Semana de Musica

I'm on my way out the door to the Creamfields Music Festival right now, but I thought I'd post a cool video of some great music I've seen recently.

This video is of a very well-known Argentine rock star named Palo Pandolfo. A former roommate of mine, Jake Falby, a kid from Boston, is an amazing violinist and while studying abroad here from Pomona College got put in touch with Palo. He subsequently ended up dropping his classes for the semester and touring with the band. Last night was his despedida, his last night in the country, so we went to watch him play with this great musician. It was a blast. One of the coolest things about this show too was that Tigre, the guy who owns the house I live in, has been a fan of Palo Pandolfo since the early 1980's. Jake managed to get him to get a couple of guest appearances on his songs, since he is a musician himself. It was a childhood dream carried out. Was quite a moment.

All the best to everyone wherever they are! Un beso grande a todos!

3 Months of a Photo-a-Day

http://www.pbase.com/afirestein/foto_por_dia

Enjoy! I promise a real blog update soon too! Lots to share...

Back in BA!

I recently arrived back in Argentina after an amazing five week jaunt through various parts of the USA to see friends and family. It feels great to be back here though, I'm re-energized and ready to go! Stay tuned for more posts to come! Much love to everyone!

Even though I am not in Argentina for the time being, I am going to continue this OH SNAP segment.







1. Asado on my rooftop in Congreso
2. 2 more pairs of BucketFeet
3. San Telmo futbol canchas
4. Cathedral in BA somewhere along the way to EZE Int'l Airport
5. A junkyard company in Queens, NYC
6. Stop-sign in Boulder, Colorado
7. A mural of a cowboy musician in downtown Denver, Colorado

OH SNAP! Photos of the Week: Sept 27th- Oct 3rd 2009

1. Drinking yerba mate
2. "Imagine" BucketFeet
3. Nightime view from my terraza in the Congreso neighborhood of Buenos Aires
4. Hype @ Kika
5. Shadow
6. Hype edition BucketFeet
7. Ex-pubcrawl leader, Lilith Eller, doing a little modeling

Parabens, Rio!

BucketFeet Stop Motion

I recently started compiling stop-motion videos of shoes I've worked on. It takes a long time but the result is completely worth it! Check 'em out!

Photos of the Week: Sept 20th-26th 2009

1. Stream of headlights on Pasco, taken from my rooftop
2. A guy getting pumped about the weekly La Bomba de Tiempo drum concert
3. Delivery-only sushi from Sushi Pop
4. El Litoral, my favorite no-frills parilla in the city
5. Malbec, baby!
6. Shoppers and vendors on Peru street pietonal
7. Silvia Duga, judge for upcoming reality TV show

Photos of the Week: Sept 13-19th 2009

Boca vs. Godoy Cruz

Well I finally made it to La Bombanera, Buenos Aires' famed stadium that houses CABJ (Club Atletico Boca Juniors) to watch a game on a beautiful, nearly-spring, day. Added bonus was that before the game, Argentina's very own Juan Martin del Potro (0:39) came out on the field to a standing ovation and chanting of "SALE CAMPEON!! SALE CAMPEON!!"

Arpoador Skate Park, Rio

Felipe Motta and Marcelo Ment (tags: Mottilaa and Ment) recently got commissioned by Converse shoes to repaint the famous skatepark on top of Arpoador rock that separates Ipanema from Copacabana beach. Ment was one of the artists I worked with when I was in Rio, he is a GENIUS! This skatepark is amazing, check out Mottillaa's blog. Cheers!

http://www.sneakersbr.com.br/blogs/mottilaa/3634/FIX-TO-RIDE:-A-SAGA

Funny Argentine Commercial

This is a funny commercial I just saw about a guy who was raised by hippies...

Photos of the Week Sept 6th-12th

Una Foto Cada Dia

Photo-a-Day is back! Keep your eyes on this gallery, I will be trying to take and post a different photo everyday for as long as possible.

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Pbase (high-res)

Argentina v. Brasil

Vamos Argentina!!!! Today is the Argentina vs. Brazil World Cup qualifier in Rosario. If Argentina doesn't win, they probably will not make it to the World Cup, unless one or more of the other teams playing today too get upset. Big deal, because not making it to the World Cup is unacceptable. VAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!

As Praias do Rio

Video montage of Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.

A Journey on Rio's Craaaazy Buses

Take a ride on Rio's crazy crazy crazy buses. The bus drivers seem to be the only Brazilians to ever be in a hurry, I swear!

Friday Nights in Lapa

Neuza and Parada de Lucas

I decided to go up and check out the northern community of Parada de Lucas, where my friends Karina and Rafael have been doing community projects. Karina teaches an art class and Rafael, even though he is Mexican, has been in Brazil long enough to be an accomplished capoeira teacher. The woman that runs the program, Neuza, grew up in this neighborhood, and as Karina put it, is like Mother Theresa except she "shags, smokes and drinks." This favela is in the northern part of the city, a place few tourists or foreigners go on purpose. Since practically ever major attraction is located in the southern part of the city (Christo, Ipanema and Copacabana beaches, Pao de Azucar), the north has been largely forgotten and ignored. You get a totally different sense when walking into the favelas here, they're grimier and smell horrible because of the lack of proper plumbing. In any case, I thought I should see it firsthand, and I'm glad I did. The kids in this center, although hyper as hell, were great. Here are a few shots I got.