Feb 05 2010
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Prom 2010. Más fotos acá: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qzen/sets/72157623357304340/
Feb 04 2010
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HOME
I’ve been thinking about home a lot lately. Not necessarily my home in San Francisco, a place that will always be my home, but what makes home, a home, my home. I was supposed to have headed back to SF by now, having set myself up for only three months away, and I have decided to extend my travels, settling into a new home in Buenos Aires for the time being. I had the good fortune to stumble into the opportunity of renting a family’s city flat (they live in the country), and I don’t live in a neighborhood full of foreigners anymore. I am set to experience a new level of this city, my temporary home.
Or do I carry my home with me? I am considering where I want to make my home, what makes sense for me and my goals, professional and personal. San Francisco is a place populated mostly by those who’ve come from elsewhere, who find it liberating and accepting of all their freaky ways. I grew up in that, stewed in that for 30 years. Whenever I complained about home in the past, my father’s response was, “Can I help it if you were born in the best place on earth?”
What I miss most are the living things: my nephews, growing up so fast, as children do, my cats, my furry companions, my family and friends, trusted and known, relationships cured by time, and then my tools, my speakers, my external monitors. Heh. And the ocean, of course. Whenever I’ve lived far from it, I dream of the ocean. And I think of the view from my fantastic apartment downtown. I was able to peak at The Bay from my window, such a score that apartment was when I found it, my private tower.
Yet, I survive without the constant influence of these things, and my own desires are louder here. Perhaps it’s time to move from the place I’ve called home, make the move towards liberation and acceptance of my freaky ways elsewhere… For now, I’ve found a new home in Argentina, populated by just me and my computer, my primary tool. There’s really nowhere to run from myself here, so the task of facing all my less beautiful parts is upon me. Sure, I can surround myself with others, chase new experiences, fall into observer-mode with my limited vocabulary, but when I come home at night (or in the morning, as the case may be)… I’m alone again. And I guess, really, that’s home.
Jan 29 2010
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Old Edit & New Mix
I’m finally getting into my soundcloud usage a tad more. If you’re not aware of the service, it’s fantastic for sharing music files (both in the here-listen-to-this-sense and in making them available for download), as well as receiving feedback (which is always nice). Kiiiiiiiinda of like a youtube for music. Kind of.
Anyway, in the last week, I’ve put up another recent DJ set of mine from here in Buenos Aires for streaming and a disco re-edit my girl Alona and I made back in 2008 for download. I’m going to start looking through my old edits to see if there’s anything else I can share. For now, enjoy!
Jan 26 2010
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Heartbreak’s Slow Action Remix of Simian Mobile Disco. Been playing his minimal dub version in my DJ sets, but this is a jam!
Jan 23 2010
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Scion, yup the car company that’s been such a supporter of electronic music with its Scion A/V label, is now launching the V part — video! Among the list of collaborations announced, I was excited to see two artists I know from the Bay Area had worked together. Michoacan is a fierce musical talent, local to the south bay, whom I discovered through a 12” that’s still in my bag frequently. AC/AC is a visual artist who also threw some wicked disco-y parties in SF called Donuts before moving to Los Angeles a year or two ago. I love when worlds collide into beautiful art.
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Wonderful what you can gain by letting go.
Jan 22 2010
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The California dream is dead. Long live the California dream.
My besty here in Argentina just sent me this article, thinking I’d find it interesting, and she’s right. Although I am a product of private education and parents who found a way to afford it, I am a Californian through-and-through, therefore a believer that one can achieve whatever she sets her heart to. Reading about the education budget cuts makes me tsk-tsk over the state of my home state (not to mention the whole Prop 8 fiasco), for I too believe that education is the key to getting what you want. (In fact, I feel I am living the dream right now in large part to the skills and knowledge my education provided me.) Although Argentina has a great, free public education system in place, the US… we have so much access to information and education! I do not know how to begin to encourage those who have access and aren’t taking advantage of it to do so, nor how to provide access to all the children and adults in need, nor how to really address this gap between have and have-nots. But by god, I hope we figure it out — as a nation! The phrase that comes to mind is “with great power comes great responsibility.” Long live the California dream indeed.
Jan 20 2010
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Jeff Antebi was in Haiti as a photojournalist recently and a selection of his work is currently available through Stolen Space, a London gallery, in signed, limited-edition prints of 150. Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam, both working tirelessly in Haiti right now, will benefit from the sales. I came in contact with Jeff while working at iTunes and was initially surprised to learn of his talent as a photographer. You can find more of Jeff’s work from Afghanistan, Juarez, Brazil, and more at jeffantebi.com. Click-through the photo above to see the prints available from Stolen Space. They’re a good reminder of where your money’s going.
Jan 18 2010
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I’m alive! And I mean that in so many ways. Been taking a break from blogging about my life to just live it, and now there are so many things to share, I’ll just have to spill what I can…
First up, the end of 2009. As you know, I was invited to play in Bariloche. Suffice it to say, I spent 19-hours on a bus to end up in… Tahoe! Haha, it reminded me so much of Tahoe, it was crazy to think I was halfway across the planet! It was wonderful to be amidst the lakes and mountains and trees, however, and Maya & I found a great Mexican restaurant in town, enabling us to fill our tums with home-style cooking. (Yes, I know I grew up in San Francisco and not Mexico, but/therefore Mexican food is what I grew up eating.) Our last day in town, we took motorcycles to find waterfalls with some new friends, and I do wish I’d spent more time out of the center. I so dislike tourist traps. All in all, however, it was a great trip, and some very interesting things have resulted from it — like my new apartment!
Just this past weekend, I moved to Nuñez, a different neighborhood full of locals and their children. I’m living alone again, which feels great, and I’m sure Maya is also happy to have her own space again. (We both lived alone in the states.) I don’t consider the fact that we’ve separated any kind of failure. If anything, it’s a testament to our friendship that we were able to share a one-bedroom with no doors for two months with as little fighting as we did!
The flat, called a PH here, is the city home of the family of one of the new friends I made in Bariloche. The family lives in the country, and none of the kids are using this place right now, so I’m renting it for the next few months while I’m here. It’s pretty magical how it came into my life, and I started to look for other options and then figured that was silly… I have the opportunity to live in a family home, and it’s full of heart; you can feel it. It’s also got a ceiling fan (love those), terrace with plants, a piano, lovely colors on the walls inside and out… and a neighbor-kitty! It’s nice to be home.
I’ve had a ton of friends come through town in the last month, and it was wonderful to see them all and play ambassador a bit. Annie is one of my closer friends in San Francisco, and it was great to discuss love and life with someone who really knows me. I feel solid about my future plans now, and I’m starting to take some action for some big moves in 2010!
Professionally, things are really coming together well. I played at Cocoliche, which is the king of the undergrounds here, earlier this month, and in fact, you can find a part of my set up on my Soundcloud account: http://www.soundcloud.com/qzen. I played at Niceto again this past weekend, which is the same venue where I played for MUTEK, but this was a much different experience controlling that big room and sound system as a DJ. I truly love my job. I will post the part of my set that I have recorded from there on Soundcloud soon. I also finished my first remix, which was well-received by the band it was for, and it should be released this coming June.
I’m going to end there for now and let the photos speak for themselves. More soon! Two lots of photos up for this one entry:
