Foto Fridays – Best Of 2012 – Music Festivals

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405, 5, Aaron Bruno, adidas, Adidas Superstar, ALLEN STONE, Alternative, Amtrack, ANDREW BIRD, ANIMAL KINGDOM, Atlanta, Avcii, AWOLNATION, Azalea Banks, •ALABAMA SHAKES, •AMADOU & MARIAM, •ANTIBALAS, •BOMBA ESTEREO, •CITY AND COLOUR, •FUN., •JOVANOTTI, •MIMOSA, •OF MONSTERS AND MEN, •SHARON VAN ETTEN, •TAME IMPALA, •THE WALKMEN, •TRAMPLED BY TURTLES, •WASHED OUT, •WOLFGANG GARTNER, •YACHT, BART, Beats By Dre, BECK, Beer Lands, Big Boi, BIG GIGANTIC, BIRDYH, BLOC PARTY, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Blue Lines Coachella Weekend 2012, Bon Iver, Bromance, CA, California, CAVEMAN, Coachella, Coachella 2012, Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Comedy, concert, CORY CHISEL AND THE WANDERING SONS, Dabs Myla, David Grohl, DIE ANTWOORD, DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, DISPATCH, Do Lab, DR. DOG, Dr. Dre, dubstep, Earth Day, ELECTRIC GUEST, Empire Polo Club, End, Explosions In The Sky, FATHER JOHN MISTY, Feist, Festival, FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS, Foo Fighters, Foto Fridays, FRANZ FERDINAND, FUTUREBIRDS, Gary Clark Jr., GEOGRAPHER, Golden Gate, Golden Gate park, GRANDADDY, gravel, Haight Ashbury, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, iMovie, Indio, INFANTREE, Instagram, Intel Outside, iPhone, iPhone 4S, iPhone Post, iPhone4s, iPhoneagraphy, iPhoneography, JACK WHITE, Jerseys, Jukebox the Ghost, JUSTICE, Key Yemaya Walker, Lands End Stage, Last Time, Little Dragon, Live Music, Los Angeles, Love, Marraige, Marta, Metallica, MICHAEL KIWANUKA, MSTRKRFT, Muni, music, Music Festival, MW, Myla, Myla Watson, National Basketball Association, NBA, NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE, Norah Jones, Norcal, Northern California, Occupy Coachella, ONE MusicFest, ONEY ISLAND SWAMP BAND, Outside Lambs, Panhandle Stage, PAPA, Park, PASSION PIT, Photography, Portugal. The Man, Proposal, Radiohead, Raise Your Weapon, REBELUTION, REGGIE WATTS, REGINA SPEKTOR, Richmond, Ricky Watts, Roadtrip, rock, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Francisco Outside Lands, San Francisco Outside Lands 2012, Santigold, SBTRKT, SEAN HAYES, Seek Bromance, Shutte, SIGUR ROS, Skrillex, Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Socal, Southern California, Stevie Wonder, Straits, Sutro Stage, TANLINES, Tennis, THE BE GOOD TANYAS, The Black Keys, The Grande Wheel, THE KILLS, THE M MACHINE, THEE OH SEES, Tim Berg, TOM MORELLO: THE NIGHTWATCHMAN, Train, Truth, Tupac, Tupac Hologram, Tupac Shakur, Twin Peaks Stage, TWO GALLANTS, UN Square, Vacation, WALLPAPER., Wedding, WHITE DENIM, Wine Lands, YELLOW OSTRICH, ZOLA JESUS

A “Best of… Foto Fridays” Essay of 2012’s Music Festival travels.
2012 Ranking:
1) Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA)
2) Music Midtown (Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA)
3) Outside Lands: Music, Food, Wine, Beer, Art (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA)

A combination of Porta-Potties, Hot sun, VIP Showers, compressed hot bodies, cold, fog, band reunions, amazing covers, crowd surfing, 90’s classics, dirt, dubstep, car camping, road trips, bad artist scheduling, vacation, plane flights, MARTA, BART, gravel, fun!
A super-hot weekend in the California desert where NBA Basketball jerseys seemed to be the uniform, water was the best thing, and music was unbelievable. Enjoy.

Coachella Music And Arts Festival, Weekend 2 2012

Overhead view from “The Wheel.”

Alarm Clock…HOT!!!

The weekend’s boarding.

Foto Friday – San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music + Art Festival 2012 – Photo Essay

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adidas, Adidas Superstar, ALLEN STONE, Alternative, Amtrack, ANDREW BIRD, ANIMAL KINGDOM, Atlanta, •ALABAMA SHAKES, •AMADOU & MARIAM, •ANTIBALAS, •BOMBA ESTEREO, •CITY AND COLOUR, •FUN., •JOVANOTTI, •MIMOSA, •OF MONSTERS AND MEN, •SHARON VAN ETTEN, •TAME IMPALA, •THE WALKMEN, •TRAMPLED BY TURTLES, •WASHED OUT, •WOLFGANG GARTNER, •YACHT, BECK, Beer Lands, Big Boi, BIG GIGANTIC, BIRDYH, BLOC PARTY, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, CAVEMAN, Comedy, CORY CHISEL AND THE WANDERING SONS, Dabs Myla, Dave Groh, DIE ANTWOORD, DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, DISPATCH, DR. DOG, ELECTRIC GUEST, End, Explosions In The Sky, FATHER JOHN MISTY, FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS, Foo Fighters, Foto Fridays, FRANZ FERDINAND, FUTUREBIRDS, GEOGRAPHER, Golden Gate, Golden Gate park, GRANDADDY, Haight Ashbury, Hip-Hop, Indio, INFANTREE, Instagram, Intel Outside, iPhone, iPhone 4S, iPhone4s, iPhoneagraphy, iPhoneography, JACK WHITE, Jukebox the Ghost, JUSTICE, Key Yemaya Walker, Lands End Stage, Last Time, Live Music, Los Angeles, Love, Marraige, Metallica, MICHAEL KIWANUKA, MSTRKRFT, Muni, music, Music Festival, MW, Myla, Myla Watson, NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE, Norah Jones, Norcal, Northern California, ONE MusicFest, ONEY ISLAND SWAMP BAND, Outside Lambs, Panhandle Stage, PAPA, Park, PASSION PIT, Photography, Portugal. The Man, Proposal, REBELUTION, REGGIE WATTS, REGINA SPEKTOR, Richmond, Ricky Watts, rock, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Francisco Outside Lands, San Francisco Outside Lands 2012, Santigold, SEAN HAYES, Shutte, SIGUR ROS, Skrillex, Socal, Southern California, Stevie Wonder, Straits, Sutro Stage, TANLINES, Tennis, THE BE GOOD TANYAS, THE KILLS, THE M MACHINE, THEE OH SEES, TOM MORELLO: THE NIGHTWATCHMAN, Train, Truth, Twin Peaks Stage, TWO GALLANTS, UN Square, WALLPAPER., Wedding, WHITE DENIM, Wine Lands, YELLOW OSTRICH, ZOLA JESUS

San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival is one that combines music, food and arts into a weekend playing out at Golden Gate Park.

Based on last year’s lineup, it was virtually a no brainer. This year’s lineup, though, included headliners who were more established and had decades of success. Stevie Wonder rounded out a group including Metallica, and Neil Young. The major highlight was Foo Fighters Friday performance on the Land’s End stage, where they performed Aurora, from the 1999 album There Is Nothing To Lose. Dave Grohl stated that they performed it especially for Outside Lands, and it was speculated that they added it to their setlist due to the recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado. Again, Foo Fighters were the shining star of the weekend, spending time listening to my favorite band for the first time, with a fave.

Using Coachella as a measuring stick, the pros were definitely the cooler weather, though by Sunday night the fog easily made one glad that the event was ending. The app was definitely better, and the spacing of the stages was tremendously better than Coachella, where I remember rocking to The Black Keys on the Coachella Stage, and during breaks in play, I heard Explosions In The Sky (who I got to see at OLF) playing on the Outdoor Theatre which was steps away. Only two stages (Twin Peaks Stage and the Panhandle Stage) closely bordered each other at OLF. However, the sets that neatly fit between the hours of 12 noon until 10 left you wanting for more, and the commute back and forth was taxing, as opposed to walking back to your tent and crashing.

Coachella’s car camping, and sets that ran well into the wee hours of the night, morning…take your pick, were a definite added bonus. Also, the diversity of Coachella’s acts compared to Outside Lands 2012 were a bonus that ranked Coachella higher. Other than a sprinkling of Atlanta’s (yeah) Big Boi (likely making up his set from 2011) and a lack luster Santigold set (she killed her set at Coachella in the heat with her energy, but she has me NOT anticipating her Atlanta debut next month), most other acts were similar in genre and nothing really separated the acts.

Listening to people I ran into after the festival, who had been to Coachella, Outside Lands, Bonaroo, and some others, they were not as high on this year’s OLF, due to the lineup, length of show, and the crowds (that they said were the biggest they had seen) though reports said after a certain point fans rushed the entrances and jumped the gates (which would explain why people were running/pushing there way through the crowds.

I cannot rate the festival, simply because on this level, I have been to two, and with the exception of the Foo Fighters, I had seen Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, and Metallica in their own shows prior to this festival.

I am glad that I was able to enjoy the festival. Would I go again, and go without knowing the lineup, yeah, I’d do it, hopefully it will mirror 2011 more than 2012. Just change some of the particulars to better fit the fun.

Outside Lands Music Festival

The walk to Golden Gate Park through Haight Ashbury.

New 30 Day Song Challenge – Day 29 – Artist You Wish Were Still Alive – The Notorious B.I.G. – “Sky’s The Limit”

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Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Brooklyn, C. Wallace, Christopher, Christopher George Latore Wallace, Christopher Wallace, college, Day 29, Grandfather, Key Yemaya Walker, Life After Death, music, MW, Myla, Myla Watson, Myla Wyndham, New 30 Day Song Challenge, New York, Sky's The Limit, The Notorious B.I.G., Tower Records

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

New 30 Day Song Challenge – Day 20 – Song That Reminds You Of Someone – Feist – “Intuition” Live

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30 Day Song Challenge, Acoustic, Air Canada Centre, Amherst, Arts & Crafts, Atlanta, banjo, baroque pop, Ben Mink, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Blue Lines Coachella Weekend 2012, California, Canada, Cherrytree, Coachella, Coachella 2012, Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, drums, Feist, Georgia, Gonzales, guitar, Indie pop, indie rock, Interscope, Intuition, Key Yemaya Walker, Leslie Feist, live, Mocky, music, musician, MW, Myla, New 30 Day Song Challenge, Nova Scotia, piano, Renaud Letang, Sacramento, Song that reminds you of someone, songwriter, The Reminder, Toronto, Vocals

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

What I Learned Sundays 4/29/2012 – Interruptions, Family, Coachella…

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2Pac, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Blue Lines Coachella Weekend 2012, Bon Iver, California, Coachella, Coachella 2012, Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Desert, Dr. Dre, emotions, Feist, Georgia, Hot, Indio, Key Yemaya Walker, Little Black Submarines, Los Angeles, Love, MW, Myla, Photography, Pinks Hot Dogs, Radiohead, Sacramento, SBTRKT, Skinny Love, Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, The Black Keys, Tupac, Tupac Shakur, UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Warren G, What I Learned Sundays

This is a post that had been postponed be real events in real life for quite some weeks. Planned previously, but life changed that. Losing (figuratively) a loved family member, and regaining them back. Communication is key, along with understanding who we are as people.

I stood there, singing along to Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love,” feeling things that I shouldn’t have. A song that should have stood alone, and again, like always, I knew…something. The dark night engulfed me (us)…and the world became more real, as it always will.

Coachella Good, Bad and Ugly:
– Amazed to go to my first Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
– The design allows for some music to cannibalize the artists (ie During The Black Keys, Explosions In The Sky’s set flooded the lower volume sets and breaks between music.)
– The artist selection was amazing.
– Sharing the experience was great, especially since I planned to go solo.
– Camping was an experience within itself, though I was told, “This isn’t real camping.” I’ll accept that.

Foto Fridays – 2011 Year In Review – Photos (Smudge and Rainy Canvas) – Prose (“To The Individual” and “Twin”)

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2011 Year In Review, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Charley S., Foto Fridays, Key Yemaya Walker, Letter, MW, Myla, New York, Nude, Photography, photoshop, poetry, Prose, Rainy Canvas, Smudge, To The Individual, Twin

Foto Fridays may have been my most inconsistent post this year, in so far as publishing regularly. At some point this year, it evolved into a photograph with accompanying poetry. Here are my two favorites from this year, in this category.

“To The Individual”
KS 7/11

We sat over coffee,
Your face still radiant as you gazed,
You had a smile I had never seen,
A joy I did not remember,
How did we get here,
…it’s not the touch,
…not the want,
…not the fears…gone,
…not the choice,
It just was,
Your hair waved,
I was at a loss for words,
I smiled and sipped the lukewarm coffee,
Your long elegant fingers pressed forward,
A tattered envelope, frayed by time,
“I kept it,” you confessed,
In my handwriting it began…
…”to the individual who is reading this…”

Twin
K.S. 6/24/11
You were born in my mind,
Twins sharing the same thoughts,
Our era was the same time,
Our likes are the same likes,
Our vices are the same vices,

When I look at my own reflection, I see you…twin…coincidence,

You were cut from my cloth,
Our pattern was drawn up time ago,
From it there were two,
Joined at mind and thought,
With the mold destroyed after we were complete,

What I Learned Sundays in the Year 2011 Year In Review – Alchemy

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2011, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, California, Death, family, Georgia, Kat Goduco, LA Dodgers, Los Angeles, Love, Memphis, MW, Myla, New York, Pain, Prince, Sacramento, Tennessee, The Alchemist, What I Learned Sundays, Year In Review

“…he remembered when he had been here…”
Being grounded, and focused on singular goals, one tends to find complacency in familiarity, accepting the same thing as part of their daily routine. Before I continue, I provincially was going to title this post something provincial like California, the California Version, etc. but then realized that in totality, that would devalue the meaning of this entire years’ adventure.

In many ways, this year was a self discovery travelling the circuitous path from something that I had before me as the clock struck 12:01, cigar in tow, texting the world. I had no idea what was in store, the happiness, the heart break, the gains, the loss, the love, the understanding, the maturity, the betrayal, the failure, the success. In 2011, I was able to destroy the template that was placed in front of me, and rebuild something new, take a veritable step out onto a limb, though, not as much as some, but much more than most.

2011 was full of new beginnings, new faces, and a journey to a place I had known. The alchemy of taking the previous version of myself, melting it down, and creating something new and different. Being a planner, I tried to return to my bearings, as I began the first steps of the year.

Once upon a time there was a boy who lived. He saw his story, and then his story was interrupted by a young girl. He knew he loved her when he met her, love at first sight. Funny thing, in a different time, with different sensibilities, different respects, their story did not match the path that he wanted. Young when children knew everything, yet veritably nothing, living and life would have been “missed” at that time.

What I Learned Sundays (Mondays) – Quantity vs Quality

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2011, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Friend, Friendship, Georgia, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Los Angeles, Love, MW, Myla, Myla Watson, Relationship, Sacramento, San Francisco, travel, What I Learned Sundays, writing

Oddly, this idea entered my mind, and changed my simplistic plan for this week’s WILS. In prepping a post that I’m working on to wrap up the year, I thought of a friend, and the work that she gave me that is the blueprint of what I’m working on in many ways.

I also thought of another friend, and the dynamic of the relationship as it relates to both of these two. One is a longtime friend, easily one of my best friends, that we hit it off from the beginning, yet the time of our friendship has easily helped further develop the quality of said relationship. This relationship, easily would follow the standard progression of the time and quality strengthening over the years. We can speak about anything, and she easily knows everything about me.

In thinking of my aforementioned friend, I can say that we have known each other for some time, yet the quality of said relationship, is amazingly unrelated to the time we’ve known each other. Though strong, the relationship is diametrically different, where we would seek each other out, and offer support, advice, and ideas to each other. Amazingly, this year, our paths have crossed each other on the extreme sides of this country, both in person and in communication. But more importantly, they crossed when they needed too. Sharing messages, when they were needed, even stories, or parables even, making us take a look at our decisions, and deciding whether the paths in our respective lives truly matched up to our wants and needs, rather than settling for something that may be before us. A poignant post we discussed while I sat happy and weary in Sacramento, and she, based in Los Angeles, was on the line with me in Atlanta.

Shell Toe Thursdays – Modeling My Red Suede (R5) x Blue Stripe Adicolor W’bbed Out from iPhone

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adicolor, adidas, Birthday, Blue Lines, California, Denim Adicolor Shell Toes, K-Swiss, Kenneth A Suffern Jr, Key Yemaya Walker, Modeled, MW, Myla, Myla Watson, R5, Sacramento

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

What I Learned Sundays – A Few Words

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Blue Lines, Cousin, Key Yemaya Walker, Mother, MW, Myla, What I Learned Sundays

Simple,
-I love my nieces (and nephews) and my two youngest nieces have soo much personality that just shows through their actions/pics/etc.
-The Conversations my Mother and I have, continue to amaze me.
-You are definitely the best. I’m glad you understand what I’m saying now…Cuzzo.
-I need some kind of rest…
-Believe in me (Cuzzo & Bestie) it’s great to know you can believe in someone, and believing in somone means believing you can know whether you win or lose.
-Regardless of what one thinks, you can like, love, whatever…if she’s not ready, you can leave the door open, but you also live your own life. You have to be willing to lose, and/or be wrong too.
-If you have to prove your friendship to me, think about it.
-We’re living full lives apart…very full, makes sense to…
-Proud.
-I amaze myself sometimes.
-Keep laughing, I like it…it’s cute.
-Joi Gilliam is great.
-Praise and thanks are not my strong suit, I just believe in treating people right. I’m happy for YOU, and YOU made me blush OK. Congrats again.

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.