August 6th, 2007

“There’s Big Ben, Parliament.”

Tomorrow I leave for London! If you were a regular reader back when I wrote this, you know that my sister moved there 11 months ago. So we’re going for a little over a week, to visit her and to do various touristy things.

I don’t plan to take a computer, or even get near one during this trip, meaning no updates for a while. I should be back with you sometime between the 16th and the 20th.

And I’m sure I’ll have lots to tell you.

Tags: FYI, Travel - No Comments »

June 26th, 2007

My Weekend in Smasheville

Look, that giant fetus is playing the guitar!

Kidding! I’m kidding people. That’s not a giant fetus; it’s Billy Corgan! In a picture I took this past weekend! The Smashing-Pumpkins-ticket saga I regaled you with last month, didn’t end up ending there. The Orange Peel held back a limited number of tickets, even after Ticketmaster reported all of the shows sold-out, and sent an email to their mailing list only, informing them that there would be one last opportunity to log-in and buy them. My coworker Mike is on this list and knew I wanted tickets, so he let me in on the secret. I got in at the designated time and got the tickets — for regular price — no problem.

A few days ago, we were in the audience for the band’s first US show in six years.

Of course you want to know how it was. I’m going to go with “good.” Billy and Jimmy and the scabs they’ve hired while James and D’arcy (or that other girl who replaced D’arcy) remain on strike are certainly all top-notch musicians and performers, but honestly, there were some things about the show that, from my place as a casual fan, I found kind of strange.

For one thing, they played a lot of new stuff. They made it known beforehand that this would be a major component of these “residency” shows, but we’re talking probably 60% of the set. To me, that’s too much in the live environment.

Also, Billy hardly talked to the audience at all. This struck me as odd, given his reputation as the guy who “runs the show” and the give-and-take relationship he seems to have cultivated with his fans. It was an hour into the show before he said anything. People were nearly insane with desire for some stage banter by then. After that he addressed us only once or twice more over the next two-and-a-half hours.

Yes, two-and-a-half hours. And that’s just how long Steph and I stayed. Word on the street the next day was that they played for another half
-an-hour after that. An impressive show of stamina, but The Orange Peel is standing room only, it was filled to capacity, and there was no A/C — just the North Carolina summer (aka the depths of Hades…with more humidity) circulating through the place. Listening to them turn a fourth unfamiliar song in a row into an extended 20-minute jam in those conditions was too much for us.

Of course it’s entirely possible that I’m on the defensive here, because Steph and I have never left a show early before, and I think we’re both a little worried that we’re turning into old people (aka lame-o’s).

I’m still trying to decide whether any of those points actually makes the concert a “let down” or if I just went in with unfair expectations. Either way, I got to spend the weekend in Asheville and witness all the indie-rock-hype, first-hand (aka I reallly shouldn’t complain).

Tags: Music, Travel - No Comments »

April 16th, 2007

A Few Quick Pittures

After almost three years of blogging, I’m going to start posting photos I’ve taken on the site. I shoot pictures at every occurrence and event I’m present for, major and minor, but it would have been way too involved to feature them regularly on the Flash site. HTML is much friendlier for stuff like this.

Sooo…this past week I went to Pittsburg for work. I only spent about 24 hours there, but here are the four pictures I came out with:

1. It turns out Pittsburg is, like, a city. With skyscrapers and stuff.

2. Here we are on a bridge, which, according to our cab driver, Pittsburg has more of than any other city in the world.

3. Sandwiches there are the size of a grown man’s head. My co-worker Jason snapped this as our waitress plopped the plate down in front of me and said, “Good luck.” I then vowed to myself that I would finish the entire thing…fix her wagon…. I ate about a third of it.

4. Obligatory out-the-plane-window picture.

The End.

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