Trust me, it's worth the 7 minutes

I just discovered Wil Wheaton's blog, WWdN: In Exile, and I'm loving it. And I'm loving that I found it from a tweet from Neil Gaiman on Twitter. Ah, technology how I love thee. I've been surfing back through some of Wil's posts and had come across this, hit play and then kept reading. It's beautiful. Hit play and sit back and just listen. Her name is Zoe Keating and this is her website.



Taken directly from Mr. Wheaton himself.....
"See that MacBook next to her? She uses that to sample herself several times to build a rhythm, and then she plays over it, like a one-woman string quartet. Or quintet. Or awesometet. I didn't realize this the first time I heard her; I just thought her music was haunting and beautiful, but once I knew what she was doing, I was awestruck. In fact, knowing how she does it, I defy you to listen to it again and keep your jaw off the floor."

If I had the follow through

I want to write a story about a guy who is afraid of letting cab drivers know where he lives so he always has them drop him off 2 blocks away then waits till they leave before he heads home. This also makes it impossible for him to order delivery. And needless to say he doesn't have a lot of friends come over.

However I don't have anything else to go on but that. So for now it lives in the back of my brain. And maybe someday when I pretend I am a writer I will finish the thought.

12 minutes

I just got home from the gym. I spent the last half on those crazy elliptical machines. They kind of make me feel like I'm losing my mind but I seem to be able to hang on the longest on them so I've been using them more often. If I read it right I ellipticized for 3 miles in just under 34 minutes. And if my brain hasn't completely sweated out my ears I think that boils down to somewhere between an 11 and a 12 minute mile. That. Is. Awesome. For me at least. I'm going to go pass out now.

Post Happy V Day

I am a firm believer in avoiding at all costs the hallmark created culture of Valentine's Day. I find it obtrusive when I am in a relationship to have the outside world tell me (or my partner) how exactly we should love each other and when I'm single it's just fucking depressing to have it constantly thrown in my face. My one caveat is that while I do not expect or want flowers, chocolate, or gifts of any kind on February 14th, if you are dating me I do want it at some point. Preferably a random Tuesday at least 3 weeks away from any significant event. Just because I don't like V day doesn't mean I don't like being loved.

Lucky for me this year, I passed this past Saturday with someone who may dislike the holiday even more than me. We found this out about each other awhile ago which led to a nice stress free weekend. It also led to a conversation a while back about Horny Werewolf Day. One of his favorite writers, Warren Ellis, said at some point "Always remember: Valentine's Day is a Christian corruption of a pagan festival involving werewolves, blood and fucking. So wish people a happy Horny Werewolf Day and see what happens." I don't know the back story, or if there is much more, but after finding this out I struck a deal with the boy. No V Day acknowledgement from me but I definitely wanted a card that wished me a Happy Horny Werewolf Day!

So I reminded him every few weeks until the fateful night rolled around. Turns out he "commissioned" an artist friend of his and said friend liked it so much he used the idea for a flyer for his own website. I couldn't be mad. It was a kick ass flyer. And as soon as I get the images emailed to me I will post them here.

In true celebration of the day I went to a hardcore punk show Saturday night. By a band called Fucked Up. Yup. It's all about pushing your boundaries apparently. Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? No. So I guess that's something. I can say it got a whole hell of a lot better once I bought the earplugs for $1 from the bar.

Hope you and yours celebrated in whatever way you saw fit. Or didn't celebrate. Whichever works for you.

Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo is a 4 day music festival that takes place in Manchester, TN in the beginning of June. It's a camping thing with over 700 acres of land to spread out on. It's huge. And I'm going.

I've never been to one of these things before but after seeing this years line up I couldn't pass it up. The boy and the brother are also going and who knows who else will jump on board before June reaches us. You can check out the full website here, but I wanted to copy in the names of the bands announced to give a better idea of why I decided to spend a ridiculous amount of money to participate.

Oh, and by the way, this means I will be seeing The Boss twice in one month. Life, at least musically speaking, is all good.

The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival 2009 Lineup:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish (2 Shows)
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello Solo
Erykah Badu
Paul Oakenfold
Ben Harper and Relentless7
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Gov’t Mule
Andrew Bird
Band Of Horses
Merle Haggard
MGMT
moe.
The Decemberists
Girl Talk
Bon Iver
Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
The Del McCoury Bandof Montreal
Allen Toussaint
Coheed and Cambria
Booker T & the DBTs
David Grisman Quintet
Lucinda Williams
Animal Collective
Gomez
Neko Case
Down
Jenny Lewis
Santogold
Robert Earl Keen
Citizen Cope
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
The Ting Tings
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
King Sunny Adé
Okkervil River
St. Vincent
Zac Brown Band
Raphael Saadiq
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Crystal Castles
Tift Merritt
Brett Dennen
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Toubab Krewe
People Under the Stairs
Alejandro Escovedo
Vieux Farka Touré
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Cherryholmes
Yeasayer
Todd Snider
Chairlift
Portugal. The Man.
The SteelDrivers
Midnite
The Knux
The Low Anthem
Delta Spirit
A.A. Bondy
The Lovell Sisters
Alberta Cross

MORE ARTISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

Ah, the joys of the internet

I made a promise to a friend, so here it is. The CatCam! (wouldn't fit in the side bar so had to make a post about it).

Webcam chat at Ustream

Enjoy.

Inauguration Part 2

Where did we leave off...Oh yeah, heading onto the mall. Our first stop was an amazingly long line of port-o-johns that stretched as far the eyes could see.

Being as I still hadn't had anything to eat or drink at this point I took this opportune time to wander a few feet off and smoke. Come on, are you really surprised by this? Didn't think so. Soon we are all back together and heading in to the main event.


The view was amazing, the people were passive, the energy bubbled at the surface. It was all very calm and unhurried. People took their time, some followed the curving walkway, some cut through and over the tiny chain rope fences. We all streamed towards the hill that the Washington Monument sits on. As the family crested the hill we looked down into what I can only describe as a sea of people. Unlike any concert or festival I have been to it was as though there were nothing but other humans around me.

We decided to walk forward to see what we could and found ourselves at a road that didn't appear crossable. It was being kept clear for emergency vehicles and we couldn't see a way that pedestrians were crossing so we decided to go back to our original position by the monument (about 2 miles back from the Capitol I believe) and camp ourselves by the nearest jumbo tron.

The crowd filled in around us as the minutes ticked by. At 10 the music started, kids singing, trumpets blaring, but to be honest I wasn't paying that much attention. I just kept looking around at all the people. Old, young, groups, single folks, black, white, and every shade in between. No one arguing, no one jostling, no one being rude. It was surreal.

Then the processions of dignitaries (and some not so dignified) started arriving on the big screen. In retrospect probably one of the coolest things about being there live was that there were no reporters I had to listen to. No commentary from some asshole telling me what I am supposed to be feeling or thinking. Just the image of these people arriving and an open mike somewhere that every once in awhile let through a "Hi, good to see you" as people shook hands on the screen.

The crowd cheered when familiar faces graced the screen. Gore got one of the hugest responses with yells of adoration and feet stomping of approval. The kids and Michelle might have been the next loudest. Bush got booed which was no surprise and the combo of Gore and Quail just make people shake their heads at such opposites. I looked for Blago when the Governor's were announced but didn't see him. And I wondered what had happened to Cheney (and then realized I didn't care).

When the actual proceedings began the crowd became quiet like nothing I have ever seen before. I was afraid that the huge speakers lining the jumbo tron would be drowned out by the thousands of people standing around me jostling and talking, but it was like the very workings of our voice boxes had been whisked away by the magic of the moment (my mind quickly flitted over the episode in season 4 of Buffy, Hush, but then came back to the present).

It quickly became apparent that there was a delay somewhere in the massive electronic system. The sound was a few sentences behind the visual. By the time Obama's speech started I simply trained myself not to watch his mouth because it just became to confusing. What was hysterical though was during Biden's inauguration the sound was off just enough so that when you saw Biden's face you heard Stevens voice and vice versa. The end result was that it looked like Biden was swearing in Stevens.

Cheers and applause erupted at each critical moment. Steps behind the visuals we reacted to the sound. Chants of Obama's name sprung up again and again throughout the process (but never overriding if someone was speaking). During the invocation I took the opportunity to look around at my fellow bystanders. Not being a religious person (and pretty much being against Rick Warren with my whole being) I paid him little mind. I was amazed however by the number of bowed heads surrounding me. However when he mentioned the girls names and suddenly became a stereotypical southern baptist preacher I don't think there was anyone that at least didn't giggle if not laugh out right.

By the time Obama was sworn in I thought my heart was going to explode. The crowd let out a sound like one I've never heard before. A release from the past 8 years, a breath of hope and faith, a new beginning. As corny as it sounds it was what I felt in the air around me.

I listened to Obama's speech with as much attention as I could but have to admit I will have to find it online again to really absorb it. I was especially impressed with the well designed bitch slap that he delivered to Bush ("First let me thank you, and second let me tell you exactly how wrong you have done everything in the past 8 years"). The masses cheered at all the appropriate parts, and some around me cried through it all (I myself got a bit teary I have to say).

When the speech was done it was like a giant hand came down and turned the whole crowd around and whispered "go". The poem and the speech that came after Obama were lost to us as thousands of people in front of us started the flow away from the mall and back to their lives. This crowd, while still mostly decent, was not the same group I felt I had walked into this historic event with. These people were a bit more anxious, a bit more forceful, a bit less "love thy neighbor" which made me sad. But there were equal amounts of people verbally expressing their desire to not be pushed, or shoved, and that we will all get out when we get out so there was no need to rush.

Will finish this in one final post about the process of extracting oneself from a crowd of one million and add pictures when I get home.