Monthly Archives: September 2006

French Kicks Live

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IMG_6526
Originally uploaded by sarahmodern.

I just arrived from the French Kicks concert at The Social, here in downtown Orlando. First of all, it was my first concert in this venue and I loved it: it is definitely my kind of venue, one that reminded me of “The Fly” in Caracas and one that I plan on coming back to soon.

I arrived just as The Little Ones were wrapping up their set. What I heard was good, but I honestly didn’t hear enough to make a fair judgement.

After setting up and a bit of a break, French Kicks hit the stage and it was all power spewing from it, all through their performance. Nick Stumpf, the lead singer (who also played keyboard on and off) stood tall as a tower, twisting his legs like a pretzel, perhaps to bring himself down to the level of the mic which was stretched as far as it could go.

The lead guitarist, Josh Wise, pulled sounds from his instrument that were worthy of The Edge and the drummer, Aaron Thurston, played like there was no tomorrow. The bass player, the younger brother of the lead singer, rounded things up alongside a new band member, Kush, who plays keyboards, rhythm guitars and percussion.

They oozed SO much energy on stage. They reminded me of a blend between The Arcade Fire, Starsailor and early U2. Every song was incredible! What made their sound so special were particularly the harmonies Stumpf and Wise put together, along with the impeccable and loaded drum playing.

I read a comment in another blog that felt they didn’t sound as good live as they do in studio. I liked their studio work a lot, but honestly these guys are way better live than in any of their albums. I will have to disagree with the blogger who said otherwise.

Here is a video from the track “So Far We Are”, from their new album:


Don't Duct-Tape Your Diabetes

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Although this article is directed to diabetics, some of the advice in it can be followed by non-diabetics as well. Two items, specifically, can be applied by all of us:
–Reduce your stress level: that’s a good one, isn’t it? I just finished (last Monday) a project that took up a good part of my life over the course of the past couple of months. It was unbelievable the way I felt after the project was live: it was as if a HUGE weight was taken off my shoulders… And guess what happened to my BG values. Stress can and does affect blood sugar values, but if you’re not diabetic, still stress is a recipe for problems down the line.

–Become more physically active: this is another one of those eternal, “self proclaimed” goals. I’ve picked up biking: inflated my bike’s tires (they were so flat, it’s not even funny) and started biking on Wednesdays after work. This week, I missed the biking session due to “other priorities”. Bull! Exercise has to top other things! This sedentary lifestyle (here I am, posting on my blog) is largely a reason behind the current diabetes epidemic in the States.