Every thing about this video is effing awesome.
The concept: a fifth-grade class rocking out a badass version of Matisyahu’s “One Day”. The location: the class being from Kansas City. The uniqueness: this being perhaps the first time a grade-school class has ever belted out a song with the lyrics “Blood-drenched pavement”. And finally, the fact that fifth-grade girls are apparently still a foot taller than their boy counterparts.
If you don’t smile watching this video, there’s no hope…
When I studied abroad, I biked. The first time was in Switzerland. After hitting the slopes for a day, and falling and falling and falling, I decided to switch from ski to bicycle the next morning. A bike shop stood adjacent to our hostel, largely unnoticed and unused. It was February. A light snow fell and temperatures hovered in the upper 30s at best, yet biking sounded like the right idea.
Unlike running, my exercise of choice, biking feels like the same activity I loved as a kid. My mind wanders much easier, and I don’t exert myself to the limits of pain. Biking is still a “fun” activity. Continue reading
Because sometimes you just want friends to tell you about cool things… the Brew House team offers up its weekly mix of author-supported goodness.
A certain segment of the population knows Lena Dunham as the New York-bred, tattooed creator and protagonist of the HBO series “Girls”. But I, myself, must admit I’ve never seen an episode of the ultra-trendy (and maybe sort of controversial*) series. (Blame my schedule and lack of an HBO subscription.) Continue reading
Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
The other night I saw The Five-Year Engagement with a friend at Dallas’ Valley View Mall. Including us, there were six people in the theater for the beginning of the movie. By the end, a seventh joined. He was presumably an employee, a teenager who decided to sneak in as part of a self-made double-feature (the best kind), or Jason Segel, who had arrived for an intimate post-film Q&A. Based on a lingering suspicion in the back of my mind that this man was wearing a trench coat and accidentally stumbled into a real movie instead of an adult movie, I determined the Segel option to be the most unlikely.
Also, this was Valley View Mall, the only building in Dallas that has actually been placed on the state list of missing persons. Continue reading
Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
Because sometimes you just want friends to tell you about cool things… the Brew House team offers up its weekly mix of author-supported goodness.
Technology: The NPR App
I’m still new to the IPhone. I’m still learning about all the cool secrets, like how to operate the camera in a non-moronic way, and I don’t even use Siri all that much.* I know my apps, though.
*In fact, I only use Siri when I’m messing around and ask her something like, “Where can I score some drugs?” Pretty funny!!
I have Flixster, AroundMe, TVFoodMaps, ATP/WTA Live and, among others, the NPR app. This is probably not groundbreaking, but the best app, to me, is the NPR app. You can listen to a livestream of any NPR station in the country. You can listen to snippets of their latest stories on demand, or some of their older ones. You can listen to podcasts.
Well, it’s been forever. The story goes that Mark and I used to sporadically update the Brew House with an edition of “List Mania” — an ode to former Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski, who famously wrote lists until one day, many years ago, he wrote a column saying he would never list again…
For the past year or so, there’s been very little listing around these parts. And that changes today. The era of gimmicky lists and random thoughts is back. And the listing baton has been passed. So here goes…
The summery, lamb phase of the spring has arrived. Brunch will be served at outdoor tables. Someone will actually buy a Bartles and Jaymes beverage. Tops will come off convertibles and spray-tanned meatheads. And I will begin wearing jerseys, Champion replica NBA jerseys and Starter replica NCAA jerseys, mainly those of obscure players, like Kerry Kittles, and teams, like the Nets, who I care nothing about, because I dress like a hoopster.
Deadspin began cataloguing the emergence of this cultural fashion movement two years ago when it ran pictures under the tag “Look At This Fucking Hoopster.” After Lollapalooza, they featured a photo gallery of many a hipster rocking a jersey. The New York Times then ran one of their Style-section trend stories about hoopsters, which prompted Deadspin to announce that the trend was over.
For me, it was never over and still isn’t. I may dress like one, but I’m not a hoopster. I’m original. I didn’t just wear the jerseys, I wore them with my yellow Guatemalan shorts or nylon warmup pants, sometimes with a head band, and I have the clear-cut, non-sepia-tinged random tight pic from a 2006 night out to prove it. And yes, that is a Clippers warm-up jersey atop the St. John’s jersey.
Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
This week: “I’ve Got Your Number” — Passion Pit, from the EP, “Chunk of Change“ [Pitchfork Review here]
Last week, the quintet from Cambridge, Mass., finally announced a follow-up to 2009’s “Manners”. It’s called “Gossamer”. It comes out July 24. And yes, it promises to be hipster friendly.
The Brew House 