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I had a busy week.
Current Mood: 
exhausted
exhaustedOriginally published at rusty-halo.com. Please click here to comment.
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Last night I saw Foo Fighters play a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden. What the hell happened to them? I walked in late and thought maybe I'd timed it wrong and was seeing the encore, because the performance was completely over the top. But, nope, they played every song that way. Dragging out and over-emphasizing every moment, running around and waving their guitars in the air... good lord. They had an entire acoustic set lowered from the ceiling into the middle of the room. It was the epitome of an arena rock show. When did Dave Grohl embrace the whole over-the-top "rock star" thing? He was in Nirvana!
I went because Foo Fighters was my first concert, in 1996 or 1997 at some auditorium in New Jersey. Big mosh pit, sweaty long-haired grunge boys, your basic rock show. All of their songs sounded the same, but they were new so I figured they'd improve. They haven't. I don't understand how audiences can get so passionate about music that is so bland. It's like... it's fine, but it's not special. How can something so generic sell out Madison Square Garden, when I've had life-changing concert experiences with brilliant bands who can't sell out 100-capacity bars? It didn't help that the place was swarming with frat boys; I felt utterly out of place.
Grohl's between-songs banter was cute, though. And they had a hilarious triangle solo. And it was good to hear "Everlong," which is by far their best song. But mostly, the whole thing made me cringe.
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
I went because Foo Fighters was my first concert, in 1996 or 1997 at some auditorium in New Jersey. Big mosh pit, sweaty long-haired grunge boys, your basic rock show. All of their songs sounded the same, but they were new so I figured they'd improve. They haven't. I don't understand how audiences can get so passionate about music that is so bland. It's like... it's fine, but it's not special. How can something so generic sell out Madison Square Garden, when I've had life-changing concert experiences with brilliant bands who can't sell out 100-capacity bars? It didn't help that the place was swarming with frat boys; I felt utterly out of place.
Grohl's between-songs banter was cute, though. And they had a hilarious triangle solo. And it was good to hear "Everlong," which is by far their best song. But mostly, the whole thing made me cringe.
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
I have some kind of magical concert karma. I got there late (about 8:45pm), stopped at the coat check, meandered my way forward into the crowd... and ended up in the front row right in front of Twiggy. I never push; I just slip forward when other people leave. Insane luck, I tell you. To think that we used to line up at noon for this.
( Marilyn Manson at Hammerstein Ballroom, 1/30/08 )
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
( Marilyn Manson at Hammerstein Ballroom, 1/30/08 )
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
Oh, Torchwood fandom. You do know how to bring the wank.
Have I mentioned recently that Neil Gaiman is awesome?
And yes, I proudly admit that I'm watching Torchwood S1 for the sole purpose of laughing at how awful it is. Why? Because it's funny.
***
Does anyone have recommendations for Tenth Doctor fanfiction that is just really well-written? Any pairing, rating, or genre, but no agenda (other than exploring the characters and/or telling an interesting story)?
I've been venturing beyond my comfy little Ten/Master niche, and ... maybe I'm looking in the wrong places? Because if it's not blatant shipper!fic, it's like that one episode of South Park where Cartman makes a list of all the rotten things he's done in previous episodes and then goes around trying to make amends. Only instead of Butters making a list of all Cartman's sins, it's Rose/Jack/Martha/Mary Sue, and instead of Cartman apologizing in order to weasel his way into heaven, the Doctor does it in order to win his way back into the author's good graces (or maybe because she just wants to see him grovel).
The problem with "fixing" the characters is that ... then they're no longer the characters I love. *snuggles delightfully fucked-up favorite characters*
Here's a good one![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jaydk recced: The Man With No Name by Frostfyre7. It's a Doctor Who/Firefly crossover, gen except for some Mal/Inara (which I skimmed). Not as dark as I prefer, but it's got good characterization and a nice adventure story; it kept me entertained and I never got the urge to bang my head against the desk.
***
Tonight: Marilyn Manson! Twiggy's back! I know this band has been washed up for at least eight years, but... nostalgia! *is inordinately excited*
The big question: should I Goth it up for old times' sake, or admit that I'm a grown-up now and go the lazy jeans and t-shirt route?
***
And apparently Stone Temple Pilots are reuniting. Nifty! (As long as they don't take my Velvet Revolver away....)
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
Have I mentioned recently that Neil Gaiman is awesome?
And yes, I proudly admit that I'm watching Torchwood S1 for the sole purpose of laughing at how awful it is. Why? Because it's funny.
***
Does anyone have recommendations for Tenth Doctor fanfiction that is just really well-written? Any pairing, rating, or genre, but no agenda (other than exploring the characters and/or telling an interesting story)?
I've been venturing beyond my comfy little Ten/Master niche, and ... maybe I'm looking in the wrong places? Because if it's not blatant shipper!fic, it's like that one episode of South Park where Cartman makes a list of all the rotten things he's done in previous episodes and then goes around trying to make amends. Only instead of Butters making a list of all Cartman's sins, it's Rose/Jack/Martha/Mary Sue, and instead of Cartman apologizing in order to weasel his way into heaven, the Doctor does it in order to win his way back into the author's good graces (or maybe because she just wants to see him grovel).
The problem with "fixing" the characters is that ... then they're no longer the characters I love. *snuggles delightfully fucked-up favorite characters*
Here's a good one
jaydk recced: The Man With No Name by Frostfyre7. It's a Doctor Who/Firefly crossover, gen except for some Mal/Inara (which I skimmed). Not as dark as I prefer, but it's got good characterization and a nice adventure story; it kept me entertained and I never got the urge to bang my head against the desk.***
Tonight: Marilyn Manson! Twiggy's back! I know this band has been washed up for at least eight years, but... nostalgia! *is inordinately excited*
The big question: should I Goth it up for old times' sake, or admit that I'm a grown-up now and go the lazy jeans and t-shirt route?
***
And apparently Stone Temple Pilots are reuniting. Nifty! (As long as they don't take my Velvet Revolver away....)
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
stuff i'm looking forward to in 2008
Jan. 2nd, 2008 12:57 pmJust got tickets for Marilyn Manson at Hammerstein Ballroom on January 30. My friend April (who I haven't seen since she OMG HAD A BABY!) is coming with me. Anyone else going?
I know Manson sucks now, but it's a nostalgia thing; I can't help it. Antichrist Superstar was good. And I have strangely happy memories of waiting in line huddled in a sleeping bag in the freezing cold for eight hours just to get a front row spot when I was eighteen, so it would just feel lame to not go at all when he's back in my neighborhood.
Also got tickets for Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart at BAM for March 11. Good seats, too. After the awesomeness of King Lear with Ian McKellen last year, I'm really looking forward to this.
I am also so excited that I'm going to see David Tennant in Hamlet this year. So totally beyond excited. That and the fact that I get to spend time in London again. It's the thing I'm most looking forward to in 2008.
Oh, and in case you haven't seen this: YEARS worth of RPF fantasy material.
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
I know Manson sucks now, but it's a nostalgia thing; I can't help it. Antichrist Superstar was good. And I have strangely happy memories of waiting in line huddled in a sleeping bag in the freezing cold for eight hours just to get a front row spot when I was eighteen, so it would just feel lame to not go at all when he's back in my neighborhood.
Also got tickets for Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart at BAM for March 11. Good seats, too. After the awesomeness of King Lear with Ian McKellen last year, I'm really looking forward to this.
I am also so excited that I'm going to see David Tennant in Hamlet this year. So totally beyond excited. That and the fact that I get to spend time in London again. It's the thing I'm most looking forward to in 2008.
Oh, and in case you haven't seen this: YEARS worth of RPF fantasy material.
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
I posted an entry the other day but LJ was being weird and wouldn't post so I had to backdate it in order to get it to go through. So then it didn't show up on anyone's FL apparently? (I don't really get the whole backdating thing). But it's here.
Whatever, it wasn't important, just squeeing more about Doctor Who. But the one important thing is: If you have Doctor/Master fic recs, please share. Because I am having a fanfic emergency. In the sense that I want to devour everything ever written in that pairing. Um, as long as it's written well, because I'm a snob.
I'll start with a rec of my own: over the past two days I absolutely devoured New Dawn Fades byomphalos. It was so good that I rushed home and read it until 2am last night. Frantically clicking "next" every time a chapter ended. And very nearly crying at several points throughout the story. And constantly finding myself surprised at how genuinely well-written and in character it was. I loved it. It's the kind of fic that goes to really dark places, but doesn't leave you feeling miserable. And the kind of fic that manages to make you happy without drowning you in icky unrealistic fluff. It was so good that I watched the end of "Last of the Time Lords" three times, because it felt like seeing the characters from the fic come to life.
(Also because I got a new monitor. It's 22 inches widescreen. It's so gorgeous I might just stop watching television and view everything on my computer now. And I got it super cheap on Black Friday!)
I also read all ofversaphile's Ten/Master stories (well, except the one that went into mpreg territory--it's too big of a personal squick, sorry) and loved them. Oh, and I sent this series as a rec to jaydk, because I thought it was written well.
What else? Oh yeah, I need Doctor/Master icons. I'm looking but just in case anyone can point me to some nice shareable icons somewhere, that'd be great.
The Doctor/Master thing... well, I already posted raving about it. But continuing that train of thought, the other thing that really works for me about it is that I don't have to distort the characters OOC in order to buy into it. Spike and Xander (sorry!) always required a little suspension of disbelief. Even Spike and Angel, to be honest, although that one's a lot more canonical.
But Doctor/Master... I mean, my god. The Master commits mass genocide and the Doctor's response is to hug him, forgive him, and give up his life of adventure in order to take care of him? Not to mention all the "I love the way you say my name" and "are you asking me out on a date" and oh yeah, the Doctor referring to the Master's wife as his beard.
And then the Master dying in the Doctor's arms, and the Doctor holding him and sobbing! (Sobbing way more than he cried for Rose, btw.) And I know, last of his kind and all that, but still. It's a wonderful ship because there's so many potential interpretations. The Doctor's forgiveness can be interpreted as a kind of heroic transcendent Jesus-thing, or it could just be a really fucked-up co-dependent neediness thing. Or both. Same with the Master--sure, he does a good job of loathing and tormenting the Doctor, but he's also totally obsessed with the Doctor and the Doctor's reactions to what he does.
I don't know. It's the kind of thing that sets up a million different possibilities for a fic writer to explore. Also part of the fun for me is that I'm largely clueless about the canon of the show, and so I don't really have particularly set ideas of the characters in my head anyway. There's not much of a boundary between fandom and canon to me at this point, since it's all new to me right now.
(Speaking of fandom,jaydk and I were having fun reading one of the DW forums and laughing at the wank that's going on over various spoilers. However, it's definitely cemented my feeling that participating in fannish discussions tends to ruin my fun when it comes to whatever the fandom is actually about. I either get teeth-knashingly angry at the writers or at other fans. So I'm going to avoid actual Doctor Who fandom as much as possible, and just focus on the creative works that come out of it. And have fun.)
Oh, and then on... Monday?... I posted this angsty filtered whiny post (sorry) andjaydk saw it (oops) and decided to cheer me up by inviting me over to watch David Tennant DVDs from England on her new multi-region DVD player. CLEARLY I NEED TO POST ANGSTY THINGS MORE OFTEN. Because this was so much fun. We watched Learners, which I actually thought was awful, but David Tennant plays this adorable dorky driving instructor and was just super fun to watch.
And then we watched the first episode of Blackpool and OH MY GOD! First of all the show was amazing. Super well written and beautifully filmed and just gorgeous, with its own wonderful style, dark and funny and clever, and the acting and directing and everything was just excellent. And then. David Tennant. GORGEOUS. Like Doctor Who melded with Fox Mulder, minus the aliens. He plays a detective and he's all scruffy and smart and constantly eating (EEEE! ORAL FIXATION) and it's just adorable. OH and the most important part: at the end of the episode he sings! a duet! of "These Boots are Made for Walking"!!
Naturally, we have urgent plans to watch the rest of this series this weekend, since it was a Monday night and we only got through one episode. Don't spoil me. It was so good.
What else? I'm overwhelmed with stuff. I'm still re-reading "Queen's Play" and I started "Beat to Quarters" by C.S. Forester (good so far). I'm listening to PIG again and rediscovering how awesome it is and how well Raymond Watts' lyrics go with a nice dark Doctor/Master slash fic.
Oh, and I've been helping revamp the Chemlab site. Except it's not finished yet. But it's looking good, right? At least now the tour dates are up. I made the content management system and its structural stuff; others made the banner and color scheme; and various people have been doing the actual data input. The Hydrogen Bar.
Which reminds me of another thing I forgot to mention: CHEMLAB IS ON TOUR. They are wonderful and you should go see them. Definitely. Chemlab tour dates.
I have too much stuff in my head right now. Oh, and I've been trying to keep up with LJ, but not doing well with it. I love you guys and I'm trying to comment more often....
Tonight I'm going to see My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. I bought the tickets a while ago. I wish I knew exactly when they're going on so that I don't have to wait in some dank club half the night. I'm so tired today; I really just want to go home and sleep. Or, um, read Ten/Master fic on my gigantic new LCD monitor. *sigh*
Whatever, it wasn't important, just squeeing more about Doctor Who. But the one important thing is: If you have Doctor/Master fic recs, please share. Because I am having a fanfic emergency. In the sense that I want to devour everything ever written in that pairing. Um, as long as it's written well
I'll start with a rec of my own: over the past two days I absolutely devoured New Dawn Fades by
omphalos. It was so good that I rushed home and read it until 2am last night. Frantically clicking "next" every time a chapter ended. And very nearly crying at several points throughout the story. And constantly finding myself surprised at how genuinely well-written and in character it was. I loved it. It's the kind of fic that goes to really dark places, but doesn't leave you feeling miserable. And the kind of fic that manages to make you happy without drowning you in icky unrealistic fluff. It was so good that I watched the end of "Last of the Time Lords" three times, because it felt like seeing the characters from the fic come to life.(Also because I got a new monitor. It's 22 inches widescreen. It's so gorgeous I might just stop watching television and view everything on my computer now. And I got it super cheap on Black Friday!)
I also read all of
versaphile's Ten/Master stories (well, except the one that went into mpreg territory--it's too big of a personal squick, sorry) and loved them. Oh, and I sent this series as a rec to jaydk, because I thought it was written well.What else? Oh yeah, I need Doctor/Master icons. I'm looking but just in case anyone can point me to some nice shareable icons somewhere, that'd be great.
The Doctor/Master thing... well, I already posted raving about it. But continuing that train of thought, the other thing that really works for me about it is that I don't have to distort the characters OOC in order to buy into it. Spike and Xander (sorry!) always required a little suspension of disbelief. Even Spike and Angel, to be honest, although that one's a lot more canonical.
But Doctor/Master... I mean, my god. The Master commits mass genocide and the Doctor's response is to hug him, forgive him, and give up his life of adventure in order to take care of him? Not to mention all the "I love the way you say my name" and "are you asking me out on a date" and oh yeah, the Doctor referring to the Master's wife as his beard.
And then the Master dying in the Doctor's arms, and the Doctor holding him and sobbing! (Sobbing way more than he cried for Rose, btw.) And I know, last of his kind and all that, but still. It's a wonderful ship because there's so many potential interpretations. The Doctor's forgiveness can be interpreted as a kind of heroic transcendent Jesus-thing, or it could just be a really fucked-up co-dependent neediness thing. Or both. Same with the Master--sure, he does a good job of loathing and tormenting the Doctor, but he's also totally obsessed with the Doctor and the Doctor's reactions to what he does.
I don't know. It's the kind of thing that sets up a million different possibilities for a fic writer to explore. Also part of the fun for me is that I'm largely clueless about the canon of the show, and so I don't really have particularly set ideas of the characters in my head anyway. There's not much of a boundary between fandom and canon to me at this point, since it's all new to me right now.
(Speaking of fandom,
jaydk and I were having fun reading one of the DW forums and laughing at the wank that's going on over various spoilers. However, it's definitely cemented my feeling that participating in fannish discussions tends to ruin my fun when it comes to whatever the fandom is actually about. I either get teeth-knashingly angry at the writers or at other fans. So I'm going to avoid actual Doctor Who fandom as much as possible, and just focus on the creative works that come out of it. And have fun.)Oh, and then on... Monday?... I posted this angsty filtered whiny post (sorry) and
jaydk saw it (oops) and decided to cheer me up by inviting me over to watch David Tennant DVDs from England on her new multi-region DVD player. CLEARLY I NEED TO POST ANGSTY THINGS MORE OFTEN. Because this was so much fun. We watched Learners, which I actually thought was awful, but David Tennant plays this adorable dorky driving instructor and was just super fun to watch.And then we watched the first episode of Blackpool and OH MY GOD! First of all the show was amazing. Super well written and beautifully filmed and just gorgeous, with its own wonderful style, dark and funny and clever, and the acting and directing and everything was just excellent. And then. David Tennant. GORGEOUS. Like Doctor Who melded with Fox Mulder, minus the aliens. He plays a detective and he's all scruffy and smart and constantly eating (EEEE! ORAL FIXATION) and it's just adorable. OH and the most important part: at the end of the episode he sings! a duet! of "These Boots are Made for Walking"!!
Naturally, we have urgent plans to watch the rest of this series this weekend, since it was a Monday night and we only got through one episode. Don't spoil me. It was so good.
What else? I'm overwhelmed with stuff. I'm still re-reading "Queen's Play" and I started "Beat to Quarters" by C.S. Forester (good so far). I'm listening to PIG again and rediscovering how awesome it is and how well Raymond Watts' lyrics go with a nice dark Doctor/Master slash fic.
Oh, and I've been helping revamp the Chemlab site. Except it's not finished yet. But it's looking good, right? At least now the tour dates are up. I made the content management system and its structural stuff; others made the banner and color scheme; and various people have been doing the actual data input. The Hydrogen Bar.
Which reminds me of another thing I forgot to mention: CHEMLAB IS ON TOUR. They are wonderful and you should go see them. Definitely. Chemlab tour dates.
I have too much stuff in my head right now. Oh, and I've been trying to keep up with LJ, but not doing well with it. I love you guys and I'm trying to comment more often....
Tonight I'm going to see My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. I bought the tickets a while ago. I wish I knew exactly when they're going on so that I don't have to wait in some dank club half the night. I'm so tired today; I really just want to go home and sleep. Or, um, read Ten/Master fic on my gigantic new LCD monitor. *sigh*
I went to see Godhead unplugged last night (opening up for Jonathan Davis unplugged). Unfortunately I got there late and only caught their last two songs. Grrr. But they sounded awesome, so if you have a chance to see them, I recommend going.
Seeing Godhead gives me all kind of flashbacks to the olden days, following bands around with Steff and Chrissy and April and various others who came into and out of our circle. I had so much fun back then. I wish I could recapture the inherent thrill of SEEING LIVE MUSIC OMG!!! I mean, I still enjoy really good live music, but mostly I've gotten pretty cynical about everything else... the crappy opening bands and the gross venues and the annoying groupies....
Jonathan Davis was okay. I recognized the final three (non-cover) songs as Korn songs, and I'm pretty sure that the (fairly pathetic) reason I knew them was from watching Total Request Live back in the day. (Ah, Carson Daly, how I do not miss you.) Which is kind of depressing because I really liked the first Korn album, and kind of liked the second album, but then I decided that they were just repeating themselves in increasingly dull circles.
Um, the performance was good, though. Oh, and he played one of his songs from "Queen of the Damned" and bitched that the song was about stuff in the book that was cut from the movie, and how he doesn't understand movie producers. Dude, I don't think anyone who had the misfortune to see "Queen of the Damned" can claim to understand movie producers. Also it occurred to me that he was basically paid to write a bunch of Anne Rice filk for that movie--and his contribution was the most artistically sound aspect of the entire film (it certainly wasn't the writing, directing, or acting!).
And then these stupid frat boys decided to start a mosh pit during an ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE, so I had to duck out of the way and huddle over on the side--and still got slammed into! Today, my neck hurts. Ugh.
What else? Oh yeah, I read the book "Howl's Moving Castle" and then watched the movie. This is one of those rare occasions where I liked the movie better than the book! I think the movie started with some of the more interesting aspects of the book and then went completely off in its own direction with the anti-war themes and the Howl transforming into a bird thing. Plus the movie seemed less traditional and more morally ambiguous (like the Witch not being so bad), although I was a little annoyed that it left out the whole connection to the real world. Overall, the book was a decent read but I'll forget it next week; the movie will stick in my mind much longer. Plus Miyazaki's images are just so vivid and gorgeous.
Meanwhile I'm still re-reading "Queen's Play." Lymond just met the Dame de Doubtance, and the whole thing makes so much more sense now. It's really weird to read a story that you can't fully understand until you've read it already.
Oh, and um, the totally awesomejaydk (who *really* needs to update her LiveJournal) sent me tons of links to Doctor Who fanfiction. I never though I'd say this, but I spent a good amount of time today reading hot Doctor Who porn. I love fandom.
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
Seeing Godhead gives me all kind of flashbacks to the olden days, following bands around with Steff and Chrissy and April and various others who came into and out of our circle. I had so much fun back then. I wish I could recapture the inherent thrill of SEEING LIVE MUSIC OMG!!! I mean, I still enjoy really good live music, but mostly I've gotten pretty cynical about everything else... the crappy opening bands and the gross venues and the annoying groupies....
Jonathan Davis was okay. I recognized the final three (non-cover) songs as Korn songs, and I'm pretty sure that the (fairly pathetic) reason I knew them was from watching Total Request Live back in the day. (Ah, Carson Daly, how I do not miss you.) Which is kind of depressing because I really liked the first Korn album, and kind of liked the second album, but then I decided that they were just repeating themselves in increasingly dull circles.
Um, the performance was good, though. Oh, and he played one of his songs from "Queen of the Damned" and bitched that the song was about stuff in the book that was cut from the movie, and how he doesn't understand movie producers. Dude, I don't think anyone who had the misfortune to see "Queen of the Damned" can claim to understand movie producers. Also it occurred to me that he was basically paid to write a bunch of Anne Rice filk for that movie--and his contribution was the most artistically sound aspect of the entire film (it certainly wasn't the writing, directing, or acting!).
And then these stupid frat boys decided to start a mosh pit during an ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE, so I had to duck out of the way and huddle over on the side--and still got slammed into! Today, my neck hurts. Ugh.
What else? Oh yeah, I read the book "Howl's Moving Castle" and then watched the movie. This is one of those rare occasions where I liked the movie better than the book! I think the movie started with some of the more interesting aspects of the book and then went completely off in its own direction with the anti-war themes and the Howl transforming into a bird thing. Plus the movie seemed less traditional and more morally ambiguous (like the Witch not being so bad), although I was a little annoyed that it left out the whole connection to the real world. Overall, the book was a decent read but I'll forget it next week; the movie will stick in my mind much longer. Plus Miyazaki's images are just so vivid and gorgeous.
Meanwhile I'm still re-reading "Queen's Play." Lymond just met the Dame de Doubtance, and the whole thing makes so much more sense now. It's really weird to read a story that you can't fully understand until you've read it already.
Oh, and um, the totally awesome
jaydk (who *really* needs to update her LiveJournal) sent me tons of links to Doctor Who fanfiction. I never though I'd say this, but I spent a good amount of time today reading hot Doctor Who porn. I love fandom.[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
I finally saw (a bit of) Doctor Who!
Oct. 9th, 2007 05:44 pm( photo: I'm such a dork )
In other news,jaydk and I had a (new) Doctor Who marathon on Saturday night. We started at 7pm and continued until 9:30am. That's fourteen hours of Doctor Who! (There was some food, alcohol, and conversation involved, too.) We watched all of season two (minus a couple of episodes that jaydk said were lame) and the final three episodes of season three. And really, I just have one thought:
David Tennant is so hot!!
I know I should have deep thoughts about themes and characters and moral issues and the loneliness of outliving your friends and the question of what makes us human and the arrogance of assuming godlike powers over others...
but, sorry, I'm still stuck on "David Tennant is so hot!!" and it's going to take me a while to absorb that before my brain can fit any deeper thoughts. Just, his character is a giant geek! So full of manic energy! And he uses it to cover up his deep inner pain!! He's so lonely! Yet so full of enthusiasm about new experiences and adventures!! I love it!
Anyway,jaydk is laughing her ass off at me, because after she left (and I slept for ten hours) I woke up and downloaded all of season three, and caught up so that I've seen every episode with the Tenth Doctor minus the ones we skipped from season two. (I haven't seen any of the first season or any of the old series and I'm still totally clueless about the canon of the show.) I can't help it. I'm a giant geek at heart, too. Plus, that guy is really hot.
I don't know what it is with the geek thing lately. Between him and Stephen Colbert (you have no idea how huge my crush is on Stephen Colbert) my perceptions of hotness are really changing. It used to be all scruff and black leather; now I'm squeeing over skinny dorks!
(And this is why I love fandom and don't want real life people reading my LJ. Because even if you fannish people are laughing at me, you totally know where I'm coming from. Real life people just get that blank-confused-don't-get-it stare, and you have to explain, and they still don't get it, and then you just stop talking about it because it's pointless... whereas here, even if you don't share my squee over this particular thing, you've all experienced fannish squee over something, and know exactly what I'm talking about.)
Oh, and last night I saw the new final cut of "Blade Runner" at the Ziegfeld with a bunch of friends. (The Ziegfeld is a beautiful theater with a HUGE screen.) It was an amazing experience--if you ever have a chance to see "Blade Runner" on a big screen, do. The new version was particularly stunning, so clear and gorgeous that it could've been made this year. I got all teary-eyed watching it; it's almost like a silent film, the way the dialogue is so minimal and so much of the emotion comes from visuals: the cinematography, the set design, and the faces of the actors. Rutger Hauer, in that final scene... just awe-inspiring.
[X-posted]
In other news,
jaydk and I had a (new) Doctor Who marathon on Saturday night. We started at 7pm and continued until 9:30am. That's fourteen hours of Doctor Who! (There was some food, alcohol, and conversation involved, too.) We watched all of season two (minus a couple of episodes that jaydk said were lame) and the final three episodes of season three. And really, I just have one thought:David Tennant is so hot!!
I know I should have deep thoughts about themes and characters and moral issues and the loneliness of outliving your friends and the question of what makes us human and the arrogance of assuming godlike powers over others...
but, sorry, I'm still stuck on "David Tennant is so hot!!" and it's going to take me a while to absorb that before my brain can fit any deeper thoughts. Just, his character is a giant geek! So full of manic energy! And he uses it to cover up his deep inner pain!! He's so lonely! Yet so full of enthusiasm about new experiences and adventures!! I love it!
Anyway,
jaydk is laughing her ass off at me, because after she left (and I slept for ten hours) I woke up and downloaded all of season three, and caught up so that I've seen every episode with the Tenth Doctor minus the ones we skipped from season two. (I haven't seen any of the first season or any of the old series and I'm still totally clueless about the canon of the show.) I can't help it. I'm a giant geek at heart, too. Plus, that guy is really hot.I don't know what it is with the geek thing lately. Between him and Stephen Colbert (you have no idea how huge my crush is on Stephen Colbert) my perceptions of hotness are really changing. It used to be all scruff and black leather; now I'm squeeing over skinny dorks!
(And this is why I love fandom and don't want real life people reading my LJ. Because even if you fannish people are laughing at me, you totally know where I'm coming from. Real life people just get that blank-confused-don't-get-it stare, and you have to explain, and they still don't get it, and then you just stop talking about it because it's pointless... whereas here, even if you don't share my squee over this particular thing, you've all experienced fannish squee over something, and know exactly what I'm talking about.)
Oh, and last night I saw the new final cut of "Blade Runner" at the Ziegfeld with a bunch of friends. (The Ziegfeld is a beautiful theater with a HUGE screen.) It was an amazing experience--if you ever have a chance to see "Blade Runner" on a big screen, do. The new version was particularly stunning, so clear and gorgeous that it could've been made this year. I got all teary-eyed watching it; it's almost like a silent film, the way the dialogue is so minimal and so much of the emotion comes from visuals: the cinematography, the set design, and the faces of the actors. Rutger Hauer, in that final scene... just awe-inspiring.
[X-posted]
Laura's Austin Adventure
Oct. 4th, 2007 01:56 pmI was in The New York Times!
Okay, not really. But a blog post I wrote was linked from one of the New York Times blogs. And from Brooklyn Vegan, too.
*feels cool*
What else? I haven't been posting much. I've been busy, and traveling, and tired.
My office moved to Brooklyn. It sucks. I don't even have the energy to rant about it right now.
I went to Austin last weekend, for an insane mini-vacation. I had less than 24 hours to cram in my first visit to Texas, a meal, some sleep, and an Alice in Chains concert.
( Laura's Austin Adventure )
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
Okay, not really. But a blog post I wrote was linked from one of the New York Times blogs. And from Brooklyn Vegan, too.
*feels cool*
What else? I haven't been posting much. I've been busy, and traveling, and tired.
My office moved to Brooklyn. It sucks. I don't even have the energy to rant about it right now.
I went to Austin last weekend, for an insane mini-vacation. I had less than 24 hours to cram in my first visit to Texas, a meal, some sleep, and an Alice in Chains concert.
( Laura's Austin Adventure )
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
( some random thoughts on the Lymond series )
What else? I haven't been posting much. Let's see...
I went to Las Vegas and ate vegan donuts. That was fun. Details and pictures are here.
And then there was this... which I don't even want to write about so I'm going to copy and paste from an email I wrote to10zlaine:
So yeah. This time when I say "I am never going back to Las Vegas," I mean it.
At least the donuts were good.
On Tuesday I saw Ian McKellen in "King Lear" at BAM. It was SO GOOD. I am not a theater person at all, so I can't really comment technically, I can just say that I was completely riveted every time McKellen was speaking, and completely riveted during the entire last act. The seats were incredibly uncomfortable and the view was weird (so steep that we were nearly looking at the top of the actors' heads) but I didn't even notice for the last hour or so. I'd never seen or read "King Lear" so I was really into the story, too. (I know, stop laughing at my ignorance.) I'm SO glad that I got to see it. If you ever have a chance to see Ian McKellen in anything, definitely go.
Then last nightjaydk and I saw her favorite soap opera actor, Tom Pelphrey from Guiding Light, in a play in this weird little office-building theater that seated about 40 people. We were literally sitting on the stage. Pelphrey was good, but the play was pretentious and terrible. Alas. I'm sure it also suffered in comparison to Lear! I did make jaydk stick around and get Pelphrey's autograph, though--it was totally worth it to see her happy fangirl expression. ;)
And this weekend I'm going to Austin to see Alice in Chains unplugged. Honestly I'd rather just stay home and sleep, but, plane tickets already booked....
*is exhausted*
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
What else? I haven't been posting much. Let's see...
I went to Las Vegas and ate vegan donuts. That was fun. Details and pictures are here.
And then there was this... which I don't even want to write about so I'm going to copy and paste from an email I wrote to
10zlaine:I was kind of just going with it... enjoying the pool while ignoring the massively overpriced bad food and the leers of drunken frat boys... and my front row seat was perfect... the show was amazing... AIC played "No Excuses," which I hadn't heard yet... I cheered like an idiot when they announced Sean Kinney's name--he's the drummer, and my favorite member of any band ever, and I've adored him since I was 11 years old due to his combination of ass-kicking musical ability and genuinely funny and good-natured personality... and at the end, he came over and HANDED ME A DRUM STICK... I was in heaven... already imagining how I'd frame it in glass and make it the center-piece of my apartment... I carried it around with me for 40 minutes while waiting in line for a drink... I went back to my seat... put the drumstick in my bag, put my bag on the floor between my feet and the barrier... and SOME ASSHOLE REACHED INTO MY BAG AND STOLE THE DRUM STICK.
No matter how much I tell myself that it's just a THING, and the cool moment was when Sean handed it to me... I am so fucking pissed off and I seriously wish I could flay alive the person who stole it from me... and that pretty much ruined the vacation, and killed my ability to ignore the disgusting exploitative sleaze of Vegas...
So yeah. This time when I say "I am never going back to Las Vegas," I mean it.
At least the donuts were good.
On Tuesday I saw Ian McKellen in "King Lear" at BAM. It was SO GOOD. I am not a theater person at all, so I can't really comment technically, I can just say that I was completely riveted every time McKellen was speaking, and completely riveted during the entire last act. The seats were incredibly uncomfortable and the view was weird (so steep that we were nearly looking at the top of the actors' heads) but I didn't even notice for the last hour or so. I'd never seen or read "King Lear" so I was really into the story, too. (I know, stop laughing at my ignorance.) I'm SO glad that I got to see it. If you ever have a chance to see Ian McKellen in anything, definitely go.
Then last night
jaydk and I saw her favorite soap opera actor, Tom Pelphrey from Guiding Light, in a play in this weird little office-building theater that seated about 40 people. We were literally sitting on the stage. Pelphrey was good, but the play was pretentious and terrible. Alas. I'm sure it also suffered in comparison to Lear! I did make jaydk stick around and get Pelphrey's autograph, though--it was totally worth it to see her happy fangirl expression. ;)And this weekend I'm going to Austin to see Alice in Chains unplugged. Honestly I'd rather just stay home and sleep, but, plane tickets already booked....
*is exhausted*
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
I'm sick and babbling crazy thoughts
Aug. 27th, 2007 12:56 pmI saw that Gonzales is resigning and almost jumped for joy. Thank god.
I'm in a weird state. First, the good. I read a GREAT book: "A Game of Kings," the first in Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. I've been seeing this series referenced throughout fandom for years, and so I finally gave in and bought it (during one of the most recent "Why do [we/you freaks] like hurt/comfort?" memes that went around).
It took a little while to get into--I know nothing about 16th century Scottish history, and I know very little Latin or French, and I know nothing about chess (except how to lose spectacularly quickly). And she has a writing style that definitely takes a little getting used to. But there were so many clever turns of phrase, and Lymond was instantly intriguing, and I knew fandom couldn't be wrong, so I persevered and soon enough I was riveted.
I took this book with me on the bus to Atlantic City (yes, I survived), read it in line at the concert, read it for the three hour bus ride home, got home at 4am, helped my idiot roommate shovel water out of our clogged bathtub (more on that later), and then continued reading straight until 2pm the next day, when I finally finished. I realize I was awake 26 hours straight and didn't eat for 30 hours (well, except for cough drops and throat comfort tea). I took a dose of Nyquil and passed out until 8pm. What a weird day.
But, anyway, the book was that good. It's that irresistible combination of excellent writing and total hurt/comfort crack. Plus Lymond is a great character; like a combination of Methos and Jaime Lannister (although he never sinks to the rotten depths of those two). ( spoilers for Dunnett's 'A Game of Kings' and Martin's 'A Storm of Swords' )
Okay, and the concert. ( First, I rant about how I despise the soulless predatory pathetic evil of Atlantic City )
( And then I rave about the brilliant spiritual experience of an Alice in Chains concert )
( The latest evil roommate, apartment woes, and me about to lose my mind )
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
I'm in a weird state. First, the good. I read a GREAT book: "A Game of Kings," the first in Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. I've been seeing this series referenced throughout fandom for years, and so I finally gave in and bought it (during one of the most recent "Why do [we/you freaks] like hurt/comfort?" memes that went around).
It took a little while to get into--I know nothing about 16th century Scottish history, and I know very little Latin or French, and I know nothing about chess (except how to lose spectacularly quickly). And she has a writing style that definitely takes a little getting used to. But there were so many clever turns of phrase, and Lymond was instantly intriguing, and I knew fandom couldn't be wrong, so I persevered and soon enough I was riveted.
I took this book with me on the bus to Atlantic City (yes, I survived), read it in line at the concert, read it for the three hour bus ride home, got home at 4am, helped my idiot roommate shovel water out of our clogged bathtub (more on that later), and then continued reading straight until 2pm the next day, when I finally finished. I realize I was awake 26 hours straight and didn't eat for 30 hours (well, except for cough drops and throat comfort tea). I took a dose of Nyquil and passed out until 8pm. What a weird day.
But, anyway, the book was that good. It's that irresistible combination of excellent writing and total hurt/comfort crack. Plus Lymond is a great character; like a combination of Methos and Jaime Lannister (although he never sinks to the rotten depths of those two). ( spoilers for Dunnett's 'A Game of Kings' and Martin's 'A Storm of Swords' )
Okay, and the concert. ( First, I rant about how I despise the soulless predatory pathetic evil of Atlantic City )
( And then I rave about the brilliant spiritual experience of an Alice in Chains concert )
( The latest evil roommate, apartment woes, and me about to lose my mind )
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
Tomorrow I'm going to Atlantic City to see Velvet Revolver and Alice in Chains.
I don't know how I'm going to get there. After the nightmare of last time, I'm nearly having a panic attack just thinking about it.
The train is a joke. I'd have to take NJ Transit to Trenton, transfer to Septa into Philadelphia, and then get back on NJ Transit to Atlantic City. It's something like a six hour trip. Plus the train station is way out of the way and I have no confidence that I'd be able to find a safe cab ride to take me to the Borgata. And I couldn't take it home afterward anyway, since the trains don't run late enough.
None of the buses go to the Borgata. There were no cabs at the bus station last time I went, but I guess I could take a bus to a different hotel and then get them to call me a cab to the Borgata. However, the Greyhound bus I took last time was unreliable and scary, so I'm really wary of taking the bus at all. It looks like my only option, though. I don't suppose anyone out there has taken a bus to Atlantic City from NYC that wasn't a nightmare? (I see both NJ Transit and Academy go there--are either of them better than Greyhound?)
Regardless, I'll have to leave in the early afternoon, for a show that doesn't start until 7pm. And I get motion sick on buses. And I have a horrible cold.
And I'm probably going to get there late and get a horrible spot and end up smushed in the mosh pit anyway. And they allow indoor smoking in Atlantic City, so I'll probably choke to death.
Oh, and I don't have my ticket. Etix says they mailed it, but it never arrived. When I called, they said I can pick it up at will call, but given the incompetence they've shown thus far, it wouldn't surprise me if they don't give it to me.
I'd feel so much safer if I wasn't going alone.
I'm seriously thinking about not going. Except, okay, it's Alice in Chains, and I paid $115 for the ticket, so I really have to go.
But, fuck, I hate Atlantic City.
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
I don't know how I'm going to get there. After the nightmare of last time, I'm nearly having a panic attack just thinking about it.
The train is a joke. I'd have to take NJ Transit to Trenton, transfer to Septa into Philadelphia, and then get back on NJ Transit to Atlantic City. It's something like a six hour trip. Plus the train station is way out of the way and I have no confidence that I'd be able to find a safe cab ride to take me to the Borgata. And I couldn't take it home afterward anyway, since the trains don't run late enough.
None of the buses go to the Borgata. There were no cabs at the bus station last time I went, but I guess I could take a bus to a different hotel and then get them to call me a cab to the Borgata. However, the Greyhound bus I took last time was unreliable and scary, so I'm really wary of taking the bus at all. It looks like my only option, though. I don't suppose anyone out there has taken a bus to Atlantic City from NYC that wasn't a nightmare? (I see both NJ Transit and Academy go there--are either of them better than Greyhound?)
Regardless, I'll have to leave in the early afternoon, for a show that doesn't start until 7pm. And I get motion sick on buses. And I have a horrible cold.
And I'm probably going to get there late and get a horrible spot and end up smushed in the mosh pit anyway. And they allow indoor smoking in Atlantic City, so I'll probably choke to death.
Oh, and I don't have my ticket. Etix says they mailed it, but it never arrived. When I called, they said I can pick it up at will call, but given the incompetence they've shown thus far, it wouldn't surprise me if they don't give it to me.
I'd feel so much safer if I wasn't going alone.
I'm seriously thinking about not going. Except, okay, it's Alice in Chains, and I paid $115 for the ticket, so I really have to go.
But, fuck, I hate Atlantic City.
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
Alice in Chains/Velvet Revolver in Camden
Aug. 21st, 2007 01:14 pmUm, wow. Last night was amazing.
I was in the front row of the pit, holding on to the barrier, right in front of Jerry Cantrell. I was, of course, singing along with every word of every song, and during "Down in a Hole" Jerry looked straight at me, saw me singing, grinned, kept eye contact, and sang a line of the song to me.
Yeah, I can totally die happy now. It was like the perfect moment, because "Down in a Hole" is one of the most beautiful songs ever, and I wasn't trying to get his attention, I was just watching him sing, and he just happened to look at me and was pleased that I was singing along.
And it was an *amazing* show. It was better than the previous two; the crowd was way more into it, possibly because there was a mosh pit. Have I mentioned I hate shows with no pit? I hate seating in general; no one should be sitting during a rock show unless they are physically incapable of standing.
AIC was just so obviously having fun, grinning at each other, and Jerry and William have great chemistry, the way that they sing together and seem to really enjoy each other's stage presence. At one moment Jerry was playing guitar out on this extended platform, and he was supposed to step back to the mic to sing an upcoming part, but instead William walked out on the platform with him and they shared the mic. Stuff like that happened all night--the members of AIC just look they're having so much fun, and are so happy to be onstage together. Their performance feels so real and organic, unlike Velvet Revolver's which is all staged.
They've been playing the same set at every show, but changing the order of the middle songs, and having one song that changes. Last night it was "Dirt"; previously it was "Love Hate Love" and "Dam That River." (I really wish they'd swap their opener, "Again," for "It Ain't Like That." The show doesn't really get going until the second song, "Grind," and then starts completely KILLING with the next, "We Die Young," which is why I think "It Ain't Like That" would make a stronger opener--who can NOT rock out to that one? I just unfortunately don't really think "Again" is a particularly strong song--they have so many better to choose from.)
Jerry made eye contact with me again one more time, as I was rocking out to something-or-other. The crowd seemed to be a mix of AIC and VR fans; several of the people in the front row seemed to just be tolerating AIC. Which, y'know, offends me on so many levels, but I won't go into it. But a LOT of people were into AIC--after their set finished the crowd was screaming for an encore. And a couple of times the crowd started up a chant of "Jerry! Jerry!" I heard plenty of people grumbling that they should have split the bill. Yeah, I liked this crowd! (It also started up a chant of "Fuck Axl!" which I found very amusing.)
Velvet Revolver played a much better show last night compared to the previous two shows. Scott was far more chatty with the audience (and most of what he said made sense!) and his voice sounded better than Saturday, although still a bit strained. Slash was amazing--ooh, I got a Slash guitar pick! He threw it to the crowd right after finishing an awesome rendition of "It's So Easy." The girl next to me also got a guitar pick, and the guy next to me caught Weiland's Gatorade that he tossed to the crowd.
I was thinking of leaving early to get back to the train station (the last train back to New York was at 12:15 and the band played until 11:30) but it was so good that I couldn't leave. I had to see the encore of "Wish You Were Here" (so beautiful the way the whole crowd sings along) and "Slither."
(Incidentally, I was in the front row mainly because this nice fellow scooted aside to squeeze me in. [I left work at 3:45 and arrived at the venue around 6:45, thanks to a slow Amtrak train, rush hour traffic, and a very slow ferry. Oh and lots of rain.] We ended up talking for most of the show [I mean when the bands weren't playing]--he's a guitar tech who has his own band. You meet the coolest people at shows, seriously. And it's like since you're all sharing this love of music, people go out of their way to be cool even to strangers. [I mean aside from the drunk assholes and crowd surfers who kick you in the face, but there weren't too many drunks and I've gotten very good at ducking crowd surfers--of which there were MANY during "Rooster" and the whole VR set.])
I was very lucky to make it back to New York--I was going to take the ferry over the river to Philadelphia and then take a cab to the train station, but I got lost trying to find the ferry and found a cab on the Camden side instead. Actually me and two other people were racing for it, and then when we got there we realized that we were all going to the same place, so we shared it. How awesome--and random--is that? This was probably a lot faster--I made it to the train station at midnight, and then found out the train was delayed by a half hour anyway. SO glad that I didn't leave the show early.
I slept on the train and got back to New York around 2:30am--can you tell I'm totally exhausted today? But JERRY CANTRELL SANG TO ME DURING "DOWN IN A HOLE" so really, nothing can bring me down today.
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
I was in the front row of the pit, holding on to the barrier, right in front of Jerry Cantrell. I was, of course, singing along with every word of every song, and during "Down in a Hole" Jerry looked straight at me, saw me singing, grinned, kept eye contact, and sang a line of the song to me.
Yeah, I can totally die happy now. It was like the perfect moment, because "Down in a Hole" is one of the most beautiful songs ever, and I wasn't trying to get his attention, I was just watching him sing, and he just happened to look at me and was pleased that I was singing along.
And it was an *amazing* show. It was better than the previous two; the crowd was way more into it, possibly because there was a mosh pit. Have I mentioned I hate shows with no pit? I hate seating in general; no one should be sitting during a rock show unless they are physically incapable of standing.
AIC was just so obviously having fun, grinning at each other, and Jerry and William have great chemistry, the way that they sing together and seem to really enjoy each other's stage presence. At one moment Jerry was playing guitar out on this extended platform, and he was supposed to step back to the mic to sing an upcoming part, but instead William walked out on the platform with him and they shared the mic. Stuff like that happened all night--the members of AIC just look they're having so much fun, and are so happy to be onstage together. Their performance feels so real and organic, unlike Velvet Revolver's which is all staged.
They've been playing the same set at every show, but changing the order of the middle songs, and having one song that changes. Last night it was "Dirt"; previously it was "Love Hate Love" and "Dam That River." (I really wish they'd swap their opener, "Again," for "It Ain't Like That." The show doesn't really get going until the second song, "Grind," and then starts completely KILLING with the next, "We Die Young," which is why I think "It Ain't Like That" would make a stronger opener--who can NOT rock out to that one? I just unfortunately don't really think "Again" is a particularly strong song--they have so many better to choose from.)
Jerry made eye contact with me again one more time, as I was rocking out to something-or-other. The crowd seemed to be a mix of AIC and VR fans; several of the people in the front row seemed to just be tolerating AIC. Which, y'know, offends me on so many levels, but I won't go into it. But a LOT of people were into AIC--after their set finished the crowd was screaming for an encore. And a couple of times the crowd started up a chant of "Jerry! Jerry!" I heard plenty of people grumbling that they should have split the bill. Yeah, I liked this crowd! (It also started up a chant of "Fuck Axl!" which I found very amusing.)
Velvet Revolver played a much better show last night compared to the previous two shows. Scott was far more chatty with the audience (and most of what he said made sense!) and his voice sounded better than Saturday, although still a bit strained. Slash was amazing--ooh, I got a Slash guitar pick! He threw it to the crowd right after finishing an awesome rendition of "It's So Easy." The girl next to me also got a guitar pick, and the guy next to me caught Weiland's Gatorade that he tossed to the crowd.
I was thinking of leaving early to get back to the train station (the last train back to New York was at 12:15 and the band played until 11:30) but it was so good that I couldn't leave. I had to see the encore of "Wish You Were Here" (so beautiful the way the whole crowd sings along) and "Slither."
(Incidentally, I was in the front row mainly because this nice fellow scooted aside to squeeze me in. [I left work at 3:45 and arrived at the venue around 6:45, thanks to a slow Amtrak train, rush hour traffic, and a very slow ferry. Oh and lots of rain.] We ended up talking for most of the show [I mean when the bands weren't playing]--he's a guitar tech who has his own band. You meet the coolest people at shows, seriously. And it's like since you're all sharing this love of music, people go out of their way to be cool even to strangers. [I mean aside from the drunk assholes and crowd surfers who kick you in the face, but there weren't too many drunks and I've gotten very good at ducking crowd surfers--of which there were MANY during "Rooster" and the whole VR set.])
I was very lucky to make it back to New York--I was going to take the ferry over the river to Philadelphia and then take a cab to the train station, but I got lost trying to find the ferry and found a cab on the Camden side instead. Actually me and two other people were racing for it, and then when we got there we realized that we were all going to the same place, so we shared it. How awesome--and random--is that? This was probably a lot faster--I made it to the train station at midnight, and then found out the train was delayed by a half hour anyway. SO glad that I didn't leave the show early.
I slept on the train and got back to New York around 2:30am--can you tell I'm totally exhausted today? But JERRY CANTRELL SANG TO ME DURING "DOWN IN A HOLE" so really, nothing can bring me down today.
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
Alice in Chains & Velvet Revolver
Aug. 19th, 2007 09:33 pmMy entire body aches. I think that's what you get when you jump up and down, wave your arms in the air, and scream at the top of your lungs for an hour straight (plus sporadically for the next two hours). I don't understand how people stand still at rock concerts. If I didn't move during Alice in Chains' set I think my whole body would explode.
Velvet Revolver is kind of a joke next to Alice in Chains. A big silly cliche of a Big Rock Band. It's a travesty that Alice in opening for them, but that's about money, I get it. And VR has their good songs and their classic covers. They put on a good show even if it's ridiculous. They're corporate and money-driven and they're trying way too hard to prove they're "real," but underneath the bullshit there's still plenty of talent.
It's also stupid that Alice is playing for an hour while VR is playing for two. Split it, say, an hour and a half each. Seriously, VR barely has enough songs to fill their two hours, and they're playing three Stone Temple Pilots songs, three Guns N Roses songs, and a Pink Floyd cover. Plus they (well, Weiland, at least) owes Alice in Chains for being, y'know, infinitely better than he could ever dream of being. And having been around longer. Argh.
Anyway, it's probably fine that AIC is only playing an hour set. I'd probably pass out from hysterical excitement if they played any longer. And they manage to pack a lot in to an hour; they played:
( AIC Set List )
"Angry Chair" was my favorite--they rocked it so hard, and it's pretty much my favorite song *ever*. "Man in the Box" was so amazing that I couldn't stop jumping up and down for the entire thing. "Down in a Hole" was so beautiful that I almost started crying. Every one of these songs is awesome.
The new singer, you know, he fills his part well. He's charismatic and all that. Layne's words are living through him, and I'm glad of that. But I have to say, he doesn't even come close to approaching that transcendent quality that Layne had. Layne's voice was so beautiful and powerful it was like he could embody heaven one moment and hell the next. It's not like anyone on the planet could capture that, but someone has to sing, and this new guy is probably as good as it gets.
(Can you tell my feelings are mixed about this? I'm not mad at William for being in the band--I even respect his skill. I'm just fucking PISSED at nature/the universe/whatever that Layne is gone. Go read the letters section at AliceinChains.com--it's one "Thank you Layne for saving my life" after the other. I know how cheesy that sounds and how it doesn't make any logical sense that hearing someone you don't even know sing about his pain could save your life or make you see the beauty in the world, but it's true and no logical analysis can ever account for it.)
Seeing Jerry, Sean, and Mike was amazing as always. I am a huge fan of Sean just from seeing his personality through interviews and videos (not to mention him being an amazing drummer). And Jerry, of course, is Jerry Cantrell. He's one of the greatest guitarists of all time and seeing him in person completely blows my mind. He was an idol growing up and it's like seeing a childhood dream made real. Jerry is the solid backbone of the band which is why I understand that they are continuing.
( details of the individual shows )
And I'm doing the whole thing again tomorrow (Camden) and Saturday (Atlantic City). With me luck with all these crazy busses and trains!
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
Velvet Revolver is kind of a joke next to Alice in Chains. A big silly cliche of a Big Rock Band. It's a travesty that Alice in opening for them, but that's about money, I get it. And VR has their good songs and their classic covers. They put on a good show even if it's ridiculous. They're corporate and money-driven and they're trying way too hard to prove they're "real," but underneath the bullshit there's still plenty of talent.
It's also stupid that Alice is playing for an hour while VR is playing for two. Split it, say, an hour and a half each. Seriously, VR barely has enough songs to fill their two hours, and they're playing three Stone Temple Pilots songs, three Guns N Roses songs, and a Pink Floyd cover. Plus they (well, Weiland, at least) owes Alice in Chains for being, y'know, infinitely better than he could ever dream of being. And having been around longer. Argh.
Anyway, it's probably fine that AIC is only playing an hour set. I'd probably pass out from hysterical excitement if they played any longer. And they manage to pack a lot in to an hour; they played:
( AIC Set List )
"Angry Chair" was my favorite--they rocked it so hard, and it's pretty much my favorite song *ever*. "Man in the Box" was so amazing that I couldn't stop jumping up and down for the entire thing. "Down in a Hole" was so beautiful that I almost started crying. Every one of these songs is awesome.
The new singer, you know, he fills his part well. He's charismatic and all that. Layne's words are living through him, and I'm glad of that. But I have to say, he doesn't even come close to approaching that transcendent quality that Layne had. Layne's voice was so beautiful and powerful it was like he could embody heaven one moment and hell the next. It's not like anyone on the planet could capture that, but someone has to sing, and this new guy is probably as good as it gets.
(Can you tell my feelings are mixed about this? I'm not mad at William for being in the band--I even respect his skill. I'm just fucking PISSED at nature/the universe/whatever that Layne is gone. Go read the letters section at AliceinChains.com--it's one "Thank you Layne for saving my life" after the other. I know how cheesy that sounds and how it doesn't make any logical sense that hearing someone you don't even know sing about his pain could save your life or make you see the beauty in the world, but it's true and no logical analysis can ever account for it.)
Seeing Jerry, Sean, and Mike was amazing as always. I am a huge fan of Sean just from seeing his personality through interviews and videos (not to mention him being an amazing drummer). And Jerry, of course, is Jerry Cantrell. He's one of the greatest guitarists of all time and seeing him in person completely blows my mind. He was an idol growing up and it's like seeing a childhood dream made real. Jerry is the solid backbone of the band which is why I understand that they are continuing.
( details of the individual shows )
And I'm doing the whole thing again tomorrow (Camden) and Saturday (Atlantic City). With me luck with all these crazy busses and trains!
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal]
I'm making InsaneJournal my main journal for now, but for the time-being, I'll also be cross-posting to my LiveJournal. (Eventually I will stop posting in LJ, but I'll give plenty of warning when that happens.)
I picked InsaneJournal because, compared to its rivals, the server is faster and the code seems more up to date. The account-creation process is easier than that of JournalFen and its dictator is more benevolent than that of GreatestJournal (which is no better than LJ in terms of random deletion of users). I am still awaiting a real non-profit alternative, though.
So, anyway, a couple of things about InsaneJournal, if you're also thinking of moving:
* It's ugly, but you can fix it! Go here to change the default site layout. Some of the options are still ugly, but the text-only version is as clean and simple as you can get. (This is not your journal style; it's the site style).
* You can change your journal style; InsaneJournal supports S1 and S2 styles. (Go here to do so if you already have an account.)
* You can still read your LJ friends via syndication. Instructions here.
* Free users could only have 100 friends. Well, they just changed it to 250. Yay!
* You can buy a permanent account for only $40. It comes with tons of features. I bought one.
* I'm trying to keep my FL at InsaneJournal up-to-date (ie, I'm trying to add anyone on my LJ friendslist who creates an InsaneJournal). I'm terribly haphazard about this, though, and have probably missed people. It's not intentional; just let me know if you want to be on my FL in any of the other places.
(Thanks tomiggy for pointing some of this out.)
Other stuff:
* I lovedfodian's post about why disturbing art should not be banned.
*elfgirl summed up the repulsiveness of Six Apart's stance on pro-anorexia communities. While frequently contradicting themselves, Six Apart has said that even if artwork depicting underaged characters engaging in sexual acts is legal, they think it's icky and don't want it on their servers. But they allow hate speech and groups that teach young women how to kill themselves, "because it's legal." Having already said that they'll delete legal stuff if it offends them, we can only assume that they're okay with racism and girls starving themselves?
(I'm not saying these disgusting communities should be deleted; I'm hugely in favor of free speech. But if you're going to selectively decide which "legal but icky" stuff you're going to delete, isn't actual people being hurt worse than fictional characters having sex?)
* "User Generated Content" & Ownership: The User as Citizen - a great post about the larger issues at stake here.
* We're on Slashdot.
And in real-life news:
* I went to see Juliette and the Licks (Juliette Lewis's band) play five acoustic songs at the Union Square Virgin Megastore the other day. They were really good. Juliette is a passionate singer and amazing performer, and the band was energetic and fun. Plus, the crowd was pretty small--you could just walk right up to the stage, and the band was just walking around interacting.
I bought their album, and it's okay, but the live performance was much better. If you get a chance to see them, I highly recommend it.
*jaydk and I went to see Harry Potter 5 in IMAX again last night. That's the fourth time I've seen the movie, and the second in IMAX. It's just so cool! (Still not Alfonso Cuaron cool, but what is?) Then we stayed out late having dinner and talking endlessly about Harry Potter. It's fun to share an obsession! (She loves Remus, I love Sirius, so we squee over the same moments but for totally different reasons.)
She keeps telling me that I *must* read a story called "Beyond the Veil" by Helene, but I can't find it anywhere. (All the Google results lead to broken links.) I don't suppose anyone out there knows where I could find it?
We're ridiculously excited about DragonCon; check out the YA Lit Track schedule. (I am totally going to check out at least one Cassandra Clare panel this year! And I'll totally be polite and sit in the back and not snicker.)
And the Goth Track schedule is looking pretty good, too, although I'm upset that they've scheduled what looks like the most interesting panel ("The Craft of Songwriting" with Andy Deane, Rick Joyce, Rogue, and Voltaire) on Monday at 2:30pm, when I'll already be gone. :( (Although the good news is that I'm going to Disney World for the Pirate Party on Monday night withjaydk and drujan--yes, drujan is finally coming to DragonCon!)
[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal].
I picked InsaneJournal because, compared to its rivals, the server is faster and the code seems more up to date. The account-creation process is easier than that of JournalFen and its dictator is more benevolent than that of GreatestJournal (which is no better than LJ in terms of random deletion of users). I am still awaiting a real non-profit alternative, though.
So, anyway, a couple of things about InsaneJournal, if you're also thinking of moving:
* It's ugly, but you can fix it! Go here to change the default site layout. Some of the options are still ugly, but the text-only version is as clean and simple as you can get. (This is not your journal style; it's the site style).
* You can change your journal style; InsaneJournal supports S1 and S2 styles. (Go here to do so if you already have an account.)
* You can still read your LJ friends via syndication. Instructions here.
* Free users could only have 100 friends. Well, they just changed it to 250. Yay!
* You can buy a permanent account for only $40. It comes with tons of features. I bought one.
* I'm trying to keep my FL at InsaneJournal up-to-date (ie, I'm trying to add anyone on my LJ friendslist who creates an InsaneJournal). I'm terribly haphazard about this, though, and have probably missed people. It's not intentional; just let me know if you want to be on my FL in any of the other places.
(Thanks to
miggy for pointing some of this out.)Other stuff:
* I loved
fodian's post about why disturbing art should not be banned.*
elfgirl summed up the repulsiveness of Six Apart's stance on pro-anorexia communities. While frequently contradicting themselves, Six Apart has said that even if artwork depicting underaged characters engaging in sexual acts is legal, they think it's icky and don't want it on their servers. But they allow hate speech and groups that teach young women how to kill themselves, "because it's legal." Having already said that they'll delete legal stuff if it offends them, we can only assume that they're okay with racism and girls starving themselves?(I'm not saying these disgusting communities should be deleted; I'm hugely in favor of free speech. But if you're going to selectively decide which "legal but icky" stuff you're going to delete, isn't actual people being hurt worse than fictional characters having sex?)
* "User Generated Content" & Ownership: The User as Citizen - a great post about the larger issues at stake here.
* We're on Slashdot.
And in real-life news:
* I went to see Juliette and the Licks (Juliette Lewis's band) play five acoustic songs at the Union Square Virgin Megastore the other day. They were really good. Juliette is a passionate singer and amazing performer, and the band was energetic and fun. Plus, the crowd was pretty small--you could just walk right up to the stage, and the band was just walking around interacting.
I bought their album, and it's okay, but the live performance was much better. If you get a chance to see them, I highly recommend it.
*
jaydk and I went to see Harry Potter 5 in IMAX again last night. That's the fourth time I've seen the movie, and the second in IMAX. It's just so cool! (Still not Alfonso Cuaron cool, but what is?) Then we stayed out late having dinner and talking endlessly about Harry Potter. It's fun to share an obsession! (She loves Remus, I love Sirius, so we squee over the same moments but for totally different reasons.)She keeps telling me that I *must* read a story called "Beyond the Veil" by Helene, but I can't find it anywhere. (All the Google results lead to broken links.) I don't suppose anyone out there knows where I could find it?
We're ridiculously excited about DragonCon; check out the YA Lit Track schedule. (I am totally going to check out at least one Cassandra Clare panel this year! And I'll totally be polite and sit in the back and not snicker.)
And the Goth Track schedule is looking pretty good, too, although I'm upset that they've scheduled what looks like the most interesting panel ("The Craft of Songwriting" with Andy Deane, Rick Joyce, Rogue, and Voltaire) on Monday at 2:30pm, when I'll already be gone. :( (Although the good news is that I'm going to Disney World for the Pirate Party on Monday night with
jaydk and drujan--yes, drujan is finally coming to DragonCon!)[Cross-posted to my InsaneJournal].
(no subject)
Jul. 3rd, 2007 01:48 pmI'm listening to the new Velvet Revolver album.
(It reminds me disturbingly of Law and Order.)
I always wished I'd been around during the 80s metal heyday. Clearly this is my second chance.
There is something appealing about music that is just dumb and fun and sincere in its simplicity. Scott Weiland's never going to win awards for the quality of his lyrics, but the emotion is there. Take "The Last Fight": not intellectually stimulating, but a great song in its rock epic way. There are plenty of good, satisfying songs on this album.
*is so excited about the upcoming VR/AIC tour*
I couldn't listen to this kind of music all the time, but for a big summer rock tour, it's perfect.
(I mean, it's still grotesquely offensive that Alice in Chains is opening for them, but whatever, I'm going to enjoy myself.)
(It reminds me disturbingly of Law and Order.)
I always wished I'd been around during the 80s metal heyday. Clearly this is my second chance.
There is something appealing about music that is just dumb and fun and sincere in its simplicity. Scott Weiland's never going to win awards for the quality of his lyrics, but the emotion is there. Take "The Last Fight": not intellectually stimulating, but a great song in its rock epic way. There are plenty of good, satisfying songs on this album.
*is so excited about the upcoming VR/AIC tour*
I couldn't listen to this kind of music all the time, but for a big summer rock tour, it's perfect.
(I mean, it's still grotesquely offensive that Alice in Chains is opening for them, but whatever, I'm going to enjoy myself.)
yay! concert tickets!
Jun. 21st, 2007 11:36 amI got Velvet Revolver/Alice in Chains tickets!! :)
I'm going to three shows: Jones Beach in NY, PNC Bank Arts Center in NJ, and "Tweeter Center at the Waterfront" in Camden, across the water from Philadelphia.
(WTF is up with these corporate venue names? You know even Jones Beach is actually "Nikon at Jones Beach Theater" now? Disgusting. But, whatever, it's not time to rant.)
They're playing these big outdoor arenas, which kind of sucks because 1) I hate the outdoors and 2) most of them have assigned seating without a GA area. I know I at least got good seats for the PNC Bank Arts Center (that name!! it hurts to type!!) show, because I got them through the Velvet Revolver presale and they're in the 5th row (there's no pit). Jones Beach also lacks a pit, and I don't know how my seats are--I know they're in the front sections, but I got them through the Alice in Chains presale which doesn't assign seats until later (grrr).
But, best of all, I got PIT TICKETS for the Camden show! Yay! That's actually the arena where I attended my first (or second, I forget, maybe the first was Foo Fighters...) show ever, which was Lollapalooza '97.
( my first--or second?--show ever )
So, yeah, the POINT of that ramble is that it's kind of cool to be going back there, and to actually be in the pit for once.
Although I do have to figure out how to *get* there... that's the annoying part. There are buses to Jones Beach and PNC Bank Arts Center, but Camden? I know there's public transportation to Philly but getting home *after* the show will be a problem. Maybe I can get my mom to drive and hang out in Philly while I go to the show... I really don't want to sleep in a train station in Philadelphia.... *crosses fingers*
I'm going to three shows: Jones Beach in NY, PNC Bank Arts Center in NJ, and "Tweeter Center at the Waterfront" in Camden, across the water from Philadelphia.
(WTF is up with these corporate venue names? You know even Jones Beach is actually "Nikon at Jones Beach Theater" now? Disgusting. But, whatever, it's not time to rant.)
They're playing these big outdoor arenas, which kind of sucks because 1) I hate the outdoors and 2) most of them have assigned seating without a GA area. I know I at least got good seats for the PNC Bank Arts Center (that name!! it hurts to type!!) show, because I got them through the Velvet Revolver presale and they're in the 5th row (there's no pit). Jones Beach also lacks a pit, and I don't know how my seats are--I know they're in the front sections, but I got them through the Alice in Chains presale which doesn't assign seats until later (grrr).
But, best of all, I got PIT TICKETS for the Camden show! Yay! That's actually the arena where I attended my first (or second, I forget, maybe the first was Foo Fighters...) show ever, which was Lollapalooza '97.
( my first--or second?--show ever )
So, yeah, the POINT of that ramble is that it's kind of cool to be going back there, and to actually be in the pit for once.
Although I do have to figure out how to *get* there... that's the annoying part. There are buses to Jones Beach and PNC Bank Arts Center, but Camden? I know there's public transportation to Philly but getting home *after* the show will be a problem. Maybe I can get my mom to drive and hang out in Philly while I go to the show... I really don't want to sleep in a train station in Philadelphia.... *crosses fingers*
My friend Tammy is insane
Jun. 8th, 2007 04:10 pmMy friend Tammy (10zlaine) is insane. She's vowed to raise $2,200 in donations and then walk 60 miles. It's part of this raising awareness/raising money to stop breast cancer thing.
I'm not nearly so selfless, so I'll just watch in awe from the sidelines. Oh, and do my tiny bit to pimp her donations page far and wide. So far she's raised $805 of the necessary $2200, so, y'know, if you think this is a good cause, go donate and help her out. Or post a link to that page on your FL.
You can read all about the event here: The Breast Cancer 3-Day.
In other news, I'm going to see the Deftones tonight and Skinny Puppy tomorrow. Yay for summer concert season!
10zlaine) is insane. She's vowed to raise $2,200 in donations and then walk 60 miles. It's part of this raising awareness/raising money to stop breast cancer thing.I'm not nearly so selfless, so I'll just watch in awe from the sidelines. Oh, and do my tiny bit to pimp her donations page far and wide. So far she's raised $805 of the necessary $2200, so, y'know, if you think this is a good cause, go donate and help her out. Or post a link to that page on your FL.
You can read all about the event here: The Breast Cancer 3-Day.
In other news, I'm going to see the Deftones tonight and Skinny Puppy tomorrow. Yay for summer concert season!
So far, this is the best articulation I've read of the issues at stake during the recent SixApart/FanLib controversies: "User Generated Content" & Ownership: The User as Citizen by elements.
I like it when other people write smart stuff so that I can link to it without putting in my own effort. ;)
Also,stewardess has a pretty good run-down of what probably happened with the deletions.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fanarchive is putting together a non-profit organization to run a fandom-wide archive. This makes me very happy (and I SO wish I had time to help). Setting up a proper non-profit seems the perfect way to do it, since it'll be governed by a set of principles and won't be subject to the whims of any individual or company or fan-faction.
china_shop wrote fanfic about the deletion thing. Fandom/LJ, NC-17. Just, there are no words, go read it.
My two cents: SixApart--or ANY for-profit company--is a bad match for fandom. Companies EXIST to make money. If freedom of speech threatens that (which, in this culture obsessed with preserving the "innocence" of childhood, it will), they *will* curtail freedom of speech. It'll keep happening, and we'll lose communities and friends, until eventually we get fed up and move. And yeah, fandom will fracture, because some people will see censorship as an acceptable price for the convenience of not having to move. I *don't* think that compromise is acceptable, so personally, as soon as folks start moving to somewhere better, I'm totally there.
I've set up accounts at GreatestJournal, JournalFen, and InsaneJournal, because, uh, you never can be too prepared. (I'm *really* hoping for a fan-owned, not-for-profit alternative, though.)
Actually, one of the things that struck me about fan reactions to the journal deletions was that it was at least as much about fear of losing touch with each other as it was about fear of losing our freedom of speech. People weren't just setting up journals at other services to make sure their content would be preserved in case of censorship, they were setting up journals to make sure their friends could find them (and they could find their friends). Which is one of the things that makes the culture of LJ so different from the blogosphere at large (as the bewildered/derisive reactions at Slashdot showed)--we're much more about community.
(There's more about all this onmetafandom, of course, if you haven't been following it.)
Semi-related:nimnod posts that it's not shameful to express strong opinions. I like this, because I do think a lot of us (myself included) fall into the trap of dismissing/mocking those who express strong opinions, or of denigrating ourselves for doing so. (For example, it drives me insane when someone goes "It's just the internet" in response to any online controversy. Um, yeah, it's "just" billions of dollars and a cultural center for millions of people.)
In other news, I've been contemplating the mediocrity of Scott Weiland. (YouTube is fun. So many videos!) I don't think he's every done *anything* extraordinary. He doesn't really have his own sound or look or anything--he just copies one predecessor after another.
Seriously, I was thinking to myself, "What is the Scott Weiland sound?" and it's like, um, he emulates Eddie Vedder, Layne Staley, a bunch of seventies singers, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Axl Rose... but who is he REALLY? What does HE actually sound like? I can't figure it out. I can recognize the tone of his voice, but if I were to try to emulate him, I'd really just be emulating whoever he was copying. Right?
He's kind of mediocre in an above-average way, though. Like, I've been listening to the first Velvet Revolver album, and everything is kind of 6 or 7 out of 10. Nothing that strikes me as brilliant, but it's all pretty enjoyable to listen to. He performs a pastiche of rock star tropes, he writes a few interesting lyrics, he sings them well enough... it's all fine.
It makes me happy to listen to, though. Which is funny because when I was younger, admitting you liked Weiland was like admitting you had bad taste. Even if you secretly rocked out to Stone Temple Pilots songs, you didn't tell anyone. Maybe it's that I'm too old to care now, or that I don't know anyone who'd care....
It reminds me of a quote--I think it's from Michael's graduation speech in Christopher Pike's Final Friends III (which raises its own issues about being embarrassed to like something!)--about how you end up missing *everyone* from high school. Not just your friends, but even the people you hated. Eventually the fact of your common shared experience and memories becomes more important than the rivalries of the time. I don't know if this is actually true of high school, but it seems pretty true of music. I'm just so glad to hear a familiar voice in a music scene that's become mostly foreign to me that I don't even mind that it's Scott Weiland.
elements. At core are issues that go much deeper even than the internet, to basic conflicts in modern consciousness between private and corporate ownership and the meaning of public space. Keep reading...
I like it when other people write smart stuff so that I can link to it without putting in my own effort. ;)
Also,
stewardess has a pretty good run-down of what probably happened with the deletions.fanarchive is putting together a non-profit organization to run a fandom-wide archive. This makes me very happy (and I SO wish I had time to help). Setting up a proper non-profit seems the perfect way to do it, since it'll be governed by a set of principles and won't be subject to the whims of any individual or company or fan-faction.china_shop wrote fanfic about the deletion thing. Fandom/LJ, NC-17. Just, there are no words, go read it.My two cents: SixApart--or ANY for-profit company--is a bad match for fandom. Companies EXIST to make money. If freedom of speech threatens that (which, in this culture obsessed with preserving the "innocence" of childhood, it will), they *will* curtail freedom of speech. It'll keep happening, and we'll lose communities and friends, until eventually we get fed up and move. And yeah, fandom will fracture, because some people will see censorship as an acceptable price for the convenience of not having to move. I *don't* think that compromise is acceptable, so personally, as soon as folks start moving to somewhere better, I'm totally there.
I've set up accounts at GreatestJournal, JournalFen, and InsaneJournal, because, uh, you never can be too prepared. (I'm *really* hoping for a fan-owned, not-for-profit alternative, though.)
Actually, one of the things that struck me about fan reactions to the journal deletions was that it was at least as much about fear of losing touch with each other as it was about fear of losing our freedom of speech. People weren't just setting up journals at other services to make sure their content would be preserved in case of censorship, they were setting up journals to make sure their friends could find them (and they could find their friends). Which is one of the things that makes the culture of LJ so different from the blogosphere at large (as the bewildered/derisive reactions at Slashdot showed)--we're much more about community.
(There's more about all this on
metafandom, of course, if you haven't been following it.)Semi-related:
nimnod posts that it's not shameful to express strong opinions. I like this, because I do think a lot of us (myself included) fall into the trap of dismissing/mocking those who express strong opinions, or of denigrating ourselves for doing so. (For example, it drives me insane when someone goes "It's just the internet" in response to any online controversy. Um, yeah, it's "just" billions of dollars and a cultural center for millions of people.)In other news, I've been contemplating the mediocrity of Scott Weiland. (YouTube is fun. So many videos!) I don't think he's every done *anything* extraordinary. He doesn't really have his own sound or look or anything--he just copies one predecessor after another.
Seriously, I was thinking to myself, "What is the Scott Weiland sound?" and it's like, um, he emulates Eddie Vedder, Layne Staley, a bunch of seventies singers, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Axl Rose... but who is he REALLY? What does HE actually sound like? I can't figure it out. I can recognize the tone of his voice, but if I were to try to emulate him, I'd really just be emulating whoever he was copying. Right?
He's kind of mediocre in an above-average way, though. Like, I've been listening to the first Velvet Revolver album, and everything is kind of 6 or 7 out of 10. Nothing that strikes me as brilliant, but it's all pretty enjoyable to listen to. He performs a pastiche of rock star tropes, he writes a few interesting lyrics, he sings them well enough... it's all fine.
It makes me happy to listen to, though. Which is funny because when I was younger, admitting you liked Weiland was like admitting you had bad taste. Even if you secretly rocked out to Stone Temple Pilots songs, you didn't tell anyone. Maybe it's that I'm too old to care now, or that I don't know anyone who'd care....
It reminds me of a quote--I think it's from Michael's graduation speech in Christopher Pike's Final Friends III (which raises its own issues about being embarrassed to like something!)--about how you end up missing *everyone* from high school. Not just your friends, but even the people you hated. Eventually the fact of your common shared experience and memories becomes more important than the rivalries of the time. I don't know if this is actually true of high school, but it seems pretty true of music. I'm just so glad to hear a familiar voice in a music scene that's become mostly foreign to me that I don't even mind that it's Scott Weiland.