Argentina tour, Jersey, and NYC

NYC is still the best city in the world and it's even better with a dash of Buenos Aires. My sister and Ash picked me up at JFK in an SUV they'd just bought for a trip across the US to their new home in Oakland, CA. We went straight to Nublu in the LES to play with Mataplantas, Loisaida style. It was amazing (and frightening) to play guitar and sing new songs at one of my favorite venues in NYC! Mataplantas killed it in proper plant fashion and made new fans who danced and sang along, Argentina was definitely in the building.

I had two days to visit with Mindy in New York and then she was out. We hung out in Fort Greene between them packing up house. Wednesday I moved into their place in Brooklyn for a few days before the subletter took over the apt. Then headed uptown to spend some time with Caroline before her engagement party. I hadn't been to the beach since Brazil in February so I caught a train to Asbury Park for a look at the Jersey Shore with art legend Jonathan Levine. Bowling, boardwalks, and post-punk art kept it interesting.






Three Argentines arrived at Shrine in Harlem Wednesday night, guitars in hand from the subway, urban culture waves crashing over their first visit to the US. They finished off the night with DJ Milk Money at Happy Ending back in the LES, pogo-ing to hip hop in a packed club. Milk played sampled drums and scratched to my guitar songs. The sound was rough (I need a plug-in acoustic) but the room was excellent - full of friends and local music-lovers. Anthony Coleman's Enoeca topped off the night with live soul covers and originals.

My last show was Friday at Pianos where Micah Gaugh and Tisra Dewitt played too, Redheadphone style making it my favorite show yet. Pablo from Mataplantas accompanied me on all of the NYC shows, making them so much better with his talent and buena onda. Pianos upstairs is always a good time. Taking drums in a cab to the West Village and then trying to catch up with Apollo Heights back in the East Village and finally hitting up Williamsburg to try to catch Milk Money's set made for a long NYC night. It was fun taking the train with the Plantkillers and getting a feel for their adventures in the Apple. They could move right to Bburg and get cozy in the indie scene no doubt.



Saturday was Mataplantas final show at Hecho en Dumbo (soon to be in the Bowery) where they shared the bill with Chilean Brooklyners Nutria NN. It was my favorite of their NYC shows, with new friends in the audience and Time Out NYC snapping photos. I had to take off mid-set to go to Caroline and David's engagement party uptown. I went the wrong way on the train, got caught in a brief thunderstorm, found a loony cabby and missed the party. Once in a while, the city gets in your way. Mataplantas had a better night than I did and it was great to see music plans work out so well.






The band went home on Monday and I saw friends and family and made it to the Heeb Magazine party at Union Pool. Then I was gone too. A long rough journey got me to Bologna, where I'm writing this in a cafe near my new home at the University of Bologna.

Pigs, Politics, and Jobs

Apartment hunting in Buenos Aires isn't too difficult, it's certainly cheaper if you do it in Spanish. Craigslist spots are tourist-centric so not that affordable. Classified ads in the Argentine papers have more affordable rates but with San Telmo undergoing gentrification and intense inflation, rising prices are brutal. So much money to be made on purchasing apts and re-selling. Wishing I was a part of the real estate game.

This month brought two new jobs and the thought of moving, which I'm resisting. You've seen my apt here on the site, it's one of those great, Parisian-style, gorgeous high-ceilinged spots built circa WWI with an elegant entrance and elevator, French doors, wood floors, and balconies - and it's not expensive - never had one of these before. Max and I taking a relationship breather that includes not living together for two months and then deciding what to do next. I might keep the apartment since he likes his old neighborhood better anyway. It'd be complicated with the landlord since I'm not a resident, so it's more likely I'll get a new situation. I have two new super girl friends and one of them wants to move into a big, ramshackle spot together. If we lock down the right dilapidated apt, cheap, we could be in for an adventure.

I started a job with the record label I was writing about before, Zizek. They had a shiny US and Mexican tour and are heading to Europe next. They dropped two new records and the weekly party is on fire. It's an exciting new label and part of the job is working with the website that covers local street art.

Friday was my first day working with this great non-profit that brings travelers in to volunteer in the hood. It's a successful program with ten years behind it and my job is to spread the word and try my hand at some grant writing.

Voluntario Global brings people in to tutor in after school programs and adult education, to work in the Bolivian and Paraguayan kitchen that makes lunch for students and staff, or to work in the independent radio station on the site of a factory recuperada that acts as an indie publishing house. People get to work on projects in the BA version of the projects/favelas/shantytowns and connect with disenfranchised locals in a safe context.





Fashion week and the independent music festival have hit along with the international tango fest, which I missed again this year - oops. But really, don't sleep on the tango, yo. It's some hot couples dancing, intimate business with cool clothes. Made it to an actual fashion show for once which wasn't too exciting, as expected, but it was fun to go with friends.




Biggest news is my new chrome cruiser with the XL handle bars. Also the closing of my favorite local spot, Natalia's restaurant Macama. Luckily her mother's bday party in her hometown proved a happy distraction, dancing to cumbia all day on the back patio.








I got in the kitchen this past month to make brunch as a last ditch effort to do my part. I wrote them up in Time Out, put up a Wordpress page, the only thing left was pancakes and Bloody Marias. But they were resigned to shutting down. Restaurant biz is notoriously hard and there was the fact that Natalia has never really drank any alcohol or coffee so the place was kind of starting off with a handicap. Pasta revenue doesn't pay the bills I don't think. Especially here where cream sauce means a carton of cream poured over spaghetti.


One night soon after Max broke up with me, I went on a date with a guy who got in touch with me online. It was a blind sort of date and I was surprised when he showed up smoking hot. We went to see a friend's band play, at a small-ish spot in an out-of-the-way neighborhood. By total coincidence, Max's homie knew someone else in the band and he showed up at the same small party. I introduced him to my date. My friend and his girlfriend were amused by the telanovela of it all.

There was a visit to the Feria De Mataderos, some art exhibits, and, of course, the broadcast of the DNC. Me and 300 other Americans at Sugar, the meat market in Palermo, stopped checking each other out long enough to pay close attention to Barack Obama's speech and be appropriately moved and wowed.