Got up early today. Well, early by my Saturday standards (8:30), and spent most of the day being somewhat productive. I continued cleaning my office, cleaned the kitchen, the garage, the car, etc. You know, super exciting fun stuff. Oh, I also IM’d all day with my loser friend Martin. What a loser! (yes, I expect a response from you, you loser).
Tonight Kelly and I met our friends Ty and Aymie (as well her sister and brother-in-law) at Moon & Sixpence for some dinner and drinks. We were joined later by Miranda & Brian, and even later by my brother Travis. Had a good time hanging out. Had the cottage pie. Still full. Gruhhh.
Oh, today I also created my masterpiece. My friend SD sent me a mix CD (the prize for winning a blog contest: closest guess to the birth date of his son), which arrived in the mail last week (the CD, not his son). Naturally, a home-made mix CD doesn’t have cover art. I like cover art (so does my iPod), so I created one. The CD had only the phrase “Van Man” written on it, a fairly common nickname due to my long Dutch last name. I grabbed an oddball image from his blog and created this: Behold the awesomeness.
Tonight I went out with my longtime friend Sean to see Van Halen play at the Rose Garden Arena. Yes, you read that right. Van effin’ Halen, with David Lee Roth back as the lead singer!
How, you might ask, would I be going to such a show? Well, it’s a good question, and it requires a little bit of storytime… Back in elementary school I was into Van Halen, and introduced my friend Sean to them. Before I’d even reached Junior High, the “Roth Break-up” occurred, and I remember lamenting that I’d never get the chance to see them. I was also never a big fan of their Hagar-era reincarnation (“Van Hagar”). Fast forward 22 years… Sean, bless him, heard of the Halen + Roth reunion tour and immediately thought of me and bought he and I tickets to the show (well, his wife bought the tickets, thanks Mel!). While Van Halen has been off my personal playlist for many years, they occasionally resurface when I get the itch (equal parts nostalgia and the desire to rawk out).
Despite my fears (you know, of them being something of a sad, ghostly version of themselves, aided by walkers and IV’s… and catheters) they were great, and it was a blast. They really did RAWK, and despite their age they both looked and sounded great. Granted, DLR wasn’t able to hit his high screechy vocal accents the same way he did at 54 years old as he could at 26, he was still one hell of a front-man, and the energy onstage between he and Eddie Van Halen was that of two longtime friends having a heck of a good time.
The original lineup was almost complete, the original bassist Michael Anthony (who has sided with that loser, Sammy Hagar) had split with the group, and was replaced with Eddie’s son Wolfgang, who was excellent in his own right and seemed to fit in very well with the band, both in namesake and talent.
The band played nothing but Roth-era Van Halen, and sounded really good. There were, naturally, moments where the songs strayed from their album counterparts, either by mid-song improvisational guitar solos, or vocal changes by Roth, but there wasn’t a song that wasn’t as fun and rockin’ as the originals. Some of the standouts for me were pretty much anything they played from their first album, of which they played a LOT (if not all), which was a pleasant surprise since it’s the one album I actually leave on my iPod and enjoy listening to occasionally. It was also a long show, pretty much non-stop except for a VERY brief break before finishing the show with Jump. They went onstage at around 8:30 and played until 11:15, pretty much non-stop, featuring some amazing solo breaks by both the drummer Alex and Eddie.
Before the show Sean and I went to Rose & Thistle for some beers and some food, and after the show we hit Kennedy School for another beer or two and some fries, both of which served as nice ‘bookends’ to the night. Had a blast, despite how hesitant I was about the evening earlier today.
Oh, and if the pictures from my crappy phone ever make their way to my inbox, I’ll post ’em here, though I doubt they’ll be worth it. The above photo is credited to the official Van Halen website.
Had a nice, chill birthday today. It was very nice, 2nd day off from work, spending time doing whatever I feel like (which, hasn’t been much, and it’s been glorious).
Yesterday Kelly and I went for a late lunch at Tin Shed, I had the delicious “Cajun Kicker” burger, and despite the drizzle of rain, the covered patio area was nice and warm to sit in. Last night I met Snooks at Kennedy School for some pizza and beers, and got home early enough that I started cleaning the garage up. What a mess it had become after a few months of neglect (cobwebs, empty boxes piled up, etc).
Today I played around on the computer most of the day, some video games, backing up some files, and made my first Amazon MP3 purchase (a great one-man act out of Seattle, Tim Seely). What a great experience; buying high-quality MP3 files for a reasonable price (the full album only cost $6.99). Tonight Kelly and I went down to Moon & Sixpence for dinner and drinks. Had a great time hanging out with my best friend. 🙂
Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow, perhaps finally get around to the yardwork I hope to get done while the weather holds. Or, maybe not. To be continued…
The week was pretty busy with work, though I did manage to go out some. Spent time with Snooks on Monday at Kennedy School, and my brother Travis at Moon & Sixpence on Thursday.
Friday I was pretty exhausted and Kelly had class, so I came home and relaxed. Had a couple beers, but ended up going to bed pretty early, though Kelly and I did finish watching the first season of Heroes, which was fantastic. What a great show. Now I’ve got the first four or so episodes of season 2 recorded to do a mini-marathon with. Brilliant!
On Saturday I woke up unusually early for me on a weekend, 7:30am (just as Kelly was headed to class) and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I just got up and got a lot of little things done around the house. It was pretty easy to do, it was pissing it down outside, just a miserable rainy day.
One of the things I finally did was buy the new Radiohead album In Rainbows, which in case you’ve been living in a cave (or don’t care for Radiohead) is being sold directly by the band now that they’re out of their recording contract with the big labels. Reports have been good regarding the sale, despite the fact that it’s a “name your price” sale. I opted for the box set route (which is VERY expensive) because I want the physical CD, though I wouldn’t have probably done it had my friend JB not gone in on it with me for the vinyl that I have no use for. It’s a really good album, and if you like Radiohead, I suggest going and buying the digital download for whatever you feel it’s worth to you, $2 or $20, if for no other reason than to ‘stick it to the man’ and prove that big labels have become largely irrelevant in an age of cheap recording options and virtually free distribution and promotion options.
Sunday was another largely lazy day, Kelly had some schoolmates coming over to do some studying, so I went and picked up pizza for them from a spot down the street and then hid out in my office for a few hours surfing the net. Later Kelly and I watched the last couple episodes of the 3rd season of Doctor Who, which was also really good (if you’re into that sort of thing, like I am). It was a good, relaxing weekend.
Tonight Kelly and I went to see the brilliant Shout Out Louds at Berbati’s Pan. We started off the evening going to Huber’s for a drink, then moving on to Shanghai Tunnel for some food before heading into Berbati’s.
Unlike the Editors show, it was pretty empty when we arrived, so we were able to sit in the back and relax while the two opening acts played. The first was Johnossi, a duo (who, like Shout Out Louds, also hail from Sweden) who’s sound was pretty hard rock, with a couple near-pop songs thrown in. Sadly, about halfway through their set the guitarist’s sound dropped out so there was a forced intermission while they scrambled to fix the problem, poor guys. The second opener was a group called Nico Vega, who were also pretty loud and heavy. They were (to me) an odd pairing for Shout Out Louds, unlike in just about every way, but I was impressed the female singer’s powerful voice. She had some serious pipes!
Shout Out Louds went on sometime around 10:45pm, and put on a fantastic show. They sounded great, hitting every beat and note perfectly. They opened with The Comeback from their first album, and finished with the brilliant Tonight I Have To Leave It before an encore-like final few songs. The singer had mentioned how exhausted they were, not getting any sleep for the past two days and were about to call it a night after Tonight I Have To Leave It, but then somewhat last-minute they decided to play a few more songs before finally leaving the stage. They put on a great show, and if they were as exhausted as they’d said, it didn’t come across in the sound at all, I could only tell by watching the faces of individual members, they looked tired, but were pro’s the whole show.
There was a downside however, the rudeness of certain idiots in the crowd. I’ve heard stories before that Portland is, sadly, somewhat known for it’s rude audiences. It’s something I’ve only recently began to notice, but tonight I couldn’t help but feel both angry and embarrassed by some of the fuckers in the crowd. If you’re not there to support the band, then get the fuck out! Stop being rude. I tried to let it pass and just enjoy the show, but there were a handful of morons who ended up ruining the mood for me at times. Argh! All of this aside, it was still a great show.
Tonight Kelly, Miranda and I went to see Editors play at Berbati’s Pan. We’d started out meeting next door at the Shanghai Tunnel for some drinks and dinner. Kelly and I met there at about 6pm. Miranda joined us shortly after. We had a great time chatting, and I had the delicious noodle bowl (veggies, chicken, and curry sauce) along with a few pints of Guinness. It wasn’t until we’d been there for a little bit when Miranda mentioned that the show didn’t start until 9:30… and there were two opening bands. Obviously this meant it was going to be a late night.
We got into Berbati’s shortly after 9pm and decided not to stand around in the venue the whole time so went through to Berbati’s bar / restaurant area for a bit to sit down. We ended up missing the first opening act, Ra Ra Riot, but went in to catch the crazy, yet fun Biffy Clyro, a loud rock band from Scotland, the singer of whom Miranda commented looked like “a cross between Animal and Charles Manson“. Pretty fair description. They were really good, just not quite what I was expecting as an opening act for Editors.
Editors came onstage at around 11:15pm, and put on a GREAT show. We’d seen them before last year at Dante’s, but this was a much better show. Not only was this show to support their fantastic second album An End Has A Start, so they had more material, but their stage presence had also grown. It was an awesome show.
Saw Spamalot tonight, but first, a recap from my busy week: WORK. Yup, that’s pretty much all I did. I spent my time working on a new feature for SuperSweetCo‘s flagship product. It was a lot of fun to create (from creating the mockups to the actual development) but it was really complex and demanded my full attention through the week, both day and night.
Friday evening Kelly and I brought dinner to my brother, sis-in-law, and “Hank” my new nephew. Kelly had spent the afternoon making delicious pasta dishes that we shared (well, not Hank, obviously) and later Travis made me hold Hank. I’m not comfortable holding babies, I fear dropping ’em (they can be awfully squirmy, hehe). It was a nice evening, though towards the end of the evening I was laying on the couch about to fall asleep, and it was only 10pm! By the time we got home and unloaded the dishes from the car I was done and just went to bed.
Today was good, since I’d gotten around 8 hours sleep (despite our cat’s earnest attempts at nudging me awake every 20 minutes, starting around 5:30am). I spent the day tinkering around the house, but did manage to take my newly fixed bike out for a spin. It was a fun ride, but I didn’t get very far from home because I soon discovered just how out of shape certain leg muscles were. After getting back I cleaned up and Kelly and I headed into town to meet friends for dinner and a show.
We met Miranda & Brian, and Mr. & Mrs. Ghost Dog at the Goose Hollow Inn for dinner and drinks. Had a nice time on the deck, the weather was great, and naturally so was the sandwich (mmmm… reuben). After that though we all piled into Ghost Dog’s car and drove down to the theater. It was Monty Python time!
Spamalot was very entertaining and while I’m not a big fan of musicals, this show was a lot of fun. The writing, sets, costumes, and cast were fantastic. There were a lot of changes from Holy Grail, such as Dennis (Arthur: Old woman! Dennis: Man. Arthur: Man. Sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?) becoming Sir Galahad, and Sir Lancelot falling for Herbert (heh), but all the modifications were very funny and I just had to suppress my “but that’s not how it goes” reactions. 🙂
There were some additions to the plot (such as the Lady of the Lake being present through the story, and including the song Always Look in the Bright Side of Life, originally from Life of Brian) and some scenes from the film that I felt were conspicuously absent, such as the Castle Anthrax (“Oh wicked, bad, naughty Zoot!”) and the Bridge of Death (“Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three”). But in the end, the it was a lot of fun, and those who aren’t as obsessed with Monty Python wouldn’t notice, and just have a good time.
After the show, we all went over to Moon & Sixpence for a few pints and some snacks before calling it a night. Great time, and thank gang for coming out / hauling us around town.
Went to a great show tonight at McMenamins Edgefield, I got to see a great local band who I’ve been wanting to see for a few years called Menomena, and for the third time, The Decemberists. I hadn’t seen a show at Edgefield before, and it was a pretty fun experience, especially with the great weather today. While a bit warm, it was a great place to see a show. Menomena were fantastic, and were as great (or better) live than their records.
Decemberists also put on a fantastic show, though I was saddened not to see Lisa M. from Talkdemonic on stage with them like their last show. It was still a helluva good time. Decemberists did play Eli, the Barrow Boy and The Mariner’s Revenge Song (neither of which they played at the last show I saw them at) and during Mariner’s, they brought out some people under a giant whale outfit, which was a lot of fun. Was a very fun show, and a fun evening.
What a day. What a week! Work was crazy busy. On top of many other tasks however, I did get to do things like finalize a logo design, and then use that logo to design a t-shirt and a website… all for a developer community that’s set to launch in a couple weeks. Today however, the team I work with and I all fled the office early to go to the Portland International Brewfest to sample some beers. I was pleasantly surprised with the Sick Duck Imperial Stout, and was quite happy to see Coniston Brewing‘s Bluebird Bitter on tap. I spent most of my two hours there bouncing between those two beers, straying here and there to try out a few things.
Kelly picked me up just after 6pm, because we were set to meet some friends at the Lucky Lab on Hawthorne for dinner before going to a concert. Had a good time hanging out outside chatting, eating, and seeing all the cute dogs running around. Always a fun (though often loud) time at the Lucky Lab.
We then went on to the Aladdin Theater, which I hadn’t been inside of for over 12 years. The opening band was Point Juncture, WA (yes, that’s the band name, and they’re from Portland), who were entertaining to watch. It was pretty clear while watching them that the quintet was having a good time, pretty much all smiles the whole show. Also, several members rotated instruments during the show. While at times they sounded a bit rough, I definitely enjoyed their show.
After the break, came the band that we were there to see, Talkdemonic. They put on a fantastic show, and introduced a LOT of new material. The crowd who’d all remained seated during Point Juncture, WA, were quickly on their feet, and the floor was filled with people swaying to the sounds that drummer / composer Kevin O’Connor and violist Lisa Molinaro poured into the theater. Fun show and a great way to end a great afternoon / evening.
Tonight my friend Miranda and I went to see Emily Haines (singer/songwriter for Metric) perform at the Doug Fir. The evening started with a surprise cocktail party in the company break room; music cranked up, snacks, people playing cards, and even a waiter mixing martini's. The boss apparently decided that due to all the stress everybody's been under the past few weeks, that a party was well deserved. Pretty fun time, and it goes on the long list of reasons why I love working where I do. I'd have hung out longer if it weren't for the plans I'd made.
After leaving the office I met Miranda at the Shanghai Tunnel, where we had some drinks and a meal before heading to the Doug Fir for the show. Kelly had to miss out on the evening unfortunately, due to school. Miranda and I arrived at the Doug Fir about an 45 minutes before the show started. The main floor was arranged with rows of seating (something I've never seen at the Doug Fir), which given mood of the Emily Haines album Knives Don't Have Your Back seemed like the perfect way to do the show. We got in and took a couple seats a few rows from the stage at one end. The opening band, Tall Firs (yup, the Tall Firs played at the Doug Fir, heh), were an interesting and mellow trio, a drummer and two rhythm guitars players / singers (no bassist). The music sounded like it might be a good fit for driving over the mountain ranges on the way to the coast, very chill, not very exciting though.
After a very long intermission (the stage sat, completely set up and empty for over a half hour), Emily Haines and her band The Soft Skeleton took the stage. They immediately started playing, but after the first song or two, Emily paused to talk to the audience, where she seemed a little 'out of it'. She described having had a wreck of a day, something about a stalker freaking her out, and one of the members of the Tall Firs spending time backstage consoling her before she could go on stage (this, I presume, is the cause for the long intermission). She seemed genuinely freaked out, though while she was describing things there were this morons in the back of the place laughing… either they were cold, heartless bastards, or they thought she was being funny or ironic. I didn't detect any irony in Emily's tone, but she laughed along a bit, in something of a helpless / hopeless way and continued on. In between songs she kept sipping on cans of Guinness. As the show went on, she tried talking to the audience about songs but the constant and loud murmur of conversation at the bar was distracting / annoying her. Several times between songs she went on little tirades about it, eventually causing members of the crowd who were paying attention to yell back "shut the fuck up".
As the evening progressed, Emily was either losing hope, drunk, or was too drained (or all three, I couldn't quite tell) that she almost stopped playing completely, looking at the guitar player saying "man, I can't be bothered… should I continue?". I don't think she was drunk, though if she was, she continued to play piano and sing flawlessly. Either way, it was a surreal and very emotional show, one of the strangest I've ever seen. I get the impression that the material and the mood of this solo work is so personal and emotional for her, that she's a lot more vulnerable than while performing with Metric, with her tough, punk-chick persona. And while the show was an emotional roller-coaster (from tears welling up during certain songs, to anger at the morons being so rude, and everything between) it somehow worked. While distracting at times, it was still a good show. I hope that whatever this stalker business is gets resolved and Emily can continue the tour without the mess, and I also hope that she doesn't think of Portland as a city filled with insensitive jerks (and stalkers, if said person was from here).
Tonight I went out with my longtime friend Sean to see 
