Icarus' Birthday!!

So, my dog turned one year old yesterday. I spent the day with him (after work of course) and took him to get a new toy and tried to get him an appointment at the doggie salon, but they were closed when I got there. I just wanted to get his nails clipped and maybe give him a bath. A girlfriend of a friend works there and she gave me a discount coupon. Instead we went next door and I got him the last toy airplane they had, a football sized squeaky toy that I've had my eye on for awhile, since Icarus' namesake is the son of flight. He grabbed it immediately. Finally a toy his size... he has quite overgrown his last couple toys. Icarus turning a year is like a milestone passing, since I got him as a "Welcome to Philly" present. Now that he is a year old it means I've almost been in this great city for an entire year! What a trip.

We went to the Seger Dog park and he ran around like a crazy wild animal. The weather was amazing so there were about 25 dogs there. He always riles the whole park up when he gets there, and he runs sooo fast. Summer is the season of new puppies, and I saw a lot of those including the cutest little rhodesian ridgeback pup. What was even more interesting to me was seeing the dogs that were last years pups! I saw a female rottweiler that Rus used to play with when they were both little. (She was a bit smaller than him at the time). Now they are the same size, except she is really bulky and Icarus is still thin. He won't gain mass for another year at least. And six months to a year before he finally kicks the puppy craziness and actually calms down enough to hang out.

However, after two hours at the park, and the mile walk home, he was pretty calm for the rest of the night, chewing on his airplane toy. Even at the park he gets tired faster than he did when he was younger. My little boy is growing up!

I would have posted about this yesterday.. but i had a major problem with my computer. My fault of course. I always have bad luck with electronics! Mike had to take the whole thing apart and soak components in alcohol. He fixed it, thank God, cuz he's a genius, but not before I had major freak out session about how i had destroyed my own computer. Well, I'm going to be freakishly safe with this thing now... you don't know what you have until you face the realization that you may never have it again.

Indonesia is awesome!

Of course I'm talking about the restaurant called Indonesia in Chinatown here in Philly, which I think they should call AsianRestaurantTown because they have a lot of different kinds of cuisine packed together into one area. From Chinese to Malaysian to Vietnamese to Indonesian to Thai... and the list goes on. On this particular occasion we were in a daring mood and wanted to try something new. Having never had Indonesian food, I was told it was similar to both Thai and Filipino food.

I am a HUGE fan of Thai (it's my favorite Asian food) and grew up on Filipino food, so I was really excited, especially after hearing and reading so many great reviews on the place. And to top it off, like most AsianRestaurantTown restaurants, it was cheap too!

We chose to do the full tastings menu, which includes soup, appetizer, 10 or so sample portions of entrees, and two different desserts! What I learned is that the Indonesians took the peanut sauce a step further than the Thai, and incorporated it into many different sauces, including a sweet sesame peanut sauce which was used in a fruit dessert. Their version of Chicken Satay had the best peanut sauce I have EVER HAD. I swear, me and Mike were going to town on that stuff, drizzling heaping spoons onto our rice. The shrimp was also good, in a red chile sweet-and-sour style sauce. However when I go back, I'm going straight for my own full portion on satay (or "sate" as they spell it).

Philadelphia is so full of so many great restaurants, it's no wonder when people move here they get what I call the "Philly pudge," which comes in real handy when temperatures drop to 15 degrees and you feel like your bones are frozen. That's when that extra layer of pudge really comes in handy. It's no wonder when you live in a city famous for two types of food with the word "cheese" in the name. If I've learned anything about my beloved city it is that people in philly love to eat.

RANT: People are driving me crazy!!!

I've been doing this customer service thing for way too long. I'm convinced it leads to anti-social behaviors which ultimately lead to a general dislike for the masses.

Typical behaviors I've noticed today from people that contribute to such things:

1. Name dropping & the elitist customer:
This pertains to all those who expect preferential treatment because "I've been shopping here for ___ years" or "I know the owner" or similar statements. Most of the time they don't really know anyone, and they probably haven't spent more than a hundred dollars in your store in the last year.

2. Know it alls who know nothing.
People who unleash their multitude of useless information, which generally leads to my understanding that they really don't know anything. In a record store this would be trying to explain a track with no words and using buzz words such as "hard" or "bumpin" which could explain pretty much anything in the store.

3. Complainers.
Those who complain about the music playing, the temperature of the store, the lack of whatever they are looking for in the store. I work here; i don't control everything. We can't please everyone!!

4. Time suckers.
People who take up all your time looking for something very specific but not being able to explain exactly what they want. They spend hours with you and end up buying nothing and leaving a mess for you to clean. I don't mind if you want to shop for hours and I don't mind helping you, but don't pretend to be the only focus of my whole day.

5. The low life.
Just wants to talk to you so he can find someway to get into your pants. Has no interest whatsoever in buying what you sell in your store.

6. The mother/father figure.
Pertains more to coffee shop work. Watches every step you do to ensure they are getting exactly what they want. Questions you on every step. Basically looks over your shoulder, asking, "is that decaf?" or "is that non-fat milk?" or similar questions. Don't tell me how to do my job, i already have a boss for that. I'm not stupid, you just heard us call the drinks out and write them on your cup!!

7. The freebie guy.
"What do you have that's free in here?"

8. The guy that expects you to be a directory for the entire city.
I can answer some questions about where certain things are, but if I don't know, these people give me an attitude. It helps to know the vicinity of where you are going, or the name of the place. I'm not 411, i'm not required to give you any information.

9. Competition inquiriers
"Do you know if _____ has what I'm looking for?"
What the hell, am I supposed to know the entire inventory of every store in the City that has similar products as us? Why don't you go there and check it out, or here's an idea: CALL THEM!!

10. Rude people.
The ones that want you to wait on them hand and foot, but still have no manners. They won't answer your greeting when they walk in. They won't make eye contact, and they won't smile. In some cases they can be overly rude with snide comments.

I think i need a desk job.

Summer

You know you're in for it when you leave the house at 5 am and you're already sweating. That was the case this morning when I mounted my bike and started toward job #1. Less than a mile away and I was already damp with sweat. People are crammed into the place demanding iced drinks and being overly crabby from the absolutely oppressive heat. I think it's hot but I don't let it affect how I treat people. I'm a chameleon... somewhat shy but able to adapt to my surroundings and blend in when I need to. The heat is honestly not as bad as I thought it would be here in the Northeast, even this week with the triple digit temperatures and humidity topping out in the high 80 percentile.

On to job #2. Gliding between cars on my bike, I can feel the heat emanating from them as I sail past. Despite the slew of bike riders in this city, drivers sure are unsympathetic to our plight. And what's the deal with honking just so we know you're there?? Don't you think we expect cars to be in the road? One guy actually slowed down to almost a halt just to tell me I should ride on the sidewalk! Hello! That's illegal!!! Often times I will resort to this criminal act rather than put up with cars. What's funny is a lot of times I make it faster to my destination than cars would, with the traffic and small streets.

The shade is the lovely haven of coolness especially when the breeze picks up, but nothing stops the humidity from overtaking me. When it feels like I'm literally going to melt into one big puddle, I finally reach my destination, 611 Records where the AC is kickin full blast but you can barely feel it... we desperately need a new one. I suppose it is better than the over-air conditioned stores. I swear some Philadelphians are desensitized from hanging out in their refrigerated boxes all day. No wonder they bitch and moan when they have to walk two blocks in the actual heat of summer. I ride in it for 20 blocks and almost get run off the road. Freakin wussies.

Climbing the charts in my all-time favorite things about Philadelphia would be the summer rain. When the humidity is so unbearable it feels like you're in a sauna you can't escape, the sky turns this eerie gray and you know what's coming. In a literally thunderous entrance, the sky crashes down, pouring all the moisture that has been building up. It is the ultimate relief. Thunder, lightning, and an absolute downpour that seems unrelenting. My favorite ones are the ones that last about 30 minutes. I don't even mind getting caught in the summer rain storms, even if it soaks me to the bone. After the storm the city seems cleaner, the streets and even the air seem cleansed. And most of all, it cools down!

Summer in Philly is a strange thing. Those who can escape to their summer homes on "The Shore" and others retreat on the weekends to the beach or to Atlantic City, or Vegas' retarded slutty sister, as I like to call it. Combining this with a large population of college students who go home to their parents for the summer, there is definitely a feeling of relative emptiness in the city. College students are the main demographic for club life, it definitely feels a lot less hoppin'. Just as well, on most nights it's so hot I'm content to sit in front of my AC and watch previously recorded programs on my tivo.

Detroit Electronic Music Festival 2006

Here are some pictures for the Movement Festival! There are more on the 611 Website, and galleries from all the 611 monthlies have also been updated on the site!
http://www.611records.com/gallery


Robert Hood on the mainstage



Rebecca and Miss Luna



Rebecca and Andy James



Pascal FEOS and I



Miss Honey Dijon, Nigel, Derrick Carter, and DZA



Andy James and me



The technochicks! Me, Kate, and Rebecca, listening to Sean's set



Craig, Andy, and I


Check out the rest of the pictures here!

It all started when we left Thursday night and took a 20 hour train ride from Philadelphia to Detroit. Upon arrival we crashed in our hotel until boss man Nigel showed up at the airport. We then headed to his pre-festival gig at Bert's Warehouse Theater where the promoters treated us VIP style to two bottles of Ketel One Vodka and one Grey Goose, complete with all the possible mixers you would need. Between Micro, Devant and I, we killed the Ketel One bottles by the end of the night. Drunk and in a good mood, we made our limo driver stop through McDonald's on the way back to the hotel. Detroit is not one for healthy people. We ate burgers and junk food all weekend.

Friday morning rolled around and we started getting ready to get ready for the big day. The 611 merchandise had been shipped to Nigel's friend Nate's house in Ann Arbor so Devant and I held on to our chairs as Nigel sped in his rental car to the mansion on 380 acres of land. When we arrived at the gorgeous home overlooking a man-made lake, we took a moment to relax on the deck with breakfast Nate provided us. Then back on the road to the festival to set up.

It was already getting warm out as we arrived. We found a nice guy who helped us cart all our stuff to the tent we would call homebase for the next three days. We set up the tent and then Devant and I headed out to check out some of the stages.

First stop, the Beatport tent, where Paxahau resident John Johr was rockin' some acid house and bleepy tunes, right in the vein that I've been spinning for the last couple months. The first day was a good day for 611 business, and I enjoyed myself talking to all the people who came by the tent, from fans to friends to superstars who were playing at the festival. The highlights of Friday for me was definitely the Kooky Scientist live, 611's own Sean O'Neal (aka "Someone Else") bangin it out on the Pyramid Stage, Daniel Bell with his mid-afternoon hard techno set, and Robert Hood closing out the night with some heavy techno tunes to a packed main stage.

Saturday night Devant and I tackled afterparties on our own, starting with one at the Labyrinth with Henry Chow and T-1000 headlining. This was when we learned that every Detroit venue was dirty, run-down, and the bathrooms were beyond disgusting. Detroit itself was a strange town with its six lane streets that slanted in all directions, and whole city blocks which had abandoned skyscrapers and empty streets. Cab drivers were having a field day with the over 50,000 visitors, most extremely inebriated, and most importantly, entirely lost. We met these girls from Kentucky, Robin and Shell, who both took a cab two blocks to meet us at the afterparty... If you took me back there now I would still be lost in that place!

T-1000 was having some technical difficulties with the soundsystem at Labyrinth, I saw him plug in and unplug the monitor and bang on it several times. Following him, Henry Chow ripped it up with hard and minimal techno, complete with scratching and tricks. He was really impressive and fun to watch. The only downside to this party was being sexually harrassed on two occasions, including a sweaty drugged out guy kissing me on my face without any warning... ugh...!

After the party ended, we were still awake and up for more. I called my good friend Rebecca from California on my cell and she said she was headed our way. People still milled the streets of Detroit, wandering aimlessly looking for the next thing to do. Rebecca usually knows everything thats going on, and sure enough she found us an afterparty at a small venue called The Works, which featured the whole Minus roster including Richie Hawtin, Magda, and Troy Pierce. The place was packed with people who had been up all night and were still going. We enjoyed people watching and didn't leave for our hotel until about 8:30 am. It was hard to resign but we were pretty exhausted. I have never experienced anything like what it was like to have so many people I know in the business all in one place... I couldn't leave to go to sleep, I felt I would cheat myself of the experience.

We slept for a few hours before heading back to Hart Plaza for day two of the madness. It was warmer and more humid, but still bearable. People looked more tired and less fucked up during the daytime, but by 5 pm, the hoards returned and by 7 pm the drug usage and drinking amongst the crowd seemed to come back. Possibly the best party people-watching of all time was during the festival. From skimpy outfits (including pasties over nipples and underwear, shirtless fat guys with witty sayings scrawled on their chests, and even barefoot people.. gross!!!) to full-on raver costumes from gothic to playful to downright scary, people were definitely making statements. But beyond this all, everyone was in a good mood and it really seemed that they were all there to hear some good music.

For me it was a flurry of selling stuff, talking to promoters about our upcoming 611 Summer Tour about possible bookings, and running from stage to stage to see DJs and Live acts blowing the crowds minds!! Sunday was better for music as I got to see Mark Broom, Rob Acid live, Julius the Mad Thinker, and Chris Liebing & Speedy J live on the mainstage. But byfar the best set I saw was the 3 hour set to a packed tent that Pascal FEOS threw down in front of a raging crowd. He played all kinds of techno, from hard tribal to electro to minimal, to hard as nails mechanical bangers. At one point he had two turntables and one CDJ going at the same time. And most of all, he had a big fat grin on his face as the crowd cheered him on.

Sunday night was the best night for afterparties. We couldn't decide on one so we decided to party hop. We started at the Leland for Old School 2, with Woody McBride. Also headlining was Terry Mullan and Acid Junkies, and all three played live. Woody worked it out and played one of the best live acid PAs I've ever seen. We had a little trouble at the door on this one, with a $30 charge to get in, ridiculous rules, and a really rude security guard who felt me up while searching me. Luckily we were on the guest list. But the rules still escaped me... "If we find weapons on you, there will be a $6 fine and it will be confiscated. If we find drugs on you there will be a $4 fine and it will be confiscated." And then as soon as we walked in, someone walked by us smoking a blunt. We joked that it was probably a security guard and he probably had the guy's gun too.

As Terry Mullan arrived Nigel tried to introduce me to him, except he already remembered me! I told him I had been playing the shit out of his last three new releases, to which he smiled widely and thanked me for my support. I wished we could have stayed for his live set, but we chatted briefly about booking him for a thing in Philly. (Yes, I'm contemplating becoming a promoter... I'd like to bring out some people I'd love to see but other promoters don't bring out!) Stay tuned while I work out the details for this one.

After Woody's set, we hopped in a cab and sped over to the Majestic Theater, the nicest of venues I saw the whole time I was in Detroit... complete with a bowling alley free for our use! Bowling was not on my mind as we arrived though! First we saw tons of Philly kids hanging out outside, which was like a breath of fresh air. Once they told us Ben Sims was on, we rushed inside and were treated to the most amazing techno set I've EVER SEEN. He played all HARD tunes and mixed them fast and right on. Every record he played was tweaked out and slammed right on cue, he was downright flawless. It was everything we had wanted to hear and done just right. There was no possible way anyone would top what we had seen. Following that we milled around listening to the other acts: Mark Broom, Otto Von Schirach, Sean O'Neal, Daniel Bell, and Function. We also talked with some of the best DJs in the business, Henry Chow, Tony Kasper (aka Mindbender), Sean O'Neal, Tim Xavier and others.

We called it an early night at 6:30 am (hehe) and cabbed back to the hotel. We checked out of our hotel and packed up our stuff for the last day of the festival on Monday morning. The mainstage was jammin that day with all these amazing techno artists. Adam X showed up at our tent before he played his Live PA set. He was the talk of the town that morning because he had a bad night previously regarding shady promoters unwilling to pay his friends Neil Landstrumm and Prototype 909. He was so angry he tried to take the needle off the turntable and ripped the whole tone arm off. He then refused to pay until his friends got paid for their sets. He later said he didn't mean to do it. Adam was a superstar at this festival with four gigs under his belt.

Adam X took to the stage and rocked out a wicked live industrial techno set, the perfect start to a long string of good techno. Next, Neil Landstrumm dropped his live set of bleepy and dark techno. He was followed by Adam Beyer and then Detroit's own legend Derrick May. Derrick played some good tunes, but also played some things I didn't quite care for. On the house stage, Devant was awed by Miss Honey Dijon and Derrick Carter. My favorite set of the day was Adam Beyer with his slammin' minimal and hard techno set. I could feel the hours closing in on me as the clock ticked closer to our departure. I wished we could stay until the end of Monday, Nitzer Ebb was playing just as we left... :(

But I was also exhausted beyond belief, and Monday was also the hottest day with temperatures reaching 95 degrees with 90 % humidity and no breeze. I was sweating bullets like a pouring stream off my face. I thought I might collapse... the whole weekend was overwhelming to say the least. Before we were about to take off, Pascal FEOS paid a visit to our vending booth and the stars in my eyes gleamed as I ran out to meet him. I thanked him fervently and was a total fan as I asked him to take a picture with me. I couldn't believe I was even talking to such a big player in the European DJ scene. Hailing from Frankfurt, Germany, it was an honor and privilege to be just chatting it up with the man. He was humble and extremely polite to this gushing girl. I still have stars in my eyes for certain people in this business, despite how many I've befriended.

After delays in Toledo, we crashed out hard on the train for the 20 hour trip back to Philly. Still dazed from all we had seen and heard, we came back in great spirits. We realized how much we loved Philly (it's better than Detroit!!) but even this blog doesn't capture the hundreds of stories we have from the weekend, and we are both already planning our trip for next year. I made so many friends and met so many people I never thought I'd know, and through the influence of the 611 label we were treated with respect by people I have admired for years.

Friday Fun at Medusa Lounge

Thanks for all who came out Friday night. I think this is the most fun I had playing in Philly so far. Medusa was hoppin', people were in great spirits. The usual pre-gig jitters were calmed down early with a couple beers. I threw down a few records right before we left for the club, and already felt confident I could mix these records. All the frustrations I had been feeling while trying to record were cast aside. Playing was fun. People were dancing or bobbing their heads, smiling at me.

My friend Jeremy came up to me mid-set and said, "You know you're killin' it, right?"
To which I smiled.

I love when people are digging on my music. You think, They're really feeling this. Working in the record store, pretty often I'll see someone standing at the listening station checking out new records, and suddenly their face will light up in amazement. It's THAT track. They need that record. It's like a part of them. Sharing that with a crowd feels that song is an amazing experience.

DZA and Revolution battled it out with some pretty heavy house tunes. Being that I had an early shift at the "day job" I had to leave early, to my dismay. Dave Mass followed and I hadn't seen him play in awhile.

But overall it was a good experience. I am only more excited for the new gig! This new regular gig will be at Lulanna's on 2nd & Bainbridge, every third Wednesday. I am thrilled to be a part of this to try a new location out.

Download my DJ Mix Set!

Mike fixed our recording equipment! He burned me a disc of a test run mix I did in February. I listened to it and it really ain't half bad. Of course, I want to do a new one already because this one has a lot of my older records on it. I'll be working on this new mix all this week that has some fresher material on it, but for now, enjoy the older one! It is mostly electro with a little techno at the end.

Follow the link below! (BTW, you don't have to pay. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "FREE" button on the right).

DJ Dylema - Corrupted Data (February 2006)

Tracklist:
1. Water Lilly - Playmates Gamma
2. Mirwais - Naive Song (Dave Clarke Remix)
3. Water Lilly - Flashover
4. Cirez D - Re-Match
5. Freaks - The Creeps (Steve Bug Remix)
6. Fischerspooner - Never Win (Blackstrobe Remix)
7. Fischerspooner - Just Let Go (Peter Black Remix)
8. Northern Lite - Treat Me Better (Voltique Remix)
9. Tiga - Pleasure from the Bass
10. Tomas Andersson - Stoli Boli
11. Crack We Are Rock - Animal Trap (Tommie Sunshine Remix)
12. Unknown - White Label
13. Ignition Technician - Worq It
14. Blimp - Bad Girl
15. Dave Clarke - Before I was So Rudely Interrupted
16. Sulfurex - Point Break
17. Dave Shokh & Holgi Starr - Pump Pump