www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from carlybish. Make your own badge here.

Java-Junkie Review.

Review: Java Junkie, Funky and Cool
The following is my second submission to Lee's newspaper, "The Clarion". Enjoy.



With my 100 per cent fruit, no-sugar-added strawberry smoothie, I situated myself in the most comfortable place at “Java Junkie”, which is the big, comfy sofa chair near the front window. Oh, the splendor! Oh, the glory of its kooshy-ness! Immediately comfortable, I assumed the role of the wallflower, listening quietly to pleasant conversation and floating in dreamy thought. In this place, it’s easy to meditate or think about everything and nothing in particular. There should be more places like this.

I observed the decor, noting the Mexican theme throughout the coffeehouse with pale orange walls, wrought iron pieces and tile flooring. To my right, a series of three photos hang–a burro, the Mexican desert, and a cactus–and when I look left, I notice live cacti at the entrance, welcoming customers as they come in. Occasionally, a sudden burst of thirsty customers will arrive. They crowd around the glass display, anxious to smell the coffee brewing from behind the counter and to salivate over the pastries. “Java Junkie Junkies,” you might call them. Veterans of the “Junkie” menu.

Someone orders, “I’ll have the Iced Raspberry Mocha, please.”

Wow. That sounded scrumptious. I might try that next time.

I reached for a magazine resting on the large coffee table in front of me. Bride Magazine. I plopped it down and shuffled through the others. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to choose from. I recoiled into my seat and reached for a book from my bag. I sipped my smoothie and read, periodically lifting my head to observe others and their drinks.

An emphasis must be placed on the assortment of drinks, both coffee related and not. Personally, I prefer the smoothies. I have a palate partial to fruit. However, there is no doubt coffee lovers will leave here satisfied. There are mochas and frappes you may not find at other coffeehouses. At least, none that taste this great. It should also be noted, “Java Junkie” has a back room containing more sofa chairs with cup holders in the armrests. They are lined up side by side and it is rumored one can relax and watch a movie here. I did not have a fair chance to try this myself, but you can count on it.

In such a soulful and charming little café, it impossible not to enjoy oneself. But of course, like all good things, they must come to an end. Disappointed upon finding nothing left but strawberry seeds at the bottom of my cup, I collected my things and said farewell to the big, comfy sofa chair.

Until we meet again...

Switchfoot Review.

Review: Switchfoot, Noise Is Sound
The following is my first submission to Lee's newspaper, "The Clarion". Enjoy.



San Diego rock music never sounded this good. Oh wait, yes it has! It sounded much better two, four, and seven years ago. In Switchfoot’s latest full-length album, Nothing Is Sound, the San Diego rockers exude mere fragments of what we have always recognized exclusively in the band. Should we be angry? Should we be concerned? The answer is a resounding "No" and I’ll tell you why.

Since the transition from Sparrow to Columbia (Sony) Records in early 2003, Switchfoot has been touring hard, playing more than 400 shows in less than two years. Their worldwide (or should I say whirlwind?) tour included the US (twice over), Africa, and Australia. With no available studio time, the band members found themselves laying down tracks for their latest album in the short minutes before gigs, in bits and pieces, between performances with the help of some fancy-schmancy Apple notebooks and an electronic drum set, I might add.

It is safe to say the guys of Switchfoot, Jon and Tim Foreman, Chad Butler, Jerome Fontamillas, and Drew Shirley, are exhausted. Their weariness can be clearly heard in Jon’s lackluster vocals, gloomy lyrics, and restricted resources. While the album holds certain successes with "Stars", "Happy is a Yuppie Word", and "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine", other songs like "The Blues", "The Fatal Wound", and "The Setting Sun" are repetitive and seem formulated. Jon’s voice breaks and he fails to reach those tonal peaks he has in the past. Despite the solid chorus of "Lonely Nation", I was distracted by its murky lyrical content with verses like "We are the target market/ We set the corporate target", only to be reiterated later in the enigmatic "Easier Than Love".

It’s monotonous.

Now before you start thinking I hold nothing but contempt for the album, understand that I am judging the record, not the band. I do not hold it against the members of Switchfoot as to why Nothing Is Sound sounds like nothing special to me. Jon Foreman is the same philosophical thinker with favorite words like "entropy" and "infinite" and he has by no means lost any of his talent. The album has catchy riffs and it’s great to sing (or scream) along to. But it is obvious that Nothing Is Sound is the quotient of an overwhelming schedule multiplied by limited means.

Jon is quoted on the band’s website saying, "I’m very proud of [Nothing Is Sound] and feel like this is better than anything we’ve done so far and yet I’m anxious to beat it." I will echo this, emphasizing my own anxiousness for whatever is to come. But until that sixth release, my suggested antidote is several months surfing on the San Diego beaches, quality time with family, and hours spent in the Foreman’s basement writing a noteworthy followup.
Briefly.

I want to feel magic again. I want to know inspiration. I want to sit in my living room and daydream about all the wonderful things that exist in the world. I want to take pictures and paint, revealing what I look like on the inside. I want to find myself observing a stranger, asking every question about who they could be with my gaze. I want to stop worrying about the future and live in the present and believe it's the best place to be. Right here, right now. I want to seclude myself from everything and everyone for a couple weeks to pray and fast and dig through the piles of baggage that clutters my spirit right now. I want to absent mindedly dance or sing in my bedroom, pretending to perform a show for an audience. I want to be near water. I want to hear the sound it makes. I want to believe I'm the star of a movie that God is watching and thoroughly enjoying.

Ahem.

Reinstated.

Are you glad?