Patois

I just returned from a trip to Atlanta. My family spent the weekend watching my brother race in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup there. After a tough qualifying session, he passed about 6 guys in the rain-soaked race. I was really impressed by him! Race cars are so menacing. Watching swarms of them tear through the misty rain over and over emphasized to me what I already knew- I ain't cut out for this! During the race, we saw three or four other Jettas slush through wet mud and pop their bumpers open against the track walls, but Perry made it through safely.

Beyond the track, my family had fried chicken and waffles at a homeless cafeteria that serves the best brunch in Atlanta.

Cafe 458 Atlanta

I also was lucky enough to come across a wedding party of jamaican women speaking patois (pidgin Jamaican English) to one another. Here is a video of a patois speaker:

Oh god, America

watch it if you are in the mood to cringe

Jusin Vernon

Last night a gaggle of us rode my purple BMW into the fog to see Bon Iver (name is corruption of the French words for good winter – bon hiver) perform at the Fillmore in SF. The venue was jam-packed! Usually I covertly finangle my way close to the stage, but as late-comers we were elbowed to the outer margins of the crowd of 1,200. While our 6’0 volleyball compatriot peered coolly across the broad crowd, the rest of us stubby field hockey players bobbed and weaved from one clear line of sight to the next trying to get a glimpse of Justin Vernon who wrote the band's first album after a breakup and a bought with mono while living alone in a isolated cabin in Northern Wisconsin. Whew.

There was one big surprise for me last night; while famed for his falsetto, the lead singer, Justin Vernon, has a Barry White-esque oh so deep speaking voice. Who knew? Despite his calm baritone, he was a witty Wisconsinite. At one particularly pungent moment in the smoke-filled room, he noted wryly that he “smelt some weed earlier” and earned hearty cheers from the crowd. To top it all off, Icouldn’t help but love his frizzed out bowl hair cut – it reminded me of Harry from Dumb and Dumber.

Overall, two thumbs up for Bon Bons. The rhythm section was pulsating heartbreaking emotion the whole night, and although Vernon’s vox weren’t as on the spot as his recordings, it was perhaps more emotionally powerful that way and the Bon Iver experience is all about emotion.

Mission Muralismo

Cell phone photo in front of the mural we helped paint

Last night X and I attended a fundraising gala for Precita Eyes, a mural-producing NPO from the Mission district of San Francisco. I first encountered Precita Eyes while working for the SFMOMA. They helped create Kerry James Marshall's wall-based works in the museum's atrium (here is a great video of Marshall speaking about the mural. You can see the Precita muralists in the background).

Most of PE's murals are not in museums, however. They coat the alleys in the Mission district, a heavily latino area in SF, and even pop up in Lebanon and China. Below are two of my favorites:

"Abundance and Prosperity for All" (2008). China Books, South San Francisco

"Vamos Gigantes" PG&E Substation, 19th St between Mission and Valencia (the work features famous Hispanic players, the old "Seals" stadium, two SF stars - Joe DiMaggio and Barry Bonds - and more)

Middle school R&B throwback

Sunshine Anderson - Heard it all before
Uploaded by Dante35. - See the latest featured music videos.

At the ripe age of 14, I was a mainstream R&B lover. Usher, Tyrese, Jagged Edge and that one Blu Cantrell song filled my orderly CD booklet. Since then my taste has changed but the music memories remain. I still love the Sunshine Anderson song and video above, and although 112's "Peaches and Cream" (below) made me pretty uncomfortable back then (I was a preteen, ok) it really embodied the times. Enjoy!