You seek knowledge and insight in every form possible. You love learning. And while you know a lot, you don't act like a know it all. You're open to learning you're wrong. You ask a lot of questions, collect a lot of data, and always dig deep to find out more. You're naturally curious and inquisitive. You jump to ask a question when the opportunity arises. Your friends see you as interesting, insightful, and thought provoking. (But they're not always up for the intense inquisitions that you love!) You excel in: Higher education You get along best with: The Comma
i'm home "resting my foot" (a.k.a. not doing much of anything) and browsing the internet. how i missed this before is beyond me, but carrie brownstein (formerly - i hate saying that - of sleater kinney) has a blog at NPR. in one post that i found particularly interesting, she writes about musical fandom (is that a word?): Are there any bands you love but whose fans you fear? Is there a band message board you are afraid to comment on because the people on that board are nutjobs? Or, are you or were you one of those fans and do you wish everyone else could just understand?
i don't think i've ever been at a concert where the audience totally ruined the experience for me, but you can't deny that the crowd certainly effects the way you perceive an experience. take pearl jam, for instance. they certainly have their share of jerk fans (although no more than you would find in the general population, i'm sure), but they also have a large percentage of awesome fans. every single person i have ever talked to in line to pick up my fanclub tickets has been really nice. i've traded my extra tickets to people who have sent me videos of concerts, bootlegs and even posters without my asking. pearl jam shows are always, i think, made all the better by people clapping during hail, hail, raising their arms in a v during jeremy, singing the first verse of betterman, etc... but then, there's always the idiot who has to yell something during a quiet song.
every review i've read of the eddie vedder solo shows mentions the audience. and not in a good way. i've never understood that - if you want to have a loud conversation with your friends, why not just stay home? why spend 60 dollars on a concert ticket if you're going to talk so loudly that you can't hear what's going on? it's not just eddie vedder/pearl jam, pick any show, any day of the week, and there'll be inconsiderate jerks in the audience.
on the other hand, a lot of the comments to carrie's original post seem to be suggesting that anyone who is at all emotionally invested in music is, in some way, psychotic. now, that may be true, but it's also evidence of the attitude i have encountered since moving to seattle of "just stand still with your arms crossed and pretend you're not interested." this idea i don't understand either, and it makes me think of my dad, who thinks i'm insane for spending money to go see pearl jam. a little obsession now and again proves that you're alive.
i'm rambling.. sorry. that's what a broken foot will do to you, i guess.
isn't it funny how you start reading something and then click a link and before you know it, you have 10 windows of your web browser open? one is a review of the death cab show in bremerton, another is a piece ben gibbard wrote for a magazine, another is live from KEXP, another is a review of eddie vedder's last show in san diego...
so here's some of what i'm reading/listening to this morning:
ben gibbard wrote a piece for paste magazine called "the meaning of life." i'm not sure he actually comes to any consensus about said meaning, although he does write about feeling like jack kerouac in on the road. this is the part i found interesting: With this record, if I didn’t have something to write about that I’ve experienced, if I couldn’t visualize myself in that scenario and really put myself in the shoes of the narrator, then I felt I shouldn’t be writing it.
kim virant i'm not sure how to describe her - country mixed with folk mixed with rock. i would recommend listening to jesse's song.
carrie akre i really like her - in fact i would probably say that she's one of my favorite female singers. check out take this heart.
glen hansard and marketa irglova sing on a new song called one more word for an israeli movie called strangers.
THIS is where i wish i had been last night. death cab for cutie started their tour at a theatre in bremerton. i tried to get tickets, but couldn't - what is it with my favorite bands not playing in seattle (or only playing "surprise" shows)?? (i'm sorry, but the gorge is not seattle. neither is vancouver. i'm talking to you, rem and pearl jam).
wow, ben gibbard is a little nutty with his movements, huh? (boy, that's a weird sentence)
if i could walk, i would have gone to easy street today to celebrate national record store day. they were having twenty percent off everything today. sonic boom was also having a sidewalk sale, plus a bunch of instore performances.
foot update!!! my foot is better today, but still not 100% (probably around 70%). i stayed home and rested today, and am planning to do the same tonight, in hopes that i'll be able to walk normally when i go to san francisco next weekend.
i spent the afternoon looking up bus/train schedules and printing out maps for the places i want to go. i'm usually bad at planning for trips, so we'll see how much of it i actually get done. i can't wait until friday!
oh, and my pearl jam tickets for boston came last week! we're really going, kristine!! yay!
i did something really dumb yesterday. i guess i wasn't really watching where i was walking and i tripped over my own feet, twisting my right foot in the process. it was really swollen and painful last night (i didn't sleep well, hence the title for this post. it's also from a song by the frames, but i digress), but seemed to be okay this morning, and i thought i'd be able to go to work, but then it started swelling up again. so i decided to go to the doctor, and she took one look at it and told me that it was probably broken. peachy. but an hour later, she looked at the x-rays and said that it was just a really bad sprain. thank goodness. my foot is still really swollen, but at least now i can walk. kind of.
after i managed to hobble home, i found a pleasant surprise waiting for me: my package from amazon.com. with my swell season dvd and rem album (more about that when i listen to it some more) that i didn't expect until thursday. yay!
i put my foot up, and watched the dvd (which is what i think i'm going to do again after i write this). this particular concert is from a series called "live at the artist's den," which showcases "emerging and established artists" (their words, not mine) at unique venues. the swell season show was filmed last november at the good shepard center in seattle (there was a write-up about this place in the paper a few weeks ago. i think i now will make it my new mission to see a concert there) in the early 1900's, it was a "home for wayward girls" (i.e. pregnant out of wedlock) and now, it has been turned into a really intimate concert venue.
the dvd is great and exactly what i expected and wanted - very simple, just glen and marketa (and colm and joe on violin and bass). almost like being at a swell season concert, although i can't help but wonder what was left out. glen's crowd banter is there, though, as are two unreleased (i think concentric is unreleased, although i guess i'm not positive) songs - concentric and golden. i guess my only complaint is that i wish there were more songs (sleeping and the moon, please)
one of the best parts of the concert is the last song, star star. glen asks the audience to whistle the ending, which they do (although it takes them awhile to warm up to it). he then puts down his guitar, goes to sit by the piano with marketa, and the four of them (glen, marketa, colm and joe) leave the stage while everyone is still whistling. awesome.
(this is not from the dvd. i just really like this song)
i still haven't gotten REM's new album - i ordered it along with the swell season dvd (which comes out tuesday!) from amazon, so it should come next week. in honor of that, here is one of my favorite REM songs with eddie vedder. i would LOVE to see these two on stage together:
