They say Qzen's a feeling...

I entered a remix competition on Tracks & Fields...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:59:00 -0800

I entered a remix competition on Tracks & Fields for !K7. Herein find the Qzen Phantom Power Mix of Bomb the Bass’ “X-Ray Eyes.”

You see, it’s still pretty much summer here, and I’m...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:09:10 -0800

You see, it’s still pretty much summer here, and I’m heading into my third in a row with my plans to return to the northern hemisphere in May. To celebrate, I share with you the Fromage vs Knanky Fuckles edit of Watusi Band “Oi Gere.”

You can find info on the label, out of Australia, at myspace.com/lightspeedrecordings.

This is a magnified record groove. Click the photo for the...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:32:00 -0800

This is a magnified record groove. Click the photo for the feature, which includes what a magnified CD looks like. (Stark contrast!) - via djgblog, djoneman, abjekt

A nice little history of the amen break, humorously pressed to...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:29:00 -0800

A nice little history of the amen break, humorously pressed to and played off of a dubplate. Get to know!

Beautiful watercolors by Danni Shunya Luo.

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:04:00 -0800

Beautiful watercolors by Danni Shunya Luo.

Full-on inspiration!

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:20:00 -0800

Full-on inspiration!

Big fan of the new album by Danton Eeprom, out now on InFine...

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:57:36 -0800

Big fan of the new album by Danton Eeprom, out now on InFine Records, entitled “Yes Is More.” I was going to post the more song-based “Thanks For Nothing” or the single “Give Me Pain,” but this instrumental track sticks out to me and it echoes the slight melancholy of the rainy gray weather here today in Buenos Aires. Check the whole thing, though! (Oh, and the track’s called “Attila.” For some reason, that makes me think of a cat instead of a warrior. Ha!)

Less California Fog Could Mean Fewer Redwoods

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:38:52 -0800

Less California Fog Could Mean Fewer Redwoods:

Quick follow-up to my redwoods post from last week. ”Since 1901, the average hours a day of fog has declined from 56% to 42% and the temperature difference between the coast and the interior has ‘declined substantially’ the researchers say…” However, “‘as fog decreases, the mature redwoods along the coast are not likely to die outright, but there may be less recruitment of new trees. They will look elsewhere for water, high humidity and cooler temperatures.’”

Someday, I’ll be able to afford the fashion I love. Meet...

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:03:00 -0800

Someday, I’ll be able to afford the fashion I love. Meet Jen Kao.

I grew up close to these trees. Really close: one was planted...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:38:00 -0800

I grew up close to these trees. Really close: one was planted in my front yard the year I was born, and it grew taller than the 4-story house next door. Unfortunately, we had to slay it a few years ago… These trees grow in groves, with shallow roots holding hands under the soil, one of the reasons they can afford to grow so tall and not get knocked over by storms’ winds. As a lone soldier, its roots grew to clasp at whatever they could, including the not-so-nice neighbor’s pipes, and so its life had to come to an end, sadly.

I was able to experience the redwoods size and presence in person many times as I grew up; they are a calming symbol of home for me. When I went to Bariloche here in Argentina over the new year, I commented on how much it looked like California — but it lacked the redwoods! I have educated myself about these forests over the years, learning about their friendly root systems, how the trees can take in water through their leaves to hydrate themselves from the coastal fog, and about the threat of the logging industry. I hadn’t realized, however, that I was living near rainforest. My brother sent me this link to an NPR article that taught me more today, and so now I share that with you. (Read the whole transcript here or by clicking on the photo.)

“…California has rainforest in it. These are temperate rainforests where it doesn’t get too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer. Forest canopy scientists — the people who study the great green ocean over our heads — have largely focused on the tropical regions of the earth: the rainforest of the Amazon, for example, or Central America. It was always thought that that was where the most biodiversity was, and also because the tropical rainforests are so threatened by logging and burning and agriculture.

“Nobody had really paid any attention to the fact that North America also has rainforests that are also very threatened and are filled with biodiversity and biomass. [The] redwood rainforest has five to 10 times the biomass — that’s the sheer weight of living material — of say, deep tropical rainforest in the Amazon basin. Redwood rainforest is also anywhere from two to three times taller than tropical rainforest. But very little research has been done into them. We know precious little about what really exists in the air above California.”

The work of Conor Klein “this power-saving device, inspired by...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:07:00 -0800

The work of Conor Klein

“this power-saving device, inspired by the behaviour of a leech, physically disconnects consumer electronics from the outlet. once full of blood, a leech will simply fall of its host to digest. this product mimics the leeches inelegant yet efficient solution for over-consumption. it is hard to tell when electronics are or are not taking energy and many never stop taking energy if they are plugged in (e.g. cellphone chargers). this product solves that problem by using a timer circuit and electromechanics to eject its plug which disconnects your device from the wall outlet. once the plug falls out, all energy consumption stops and only resumes once the plug is inserted again.” - via justinbaum, hyperradiant

Turn your office paper into toilet paper!

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:38:09 -0800

Turn your office paper into toilet paper!

Prom 2010. Más fotos...

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:48:00 -0800

Prom 2010. Más fotos acá: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qzen/sets/72157623357304340/

HOME

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:04:54 -0800

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.

Old Edit & New Mix

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:01:00 -0800

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!

Heartbreak’s Slow Action Remix of Simian Mobile Disco....

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:10:00 -0800

Heartbreak’s Slow Action Remix of Simian Mobile Disco. Been playing his minimal dub version in my DJ sets, but this is a jam!

Scion, yup the car company that’s been such a supporter of...

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:07:24 -0800

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.

Wonderful what you can gain by letting go.

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:56:00 -0800

Wonderful what you can gain by letting go.

The California dream is dead. Long live the California dream.

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:57:00 -0800

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.

Jeff Antebi was in Haiti as a photojournalist recently and a...

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:36:46 -0800

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.