Its about...time

I've been thinking about this blog post for about a year (at various points in time during a year, not every consecutive second during a year, I think about a lot of other stuff too you know). I wanted to make a list of my top5 favorite live shows I've ever seen. Everytime I thought about a great concert, I wanted to blog about it. Today during my run I thought...I should finally write about this and post it.

Sorry I can't quite narrow it to a top 5. I'll give you a list of all of my favorites in order. The ranking rubric isn't exactly scientific, but I took into account venue, stage presence, set list, how much I listened to the album before the show, audience, people I went to the show with, interactions with the band, personality, opening bands, lighting, how many times I took out my earplug to hear the true sound of guitars, and how elated I was after the show.

15. Weezer. E-Center. September 01. Right after the green album came out and my freshman year at BYU. My one and only time seeing them. Venue wasn't great, but I still had fun.
14. Eve 6. X96 show. Sept. 04. My one and only time seeing one of my favorite bands from high school. I still think Horrorscope is incredible. Although it was outside and there were a lot of people, it was still great to see them live.
13. My Morning Jacket. Avalon. Dec. 06. Rocked a long set.
12. U2 Popmart Tour. Kingdome. Dec. 98 (I think...) A sight to behold. Truly.
11. Matt Pond PA/Dios Malos. Paradise. Feb. (maybe) 06. It wasn't crowded and Matt Pond PA was personable and great to hear live.
10. Broken Social Scene. Avalon. Nov. 05. At one point they had 8 guitars at once. Simply amazing. Stars and Sons live was definitely the highlight.
9. Nada Surf. Oct. 05. Paradise. Shortly after moving to Boston, one of the first concerts I went to at Paradise. I was so obsessed with The Weight is a Gift, I had it on repeat for weeks before and after the show.
8. U2 Elevation Tour. Salt Lake City Delta Center. Oct. 01. After 9/11, it changed the show. I saw them in San Jose in May 01. I had floor tickets and saw Bono up close. Pretty much a childhood dream. I was also on the local news because I camped out to get inside the "heart".
7. Rogue Wave. I went by myself and after a high from the red sox parade day, it was a perfect way to end a perfect day. It wasn't crowded and to hear them live gave me the chills.
6. Minus the Bear. Middle East. October 05. I went by myself and got there way early to get a spot right in the front. After standing there for 4 hours Minus came on. It was right after Menos El Oso came out, and I knew the words to every song they played. I was about the only person in the crowd that knew every song. I think the band was a tad weirded out. Mostly because I was front and center. Got a setlist after and really couldn't have been happier. (there have now been a bunch of times I've seen Minus, and I still love the 2 i've included in this list the most)
5. LCD Soundsystem. Lollapalooza. Aug. 07. Didn't love their album before, but live they turned it into a masterpiece. I've never seen so many people dancing.
4. Snow Patrol. Paradise. March 06. Before the official tour, they played a couple random concerts before Eyes Open was officially released. I don't think I've ever loved a band so much. (too bad they sounded horrible the second time around, 6 months later at a horrible venue with horrible fans. it was all just really horrible. plus they got way too much radioplay for chasing cars, which I really can't stand)
3. The Strokes. In the Venue. Winter 04. Right after Room on Fire came out. Mike and I fought our way to the front. They played Reptilla and it was crazy. (I can't really describe the feeling...I think this is a common theme here.) It took me a while to come down off the concert high after this one. The lighting for Strokes shows in incredible. And I love their stage presence.
2. Minus the Bear. Kilby Court. Spring 04. First time I saw them in concert. (I've seen them 4 times since) Before Menos El Oso came out. They played Drilling before it came out and it was one of my favorite songs I've ever heard live. Ever. And I got a drum stick afterwards.
1. Cold War Kids. Middle East. March 07. Nuts. Crazy energy. Amazing vocals. 10 people to help out with percussion on St. Johns. Tell me in the Morning and Rubidoux have never sounded that good. The crowd was great. I can't even really describe it.

And there is one band that I must see live before I die. Radiohead. I'm pretty sure they'll knock someone out of the top 10, even if I see them in a big venue.

UPDATE: I totally forgot to add BECK. San Jose Arts Center. July 05. He started out with guitar, went to percussion, and played everything in between. LOVED him. And he had some really clever sets. It was shortly after Guero came out which is still one of my favorite albums of his. I just love him. I guess I would place this concert in between 6 & 7. Although its a tough call...

Watch Out, Montreal

Whitney & Whitney in Boston are going to bust out on the scene.

My roommate brought back her brother's guitar and we both got all giddy about it although neither one of us know anything about playing it. I felt like we were little kids opening up a christmas present and then going "so now what?"

We went to plug the amp in but found that the washer on the outside of the plug somehow fell off. After fixing the part where you plug the amp in, we were back in business. After some amazing power chords, we both realized that the guitar was completely out of tune.

Next step, tuning the guitar.


Whitney also stole a tuner. I had no idea what we were doing. With the online help of my friend Mike, we used Garage Band to try and tune it. Here's us holding up the guitar close to the mic so we could figure out what needed to be tightened up. Turns out the tuner on Garage Band is not all that great, but I think we got it pretty close.

Now we just need to figure out how to play some songs.

And I think we already have the cover to our debut album.

Dancin' with Myself

My inbox for text messages is ALWAYS full. My inbox currently lets me keep 56 of them at a time. I hate deleting text messages that are witty, funny, or commemorate an important event (or ones from cute boys). When you send me a text message, 95% of the time my inbox is full and I have to go through my list and figure out which text message I can let go of in order to see yours. I have sometimes missed text messages because my inbox was full (last month my brother was waiting at Logan airport for 30 minutes because I didn't get his text that he had landed).

I got a random text message from my friend Corey last month that said, "let's sink another drink, cuz it'll give me time to think ... maybe the best song ever" I've kept that one for a while, and I will probably continue to hold on to it.

I never get sick of that song. And its one of the most fun to dance to. And now that I'm writing a rough draft of a paper that I really dont care about, I think I'll listen to it over and over again this afternoon.

Go Go Gadget

I love my mac.

I've been known to surf the internet for hours at a time and get lost in a particular musical album (recently its been Radiohead and Sea Wolf).

My roommate sent me an email the other day telling me that walking into my room seeing me at my computer reminded her of this.



I think that's pretty accurate.
Maybe I should start thinking about getting a cat and trying to take over the world.

Indy

How awesome is this going to be?

Rookie Mistake

Today was a 12 mile day for marathon training. I got back from Seattle this morning at 620. I slept from 830-1230 and went out at 2. I should have probably eaten something more than a bowl of honey nut cheerios before I went out.

The weather was beautiful, a little windy, but I didn't have to wear my gloves, big coat, and beanie.
The one thing I kind of spaced...water. I didn't bring any money nor did I carry any water nor did I plan where I was going to get water along the Charles. I ran 11 miles a couple weeks ago and I didn't feel like I was going to die without any water.

Today was a little different. Towards the end the only thing I could think about was a tall cold glass of water. At the very end I thought I was going to die without drinking something. Thankfully I didn't pass out.

I told my friend Katie about all this on the phone a couple hours after it happened. She summed it up pretty well by saying, "rookie mistake".

TV on DVD

This writer's strike has been good for me. Well, maybe its been bad for me. But my eyes are being opened to shows that I missed a long time ago. I now have a list of TV shows I want to watch on DVD. The whole writers going back to work might throw my plan off a bit.

1. Currently on The OC. (season 2) Still loving it.

2. Veronica Mars

3. Alias

4. Gilmore Girls (I watched for about a season)

5. My So-Called Life

6. Freaks and Geeks

7. Felicity

Any other suggestions so we can make this a perfect 10?

And you thought I was going to law school....

U2 in 3D.

Tonight I went to U2 3D at the IMAX in Natick. From the moment I sat down I was a little overwhelmed with the bass rumbling my seat and Bono in my face belting at me with what voice he has left on Vertigo, which isn't even close to one of their best. That didn't keep me from getting chills when Pride started. Or when the With or Without You baseline reverberated through my seat.

I've loved U2 since I was 8. Achtung Baby had just been released and my brother would blast it in his room while I danced around to Mysterious Ways. I expressed my love for them in the 4th grade by writing all of their lyrics all over my notebooks. I was a bit obsessed. I fell in love with The Unforgettable Fire, Boy, War, and Joshua Tree in the 5th grade when we moved to Seattle. When Sunday Bloody Sunday started during the movie, I was taken back to the summer after fifth grade when my brother and I went to the George Karl basketball camp for week in Tacoma. We listened to Sunday Bloody Sunday everyday driving 45 mins to camp and back. I turned to Cam and asked him if he remembered that when they started playing Sunday Bloody Sunday. He laughed and smiled.

In fact, my first concert was a U2 concert. I went to the spectacle that was Popmart when I was a freshman in high school. It was at the kingdome and incredible. Little did I know that a few years later I would see them close up and more personal.

All That You Can't Leave Behind came out when I was a senior in high school. Although I loved Pop, it just wasn't the same U2 that I knew and loved. Coming off a 3 year hiatus I was hungry for more U2. I listened to that CD over and over again and fell in love with it. I went to 2 concerts on the Elevation tour -- once in San Jose and the other in 2001 in Salt Lake when I was a freshman in college. I joined a Yahoo group specifically tailored to U2 concert info to figure out how to get the best tickets. I joined the official U2 newsletter group (before they had a souped up website) and got floor tickets. I became obsessed with wanting to be up close to the band, and see them go back to basics that I grew up with. I slept outside of the Delta Center to get inside the "heart"...the ramp that came out into the floor, After all of the hours of waiting, it was truly amazing to see Bono at his finest.

Although they seem to have all aged 10 years in 5, I still love them. Yes, their new songs might be cheesy and full of some pretty bad lyrics and yes, Bono is a little crazy on stage, and yes, he's lost a lot of his voice from smoking too many cigarettes, but I loved seeing them in concert where I felt like I was a part of it even though I was sitting in an IMAX theater seat. I love how they still play Sunday Bloody Sunday with passion and energy after playing it for 25 years. I love that Pride still makes an impact after all of this time.

If you're not a huge U2 fan, you'll probably find a lot of it cheesy and boring. They do look a little ridiculous with receding hairlines rocking out. They don't play the strongest set, but visually it is stunning. I recommend it even if you don't have a flood of memories coming back to you during the concert.

Manic Monday

I was going to post something about emotions I felt last night as I saw the Pats perfect season not happen before my eyes when I thought it was a done deal with the Brady-Moss connection with 2:32 left.

Then I found this. And its WAY too funny not to share and a lot of it I've already felt/said/heard others say. I'll bold parts that I've felt/said/heard.

The five stages of Patriots grief

By DJ Gallo, Page 2

It's a sad day in Boston. (SO true. It was like an unhappy little cloud settled over everyone today. Plus it was totally gray and cloudy. Good thing I went on a long run to produce lots of endorphins!) Happy and full of joy everywhere else, of course. But sad in Boston.

Bostonians are coming to grips with the demise of the greatest team ever the New England Patriots.

As you may know, there are five stages of grief: denial and Isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

This is how Patriots fans will progress through the various stages. Please be understanding of their plight. Keep your pointing and laughing to a minimum.

Stage 1: Denial and isolation

No! No! No! No! Noooooooooooo! No! No! No! No! No! Noooooooooooo! This did not happen.

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Jason Parkhurst/US Presswire

Eli Manning beat the "best team ev-uh" in the Super Bowl? This cannot be happening.

There is no way this happened. It's impossible. There is no way Eli Manning -- Eli Manning! -- stopped us in the Super Bowl from going 19-0. Eli Manning did not just beat Tom Brady. Tom Brady did not get knocked out of the playoffs in back-to-back years by the Manning brothers. I refuse to believe it. Such a world does not exist.

I just can't deal with it right now. I don't want to talk to anyone. I just want to be alone. I'm not taking calls from any of my friends.

If I talk about it with them, that means I'm not dreaming and the Pats really lost. I am not yet prepared to face such a reality. My entire identity and self-worth hinges on the ability to act smug about the supposed supremacy of Boston's sports teams, as though I had something to do with their performance on the field.

If that goes away, I am an empty shell. I am a fraud. I would have nothing. And I'm not ready yet to deal with that. So I will simply deny that it happened.

I need to go someplace where I can get my thoughts together. Someplace quiet and empty. Where could that be in Boston? Oh, I know. Anywhere along the normal championship parade route.

Noooooooooooo!

Stage 2: Anger

I have a friggin' Patriots helmet tattooed on my head! On my bald head! What am I supposed to do? I feel foolish now! I wouldn't have done it if I knew they were going to lose. I just feel so misled! I feel so stupid.

Not as stupid as Bill Belichick, though. Genius? Yeah, right. You cheat in Week 1 against the Jets, but can't muster up a worthwhile cheating plot in the Super Bowl when it matters? Moron. Oh, and did you notice when you were walking off the field before the game was over that we lost by three points? Nice call going for it on fourth-and-13 when we were in field-goal range! Who helped you make that genius decision: Girlfriend A or Girlfriend B? You just got outcoached by Tom Coughlin. Badly. By Tom Coughlin! Half of the man's brain is still frozen from the Green Bay game, yet he made you look like Rich Kotite.

And Tom Brady … really? You needed a haircut from your stylist the night before the game?!

Maybe you should have spent more time watching film, you dainty little girl. And didn't you learn anything from Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson?

What's with having Gisele there watching from a luxury box? She shouldn't have been there. Actually, no. She should have been there. On the field. Playing for you. I'm sure her 72-pound body could have withstood the pass rush better than you, nancy boy. You're dead to me, Tom Brady. (Although I will be open to impassioned, aggressive make-up sex. Call me.)

Rodney Harrison and Vince Wilfork, you may not call me. You guys get all of these personal foul penalties and fines in games that don't matter, and then come up with nothing in the Super Bowl? Way to choke, losers. Maybe if one of you had kicked Eli Manning in the crotch while he was standing in the huddle, we'd be Super Bowl champions today. Harrison, how do you let David Tyree catch that pass against his head on you over the middle on the final drive? After he scored their first touchdown, he shouldn't have had a head. You should have decapitated him. I thought you were smart. One would think you'd have a big brain inside that giant, HGH head of yours.

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

Sen. Specter, are you just hating on the Patriots because they beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl?

Oh, and go to hell, Sen. Arlen Specter. (Or stay in Philadelphia. Same thing.) Get over it, you loser. Your Eagles lost. They weren't good enough to beat us. The Patriots are better than the Eagles. Just like New Kids are better than The Eagles. (I love Donnie!) And who are you, anyway? I never heard of you. If you're not a Kennedy, you're crap. Come up here to a real state and let Teddy take you for a drive out to Chappaquiddick.

And same to you, Boston Globe. Thanks for jinxing the team with the 19-0 book.

Next time I am out of toilet paper, I will purchase your rag. Meanwhile, I hope there are a bunch of kids in third-world nations who want to read a book of fiction about an undefeated American football team.

Stage 3: Bargaining

OK, look … there's got to be a way to make this right. What do you want us to do?

Do you want us to admit that we cheated to win those other three Super Bowls? Fine. We cheated. Asterisk those babies up. We admit it. Just please -- please, please, please, PLEASE! -- don't take away our perfect season. We'll trade those other three titles for 19-0. Just let us play the game over. Come on. Be fair. That's a good deal.

I can't even believe I'm saying this, but do you want me to admit that Tom Brady is overrated? I will. I'll say it. I'll say it if you'll let the Patriots play the game over. Do you see how far you're making me go? How much I want this? I am willing to speak a negative word about the most beautiful and perfect man ever made. I'll admit that he stunk in that playoff game against the Broncos two years ago. And that he blew our chances last year against the Colts by throwing that interception in the fourth quarter. And that he was a big zero in the Super Bowl against the Giants. He's been folding under pressure in big games for three years in a row. He's like a Manning, but with a better jaw line and two fewer Super Bowls since 2004.

I'll do anything to make this different. Say that Rodney Harrison is an HGH-fueled cheater? You got it. That the tuck rule was a sham? No doubt about it. That Bill Belichick once coached the Browns. Sure, I guess.

Roger Goodell … come on, man! We're in this together. Once you trusted Belichick to tell you the truth and then destroyed all of those tapes, our fates became intertwined. If we go down, you go down, ginger boy. So it's time for you to trust Belichick again. Here's what you do. First, destroy all of the game tapes from the Super Bowl to get rid of the evidence. Then, call up Belichick. He'll tell you that we beat the Giants. Then just go to the public and say: "The Patriots beat the Giants in the Super Bowl. Bill Belichick told me they did. He promised me he was being truthful, so I took him at his word." See how easy that would be?

Hey, I'll even admit that I never even heard of the New England Patriots before January 2002. Well, I heard of them. But I always thought they were, like, some kind of Revolutionary War re-enactors or something.

Come on. I'm being straight with you here. Give the Patriots another shot. Best out of three? Best out of seven? How about seven? The Red Sox lost the first three in 2004 to the Yankees and still came back and won.

Yankees suck!

Stage 4: Depression

Life is not worth living.

I've spent the past five months of my life telling everyone I know how great the Patriots are and how much their team sucks. I've called radio shows. TV shows. Written countless words on Internet message boards. My entire self-esteem was based on the success of a football team filled with a bunch of players I've never met in my life.

Now I have nothing. They'll get over it. They're rich. They have hot wives and girlfriends. But I have nothing. Just this tattoo on my head and a crappy, second-shift job at Dunkin' Donuts.

There's not hope for the future, either.

Tom Brady is balding. He's past his prime. It's all downhill from here. He's in his 30s now. He'll never get close to 50 touchdown passes again. His ankle is hurt. His shoulder is all messed up. Who knows what else is being hidden in the injury report. Gout? Scabies? Mumps? Measles? Rubella? Gisele will see the writing on the wall soon enough. She'll dump him. Then he'll start dating Jessica Simpson. And then it will get worse from there. Three years from now, he'll have a 65 quarterback rating and four kids with Britney Spears. We should just use our first-round pick this year to draft a quarterback and get it over with. Goodbye, Tom.

And goodbye Rodney Harrison, Junior Seau, Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi. You could all retire. Or not. It doesn't matter either way. Without you, our already suspect defense is decimated. With you, we're another year older and slower. Next year, we're going to all offense and absolutely no defense. Ohmigod … we're going to be the 2004 and 2005 Colts.

I think I'm going to throw up.

Stage 5: Acceptance

OK. So we lost. It happened. We were 18-0 and lost in the Super Bowl to Eli friggin' Manning and the New York Giants. It still sounds insane to say that out loud, but facts are facts.

Truth is, I'm fine with it. That's three years in a row the Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl. What kind of dynasty is that? If they're not going to represent Boston the right way and win championships, they can get lost. I'll go back to pretending they don't exist like I did before January 2002. I mean, they're not even a Boston team. They play in Foxborough. That's where they belong, too, the losers. I've got better things to do with my time than root for a bunch of losers.

Like root for the Celtics, for example. Best record in the NBA, baby! How 'bout them apples?! You know you are jealous! Your teams sucks compared to the Celtics!

I'm going to go get Brian Scalabrine's face tattooed on my head.