a haiku update

so the 308
has now chosen to reside
in  1207

New updates in the "other awesome places on the inter web" check it out!

Talk to me-so you can see- oh what's going on- what's going on

I NOW PROCLAIM MARCH 2012 THE "LOST MONTH"

Things I've been up to

the oft-renamed BRITTANY BAKING CLUB now has a website courtesy of Katherine Hieber. Check thatshit out: http://i5.nyu.edu/~keh414/

You know something is worth anything when it has a website and is a club. Marie and I have a bad habit of making clubs out of everything to do. Many of them short lived-Haruki Murakami club, Fight club, Slam Punk, etc.

I also just went to a concert Friday night and saw this amazing band The Bailen Brothers. They do a kind-of-corny funk thing but they put on an intense show. There were shirtless saxophones, trumpets on bars, and me actually dancing. And then an intense cover of "I can't get no satisfaction" that included crouching and animal noises. Check them out at www.thebailenbrothers.com and their music video below

They're playing again this Friday at The Smyth Hotel

If you're in the know, than you've been victim to my constant updates about my Flatiron shows. For those of you not in the know.....

I am now playing at Flatiron Hotel every Saturday 5-8pm. It's a really swanky place with an aquarium. We're at Toshi's playhouse, the hotel's in-house restaurant which is amazing! I got the spaghetti and it was so good. My band got salad. Wimps. We play a bunch of covers -I want you back, rolling in the deep, rehab-and few popular originals.

Speaking of which, I have a band! These handsome fellows are in the Jazz Studies program and are all really great at what they do. I might post pictures later if it's not too creepy. and if they never find this site.

Another post about my August show at a Jazz and Burlesque club (you heard me) and an amazing blog about asian-americans soon.

mystery solved

Quick Update

Marie and I are now working at Georgetown Cupcake, the Soho location. Come visit us at 111 Mercer St. :D

I just played a show (which Marie missed. no forgiveness) at a really cool place called Leviticus Studio. Vid clips and pics attached!

We've been listening to the new Screaming Females album "Ugly." "But wait!" you exclaim, "it's not to be released until April." Big wins for internship. I also got the new Heartless Bastards album "Arrow," which has been similarly amazing. Lots of hard-rocking females in the 308 lately.

I'm going to the album release party for Bright Moments this Thursday for Washington Square News, so expect a quick review on that.

Since Marie is being a lazy butt, I'll try to post something substantial soon. She's being a poophead funnyface. However, she did help me discover that Trader Joe's Duchess Earl Grey+Teavana Rooibis Chai+German Rock Sugar=awesomeness.

I also found a drummer! I'll be playing at Arlene's Grocery March 28 for all you 21+ people. Again, more info to come~.

Finn reinvents narrative tropes-a repost from Washington Square News

Here's a piece I did for Washington Square News. Apparently it went to print, but I always find these things out too late.

"Maybe I was fatigued from all that optimism," Craig Finn chuckles as he compares his downtrodden solo album to the upbeat works of his band, The Hold Steady. If there's one word to describe his new work, it's fatigued. "Clear Hearts Full Eyes" was furiously composed and recorded during one of the hottest summers in Austin, Tex. While the album echoes the rollicking guitars and rhythm of Tom Petty, the lyrics deliver a more exhausted message — Finn is tired of the world. From the resentment of fakes in "When No One's Watching" to the sarcasm of "New Friend Jesus," Finn spits out the anger of Green Day and skinhead punk to the folksy drum and beats of The Black Keys.

Images

Courtesy of Vagrant Records

Finn's style is a throwback to older, simpler arrangements. Most of the instruments are recognizable and familiar — mainstays of guitar, drum and bass — a far cry from the dubstep and dance beats of most modern music. "New Friend Jesus" even incorporates a banjo. Despite the small number of instruments used, producer Mike McCarthy, who has worked with Spoon and Trail of Dead, has managed to drench your hearing with the sound of these familiar instruments. Yet the nostalgia of the album doesn't stop with Finn's instrumentation.

"Clear Heart Full Eyes" is predominately an album of lyrical storytelling. Listeners slowly fall into the sarcastic and old-fashioned world that Finn creates with each song. It's a relief to hear the words at the forefront. Unfortunately, some of Finn's lyrics lack the melody to make for great songs, and the words lose some of their strength as a result.

Finn's songs admittedly contain splashes of clichéd story tropes, like the devil befriended and disloyal husbands. These ideas, however familiar, still ring true. Finn explains the title of "Clear Heart Full Eyes" means "Clear Heart, a heart that is open [and] full eyes — having seen a lot, your eyes remain full." It seems that the years with The Hold Steady have taught Finn the same lessons learned by many, lessons of broken hearts and cynicism. But the cracked strength of his voice resuscitates these old ideas as something fresh. Finn's familiar songs and earnest performance remind us that though these ideas and emotions have been done and felt before, that doesn't mean they hurt any less.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Jan. 23 print edition. Christina Li is a contributing writer. Email her at music@nyunews.com. This article was reposted from www.nyunews.com

Hey, ladies and gents and nonbinary anarchistic patriarchybusters. I suppose there's no real reason for the 308 to be on hiatus anymore, as Christina and I have returned to our respective home states for winter break and thus have no finals to study for. Then again, it's harder to coordinate interesting posts when we're thousands of miles apart. *the sound of marie shedding a single, pearlescent tear*

In any case, I don't really feel like posting any New Year's resolutions, mainly because I tend to think they are silly! Let's just say that I'd like to get better at things I'm merely okay at and do more stuff I find worthwhile. That should cover all the bases!

I have changed one thing for 2012, though--I have returned to the twitter account I first made in 2008 in order to rock the world with my insightful observations and scathing wit. Well, okay, mostly it's just a wasteland of self-congratulatory sarcasm, but that's practically the same thing. Come follow me! I'm so lonely.

Interesting content to follow as events warrant.

And, of course, some Resolutions

To be honest, I don't really like resolutions. They've become a joke in our culture, so that sentence's that begin with "My resolution this year..." are met with laughter. Because of this, I actually have never made any resolutions, so this year will be my first. Why? Well, I guess the whole college/growing up/maturity has made me realize that I need to get my ass in gear for some things. So here are some of my personal and musical resolutions for 2012.

Music

1. Get on Slowbizz and play as many house concerts as possible. I'd love for this resolution to come true, and once I get started I know it will. I'm still a few people short to getting the 100 needed to start, however. Please sign your name and support at http://mim.io/99de12

2. Play at more art galleries. Since the amazing show at Local Project, I've realized that one can find support in different artistic mediums. Basically, people who like paintings probably like music! I met a bunch of great people at the Local Project show, and I hope to go to even more art galleries and artist gatherings in New York this year.

3. Get better at guitar This has always been a goal for me, but this year, I'm going to learn more covers of great guitar songs (I've got my eyes set on Hendrix and Clapton).

4. Do 2-3 shows a month. I feel like this is going to take a lot of emails and work, but I'm ready for it! Hopefully Slowbizz will take off and help me out ;)

Personal

1. Cook I'm really bad at cooking. As in once I got 3rd degree burns, and another time I accidentally made playdoh. That said, I know that cooking my own meals is healthier and more cost-effective. Right now, I'm looking at making my own bento boxes for lunch. I'm learning through this great website called www.justbento.com.

2. Parkour/Freerunning Yeah, yeah I can hear you laughing already. I've been obsessed with parkour/freerunning since I saw District B13 three years ago, but have been too chicken to go to any local jams. I know there are weekly classes in downtown NYC, and a friend and I have resolved to go. Wish me luck!

3. Get a summer job Pretty self explanatory. I've got my eyes set on an english tutoring job in Italy!

Re-posted from www.musicchristinali.com

A Break from Finals

Ugly Dancers....



Via Genesis Be

emerging from hiatus for a modest proposal

Christina and I were just exposed to this delightful video thanks to facebook.

As you can see, this is a middle school girl's guide to getting a boyfriend. In middle school. Now, this may seem silly, but this prepubescent child has exactly one more boyfriend than either myself or Christina can currently stake a claim to. We are choosing to blame this on NYU.

It seems like this girl has the right idea. She does say "if you're in high school, you probably shouldn't be watching this," but we're not in high school! Fuck! We're in college! This obviously applies to us!!!

We are contemplating setting a challenge for ourselves: follow the advice in this sage video down to the letter. Would it net us a sexy college man (not a middle-schooler)? We're desperate to know.

During our hiatus, one or both of us may act in accordance with the instructions set forth in this video. Maybe not. But if we do, we will write a follow-up post letting you know just how that went. Who knows, maybe we and the other straight females of NYU could profit off of this.

I know that I, being a consummate coward, have never really told someone that I like (LIKE-like, to use middle school parlance) them! There is in fact a good chance that this middle-school chick has balls of steel in comparison to me. As for Christina, well, she's allergic to love. And relationships. Just in general.

What do you think? Should we go for it? This could be the beginning of a new and beautiful era. Let us know what you think.

The 308 will be undergoing a hiatus on Marie's part as well

I should at least pretend to be studying for finals. See you after the worst has passed, kids.

THE 308 (at least by Christina)
WILL BE ON HIATUS UNTIL THE
FROSH-FINAL-POCALYPSE HAS PASSED OVER

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
except for Kwanzaa because, according to Marie, it's "not a real holiday"

What to do when you're bored-Christina

What do you do online when you're bored? Usually I go to youtube or Facebook. Sometimes, when no one's looking, I might take a peek at fanfiction.net. Recently, though, I've been browsing around Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is an amazing way for smaller businesses and people in general to gather funding for any sort of project. You put up your campaign (very simple) and people can pledge a certain amount of money. People often give out prizes for certain donations (ex. a pony if you donate $10 or more, a jackal if you donate $20 or more, etc.) The best part is that you only actually pay if the project reaches its full funding. That means that you won't donate $10 just to find out that the guy never reached the minimum and used the money for a burger. There is a certain amount of accessibility and accountability that makes Kickstarter amazing for people who want to support great ideas.

I'm thinking about posting Kickstarter projects I find interesting every now and then. Hope you enjoy and hope you support.

Further Holiday gifts for...-Marie

Your boo

Whether it be your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your friends-with-benefits, or a prostitute with a heart of gold, you might be obligated to buy something for the person you're gettin' it on with this holiday season. Unless your relationship is already repellently sweet, avoid gifts that are way too personal, way too expensive, or both (such as a noble bust of your partner cast in gold). Get them something that relates to one or more of their interests, whether those interests include pop culture, clothes, or getting wildly drunk. If they have no interests, check for a pulse.

Bitter single friends

If one or more of your friends has ended up single as the holidays approach (female NYU students, pay close attention), then you may want to handle them with some measure of care.

Do: invite them out for something fun (and not as a third wheel either, unless this category happens to overlap with "people you secretly hate")

Don't: set them up on a blind date with your "nice" friend who will probably get that hygiene thing nailed down any...day..now...

People you secretly hate

Unfortunately, there's probably at least one person you absolutely despise on your gift list. I recommend either passive aggression or shower gel.

People you're secretly in love with

Nothing too creepy. Come on, dude, pull yourself together.

Besties

Well fine, Christina, I see how it is

WHATEVER

Holiday gifts for...-Christina

People you only kinda know

Amazing greeting cards from The Oatmeal with dead Rudolphs and guys crapping out butterflies. I usually hate most greeting cards. Especially the ones that sing. WTF? Crappy. super crappy. fun to take apart though. The Oatmeal greeting cards, however, will horrify people and endear yourself to their immediate enemies. Just kidding, they're hilarious and cute and extremely offensive.

Super feminine pampering people

Something cute and smelly from Lush, the purveyor of all goodcutesmelly things. Just ask Marie. Since buying some Lush shampoo she asks me to smell her hair all the time. Seriously though, get this person a bath bomb or a soap or maybe a massage bar if your friendfriends.

"Geeks" who you're jealous of cause they're super cool :D

Cute T-shirt from Tee Fury, a poster from The Oatmeal or XKCD. How can you resist these designs? And they're so nicely priced! And they help artists who are sad and alone during the holidays because their families have disowned them! It's a winwinwinwinwinwinslightlosewin

Hipster friends

Anything you've heard of they've heard of first. Anything that comes from a rundown store. Vinyl. A poster from Molly Crabapple. Maybe something cool from Kickstarter. The latest Coilhouse is always good (and rare). Handmade gifts are always a good option because they've definitely never seen your Bffl-Blaster (patent-pending) before.

Besties

Nothing. You've wasted all your time and $$ on everyone else. But hey, that's family ;)

Places we enjoy in New York City

1. Pommes Frites
Christina-Amazing delicious heaven god allah yahweh sauces with a lil-crispy chunky belgium fries in a cute cone.
Marie--Let's not beat around the bush here. Some places are popular for a reason. Pommes Frites is pretty consistently packed, and that is because it's really fucking delicious. Get the black truffle mayo or mix the mango and chili sauces. Nnnf.

2. The Strand
Christina-So many books. NO CHAIRS. find a book then go downstairs to the law or criminal section (oddly close...) and sit down and read semi-guilt-free.
Marie--A chair, a chair, my kingdom for a chair. But it's no biggie, because the Strand is pretty dang rad and you can find all of the esoteric and out-of-date history books you'd ever need there, as well as a fine selection of everything else (unless you're looking for a very specific book, for some reason. Then you're screwed)

3. Search and Destroy
Christina-Everything is too expensive but it's nice to be stroll around amidst the porn and leather.
Marie--the prices aren't TOO bad and most things are great. This is the only place I've ever been too that plays Oi! on the sound system, though, so I might be biased in their favor.

4. Caracas
Christina-Yummy arepas full of the best meat and freshest food. A bit pricey but their flan is sweeter than your mama (that is now a phrase).
Marie--Get an arepa. Oh my god. The best. You should also buy a can of Colita, which tastes a little like bubblegum but mostly like falling in love.

5. Veselka
Christina-Pierogi. 24/7. And a surprisingly delicious Beet Salad. The sausages are also deliciously tender and come from the butcher shop across the way. They also have a cookbook!
Marie--Pierogies.

6. Landmark Sunshine Cinema
Christina-This tiny-but-tall theater has all the artsy farts films as well as classics. Tickets are a bit much ($13), but you where else are you gonna get your almadovar fix?
Marie--This place is so cool and I want to make out with it oh my god. Um. They play some incredible classics (term used loosely to encompass every film I enjoy) at midnight, and you should absolutely check those out. They also show new-but-slightly-obscure stuff, if you're into that kinda thing (I am).

7. Housing Works
Christina-It's a great artistic community and location for events. There's a cafe and fashion section as well! It's volunteer-run and goes towards supporting AIDs victims and family.
Marie--Housing Works is really just fantastic. Even if you're not looking for something to read, the events of theirs that I've attended have been insanely great. As Christina mentioned, they promote some insanely good causes, so don't feel bad about blowing all of your money there.

Guilt

So, yes, I haven't posted in a while. This happens a lot in my life. For the first few days I'm like LETS GO LETS DO THIS SUPER AWESOME TIMES FOR EVERYONE and about a week later I avoid all of your text messages about our Bunny World Domination plan and never speak to you again. But I swear The 308 won't be like my previous relationships. Mostly because I live with Marie and her physical being is a constant reminder of my failure to follow through.

So hheeerrreeee IIIIII ammmmmmmm

Another habit I have is that I buy too many books. Powerwalking by the plastic, too-rickety-for-comfort tables full of books on 4th St., I can never resist pausing for a moment (or at least reading the covers as I keep powerwalking). I have two 3-foot long bookshelves at my NYU-provided desk (which is decent if a bit cramped). One is full of my CDs (to sell, I'm not that narcissistic) and tea, the other full of books I haven't read. The books I have read are few and are under my bed (I really can't give you an answer to why). It's a habit I always remember having. I just buy books. I can even research which books to buy through reviews and wikipedia and awards and I'll buy them but rarely do I actually read them. Actually, when I'm looking for something to keep me warm and intelligent all through the night I often just buy another book and read it instead of going back to the BOOKSHELF OF GUILT.

I like to think I buy books to give myself some semblance of intelligence. "Look at all the books I intend to read. I'm so wanna-be-intellectual." But does that count? If you want to get knowledge, by buying books or signing up for classes, does that show the same perseverance as someone who follows through on a few of them?

I'm just wondering, if I get 10 books that I don't read but I know the basics about and one day want to read, does that equal actually reading one book?

I really hope so.
____________________________________________________________

Before watching Treme, the only jazz I truly enjoyed was Charles Mingus. And only Black Saint and Sinner Lady. And really only Track A and Track B. But if I could only listen to a few songs for the rest of my life, those songs would be on the list.

I am tempted to go on a paragraph-long spiel that details the amazing journey of these songs, but I realize that 1) I sound like a douche and 2) it wouldn't do justice to the songs.

Instead, just buy the CD and listen to it, you heathens.

-Christina

p.s. If anyone knows anything about turntables, can you comment some advice? Marie and I are looking to buy one. Our budget is about $50 to $75 total. :D

My adventures in linguistic determinism, or, why I am the equivalent of a Spanish ten-year-old.

(This chunk of whatever is from last year and cross-posted from my other, secret, shitty blog. I still like it, though. It has been mildly edited, mostly because I wrote it at like 2AM on a Wednesday night)

There’s one concept we went over in Psych class this year that really stuck with me: linguistic determinism, or the theory that (loosely worded) the language one speaks affects one’s thoughts. I guess this concept fascinates me so much because most of the things we learned about in Psych were interesting, but so obvious and observable as to be pointless—after all, it’s plain to see that people help those who help them first, or that people will continue behavior that they receive rewards for. However, linguistic determinism is the kind of thing I never would have been able to put into words previous to Psych, despite seeing its effects firsthand.

I’m in a strange place, linguistically speaking. English has been my first language for seventeen years, and I don’t take that as a casual circumstance—throughout my entire life, I’ve been more or less obsessed with the English language, and I’ve never once struggled with the concepts and rules that have always seemed to plague my peers. Speaking and writing and reading in English come as easily to me as breathing, and at this point in my life I’ve grown incapable of understanding the difficulties that others have with these things, simply because not knowing how to employ English seems to me like not knowing how to use one’s limbs.

However, I’ve also been a student of Spanish for six years, and in that time, I’ve become more fluent in the language than is generally expected of a painfully white high-schooler. I can communicate my ideas efficiently, I can read and analyze Spanish literature from pretty much every era, and all in all I would say that I am very capable in the realm of the Spanish language, although my vocabulary sometimes suffers due to not speaking Spanish outside of a classroom environment.

I have one problem that a dictionary cannot really solve, though. I find that in class, when I am assigned an essay or analytic questions for a piece of literature, I struggle with the assignment much more than I would in my regular English class (the coursework of which is basically equivalent to my AP Spanish class).

But this makes sense, you say (possibly)! It’s only natural that I find the assignment more difficult—after all, I am undeniably a more accomplished speaker of English, and that aforementioned dearth of useful vocabulary is surely harmful! Indeed, this accounts for any mechanical difficulties I may experience while writing. I am not focusing on these particular problems, though, which can be overcome quite simply with a tiny dictionary and a cool head.*

The trouble is this: when I am planning out an essay or trying to answer a challenging thematic question, I struggle with the concepts themselves, a difficulty I almost never have in my native language. In English, I am the undisputed master of essay-writing and analysis—in Spanish, I produce work that the English-speaking me would raise an eyebrow at.

It seems to me that my thought processes grow, if not actually simplistic, then certainly more muddled when I am thinking and writing in Spanish. I am so used to having a plethora of very specific, meaningful English words at my disposal when writing essays that when I set pen to paper in Spanish class, the ideas that I connotate with those words might as well have vanished into thin air. I have so many more limits in Spanish, because the thoughts that race through my brain when I am writing in English can only break through that language barrier to a certain extent.

I do wonder if this is the heart of linguistic determinism, or if this is a peculiarity specific to me and any others at my levels of fluency in two separate languages. I deeply suspect that even if I attained perfect fluency in Spanish, I would still encounter similar mental roadblocks. I also suspect that I would start to run up against them in English as well, though—a phenomenon that I can already start to see when I read very capable English translations of my favorite Spanish stories and am left cold.

At the risk of verging on the depressingly obvious, the world is full of different languages because each language is different. If there were one universal language where the thoughts and ideas of every culture could be perfectly conveyed, then we would almost certainly be using that language.

However, there is no such thing, because the little differences in structures and tenses and pronouns have, I think, a vast psychological effect on the individual. There are phrases in Spanish which I can understand perfectly in context but could not translate into English for the life of me, and vice-versa. What does this indicate?

Well, I’m sure it indicates a bunch of different things to a bunch of different people, but to me, this suggests that fluency is not just a matter of understanding a languages, but living it—I can speak Spanish until my throat dries up, but I won’t know Spanish until it, like English, comes as easily to me as breathing.

*and it's a well-known fact that nothing is cooler than a tiny dictionary

Things that I hate for little to no reason: part 1

The 308 is back in business--and apparently, it's up to me to end our brief hiatus with a post!! Oh man!

It was suggested that I post about some of the irrational hatreds that have earned me a strange sort of fame. So, without further ado, enjoy a brief sampling of the long, long list of things I inexplicably loathe!

1. Foosball
2. Popcorn
3. Fingernails/toenails/bellybuttons
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Sandals of any variety

I would post a truly comprehensive list, but I might down a server or something.

The 308 is back, you guys. Tell your friends.

Oh no! An entire day without a post!

I know that this member of the 308, at least, is currently embroiled in the thrilling intricacies of Thanksgiving break. I hope you've all had a lovely day eating with your families or watching football or writing angry tumblr posts about the genocide of the Native Americans.

Business as usual will resume whenever we feel like it.

In the meantime, how about lulling yourself into a turkey-fueled slumber with some Warren Zevon?