Sunday, October 26, 2008

twilight

i'm sorry, i am completely obsessed with these books. i have crossed over to the dark side, and last night i even had a dream about edward. and i can't believe i admitted that.

if you've never read these books (there are 4 in the series), they are basically about a vampire and a human who fall in love with each other. the books were written for "young adults" (i'm still one right?) and they are by no means great literature (you can easily read 500 pages in two days), but the heart of the books is the love story between edward and bella. and it's so great because it's unconditional; they'll do anything for each other. they sacrifice everything to be together, but somehow it is worth it. i don't think anything close to that exists in real life (or at least, not in my life), but it's fun to read about and let yourself be immersed in for hours at a time.

what woman, no matter her age, wouldn't want a boyfriend who opens doors for her, writes songs for her, sings her to sleep, and generally goes out of his way to protect her while asking for nothing in return (seriously, nothing). not to mention kills vampires who threaten her and flies into her bedroom window to watch her sleep.

anyway.. this video is hilarious. it's an interview with the actors who play edward and bella, and i guess that they are being asked about the kissing scenes (it's an mtv interview, after all), and the guy who plays edward says "there's always the elephant in the room of i want to kill her. all the time." haha. i do think there is a point when he gets past that feeling, robert.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

i pledge my grievance to the flag...

everyone should go to REM's website to watch the documentary about pearl jam's vote for change tour in 2004. (why that is on REM's site instead of pearl jam's, i don't really understand). it's long -over an hour - but pretty interesting. there are a couple of really cool moments - masters of war on letterman (i don't think i had ever actually seen that before), all along the watchtower with neil young, and eddie voting (!!). hehe. i really want to see pearl jam again now.

speaking of voting, my ballot came last week (i'm a permanent absentee voter). this will be the third time i've voted for a president, and hopefully, the first time the person i vote for will actually win.

also speaking of pearl jam, i must note that eight years ago tonight (holy moly, that seems like a long time ago), i was in las vegas seeing their tenth anniversary show. if you are reading my blog, you most likely know me and know that PJ is a huge part of my life - i have spent unknown sums of money on them (but wouldn't want a cent of it back), and have traveled around the country to see them and had some memorable experiences along the way. even though i don't listen to them every day - sometimes i go months without listening to a pearl jam album - when i do finally hear a song like given to fly, it feels a little bit like meeting an old friend again. anyway.

.. but watch the video. it's cool.

*edit: whoops, i guess they took it down. maybe the tenclub is planning to release it as a DVD?

Monday, October 20, 2008

it's okay, you don't have to run and hide away

here's a completely pointless post...

coming home on the bus tonight, my ipod decided to play a pearl jam show from 2006, and daughter/it's ok came on, and on a dreary, cold evening this song made me remember one reason why i love this band so much:



speaking of pearl jam, it was so helpful that their fan club sent an email about the tom morello/mike mccready/stone gossard show after tickets had already gone on sale and sold out. rock on. of course, if i hadn't deleted my email from the showbox announcing the show i might possibly have a ticket now, so i should probably shut up. but i hate going out on week nights, so it's all for the best i suppose. i can be zen about it.

the other day, carrie brownstein (who has an awesome blog at NPR's website, but i'm too lazy right now to look up the link) made a post about cassette tapes, and i was surprised to find that i still have some - mostly pearl jam shows. i also found my tape of pearl jam's radio show, self pollution radio, in 1995 (?). so, then, of course, i started listening to it and got hit by a wave of nostalgia when i remembered staying up late the night when it was on. since i was in maine and the show was live from the west coast, i was up until 2 or 3 in the morning, keeping the radio low so that my parents wouldn't hear. to this day, every time i hear corduroy, i imagine hearing "WKIT" (the name of the radio station in bangor) in the middle, because during the show, they cut into that song with their station name.

i can also remember listening to the 2 dave grohl songs - exhausted and gas chamber - that eddie played over and over. i remember that he said those songs make him want to take his car over a cliff. heh. in a good way, i suppose. oh - i also remember that krist novoselic read a chapter from a book that he was writing and i fell asleep listening to it almost every night for a few weeks (i was a pretty big nirvana fan for a while after in utero came out).

maybe i'll just go listen to the entire tape again. ha. sounds like a fun evening.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

(more) things that make me happy



kristine and i went to one of my favorite places in seattle, discovery park, today. the weather was perfect for walking in the woods - it was a great fall morning; not freezing cold, but there was definately a chill in the air. we walked in the woods to the beach and then out to the lighthouse. in the afternoon, we went to another of my favorite places in seattle - easy street records. i restrained myself and bought only 3 used cd's, which is pretty impressive for me.

i love this time of year for lots of reasons: i love wearing comfy sweaters and corduroy pants, i love walking through leaves, i love the fact that days are shorter, i love halloween movies and tv shows, i love pumpkin spice lattes at starbucks (one of my many weaknesses), i love the (all too rare, here) sunny, chilly days and i even love (well, okay, like) the rain.

something that makes me unhappy, however, is the fact that the red sox lost tonight and won't be in the world series. no good! i even missed most of the amazing race so that i could watch what i hoped would be their big comeback. i am going to cry now.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

things that make me happy...

i just bought a ticket to see this nov. 1 at the showbox:

Country music's newest young star's rise to fame has captivated America. Born in Los Angles, California and raised in San Antonio, Texas the young singer/songwriter Vince Mira, was discovered by entertainment producer Chris Snell (owner of Seattle night club, Can Can) while playing for tips in Seattle's Pike Place Market. He is now on his way to becoming a household name. His first album was produced by John Carter Cash (Johnny Cash and June Carter's only son) and recorded at the Cash Cabin (built by Johnny Cash) in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to the completion of recording "Cash Cabin Sessions" the Vince Mira buzz began to spread followed by a media frenzy. First featured on KOMO News in Seattle, Washington, Good Morning America picked up the story immediately... 2 weeks later Vince captured the nation with a breathtaking live performance in front of over 5 million viewers. Subsequently, the Ellen DeGeneres Show aired his Good Morning America clip where Ellen personally invited Vince to the Ellen Show during their national broadcast the same day... two weeks later Vince received a standing ovation on the show while performing in front of millions of viewers during yet another outstanding live performance. Mr. Mira's other television appearances include Northwest Afternoon and Univision; as well as features in print media outlets such as Seattle Sound Magazine, Seattle Times, Seattle Magazine, Seattle Weekly, and many others. He recently recorded with Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam for Stone's upcoming "Hank Williams Tribute" CD. Mr. Mira's "Cash Cabin Sessions" CD release was February 26, 2008 at the Tripledoor Theatre where he performed two shows to sold out audiences with his band The Roy Kay Trio.

this kid is awesome. i first saw him last summer at the pike place market 100th birthday celebration, and then at bumbershoot this summer. plus, how can i resist the pearl jam connection? (no matter how tenuous)

this song by iron and wine. i don't own any albums by him, but he opened for the swell season in LA and this song was his first. it is one of those songs that you don't want to have end.



the trailer for twilight. i cannot believe that the first movie i'm considering going to at midnight on opening night is based on a book written for teenagers.



the fact that tomorrow is friday!!

things that make me sad...

the fact that i missed this. (now tickets are long gone of course) how i can miss an email from the showbox that screams "pearl jam guitarist!!" is beyond me. i did, though. the email is in my trash folder, although i don't remember ever seeing it..

Showbox presents
Get Out The Vote Rally & Concert
Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman
with Mike McCready and Shadow '86, Stone Gossard's Hank Williams Khoir, and Boots Riley (of The Coup)



i have a dentist appointment on saturday. boo!
i'm going to cry now...

Saturday, October 11, 2008

you've gotta hear this band, they'll change your life

a friend asked me to list my favorite albums for her. first, a disclaimer: the 'classics' are woefully absent from my CD collection. so instead of trying to pretend i'm something i'm not, i'm listing the albums that *i* love, not necessarily the ones that any rock fan should own - because i, most likely *do not* own those. make sense? they're in no particular order - except for the first 2. i also tried to pick only one album per band, although i broke that rule a few times.

1. a tie: no code by pearl jam and yield by pearl jam.
i cannot choose between these two. they both changed the way i listen to music.

2. dance the devil by the frames. also: for the birds

life's rich pageant (REM)

achtung baby (u2)

in utero (nirvana)

siamese dream (smashing pumpkins)

daydream nation (sonic youth)

tommy (the who)

RENT soundtrack

from the choirgirl hotel (tori amos)

new adventures in hi-fi (REM)

all hands on the bad one (sleater kinney)

august and everything after (counting crowes)

the photo album (death cab for cutie)

the color and the shape (foo fighters)

the swell season. only because i love glen hansard :)

those are the ones that come to mind first. i'm sure i'll keep adding to this list.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

we have all the time in the world to get it right

the swell season, los angeles, october 4, 2008


the swell season concert was AMAZING. kristine and i got to the greek theatre (after a LONG but fun walk from our hotel in hollywood) just in time to buy t-shirts and get to our (second row!) seats for iron and wine. i got a shirt and colm's new cd, the hare's corner (which i highly recommend by the way. i'm listening to it now. perfect music for cold, windy nights when all you want to do is cuddle in your pajamas and read a good book). so here are some of my personal highlights and pictures (which will, as usual, probably end up not so much "highlights" as "a complete rundown of what megan remembers from the show." sorry. i'm not good at editing my thoughts)

into the mystic glen and marketa came out at exactly 8:50. (before i continue, i will note for the record that i feel stupid calling them by thier first names but what else should i call them?) i know because i looked at my watch right before that and gauged that i had enough time to go to the bathroom and make it back before the show started. i got out of my seat and started walking out when suddenly the lights dimmed and glen started singing. i love this song - everything about it; the joy it seems to bring to them to play it, the way their voices harmonize, i want to rock your gypsy soul... in the middle of the song, i'm pretty sure that someone yelled, "kiss her," and i'm equally sure that a few seconds later, glen smiled and said, "i think i just got what you said." after the song, someone yelled, "you look beautiful marketa and glen." and glen smiled again, and said "you're lucky you included glen in that." hehe. he never fails to entertain me.

the moon this song, along with sleeping, is my favorite song on the swell season. i love the way it starts out so quietly and ends up in another dimension with everyone on stage playing so hard that you wonder if the world is about to end. i think that it's easy to see that these musicians have become a band in every sense of the word. in fact, glen himself said that the frames had been at the point where they felt like they needed to take a break and try something else. and now what has happened? the swell season are touring, but the frames have become the band that are playing with them, so it's almost like the frames have just expanded to include marketa. on one hand, i'm kind of sad about that because even though i LOVE the swell season and adore just about anything glen hansard would want to do, the frames are one of my favorite bands and the thought of never seeing another FRAMES concert is a bit disconcerting... on to happier thoughts..

astral weeks my mental setlist is not in any order here, as this came later in the show. but, this song.. what can i say? i've seen videos and heard recordings of glen playing it, but i think that until you witness it in person you never quite believe the intensity that one human being can have. i've been to a fair amount of concerts, and i don't think that i've ever - excluding pearl jam, because i can never objectively consider them - seen another performer play his guitar like that. WOW. and when he sang, "will you kiss my eyes?" someone from the audience yelled, "yes!" (of course) quite enthusiastically, and glen smiled.

say it to me now glen came out onto the edge of the stage with no amplification for this one. i know that he does that a lot, but it is quite one thing to be in the 8th row during that song and another to be literally right underneath him. i snapped a picture and thought i might die.


new songs! after seeing glen and marketa in april, i wrote about how much i LOVE the new song she sings. time hasn't changed that. it's still beautiful. and i especially love the ending, when the song gradually fades until everyone on stage is singing, "always on my mind" in perfect harmony. gorgeous. another new song is called low rising, and i don't really know how to describe it except to say that i am falling in love with the sound of glen's guitar and marketa's piano. plus, as a girl particularly, i must confess an unexplainable love for the lyrics ("i want to drink with you all night until we both fall down") and the way that glen's voice has a teasing smile in it. sigh.. i just watched a video of that song on youtube so that i could get the lyrics right, and now it will be in my head all evening.


the hill this song by marketa opened the first encore. this is the song she sings in once when she and glen's character are alone in the recording studio. i never really thought much about this song on the album, but it really fit in a live setting. marketa really does have a beautiful voice and it is awesome to see her confident enough to take the stage by herself. not that i know much about the technical side of music, but i love watching her play piano during songs like when your mind's made up and fitzcarraldo.

mary poppins during the month they were in LA for the oscars, glen became friends with the man who wrote the music for mary poppins. he came out and played piano on that song-that-is-impossible-to-pronounce. i include it in my highlight list because it was absolutely awesome to watch how the rest of the band looked while they were playing with this man. it was like a mixture of "holy cow!" and "am i gonna get caught for sneaking into a party i wasn't invited to?" i can relate to that feeling..

my girl during the second to last song (fitzcarraldo), glen broke a string on his guitar, and while he was trying to fix it, someone else in the band started playing a bit of my girl. a guy who was sitting a few rows from me took out his harmonica and started playing along, and eventually glen and the audience joined in. it was just a great moment of audience-performer interaction.

my friend kristine commented that glen would not be out of place on a comedy stage. somewhere around here, he started talking about how sorry he was for the people that had listened to their soundcheck (don't be sorry you idiot. if i hadn't wanted to do all i could during my weekend in LA, i probably would have been camped out there listening) because they had played some bad, easy-listening songs from the 80s. then he started singing, "sailing, take me away..." haha. it was funny at the time.

people all get ready if there had to be a last song, this was a perfect one. it's almost unbearable when the entire audience sings along. this is one of those songs that i can believe in.
and we have all the time in the world to get it right
to get it right
and we have all the love in the world to set alight
to set alight
just look up


*sigh..*i take pen and paper with me to every pearl jam/swell season/frames show i go to, but not once have i remembered to take them out. i try to write things down when i get home, but we had such an ordeal getting a cab (seriously, i had no idea it could be that difficult to get ahold of a taxi company in a big city on a saturday night) that i crawled into bed as soon as we got back to our hotel. maybe i'll remember more later... all i know is that, during the third song (the moon), i turned to kristine and unequivocally said that this was one of the 5 best concerts i've ever seen.