I solemny swear that i am up to no good I will provide a full update very soon. I have been lazy, there's no other way to put it and so this charming space has become neglected on my part. Let me leave you with a few nuggets to bide my time.
Chicago is a most beautiful city full of some great people. There is water, city, laughs, lake, GF sprinkles cupcakes, Intelligentsia coffee, old smell second hand books for less than a quarter, sun, rain, laughs, trains with spectacular views, trains with zero views, colours, singing, bikes, cab rides across town for half the cost you'd spend at home, Walgreens on every corner, laughs, pretty streets and polite homeless folk who you can't help but return to with a sandwich, sushi, korean food, bus weirdos, McDonalds, dive bars and LOLLA.
Lichtenstein at the Institute
View from the lake
View of LakeShore Dr from the Hancock
Shedd Aquarium
At the Bean
I had a great summer for music. These types of summers are my favourite. rekindled my love for many and found some new favourites. Here are a few:
Now I'm home it's time to face the real world. Let's see how this endeavour goes..
Today was my last day of lectures in my undergrad. I had an exam and an essay to submit, how memorable. These are some of my favourites on our last day..we're from far and wide so the effortlessness of seeing each other in college makes me forget that this will require effort from here on out. boo.
chicago deets
Childish Gambino plays on the 9th of May Bruce is playing in Dublin in July and Chicago in September. I go the end of May, I come back the end of August.This is my response:
Ah yes, it's that time of year again; when I wistfully think of all those lucky sods living it up "hipster-style" on an artificial green mecca surrounded by the scorching, dusty Californian desert. Pronounced co-chell-a, Indio has become quite the place to be come April. A festival ... in April? Why so early, you ask? Well, when you consider that the average day temperature hits about 38 degrees Celsius (that's a 100F for you crazy Yankees), imagine how many people's faces would melt off come June or July. Or even worse, August! Now add to that lots of walking around, lovely humid port-a-loos, crushing crowds and very little shade and it's not the easiest festival to attend.
You'd really want to be into your music... or mashed off your faaaaaace on something. It's not the place for your timely mid-life crisis/rediscovery of youth. A festival like this will literally demand blood, sweat and tears from you as a minimum requirement for entry. Mind you, the sort that attend don't look too flustered at all...
You generally get a mixture of people at different festivals. Oxegen usually draws the following sort;
Chart Hit Lovers: People who just love their pop music, the sort commonly found on Top 40 lists around the world. We're talking The Script, Rihanna, Eminem, David Guetta etc... and that one indie/folk band that manages to capture the whole market i.e. Mumford and Sons, Florence + The Machine, Bon Iver (strictly just for Skinny Love tho... totes emotional).
Die Hards: Fans who would jump off a cliff to see that one band they love. Think along the lines of Kings of Leon, Muse, Coldplay (though there is nothing wrong with Coldplay. I'll fight ya if you disagree...).
Senior Cycle Teens: Once you're past 4th year, you're in the big league now and thus, basically like totes an adult. Your first move to establish independence? Leave home for a mucky weekend up the country with 40 of your closest friends and trying to survive on packets of Jaffa cakes, croissants from Lidl and a slab of beer you got someone's brother to buy for you.
Sorry to say it but the uh... well.... scummy sort... Maybe we should just say the frustrated youth, with a passion for tracksuits and a penchant for Dutch Gold and doing nothing except sitting in the camping site and robbing people's tents. Or alternatively, just walking off with them altogether.
Electric Picnic attracts a different kind;
Die Hard Music Lovers: The difference between them and the Die Hards at Oxegen is that they are die hard fans of music in general. Everything. Anything. Any band you like, they own the entire back catalogue of. You'll find a few musical snobs in among them, though most of us are susceptible to a bout of "Oh yeah, I heard of them like 45 years ago". These are the people who know that the sample in Avicii's "Levels" is actually Etta James, consider Radiohead as some form of gods (present company excluded; I find Thom Yorke depressing) and know that Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie was part of The Postal Service too, like... duh.
The Cool Older Set: Just because 2000 was the year you sat the Leaving Cert, doesn't mean you still can't indulge in a weekend free from kids, work and the repressive laws of society. This is when that tattoo of the Guns n' Roses logo, gotten one drunken night 15 years ago, is revealed and suddenly Dave from Accounting is sporting dreads and a toke.
The Alternative Parents: These lads bring their kids with them to festivals. Jury is out whether this is madness or a great way to spend family time and let the adults have a bit of fun too.
The Recreational Drug Users: "No, that smell in the air isn't herbal cigarettes. And there's a reason why you are suddenly giggling."
"Celebs":Basically anyone who's been on "The DEN" or TV3 or heaven forbid, Fade Street and thinks they are the epitome of Irish society by attending something that isn't Oxegen.
Musicians: Irish musicians like checking out other bands too so you'll find the likes of Jape, Gemma Hayes, Cathy Davey, Neil Hannon, Cast of Cheers and Bell X1 walking around. If you are more of an Oxegen-goer but desire to be part of the EP set, you'd best check these people out. Here's any easy one; Neil Hannon is responsible for "My Lovely Horse" of Father Ted fame.
Young Hippies: The kind of people who perform in the Body & Soul area, are professional fire-breathers, run the percussion work-shops/drum circles or run the tea café. Life is just one big adventure. Many also sport dreads.
Coachella steps it up a notch further, being America and "bigger is better" and all that. Here we find;
The slightly more than Recreational Drug Users: "No, that smell in the air isn't herbal cigarettes. And there's a reason why you are suddenly giggling. No, that isn't a stamp you're licking. Now why would anyone bring a bag of washing powder to a festival with them!?"
Bros: The lad's lads for whom wearing a shirt is depriving everyone of the opportunity to see their "sweet bod", topped off with a slight D4 attitude to life, money and girls. Much like yobbos from Oz.
The "Industry insiders": Painful. They parade around, flashing their "VIP: ACCESS ALL AREAS" neck laminated thingy at every opportunity. Often spotted trailing after #8. They think they are at the hub of the festival. In my humble opinion, that's not backstage running around, looking for a bottle of Evian chilled precisely to -7 for Kanye West. I thought it was more about being in the thick of the crowd and getting to know people and having fun. How naive of me.
The Older Dirty Hippies: The kind who were at Woodstock, the first. For them sandals are an all-type of weather accessory. Always seem to be a little out of it. Tells stories about the time that they and Neil Young were on the road together and the tour bus accidentally ran over Iggy Pop.
Senior Year/Freshman Teens: Once you're past your Senior Year of High School, you're in the big league now and thus, basically like toootallly an adult. Your first move to establish independence? Leave home for a scorching weekend downstate with 20 of your closest friends and trying to survive on Pop Tarts, too much ecstasy and trying to get served at the bars; if successful you'll spill half the pint as you attempt to beer bong it in one. Neon is your favourite colour.
The Extremely Alternative Parents: Again the jury's out on this one. Would you bring your 3 year old into the desert for 3 days with no nappy changing facilities or daycare? Did I not mention the heat?
The Die Die Hard Music Lovers: Half genuine music nuts; Excited to see their favourite bands and making some new discoveries. Half pure musical snobs; will attend any act who has had but two sentences written about them on Pitchfork, We Are Hunted or Rolling Stone, just to say they have, even if said act consists of a man scratching a fork against a bass guitar while attempting to reach the supersonic tones of a dog whistle.
Actual Celebs: Last year's attendees included Ri-ri, Ian Somerhalder, Paul McCartney, Penn Badgley, Leonardo Di Caprio, Usher, Ashley Greene, Danny deVito, Jeff Goldblum and Katy Perry. You mightn't know some of them but they certainly beat "That guy off Tallafornia".
Are you beginning to see a pattern? Yes, festivals are now only partly about the music. As raised in a pretty spot-on article, published by the Guardian, there are so many festivals nowadays, the lineups begin to look a bit samesy. Gorillaz headlined Coachella the same year they headlined Glastonbury. People like Kanye West, Justice, Mumford and Sons and David Guetta have done the rounds a few times by now. So every festival needs their own additional attractions. What has Coachella got?
Location? 90 minutes from LA. Tick.
Weather? See above. Tick.
Reputation? Have you not been listening? Everyone who's anyone will be there and you'll find it hard to escape the blow-by-blow blog, twitter, status, music magazine, fashion magazine and entertainment news updates. Tick. If you really want to torture yourself, like I do when Glasto is on with the Red Button on BBC, Youtube are live streaming so you can have a second-rate experience of it.
Music? I'll get to that in a minute but for the moment... let's just say Coachella brings the best in indie, rock, electro dance, hip-hop and a few mad things in between... Tick.
Crazy mad-themed tents and art installations? Can't avoid them. Tick.
A lake? I know you didn't ask but they have one... or a few. It is the desert after all. Tick.
Kicking off back whentube tops and cargo pants were still cool and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" was still on telly, Coachella has been the retreat of many an ironic moustache-wearing music fan since 1999. It's like the American equivalent of Glastonbury (which I attended nearly 2 years ago, lucky me) but obviously, with some stark differences. Instead of raincoats, you wear cut-off denims and swimwear. Instead of packing towels, you pack sun-cream. Instead of bacon butties, you eat sushi or ice-cream. Instead of camping in mud, you camp in "style" (they provide the "tents"). Instead of wellies, you wear flip-flops, a fact made famous by this gem of recording from 2010's "sesh".
Why am I wistful? Maybe because I still have this blasted thesis to write (don't worry, procrastination is down to a minimum). Or maybe because I'd like to try and attend a festival where I don't have to worry about getting through the mud quickly from one stage to another, athlete's foot or having extra clothes in case mine are soaked through. Don't get me wrong. I am a seasoned gig and festival goer at this stage. However, neither do I proclaim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But I love festivals. LOVE them. I am generally that person who manages to see 35 acts over the course of the weekend while also having time to check out the art installations, the interactive exhibitions, the comedy tent and the amusement rides. My brother is like me in this regard.
Every year, we've it allll planned out. Each of us has a laminated timetable, back up timetable, individual cross-sectioned timetables highlighting who is going where and to see what. These are also generally graded on a scale of 1 - 10 so we know the bands we REALLY want to see and the bands we're not pushed about; that gives us time to go exploring. Last year we volunteered at Electric Picnic which was a great experience, to feel involved in the running of the festival. Spotted no acts walking around though but got talking to so many people. Huge perk of the job. So all this considered, I'd think of myself in the category of festival-goer who does go for the music. Every festival is different and I'd like to try my hand at Coachella, if not for the music then for the famous sunsets.
This year has split the festival over the space of two weekends and while Coachella promotes environmental and charitable causes, I suspect that they're in it for the money this year, due to past losses. Basic tickets are a cool $285 (€217), making it cheaper than both Poxegen and EP and the crowd reaches a max of 80,000. Considering Glastonbury is approx. 180,000 people, that is a seriously manageable figure in my mind. Furthermore, with a history of line-ups to make your knees go weak, I'll be planning my adventure soon enough. If any of my friends are up for a trip there in the next few years, let me know! Maybe we can join a band, playing the xylophone or something, just to go.
While it'll be a few years yet till my feet set down in California, here a few of the acts I'd be going to see this weekend. I won't give ye any biographies or my take on them. I like all this stuff. It's what ye think that counts;
Andrew Bird - Imitosis
Azealia Banks - 212
Beirut - Nantes
Childish Gambino - Heartbeat
Girl Talk - Play Your Part (Part 1)
Gotye - Heart's a Mess
Grouplove - Tongue Tied
M83 - Midnight City
Madness - Our House
Metronomy - The Look
Miike Snow - Paddling Out
Pulp - Do You Remember the First Time?
Real Estate - It's Real
Santigold - Disparate Youth
Sleeper Agent - Get Burned
Wild Beasts - Hooting and Howling
This isn't anywhere near half of the acts I'd go see if I could. I would include amongst the above;
Arctic Monkeys, At the Drive In, Band of Skulls, Bon Iver, Calvin Harris, Buzzcocks, David Guetta, DJ Shadow, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Dragonette, Explosions in the Sky, Feist, First Aid Kit, Fitz and the Tantrums, Florence and the Machine, Jacque Lu Cont, James, Jimmy Cliff, Justice, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, Laura Marling, Lissie, M.Ward, Manchester Orchestra, Martin Solveig, Neon Indian, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Radiohead, SBTRKT, St. Vincent, Swedish House Mafia, The Black Keys, The Head and Heart, The Hives, The Horrors, The Rapture, The Shins, The Vaccines, tUnE-yArDs, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Wolf Gang and so on and so forth.
Well, after my rant and a half/procrastination, I'll leave ye to listening or resuming your normal life. I'll just sit here thinking about the lucky duckies who get to take a weekend off from everyday life and are currently walking around bare-footed under the Californian sky. At least we can say I'm not bitter...Glastonbury is better anyway...
I don't understand this new blogger layout... aaaahhhhhh.
FYI I'm spending the summer in Chicago this summer, right from June through August and I think I may die with excitement. Gotta love leaving the country, especially for the charming feeling it brings when you come home to friends and the famo. Absense makes the heart grow fonder etc etc etc
If registration wasn't full and I could run I would totes do The Color Run Doesn't it look unreal!? (via cakies
she's mentioned she's doing it in SoCal! what a spot..)
I have a million assignments to do for the week after next. Please pray this goes smoothly. I am not efficient in these things.
Since I started driving I've become such a radio person. Particularly in the morning, cannot beat a bit of Ray D'Arcy and Ray Foley. I hope MEGAN DEE and SARAH haven't lost the love for Irish radio.. we do alot of talking compared to other countries.... but we do it so Well!!
Similiar to young Sarah I too have landed home in the motherland. After a charming 10weeks Ireland just doesn't cut it. Although, to be fair I am very pleased to be reunited with the fam and buddies that were left behind. I'm not home longer than a day, but I still managed to keep my American phone at hand all day.. even though it can't work here. I've converted the time from what it is here to what it is in HB. Why? I have no idea. I haven't unpacked, and the prospect of having a choice broader than just a handful of shirts to wear is, in all honesty mildly intimidating.
I have a sneaker of a suspicion that Huntington Beach will always be near and dear to me.. Aside from the beach, the surfers and the skaters theres a few things already being missed.
I know i'll miss the copious amounts of eats we managed to inflict upon the waistline...
The Californian humour that most don't seem to realise exists..
And most of all the buddies. Both new and old, who I got to spend my whole summer with. It's not one i'll forget in a hurry.
It's been quite a while since i've been on hasn't it..whoops. Huntington Beach is amazeballs, i'm weak for the place, absolutely weak. I haven't too much else to say about it, it's like young love or something, i'm smitten. So i'll leave you with some pictures and what I consider to be part of the playlist that our summer seems to have conjured up. It's a random one.
Disclaimer: I'm tragic enough at photography and the screen is broken on my camera, (it's really upsetting and unfortunate) so excuse the quality of the pictures, i'm also too lazy to go editting but I prefer to refer to it as appreciating the raw authentic originals, yeah? yeah.
From top left then..
Enjoying the beach at sunset
Using utensils in every way possible..Starbucks cup and a fork to eat granola and milk, an obvious choice.
Downtown never gets old, drumming, dancing, shuffling, Brazilian non contact martial arts stuff and the breakdancing/ jumping guys, they're the coolest.
Getting creative with our coffee orders
Everyone skateboards here, its a very legitimate form of transportation. LOVE
Kelly Slater is a local hero, in a Seán Óg/ Ronan O Gara sort of way
Being incapable of taking pictures without pulling a face
The beach never gets old
Decorating our bikes for the 4th..(much too lazy to rotate this, soz.)
Oh the beach
Riding our beach cruisers. Everywhere.
Not being able to afford healthy food, it's costly and unfortunate..
So we tend to have to resort to these (yummy) alternatives. In turn we're falling into the 'ever gaining weight headed towards obesity' bracket of the population rather than the leggy beach babe Californian bracket, this is poor.
My bike has lime green rims, could anything really beat that? didn't think so.
California gets my love.
And some playlist..
This song rings through my ears daily and has yet to get old. Number 1 song of the summer.
This has to get a mention, I'm not a Bruno fan, but here he did well, very well.
Yeah a second mention for himself... This song just captures the vibe around here sometimes..ok alot of the time.
Obvious but no less brilliant choice.
This song tends to get a play in the mellow evenings, I don't know how it came to be on the playlist but I'm glad it is.
The tastes here are Very different to home, its no Bon Iver or Bell X1 like.. but its growing on me..who'd have thought it possible!?
See what I mean?
Cake are from Cali. And they capture the vibe.
Theres so much more but of course nothing comes to mind when you need it to. Thanks toob.
The ever lovely Sarah from My Third Cousin and I is a fellow Cork woman and one who has quite an eye for fashion. She is constantly experimenting and sharing her own personal, suavey style on her blog and really I'm quite envious when I think of my wardrobe and see hers in comparison!
Pop over and do yourself a favour and learn from a master. We are aware here that we're not keeping up with the fashion side here as much with all our gallavanting so Sarah , who we read regularly, kindly did a take on what to wear where we are. So sit down. Put on the kettle. Have a scone. Grab a piece of paper and maybe your laser card. Do enjoy.
Thanks for having us. My Third Cousin and I have compiled 3 looks that have been inspired by your travels. All the pieces are from ASOS and ASOS marketplace, Free people, Planet Blue and Urban outfitters. Here iswhat our dream wardrobe would look like if we were in:
P.S. We may have nabbed the Cali skirt for ourselves. I must say we are very jealous of your adventures and are we are living vicariously through your blog posts.
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Long live My Third Cousin and I!
And aren't those puppies the cutest?!
Keep an eye out for the latest posts and get some travel inspired outfits of yer own.
Will back and writing this weekend as I'm back from a nice break to Buenos Aires. However, I have a University report to complete before then and 10 lesson plans! Maybe Ciara will update us on life in California or Megan and the beauties of France. I've to finish our "Over the Andes" piece and hopefully, we will have a guest piece sooooooooooon. And I now realise the new format doesn't work in all internet browsers so will be trying to give that a fix. Until then, please enjoy the following clips that are keeping me sane.
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