Hardly Strictly 2014

When Mark Twain said the coldest Winter he ever had was a Summer in San Francisco, he must not have been there during late September/October. San Francisco experiences the magical Indian Summer, right when you are preparing for Fall and Winter BAM, its 85 degrees. I spend the first weekend of October at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, a free music festival in Golden Gate park. I couldn't catch a break from the heat all weekend, it was strange yet enjoyable. Some friends from my home town made their way up to the bay for a fun and cheap weekend which entailed free live music and crashing on the floor of my friends apartment. Luckily we are still young enough to to survive on beer and minimal sleep for three days.

The festival was a blast. This year the line-up didn't include many bands that I was initially interested in but I came to HSB with an open mind and a yearning to dance. Some highlights include Social Distortion and Build to Spill. Social Distortion was so much fun, everyone sang along to the classics and danced as the sun finally began to hide behind the trees and give us the much needed relief of shade.

Saturday night a friend and I embarked on a journey to a free Best Coast show that was held at the SOMA food truck park. We were equipped with two dead Iphones and a bag of wine. We somehow made it with the help of nice strangers giving us directions and letting us use their phones. We finally get there right before the band was supposed to start and there was about a two hour line to get in. Feeling frustrated by this, my friend Hayley walked past the entire line, walked up to the person administering the wristbands, and claimed she worked for Jansport, the company putting on the event. They quickly handed her 5 wristbands and we were let right in. After getting in we got food from the amazing food trucks there, got free beer there were giving out, and had a dance to some fun Best Coast tunes. If you get a chance to go to the SOMA StEat Food Park do it! It's so cute with awesome food, great for a date or a fun hangout with friends.

It was an amazing weekend with great friends and I cannot wait for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2015!

Urban Outfitters: Douche of the Year

On May 4^th 1970, a protest against the Vietnam War took place at Kent University in Ohio. Things took a lethal turn when armed members of the Ohio National Guard began to open fire at a group of unarmed students. Nine students were injured and four dead, two of which were just walking to class. This horrific scene was deemed the Kent State massacre. 44 years later it only makes sense to capitalize on this terrible experience and poke fun at it right? That must have been what Urban Outfitters thought when they released their “Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt”.

The sweatshirt is distressed with red paint splattered on it resembling blood and holes in the shoulder. People took to twitter to express their outrage, people are pissed. Urban Outfitters went to twitter with their response saying,

“Urban Outfitters sincerely apologizes for any offense our Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt may have caused. It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such. The one-of-a-kind item was purchased as part of our sun-faded vintage collection. There is no blood on this shirt nor has this item been altered in any way. The red stains are discoloration from the original shade of the shirt and the holes are from natural wear and fray. Again, we deeply regret that this item was perceived negatively and we have removed it immediately from our website to avoid further upset.” 

 This statement came a little too late, the damage is already done. Not to mention people turning to social media to express their outrage, many news media sources and bloggers have wrote about the incident spreading the news like wildfire.

This sounds all too much like the incident when Urban Outfitters came out with a shirt that said “Eat Less” in big block letters across the chest. This shirt cause similar outrage. This is really stupid of Urban Outfitters. They really need to think things through more before they put products on their shelves and website. This stunt is extremely insensitive and a perfect example of terrible PR. Maybe UO needs to use their brains a bit more instead of always trying to be the most edgy clothing company in the business. I wish I could say I will no longer be shopping at Urban Outfitters but let’s be real, that sale section is irresistible.