Thursday, August 31, 2006

Shakira Addendum

An article on Shakira's concert from today's Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083003265.html.

A few lines stand out: "Shakira is among pop music's greatest dancers, as there is much more to her repertoire than just those swaying hips." I'm sorry, when did doing The Robot become an acceptable dancing style?

Or to quote my friend Tawni: "You don't like shakira's dancing? I guess she doesn't really dance. I'm not sure what you would call it, but it looks more like what a stripper would do."

"But she can hold her own as a singer, even if she doesn't have the best, most distinctive voice in the business. In fact, she tends to sound a lot like other artists...."What? The true appeal of Shakira is her amazing vocal range and distinctive voice.Obviously, the critic, with-a-name like this-I-have-to-be-a-rock-critic J. Freedom du Lac, and I have much differing opinions.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Shakira! Shakira!

Just came back from the Shakira concert here in D.C.! It was really fun, and like Elisa's concert in Chicago, she played a good mix of old and new stuff (same set list, actually). There weren't too many skanky hos there, although there were a lot of older folks there. The couple next to me brought their 1 year old daughter, who was actually very well behaved, but I felt sorry for her because her ears must have been ringing!

It's really interesting to see Shakira's "evolution" from songstress to pop princess. Her new stuff isn't as heart-felt as her Spanish songs, but maybe that's because it isn't her true language. It would be nice to hear some of the same raw emotion from her Spanish songs show up in her English stuff, but maybe she's not quite there yet. Or perhaps she's too busy becoming an international pop tart. I mean, using the microphone stand like a stripper pole? Please, show some respect for your audience.

But anyway, fun concert. I danced a lot, and I'm glad I had some extra deodorant. The audience was a good mix of old-school fans, and tweens with their moms. Shakira came out into the audience, and wore the cowboy hat of some guy in our immediate section, but she stopped a few feet short of us. The tickets were great and well worth the price. We could always see the stage, and I never once had to strain my neck.

One thing that's always weird at a concert, especially like at a Shakira concert, is when somebody behind you asks you sit down. I mean, what the hell? Its a concert, people!

Its funny how different this concert was since the last concert I went to: Jason Mraz at the 9:30 Club, a small, general admission venue (that was when Jason threw a guitar pick out into the audience and it fell down my shirt). I don't have any souvenirs from this concert, but it was just as fun.

ETA: I still maintain that Shakira really can't dance.

the Internet is a wonderful thing

I just discovered that on Flickr you can add your photos to a map! So if you took pictures in NYC, you can add your photos to the NYC map. Its a Yahoo map, so it goes down to the neighborhood. Of course, you never want to give too much information about your location.

Also, it looks like Yahoo photos is getting revamped. Just like Flickr, you can add Friends to your page, so you can see their photos when they post them. Very cool!

Friday, August 25, 2006

lap time

My friend Emma is a triathlete. For you lay(zy) people out there, a triathlete competes in three different athletic events in one day: biking, swimming and running. Now, I'm no triathlete. I don't even pretend to be moderately athletic. But lately I've been trying to swim laps in our pool, mostly because I don't feel like I've gotten enough use out of it this summer, and also, the pool is scheduled to be closing on Labor Day.Sometimes I feel like a charlatan for wanting to swim in the lanes. There are usually enough good swimmers—they with their bathing caps, swim goggles, and racerback swimsuits—who want to swim, so I’ll usually swim for a set period of time, get out, let them swim for a while, and then when there is another free lane, I’ll jump in again for a few more minutes. While they are swimming their perfect laps, I console myself that at least I have a better tan.

Yesterday afternoon, there was an older man already swimming laps in one of the lanes when I got there. No problem, there are four lanes. I jumped into the lane furthest from him and proceed to swim-very slowly. This man, although older, looked like a competent swimmer, and in fact he swam faster than I did and for a longer period of time. After about 20 minutes I got out of the pool and toweled myself off. A few minutes later, he got out of the pool, and that’s when I saw that he only had one leg. Yup, one leg. Whatever little pride I had, and there wasn’t that much let me tell you, completely left me. I was, however, in awe of this man with one leg.

Rock on, one legged man. I can only hope to one day be as good as you.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

ploo ploo PLOO ploo pla

Like Joey from Friends, that's what French sounds like to me. :(

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

random meat


random meat
Originally uploaded by laura_gonzales.
When I invite friends over for a barbecue, one thing I'll never serve is hamburgers or hot dogs. Not that I don't love hamburgers and hot dogs, but really, you can have those anytime. And also, who wants to eat the composite of hundreds of animals in one little casing? Well, I do sometimes, but dude, check out these fajitas. Thanks to my sister for sending tortillas!

Friday, August 04, 2006

city of blinding light

Next year, I will finally have the opportunity to discover the answer to an age-old question: Which city is more romantic in the springtime: Washington or Paris? Somehow, I think I already know the answer.Thanks to our beaucoup frequent flier miles, we were able to get business class seats to Paris next March. I get to start learning how to speak French!Our last trip abroad was actually my first; in 2005 we went to London and Italy (Roma e Napoli, or to you Italian-illiterates, Rome and Naples). I learned just enough Italian to get by. Since we have so much more lead time, I'm hoping to learn more French. I have to admit, I've been resisting France for a long time now, but now that our flights are confirmed, I'm pretty excited.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006