Summer Mix 2K11

I talk in detail about this mix here. But for those of you who just want to listen/download it, here it is for your pleasure:

Summer Mix 2K11 by joshehr

Tracklist:

1) Radio Dept. - Heaven's On Fire

2) Cut Copy - Alisa

3) Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

4) HEALTH - Before Tigers (CFCF Rmx)

5) Das Racist - All Tan Everything

6) Big K.R.I.T. ft/David Banner - Sookie Now

7) Alphabeat - Heatwave

8) Nicki Minaj ft/Ester Dean - Super Bass

9) Britney Spears - Till The World Ends

10) The Weeknd - What You Need

11) Simon & Garfunkel - Somewhere They Can't Find Me

12) Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

13) Van Morrison - Wild Night

14) Eagles - Already Gone

15) Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Natural Born Lover

16) Mayer Hawthorne - The Ills

17) David Bowie - Look Back in Anger

18) LCD Soundsystem - Home

How I Create A Mix; A Completely Unnecessary and Excessive Step-by-Step

I just finished my 9th annual Summer Mix 2k11. I'm a little obsessive about this mix and spend an amount of time more appropriate to studying for a the GREs or searching for a job. This year I happened to create a separate playlist for each draft which gave a nice overview of how it evolved to its final form. You don't' need to read this to enjoy it, you can simply listen to it here. One word of warning-this post is super nerdy.

My goal for every summer mix is a sound that is contemporary since last year's summer but also having a somewhat classic sound, a mix that I can return to again and again, year after year. I spend a lot of time tinkering with it to get this perfect balance.

In the months leading up to summer I'm beginning to identify specific songs that I feel would work especially well for a summer mix. There's no conscious searching here, but always listening with an ear towards that. Usually these songs help me determine a theme I'll be going with. This year, I started with:

HEALTH - Before Tigers (CFCF Rmx)

Das Racist - Amazing

Alphabeat - Heatwave

Cut Copy - Need You Now

After identifying these songs I begin to think of a theme, usually inspired by something I suspect I'll be doing a lot of this summer which this mix will soundtrack well. For this summer I kept coming back to an image of looking out the bus window on cross-country rides watching the landscape roll by hour after hour.

So now I have theme and an indication of song direction. I also usually have an idea of specific artists or albums I want to drawn from. I take all this information together and, after many hours in very few days, I have my first draft.

Draft 1:

1) Big Boi - Daddy Fat Sax

2) Alphabeat - Heatwave

3) Japandroids - Younger Us

4) My Chemical Romance - Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)

5) Ariel Pink's Huanted Grafiti - Bright Lit Blue Skies

6) Holy Ghost! - Jam for Jerry

7) HEALTH - Before Tigers (CFCF Rmx)

8) Das Racist ft/Lakutis- Amazing

9) Britney Spears - Till the World Ends

10) Kanye West - All of the Lights

11) Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend

12) Cut Copy - Need You Now

13) Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

14) Van Morrison - Wild Night

15) Mayer Hawthorne - The Ills

16) Big K.R.I.T. - R4 Theme Song

17) Simon & Garfunkel - Somewhere They Can't Find Me

18) Crystal Castles ft/Robert Smith - Not In Love

Because I always do this draft really quickly I'll fall back on some old standbys (examples here Kanye, 'Not In Love') or some past summer mix successes (Japandroids, Robyn). Invariable my first draft draws too heavily on songs that I really like and thus might burnout on more quickly.

Then I'll sit on it for a week. There are some parts of the first draft that work really well. For example, this draft had a nice R&B element that I thought fit well with my initial songs and theme. But, pretty quickly I'll know its not working as a mix and the rest of the time is spent figuring out why.

In this case it was because I didn't really hear this mix fitting with my theme. It felt too obvious and 'party-time'-good for a summer mix, but not this summer mix. It didn't have a cohesive element to it, just a lot of good tracks. So, I decided for Draft 2 I was going to really work on showcasing my desired theme.

Draft 2:

1) Cut Copy - Need You Now

2) LCD Soundsystem - Home

3) Holy Ghost! - Wait and See

4) HEALTH - Before Tigers (CFCF Rmx)

5) Das Racist ft/Lakutis - Amazing

6) Big Boi - Daddy Fat Sax

7) Alphabeat - Heatwave

8) Nicki Minaj ft/Ester Dean - Super Bass

9) Britney Spears - Till The World Ends

10) The Weeknd - What You Need

11) Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

12) Simon & Garfunkel - Somewhere They Can't Find Me

13) Van Morrison - Wild Night

14) Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks

15) Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Natural Born Lover

16) Mayer Hawthorne - The Ills

17) David Bowie - Look Back in Anger

Draft 2 is always way closer to the final mix than Draft 1. Here it's because I now have the structure of the mix. In the first section (tracks 1-5) the theme is strongly established, then I let some drastically flow changing hip-hop give me a bit of fun (it is summer after all). After, in the third part (tracks 10-17) I'm playing with a very expanded interpretation of R&B.

At this point most of the selected songs are becoming necessary in their inclusion. Nicki Minaj's awesome single 'Super Bass,' 'Wild Night,' and 'The Ills' are three examples. Other songs are already becoming tiring such as 'Wait and See,' 'Amazing,' and 'Young Folks' (like immediately).

Now that most of the songs have been identified, putting them in the correct order the main problem. For Draft 2 I ended up ditching Big K.R.I.T. because I couldn't find a place for it and Big Boi's 'Daddy Fat Sax' and Cut Copy's 'Need You Now' never sounded right no matter where they were placed. Plus, the beginning, though it sticks with the theme, sort of drags; I want the theme to be evocative, not boring. And the theme isn't really carried beyond track 5. So, after a few days of thinking, I work on Draft 3, which ended up being this year's final mix.

Final Mix/Summer Mix 2K11

1) Radio Dept. - Heaven's On Fire

2) Cut Copy - Alisa

3) Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

4) HEALTH - Before Tigers (CFCF Rmx)

5) Das Racist - All Tan Everything

6) Big K.R.I.T. ft/David Banner - Sookie Now

7) Alphabeat - Heatwave

8) Nicki Minaj ft/Ester Dean - Super Bass

9) Britney Spears - Till The World Ends

10) The Weeknd - What You Need

11) Simon & Garfunkel - Somewhere They Can't Find Me

12) Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

13) Van Morrison - Wild Night

14) Eagles - Already Gone

15) Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Natural Born Lover

16) Mayer Hawthorne - The Ills

17) David Bowie - Look Back in Anger

18) LCD Soundsystem - Home

The most significant improvement here was reinterpreting the theme. I looked at 'Before Tigers' which I felt was the best representation so far. I decided that instead of looking for songs with a hypnotic element to it, I would try and match the rolling sound that is heard in that song. 'Heaven's On Fire,' 'Sprawl II,' and 'Home' (from previous draft) matched this well. The new Das Racist track segues better into the middle section and a different Big K.R.I.T. track suddenly fits perfectly within the mix. Similarly, by ditching 'Need You Now' and going with 'Alisa' Cut Copy remains on the mix but the sound is more integrated and appropriate to the theme.

Moving the 8 minute 'Home' to the end was the final important choice. It helps keep the mix smooth and flowing, rather than feeling interrupted. Plus the sequencing of the the R&B's section 'The Ills' to Bowie's 'Look Back in Anger' to LCD is as a great three song transition back to theme.

So there you have it, my incredibly nerdy and involved discussion on how I put together a Summer Mix. Disagree? Suggestions? Make a comment. And again, you can listen to it here.

A Week of Positive Things

Immediately across the entrance to my apartment building, in the midst of a row of apartment buildings, is 'fuck' spray painted in black letters. I don't really know why its there, but it provides a great landmark to anyone coming to my apartment. 'I'm the entrance across from the fuck.' No one I've told this to has ever forgotten my apartment. Totally convenient.

But alas, somehow this convenient and hilarious landmark isn't enough to get through the days and weeks. Sometimes, despite the fact that I can describe my building as 'across from the fuck,' I get pretty down on Azerbaijan. These past couple weeks was just that sort of funk. So to help myself out of it, I decided I would do a little daily exercise to write one thing I liked about Azerbaijan, hoping positive self talk would help me fake it till I made it. It (plus school ending) worked and below are some of my entries, in no particular order.

1) Shop owners proactively ask your name. At all the shops I go to with relative frequency, I know the names of the shop owners and they know mine. This is such a nice little thing. I can think of at least 10 places in Denver/Boulder that I went to all the time and yet only at one of those places did this ever happen and I loved that place because of it. I really will try and bring this back to the states with me.

2) Excellent cross-country public transportation. One of the great things about Azerbaijan, as a Peace Corps country, is that it has an outstanding infrastructure of public transportation. Not necessarily the greatest roads, but a ton of buses and minibuses are traveling on those roads. Because everyone relies on it, it quite easy and inexpensive to get anywhere in the rayon, area, or country using public transit.

3) Azerbaijan is very green. Its got a bit of its own environmental issues to work on, but Azerbaijan is incredibly fertile and green. Even the cities (again, I live in a big city, though its only about 40K) have tons of trees and flowers around. Fruit and nut trees are everywhere and everyone has porch gardens if they don't have a yard. And once you get out of the city you're driving through real countryside, forest, and mountains. There are farms and orchards but they don't have the cold, efficient look that so many of the US superfarms have.

4) Men are very affectionate with babies and kids. Men have absolutely no hesitation about showing their affection for children. They will coo and play with babies just as women do and far more frequently then I have seen in the US. And its not just fathers, any man who is emotionally connected to the family loves lavishing attention on babies. Its really endearing.

5) All the dudes tucks their t-shirts into their underwear. This is hilarious because, in the summer, it means you can see almost everyone's underwear.

6) The amount of community upkeep and repair that occurs in the Spring is unlike anything I have ever seen in the United States. Its like the city husks its old skin and takes on a new one. Come spring everything is made shiny and new. Everything might not be built to last but it's refreshed yearly and makes for a beautiful spring and summer place.

7) I actually do have time. I'm definitely a busy volunteer, but I was really hoping that, upon joining the Peace Corps, I would have time to do more reading, yoga, and writing and be given an opportunity to create the lifelong habits that I always felt I was struggling for while working in Denver. Its nice that this has come to be.

So there you have it. A week of positive thoughts about Azerbaijan.

[Insert Rapture Joke Here]

The outstanding Dance-Punk band The Rapture are finally back, releasing a new album September 6th. Even better, they'll its coming out on DFA, the beautiful label that brought this great band, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, YACHT, and a million other great singles. Get excited.

Next Post is Positive, I Promise

February is generally acknowledged among the Peace Corps Volunteers here as the worst month. You're past the newness of site an job and wallowing around in the thick of it, with every problem abjectly staring you in the face. Its also the worst month of winter and the month with the least amount of available fruits and veggies. Plus, you've been living with a host family for 6 months at that point.

This past week seemed a reprise of February and it hit me like a ton of bricks. it came out of nowhere and I'm still figuring out what happened in hopes of effectively dealing with it. Everything should be good now. I'm in my own place (with fully functional plumbing), I'm starting to get a bit more familiar with the Azeri language, summer is practically here. And yet, last week was one of the most emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausting weeks I've had. Each morning I forcibly dragged my body out of bed and for a couple days I couldn't even get that far. Nothing remotely like this ever happened in America.

At this point in the school year, school is over. The problem is that every one still goes (except for the smart students who realize that its over). It is mind-numbingly boring, nodding off in class boring, finding yourself staring out the window into nowhere boring. All the review that I've been encouraging my teachers to do throughout the year is compressed into this week. But there is no review, simply reciting multiple choice tests which have answers already circled.

Furthermore, my plans for summer are being very closely watched and tracked. There have been no 'nos' yet, but it has been a lengthy process navigating a series of obstacles that seem to spring up at each turn. Annoyingly enough this is just to get permission to use a classroom in the already open and used school for conversation clubs that students and administrators are incessantly clamoring for, while at the same time impeding.

This whole process of inaction exemplifies the paranoia and victimization that is ever present in Azerbaijan. Coming from a country worshipping the idea of 'picking yourself up by your own bootstraps' this country's pervading feeling of 'everyone is out to get me' is draining. Many times I want to shake the person and yell 'so how are you going to work to improve it?' If Azerbaijan was a person, I would probably not be its friend. In fact, I can think of people I know like this, and I'm not their friend.

Rationally, there are a lot of things I need to keep in mind. The week before summer is like the day before Christmas-the closer it gets the worse the week is. Its also true that initiating things here is always brutal, but the actual doing is usually really fun. And I've basically got a few months coming up dedicated towards traveling around the country with a visit to America thrown in.

My Fave Panel is the Last One

And continuing with this video theme, check out the vid of my favorite conversation club activity-storyboarding. Its a great way to get students to think critically about English, forcing them to both read, draw, and speak.

This is also a good video for you if your Aesop's Fable's Drive is running on empty.

Azerbaijan's Newest Children's Book from josh on Vimeo.

Wait and See - Holy Ghost

Very catchy single from Holy Ghost's new album 'Holy Ghost'. Full disclosure: its from DFA so I'm already a sucker, but its a solid album. Also the video is great.

Holy Ghost! - Wait & See from DFA Records on Vimeo.

In other music, I've been pumping Nicki Minaj's 'Super Bass,' Fleet Foxes' new album 'Helplessness Blues,' and 'Return of 4Eva' by Big K.R.I.T.

Halve Your Workload! In Just 6 Easy Steps!

Last week at Early Service Training I, along with two other volunteers focusing on Teacher Training, had the opportunity to present a session on that topic. Based on our discussion with TEFL volunteers and PC Azerbaijan's TEFL focus of sustainability we thought this might be of use. We were lucky to have a great audience that remained enthused and engaged even though we were towards the end of the day.

The bulk of new material was on a six step process that has been shown to effectively work with training Azeri teacher counterparts. But really, its just a six step process in Tier 2 training-training of trainers. When working with people who already have a knowledge base its important to sincerely view them as a partner in mutual learning, rather than of expert and learner. This is especially the case when there are differences in age, presumed experience, education level, or anything else that could create a perceived power dynamic.

Below is our presented six step process, adapted to fit a more general audience (what? you're not all working with Azerbaijani teachers?). By 'method' I mean whatever technique, skill, competency, etc you are wishing to develop.

1) Ask permission to showcase a new method in context (workplace, classroom, etc). This acknowledges your respect for their involvement in the working environment and highlights partnership rather than lecture. This also informs them you will be doing something new.

2) Use the new method. Tell them shortly beforehand so they are aware.

3) Immediately after the situation in which the method was used, ask them what they saw. Ask follow up questions to whatever observations they made. Stay positive and explain any areas of non-understanding that they have themselves brought up.

4) Repeat steps 1-3.

5) Inform them they will be using the method next time. Give them enough time to prepare and, if possible, set a specific date and time for when the method will be used.

6) Praise and give constructive feedback. Ensure that you have specific observations for both praise and constructive feedback. If this is their first try, it is far more important to highlight what went well, so they can continue developing that, than pointing out what went wrong. Ask for their own observations.

This really doesn't take much time as its designed to be largely observational. The extra 'work' involved (asking follow up questions, etc) was all designed to be completable in 3-5 minutes, or the average length of time a PCV has with a teacher after class, but before they get to the teacher's room, where its time to socialize.

How do you teach others? What strategies and techniques work have worked for you?

I'm Sure Azeri Plumbing Is Pretty Simple to Figure Out

Last week was busy. It began Saturday hosting a brunch full of Americans and Azeris. Sunday, my friend Emily visited for 4 days and Wednesday I hosted all the surrounding TEFLs for dinner and drinks and brunch the next morning, after which we all went down to Baki for our Early Service Training Conference. Each night was a late night, Friday especially as we found a great bar with an even better cover band and we danced the night away.

So, arriving home Saturday, after the last person had left my house (I'm a pretty natural stop off point for many people), I was relieved to have some quiet time to myself. While preparing dinner I realized that there was no water. "That's odd" I thought "I specifically filled up the tank Thursday morning in anticipation of not wanting this exact thing to happen." Thinking no more on it, I cooked dinner and left the dirty dishes for tomorrow's clean up.

I was exhausted from the week and set my alarm for 8:10 so I could turn my water on and go back to sleep. Groggily I pulled myself out of bed in response to the beep and stumbled down the hall switching on the valves. Eyes still half-closed, I was heading back to bed when I heard a sound that was certainly not the sound of a filling water tank. I followed the sound to my sink room and was snapped awake by water gushing out of the connection piece from my pipe to faucet, water spraying wall and ceiling far more than floor.

I didn't even have my glasses on, and was already soaked simply from my efforts to turn off the water. I rushed back to get my glasses, a wrench, and plumbers tape. As I stepped over the threshold, I knew that I had become what every wife dreads-the man who is about to 'fix' his own plumbing. I have no clue how I kidded myself I knew what I was doing, I don't even understand how it is that my hot water tank brings water to the hot water faucet. Somehow I managed to isolate the leak and bring the ranging torrent to a sharp stream, shooting my up at my mirror at a 60 degree angle.

At this point I made myself a pot of coffee and started texting. The text ran something like : 'Hey-do you know any plumbers, also do they have plumbers here, also how much do they cost?' Never before in Azerbaijan have I been so happy to have Azerbaijani friends; within 10 minutes Elvin offered to come over to check it out, where he also took a swing at it with the wrench. We called, and picked up, my landlady and agreed that we had to find a plumber. And also to empty the water tank because the neighbors downstairs were beginning to complain.

As of Monday morning my plumbing was fixed. Not only that, but he also improved the pressure of my hot water faucet. And he fixed my toilet!-no more bucket flushing for me. It also provided me with a great opportunity to give a gift to my landlady for some much needed brownie points.

Eggs in Space

A PCV and I do a Conversation Club for advanced English students. We structure it by determining 'Life Skill Units' and creating 3-4 lesson plans for each one. Currently we're in our Problem Solving Unit and Lannea came up with this great activity.

Eggs in Space: A Problem Solving Conversation Club from josh on Vimeo.

Achievement Unlocked: 100 Posts

With my last post on Chocolate Banana Pancakes, I officially, and deliciously hit 100 posts. There's nothing really significant in and of itself in this number, just triple digits, but it does give me a bit of pride.

And here, as a pathetically obvious attempt at increased hit count, are a review of my 5 most popular posts from the first 100.

Number 5: The Moustache Project

This is where I introduce the Moustache Project, documenting profiles with felt moustaches, inspired by a care package sent by Margaret and Nick. Unfortunately with the death of my camera battery in November and the replacement only now being en-route this project has been put on temporary hiatus. However, the pics up there now are still great.

Number 4: And for those who wanted to know…my birthday!

I was surprised that the description of my birthday was in the top 5 but apparently there was a high demand on how I spent my first eve as a 28 year old. This also includes the crucial advice from a former pizza making professional of making the perfect pie: topping management.

Number 3: Response to The 99% '20 Questions to Ask'

One of my favorite websites,the 99%, posed an asked twitter followers what their favorite interview questions were and presented their favorite 20 in an article. As someone who has done a fair bit of interviewing himself I found some questions interesting, some arrogant, and some not-quite there. This post is my commentary for each question.

Number 2: Getting Lost in Baki

This was my first trip to Baki. It was a really fun group we got to go with and the photos turned out pretty well too.

Number 1: Time for the Year End Roundup

One thing I've been amazed at in Azerbaijan is how I haven't really skipped a beat in music. Aside from the fact that I can no longer go to concerts, I've still been keeping up with whats new and whats good. This is my 2010 year end roundup, which also includes a link to a 21 song mix I made highlighting the best of 2010. New Kanye, new Robyn, new LCD, new Four Tet, I am still amazed at what a great year 2010 was for music.

I Mean, It Just Sounds Tasty

Khachmaz is unique amongst sites in Azerbaijan. Its a little more liberal than most of the country, due to its proximity to Baki and Russia. Many people in Khachmaz speak English quite well, and some of them have been to the US to study. Peace Corps has been at this site for a while, so Azeris are used to seeing Americans around, and many adults here have been friends with Americans for years. Due to all these reasons, Volunteers here end up having an active social life amongst Azerbaijanis.

There's a large base of support for clubs here, so that fills up our time, but there is also a large circle of friends. Visiting with them, guesting at houses, playing sports, all of this is in my schedule. And birthdays. With so many people comes so many birthdays. And each birthday is a birthday party, involving an of-average-tasting cake, balloons, candles, tea, pop, coffee, and juice. Usually we'll have it at my Fargani's office or a popular bakery, neither of those places are relatively comfortable.

These parties wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that they are pretty expensive for a poor volunteer when the result is, in my opinion, a pretty weak party. It's 3-5 manat a piece and we might collect 50 manat or more to throw a party. In terms of purchasing power, this might translate to around 120 US dollars. So last party I suggested something different; hosting the party at my house, which is way more comfortable, and making a really big and fun brunch. One of the girls, Sabina, loved this idea, everyone else did their best to appear unscandalized.

So, we had the lame party. And at this lame party Sabina and I decided that our idea was a great idea anyways, and we announced that next week, we would be hosting a brunch at my house featuring Chocolate Banana Pancakes. This was my first time hosting for a gathering of Azeris, rather than just Americans, so I was pretty excited. Socializing in Azerbaijan frequently involves drinking tea (very) late into the night and I'm not as into that form of hosting. However, brunch parties are right up my alley so I was glad when people, with the birthday now passed, were receptive.

So yesterday I had my housewarming party. Some of the guys had been over before, but women had not. Since this was a large group and it was during the day, it was much more acceptable for women friends to come over. In addition to pancakes, we had fresh fruit and yogurt, nuts and raisins, coffee, tea, and juice. Everyone had a great time and complimented the apartment. It was delicious, especially in comparison to the birthday cake.

This served as the beginning of a week of hosting. Today, my friend from Goychai, which is in the middle of the country, will be coming up to stay with me for 4 days. On Wednesday, 5 other friends will come up for a big dinner and sleepover before we leave, on Thursday, for a conference in Baki. I'm looking forward to this conference for two reasons; I'll get to see many people I haven't seen since December and I will be presenting a session on effective 2nd tier training (training of trainers). More on this late