Feeling like the Tu Pac to Your Biggie....

Jules...

ESWS misses your sweet literary voice. Would ya come back? It's all West with out the East. I’m really feeling all the resentment and pain from the Hip Hop era circa 1995. Is that what this is about? I thought we put that behind us. So for inspiration, I'm posting some recent pics of us when we did indeed live on the same coast. This was before I made the long journey West my dear friend. We were so carefree back then, weren't we? Ah yes, High School reunions, parties in Brooklyn Heights, steeple chases in NJ, hanging out with your brothers friends on the veranda in Westfield until the wee hours of the morning. We had it all in the palm of our hands, without the sweet appreciation of what was transpiring...true greatness.

Julia O’Shea Donohue, ESWS wants you back in game. I hope you heed the call...

Love your oldest, & dearest, friend,
Jillian Kathryn Carty a.ka. JKC

Julie can hear me? Julie can you see me?

A little throw back to Yental. I know how much you love that movie!! Juls me love, haven’t heard from ya. So I’m jumping in for a quick chime in. As you know me and my dear sis Melissa, took a ride up the coast over Memorial Day weekend. It’s so nice to know that Cali has all of this wonderful scenery. I say good day to the LA, ‘ello to Northern Cali. So long smog, silicon boobs, road rage and hello to gorgeous scenery, laid back atmosphere, and people who actually eat and drink and all of these things (lingo courtesy of my esteemed governator – Arnold). So our journey started in LA, then we drove up the coast to Santa Barbara. We stayed there for the evening at the Hotel Oceana. We a dinner reservation at this great tapas place called Sevilla. It was delic. Then we went from class to karaoke at this dive bar on the main strip there. A perfect transition yes? We saw a midget sing the Stones, Sympathy for the Devil. I wish I had a picture, but we felt bad about obviously documenting the scene. We sang a few tunes as well. Many tunes, since the place was not packed, we got up five times. I kept changing our name as the night progressed. First it was Jill C & Melis C. Then it was J&M. It ended up as Jlovin and MGets. We definitely got our fix.


We got up in on Sat morning and headed up the coast to Monterey. That drive was beautiful! In Monterey we stayed at this great pace called The Monterey Plaza Hotel for two nights. I felt like we were a bit young for the place, which was funny. The only people we bonded with were the bell boys who wanted to take us out on the town. I think they were 18, so we politely declined! There we gorged ourselves on amazing food and wine plus some spa treatments.

On Sun we explored Monterey and also took a day trip to Carmel which was right next to Monterey. We ate this amazing place call
Casanova’s. It was adorable and we drank mimosas and had an amazing brunch. So yum.

On way back to LA we hit the Hearst Castle and pretended that we were Hearst’s guests in the 20’s, well the tour guide did. She kept mentioning how the guest would sip cocktails here and there. I really think they should served us a few to get in the mood. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics. Here’s the link courtesy of Frommer’s that inspired our journey:
Up the Coast in a Week

Miss ya, wanna hear from ya, need to get an east coast fix…can you help momma out?

I'm Going-Going, Back-Back to Cali-Cali.....

JOSD - A quickie for ya me lass. A guy at work sent this to me and I have to share. This sum-ups life in LA. This is really a shining moment for West Coast creativity. Enjoy.

BTW - Need to check on that radio station. Love the Indie revival. Remember 106.3 in Eatontown, home of a pre-MTV Matt Pinfield? Featured in the first Real World with Andre from Reigndance? Sigh. There is amazing station in LA, that we have discussed, Indie 103.1. I believe at the ESWS conference 2007, we might have listened to it in our travels. I've heard Lush, Catherine Wheel, Happy Mondays, Pixes, Ride… the list goes on! You would love. It's a nice combo of new & old indie music. It’s really complete throw-back to watching 120 Minutes before we snuck out of your house to swim, drink cheap whisky, and dodge bats at Tara Swersie's house. Running from the Cops was a good time. Ah memories.

For sure, right-on, namaste,
Jill

Radio Goo Goo...Radio Ga Ga

Jill!!! I love it! You were sucked in by the power that is The Flip Cup! I too have surrenderd to that minx...so fun! My experience was during my clerkship and we had a softball game against the judges at the end of the summer. After the game the clerks started a game of flip cup...I was surprisingly good?! I used Twisted Tea (Don't judge...its delic!) and became the anchor of my team. Don't be ashamed...shhhh shhhh...it's ok...hush....Didn't Leslie have a quaters tournament in college?! I think I remember her saying they had t-shirts! I love that!

Oh and yes, "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" reminds me of you too! I need to put that on me i-tunes. Wonder what that recording session was like with J.Le and E.Jo? Was that song made during Lennon's "lost weekend" in LA when he split with Yoko for a bit? I will have to ask Will about that one. Check out this live at Madison Square Garden November of 1974 YouTube video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuVCc6Vat8U&feature=related

Speaking of great music, I was driving to work the other day and was flipping through radio stations because my normal NPR listen was practically making me drive off the road (yawn)...I happened to catch one of my all time favorite songs "Vapour Trail" (I'm not trying to be pretensious...they are Brits) by Ride! Who the hell plays that on the radio?!! I was thrilled of course and was trying to figure out why it was on. Sometimes I can catch good songs near Easton and Allentown because there are a lot of colleges there...but at this point I was pretty far into NJ. Turns out it is a station from Seattle called KEXP. There are plans for KEXP to somewhat merge with WNYE which is a public radio station out of NYC...hence why I heard it...read below from Wikipedia for further detail:

In August of 2007, it was learned that station management of a New York City public radio station, WNYE, was planning a radical overhaul of their programming, moving to an all music format. The plans, detailed in a February 11 2008 press release, are to partner with KEXP, and move to a simulcast and music format branded as "Radio Liberation."

On 24 March 2008, KEXP DJ John Richards'(a.k.a., John in the Morning) broadcast was heard on 91.5 FM in New York City for the first time as part of Radio Liberation. Radio Liberation is the collaboration between KEXP and Radio New York (91.5 FM) ) to introduce NY listeners to more independent music. The collaboration will simulcast one part of KEXP’s original broadcasting and three originally produced programs. John Richards’ morning show is the only program that will be simulcast on the dial in both Seattle and NYC. The other programs (Wake Up, Music That Matters, and Mo’Glo) will be produced specifically for Radio New York, but not available to Seattle or online listeners.

According to the Radio Liberation microsite, “this partnership makes it possible for KEXP to reach another 14 million terrestrial listeners in New York.” KEXP has a long-standing relationship with New York, broadcasting live from there a couple times a year. In addition to information about the project, the microsite includes a list of NY concert events, Song of the Day Podcasts, and album reviews.

Additionally, "beginning this June, John Richards will split time between Seattle and New York, broadcasting his show live from both locations throughout the year."

John Richards, who frequently creates playlists based on themes opened the first Radio Liberation broadcast with the following songs:
Pixies “Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)” (his self professed favorite band)
Harvey Danger “Pike St./Park Slope” (Seattle band singing about Seattle and Brooklyn)
Death Cab for Cutie “Marching Bands of Manhattan” (NYC reference)


The show I actually heard was John in the Morning and it was fantastic. Really wonderful mix. It made my drive to work soooooooo much better AND introduced me to new bands AND reminded me of some old favorites. The man's favorite band is the Pixies!!! Need I say more?!

If near the New York area-you can tune in to 91.5. If not in the area (Jill!) you can go to their website to hear (it is streamed online)! Plus they list John in Morning's playlists! Such good stuff:

http://kexp.org/home.asp

Whatever Gets You Through the Night…

Hoolia – (A throw back to the Spanish pronunciation of your name)

Love the ESWS conference pictures. Rumor has it that the next conference will be held in London because one of our dearest friends, one Ms, Jessica Walsh, will be moving there in June. I’m laying the groundwork!

Firstly, I have a few developments from two weekends ago. I went to a BBQ in honor of Dan, my man’s, birthday. He shared the party with three other birthdays and one flip cup tournament. So I had no idea how one plays flip cup since I’m in my thirties now and drinking games should really be a thing of the past. I went to this party with the intention of not playing – with a “I’m not new, I’m 32, get used to it” sort of attitude. Then after a couple of beers, I signed up for the game. Dan and I were on separate teams which proved to work in my favor – because not only did I win one game, my team won the whole tournament! There were brackets and all. I was thrilled at first, but then a part of me died inside because I realized I was playing drinking games at 32. I still quite enjoyed being a champion and having the bragging rights over Dan. Here is the rundown of Flip cup courtesy of Wikipedia: Flip Cup. The pic above is from the World Series of Flip Cup, Cafe Wha? Thank god for Wikipedia and all of the accurate/important information that is housed on their site!

Secondly, I just watched one of the most suspenseful movies, The Mist, a Stephen King joint. The screenplay was written by Frank Darabont, the gentlemen who wrote the screenplay for Shawshank Repetition. This movie was so incredibility stressful. The performances were amazing. The movie took place in one location but it was still really compelling. After viewing the movie I really needed to do some intense yoga breathing! Om, shanti, shanti. The ending was so unbelievably heart wrenching. Not a feel good movie at all. If you would like me to tell you how it ends call me. Truly exhausting!! I can’t stop thinking about it. I blame your next-door neighbor who went on a date with Stephen King in the ‘70s. Maybe that’s what put him on such a dark path! For the record, I love Stephen King. He does have a really good sense of humor, according to his columns in EWeekly.

Thirdly, I was listening to my iPod at my gym in West La and John Lennon’s Whatever Gets You Through the Night came on. Yes, as you know this song reminds me of you. Specifically, it reminds me of us in my kitchen on Fairmont Ave, listening to 102.7 FM when it was classic rock, with.our Spanish text books on our head. I believe there was some creepy gyrating involved as well. Maybe we were trying to learn a al the Sue Rodihan method – by osmosis. Either way, our study methods were in question but the memory is a good one.

Love ya lots,
Juanita (My Spanish Name – full circle)

Ok I'll Stop Now...

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