To one side of me was Abdul Aziz Bin Laden, Osama’s nephew. To the other was my friend Derek, whose father worked in the World Trade Center, and was later confirmed as one of the victims.

I walked outside onto the neatly manicured lawn with my best friend DeVon. We sat on the pinkish stone stairs and prayed. His mother worked at the United Nations and frequently had meetings at the World Trade Center. “All circuits are busy” answered the woman on the other end of his frantic calls.

The next week was difficult.

New Yorkers called over and over again trying to find out if their loved ones were alive.¬† The Arab club put up signs around campus expressing their sympathies.¬† Some kids got drunk so they wouldn’t have to deal with the emotions, but drinking only let down the walls they were using to hold themselves together.

That week, most of the people of our small Swiss Italian town didn’t make eye contact with us.¬† They knew there was nothing they could say to make it better, so we were left with brief glances that seemed to say, “We’re sorry.” The local paper sent a reporter to interview students about the tragedy.

Around the world, candle-light vigils began.  I believe we held one of our own.

For the next few weeks the school was patrolled by armed guards to ensure the safety of the student body which included royals, mafia, and wealthy heirs.  With two Bin-Ladens in the school, the guards were as much there to protect us from each other as from outside attackers.

For those of us who weren’t overcome with rage or loss, the attacks only further cemented the cross-cultural bonds the school hoped to instill in us.¬†¬† We felt less like Americans, Arabs, and Asians and more like human beings.¬† (forgive the cliche).

7 years later it strikes me that we still have a lot to learn about getting along and making the world a better place.

I’m fortunate enough to have great friends in this fine city by the bay.¬† One of them happens to work here, another shoots photos like this, and Bryan, a past colleague, helps Puma throw killer parties in the city.¬† A few weeks back they did an in-store party with The Morning Benders.

I’m sure everyone comments on this, but they look¬† young, real young.¬† I think the guys with razors are faking it.¬† There was no alcohol in the store, (unlike previous parties) protecting the under-age crowd (and band) from going wild and ransacking the place I assume.¬† The Benders sat down in front of mics on the top floor of the store and proceeded to woo us with their¬† melancholy pop.¬† Think Vampire Weekend and The Shins shaken, not stirred.¬† The group mixes rock, pop, country, and folk across the CD and within songs to drive forward heartfelt and sometimes sorrow-filled lyrics showing that while lead singer Chris Chu may look young, his heart’s been put through its paces.

One reviewer says of a previous album, “the songs evoke exuberance and melancholic introspection without drowning in sonic ambition.” On Talking Through Tin Cans, the Morning Benders have become sonically more ambitious without losing the exuberance that makes them instantly attractive, or the melancholy which has me looking for mix-tapes to include them on.¬† While not all the songs are worth consistent listens, the rise and fall melody of “Patient Patient” will quickly get stuck in your head.

The second song of the album, “I Was Wrong”, opens with “I’ve seen love kick a man while he’s down” and wonderfully proclaims, “I was wrong… when I said you were right”.¬† Too many people from the past have deserved something similar delivered with the same tongue-in-cheek pause between admission and admonition. Other stand-outs are the ode to crumbling relationships in “Heavy Hearts” that kicks into high gear around 2:40, and “Chasing a Ghost”, the album’s most raucous track.

Below is a song called Morning Fog from a previous album… one that he performed live and I highly recommend (although this recording doesn’t do it justice).¬† The band has also released a collection of songs called “The Bedroom Covers” that are, as you expected, cover songs from Chris Chu’s bedroom.¬† Download them from their blog before the link dies!

My good friend Justin Miller of Phonofly is plugged into the music scene and a very good judge of things and people (and if not, he’ll buy you a Newcastle) so when he mentioned some sort of “bus” show last night with local musician Goh Nakamura I was instantly intrigued.

Goh has gained quite the following from his Youtube video for Embarcadero Blues, and is playing shows on both coasts.¬† His fingers slide easily across the fretboard, and his voice owns its “fall in love again for the first time” feel without trying too hard.¬† Shegeek, Justin, and I arrived promptly late at 6:23 and were quickly waivered, signed, stamped with rouge stars and ushered into the upstairs of the British double decker bus from City Sightseeing Tours.

The back of the bus enshrined Goh as he played.¬† Patrons sat in pairs listening to the concert on headphones sprouting from the middle of the seats (I’m guessing the retro-fitting on this bus took quite a while to pull this off).¬† Odessa Chen, an acquaintance of Justin’s, sat down across from us.

As we prepared for the trip, the wind started to howl through our skin and I lured Odessa over to my seat with the promise of warmth.  She quickly hopped over and introduced herself and then we were off.  Goh began with a song from his first album as we started our journey down Mission street.

Right about the time that Goh started his cover of the Cure’s Just Like Heaven I noticed Odessa looking to the heavens – there was something magical about that moment, feeling like we were canoeing across the sky, the current turned to clouds as we meandered among the skyscrapers defining our route.¬† Soon after, we turned onto the Embarcadero and watched the Bay Bridge build its way across the way.

Odessa and I pretended to be tourists in this city reborn before us, if only I had brought my camera! Pictures have never done her justice though.  We rolled through his stories from the Embarcadero to Dogpatch to Potrero Hill.  And just as the city arched its back to show us the beauty of her rolling hills, we descended quickly underneath the highway and up through Mission Bay.

At times, with eyes closed, I lost myself in the music; at others, I let my eyes lose me in stories I was creating for the streets and sky before me.  At the best of times, my brain took input from both and bound something within my chest that began to swell. It felt infinite.

Odessa’s Show: 08/08

Come support your favorite blogger/podcast/friend on August 30th at RX Gallery.
Hip-Hop, Mashups, Remixes, Dance, Electro Pop, Electro House…deliciousness all around.

She flows/speaks over poppy progressive dance electronic beats and breaks with vulgar tongue in cheek lyrics. Think a mix of the streets with peaches. The show was at the Rickshaw stop which turns out to be a great place for a concert. Small enough to be intimate and large enough to allow ample room for frolicking.

After chatting with some X-handed girls from LA and grabbing some Rockstar&Vodka I proceeded onto the dance floor. The tunes were great at this place and in no time I was coerced by my hands and feet into unassuming convulsions on top of a speaker next to the stage. Just as I was about to have the crowd join me in a rousing chorus of Daft Punk is playing at my house, a large bouncer made me get off – I almost had them!

Uffie came out for literally – maybe 40 minutes – to sing Pop the Glock and Ready to Uff and then she disappeared off stage. My co-worker disappeared with a friend of his and I was left in a fit of dancing – maybe the place I love most in life? The crowd was great – a little young, but that was 2 be eXpected – definitely very funky and hipster. The place was great and apart from the concert, the DJs did a great job of keeping the crowd dancing – a nice change from the general wall-flower crowd of most bars. Definitely will make the Rickshaw a bad habit of mine.

I wandered home in the company of friends from Dallas on the phone – grabbed a patty melt from Mel’s Drive-In and then came home. It was a wonderful night – one of those nights that you know start to finish is going to be good!