kelly clarkson on gma

proof why shar hearts kelly: not only getting up at 5am to get to her gig at rumsfield park, but also standing through not one but two crazy downpours. shar hearts her some kelly even if she has to endure the baneful chatter for prepubescent girls. i saw her first back in september 2005 where her performance wasn't up to par but then she did this. she had me as a fan forever and so a little rain and an early morning wake up call is the least i could do. here's a little video of kelly sound checking here latest single "already gone" and some choice snaps.

kelly performed "already gone", "walk away" and "if i can't have you". she also tossed in an abridged "since u been gone".

guy fieri, enjoying soundcheck between his segment makinga smore pizza

the lady next to me won an autographed guitar

preemptive fltgc

must preemptive fltgc: dash snow - a community memorial at deitch grand. so i noticed the installation of the exhibit as they spray painted the facade of the grand outpost. finally got a chance to check out dash's works and his folks memories. i didn't know much about him prior to checking out but i have learned he ran with new york's young and fab, which was what most of his photos depict. i searched him out on wikipedia and learned his aunt is uma thurman. shar left sad that someone with a zest for life burnt out too quick.

wish i was there

reason to be green with envy: kulis returning from wunderlust. shar didn't have the bank to fund the dream excursion to tahoe for the two most favorite things in her life - indie rock and yoga. instead i will have to hear about it from all those privileged enough to attend and read about it in the times. yay me!

vote for claire

must vote: best party ever. dude, my pal claire got her one page screenplay in the the wildsound screenplay film festival based in toronto. if she wins, it gets made all professionally and stuff. fun no? it's a really cute story. here's a good q & a about claire and her screenplay. Also, inside scoop on the q & a, said stephen lyman is claire's bf and a filmmaker in his own right. his fairy princess recently had its new york debut at acefest. shar was there and here is proof.



so vote.

shar likes a challenge

missed feat of the day: pho garden challenge. okay, shar just found out about this feat this morning. thanks albert, would have been good to know when i was home. shar once attempted the broken yolk special and failed, but has since gained a reputation for competitive eating. next time shar's home there will be a battle of epic proportions. i'm shar and i'm disgusting.

breath of monday morning fresh air: zee avi

best monday morning pick-up: zee avi. shar had the unpleasant morning encounter with a old homeless dude "walking the dog" on a subway bench. thanks joe for pointing that out to me. just what i needed before 8am sans coffee.

zee avi's tunes was the perfect remedy to cheer me up in a jiffy. also, really digging the new ability to embed the npr player. weeeeee! sharing tunes has become much easier.





zee avi is opening for pete yorn at webster hall tomorrow and wednesday. it's too rich for shar's pocketbook. if you happen to go, let me know how she is.

diane birch @ roosevelt island

best summer outdoor concert: diane birch at roosevelt island. away from the fray of summerstage and south street seaport (shar was there yesterday for bmsr), the riverwalk commons at roosevelt island hosts a quaint venue for free tunes as part of roosevelt l!ve. not too crowded and plenty of grass to park it.

bonus: you can get a bucket of beers to enjoy with your tunes. one of the fews spots in the city where they don't crack down on you for the alchie consumption.


diane's vocals harken back to old female vocalists of yonder, namely carole king for me. jenn thought karen carpenter. listen to her set for wxpn and you be the judge.




thanks jenn for snapping this pic of diane and i. she was quite obliging. i asked if her album was on vinyl and she said soon. she was excited to have it pressed. good answer.

fltgc: soho trifecta

return to soho fltgc: harris lieberman + marc jancou + zurcher = soho trifecta. back on the east coast, so there is much needed gallery crawlin'. this crawl is not for the faint of heart, so shar and cofounder jac crawled thine route.

first up, harris lieberman for no bees, no blueberries. shar loves how hl uses it's gallery space. i was impressed but the last show of monochromaticness and the color involvement in the latest installation was niiice.

jac got this entire sheet of stickers.

we made a pit stop in kate werble because the whimsical cut outs by emily landon. shar vs. bear!


continuing the crawl we hit marc jancou, which is situated in the lovely great jones alley. there was the ny debut of brit ross chisholm. tony did a nice write-up a couple weeks back.



last but not least was zurcher studios for the wild feature group show. i liked john hodany's his geometric works of paper.

james benjamin franklin

melissa brown

tumbling with zooey

pleasant surprise: being tumbled in "the many faces of zooey deschanel". (thanks mike for letting me know.) looks like this fan pulled a pic from sharocksthe.blogspot.com. also friends, shar watch 500 days of summer this past weekend. it's good stuff and satisfied my jgl crush.

you know how you get really excited for a film you've seen a trailer for and you can't wait to see it like a kid before christmas? well, that's what 500 days of summer was for me. shar tried to get preview screening tix not once, but but twice. both times she failed. :( in any case, i watched it after much excitement which was pushed by this npr segment with marc webb about setting tunes to film. the ending was a bit cheesy, but otherwise a good $9.50 was spent.

tvb at mighty

best soundtrack for summer: the very best at mighty. shar's been digging the tunes of this pairing of malawian singer and london-based deejay. i first heard of him on a mix from all songs considered early this year. his sound infuses tradition african beats with some the popular names of indie rock, like vampire weekend and mia. they are the best tunes for the summer of '09. i'm still not sure why it's not infusing the streets and more importantly beaches. dowload it off their myspace page. you won't be sorry.

so kids of the east coast get your arses to lpr for his set tonight. you won't be sorry. look it's esau shedding his jacket to get into his groove. you don't wanna miss that.

lastly listen to esau's new track with ezra koening of vampire weekend off his official album to get you in the pre-concert mood.

fltgc: sf edition

must sf fltgc trifecta:
1.) buddy system at rare device. i just learned about this spot after reading about it in the chron. kelly lynn jones of little paper planes curated this group show, where four artists ask four others to join in and showcase their works. shar loved this space. it was very reminiscent of park life to me.

(lt to rt) trick candles, clare grill; soulmate, matt momchilov and hiding in the sun, jess wheaton

summering 1, caitlin gallupe

the future, maybe, bridget moser; headressing, clare grill; a poem about touching face, nathaniel russell

caitlin gallupe's book, runoff, that accompanies her works. SQUIRREL!

2.) forest station at bibliohead bookstore. this is the show of my dear friend kristin farr. i wasn't there for opening night but i promised to check it out while i was in town. bravo kristin! big foots are still my fav.

3.) paul wackers' new work at luggage store. talk about undescript, unmarked doors. i was directed to the place from a flyer at stop #1 of the gallery crawl. so jaunted over to market street after a bialy and ginger sammie cookie at citizen cake. looking for 1007 market street is a whirl. luckly the blacked out door that is 1007 opened to this:

whut up hut!

best way to walk like an egyptian: tutankhamun and the golden age of pharoahs at the deyoung. lin was kind enough to get the much sought out ticket. we hit the 10:30 group and boy was it already packed. so much for beating crowds. it was quite the production from the start. you are held in a holding room to watch a 90 second intro narrated by omar sharif. dr. zhivago sure makes ancient egypt dreamy. the door opens to the bust of the boy king - tut. dramatic yes? i was mistaken and tut was not really there. just his treasures which were magnificent themselves. it was way too crowded. even though i spent time with each piece and continued even when the alarm going off three times, my whole thought going through it was when is this over. the last bit was the best with a digital representation of tut and his adornments. the pieces are quite teh sight, but the crowds were a joy kill.

riceboy sleeps

what i really want but can't justify the funds for at the moment: riceboy sleeps special edition box set. golly oh golly, shar wants this but she's got bills to pay. maybe i can splurge on the cd. i heard of riceboy sleeps from their track, "happiness" on the dark was the night complilation. riceboy sleeps = jonsi from sigur ros and his bf alex somers. they make loverily music and visuals together. it's available on july 20th in north america, but you can pre-order from rough trade now. shar fancies a some vinyl action. you can get a free download of the track 'boy 1904' here.

green-wood cemetery

completed new york to do: green-wood cemetery. shar's got a list of things to do in ny. she likes lists and likes checking off her accomplishments. this one's been chiming to be done, so i took out the cruiser and biked down to the famed resting place of leonard bernstien and jean-michel basquiat. unfortunately, i didn't do my homework before to map out their sites. next time. it's quite the spot and i don't know if i was especially drawn to this spot on sunday because of all the dead like me i've been watching or my desire to see how it compared to woodlawn. in any case, it's a great place for quiet and contemplation.

yes the pure sweet undying love
which he to us hath given
is stricken here to bloom again
within the courts of heaven

battle hill

how's about a new condo with a view of green-wood?

urban canoeing

must urban outdoor experience: canoeing on the gowanus canal. the gowanus dredgers host free canoeing on the big G every other saturday of the month. when i told a few pals i was doing this responses included:

"you know their are multiple diseases you can contract from the gowanus."

"dude, i was walking by last night there was a film of oil on top. NASTY! i can't believe shar is canoeing that."

"you are going to get bionic powers from that water."

despite the comments, i hit the canal this afternoon and it was awesome. alex, one of the dredgers, paddled with me to the bay and then back all the way to the other end at bulter street. i even was in some video that some documentarians were doing on the program and the gowanus. i was less wet than when i kayaked on the hudson, so no super powers to report yet.

back to back

lukewarm summer concert so far: pains of being pure at heart at south street seaport. shar was looking forward to this free gig and well she came out underwhelmed. maybe it was where i was standing but the sound was a bit off. it was aiiight the friday before for here we go magic. kip's voices were decent but peggy was virtually unaudible aside from her profession of her love for pizzeria uno.

best return: jason lytle at union hall. i haven't seen this kid in over 2 years on the farewell grandaddy tour. i raced from south street to brooklyn to catch his set. i was there before he went on, however the crowds had descended, so i was unable to be upfront which is where you have to be at union hall to see anything. much different than the last time i saw him at cafe du nord with tables and chairs. i was only a couple feet away from him preshow when he was chatting with his merch peeps. i kicked myself for not saying something about how much his music rules and loving his new tunes. this is the best shot i got of him from where i was standing.

fltgc - black acid co-op

best interactive fltgc: jonah freeman and justin lowe's black acid co-op at deitch (wooster). when shar read about this upcoming exhibit, she was enthused to say the least. a maze of "art" is shar's cup of tea. it was a packed crew with jac, zaid, julie and jenni. weeeeeeeee! first off you gotta sign a waiver to get in to the maze. once inside you will see this.

"looks like one of those handbag stores"

jac? can you take a pic of me in the fridge? (that's for you, jenni)

upstairs in the den of love

downstairs in the faux herb storefront.

we were all left feeling a little dirty after the maze. the stale musky stench gave those nursing a hangover reason for an early exit.