Something Like This

I guess it goes a little something like this:

Los Angeles, clean up your city. It was one of the most dirty cities I have been in. Trash, congestion, lack of bicycle infrastructure, too many cars, and too many other things too list. That being said, I’m sure there are cool parts in the city. I never found them, but they have to be there. Otherwise, why would people live there?

The Tour de Fat event was looking like it might be a bit hectic, and it was, but the festival-goers made it worthwhile. Everyone that showed up there was about as nice as can be, and they had a lot of sustainable knowledge packed into their metropolitan brains.

Anyways, we spent a short time in that city. Thursday night through Sunday morning to be precise. Then we headed back to San Diego to experience some more depressing weather. Out of the 20 or so days I spent in San Diego at random points, I saw the sun on two days. It rained. It was overcast. And no one wanted to come out.

After unpacking and repacking sound and staging gear from truck to truck, waiting for truck repairs, and prepping ourselves for something like hell, we set off for Austin, TX, the final stop of the tour. Since we weren’t able to leave until Tuesday at 4pm, we had to haul some serious ass. The lead truck in the three-truck caravan is severely underpowered and can only average about 50 mph, so it’s slow to say the least. What is usually a 24-hour drive from San Diego to Austin (in a normal car), slowly turned into a 35-hour drive in our rigs. We drove from 4pm-1am on the first day. On Wednesday, we drove from nine in the morning to ten at night. Finally we pulled into Austin on thursday at a quarter after four after having been on the road since nine that morning.

All in all, this tour has been fantastically phenomenally wonderful. Some of the most incredible people have wandered into my life, and the connections are priceless. I’ve seen 19 states in the last four and a half months. This job hasn’t been a money-maker for me, since it’s expensive to live on the road, but they couldn’t put a price on how awesome the travel has been. So many different cultures and faces and styles and this list also never ends. Thanks to Wolverine Farm Publishing, New Belgium Brewing Company, Nomad Sounds, the countless volunteers, all the diverse food vendors, the city park services, and Sustainable Waves for making this thing possible. Maybe I’ll see you again next year.

As for my life now, I’m still in Austin until Thursday. My main reason for being here that late is to record with Rion King at Nomad Sounds here in town, and to check out this city that I’ve heard is so awesome. It’s proved to be that so far. Not many other cities have kept me up until 7 in the morning. Let’s hope it can keep it’s charm. See you Fort Collins kids on Thursday!

Cheers to beers and bikes and all the wonderful things in life.

Oh, the music.

Over the last few days, I’ve seen eight live bands. The two I expected to be phenomenal were not so. The two I was prepared to not enjoy, I didn’t. No surprise there. The one I wasn’t aware of could remain that way. The one that was meant as background music was actually decent. And the two that I knew not much of, but had listened briefly to, well, wow.

The bands in question? Well, respective order (in regards to the aforementioned listing of varying degrees of pleasurability) leads to a list like this:

David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion)
Deer Tick
Frightened Rabbit
[Whoever the band was that opened for Frightened Rabbit]
Nothingful?
The Styletones
Wye Oak
J Roddy Walston and the Business

The last two, I highly recommend. Both, oddly enough, hailing from Baltimore, MD, were of a different musical world. Completely different, yes, but stellar nonetheless. You decide for yourself, though.

WYE OAK

J RODDY WALSTON AND THE BUSINESS

Musical Adventures

Tonight – Casbah for David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) with Wye Oak and Nothingness

Tomorrow – Deer Tick with Guests?

Yes, please.

Overcast Day Spent in the Hostel

Since the weather has been awfully dreary today and not so much what San Diego is “supposed” to be like, I’ve been locked up in my hostel room all day. Have no other obligations has been great. I’ve been writing and recording music all day. Playing with all sorts of sounds and recordings of random hearings about the town and hostel. The creativity is flowing and I love it.

Probably has something to do with the fact that I’ve had nine cups of coffee today.

Suddenly, Southern California Seems A Bit Better

This realization (in reference the post title) came to me very recently, and all out of perspective. After traveling to and around different parts of Arizona, I’m glad to be back in Southern California.

I enjoy the desert. In fact, it’s one of my favorite biomes to camp in and enjoy on a personal level. However, Tempe, AZ, is not exactly what I have in mind when I think of the desert. This desolate wasteland of asphalt parking lots and dried up lakes had very little to offer me. Other than the few good bars and a venue I went to a show at, this town disgusted me. It seems to be a place where one might move for a love or a job. Any reasons beyond those two, I cannot fathom.

The show for Tour de Fat had an immense turnout, and I think it had to do mostly with the fact that there isn’t much else going on there, which is surprising for a college town that is known to be partiers. Maybe they were all hiding. Maybe they kept it on campus. Whatever the excuse, Tempe did not exactly show me a good time. When there is a civilization in an area where there is not much natural water, you feel as if you probably shouldn’t be there. When a town is so damn hot that its population and economy doesn’t start booming until after the invention of air conditioning, you know you shouldn’t be there.

Anyways, complaints aside, I am happy to be back in San Diego. Something I never thought I would say. In lieu of invading my friend’s home for over a week, I caught a room at a hostel in downtown SD, where I’ll be staying for 6 nights. I have to say, it’s quite nice. There’s a fully equipped kitchen open 24 hours, so I can cook for the first time in a while. I have my own bed, so my back and neck don’t ache from curling up on a loveseat at night. Even after only my first night at the hostel, I’m having trouble figuring out why more people don’t stay at hostels. Even if I wanted a private bedroom, it’s about half the price of a hotel room, and it’s just about as nice. Sure, I live a life of low-income and a little less need for things and stuff than most, but it’s really not bad at all. Not to mention, you get to meet interesting folks, like this English fellow sleeping on the couch next to me that is just hanging around Southern California because he feels like it.

I can spend my time writing, reading, playing music, without a worry of having any other obligations. This is exactly where I need to be right now.

Slacking.

Why is it that I have not been taking as many photographs lately?

Maybe Southern California Isn’t That Bad…

Wait a second, yes it is. Just because Southern California is pleasantly warm like a blanket your mom wrapped you up in as a child doesn’t mean this place is fantastic. Just because it’s placed so closely to beaches full of babes and waves doesn’t mean it makes the beaches less trashy. Just because it’s chock full anything your heart desires from carne asada burritos (which are delicious) to calamari benedicts, from gorgeous Scandinavian supermodels to “Live Nude Women,” and from drunken men ruining classics via karaoke to bands that sell out shows in 15 minutes, doesn’t mean this place is the place to be.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I haven’t enjoyed my time here. Not in the least bit. Being able to bask in the warm sun on the beach while trying (and failing miserably) to surf has been more than grand. Who wouldn’t want to have days off in Laguna Beach and San Diego playing dead for five hours on the beach whilst sipping delicious beverages, eating delectable foods, and being so lazy that even the finest couch potato has a new goal to live up to?

The thing that gets me about Southern California, and always has since I was too young to pinpoint it, is that without a doubt it is the most superficial and consumer-based place I have set foot upon. Generally, I find people to be less open to friendly conversation. Not appealing. When I travel to a place I am relatively unfamiliar with, though it may be a selfish request, I hope, at the least, that I don’t have to seek directions from my iPhone to find something with a little more manners and people skills. The fast-paced lives that folks lead down here tend to make them more stressed out and less likely to seek human interaction. And I don’t mean facebooking, texting, etc., but true, face-to-face human interaction.

Maybe I’m just being a pessimist. Or maybe I’m just realizing that I never could live in this place.

Let’s do this, San Diego!!!