And I'm spent. Here is a quick pic of G&D in the mix at Club Bed tonight. Gabriel & Dresden rocked although I have to agree with Bryan that there didn't seem to be too much continuity to the mix. Tracks were played. But the phrasing of the entire set was reminiscent of a horizontal electrokardiogram reading.

Took a couple minutes before they let us in, but that was fine as we were parked a gimp soccer ball kick away from the club anyway. Coincidentally, we walked in to the club right when they were playing their new remix of the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack. The layout of Club Bed was an interesting setup. It was a small club maybe three times the size of the French House party zone and with raised bed platforms all around the perimeter of the club kinda like Arabian style. Then there were tough guys parked at each of the stairs to get up to the raised bed platforms. I think they were there to keep people like us out (the nVIP's = not VIPS). We didn't get into any fights as there don't seem to be many fights at trance/techno clubs so we were able to leave unscathed and score some pizza at the joint we've been eating at for the last three days (which happened to be next door). And speak of the devil, the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack is playing in our RV as I'm writing this. Alright, Bryan and I are going to clean the RV bathroom and then find gas at 3 in the morning then drive to the airport and pass out for 1 grand hour of blissful sleep.

Peace and back to SF...

And some pictures of the boat while en route to the dive site. We managed to do two dives on one tank of air. Depth wasn't that great so less air was used. (The deeper you go, the more air you use, relative to air volume)

Byeung here. Tag team post talking at you last night in South Beach, Miami. I'd like to comment on how much it sucks to see your water gauge dip to empty. The thought of attempting to rinse off in the shower and the water going to the "drip drip" is not appealing. Walked half mile to score 6 gallons of water and carry it back in a backpack. Good times.

Now playing, Disc 1 of Trilogique by Airwave. Incredible trance mix. Deep beats, good, unhackneyed melodies. Original mixing and seamless of course. Since we're parked out in front of the club we see that the line is building and we need to make our move. We're going to see Gabriel and Dresden, a San Francisco based producer and DJ duo. They were featured in this months Remix mag and apparently made an impression on Ambert so I should go and read that article. They were featured on Armin Van Buuren's A State of Trance weekly broadcast a few weeks ago. Airwave incidentally was on Markus Shulz's Global DJ Broadcast a few weeks back as well, performing on Ableton Live (software). There has been a noticeable acceptance of CD players and technology over the past few years. We still both work with vinyl quite a bit as we feel that as an interface, it provides the most precision.

Did a few live mixes yesterday. Girlfriend is working in China and apparently American blogs are blocked via the "Great firewall" of China. In replacement, we did a live skype DJ broadcast for her and for Jamie Bretz holding out in NYC. She'll come with us next year. Got a lot of ideas for upcoming collaborative works and cd releases. May partner up and on producer/DJ duo's and get some more cd's out there. Will keep everyone updated with our latest works. Thanks for logging in!

So here we go. It's Bryan and my (Ambert) final night here in Miami Beach. We had an awesome dinner at a joint called Antigua (1334 Washington Ave. aka the Restaurant of the Macarena) Had a bottle of CS Inglenook, some tapas, a little bit of Paella and fish in honor of the all the little guys that we scared away with our Rick James act. But as we prepare to embark on this last go around, let's just mention a little bit of our closing ceremonies.

1. Cleansing
~ a state of cleanliness, generally achieved by lots of 409 and Mr. Bounty (a classic combo) . Getting on your hands your knees and picking up 4 days worth of grime from the floor. Other notables include putting 5 gallons of bottled water into the big momma. While I was out there, I noticed a little putrid disrespect painted on our wheel well. Yes that is read urination. I mean who would do something just to do something like that?

2. Getting Huge
~ it's never too late to get big for the club. I mean even if it is 10 minutes before going in. Good thinkg I brought my blue elastomer which we passed around like high schoolers smoking a 2cm blunt. Needless to say, there was a lot of sweat, and a lot of testosterone in the air. Do you know where the weight room is at? (Pictures of said working out have been left out of the blog, but you can email us for a copy, it's not that exciting).

3. Bringing the music to the club.
~ That's right. As if a 10MW sound system at the club wasn't enough, we thought that it would be better if the club featured a 10.000000001MW sound system. That is if we plug in our own sound system. I mean yeah that could really use a little help. Here is a picture of me, bringing the music to the club.


And we are off for round three!

Ambert here. Scuba diving was tight as Bryan mentioned. Noted notables included the Rick James reinactment. We think that no damage was done to the coral floor, but we can't guarantee that, although I think the fish were just as amused as we were. Also there was random humping of corals and rocks. -- "Cold as ice." It was so cold that my manly specimens were hanging out in the peritoneal cavity. Here is a picture on the USS Scuba Destroyer manned by none other than a Russian sailor named "G." What a baller.

Jordy left for home this morning after an interesting evening. I'm sure one of them will fill in the details. Got home around 3am and got up for scuba diving at 7am. The water was cold enough for us not to want to be in there. Max depth today was about 23ft. Ambert's dive computer might say something else. Lots of parrot fish to be seen. Quite colorful. I'll have to make the transition from referring to sea creatures as "seafood" to maybe, underwater life. The last time I saw parrot fish was in the asian mart, on ice.

As a side note, I'm glad I started out learning English, so I don't have to now deal with why several fish are just that and not fishes. But at the same time I won't get really offended if I were to make that mistake and get looked at strangely. Why? They're curious at why asians need to wear sunglasses when so little light goes through those slanted eyes. Trust me, these slants are totally stock, not a custom job. Only the lasik was, and I'm sure the operation reminded some of Clockwork Orange. I didn't know my lids could open that wide.

But anyways in keeping with the "underwater naturalist" theme of diving, there was no touching of coral or sea life. Only a small episode of Rick James meets the ocean bottom. Quotes from 20 feet below:

F yo sand. (Sand was kicked in the process. No suede platform shoes were worn.)
I've been kicked out of better oceans than this.
You're cold as ice.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, join the legions of people who don't understand me most of the time. Or you can just watch Dave Chappelle's Show. Go for the gold and watch both seasons 1 and 2.

So it's true that we started our day a little late than usual. By 1pm we were on a mission to find breakfast and definitely starving. But I think we were all having a little PMS (post mad-lack-of-scoring-with-any-girls-at-the-cloob syndrome) and couldn't choose a place to eat. Along the meandering we came across this sign, which is our very dear shoutout to our own de la Torre. It seems that while this de la Torre is certified as a doctor he is a very A. multitalented businessman or B. confused as hell to what his real job is. As you can see, not only is this guy a "diplomate" (I think that's a cross between diplomat and play-mate) but also involved with immigration ("imagracion" which probably means something to do with the INS who Matt seems to be good friends with - he gets booty calls from them every couple months) and then he also claims to be a doctor of internal medicine AND podiatry. I mean I barely passed human anatomy class this quarter so my credibility is at an all time low but last time I checked internal medicine was not related to podiatry, unless you get kicked real hard in the gut. Alright I'm out, here's to the de la Torre Revolution!

A new day has come, and Celine Dion is not representing at the Miami Winter Music Conference; although she does have a permanent place on my ipod music conference. Here is our new location at 9th and Washington where we scored doubly awesomeness. 1. We are about 10 blocks closer to the action from where we were parked all yesterday, and 2. We found a spot next to a nursing home. Well I love old people but actually 2. We found parking that had no landlord aka. parking meter (Oh btw, Bryan had a little run in with said landlord and I think the landlord won but he thinks it's a draw. Here's a pic of our new molo (MObile LOcation).

When pimping out your Jetta with 20-inch chrome rings just isn't enough... upgrade to the scissor doors! Bonus points for cruising down the street at 4am with your friend dragging his foot across the ground.

In the cloob with Barbara Tucker, vocal house diva. She was on for a grand total of... one song. It was good one.

This guy's rims were so big he had to upgrade his suspension just so they would fit in his car.

The outside of Club Amika. Pretty classy joint, all in all.

Some yum guys in front of, well, Sum Yum Gai.
Ms. Barbara Tucker, live.
CJ Mackintosh in the mix. He's so good he can smoke and mix at the same time.

A little atmosphere from behind the DJ booth.

BYeung here. Those two took care of the picture taking for the day so I'll just highlight a few quotes of the day.

Jordy: (over Skype with Farah) Your girl's (British) accent is so hot.
Farah: Sounds like you guys are having a good time.

Me: I've been good. I haven't made out with anyone.
Ambert: It's not cheating if you make out with dudes or transvestites.

So anyways, we went out clubbing to practice DJ worship. I left around 1am to head to another club to hear some hot trance beats. For some reason I didn't feel like dancing so I wallflowered it and just listened to the DJ. That's the guy who plays tunes for everyone and also has a turntable fetish. The newer DJ's have CD fetishes. And the guy you can hate on if you don't like his/her choice of tunes. F___ yo turntables/cd players!

Final quote from Ambert: She spins vinyl, she's hot, she has bombs.

and

These are like long johns but with a hole for my ass.

Jordy: You're using the privacy curtain? Why don't you us that as a blanket?

Off to the cloob, part deux! (Return of the Cloob).

One last batch of pics to post before we take the pre-clubbing nap. Must... regain... strength... We're heading to Club Amika for the Milk 'n 2 Sugars label party. A bunch of really big UK and New York house DJs I've followed for a while but never heard live: Joey Negro, Andy Ward, Jon Cutler, Hardsoul, and more.

Lots of really cool architecture in Miami... this building has an amazing array of colored lights which looked really nice against the sky at dusk.

Uh... no comment.
Oh my god -- look at that cocktail! It is soooooo big!

Heading back to our RV home, we happened along these fine gentlemen who were kind enough to share with us their Jim Beam and Coke. This totally made up for them thinking we were all visiting from Thailand because of Ambert and Bryan's Asiatic features. Thanks guys!

We spent all afternoon looking for the so-called "Remix Hotel", which showcased all kinds of cool DJ equipment and poolside mixing by famous DJs. Turns out "Remix Hotel" was just a fun name they made up for the event, which was actually at the National Hotel. Awesome. Anyway, we did manage to make our way there eventually, and it was totally worth it.

There was a good crowd bumping to the sounds of a rotating crew of DJs. Good music, warm weather and a light breeze, great vibe... the only thing keeping it from perfection was the ludicrous cost of beverages: we were waiting at the bar and I saw some guy order two drinks and pay 26 bucks. 26 BUCKS?! Needless to say, we didn't wait at the bar any longer.

Hmm... no real reason for this picture, just something about this girl's outfit that was so... what's the word I'm looking for... trashy? Yes, that's it. (Note the Playboy tattoo).

I love this guy's shirt. Also note Ambert peeking through on the left side of the picture.
Aahhhh...
The three doods in front of the DJ booth. I'm proudly sporting the free hat I got at one of the equipment manufacturer's booths.
This chick was mixing in the Serato room. She was actually really good at scratching. Good stuff.
Every long palm-tree-lined pool needs a surly security guard. We tried to get him to pose for a picture with us, but he refused. Figures.

Ambert and Bryan checking out some, uh, speakers.

Ambert performing a little RV maintenance before we head off for the day.

The Threesome/Triumvirate/Trio of doods is Complete!

It's a new dawn, it's a new day. And we're about to hit up the beaches (read: beaches w/ an Asian accent). Had a little trouble finding parking today since the mob is out and about. Plus, Jordy almost took out our side mirror while driving and checking out ladies at the same time. As everyone knows, men are poor multitaskers. Needless to say what are three men doing with their thinkpads out on wifi in an RV? It's time for lunch. Peace I'm out. Here's a quick pic of our full gang at the airport. More to come!

For the inaugural post from JAMbertO... It's wild, it's crazy and we're hitting it up Nikki Beach like there's no tomorrow. Just got back from Dimitri from Paris who was playing some tripped out funky town shit. Got some peeps hanging out in this piece. And they're talking about some crazy shit. Local guys are tight. Well we're going to cruise back into the cloob and make a strong showing in the place. Lady's tighten up, we're coming back in! Part Deux....

Update halfway through the night... Dimitri from Paris is playing a solid old-school disco and funk-inspired set; Ambert and I are taking a little breather back at the RV for that elixir of mid-night goodness: Red Bull and cheap white wine (Vendange "California" Sauvignon Blanc, for those in the know).

Oh yeah, pictures... Ambert doing some pre-game pushups in the RV... the sunglass-wearing bouncer for the VIP section doing his job... and Dimnitri from Paris rocking out with the awesome "Defected in the House" sign behind him. We gotta steal one of those signs before the weekend is over.

Ambert and I are off to Nikki Beach for the Defected party... the long, long walk across Ocean Drive awaits. No, actually, we're parked directly across the street from the club. It's game time.

Okay I just tried to convince Josh Merry to just take care of business and buy his plane ticket. It's not too late to dominate this RV. The flight case for the DJM600 mixer just arrived at work. There was talk about a turntable and the mixer being lugged down to Miami. Serato can allow you to mix with one turntable which might help with the weight, or that's going to be some 60-80 lbs of stuff to carry on the train to the airport....and stuff to get lost in transit. Also, there is a possibility of live skypecast with audio and video.

The guys managed to score some wifi so we'll see how far we can take it. Sign up for skype if you haven't already. http://www.skype.com, it's free and you can see us without having a webcam.

Top left: Ambert can't contain his joy upon discovering one of the 3 beds in the RV, and must hump it.

Bottom right: Jordy, straight thugging down I698 or whatever it was. So far, 2 lane changes were completed and 0 passenger cars hiding in blind spot have been crushed. Let's see how the stats evolve over the weekend.

Top right: Oh. My. God. It's a freaking rolling Segway convention!!! Yes sir, the only thing more ridiculous than one person riding a Segway is a group of 8 people riding Segways in formation in the middle of a thunderstorm, wearing rain jackets, signaling their turns, and generally making fools out of themselves.

Right now we're parked outside of Nikki Beach, a famed Miami club where we're attending the Defected Records party in a couple of hours.

That's the update for now...

A good start to the trip: we're hanging out in baggage claim waiting for the bags to come around when I notice that the guy next to us has bags that look like they would be perfect for holding records. Turns out he's DJ Scott K, who's spinning at some parties this weekend. www.myspace.com/boxmusic is his site. AND -- he was traveling with his manager and none other DJ Colette of San Francisco fame (well, fame if you're into the S.F. dance music scene). We chatted it up with them and got some info on a couple parties. Very cool people, and an awesome way to kick off our Miami adventure.

Ok, so I'm doing the navigation for the guys trying to find a place to park in and setup the headquarters of ridiculousness. The latest phone update tells me that the generator in the first RV is broken so they are switching RV's now. Bad generators will put a damper on the subwoofer Jordy brought and we can't have that. I've also been told to bring sleeping bags because the RV doesn't have anything.

Listening to Armin Van Buuren's A State of Trance episode 241 on internet radio...in the mix with D. Kassack holding up the Wash. DC side of things.

Since this RV apparently fits three normal sized people and two midgets, I suppose I will be able to take over the other midget's share of two inches of legroom. Heading to work and coming home with some gameface.

Redeye in 16 hours. And an out of the club, right into the plane.....flight home. I was going to call the second one a redeye but Jen chastized me and said only eastbound flights were called redeyes.

Ambert and Jordy are now flying or will be flying shortly towards Miami. I'll be leaving Friday at 12AM to arrive at 10AM where it's sunny and warm. Those guys better pick me up from the airport with the RV. Or rather they should just give me the address of the parking lot they're in.

The turntables in my room will be sitting idle for days. But for good reason. As usual there will be a bevy of high tech that meets low tech. High tech: smart phones, digital cameras, GPS navs. Low tech: Scantily clad attractive people, wine, spirits, cover charges.

This, in theory, is the RV we're going to pick up tomorrow morning. The helpful graphic explains that it can comfortably sleep 3 adults and 2 midgets.

Ambert's flight just took off, I'm leaving for the airport in 15 minutes, and Bryan... well, Bryan's not leaving until tomorrow night. Sucks for him. Miami, here we come!

Welcome to the official blog of Jordy, Ambert, and Bryan's trip to Miami Winter Music Conference 2006: In the Cloob.