Ilyia Kaushansky

Went to my first Russian party in San Francisco yesterday. I have to say that I was impressed. The club was really nice(which was a surprise - many nightsclubs in San Francisco look like dumps compared to clubs in Toronto), the music pretty good(mostly Russian dance and house), and there were lots of great looking women. People were well dressed, and smiling which couldn't be said about Russian parties in Toronto. I got the impression that Russians in San Fran have adapted much better to local lifestyle than Russians in Toronto.

Overall I really enjoyed the night, and I think will be attending more of these parties in the future.

All I can say is WOW. I'm not generally a big fan of house music, but this set has not left my playlist for the past month or so. 2.5 hours of dark, dirty, electro house; incredible ! Here is the tracklist:

01. Pastaboys - Tribute
02. Audiofly - Science Fiction
03. Vintagent - Rock N Roll
04. Dj Marbrax - Freakin
05. Tiga - Louder Than A Bomb
06. ID
07. Beginerz pres Def E - Wipe Those Tears Away (Vocal mix)
08. Steve Lawler - Illectronic Music (Vocal mix)
09. Mark Knight + Martijn Ten Velden - Acid Test
10. Mylo - Destroy Rock N Roll (Tom Neville mix)
11. Motel - Feel The Rhythm
12. Trophy Twins - Anarchism (Disciples of Sound & Kid Lopez mix)
13. Funky Green Dogs - Reach For Me (Steve Lawler mix)
14. Tommie Sunshine - Head To Toe In Drag
15. T-Total - Give Me Funk
16. Didier Sinclair and Chris Pie - Heavenly (Sharam Jey Club mix)
17. Max Linen - Flashback (D Ramirez mix)
18. Boombox - The Slam
19. Live Element - Dont Bring Me Down
20. ID
21. ID
22. God's Uncle / Robert Armani - Overclockers / Circus Bells (Hardfloor mix) / (King Unique Mashup)
23. Huntemann - Discotech
24. ID
25. ID
26. Donna Summer - I Feel Love (Steve Lawler mix)


Needless to say I can't wait to hear Lawler at a club again !

Update: Steve Lawler will be performing at Mezzanine, San Francisco on Oct 7, 2005. YES !

As you may know I arrived in California on July 27th, 2005. But what you may not know, is that today, on August 13th, 2005 was the first time that I prepared food on the territory of the United States. The natural question would be - "What did you cook?" The answer is simple: a hot dog.

Yesterday I finally moved into my newly rented apartment in San Francisco. It is a small bachelor apartment(or studio as they call it in the US), but I think it will suit me just fine. The view from the balcony (I'm on the 27th floor) is absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately San Francisco is often foggy, so I usually can't see very far. I really like the place so far; and it feels great finally living in a place of my own. Surprisingly, I even feel motivated to keep it clean; this never happened to me before. Am I maturing ?

Yesterday I also made a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase various products that are essential for living. It's incredible how much stuff there is ! Anything from forks and spoons, to shower curtain and garbage bin. I spent nearly $150, and will probably need to make another two or three trips.

Right now the apartment feels somewhat empty. Out of furniture I just have an air-mattress, and computer desk. Not even a chair to sit on. Hopefully this will change over the coming months.

Here are the pictures of the apartment:






Note: There is a large built-in closet that you don't see. Its large enough to for all my clothes, etc, so that at least there won't be any shelves or other closets in the room.

Update: A valid question in the comment was "Where are the pictures of view?" Hm.. yeah. Unfortunately it was a bit a bit foggy on sunday, and in addition to that, I don't want to post it until I learn how to shoot a good panoramic picture with my camera. Since I'm not home during sunlight hours on mon-fri, this will have to wait till Saturday.

It's been almost a month since I've returned from Ibiza, and so I think it's time to post a few pictures. Unfortunately there aren't many, and even fewer that are suitable for public display.



Tuesday night. On the way to Pacha nighclub, where Junior Jack is spinning house. It was our first club night in Ibiza. Pacha was fun, but I think we should have went to Amnesia instead(Armin was spinning Trance there)


Wednesday morning. This picture was taken around 8AM, soon after me and Vlad returned from Pacha. We weren't done partying yet. After changing, showering and having a little breakfast we were on our way to party at Space nightclub, where we danced till noon.


On Sunday night we went to San Antonio to watch the sunset at Cafe Del Mar. It was pretty cloudy and we got there late, so we didn't see much. And so we drank. A lot. Soon after I found myself singing Elvis Presley - Hound Dog at some bar in San Antonio.


Taken monday morning. After singing Elvis, we went to Judgement Sundays at Eden nightclub where Ferry Corsten, Judge Jules and Agnelli & Nelson were spinning that night. It was an awesome party. So awesome, in fact, that after returning home around 6AM I just couldn't stop laughing(and no, I wasn't stoned).


The infamous Bora Bora. We partied there pretty much every evening, but didn't get a chance to take any pictures until the very last evening. Parties at Bora Bora were always great. Definitely one of the highlights of Ibiza.

Overall it was a really fun trip. Can't wait to do it again !

Tags: ibiza

And so, I have arrived in California.

The first week here has not been easy. I arrived on Wednesday, July 27th and my first mission was to open a checking account at an American bank. That part was easy; the problems began when I tried to put my money into it. Back in Canada, I've decided that instead of bringing cash into US, I'd make a money order and then deposit it as soon as I open an account here. Unfortunately, Bank of America decided to put my money order on hold for a week, which has really screwed up my plans to get an apartment by the end of the weekend.

Nevertheless I spent the next 3 days looking at apartments in both San Francisco and Mountain View(near work). What I soon realized is that housing in Mountain View is both cheaper, and better than housing in San Francisco. The downside ? Mountain View is BORING. And by boring, I do mean boring. There is absolutely nothing here.

Finally, on Sunday I've discovered a fairly decent place in San Francisco. It is only 5 minutes walking distance to Google Shuttle(free shuttle bus that takes San Francisco Googlers to work every morning, and home every evening), the building itself is fairly nice and it's right in the middle of the city, close to all the entertainment. The apartment is small(bachelor apt, 450sq feet), and is very pricy. Nevertheless I decided to take it due to the advantages described above. My placement there is still not guaranteed; if nobody else takes it before me on saturday, then I will move in(I can't take it before Saturday, because Saturday is the earliest I can come to SF, sign the lease and pay for it)

Monday was the first day at work. No big surprises. I'm back with my old team, working on Google Print (http://print.google.com). Right now I'm in the process of re-familiarizing myself with the system, and just getting up to speed with the changes that happened here while I was gone.

On Tuesday I got myself my very first cell phone. WOHOO :) They have very nice pay-as-you-go plans here. For a $100 you can get a card with 1000(basically 10 centes a minute, anytime, no long-distance charges within US). Given my phone-talking habits, I think this should suit me very well during the next year.

Anyways, enough rambling for now.