Friday, April 29, 2005

April 24, 2005 Cleveland Pre-Audioslave

Concert Line
Thom, Matt, and I arrived in Cleveland shortly after 3pm, after a slight detour temporarily pointing us toward Columbus. We found the venue after a short trip through the warehouse/ghetto district of the city. When we parked, we were one of roughly five other cars in the lot (not counting radio station vehicles). It was snowing lightly and the wind was fairly strong. A guy parked near us got out of his car to tell us that they had yet to open the doors, but that they normally do so if the weather is poor. We inquired about the nearest restaurant and/or restroom and were directed to a "Mr. Hero" sub shop, which we later found to be utterly abandoned. Kevin arrived shortly after we did, parked between the Mr. Hero spokesman and Thom's car, started to get out of his Ultimate Driving Machine (not a picture of his car, but one very much like it) and promptly smashed the hell out of the Mr. Hero advocate's automobile when the wind grabbed the Festiva's door and threw it open. We all had a good laugh as KP climbed into Thom's Intrepid without a backward glance, especially when Hero-boy had to get out and examine the damage. We decided to leave KP's car in the lot, at the mercy of Mr. Hero and his disciples, while we went looking for something to eat.
We chose to forego a chance to sample a Cleveland Subway in favor of something local, winding up at a place with a really elaborate name that was something like "The New Best Steak and Gyro Restaurant." The place turned out to be huge, just like the woman who took our orders. She was quite friendly though. The interior of the restaurant contained pool tables, arcade games, and a gumball machine. Matt and I got cheeseburgers, Kevin had already eaten, and Thom had a pizza on a cardboard plate. Matt commented on my ability to furnish him with napkins whenever we eat anywhere and claimed to appreciate my utility. Matt speculated that the restaurant was a prime hangout on Friday and Saturday nights, since it is open 24 hours and is close to Cleveland State.
We returned to the parking lot close to 5pm and found a few more cars there. We made our way inside and found ourselves perhaps 10-15 people back in the line. After a long wait which was made much longer by our proximity to so many stupid conversations, and instructions given that cameras were not allowed (and then allowed, and then “instamatic” cameras but not digital cameras), we were ushered into coherent lines. Many people that arrived much later than we did were equally close to the front of the line. The four of us had an understanding that anyone getting to the front would save spots as best he could for the rest. Once through the ticket check and security, I rushed ahead and was able to claim a large section of the railing just to the left of center stage. I was soon joined by my companions, although Thom elected not to squeeze into a spot at the front and elected instead to stand behind me. I thought this was curious, but then as the show got going I saw Thom’s motives more clearly…just kidding, Thom.
After an extensive run through Bob Marley’s greatest hits, the opening act hit the stage just after 8pm. Johnny Polonsky was the opening act. Polonsky covered vocals and lead guitar. He seemed to be begging for a comparison to Kurt Cobain, both in his vocal delivery and in the way he played the guitar (except he was right handed). The guy could definitely play. His solos were pretty intricate. The songs were not incredibly complex though, and they all seemed to be in the same vein. The real entertainment of the opening act was the drummer, who looked to be the absolute least-coordinated musician I’ve ever seen. Most drummers cross their hands, with right-handed drummers positioning their right wrist over their left. This guy played with both sticks parallel, and looked like he had just learned how to play. In fact, he brought to mind someone throwing a baseball for the first time in their life. He didn’t seem to be able to bend his wrists at all and just had no fluidity. Oh – and he looked a lot like Thom Yorke.
I did a little research and it seems that Polonsky has played with Tom Morello in the past, specifically in some Axis of Justice shows.
When the band finally left the stage, we were again treated to yet more Bob Marley, which by this time was getting pretty tiresome. The review of the Audioslave portion will follow, hopefully shortly.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Pearl Jam, eh?

Yeah. Now that I've blown virtually ALL this semester's student loans and earnings from Sears, all these concert tickets go on sale at the same time. Do I restrain myself and keep a couple hundred dollars in the checking account, figuring I can wait and order tickets later? No. Of course not.

As you'll see when you follow the link, tickets can only be purchased in pairs, which is of course how I normally buy them, regardless of the fact that I have such a difficult time finding people to accompany me to shows. I just completed a purchase of two tickets for the Toronto show, although looking at a map (and apparently having no knowledge of Canadian geography beforehand), I see that Hamilton is closer. Oh well. It's only another 45 minutes or so, and the crowd might be a little more fired up (although they're Canadian, so who knows...kidding).

I take it demand for this show, at least among my primary blog readership base, will be higher than for the Robert Plant shows? Well, I'm going to need the money fast, so who wants to go? If someone wants to hit the Hamilton show as well, I'm going to need the money up front. If you read the rules, you'll see that I can only order one pair per concert.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Bleeding My Account Dry

Just purchased two tickets (yes, I realize no one's going to go with me, but I bought the second ticket anyway because I'm an idiot) for the June 21 Robert Plant Philadelphia show. The June 22 show has yet to go on sale.

I need money. I need a job for the summer that I work at for more than 13 hours per week.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Wasting Time

So I recently joined "The Facebook" but since I'm older than everyone else, I don't really have any of my 'old' friends in college to make it look like I'm popular. Most of my friends are out of school/married/living far away, et cetera. So help me out here - if you can register and add me, I would appreciate it. It's alright if you're alumni - that works too (Cornell, Fredonia, RIT, et cetera).

Oh yeah - I should be writing a paper right now.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Energy Bill Passed in the House

You really have to read the article to understand just how outrageous this legislation is. Even in the neutral tone of the Times language, the influence of big business and its hold over lawmakers is glaringly obvious. Among the provisions of the bill is the go-ahead to start drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge that I've mentioned here before. Aside from that is an important point regarding the gasoline additive MTBE. Here's a piece of the article:

"Capps said groundwater contamination from the gasoline additive has affected more than 1,800 community water systems in 29 states with a potential cleanup cost of $29 billion. MTBE makers, including large oil companies and refiners, dispute that estimate but have argued they need liability protection because of an expected surge in lawsuits.

The MTBE provision has been a top priority of Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Rep. Joe Barton, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, who argue that Congress endorsed the widespread use of the additive when it required gasoline contain an oxygenate to help clean up the air.


Both are from Texas where major MTBE manufacturers are located."

Subtle, eh? Social conservatives vote these great Republicans in, hoping that they'll ensure that gays can't get married and women can't get abortions. Apparently they're not thinking of the unwanted child being born with birth defects from the contaminated water its mother drank while she was pregnant and how the company that polluted the water supply is protected by legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Congress...

A bit of a stretch, you say? Perhaps, but everything's connected.

Crooks and Liars

What's this site about? Republicans, of course! Need you ask? Well, it's probably not exclusively about Republicans, but I would bet they appear there more frequently than any other group.

Anyway, here are two great clips from the site. Make sure you download the Daily Show clip about the Prez and his staged Town Hall meetings. Good stuff.

The other one is a segment of the John Bolton (proposed UN ambassador who has been quoted as saying it should be disbanded and/or that the US should leave the organization) hearings and probably won't interest you unless you're more like me than you're willing to admit.

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/The_Daily_Show_Luntz.wmv

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/U~3.wmv

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Bob Herbert NYT Column

Mr. Herbert talks about the passing of four-term president FDR, questions why the sixtieth anniversary of his death has not received more coverage/attention, and underlines the contrasts between what Roosevelt planned for this country and where it has gone since he left us.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Audioslave on Sunday

I'll be seeing Audioslave this Sunday in Cleveland with Matt, Thom, and KP. I was already pretty excited about the show, but I found out today that they're playing Soundgarden and Rage songs on this tour, which is not something they were doing on the last tour (that I missed because I went to Colorado and sold my tickets to KP, because I needed all the money I could get at that point).

I was going to post a setlist from their show on the 14th, but just in case those guys want to be surprised by the selections, I'll refrain. If anyone's curious, they can check this link.

New Pope Has an Interesting Past

Although this particular aspect of Ratzinger's past (that he was in the Hitler Youth organization, which was mandatory by age 14 in Germany) will likely garner the most attention, this passage from the article is probably more indicative of how his papacy will proceed:

"Despite question marks over Ratzinger’s wartime conduct, the main obstacle to his prospects in the conclave — the assembly of cardinals to elect the new pope — is the conservative stance he has adopted as guardian of Catholic orthodoxy since John Paul named him to head the congregation for the doctrine of the faith in 1981.
His condemnations are legion — of women priests, married priests, dissident theologians and homosexuals, whom he has declared to be suffering from an 'objective disorder.'"

Happy Birthday, Brett-Dogg

Happy 24th Birthday to my good friend Brett - enjoy it!

Separation of Church and State

This is an article in the April 21 issue of Rolling Stone. It's perfect for anyone (and I think I know a few people like this) that thinks Christianity should become the official religion of the United States. It's pretty scary; these people need to be stopped and exposed for the nutcases they are.

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Robert Plant Interview

Informative interview - Robert talks about the Zeppelin's third album, his new album, his father's passing, and about his relationship with Jimmy Page.

Odd

It occurs to me that I have had nothing to eat besides bowls of Cheerios for more than 30 hours.

Dazed, Confused, Disoriented

Wednesday night and Thursday night, I slept for roughly four hours or so. I was working on my Medieval History paper and then my Content Analysis for Media and Politics. The Medieval paper turned out pretty well, I think. It was about 12.25 pages, and I added a nice color picture of a painting of Freddy II. The paper for my Polisci class was pretty shitty, since I was pretty burned out by that time. It only had to be four pages, but I don't think I did a very good job of actually meeting the requirements of the paper. We'll see. Dr. Rankin has been a very lenient grader thus far, but I don't want him to think I'm an idiot.

Anyway, the title of the post refers to the fact that I was pretty tired by the end of classes on Friday. I got home a little before 3:30, listened to some music, checked my email, and flopped onto my bed around 5pm. Well, I just woke up now, and it's a bit after 4am. I had expected at least someone to call - namely Matt - to tell me that we were going downtown. However, no one called and I consequently did not wake up.

I am considering an extra semester - holding off graduating in December to do an internship semester in Washington, DC as part of a political science program. It would involve taking out more loans, of course, and it would make it just about a full seven years without a Bachelor's Degree after high school, but I don't really know what I'm doing when/if I graduate in December anyway, and this may be good for the resume. I don't know how to make the little accent mark over the 'e' so you'll just have to try to read that correctly. I haven't made any decision on this yet - it's just a possibility.

Well, I think I'll take advantage of the fact that I'm up now and do some laundry before I eventually have to get ready for work. Then I'll try to get back to sleep to minimize the degree to which my concept of night and day is screwed up.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Roberto Planto Toronto

Against my better judgment, I purchased two tickets for the Robert Plant show in Toronto on Wednesday, July 6. I should know by now that no one is actually going to go with me, but still I persist in this dreamland, thinking that even if none of my friends will go, I'll have met someone by then that will actually want to accompany me not just to concerts, but just about anywhere. But what are the odds of that happening? Ha.

I'm still planning on trying to go to the two Philadelphia shows. Not sure when they'll be going on sale.

Incidentally, Robert's site has finally gone "live" at www.robertplant.com - it's very hip. Check it out, but make sure you have the latest Flash plugin.

I have a nice long paper to write about Frederick II for my Medieval History class, so I'm going to get back to that now.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Pearl Jam Tour In The Works?

I received this message as part of the PJ Rumor Pit newsletter in my email today:

We're here to put a little bug in your ear because a little birdie paid us a visit and told us, "tweet tweet ca-caaw ca-caaw." After careful research, we learned that it translates to: Please be sure your fan club membership is current and your mailing information is up to date by April 19th. And if you haven't joined the fan club yet - what are you waiting for, eh? You can go to the "Goods" section of http://www.tenclub.net/ to join, renew, or update your fan club membership. You can update your email or postal address at address@tenclub.net, and don't forget to keep an eye on the News area of http://www.pearljam.com/ for additional updates.


(TenClub members receive priority seating for concerts)

Thursday, April 07, 2005

From October 2, 2004/Various Comments

Left to Right: Mike McCready, Peter Frampton, Jeff Ament, Ed Vedder, Matt Cameron, Neil Young, Stone Gossard, Pegi Young
I recently obtained copies of most of the Fall 2004 Tour (Boston shows plus the Vote For Change concerts), so I thought I'd break this picture out. It's from the show Loretta and I saw in Toledo. These shows have not been (and likely will not be) officially released, and the quality is so-so. The Toledo show features prominent vocals and the rhythm section up front in the mix, with the guitars somewhat toward the back, but it's nice to have nonetheless. At the show, the four guitars for the encores (Mike and Stone, Frampton and Neil) sounded quite muddled, and the CD shows that my impressions were fairly accurate. But hell - it was Neil Young coming out to tear it up with Pearl Jam! - so I'm not complaining. It was quite a sight to see.
I may try to get another copy of the Toledo show, since the guy who sold these on eBay obviously did not burn the CDs very carefully - there are obvious digital flaws in quite a few places, likely a result of either inferior media or burning at high speeds, or perhaps a combination of those factors.
In any event, it's always nice to have a document of a show I've attended - I appreciate the brave efforts of those people who sneak MD and DAT recorders into concerts - it takes some guts. I listen to the Robert Plant shows from 2001 on a pretty regular basis, and I hope to get a line on that Myrtle Beach show as soon as possible. It's not really close to being there, but it definitely brings back at least a little hit of the same emotions I felt. Good stuff.
There may be no more effective mood-enhancer than great music. It can change my whole day. Yesterday, I was reading for a while in the library after class, but the nice weather drew me out and I took a drive down Route 5 into Westfield and then took Route 20 back to Fredonia, windows down and jamming out to Stone Temple Pilots' second album, Purple, the whole time. As a result, I was in a pretty damn good mood for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Bugman In Trouble (Again)

Former exterminator and current House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is facing accusations of inappropriate behavior and questionable ethics again after disclosure forms showed his wife and daughter pocketed $500,000 for services to the DeLay campaign.

New Tour Dates For The Summer, and an Invitation

From Pollstar:

Whole Lotta Tour

Fresh off his keynote appearance at March's South By Southwest conference, Robert Plant is preparing to return to North America for a tour backing his upcoming release, Mighty Rearranger. The former Led Zeppelin frontman so far plans to make the rounds of theatres, casino venues and sheds in June and July, kicking things off in at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island June 15 and winding down at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles July 24. In between, he'll crisscross the continent with stops including Boston, New York City, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas and San Francisco. Mighty Rearranger is a collection of new original songs with Plant's backing band, the Strange Sensations. But fans can expect a healthy dose of Plant and Led Zep classics as well. In the meantime, Plant is in the midst of a seven-concert series at London's Royal Albert Hall to benefit The Teenage Cancer Trust, along with The Who's Roger Daltrey, Eric Clapton, as well as newcomers Franz Ferdinand and Keane.
______________

So I know the dates aren't even on sale yet, but I would like to get to both Philadelphia (Upper Darby, PA) shows and the Toronto show. This will, of course, be dependent on finances and circumstances when tickets go on sale. Please take a look at the tour dates if you have any interest in Robert Plant and/or you have any interest in accompanying me to a great concert. The co-headlining tour with Jeff Beck does not look as if it will materialize, although that's fine with me as it likely means longer sets from Plant. If I haven't already promoted it enough, Mighty Rearranger is due out in the US on May 10 - same as the new Weezer disc, if I'm not mistaken. The Philly shows would make for a nice mini-roadtrip with a stay somewhere around the area probably the night before the first show and again the night before the second. I'll just wait for the offers to come pouring in.

Ha....ha.....ha.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

More St. Patrick's Day Fun

Lending a hand - or two

So this isn't quite what it looks like. You might not immediately realize it from this picture, but this girl has a boyfriend. It seems as if every time someone comes to my apartment for the first time, they must ask me "hey - are those your weights?" and "you really lift those?" and invariably insist that I show them, insinuate that I'm lying, or try to lift them alone. Tammy here took the first and third approach, and I had to intervene before she dropped them (like Thom did) and possibly broke something (like my floor, for instance). I think it may have been a simple ploy to engage in a little grinding action, but I could be wrong. Undoubtedly, she walked away disappointed from the close encounter and I doubt she'll be coming around again.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Blogging Issues

I get emails whenever a comment is posted on my blog. I just got an anonymous comment reading "foiled again" and I have no idea what post the comment refers to, since it is not on any of the recent posts. Blogger should adjust the comment system to identify which post each comment is referring to, because now I have to go through each post to find what the hell this extremely verbose person is talking about. Frustrating. As if I don't waste enough time on my own without other people forcing me into it.

Contest


Kate snuggling up with Matt
Contest: If you can accurately describe the expression on Matt's face in this picture, you'll win a fishing trip with the master himself, date and location to be determined by Mr. King.

Friday, April 01, 2005

Schiavo Comments

I haven't been in an any type of hurry to weigh in on the Terri Schiavo ordeal, but now that it's over (she died around 9am today - here's a link to the NY Times story), I suppose I have a few things to say.

The fact that this became such a huge issue in the media is just a testament to the fact that there's very little going on right now for them to sink their teeth into. The main competition has been the Michael Jackson trial/soap opera. What's that you say? A discussion about the President's plan to eliminate Social Security? A debate about what kind of nation we want to be - a social welfare state or a social Darwinist state? No, no, no. Why would we want to concentrate on something that's actually important to more than four or five people? Come on, now. Be realistic.

Anyway - the war is old news, there are no elections coming up, and thus the media have to turn small stories into a huge orgy of sensationalized crap. The Terri Schiavo case is nothing more and nothing less than a dramatized version of the same types of decisions that are made every day by thousands of families. It is an extraordinary difficult decision to make for most families, but the question has to be asked - in what kind of condition would the person have considered themselves still living and not merely alive? I think most of us, if asked whether we would choose to remain alive in Schiavo's state...............

So I started this post at 5:31pm, March 31. But since that time, I have checked Wendy's site, and she pretty much says what I was going to say, in much the same spirit, in a likely more concise way than I would have. So I'm going just going to refer you to her site. Sorry for cheating.