ace hotel - pdx - a must-stay.03/31 by SC
I was up in portland last week, stayed at the
Ace Hotel - I've been lucky/unlucky enough to stay in hundreds of hotels in my life, but I've never been to one that had such a specific, inspiring atmosphere. Walking in felt like being home more than home feels for some reason. Their site does a pretty good job, but I couldn't resist taking some more photos -
Every single item in every room in the hotel, neighboring coffeeshop (where you can select the type of bean you'd like to have ground for your drip, latte, etc), and neighboring bar/restaurant (ridiculously delicious, or "
ridiculicious" as I often say) has been so well thought out to fall into place with the atmosphere and brand they've created for the hotel.
The lobby, complete with old black-and-white photo booth:
Reading area on floor 2 1/2 - vintage card catalog (let's hear it for the Dewey Decimal System!) and drafting table meet free wireless.
Wall of the reading area...
...wall of my room and rustic mini-bar. Every room in the hotel was decorated/designed by a different artist. More like Blake's Got A New Face.
Layout of the room - raw and small. Shower behind the headboard. Unfinished blocks of wood for nightstands. Clip lights for lamps. Flat panel TV mounted on the wall behind the photographer.
Branded goods and reading materials.
Made me laugh.
Needless to say, it's worth the visit.
dodgers vs red sox at the la coliseum - 3/30/08.03/31 by SC
I guess it's not THAT special when you're one of 115,300-or-so people who were there, but it sure was awesome. I remember reading about the Dodgers playing at the Olympic Coliseum after they first moved from Brooklyn and thinking how crazy that would have been to watch. The left field situation blows my mind the most - it's only like 200' to the wall because of the width of the oval, so a 65' net (dubbed by our group as
"The Mesh Monster" was erected to prevent anyone and everyone from going yard to left.
Highlights:
1) Sitting 13 rows off the field, right behind the Sox' dugout and about 100 yards from the makeshift bullpen (which was shared by both teams). We were right next to the tunnel where all the old Dodger greats were hanging as well.
2) Kareem throwing out his pitch in the 3rd or 4th inning (there were ceremonial first pitches at the start of every inning) - he bounced it in the dirt, the crowd booed, he asked for the ball back and did his famous hook-shot back to the catcher. A classic moment.
3) TAKASHI! Thank you Lord for exhibition games where my favorite current baseball player, a closer, will take the mound and pitch for 2/3 of an inning when his team is down by 6 runs.
Low points:
1) Leading my girl through the crowd, thinking I'm holding her hand only to turn around and see that the hand I'm holding in mine belongs to a 285-pound 45-year old man in a Hawaiian shirt.
2) The 3 middle-aged women in Red Sox gear sitting behind me who "weren't really feeling" the TAKASHI cheer.
3) Not as many bombs over The Mesh Monster as one would have expected.
Baiseboll has been very good to me!
Home of the USC Trojans football team:
3rd inning or so - notice where the LF plays - the outfield is so short, he's almost like a 5th infielder and just plays the gaps.
The shared bullpen.
The best reason to go to a Dodger game. The cheer WILL come to life in '08.
Bottom of the 8th from the top section of the Coliseum.
run for the borders03/23 by SC
I was trying to get smart at my local Borders bookstore last night and happened upon a few little gems - my favorite,
McSweeney's, released a set of not-quite-reference books ("Haggis-On-Whey World of Unbelievable Brilliance"):
Giraffes? Giraffes!Your Disgusting Head: The Darkest, Most Offensive and Moist Secrets of Your Ears, Mouth, and NoseAnimals of the Ocean, in Particular the Giant SquidAfter I bought the Daily Show's "America", I got kind of scared of purchasing fake reference books, but Dr. and Mrs. Haggis-On-Whey deliver better than Netflix. The reason for this is probably because the word on the street is
Dave Eggers : Dr. and Mrs. Doris Haggis-On-Whey :: Samuel Clemens : Mark Twain - the books are genuinely entertaining, very silly, and highly recommended.
But - the main reason I write is because my local Borders had the two former titles in hardcover on sale for $2.99 each (which is exactly $0.94 less than a gallon of fuel at my local gas station). It's worth checking out - McSweeney's and Eggers both have great track records, as do things that cost less than $3.
Added bonus: The store employee who checked me out was quite impressed with my purchase. My being a member of their club or put-this-little-plastic-tag-on-your-keychain-thing, he noted that I would "
definitely" be receiving some "Borders Bucks". I was like, "right on...", to which he replied, "man, you gonna have so many Borders Bucks, you can
make it rain up in here next time!"
So look out for that - a few Friday nights from now, I'll be making it rain at...a bookstore...probably in the US History section, or maybe Architecture if I really decide to treat myself.
my next 80s theme party outfit will be the same as my first.03/20 by SC
I seriously think I could walk into my closet right now and pretty much recreate that outfit. The logos might have changed, but the colors, fit, and swagger are still the same! (Seriously, those shorts are the BOMB, right?)
happy st. patrick's day from my irish 1/4-or-so and asian 1/2 (sorry, the other 1/4's got nothing for you today).03/17 by SC
Be safe, get lucky, and wear green (even if it's just a trace of neon green that's supposed to be bamboo entering or exiting the mouth of the panda on the hood of the gift Lee brought you back from Tokyo like the stud he is).
3/15/2008 - david ryan harris and booyah at hotel cafe in hollywood.03/17 by SC
it was ON:
Do What You Want*
For You*
Turn Around (If You Think You're Lonely Now)
All I Need (Love and Happiness, Everything's Not Lost)
Pretty Girl (The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, You Send Me, Slow Hand, Your Body is a Wonderland, Let's Get It On, Natural Woman, I Want You To Want Me)
Used To This (false start)
Used To This (indie style)
Sweetest Berry
Can We Get Down (Chain Gang/Bed Sprangs)
*solo acoustic
All other songs with BOOYAH (Michael Chaves and Sean Hurley)
Dude. These guys blew it up tonight - the stuff in November was great, but there wasn't a single second tonight that wasn't on FIRE. David was all acoustic, all night (not sure when the last time I heard
Do What You Want on anything but a baritone guitar). He rocked the first two solo from a pew-esque piano bench before Chaves and Shurley joined him.
All I Need killed - DRH threw in some Al Green for the kids and the kids threw in a singalong at the end. One of my favorite
Pretty Girls of all time followed, mostly because Chaves played his famous riff during the
Wonderland lines - I lost it. MC was also doing some very cool stuff during the verses. LOVE that guy.
Used To This had a false start - the guys decided the "almost funk" version wasn't the way to go and restarted a more "indie magic"-Death-Cab-ish version.
Can We Get Down hit like I've never heard it before - crowd singing along, going nuts. Great way to end the night. Or...end the show and begin the night, depending on who you were.
Quote of the night: "Um, this one isn't on the set list, but let's do it - it's simple. This is
Giant Steps." - DRH to BOOYAH before
Pretty GirlSee you in two weeks-- Don't sleep!
holla what? hologram! silver consortium stan smith mids03/17 by SC
They're like the Upper-Deck-Baseball-Card of Shoes...
Sans flash:
With Dwyane Wade, in all their glory:
what i did during the bgwh strike part 4: i ran 26.2 miles on a sunday morning.03/17 by SC
I managed to do it. One of the toughest (and emotional) experiences of my life - my TUG boys know this feeling (I actually call it "The 26.2-mile TUG"). Anyway, I was happy to finish and was ok with my time until I started checking other Age Groups and saw that TWELVE GIRLS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 0-15 FINISHED FASTER THAN ME. It's cool - "ladies first", right?
I rocked the Nike+ on the run, someone is lying:
I never knew the smog took on such funny shapes - it's like it almost spells something in these pictures (don't worry, People/Charles In Charge - I legitimately ordered pictures). My bib said "OHNOHEDIDNT" - a funny idea to me in December, not so funny after I finished and thought I needed to go to the emergency room.
The brand-new LAM XXIII X Nike Air Moires - I'll take the timing chip off never:
And...sweet giveaways to take up space in my office for years to come (font
look familiar?):
Next up:
Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego in June. Breaking 3:50.
