You Keep Me Comin' Home Again

We now have a kitten. I'm OK with that, except my whole weekend is going to be boring. I've also learned that after last night I'm in no condition to ever have children. I didn't get much sleep, and cats even go in a litterbox.

M had to leave her alone for four hours this afternoon, and she nearly had a panic attack until I got home from work and called her with no news of kitty escapes or suicide.

We named her Kim Gordon. More to follow shortly.

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And, in case you are wondering, yes, if we got a male it would have been named Thurston Moore.

Do as I Say, and You'll Live

Now that all the 'dark confessions' are out of the way, what better method of getting back into blogging shape than writing about Snakes on a Plane? Since I do have a blog I am contractually required to at least post once about the movie. Memory fails me on whether or not I've mentioned the movie before, but I've been anticipating/making jokes about/watching poorly-conceived YouTube parodies for the entirety of 2K6, and made plans with a surprisingly eager coworker (he doesn't get out much, if at all) about three months ago to see it on opening day.

As far as a review of the movie itself goes, you can easily find those elsewhere. My take is that the movie could have been a little better, certain scenes done differently, certain snakes more cunning, etc. But all of that is completely and utterly irrelevant. You could argue it works in a so-bad-its-good sort of way, or a childlike matinee sort of way, or a Susan Sontag sort of way, or a winking-ha-ha sort of way, or whatever. The movie could have been worse, could have been better. But the magic didn't come from anything on the screen, it came from the theatre itself, from the crowd. Surely you remember, before you were a six-figure a year douchebag whose aims to become members at the most expensive country club available within 30 miles took up much of your free time, when you went to see some shitty movie in your stupid small ignorant town with a dozen of your friends (and you'd like to imagine it happened more often than it actually did) and you all laughed far too much and were generally obnoxious and probably severely annoyed that one elderly couple who was sitting in the far left side section and just wanted a quiet evening watching The Man in the Iron Mask, and didn't attempt to stay up until nine-thirty p.m. only to be bothered by a gaggle of nineteen-year-old pricks with nothing on their minds other than alcohol, cigarettes, and the very distant possibilities of pre-marital sex, thank you very much.

We saw the film at 4:15 yesterday, in a large theater than was maybe 30% full. But it felt like I was there with seventy of my closest friends. I have never been in a movie where people applauded at least a dozen times, literally hissed during the overlong previews, let alone shout "Motherfucking Snakes!" at every possible opportunity. We laughed and shouted and behaved like obnoxious children, but no one was offended, we were all there for the same reasons. Leaving the theater, I noticed most of the crowd was very young (it was a 4:15 show, after all, I didn't sneak out of work over an hour early for nothing), but that seemed appropriate. For at least two hours (violins are swelling here), I felt pretty young myself.

On the Rocks

My long blogging absence can be explained, I swear. Here are the top three reasons:

1. Nothing much going on.
2. Been reading at least 2 hours a night the last couple weeks.
3. Week of sobriety.*

*A note about #3. The fact that I recently completed a week (that is seven full days and nights, or 168 hours) of self-enforced non-drinking of alcohol does not mean that I a) have a 'drinking problem' or, even worse b) must be under the influence in order to accomplish a task as simple as 'blogging.' However, the fact is that often when I sit at this computer and the end of the day, as in, at night, and feel inspired to type up a few paragraphs of nonsense, I often DO have a sweaty glass filled with some sort of alcoholic beverage sitting on the coaster on my desk. The Week of Sobriety (hereafter WoS) was brought on by a week or two of heavily than usual drinking, which was most likely not brought on by anything in particular other than boredom or possibly bad times at work. And the drinking might not have been overly heavy, in retrospect, but possibly only seemed that way due to the fact that I finished off 3 or so bottles of alcohol (finished, not started and then finished, but more like drinking the last few ounces) in the span of a day or two. Without much left in the liquor cabinet, I found myself asking a question that was immediately deemed as troubling, and prompted a short, very short, period of self-reflection, a conversation with myself, if you will, at the end of which the conclusion was reached to not have any alcohol for a complete week, last saturday until the end of yesterday, in order to cleanse both my mind and body, and because that is something I doubt I've done in a couple years or so. So I turned down beers and wine (both of which have been in our fridge the whole time) and drinks, ordered Coke at a bar, had a couple glasses of water with pizza. Not that big of deal, I was rarely tempted, except when I made a frozen pizza on Thursday night.

The question that brought everything on was "I wonder what vermouth tastes like by itself?"

The answer is 'sort of like white wine,' but that isn't important.

Sweet Liberation Has Come

I'm all rocked out for a few days. Skipping Wolf Parade tonight (and last night) because I can't take any more rock. Plus, expectations for said rock are at an all time high. Friday was my lollapalooza day, $73 dollars got me three bands' full sets. The Editors, who were pretty good (though note to lead singer: Ian Curtis called, he wants his DNA back). Mates of State, who I've now seen an all-time record ELEVEN times, were solid as always, though it was strange seeing them with the lolla crowd, there was a dude in front of me who only knew songs from their last album, and he was fucking doing the robot the whole show (while elbowing me every fourth beat). And of course Sleater-Kinney, who started off a little slow but soon gathered much momentum. As you can see from the setlist, they concentrated on 'The Woods', which actually worked in their favor in the setting. Carrie Brownstein has turned into an amazing guitar player, and the last three songs left me breathless. There is a feeling I get when I'm at a concert sometimes, when the band just fucking hits that chord change perfectly or harmonizes or something I can't explain, but it can give me chills and raise my heartrate like a drug I haven't taken enough of. I got it then, possibly for the first time in a festival setting.

Then I of course had to take a break from the rock, went to Milwaukee for M's Dad's wedding, which, if you haven't heard the background info, was set to be a fucking crazy disaster. Well, mysteriously, everything went perfectly, and everyone was surprisingly well-behaved. I looked smashing in a rented tuxedo as always. After the early Sunday wedding, saw crossword puzzle doc 'Wordplay' and headed downtown for Sonic Youth concert. Got there a little early, found a good spot in the fifth row of the Pabst Theater, another great place to see a concert. We were about fifteen feet from the stage, and the slanted floor gave me the best view for a concert that I've probably ever seen in a venue that holds more than fifty people. The Go! Team opened, and were pretty good. And then I could finally cross off another all-time favorite band that I've never seen live before. Who is left? Pavement, if they reunite, I guess. Flaming Lips. Stereolab. Uh, Neutral Milk Hotel (I heard a rumor that something is going to happen). I can't think of anyone else that wouldn't involve a time machine.

Sonic Youth didn't let me down. Concentrated on the new album 'Rather Ripped,' which didn't bother me at all (may end up as album of the year), gave me at least a half dozen of those magic moments. The sound was perfect, the band was amazing, and seeing them live (finally) has sealed their place in my all-time best list, and nearly made me completely lose memory of S-K two days prior. I'm not sure how they can still do this after so many years, but they fucking did it.

Setlist:
Schizophrenia
Reena
Incinerate
What A Waste
Mote + noise jam
Do you Believe In Rapture?
Kool Thing
Sleepin Around
Rats
Jams Run Free
Pink Steam
Or
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Turquoise Boy
100%
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Lights Out
Shaking Hell

They are on Conan Wednesday night, by the way. And if you somehow have a bad taste in your mouth from the band, perhaps because your roommate played them too much in college, I suggest you give them another chance. They are also at the Minnesota State Fair in a couple weeks with the Flaming Lips.

EDIT: Their performance on Conan was horrible, due to sound issues.

Banned from the End of the World

1. The Fox
2. Start Together
3. Wilderness
4. Jumpers
5. Sympathy
6. Rollercoaster
7. Light Rail Coyote
8. Night Light
9. Ironclad
10. What's Mine Is Yours
11. Modern Girl
12. Let's Call It Love
13. Entertain
14. Turn It On

I can't believe I nearly considered missing this. Worth every penny. More later.

All Hands on the Bad One

I've been wrestling with an internal crisis all day today, if not all week. (But, you say, isn't this your eighteenth internal crisis this week? Yes, yes it is) It breaks down as follows:

Question: Should I spend $65 to buy a one day pass to Lollapalooza on Friday? (I'm out of town Saturday and Sunday (but I'm happily going to see Sonic Youth in Milwaukee on Sunday Night, FYI)).

Pros:
Sleater-Kinney, Sleater-Kinney, and Sleater-Kinney. If you would have asked me yesterday, or any of the 12 or so days before, I would tell you that I'm not going to go to Lolla this year. Friday's lineup isn't that great: Mates of State (who rule but I've seen them 10 times already), Death Cab (who I vow never to see again live unless a girl drags me), the Raconteurs (who might be good live but unfortunately are playing right before and on the other end of the festival (which is about a mile long), meaning I'd only have time for a few songs, if any, before I went to get a good spot for S-K. There are a couple other bands here and there, but mainly, this is all about one.

Cons:
Like I said, only one show that I'm looking forward to. The chance to see one of the truly great bands of my lifetime a week before they break up possibly forever. Yes, I know that sounds like some sort of grandiose statement which may only cause scoffing and eye-rolling, but if you've listened to the albums and seen them play live, I'm not sure how you could possibly argue. However, this show is at fucking Lollapalooza. Which means: A 50-55 minute set, a crowd that is filled mostly with people who aren't huge fans, and therefore won't respond to the band or dance or whatever, a band that has to play most if not all of their set in daylight (its from 730-830) who is only there to collect a paycheck. Pretty much every time I've seen a band I've loved in that environment, as with Spoon last Sunday, I feel like the show would've been so much better in a different setting. So, I'm afraid that seeing S-K go out like this would leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Pros:
I read some reviews of yesterday's S-K show in New York. Read this. "And really, one of the best rock shows of all time." Really? And that's coming from someone who doesn't like to throw around superlatives like candy. I've only seen them once, in 2000 at a tiny place called the Annex in Madison (for, like, $10), with a then-unknown band called the White Stripes opening up. By the end of that show my knees were so sore (I'd had surgery five months prior, and been on crutches as recently as three weeks earlier) that I could barely walk home. So much jumping, so much dancing with cute sweaty lesbians! I'm relatively sure that a short set at a massive outdoor festival is not going to hold a candle, but what if it's 50% as awesome? That'd still be pretty awesome. And I'd give all the money in my wallet (currently $14) and the rest of the hearing in my left ear in order to hear the opening to 'The Fox' live right now.

So, I've been going back and forth on this all day. Please give me your opinions.