Live June 4, 2009
Posted by postalblue in Life.Tags: concerts, gogol bordello, muse, rage against the machine, sigur ros, the decemberists
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My sister and I caught the Decemberists in Columbus last weekend. They put on an incredible show, playing two full sets and an encore. They ripped through their entire album, Hazards of Love in the first set and then took a short break before returning to play “the hits” and have a some fun with the crowd. I’ve seen them more times than I can count, and I can’t say they’ve ever disappointed!
Standing in the crowd between sets, I got to thinking: what were the best five shows I’ve ever seen? After mulling it over for a while, here’s what I’ve got (in no particular order, mind you):
- Sigur Ros at the Tower Theatre, Summer 2002. This show floored me. I had been looking forward to it for months and the boys from Iceland delivered. It didn’t hurt that Amiina, a brilliant string quartet, backed them up.
- Gogol Bordello at Lollapalooza, Summer 2008. When Eugene Hutz took the stage at 2 in the afternoon on that blazing-hot day in Chicago, I didn’t know what to expect. You may have heard about GB’s shows, but the energy just doesn’t translate. The gypsy punks took the crowd (most of whom probably hadn’t even heard of them) by storm – even overshadowing a few headliners!
- Rage Against the Machine at Lollapalooza, Summer 2008. I never thought I’d get to see a live Rage performance, so when I heard they were headlining the second night of Lollapalooza, I bought a ticket immediately. I know every word to every song, and so did a good percentage of the tens-of-thousands in attendance. Mosh pits formed everywhere, and everyone participated. Imagine a Rage concert: that’s what it was like. When the show ended, I was covered from head to toe in sweat, dirt and bruises. But it was so worth it. (Note, I know I said “no particular order,” but this show was, far and away, the most fun I’ve ever had at a concert.)
- Muse at the Curiosa Festival, Summer 2004. The Cure gave Muse a tiny afternoon slot on the side stage at their comeback Curiosa Festival, and though they only had time for four or five songs, they made their mark. As soon as they hit the stage, fans rushed to the fore – I nearly lost limbs during Stockholm Syndrome. They stole the show!
- The Decemberists at the Electric Factory, Spring 2005. They say you never forget your first time, and in this case, I never will. Touring in support of Picaresque, Colin Meloy and his plucky troupe performed brilliantly. To date, I’ve never seen a band have more fun with the crowd – and I’ve never seen a crowd have more fun with a band. And I’ll never forget when Chris Funk (guitarist) brought out that giant Whale prop during The Mariner’s Revenge Song. Awesome!
A few honorable mentions: Pinback at Bimbo’s in November ‘08, A Perfect Circle at the Tweeter Center in Winter ‘05, and Teitur at The Point in Winter ‘03.
I should probably provide some context. Here are my Last.fm listening charts from… oh, the early 2000’s or so: http://www.last.fm/user/p33x/charts?rangetype=overall&subtype=artists
Airplanes April 23, 2009
Posted by postalblue in Life.1 comment so far
Once upon a time, I enjoyed traveling. I used to plan trips to Europe that I’d never take or spend time hunting down cheap flights that I’d never book. I loved being on the road, being somewhere new.
Then I spent two years consulting with IBM.
I’ve written about it before: four flights a week, fifty weeks a year for two years. A different hotel room every week, a different rental car every week. Single serving friends every week. IBM killed travel for me. Maybe I just spent too much time in airports, fighting or fretting over delayed flights and missed connections, but now the thought of travel makes my skin crawl.
Every time I get on a plane (even if its for a fun, Phillies-filled weekend with Sara – like this past one, which deserves a separate entry), I’m reminded of those two miserable years. I try to remember what it was like when I enjoyed going places, but it hasn’t yet come back to me. I’m sure I’ll feel the itch again some day, but for now, all I want to do is be home.
A different kind of update. April 14, 2009
Posted by postalblue in Life.Tags: decemberists, hazards of love, lp3, music, phoenix, ratatat, wolfgang amadeus
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It’s been a while since I’ve written about music. I’ve actually been so busy with work and riding and general life-related things that I simply haven’t had enough time to digest many recent releases. The past month or two has produced a couple of standouts, though.
I have been listening to the Decemberists’ new album, the Hazards of Love, on repeat since its’ release in mid-March. It is an epic record – a rock opera that begs to be listened to from start to finish. It probably won’t grab you during the first listen and maybe not even the second, but once you start to piece Colin Meloy’s tale together, you’ll be as hooked as I am.
The Hazards of Love
I listen to Ratatat with extreme regularity, but they’ve resurfaced with a vengeance thanks to their killer performance at the Fillmore two weeks back. Their entire catalog is solid and they played everything that I wanted to hear at that show. For a second, I thought they might head off stage without playing their best track, until I heard the track’s signature sound byte come through the speakers: “I been rappin’ for about 17 years, okay..?” And with that, the crowd went nuts.
LP3
One of my recent personal discoveries is the French band called Phoenix. They’ve got a new one out, entitled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and it’s incredibly solid. I’ve got a couple flights scheduled this week – maybe I’ll have time to let this one sink in a little deeper!
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Roundtable Updates March 19, 2009
Posted by postalblue in Cycling, Life, Running.2 comments
If I’ve been pretty lax about my updates lately, it’s because work has been wearing me thin. With the quarter coming to a close, there are a ton of big deadlines approaching and only one developer on my team (me!) to scrape the code together.
My (desktop) computer has been giving me trouble for the past few weeks. After two painful reformats, I’ve narrowed the issue down to one of two things: the wireless network card or the primary hard drive. Funny, the computer only seems to bail on me when I sit down to work on FCYCLE.
Speaking of FCYCLE, I almost shut the site down permenantly two weeks ago after I was essentially scolded by a few of my users for not continuously updating the start list on the free site that I built by myself.
I’ve done a lot of running lately. My mileage hasn’t increased, but I am getting out more and more often for 3 or 5 mile jogs. I participated in a work-sponsored St. Patty’s Day Run on Tuesday and came in 9th with a time of 20.48 over 3.2 miles. Not great, but leagues better than I expected!
Rides have been limited. If find the late sunrise extremely discouraging, but I did get out this morning for the Mission Cycling morning headlands loop. My fitness is getting better and better, but I still can’t climb nearly as well as I had been climbing in January. And descending? I honestly thought I was going to die today – I’m still getting used to the new bike. Those brakes are extremely touchy and I’m so worried about locking up the wheels on quick descents. Ugh. Hope I can get used to them before the club goes up any big hills.
Back to it March 5, 2009
Posted by postalblue in Cycling, Life, Running.1 comment so far
Getting back into shape is not fun and I’ll tell you why: it doesn’t matter how fast I go up Camino Alto, I know I used to go up it faster. It just feels like there is an enormous disparity between my current and pre-illness fitness levels.
In the past week I’ve:
- Gone for rides: Thursday (27), Friday (25), Saturday (60) and Thursday (27).
- Spent time on the trainer: Sunday (30 min), Monday (30 min), Wednesday (60 min).
- Gone for runs: Thursday (4.8 miles), Sunday (5 miles), Monday (5 miles) and Wednesday (4.5 miles).
- Miscellaneous core work and/or lifting: Friday, Sunday and Tuesday.
This weekend’s forecast looks fantastic. Here’s hoping for at least a 60/40 Saturday and Sunday. A cool 100-mile weekend would do me a lot of good.
The rest of the story… February 28, 2009
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I don’t remember when I listened to The Rest of the Story. Maybe it was in the car with my parents, on the way to early-morning swim meets. Or maybe it was even before that, as a five year-old, zipping around Annapolis in the back seat of my mother’s old Pontiac station wagon. But I remember listening… and I remember it vividly.
Paul Harvey passed away today. His stories will be missed. He will be missed.
Still sick February 20, 2009
Posted by postalblue in Cycling, Life.1 comment so far
I am still sick.
This is so frustrating. I’m probably going to miss another weekend on the bike. I haven’t done a speck of physical activity all week. I feel like garbage and I’m tired all the time. This is not cool.
Blah.
Sick February 17, 2009
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Last week was wall-to-wall work, with the occasional break to sleep in an icebox apartment just footsteps from the office. Friday was a twelve-hour flight home. And this past weekend, I learned that when you combine jet lag and a really, really bad fever, the results are mostly terrible.
I have been out of commission for a few days. I’m still a bit wobbly. I don’t even want to think about how it’s going to feel whenever I’m well enough to ride again: two weeks off and then illness? That’s bad news for spring fitness, my friends.
Ugh.
Crank it up. February 9, 2009
Posted by postalblue in Life.Tags: cold, dublin, stress
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My employer was kind enough to put me up in a small, one-bedroom apartment near the office during my short stay here in Dublin. Unfortunately, that one-bedroom apartment’s heating system went on vacation as soon as I arrived. I’ve been living there for the past week – one of the coldest, snowiest weeks Dublin’s had for a long time – without any form of climate control.
Thank God for warm comforters.
In related news, I am absolutely swamped at work. It’s overwhelming. I just need to make it through these next few days. Once I get home, I hope to be able to get things under control. Until then… I just hope they don’t decide to pile any more onto my plate.
I need a vacation.
Music and Memories February 1, 2009
Posted by postalblue in Life.Tags: band of horses, consulting, depression, newport news
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Cease to Begin was my favorite album of 2007. Band of Horses also provided the soundtrack to much of my early 2008. I saw them in concert just over a year ago now, at a small venue in Norfolk, Virginia.
It’s amazing how feelings and memories can attach themselves to music and visa versa. I love these records… but now I can barely listen to them. They bring back agonizing memories of dark, lonely nights at that Hilton Garden Inn in Newport News, listening to these tracks play through the tiny speakers on the room’s clock radio.
They bring back flashes of all those Delta flights, hoping we’d just get off the ground before the snow settled in. They’d always pipe ‘Funeral’ into the cabin while passengers shuffled to their seats.
I was so miserable back then. Listening to this album now, I remember it so vividly. How did I do it?
So much has changed in just one short year. I’m so glad I got out of there.
[edit - I remember when I first discovered Cease to Begin. It's another vivid one. I was driving to Doylestown from the Meadowlands in a rented Ford Mustang on October 14, 2007. I had just seen the Eagles defeat the Jets 16-9, one day after I returning froma job interview in California. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon and somewhere on those Pennsylvanian back-roads, the album and I just... clicked.]
