know John Morgan, I usually describe him to my friends as "he's a lot shorter than me but has calf's twice the size."

These arent the old guys on the subway nor my father for that fact, just some buddies who like to share booze and food on the mountain.

20 Minutes

2009-10-05T07:16:00.013+03:00

As an architecture student no matter how hard you try it's inevitable that at some point throughout the semester you will be living at studio. Our studio building at Yonsei University isn't the most conveniently located. It's way up a hill and isolated from most of campus. However it's proximity is unbeatable.
This is where a 20 minute walk will get you:

20 minutes up

20 minutes down (Sinchon district)

One way you feel like you are on top of the world, the other way you feel like you are in the middle of it.
This weekend I decided to hike to the top of the hill that our University backs up against. After twenty minutes at a consistent slope you come to an over-look on an ancient smoke signal station. The view over the city was incredible, better than Ingwansan (which we hiked for history class.) The equivalent from studio in St. Louis would be Art hill or Delmar Blvd. Pretty nice trade off.

I couldn't believe how awesome it was so I hiked it three days in a row. Can't wait to do it again, maybe check out the sunrise after an all nighter.

Digitally Photo

2009-09-29T12:55:00.004+03:00

After using a film SLR for the past 6 years, I find digital photography incredibly overwhelming. In the world we have so much visual information, these days camera's can excessively document that information, and then there is so many ways to manipulate that information with the computer. Don't get me wrong I love my camera Ma' and I love to photo stuff its just hard not to get overwhelmed. Plus doesn't anyone miss the suspense of dropping off and developing film?

So with that said....

Have you ever tried to invert a light-trace photo in photoshop? I know this may sound really studious to some and cheesy to others, but I was fooling around with it the other day and found out that sometimes it looks pretty cool. I often don't like my light trace photo's because there is usually only two dominant colors (red from tail-lights and white from head-lights/streetlights) and a lot of murky colors from the reflected light.

Here is some comparisons. Some look like x-rays others look like paintings.

Yeah I cheated with the Hue (color) a bit on this one.

Minority Report

2009-09-23T05:54:00.009+03:00

For the first time in my life I am living in a place where Caucasian's/Anglo-saxon/Westerners or simply white's aren't the prominent demographic.

In Korea, I am a minority.

I thought about this one day on the subway, while an older lady, was people watching and noticed me. I thought, what would I think if I saw that lady on the subway in New York? I would probably say to myself " hmm Asian... maybe Korean? definitely not Chinese"
You know, nothing special, just different.

Seoul is similar to New York in this manner. The lady who noticed me on the train wasn't surprised or scared for any reason but just saw me as someone other than her own. Korean's here are actually very used to seeing foreigners and American's, some get excited when we look lost and want to help us. And some like to hesitantly ask "Where are you from?" and then smile and say "Oh America..haha," after I respond. It's nice.
The average passer by is a lot more friendly than those in Finland. In Helsinki they stare, coldly. It's almost like they draw a line in the silence; I am Finnish you are foreign. Where to I try to non-verbally respond "what the hell are you staring at."

I haven't really received any discrimination being a minority so I can't relate to what racism may feel like. So I guess for now it's just something interesting to think about. When was the last time you were a minority?

I'll post more pictures as soon as I download them from my camera.
P.S. I really miss football. tear.

Hike

2009-09-12T08:55:00.009+03:00

I know everyone thinks it's funny the way I say it, but it truly gets the point across here. Seoul is HUGE. Uuu-juh.

We went on a hike for our history class. And the trail was rather intense compared to a classroom. Ingwangsan is 338 meters up and our professor was trying to stick to a packed schedule so we went faster than I expected. Seoul is also very mountainous. Huge and Mountainous.

The views over "the city" were incredible. It's hard to see where it starts and where it stops. Unlike in the standard US city there seems to be several downtown's. And there is a very interesting similarity with the landscape and the built landscape they seem to mimic each other and ironically the lines pulled from the high-rises sometimes harmonize with the ridges of the hills.

Downtown #__

It looks funny if you squint

Yes I did it!!

Here is some other cool blogs of my co-hort's here in Seoul. Check them out.

http://helarchitecture.blogspot.com/
http://jedolci.wordpress.com/

Field Trip Week

2009-09-09T06:20:00.004+03:00

Korea has been awesome! This is our 3rd week of class but so far It has been almost all field trips! We went to Paju Book City a small place for contemporary architects to build galleries and publishing works and houses, and that same day we went to Heyri Art Valley, which is a village for artists to build there modern homes and have there mini urban farms. It was kind of weird. TMA (too much architecture) for me.

Beautiful art gallery designed by Portuguese Architect and friend of Professor Kim, Alvaro Siza.

Very fine concrete and all natural lighting on the interior

Publishing office designed by our studio Professor Kim

The man and his building (and Jordy)

Building at Heyri Art Valley. Yeah even I was a bit confused.

Beard on Bike who saw 10 people crammed in a van suspiciously driving around Heyri Art Valley. Whose sketchier?

안녕 서울

2009-08-31T06:23:00.005+03:00

bye bye USA.... hello South Korea

Greetings from one of the world's fastest developing cities. Seoul, where one of our Urban Issues professors described his job as somewhat of a patriotic duty saying "we simply cannot lose this market." Old and new claim to co-exist here, in a mess of high rises, markets and urban green development. I guess with a rugged landscape and so many people the only place to go, is up. I like it here. The city is vast and fast paced with a transit system perhaps bigger than any other in the world. But in this swooping development movement Korean's and I guess city planners never lose touch with their core, the mandoo (dumpling) stands, the kitschy convenient stores, and Soju/beer shacks are all integrated into these tower complexes.

Its been more than a week but Ill say its a week because those couple of days after spending 18 hours on planes was quite disorienting. I still don't know what happened. But since then I have had an amazing time. Its quite fun and suspenseful not knowing what areas will look like or what things will taste like. You gotta be bold and try everything, because it's quite gratifying when you find something you like. Stay tuned for more detailed findings.

Before class.... After class

Welcome dinner from our studio Professor Kim and his wife

SUMMER YO!!!

2009-08-26T17:31:00.008+03:00

Folks I know you are anxiously excited to here about how things are going in KOREA!! But I cant go without acknowledging how fun summer was. I was quite busy, thank god for my Uncle Stephen for employing/putting up with me. I am very grateful for the experience.

I also went to a bunch of the best concerts ever and had an awesome summer finale with my family down in GA for my cousin Al's wedding. Here's some highlights.

Maggie + Al

Stabone Kat and Mikey. And I didn't have time yet to photoshop what looks like my toupe

Mombo

The touted "Guido Torpedo of Lido"

Drip Castles at Lido West. Pretty much why the world goes round for me.

CCB goes West

2009-08-10T18:12:00.004+03:00

I hate to keep apologizing for my lack of contribution to this blog, but luckily I was a bit busy this summer. However there is going to be quite a change coming soon. For now I'm enjoying my last days here in New York and getting ready to head to Georgia for my cousins wedding which will be the finale for my summer.

Incase you haven't heard the news yet Chocolate Covered Bacon will be going abroad again! This time doing a 180 and going West, way West... to Seoul South Korea! I leave in about a week and am getting really excited. It is a completely different culture and urban experience than Helsinki. More to come!

Cheers,
-jm

Euro Rap-up #2

2009-07-21T05:40:00.011+03:00

Here is some photo's of Venice. As I mentioned previously Venice is an amazing city, the hierarchy of the planning and architecture is so well established and authoritative. You can easily sense the historical presence and feel what life was like just by walking through the city and all its small alleys. Here's some long awaited pictures. Sorry I have been so slow at this, Jordy-pie looks like shes keeping up really well. And luckily enough our blogs will cross paths again soon... details to follow.

Milan Central

Standard Venetian plaza + fountain

Grand Canal

Nighttiming

Rialto Bridge

"Cousin Jimmy can I make a photo"

Salute, Felicities shool was right around the block from this church, who wouldn't mind going to school there?

Island of Burano, I'll never forget the way the vaporetto lady said the name of this island. So loud and routine.

From the top of San Giorgio

Canal (not grand)

St Mark's

Cousin Felicity and Uncle Bobby

Euro Rap-up #1

2009-07-01T06:05:00.005+03:00

Sorry its been so long folks. I really should have posted earlier. I have been back
in the good ole USA for about a month now and was doing something I hadn't done in months... be extremely lazy. It fealt really good actually and was much needed.

The semester and my travels ended overall very well. However if you were to look at it
on a graphic chart it would probably look like this:

Most of those downpoint's being attributed to a pessimistic professor, but I didn't let that ruin my spirits. The final trip to the island was pretty fun. And we got our benches done, I'll leave it at that. And the process of getting to, and checking out Venice was although financially stressful at times, very relaxing and fun. I got to see one of the most spectacular cities in the history of the world. And although I too was one of the (what felt like millions) of tourists exploring the city I got to see it simultaneously as a local from the help and hospitality of my aunt, uncle and cousin.

Baltic to Adriatic

2009-05-25T20:46:00.005+03:00

Just trekked from the most remotely inhabited island in the Baltic to the historic powerhouse of the Adriatic (and world.) Utö to Venice.

It took me a total of
2 Hours on the bus
15 Hours of Ferry
3 Hour Flight
3 Hour Train Ride

I certainly didn't take the most direct route however it was very economical. Here is some quick photo's starting with the ending of Utö and ending with some teasers of Italy including my awesome 5 year old cousin. I have a European cousin who is tri-lingual, how cool!

Ill try to post again soon, till then I'm going to enjoy my two days left in Europe!

Utö the sequel

2009-05-19T07:55:00.003+03:00

Back on the island for the build portion of our design build studio. Once again here's the map to refresh you guys with how much in the middle of nowhere we are. Except this time around the weather is much nicer (or we hope it will be.)

Last Night in Helsinki

2009-05-16T20:13:00.004+03:00

I survived my final review for our paper studio project and after a long week of organizing and pre-fabricating parts in our amazing woodshop for our design-build portion, its time to return to the island where it all began and build these suckers.

The final review for my studio project/portion of the semester went really well actually. I was overall happy with what I put on the wall, the models I built and the criticism from the reviewers. There were some logistical situations that really ticked me off but I am very happy with the way it ended (and the fact that it ended)

And since it is indeed my last night in Helsinki I am planning to go out in style, and become Finnish and yack on the street. So if you could raise your glass as I propose a toast.

Cheers to Helsinki; a city that's young but with an incredibly rich history. A city that proves that the sun does indeed make people happy. A city with a great number of awesome neighborhoods and parks and bars. I'm sorry I couldn't discover more. And a city that takes ownership of a significant part of a really important time period of my life. Thanks Helsinki, sorry that I am leaving you in your prime.
So with that said, there's no time in life for regrets, let's go have a last Helsinki hurrah!

model photo's

Shits goin down

2009-05-02T20:35:00.004+03:00

Hey folks. I have one week till our studio final review. So probably the best idea would to not be blogging much. I did have a great rest of April including a trip to Estonia and also throughout the Finnish Countryside, where I was lucky to have my sister visit and join us. I'll get back to that someday. Also they ring in May pretty awesome here also. Ahhh too much studio crap... here's some teasers to the rest of April.

Contemporary Estonia

Old Estonia

Turku Church

The weather was nice

See ya in a week plus, if I make it out alive.

PARTY!

2009-04-27T16:07:00.005+03:00

Awesome party that had provocative posters, the night before we went to Estonia. Some felt better than others the next day.

Most Serene Republic in Brooklyn!

2009-04-21T00:10:00.004+03:00

I was just explaining to Kirk how out of all the bands I have never seen live that the Most Serene Republic is by far my favorite. So I decided to see what they are up to and I found out that they are going to do two shows in New York this summer! I cannot wait to see them. I have heard them put on an amazing show.

Here is some of their tunes. They are so fun with their beats and many instruments but can also be very emotional with their guitar and piano synths, very architectural. (whatever that means)

Humble Peasants Population (2007)

Stay Up's Phages (2006)

http://www.arts-crafts.ca/themostserenerepublic/ Their new single can be accessed here.

Stockholm: 2

2009-04-18T20:42:00.008+03:00

I went to one of the most powerful places I've ever been. The Skogskyrkogården (good luck pronouncing it) is an easy metro ride south of the city. It's a wooded cemetery with an amazing landscape. Ive never been in a place that felt so content and peaceful. The trees, graves and landscape are all intermingled and creates a powerful feeling of unity.

The other place that was quite impressive was the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was this glorius ship built by the Swedish Kingdom and set off on its maiden voyage in 1626. It's maiden voyage lasted about half an hour before it tipped over and sank. Luckily for us it sat completely preserved at the bottom of the freshwater river for 333 years before archaeologists had the tools to bring it up. The museum was pretty impressive.

sorry dude

Stockholm: Put it on your list

2009-04-13T21:03:00.009+03:00

Hey folks. Now its time to chime in on Stockholm. We ventured there last weekend for 2 days as a class and had an awesome time exploring. I kind of detached myself from the group for a bit so I mostly got first acquainted with Stockholm by myself. Here is a list of why it is an "awesome" city.

-People.
The people are friendly and have awesome style. I guess we were lucky cause the weather was amazing on saturday. But everyone was outside sitting in the sun, drinking beers and just chilling. Everyone was content, and was happy to see others. Not to mention the bikers and ladies on bikes that were everywhere.

- History.
It was refreshing to get to a city with a Medieval core and range of significant pieces of architecture that span generations. And the best part is that all these styles and buildings are not just distinctions but rather woven into the whole of the city. The old and new coordinate harmoniously.

- Geography/Neighborhoods.
I put these together because they both come about because of eachother. Stockholm has rivers, islands, hills, bays, more islands, and it creates this unique set up for boulevards neighborhoods, parks, squares, harbours and so on. There is a neighborhood in Stockholm for everyone. And the diverse geography makes for few bad places to live. It seems like every building is a short walk to an awesome park or square or nature.

I did mention the awesome people right?

SB - Fin

2009-04-09T11:23:00.012+03:00

Here is the last (for now) of my trip to the Cote d'Azur chronologically:
Train - Nice - St Paul de Vence

...train ride (Alps in Back)

Promenade des Angles, Nice

Vieux Nice (Old city)

Nice

St Paul De Vence (Preserved Medieval Town)

Mediterranean

Lady in Vieux Nice

Me in Nice

SB - Recap #3

2009-04-06T17:05:00.006+03:00

Stockholm was awesome... but lets not get to that yet.

Here is more of Le France:
Marseille

Unite d'Habitation

Sunset from the Unite

Jimbo (I had always wanted to see this building)

Market

Notre Dame de La Garde

View from Notre Dame

Gare (Trainstation)

Through the Valley and on the coast to Nice we go

Train Ride.... man it was awesome

I hate to say this again but I really do have so many photo's. Its probably not such a good idea to recapture my life at such frequent intervals. But if anyone wants photo's I'd be glad to share. The ones here are re-sized, so they are easier to load to the web. I have these and many others at much higher quality. Just send me an email.

SB - Recap #2

2009-04-02T00:46:00.005+03:00

Before I cruise off to Stockholm for a school excursion here is a more detailed post of the last one....

I have to say this: I have a shit load of photo's. I took over 600 photo's so it's hard for me to pick and choose what is good enough to show. So I will try to put up as much as possible.

France was great. I mainly went to two different cities (Marseille and Nice) and a couple of other villages. Every place was different and wonderful. I could talk all day about the experiences and what it felt like for me to be there but I'd rather get to the photos. So in short Marseille and Nice are two completely different cities and I was really glad to see the contrast.

Here is the first two days in France chronologically
Roman Nimes - Marseille - The Calanques

SB - Recap #1

2009-03-30T09:45:00.007+03:00

Since there is so much to say about Spring Break ill try to keep this short.

The power of a cities ability to recall experiences is quite amazing. Returning to Wiesbaden was very refreshing. The weather wasn't as glorious as I remember being there in the summer, but it was great to see the town, and David and Ethel and my friends.

Marktkirche

Sonnenberg

My advice is to never wait too long to visit a place you lived/loved. It might be bittersweet, but places stick with you for a reason and the time you are there is always present. I see younger people at the Schlacthof dancing/drinking beer and having a great time and I see myself six years ago and simultaneously today.

The Schlacthof - an awesome Slaughterhouse (literal translation) turned dance hall and bar

The infrastructure of Germany has been so well developed and planned that the way cities function and grow is so stable. I was re-acquainted with my favorite term and part of any German city the "Fußgängerzone" it literally means "foot-goer zone" or as we say in english pedestrian district. Every German city has a district without cars, its usually the old core or "Alt Stadt." It has all the bakeries and pubs and shops you want. And when I think about it the district is so much more sustainable than current city centers. In Germany they build things and when they work they keep them that way.

Johnny in Mainz Altstadt

France

2009-03-26T17:24:00.003+02:00

Southern France has been great so far... I really enjoyed Marseille other then the death-mobile motorcycles that plague every corner. I took a ton of pictures (too much if you were to ask me) Here are some from the Calanques just south of Marseille. Ill post in detail later. Oh and the TGV ride from Marseille to Nice was ridiculous.

Spring Break

2009-03-25T09:44:00.002+02:00

All is well in Germany and France. It was great to be back in Wiesbaden and I just arrived yesterday to France... my first time ever here. Marseille is France's second biggest city so it has a lot of character and has been a bit grungy so far, I really like it!

Today I am off to the Calanques! Should be pretty awesome, I'll post some pictures soon!

Wiesdbaden: 4 _____ France: 7

2009-03-17T09:33:00.005+02:00

I spoke with David + Ethel this weekend and they were very excited about my visit. It was great to hear them and they also mentioned that Igor is still around! He is the gigantic awesome Neufoundland, that I used to walk all the time... I hope he remembers me. I'm pretty stoked.

In suspense for my re-visit, I have been trying to rebuild My Euro Playlist from the last time I lived on this side of the pond. Here is what I have remembered so far.

Jimbo's Euro Summer 2003:

Outlandish - Aicha
Craig David + Sting - Rise and Fall
Dave Gahan - Dirty Sticky Floors
Stacie Orico - Stuck on You
Blur - There's No Other Way
Fettes Brot - Schwuhle Madchen
And the best ever: Robbie Williams - Rock DJ

Anyone else go Euro that summer?

the sun is coming out in Helsinki

Mornings

2009-03-14T13:45:00.008+02:00

I really love mornings. I wouldn't necessarily categorize myself as a "morning person" not really sure of what that entitles, but I do enjoy getting up early and having the whole day ahead of me.

Mornings are when cities are in their most raw form. The sky and clouds identify themselves through an insecure mist. People are rising from slumber, adjusting and going from place to place. Here in Helsinki the transit system is in full swing. And the sun is fighting vigorously to show its existence by casting shadows. It feels like the city is running but nothing has officially started yet.

And I love how people are also in their most raw state. My uncle mentioned once that it is better to do yoga in the morning because you have less distractions. It's true, we are most focused (not necessarily most productive) in the morning. Even though we may be drowsy whatever we are seeing or doing gets our entire attention.

So here is my morning for you. It's my journey from bed to studio; every 4 minutes or so.

Best Song Ever, Ever

2009-03-08T15:59:00.005+02:00

You guys haven't lived if you haven't gone all out space cadet on the dance flo or chased a couple of girls with a briefcase around the city, to Darude - Sandstorm. If you don't think this is the best song that ever existed then you clearly are an unsophisticated fool.

Darude - Sandstorm (Youtube)

It's amazing! I somehow stumbled across this video and found it quite awesome/hilarious. The reason why is that the whole chase Scene takes place right here in Helsinki! The beginning is on the steps of the cathedral in the Senate Square and then they run all around town. Pretty freaking awesome that the video for the best song ever was filmed in Helsinki.

...ok maybe its not the best song ever....

RE: First Impressions

2009-02-28T17:44:00.012+02:00

After being in Helsinki for over a month it's time to re-examine or confirm my first impressions. I like bullet points so here are some.

Helsinki is young.
-The city was first settled in 1550 by the Swedish as a trading port, but it burnt down a couple times so the current city center wasn't established till 1820. Which makes it younger than Boston and New York. Which I found quite surprising for a European city.

Small Grocery stores on every corner = kickass
- It's so much better and economical than in St Louis where I had to take a bus or the metro to the grocery store. It's easier to save money and eat better when you have a grocery store right next to you as opposed to a take out joint/fast food place.

The transit system is awesome.
-Trams are frequent and fun and the metro is bright orange and fast. It also sounds like something from the old school Nintendo game Megaman when it winds up after leaving a station.

Finnish Cuisine = not so awesome
-I haven't really basked much in the local delicacies because what I have had hasn't been that impressive. potatoes seem to be on top of the food pyramid and Herring and other fish are the staple. However I haven't gotten to the reindeer yet, which has potential and there is an awesome bakery right around the block from me which has great cheap pastries, sometimes they OD on poppy seeds though.

Them Finns love their sauna.
- Considering i have been to sauna a number of times here already and i cant remember the last time i went to one in the states I have to say that the Finns love their Sauna. We were just told in our building systems class that there are about 5.5 Million people living in Finland, and there are roughly 2 million sauna structures, our professor said "So on average every family owns 2 saunas." I wonder when you are federally unemployed if you get "sauna-stamps" granting you federal access every month or so.
I enjoy sauna as well. There's something about standing in the buff on the rocks, drinking a beer with your compatriots, shooting the shit and watching the clouds pass by trying to dim the moon, somewhat/how liberating.

Meet my classmates. Here is some photos of others.

Vaclav and roommates (Jordan + Cassie)

Johnny (drawing shit)

Jono (JB Dowse) Laughing at me

Misseur Frombeau (Matt Frombo about to mock me, most likely with hand motions)

Tunes 09.#1

2009-02-22T13:08:00.012+02:00

A friend of mine once said "if you copy one thing it is plagiarizing but if you copy a lot of things it's called research." So before 2009 is two months finished I should probably post some of MY favorite tunes I have discovered.

Phoenix Jukebox (Myspace)

From reading some blogs it seems pretty day and night the way Mash-ups are perceived, in one day out the next. But this guy or guys (not really sure) are amazing. Paul Simon, Fifty Cent and Enrique getting along as well as Chromeo, Whitney Houston and Digitalism. Quite amazing, also the beginning of "You Better Stop" is quite hilarious.
Phoenix Jukebox - We Goin Down

Oren Lavie (Myspace)
Found this last night, and fell in love with it. It's kind of funny, the lyrics are a bit melancholy, but I find it happy and optimistic. I guess I would say its like a "walking in the rain" song; when something appears gloomy but can actually be enjoyable. The music video is pretty cool also.
Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance

Russ Chimes remixes Justin Faust (Myspace)

I have been on a Technodisco-new wave kick lately and this one definitely suites it. It keeps me going and I dig the bittersweet twangy ending.
Justin Faust - Revenge (Russ Chimes Remix)

"Beer-lectro" SB 2009

2009-02-19T17:21:00.007+02:00

Headed to Germany and Southern France for Spring Break! Covering all the bases, seeing family, friends and exploring new territories. Haven't seen David and Ethel or Melanie and Markus in almost SIX years! So I'm pretty stoked and surprisingly somewhat nervous about going back to Wiesbaden.
On the other hand Southern France is met with some great suspense. I got my flight from Frankfurt Hahn to Montpellier for 9.50 Euros total (thanks RyanAir) Hoping to get to Marseille, Corsica and Nice probably some swimming or cave jumping, I doubt the Mediteranean will be cold enough to deter me. And oh yeah maybe some disco-electro-Yelle meats Justice-dance-Daft Punky bar hopping.

Wiesbaden

Unite d'Habitation

Utö - Middle o' Baltic

2009-02-14T14:20:00.010+02:00

Pretty amazing being in the middle of nowhere. From the high points or almost anywhere on the island you can see all the horizons.
Utö was orginally settled by the Swedish King back in the mid 1700's as a post for shipping pilots to stay here and help foreign ships navigate through the Baltic. Since then its been thrown around between the Finns and Russians as a military base so there are tons of bunkers and cannons everywhere. Historically speaking it never was really active during war time so Utö is most famous for shipwrecks and rescuing those stranded.

Here's some things I have taken in:
- I have never seen the moon so clearly and bright at night.
- There is one traffic sign on the island and its to watch out for toad crossings
- The wind changes everyday and sometimes when I look up it looks like its blowing in every direction I turn
- I feel like I can see the curvature of the earth when gazing at the horizon line over the sea

Ferry ride

Town

Baltic

Moon

Utö

2009-02-06T02:04:00.004+02:00

...hate to employ my pathetic photoshop display but I think it gets my point across. We are going to an island for ten days. There are thousands of islands speckled around Finland but this one is the most isolated island in the Baltic Sea (isolated, being an island with a population.)
The island may inhabit 50 people but holy shit its in the middle of nowhere.

I'm really looking forward to it, I'll keep you posted if I can.

Small tour of Helsinki

2009-02-04T01:10:00.010+02:00

Walked around one sunny afternoon and took a bunch of pictures..

Bus ride to school

Aleksanterinkatu - Main shopping pedestrian district, Stockmann is a huge department store with everything

Facade of building along Esplanade

Harbor - Where to fetch ferries to Stockholm and Tallinn (Estonia)

Looking up to Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral

Metro (It's orange)