The Hottest of Summers

As the sun bakes your flesh and you dip your toes in the pool...
You'll want to be grooving to the right jams.
So have no fear...
WHERE IN THE WORLD RADIO IS HERE!

Download this free one hour of music NOW

Features tracks from: Lykke Li, Grimes, Luke LaLonde, Swear and Shake, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, The Datsuns, Alt-J, Benjamin Booker, The Bright Light Social Hour, Wild Belle, The Underachievers featuring Portugal. The Man, War on Drugs, Lord Huron and more. 

The Challengers: A webseries for Vodafone Qatar

After an adventurous time in America, I was back in Qatar and hit the ground running.
Actually... full on sprinting.
Embarking on a seriously intense and ambitious shooting schedule, I was slated to directed THE CHALLENGERS. A web series for Vodafone's new 4G network.
The series sees two teams of local adventures taking on timed tasks, armed with only their new 4G enabled devices.

With a dream team that includes Elwood Gentry co-founder Matt Kirk handling post, this production has been a blast so far.

The series launched last week and have gotten some great attention so far.
Let me know what you think.
If you like em, share em.

Here are the released episodes to date:

SERIES TEASER


EPISODE 1 - Meet The Challengers


EPISODE 2 - Take Grandma To The Movies


Stay tuned for more episodes soon. 

SHAKY KNEES REVIEW

Although it has been a little while since we came back from Atlanta, a trip review still seems fitting.
Mainly because it was a wicked trip and there are some recommendations to be made based on our travels.

We flew to Philly on the 7th of May and grabbed our rental car. A Ford Focus or something equally as shitty. Four wheels, windows, roof, steering wheel. Bog standard and just right for what we needed.
A night in NJ with the fam was a must. We'd hit the road the next morning at the crack of dawn.

Needless to say, we did not hit the road at the crack of dawn. Nor the morning. It was afternoon when we mustarded the strength to pry ourselves from the air mattress and pile into our chariot.
We had a 14 hour drive ahead of us and we were originally hoping to arrive before night fall.
Stupid idea.
Mainly because everyone knows that when you hit the road in America, there are too many rest stops, natural wonders and awesome oddities to stop at along the way.

Our first major stop was at the Natural Land Bridge in Virginia. We needed a stretch of the legs and who in their right mind can resist a natural bridge?!
Exactly.
We entered the gift shop to buy tickets to enter. 18 bucks a person!!! Pretty damn expensive if you ask me, but lucky for us, I grabbed a buy one get one free coupon from a rest stop 100 miles earlier. Forward thinking when you have to pee is difficult but well worth the energy. Truth.
You exit the gift shop out the back, down 90 or so steps and BAM... there it is.
Colossal. Staggering. Still.

Who knows how old it is but legend has it, George Washington surveyed the bridge in 1750 and Thomas Jefferson bought the land it's on in 1774.
The stream that runs under it is home to humping frogs and water snakes. Fact. We saw em.
Other native inhabitants included panting visitors and Jack Russell terriers, desperate to escape the scorching sun.

Back in the car, we had only one more stop that had to be made.
When passing through the South, Carolina BBQ is an absolute must!
A super small, family style diner equipped with model train set looping the ceiling and traditional white and red checkered table cloth, sweet talking, deep accented staff and mountains of food that would make a fat man weep with joy... this place nailed it.
Fried everything, tender meats, sweet sauces... you name it. Got it. Ate it. Done. Good. Stuffed.

Back on the road, we completed the 16 hour journey by crashing hard in our hotel room.

In typical travel fashion, we were up with the sun the next morning. Not on purpose of course. It's just something that happens.
Instead of staying in bed, we decided to make the most of the day.
We jumped up and headed down to collect our wristbands for the first day of the festival.
Easy. Staff were super helpful and we were ready for the first bands to play.
BUT... the first bands weren't set to play for another 3 or so hours.
That left us enough time to go eat. And eat we did.

We set out to find a highly recommended place but got lost because our GPS was an absolute piece of shit. We must have passed the place 3 times before giving up and settling for the next place we saw.
Lucky for us, the next place we saw was one of the best spots in Atlanta.
The Flying Biscuit.
A must! Grits to die for and portions that a grizzly would be pleased with.
We gorged ourselves yet again. I could almost feel my body expanding by the end of the meal.

Stuffed and satisfied, we headed back for the start of the festival.

The first band we saw was BLOOD RED SHOES. Ehhh. Rated em 1.5 out of 5.
Screamy duo with not much excitement.
Next was WILD BELLE who took us by surprise. Had never heard them before this but was really into their set. They were a sorta Jamaica meets Wild West. Rated em 3 out of 5.
Then we saw WHITE DENIM. Really really disappointed with their set. Really enjoyed their records but wasn't feeling it live. Rated em 1.5 out of 5.
Then we saw split sets from BAND OF SKULLS - ehhh. Not bad but nothing that special. Guitar player/lead singer killed it on guitar but that was about it (2 out of 5), and CHARLES BRADLEY & HIS EXTRAORDINAIRES- who absolutely KILLED IT. One of the best acts of the entire festival. 5 out of 5.
MAN MAN was up next. And sadly, they pretty much sucked. Their new record is brilliant and it had been a couple years since I saw the band I used to live right near. Ryan (aka Honus) is a bloated version of himself who sounds shit live and tries to make up for it by parading around in costumes and silly masks. Shame. Used to really love seeing them. Rated em a 2 out of 5.
As they finished their set, the rain started coming down. Slow and steady at first.
As we laughed at a few songs from DROPKICK MURPHY'S, the sky opened up and it PISSED down. We were soaked through and through.

We ran from the rain and took a break in the parking garage before heading back out to catch CAGE THE ELEPHANT. Totally thought this band was something different than what they were. Not for me. No thanks.
Saying fuck the rain, we missed SPOON and made it back just in time for THE NATIONAL.
Now this is a complicated one.
I saw The National many years ago as the opening act of Arcade Fire at Radio City Music Hall and they SUCKED. Sucked bad. Found them boring and pompous.
Fast forward a few years and their new record comes out. I instantly fall in love with it. Brilliant record. So in my mind, I am thinking, 'Hey. Maybe they are better now than before.'
Sadly, they are not. The singer paces the stage dressed like an 8th grade history teacher and nervously stares at his bandmates before straddling back to the mic which he holds and sings with nearly no emotion.

We stayed for 5 or 6 songs before saying 'Fuck the rain' again and heading back to the hotel.
Day one was in the books.

The next morning, we headed back out to find our original breakfast spot.
This time, we found it with no problem and by God it was so worth it.
In a new, up and coming neighborhood, Emory Point, The General Muir is a perfect place.
Perfect atmosphere, design, staff and most of all, food.
Pecan crusted french toast?! Oh hell to the yes.
Killer.
Go there. And then go again. And again.
You will not be disappointed.

Stuffed and satisfied, we headed back to the festival.
This was to be a great day of bands.
First up was TOKYO POLICE CLUB. Disappointing. Although they sounded just like their records and I love their early records... didn't do anything for me. Bummer. 2 out of 5.
Then was LORD HURON. We were probably most excited about seeing them. Totally addicted to their records, this was supposed to be the highlight. Sadly, it wasn't. The sound system was all screwed up and even screaming at the top of his lungs, the vocals were barely audible. Lord Huron is definitely a small club band. See em in a smokey bar with spurs on. Don't see them at a giant outdoor festival. 3 out of 5.

Then, the always fun PORTUGAL. THE MAN. Obviously I am partial to these guys and will always say they were great. So I'll just say it... they were great. The crowd was crazy diverse and the songs sounded solid. Even with some massive fuck ups in some of the songs, they killed it even when covering 'Day Man' from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and 'The Wall' by Pink Floyd. As usual. 4 out of 5.
After they finished, the rain started coming down and we saw a song from CONOR OBERST but wasn't in the mood for whiny bitch music so we bounced with the intention to come back and see THE REPLACEMENTS and MODEST MOUSE to close the night but instead we went to The Waffle House, pigged out and fell asleep in our hotel room.
Day 2 in the books.

The final day was set to be a good line up but on the eve of my 31st birthday, I was looking for more adventure than standing in the rain all day to watch IRON & WINE, LOCAL NATIVES, VIOLENT FEMMES and ALABAMA SHAKES.
After a conversation with John from PTM, Lauren and I decided to say 'Screw it. Let's drive the 3 hours to Asheville, NC to see PTM play at the world famous Orange Peel.
We bought tickets and jumped back in the car.
On the way up, we stopped at a place that simply advertised "Goats on the Roof" (which is exactly what it delivered... for some reason), a 'Trading Post' where I uncovered a treasure trove of Vietnam war snap shots, and Tallulah Falls where The Great Wallenda tight rope walked the gorge in 1970. Nutter.

We arrived a few hours before the show and stopped at a local bar to sample the vast collection of ales on tap. Apparently Asheville is a front running beer tourism town. Explains all the homeless drunk youth, I suppose.
An interesting town that is worth more than a few hours of exploring.

We got to the club and lined up to enter. Rejecting Lauren's foreign driver's license, the bouncer put 2 giant, black marker, straight edge style X's on her hands. He said that unless she could produce her passport, she couldn't drink inside. Lame.
We met up with the band and went backstage to hang before their set.
Drinking beers and shooting shit, we were having a good ol time.
Then, the bouncer that put the X's on Lauren's hands appeared and yelled "This is a problem!" He called over another security guard and yelled out again "THIS is a problem! This girl is not 21 and she's drinking!"
Embarrassed and turning red, Lauren assured them she was of age. They weren't having it.
They made me leave the club, go back to the car, get the passport and bring it back. When I got back, the band was already on stage playing and the X's on her hands were gone.
The balance of the world had been restored.

PTM killed it and we had a great time.

Just before the clock ticked out on my 30th year, we were back in the car speeding through the night to get back to Atlanta.
3 hours later and nearly asleep at the wheel several times, we arrived back in Atlanta to catch a few hours of sleep before hitting the airport.
Back to Philly underslept, overfed and partied out... I was 31.

Not a bad way to start a new chapter in my life.
All in all, I highly recommend Atlanta if for nothing else, the food.
Shaky Knees is cool but probably for people who don't mind rain, shitty sound systems and hours upon hours of standing on concrete.
My festival days seem to be over.
But my love of live music shall forever live on. 

WITWR

DOWNLOAD THE NEW WITWR HERE
Features music and instruments and words by other people for your enjoyment.

Music festivals: Yay or Nay?

The better part of my young adult life was spent at shows and festivals.
I used to love the pushing and shoving, the sweat flying, dirt in the face, shoulder to shoulder struggle.
But like all music fans (or people of their right mind), that shit gets very old as you do the same.
The thought of an overweight H2O fan pushing his nautical star ridden elbows into my back now makes me shudder. The sweat from a young punks mohawked head splashing on me gives me chills down my spine. A face full of dirt, jockeying for position against a metal barricade, the scream of an amp in my ear.... all things that I would not like to ever experience again.
With that said, I still love live music.
I still get excited looking at tour dates. I still love holding a ticket in my hand.
But I have gotten much smarter about going to shows; seeking out the smallest venues in unknown towns.
Now that the means are much more accessible, seeing bands that I love in other countries where they may be a little less know and shows less attended is king.
Festivals would normally be a "no fucking way" for me nowadays.
Unless of course they offer packages for "old heads" like myself.
That's exactly why SHAKY KNEES is the perfect festival.

3 days of the best bands around with a private viewing area, FREE BEER, and access to non-public toilets... for a little extra cash, how can you go wrong with that?!
I know this all comes off as a bit pretentious, pompous and down right "non-punk" but to be honest...
At 31 years old... I really don't give a shit.
While the kids pop molly, mosh (do people still do that??) and sleep in tents with 3 days of filth on their bodies... I can have a full belly of light beer, in a hotel room with a bed and shower.

In just a few days, Lauren and I will be making the 7,436 mile journey (6,770 on a plane and 666 by car) to Atlanta to catch some of our favorite bands play in the Southern sunshine.
We built our schedule and it looks like this:

Day One
White Denim
Band of Skulls
Man Man
Cage The Elephant
Spoon
The National

Day Two
Tokyo Police Club
Lord Huron
Portugal. The Man
Conor Oberst
The Replacements
Modest Mouse

Day Three
Langhorne Slim & The Law
Iron & Wine
Local Natives
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Violent Femmes
Alabama Shakes

Needless to say, we are both very excited to see all these bands.
Who would you see?
Who have I forgotten to include in my list?

Time lapse is so 2012

I have to admit...
When someone says "You have to see this time lapse on YouTube!", I do roll my eyes.
When someone says "I am a filmmaker. I mainly do time lapse stuff.", I tut a little.
Watching things in fast forward just isn't that thrilling anymore.
We know the stars make trails in the sky. We know car headlights become steady streaks across the screen. We know a boat doesn't stay still. It always rocks back and forth because of tides.
We get it.

BUT...
This time lapse of "Doha" (slightly misleading because several of the locations aren't actually in Doha but rather in Qatar) is pretty decent for a place that has nearly been time lapsed to death.
He nailed some keys spots and vantage points.
Like all time lapse and Korean feature films...
It's too long.
But still pretty.

You STILL don't know?! Part 1

It's pretty crazy to think that in under half of a year, I will have been in Qatar for 5 years. 5 YEARS!!!
What's even crazier about it is that people still have no idea where or what Qatar is.
I still get insane questions all the time.
Which got me thinking...
If I post some of them and answer them here...
Maybe I won't have to answer them again.
Probably wishful thinking but we'll give it a go anyway.

Here are 5 commonly asked questions about life in Qatar:

Q:"So, like, what kind of food do they eat there?"
A: By "they", I assume you mean locals. Which is a pretty decent question except for the obviousness of the true answer. "They" eat the same shit that is eaten everywhere. McDonald's, KFC, Chili's, Applebee's, pretty much anything with an apostrophe s at the end. Red Lobster opened here this year and people went absolutely ape shit. "Have you been to Red Lobster?! NO!?!?! Dude, you HAVE to go."
Doha is also the home of some of the best restaurants from some of the best chefs in the world. Any cuisine you desire, you can probably find a Michelin star chef here for it. But be prepared to pay a premium. Nearly all the food is imported.
With that being said, there is also a wide variety of Arabic and Indian food here. Qatar is very much a melting pot in all senses of the term. The myriad of influences spread across all things here.
Lambs is the center piece of nearly all Qatari meals. It's really delicious. Until the 3rd day straight where you are tearing meat from something that still has it's head on.
Another thing that is a bit different is the obvious 'no pork in a Muslim country'.

Q:"WHAT?!?! No pork?!?! Oh man. I don't think I could survive without bacon. Mmmm. Bacon."
A: First of all, you would definitely survive. No one has ever died of bacon withdraw.
*I did not fact check that so if I am wrong, I apologize to the friends and family of that poor bastard*
But even though you can't get pork in a restaurant, you can still get it here. You have to have a special license to get it and it's only sold in one place. The same place where they sell the liquor.

Q:"Wait... what about alcohol?"
A: Again, it's a Muslim country so there aren't Schlitz tall boys in the fridge at the corner store. Drinking is not forbidden for foreigners (non-Muslims) but it is pretty strictly controlled. You can only drink in hotels. There are dozens of overpriced clubs and bars dotted throughout the town. You're going to pay a bomb but you can still go get as red faced, slobbery, and stupid as you please. As long as you don't do anything similar in public. That is a major no-no. Public intoxication is not something you want to be banged up for. Stiff penalties and deportation always loom in the back of your mind.
But as I mentioned before, you can buy alcohol with a special license.
This license entitles you to buy up to 10% of your monthly income on booze and pork. It must be kept and consumed in the privacy of your own home.

Q:"So do people ride camels there?"
A: Yes. But definitely not the way you think.
You will not see a man riding a camel down the highway. You won't see camels tied up outside of high schools. There is no camel car wash.
Camels are only ridden by the OG's and the trainers. Camel riding is a time honored tradition in the Middle East. Some people still do it daily. But never in the city.
Camel racing is a big thing too. They even use robot camel jockeys. But that's a whole other conversation.


Q:"I heard that Qatar bought the World Cup. Is that true?"
A: I quit my position as president of Fifa just before the announcement of the 2022 host so I can't comment on that one. But if they did, they certainly are spending more preparing to host it than they did to buy it. Plus... this country truly wants the World Cup here. And they deserve it. So let em have it. Let's face it... if it were played in America... no Americans would care enough to go. And if they did, I'm sure it wouldn't be for the game, if you know what I'm saying. *Nudge, nudge

Diving in... a year recap

Before revamping the look and style of this blog, I think it only fair that I first do a quick recap.
I was fully prepared to let this blog die... but then I met Manuel's family.
During a trip to Puerto Rico, it became clear to me that this blog was much more important to people I had never met than it was to the people I knew (*excluding my own mother).
Many people, some who barely spoke English, approached me to let me know how much they loved being able to track what Manuel was up to as he moved halfway around the world.
Apparently Manuel has always been shit at keeping people posted or staying in touch so his family's only source of news was right here on Where In The World.
They were also candid enough to let me know that once I "fell in love", they stopped reading because all I wrote about was Lauren and that bored them to death.
Fair play.

I went back and read all the early entries in this blog and realized it is very important to me for several reasons. It is a catalogue of a great experiment. A journey into the unknown. The start of not only a new chapter in my life, but the start of a whole new book.
The trashy, under weight, hour to hour lifestyle that I cherished so much while living in New York was dying and a new, honest, semi-healthy/border line getting fat Qatar lifestyle was being born. And the entire thing is catalogued here.
The adventure, the heartbreak, the fears, the hilarity... all within the virtual pages of this blog.
It's quite a trip really. Figuratively and literally.

So to start the new era of WITW...
Here is a photo of Manuel.

Now that that is out of the way...
Here is a brief recap of 2013.

Got in something serious traveling last year.
Saw some parts of the world again and some for the first time.

MARCH - England. London and Liverpool to be exact.
APRIL - Oman for a fishing trip. This was one of the last updates I actually posted.
Also hit up Lebanon for the first of several fairytale style weddings. This beautiful celebration     was for one of my favorite couples on the planet: Wajdi and Luana. A super low key, DIY style party at an all organic farm in the mountains was the backdrop for a stunning day. Soon thereafter, these two lovebirds brought another little human to the Earth. Baby Jude. Cute as a damn button and strangely, a spitting image of his father. Mini Waj in full effect.

MAY - May saw us heading back to Crete for the 4th time (I think 4th... 5th maybe?). Not that you need an excuse to go to one of the most beautiful places on Earth but this was for the second of 3 weddings in 2013. This one was highly anticipated and saw me having a fairly large part. Dale and Hannah's.
                                     
These two are practically my family and this wedding was beyond spectacular. Not only was everything perfect about the wedding but also the trip. Somehow I was able to convince my mom (not that she needs any convincing) and dad to come out for the festivities.
This trip will forever be imprinted on my brain. Absolutely perfect.

AUGUST- August saw more European exploration.
Lauren and I decided we had to finally check out Amsterdam. After a bunch of research, we settled on going all out and getting a house boat. Seemed fitting and perfect for our first trip over. The houseboat we found was amazing. The owner was super excited that we selected their house for our trip. At first it seemed weird that they were so excited. But then we got an email saying how perfect it was for our dates as our house boat was the starting line for "Canal Pride". Yes. The biggest gay pride parade in the world. AND it's on the water.

Not exactly what we had expected from our vacation but turned out to be pretty awesome and filled with "WHAT THE..." moments like the one pictured above.
Thousands of people in the streets, climbing over one another to get the best view while we relaxed on our deck all alone and in complete peace. Well... as peaceful as penis shaped boats, glitter cannons and blasting techno music can be I suppose.
We were lucky enough to tack on another incredible trip directly after Amsterdam.
This time to Norway with Manuel and Alex to catch a day at OYA festival.

The light rain came down as we got drunk in the mud while listening to Local Natives, Grimes, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, Rodriguez (aka Sugar Man), God Speed You Black Emperor and more. We also got to check out the Viking Museum and some other wicked spots on a short trip.
Norway is a definite spot to revisit.

SEPTEMBER - Our Amsterdam craving called yet again. This time it was for work. We checked out the IBC conference for a couple days. This was basically a total nerd fest where all the new filmmaking technologies are released and exhibited. Sounds lame but was actually quite fun. Not to mention it was set in Amsterdam.

As a sheer stroke of luck, IBC was scheduled just at the same time as Portugal. The Man was playing.
Perfect. We got our tickets, checked the show and hung with the PTM boys afterwards. Good times.


OCTOBER - Finally, we made it back to America. This time, for yet another wedding. Truth Love Brother himself... Joe Markle. All the gang back together for one day. Nearly all the people that helped shape my teenage years and early 20's were all in the house for a great time.

A party to end all parties. But also a party that found me jet lagged and asleep in our rental car before 10pm. haha

After October, the traveling ended until December (which is a whole other post in the making).
On top of all that jet setting... I was actually able to get quite a bit of work done. Believe it or not.
If you don't believe it... just check out our website.
And that is only the tip of the iceberg.

So there...
A scatterbrained, half memory travel log from 2013.
This is the start of the new WITW.
Some shit. Some interesting.
But most importantly, several photos of Manuel.

WITW IS DEAD

But like a flesh eating zombie...
It will rise again.
Hungry for brains.

Stay tuned. 

THE FILM HOUSE X ADAM BROCK

Very few new artists get me excited.
Luckily, our friend Justin Freund has found one.
His name is Adam Brock.
He's a multi-talented music machine.

Recently, he recorded a cover of The Beach Boys classic 'God Only Knows'.
Justin was able to shoot video of Adam recording each and every part of the song (ALONE!).
The Film House's Wajdi Elian worked his magic with the footage and has created a really cool video for the release.

Check it out.
Check Adam out.