rusty_halo

I wish I had more time to update this journal. I miss my fandom friends a lot.

So here’s a little update–film/theater/concerts I’ve seen recently:

( Pirates of the Caribbean 4 )

( John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown )

( Derek Jacobi's King Lear )

( Scott Weiland )

( Sleep No More, again )

Aside from that, all I've been doing is working constantly and being tired and depressed. *sigh*

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This has been one of the busiest weeks of my life. It’s no fun.

I am leaving my job and starting a new one (if you’re not on my flist/in my circle, I’ve been posting about it in locked entries) and the work involved to wrap up at my current job is huge. But it’s almost over.

On top of that, SuperVegan (a NYC-focused vegan blog and restaurant guide that I co-own) is doing the Vegan Month of Food (kind of like nano, except we’re supposed to write one post about vegan food every day). Coordinating that is also requiring ridiculous amounts of effort. And we just moved servers, like I needed more on my plate.

Yesterday I picked up my penultimate CSA bounty, and so will spend the weekend trying to figure out ways to prepare and consume vast piles of arugula and leeks and sweet potatoes. Thank Isa for Veganomicon.

Oh, and I’m sick! Stupid rally germs. :P

The Dresden Dolls were good on Sunday night, but they played for freaking ever and I was exhausted by the end. The best parts were Amanda’s sense of humor, banter with the audience, and the covers of “Mein Herr” from Cabaret and Black Sabbath’s “War Machines.” Unfortunately I don’t find the actual Dresden Dolls songs themselves all that inspiring–”Half Jack” is the best, and most are better live than on record, but I’m still not sure I’d go out of my way to see the band again. It was an interesting experience, though–a lot better to see them among their own fans than opening for an impatient NIN audience.

I just finally managed to find time to rewatch SPN 6×06 last night. Brief and disjointed thoughts:

( spoilers for SPN 6x06 )

Anyway, have to go do more work. Blah.

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I’m seeing my favorite band at Madison Square Garden on the night Supernatural season six premieres.

…If I hadn’t already bought the ticket, I would totally stay home and watch SPN instead.

(I’m so happy to have an active fandom again!)

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So, I went to Vividcon over the weekend. It was fun. I met many of interesting people and learned a hell of a lot about the history, culture, and aesthetics of vidding. I also had the pleasure of hanging out with the lovely soundingsea for three days. (This is brief–I will probably write up a more detailed con report later.)

And then I went to Lollapalooza and saw Soundgarden–despite arriving late and missing their first four songs, I managed to get to the front, about 15 rows back, without, y’know, shoving anyone or being a jerk. It was loud and muddy and hot and FUCKING AMAZING, you guys, Soundgarden!!! Although I do have to admit that I’m not sure how much of my joy is organic to me at the moment and how much comes from imagining how happy my 14-year-old self would be. But whatever. Soundgarden! They played “Mailman” and “Like Suicide” and “Fourth of July”! And the view of the Chicago skyline was beautiful. I am happy.

Then I walked back to my brother’s apartment and hung out with him for a little while because he was generous enough to let me sleep on his couch. He has a fantastically swanky apartment–one of those condos that was built to sell and has gone rental due to the recession. Huge, new appliances, beautiful view… not that I’m jealous or anything. :P Although he’s going to have to move once the economy picks up, which is not something I’d want to deal with.

His dog, Darth, was the family dog when I was a kid. Darth is now thirteen, nearly blind, totally deaf, and with a funny little white beard. My brother communicates with him in sign language, which is actually pretty amazing to see–Darth clearly understands everything my brother is telling him and is just as enthusiastic and impatient as ever. It’s also funny because even though he’s ancient and tottering, he’s still the same old Darth, sweet and happy and totally opportunistic when it comes to food. I’m glad I got to see him again.

So then I managed to sleep for two hours, got up, went to the airport, caught my 6:30am flight (which due to delays ended up taking fours hours), slept very uncomfortably crammed into a middle seat, came home, slept all day, and am not adjusting so well to the return to work grind. *sigh*

VVC report and recs post coming soon!

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Oh my GOD I’m tired. I haven’t even watched the latest White Collar yet because I was stuck at a SuperVegan meeting last night and then had to go home and do a bunch of work afterward. (I liked the White Collar season premiere, though. It was nice to see the characters again, and I enjoy the banter and obvious OTPness of Neal/Peter. But I’m serially monofannish and my heart is still in the SPN-zone.)

So, all of a sudden, I’m going to Vividcon. And to Lollapalooza. This is random, right? soundingsea talked me into signing up for VVC’s waitlist a while ago, but I never got a response from them and figured it wasn’t going to happen. It turns out my registration got stuck in a spam filter–they were very apologetic and had a spot available based on my position on the waitlist, so I checked into last-minute flights, found an affordable one, and decided to go for it. I also had a voucher for a free night at a category 1-4 Marriott that was about to expire, which I was able to use to get a night at the hotel, so it just kind of seems like fate that it worked out so well.

And then I remembered that Lollapalooza is in Chicago–I’ve been really wanting to go because Soundgarden is reuniting there, but that’s a lot to fly all the way to Chicago for. But it turns out that Lollapalooza is VVC weekend! And Soundgarden is playing Sunday night after the con! I mean, there is no way I can be in Chicago the night Soundgarden’s playing and not go, right? So I bought a Sunday day pass to Lollapalooza. (Lollapalooza ‘97 was my first concert. And Soundgarden has always been “the one that got away”–I was in their fan club as a kid and came this close to getting tickets to see them on their last tour, but wasn’t able to, and figured I’d see them next time, except they went and broke up!!!!)

So anyway. I’m doing that. Anyone else going?

(I know there’s been a lot of controversy around Vividcon lately, and I haven’t been all that happy with the way that some members of the concom and some attendees handled it. But I decided that it wasn’t fair of me to dismiss the entire con based on that–there are friends I want to see, and some of the programming looks amazing.)

***

This weekend sucked. jaydk came over Saturday night and we ate and drank and watched some of her Korean shows and more of SPN S2, and everything was going great until sometime after midnight, when I decided to microwave some soup while the air conditioner in the other room was running. Oops.

The fuse blew.

( a really long story about how my weekend sucked and my apartment is probably going to burn down )

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* New White Collar promo. It’s mostly old footage but it sure does make the show look sexy. (Where’s Elizabeth, though?)

* I GOT A SECOND ROW TICKET TO SEE JOHN SIMM IN HAMLET! :)

Now I just have to figure out how the hell I’m going to make a detour to Sheffield on my way from NYC to Paris (for the Lymond thing). It’s looking like I can fly from JFK to Manchester and take a train to Sheffield, see the play, take a train to London and spend a day there, then take a train to Paris. Icelandair is currently showing round trips from JFK to Manchester with a return from Paris to JFK for about $700 total–that’s a better price than I expected, although I’m a little iffy about the stopover in Reykjavik.

(Does anyone out there have experience with any of this–is that a sane plan or would you recommend something else?)

* jaydk and I went to see Metropolis at Film Forum. The restored footage was way cool, but the image would’ve been better if we’d waited for the DVD. Movie theaters have pretty much lost their allure now that I have a giant television.

* We also got tickets to see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which is um, a political satire in the form of an emo rock musical? I don’t know, but it looks fun.

* Stone Temple Pilots are touring, but they’re not playing NYC proper. I don’t want to go out to Jones Beach, but maybe I’ll go to the Borgata in Atlantic City. Apparently there’s now a train that goes there from NYC, and the Borgata is a good venue–it’s small and GA and half the crowd leaves in the middle to gamble, which means I can usually get right up front (I saw Depeche Mode standing in the third row there). But on the minus side it’s a long trip, it’s expensive, and they have a new album which means I’d have to stand through a bunch of new songs that I don’t care about. Hmmm.

* I did get a ticket to see “BlackDiamondSkye” at Madison Square Garden, which is Alice in Chains and the Deftones apparently? I dunno, I couldn’t resist seeing AIC at MSG, even though this is probably too much dude music for me, and I really don’t like the new AIC songs.

* rm has been posting interesting thoughts on season six of BtVS and, man, thinking about that era brought back all these unhappy emotions from seven years ago that I didn’t even know I still had. I reassert my vow never to become so negatively emotionally involved in a fandom again. (Note my complete lack of posts about Moffat’s Who.)

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So, um, I kind of seem to have started watching Supernatural.

I’m afraid that jaydk is going to disown me as a friend.

We went to Ford Lauderdale for the weekend, which was fun. We got a cheap vacation deal–flew direct, stayed in a hotel on the beach with a decent pool and a pool bar, and basically just relaxed for three days. The weather was lovely. We got around via the water taxi, which stopped right near our hotel and took us downtown for only $7 after 7pm (where I managed to survive via that old desperate vegan standby, veggie sushi). The water taxi itself was quite fun, as it involved a narrated tour past the absurd, ostentatious, and often quite lovely mansions of the rich and famous which perch over the waterways. Aside from that, the public transportation was so terrible–every time I leave New York it hits me how absurdly car centric the city planning of most of the USA is. It didn’t have to be this way, and it’s sad, and thank god I live in NYC.

( and I started watching Supernatural (please don't read this if you don't want to read criticism of SPN or if you're going to lose all respect for me for watching it) )

Other stuff:

* I began a re-read of Dorothy Dunnett's Checkmate (the last book in the Lymond series) during vacation, since it's the one that takes place mostly in Paris and I'm headed to Paris in October for the Lymond fan gathering, LeSpit. (Talk about high and low art--going from Checkmate to Supernatural I literally felt my brain melting out of my ears.) Checkmate's never been my favorite--I think I've usually got Dunnett fatigue every time I've gotten to it before. Jumping into it with fresh eyes was a revelation--it really works much better if you treat it as a standalone, with the previous novels as background but with its own locations and characters and plot points. Instead of being frustrated with having to get to know new characters AGAIN when I really just want to know what's going to happen to the characters I already care about, I found myself enjoying this one in its own right for the first time.

* My cats were so happy to have me back. Angel sat on my lap for all eight Supernatural episodes, and Lucifer's been sleeping on my pillow with his arms wrapped around my head.

* I saw Hole at Terminal 5 last night. It was terrible--they played for less than an hour and seemed to put in very little effort. It was nice to hear a snippet of "Pretty on the Inside," but aside from that, they only played three songs from Live Through This (all singles) and nothing else from the olden days. Man, I'd kill to hear "Drown Soda." None of their new stuff was particularly impressive, and Courtney mostly seemed bored. (On a shallow level, her plastic surgery just bothers me. Her old nose was fine! I thought she was so hot when I was a kid. *sad sigh*)

It was also exhausting--to be in the front I'd had to stand for 2.5 hours through two opening bands (the first terrible, the second decent) and then put up with a batshit mosh pit (people kicking and hair pulling to get to the front, big guys trying to bodysurf over small women--to the dude who tried to use my head and neck as a springboard during "Doll Parts" [seriously, during "Doll Parts"?!], I hope you die in a fire, and also OWWWWW).

Oddly enough I was at the same venue, standing in the same position, for Alice in Chains a few months ago, and their moshpit was nowhere near as life-threatening. Since when are Hole crowds nastier than Alice in Chains crowds?

* Just bought tickets to the midnight opening night showing of Iron Man 2 in IMAX. OMG CAN'T WAIT.

* This fantastic Doctor Who vid has been all over my flist: Tenth Doctor: The Musical by

di_br. Awww, I miss Ten. (Thus far I haven't read anything about Moffat's Who that's made me want to watch.)

* This post about protagonist privilege by

londonkds is fascinating. I can see in it an explanation for a lot of my frustrations with BtVS (as someone who loved Anya and Spike and was incessantly frustrated by them being distorted and deprioritized in order to "teach lessons" to the "real heroes") and I can also sooo see this as one of the major flaws of the Lymond Chronicles, even though I love it to pieces anyway. (It's much more pleasant when your favorite character is the hero, which is a big part of why I don't allow myself to get fannish anymore about anything in which my favorite character is not the lead--it's just maddening to realize that your favorite can be ruined at whim in service of the lead character's "growth.")

* My favorite clip of Jon and Stephen on The Daily Show (the one with Prince Charles and the banana). I dug this up the other day for a friend who hadn't seen it and am posting the link in case anyone missed it--it's awesome.

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I went to see Chris Cornell at Webster Hall last night. jaydk came with me. It was entirely last-minute; I just happened to notice that he was playing there, went on Ticketmaster the night before the show, and snagged two tickets. Yay!

He also played there on April 7, and I kind of spoiled myself by looking at the setlist for that, which included “Let Me Drown” and “Like Suicide,” neither of which he played last night. He didn’t play enough Soundgarden, period, although he sort of made up for that with lots of Temple of the Dog.

My scale of response to Chris Cornell’s music:

* Chris Cornell solo material = me standing still, attempting an expression of polite interest
* Audioslave = me bobbing my head, singing along to the chorus, and wondering why every Audioslave song sounds the same
* Soundgarden/Temple of the Dog = me jumping up and down like a possessed lunatic and singing along to every word at the top of my lungs

The highlights were probably the intense, almost unhinged “Jesus Chris Pose” and the final, drawn-out “Reach Down” with “Say Hello 2 Heaven” interlude.

The venue was great–big enough to build up mass enthusiasm, but small enough to feel personal. We were on the far left, about fourth row or so. I got to hold Chris Cornell’s hand a couple of times when he reached into the crowd. The performance was so enthusiastic and genuine–band members and sound guys smiling, changing the set-list mid-set based on audience requests, goofing off and seeming like they were actually having a good time. It felt real and not like a corporate machine, which is sort of what I’d expected from an artist who’s been around so long. The older songs in particular felt so vital, like I’d been transported back in time to the early 90s–a particularly surreal experience given that it was the fifteenth (!!!) anniversary of the day the world learned of Kurt Cobain’s death.

Oh, and there was this, which is something I can honestly say I’ve never seen at a concert before:

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Oh my god, you guys, I am in love:

I want a TARDIS so badly. Right now I want nothing more than to go see David Bowie live in the early 1970s.

I think this must be the true reason I adore the Doctor and Rose. They did exactly what I would’ve done if I could travel through time and space: get dressed up and go to awesome concerts throughout history.

Current Mood: envious emoticon

envious

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Due South: “Some Like it Red.” Okay, Fraser makes an incredibly unconvincing woman. But Fraser and Ray Vecchio are so utterly OTP! I don’t know how in the world I’m going to deal when the new Ray shows up.

Oh, and, hey, I got home from Atlantic City alive. Obviously. I was home by 3:30am, which isn’t bad at all. And I’m so glad I went. I was expecting the show to be bad, hoping for mediocre, and was really surprised that it turned out to be good. Really good! The band was tight, they all seemed to get along, their stage banter was funny, Weiland was on form and perfectly coherent. I had a nice spot, in the third row on the far left, despite having arrived around 9pm, shortly before they went on. (Stupid bus got stuck in traffic.) The Borgata is the perfect venue for seeing big bands in a small space.

All my criticisms of Stone Temple Pilots stand–Core is good but most of the songs sound the same, and their subsequent records are mostly filler with around three quality songs for singles. Their lyrics are thoroughly uninspired, and they haven’t an original bone in their musical body. And they were always blatantly money-driven, unlike similar bands of their era who seemed largely motivated by, y’know, actual musical creativity.

That said… I like their sound, especially from the Core and Purple records. That’s my era, y’know? You couldn’t listen to rock radio–or watch MTV–in the mid ’90s without knowing all their singles by heart, and they were better than 99% of the other grunge wanna-bes (did you see that Candlebox is making a comeback? Candlebox!) And I think that Weiland, although not the brightest guy, generally seems to have his heart in the right place. When I saw him with Velvet Revolver at Jones Beach he gave a speech about how much Clear Channel sucks, and last night he talked (with a minimum of incomprehensible rambling) about how he supports the troops but not the government’s policies, and that the two are entirely different things, and that he encourages the audience to educate themselves about politics instead of vegging out to reality TV. Aww. Not that I take political advice from Scott Weiland, but I think that it’s sweet that he’s trying.

And it was so good to see him in his element. He just fits with Stone Temple Pilots so much better than with Velvet Revolver; it was like night and day, compared to the (wow, at least ten) Velvet Revolver shows that I saw. It was wonderful to see “Interstate Love Song” and “Sex Type Thing” played properly by the guys who wrote them. As my favorite part of the Velvet Revolver set was always the STP songs, it was like all the good of that experience, distilled. I got to hear “Plush”! And “Dead and Bloated”! And “Creep”! And “Big Empty”! And “Crackerman”! And they closed with an amazing rendition of “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart,” with the audience singing the “I’m not dead / I’m not for sale” line at the top of its lungs by itself every time but the last. They played every song I wanted to hear, which isn’t that hard considering they played every one of their singles and all of the good songs from Core, but hey, at least that means they know what they’re good at.

They all seemed really happy–it was one of the DeLeo brother’s birthday, and Scott wished him a happy one very nicely. And they even commented that it was one of the best shows of the tour, which I definitely believe given the disastrous tour reports I’d read in advance.

So, yay! I’m really glad I went, and I hope they can keep it together for the rest of the tour. :)

Current Mood: lazy emoticon

lazy

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I’m in the middle of week three of the hundred push ups program, which means I did 71 push ups tonight. Owwwwwwwwww. I’m doing the half-assed knee push ups, but still.

I’m doing this mainly because I didn’t believe it could possibly work (me doing 100 push ups after six weeks? I’ve never been able to do more than 15) and because I really need to start exercising again. I was doing so well last year; I was up to four half hour workouts a week, and lost 20 pounds. And then I got depressed, stopped exercising, and gained back all the weight. Ugh. So this seemed like a way to jump start the working out thing also.

I’ve also been busy cooking. I’m still following the Vegan Cooking for One meal plan. I like cooking and having a homemade meal every night, but I’m getting sick of the bland and unimaginative recipes in this book. Mushrooms, potatoes, rice, spaghetti, onions… c’mon, at least throw in one interesting thing per week! How about eggplant or … I don’t know, kumquats or something. Blah. But I’m taking photos and going to blog it on SuperVegan, so at least it’s good for something. :P

I’ve been really busy with Writercon, but we don’t have anything to announce yet. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to announce a city and hotel soon, though! Meanwhile I’m learning Drupal and spreadsheets.

I’ve been reading “Hamlet” on the subway to and from work. I’m trying not to get too excited, but I keep picturing David Tennant and OMG CAN’T WAIT FOR OCTOBER.

I’ve been catching some TV here and there. I decided that I adore Fraser’s boss, Meg Thatcher (lol), and that I’d rather watch a show about her. She’s kind of like a female Fraser: older and more cynical, but incredibly socially awkward and with that core idealism underneath. Just, she’s interesting, with her heart protected under so many layers of caution and professionalism, and her default reaction to assume the worst of everyone and to push people away. The last episode I saw was “We Are The Eggmen” so this could change; don’t spoil me for anything that’s coming up.

The next Doctor/Master episode is “The Claws of Axos.” Anything particular I should look out for in this one? I’ll probably start it on Sunday.

jaydk came over last weekend for more Doctor Who. I made a whole batch of banana split cupcakes, and we had a lot of fun. She agrees that “Terror of the Autons” is way more entertaining than “The War Games.” And “Journey’s End” feels more “official” now that we watched it together–although I’m highly amused that we had to pause it twice so that we could get into extended arguments. Ah, fangirls.

Tomorrow I’m taking the bus to Atlantic City to see Stone Temple Pilots. I’m stressing about this, not only because it’s apparently a money-driven mess with a relapsed lead singer, but because I hate Atlantic City. This was the only show I could get tickets to (they’re not playing NYC), so I bought a ticket with a blithe “Oh, I’ll find someone to go with me!” Which never happens, of course, and I end up alone at 12:30am in an empty corner of a casino parking garage, waiting for a bus that may or may not show up, with no human being in sight. I feel like it’s tempting fate to keep doing this. I even looked for a hotel room thinking maybe I’d stay overnight and take a daytime bus home, but Atlantic City hotels are absurdly expensive. So, late night bus. I probably won’t get murdered.

Current Mood: busy emoticon

busy

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Looks like I’m in for an adventure when I go to see Stone Temple Pilots on Saturday.

I know STP is a sad excuse for a band. I have lots of nostalgic affection for them anyway. And I don’t want Scott Weiland to die. :(

Current Mood: worried emoticon

worried

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I had the most awesome Saturday. jaydk and I went to Philadelphia for Projekt Revolution.

( Good friends, yummy food, street fairs, Chris Cornell, and Linkin Park )

What else I've been up to:

( I liked The Dark Knight, but I didn't *love* it )

( I've been catching up on Due South )

( My Doctor Who fannish experience has been very Doctor/Master centric lately )

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Tonight I got to see one of my favorite bands with two of my favorite people in the universe.

chenanceou and jaydk met up with me at Pukk, the yummy vegetarian Thai restaurant. Then we headed to The Living Room to see Common Rotation.

It was a good show, although way too short. The band members were in good moods; the stage banter was adorable and the songs were all entertaining. But it felt incomplete, because they didn’t play a single one of the staples I’ve gotten used to at Common Rotation shows; no “Everything Under the Sun” or “Gone Dyin’” or “Clear Channel” or “Party People” or “Indie Rockin.” Just, good, but I wanted another hour. Remember those living room shows, when they’d play and play? I got so spoiled back then…

I made chenanceou get their autographs afterward, because, dude, she’d come halfway across the world and timed her trip to see them. She was all adorable and shy. And of course the band was nice, as they always are. Adam Busch is the nicest “celebrity” I met in the entirety of Buffy fandom.

Amber Benson was there, and it always freaks me out to see her, because she is tiny. Like, ethereal. And when you remember that people complained about her being “fat” when she was on BtVS, you realize that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan must be, like, doll-sized, to look small next to her. It also made me feel like some kind of hulking giant. But anyway. She is also nice.

And tomorrow I’m going to Asbury Park. I’m going to lay on the beach and breathe salty air and read something light (maybe Harry Potter) and just be glad to be out of NYC. I can’t believe I haven’t gone anywhere in eight months. I’m not made to stay in one place for so long!

(Is it really annoying to choose three mood icons? I can’t decide if I’m more drunk, tired, or happy.)

Current Mood: drunk emoticon

drunk &

happy &

tired

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You know you’re exhausted when you can’t even motivate yourself to get out of your chair to pour a cup of coffee. :P

I’m so glad I went to see Bella Morte last night. They played at the Knitting Factory, opening for 16Volt. 10zlaine and I got there a bit late, after 9pm, just as they were starting. I think they’re getting better every time I see them. The first time (2001?) I left because they were boring; now, I think they own the stage with far more confidence, and their songs have gotten so much better. They’ve got these disparate influences–punk, metal, goth–and I like how they’re merging all of these into each song, rather than doing one “punk” song, then one “metal” song, and so on. (Plus, the shallow: Andy Deane’s growing his hair out and has dyed it black; he looks about a million times hotter than he did with that absurd orange mohawk.)

I wasn’t going to talk to them after, but I did go over to buy a CD, and Andy recognized me and gave me a hug. I apologized for not owning any of their CDs and asked for a recommendation; he said “Bleed the Grey Sky Black,” so I bought that. I swear, I wasn’t even trying to “meet the band”; I’m just like a natural rock groupie or something.

We stuck around for 16Volt, because Steve White from PIG is playing with them. He was amazing, and I’m so sad that I never got to see him play with PIG. I guess I must’ve seen him with KMFDM twice, but that’s not the same. He co-wrote some of my favorite PIG songs, actually. I don’t know anything about the technique of playing guitar, but I know the difference between “mediocre” and “decent” and “fucking awesome,” and he was definitely on the “fucking awesome” side.

I must’ve seen 16Volt years ago (didn’t they open for KMFDM or something?) but I didn’t know any of their songs. The vocals were annoying, but the music itself was great. I must’ve had a hell of a lot of frustration to work out, because even though I was exhausted, I ended up completely rocking out like I haven’t done in years, banging my head and jumping up and down like a lunatic. I was thinking about my old landlord and roommate; it’s really easy to feel aggressive when you’ve had a week like I’m having!

It was so, so good to go to a club show. It’s been way too long; I think last time was Chemlab in, um, November? I’ve been going to these arena shows lately, where the band are distant specks on a stage, and you’re surrounded by confused teenagers, and yuppies who leave before the encore, and frat boys who are just there to guzzle as much Budweiser as humanly possible during the space of three hours. This was a dark dingy club with about 50-75 people who genuinely care about the music, and the band is on a four-foot stage right in front of you, and they actually *do* feed off your energy and you feed off theirs and you interact, and you can go to the merch table and meet them afterwards if you want to. It’s just so much more gritty and honest and real.

Current Mood: exhausted emoticon

exhausted & satisfied emoticon

satisfied

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( more musings on Turn Left )

( and the Cure at Madison Square Garden on Friday night )

Current Mood: pleased emoticon

pleased

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I went to this benefit at the Nokia Theater in Times Square last night. It was for some kind of drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization for musicians… headlined by Slash and Jerry Cantrell. (Yeah, I don’t quite follow that either.)

( Road Recovery Benefit Concert with Slash, Jerry Cantrell, Tom Morello, Perry Farrell, Jakob Dylan, and a bunch more )

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Current Mood: pleased emoticon

pleased &

irate

I somehow managed to stay up until 3:30am last night fiddling with my blog. I:

( made comment replies prettier; added comment previews; pulled in commenter userpics from LJ, IJ, and JF; and improved posting functionality )

Other random stuff:

I had a very difficult time waking up in the morning (I wonder why!). My alarm was blaring, but somehow I had the idea that as long as I woke up on the same date, it didn't matter what time I woke up. Stupid half-asleep brain. And I was having some kind of strange dream about the ending of The Princess Bride trying to trick the audience into thinking that Fezzik had been the villain all along. (But I wasn't falling for it.)

On the plus side, my half-asleep brain is far more creative than my awake brain, so I plotted out an entire Doctor/Master fic on my train ride to work. (Not that I'll ever write it.)

I bought a ticket last night for this benefit at the Nokia Theater featuring Slash, Jerry Cantrell, Tom Morello, and Perry Farrell. I don't actually know what it is, but with that line-up, who could resist?

I also see that Stone Temple Pilots tickets are going on sale for a show in New Jersey. Um, New Jersey? C'mon guys, please announce a NYC date. I want to see you, but not badly enough to trek out to Jersey. :P

(ETA: And how did I miss that Scott Weiland left Velvet Revolver? Not that it's much of a surprise. I saw them seven or eight times last year and half the time the other band members were visibly rolling their eyes at Weiland's antics. I'm still a bit sad, though. Formulaic though they may have been, their shows were fun.)

I'm watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report again. They made a Highlander joke on TDS last night! And Stephen Colbert pulled John Oliver out of a suitcase! And Colbert interviewed REM while wearing their album as a codpiece! (I was eating as that happened and ended up inhaling a large amount of cous cous.)

South Park has been more cracked-out than usual this season; last night was a total waste. But I watched the new Futurama movie and it was *awesome*. They managed to reference pretty much every cool thing that happened in the series, plus tell a good new story too.

I saw this ad (a giant Darth Vader head with the caption "A guy can only be called 'Annie' so many times before he snaps") and burst out laughing in the middle of the subway station. Yay geek humor! (*ignores underlying misogyny*)

I finally got that vanilla-themed BPAL order. I am in love with Antique Lace. It's sweet vanilla with a hint of white musk, but not at all cloying; more like distant and cool. But it's strong and lasted all day. It's similar to my favorite scent ever, Dorian, but different enough that I'll probably end up buying a whole bottle.

All of this is just killing time until Saturday. DOCTOR WHO!!!! *incoherent flailing*

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please leave any comments there.

Current Mood: tired

I (just a bit belatedly!) posted my photos from DragonCon 2006.

I’m generally a terrible photographer, but I get lucky sometimes. These ended up being some of my favorite photos that I’ve taken:

( The Method from Godhead and Sarah from the Cruxshadows )

There’s also photos of the Cruxshadows, Godhead, Voltaire, George Romero, Alan Tudyk, Summer Glau, Billy West, random pirates, the Snape trial, R2-D2, and lots of random convention stuff. If you’re interested.

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please comment there.

Current Mood: optimistic

http://rusty-halo.com/wordpress/?p=2210

I had a busy week.

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Current Mood: exhausted emoticon

exhausted

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please click here to comment.
(Anyone can comment on public entries.)

Recent theater, film, & concerts

Random Updates & More Thoughts on SPN 6×06

Obsession

My weekend in Chicago (Vividcon in brief, Lollapaloooza, family)

I keep forgetting to post

Linkspam & Random Updates

I kind of seem to have started watching Supernatural

Chris Cornell at Webster Hall

Why I Want a TARDIS

Stone Temple Pilots at the Borgata

Been Busy Lately

Oh, Dear

Projekt Revolution, The Dark Knight, Due South, and Doctor Who

Good Friends + Good Music = Perfect Evening

Bella Morte and 16Volt at the Knitting Factory

More on “Turn Left”

Road Recovery Benefit Concert

More Blog Updates, Plus Random Fannish Babble

DragonCon 2006 (I totally forgot I’d taken these photos!)

Doctor Who episodes and random cultural stuff

rusty-halo.com

August 2018

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