I’ve never posted on my blog about American Idol, but I thought this conversation I had with my best friend from high school was kinda funny. We email each other back and forth almost everyday, and we always talk about American Idol on Wednesdays. Sometimes it reminds me of when we were in psychology class together and would write notes on the same piece of paper, passing it back and forth. (Daniel was in that class with us.)
Forwarded conversation
Subject: AI
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From: JM
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 7:56 AM
To: Susan M
How funny was Paula?!?!
———- From: Susan M
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:03 AM
To: JM
“This is really hard!”
She does so well under pressure.
———- From: JM
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:00 AM
To: Susan M
Yeah, Michael and I were cracking up because no one corrected her right away.
———- From: Susan M
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:05 AM
To: JM
No one could believe their ears.
———- From: JM
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:02 AM
To: Susan M
So who do you think will go?
———- From: Susan M
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:18 AM
To: JM
Dial Idol actually has Syesha and David Cook at the top. I was hoping she’d leave. They’ve got Brooke at the bottom. I think at this point it’s anyone who could leave. I think the final will be David Cook and David Archuleta, either one could take it. I think David A has gotten a little old and David Cook is more relevant to today’s radio, so David Cook will probably win.
I wish you could’ve heard Daniel’s comments after David Cook performed. He went off about Simon thinking he was “brilliant” because he’s just like all the other schlock on the radio for the last 10 years.
———- From: JM
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:16 AM
To: Susan M
I told Michael after David Cook sang, here’s the next Goo Goo Dolls.
Yeah, I think Syesha needs to just go to broadway. She’s a much better singer/actor than pop singer. I think Jason and Brooke did terribly last night. And David A. is starting to sound like a 1 trick pony.
———- From: Susan M
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:25 AM
To: JM
Daniel said David Cook must be a big fan of the Goo Goo Dolls, too.
I liked Jason’s first song. I like that he doesn’t seem to care. I really think he’s just going through the motions at this point, though. I’m wondering if he’s just overwhelmed by it all and wants it to end or something.
I liked Brooke’s second song.
“America” was the best number, I thought, but it’s just such a great song. Daniel was saying it’s like “Bohemian Rhapsody”—so cheesy, but it’s just constructed so well, the chord progression, the way it builds—you can’t help but start feeling like “Yeah! AMERICA!”
———- From: JM
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:25 AM
To: Susan M
America is one of my favorite Neil Diamond songs and both Dylan and Michael were like “I hate this song”. I was like “WHAT?!” yeah, I didn’t like either Jason or Brooke’s songs last night. Actually, I’m getting quite bored by the whole thing. There’s really no one I like, you know?
———- From: Susan M
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:31 AM
To: JM
Well the problem is I don’t like them on *American Idol.* I think I’d like Jason and Brooke’s albums when they come out, if they’re allowed to do their thing. They do their own thing well. They’re just not American Idol material. David A for sure is, but he is getting boring. He needs to liven it up somehow.
———- From: JM
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:30 AM
To: Susan M
Yeah, I would agree with you on all counts. David A. is just trying to not get beat by his daddy every week!
———- From: Susan M
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 8:37 AM
To: JM
Neil Diamond night wasn’t the trainwreck I was hoping for, but it definitely wasn’t a stellar night, either.
You know, I’ve seen hundreds of bands live. (I did a count once a year or two ago, it was up around 200, I think.) The last few years I’ve averaged about 24 shows a year, and with each show having at least 3 bands, usually 4, it adds up. There’s just nothing better than a really intense live show.
Some bands I love to see live because of how emotional they are for me—U2, the Waterboys, Low, the Frames, Calexico. I’ve seen U2 and the Waterboys twice (two of my all-time favorite bands). I’ve seen low and the Frames multiple times, Calexico only twice—and they all three are, hands down, the best live bands performing today, IMO.
Other bands I love to see live because they’re heavy. Some heavy bands leave me feeling euphoric after seeing them—like Isis, Pelican. Some just leave me ultra-pumped—like Converge, the Melvins.
If anyone asks me what my all-time favorite show was, I always say Jane’s Addiciton w/Soundgarden. In the late 80s. Jane’s was so energetic and so wired. Soundgarden was so heavy and intense. The show was at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, which is a big venue. My husband, our friend Brian and I went down to the show with no tickets. It was sponsored by a local radio station and tickets were only $3, but we didn’t have any. We had only $6 on us. (And it was Brian’s.) Some guy was standing out front trying to sell three tickets. We asked if he’d take $6 and he agreed. We got in.
The seats were in the balcony. Soundgarden at the time was getting a lot of lame reviews calling them Led Zeppelin wannabes. I remember that Chris Cornell read from one of those reviews, then they launched into “Kingdom of Come.” Classic moment in Soundgarden history.
When Jane’s came on, they told the crowd to forget about the security. And the crowd did. They went nuts, stage diving, etc. When Daniel and Brian saw that, they made a bee-line down to the front. I stayed in the balcony where I could see all the mayhem. What I remember most was Stephen Perkins, the drummer. He was amazing. He still is—a year or two ago I saw him play at a small bar in Long Beach with Mike Watt and the guitarist from Porno for Pyros, they were called Hellride, and they did all Stooges covers. I got to meet Stephen Perkins. He’s a short, kind of hyper guy. I didn’t talk to him at all, just said hi. But he’s one of the best drummers there is. Here’s a few shots from that Hellride show:
This is an early live video of Soundgarden in 1989. They’re performing in Philly:
This is an early live video of Jane’s Addiction, this is actually from their first album, self-titled, which was all live and recorded in LA in 1987:
Jane’s Addiction has reunited with their original line up (the last reunion they had the original bassist wasn’t involved in). I’m tempted to see them because I know how good they are live. But I’m also leary of it. It’s going to be different now. Will it be as good? If it’s not, I don’t want my memories of their early shows sullied.
Nathaniel and I went to Hollywood Saturday morning to go to Amoeba Records. We parked in a garage across the street.
He picked up a DJ Shadow album on vinyl (and has been listening to it ever since). I went through a few of the $1 vinyl bins and got:
Joe Jackson - Stepping Out
Air Supply - The One That You Love
Fame Soundtrack
Hoodoo Gurus 12″
Plus a few other albums. Mostly crap. Problem is, I love crap. I can listen to crap all day. And when it’s only a dollar, I can buy all kinds of it.
After Amoeba I wanted to walk around and take a bunch of pictures, but we’re having a heat wave and it was just too hot. I managed to get this picture up the street of a Church of Scientology building:
Then we went home. Tried to find a place to eat on the way, pulled off the freeway a few times, but couldn’t find anything! It was ridiculous.
Daniel had gone dirt biking while we were gone and when we got home he wanted to go to the back end of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands to see what sort of bmx jumps there are there. But first we went to his work to drop off his motorcycles.
Nathaniel and me in the truck:
A *crazy* tree across the street from Daniel’s work that I’ve wanted a picture of forever, and it’s finally in bloom again:
Front door of Daniel’s work:
Then we were off to the wetlands. One reason I’m glad we don’t own a dog:
The jumps there weren’t much to look at:
This is what a palm tree looks like when it’s left untended:
There were snails *everywhere*:
Pretty wildflowers:
And junk:
Can you spot the lizard?
For some reason, Daniel wanted me to take a picture of him with this sign:
When I was a kid it seemed like my whole life revolved around TV. Me and my friend Kim were obsessed with it. She lived up the hill from me (one street up) and we always walked home from school together. When we’d get to the corner where we had to part ways, we’d do little cheers together, based on what was on TV that night.
There were two pot holes on the side of the road. We’d each take one, facing each other, and jump back and forth, first one foot in, then the other, back and forth. Then we’d switch spots and finish our little cheer. We’d go, “duh, dunna-duh duh,” then switch places and finish, “duh duh!”
Then we’d shake our hands in the air like we had pom poms and call out the names of whatever shows were on that night. I remember that Tuesdays were “Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Three’s Company!” (Although I wasn’t allowed to watch Three’s Company.)
Friday was Dukes of Hazard. Saturday was Love Boat and Fantasy Island.
But that wasn’t all. Whenever we would get together to play, if we weren’t playing Barbies or listening to music, we were acting out TV shows. Kim had some nighties that looked like a genie costume. She also had a big Queen size bed with satin pillows all piled up, and a genie bottle. She’d get into her genie costume and I’d play the Major. I’d look in the bottle, shaking it around, calling, “Jeanie, are you in there?!” And Kim would roll around on the bed like she was inside the bottle.
We played Dukes of Hazard at my house, because I had a Big Wheel. We’d ride it around in a circle in the driveway, pretending we were being chased by Roscoe Pico Train. She’d be Bo and I’d be Luke, usually. (We’d fight over who go to be Bo, the cutest one.)
Then we’d go inside and make grilled cheese sandwiches, and one of us would be Daisy taking orders.
We both had short hair but absolutely longed for long hair. We’d play Little House On the Prairie outside in her yard—her backyard was a hillside, so we’d run up and down it, pretending we were on a wagon or a horse sleigh. We wore towels over our heads, pretending they were our long, flowing hair. We’d whip it around behind our backs.
We’d also play Eight is Enough, dividing up the characters between us. And we’d fight over who go to be the girls with the longest hair. (Susan and Elizabeth.)
Kim would always want to be Elizabeth, so I’d say OK, but that means I get to be both Susan AND Nancy.
When I was a kid, I used to judge what day it was according to what was on TV that night. I still tend to do that now. Monday? Dancing With the Stars. Tuesday? That’s American Idol night. Wednesday? American Idol results, but also America’s Next Top Model, Criminal Minds. Thursday—the Office! Friday—NUMB3RS, etc. I cannot believe how much I still look forward to watching TV at night (esp the crappy shows). Of course, we went for years with no cable, so I know I can do without it. But I love it.
Well, we went to try to see Flight of the Concords play a free instore at Amoeba Records. When we got there, about an hour early, the line was already what I thought of as pretty long. And traffic was bad, and parking impossible, so Nathaniel and I decided to drive a mile down the road to check out another record store called Aron’s and come back to Amoeba after they’d let people in to see if we could find parking then.
Aron’s doesn’t exist anymore. Instead there’s a rim shop, and it was closed:
So we drove back over by Amoeba, and the line had wrapped nearly around the entire block. We knew then we weren’t getting in for sure. We drove around looking for a place to eat, and finally found a Subway. Had a sandwich. Then decided to head back by Amoeba again. There was still a line but they weren’t letting people in—they were full. If people leave they allow more people in. But there was no parking anywhere. (I didn’t want to pay for a garage.) So we headed back home.
Amoeba is the largest independent record store around. You can see pictures of it on their website here.
When we were trying to find Aron’s Records, we parked next to a bottle brush tree. These things are so cool.
What was weird was the bristles from the flowers had fallen off the tree and gathered into the cracks of the sidewalk. With the red car next to it, and the red paint on the curb, it just looked odd.
There were photography stores everywhere—big ones. Film capital of the world, Hollywood. Advertising capital, too.
Nice, huh? There were also used condoms on the sidewalk. That’s always pleasant.
Anyway, we decided to go back to Amoeba to look at cds and vinyl Saturday morning. I’m hoping traffic into LA won’t be too bad then. And we can find parking nearby. So more pictures to come.
I love this author called Torey Hayden. She’s a child psychologist/special education teacher who specializes in elective mutism. She’s written several books about children she’s worked with. Some handicapped, some autistic, some emotionally disturbed. It’s the emotionally disturbed ones that I find really interesting. I have all of her books but haven’t read any for a long time, so the other day I grabbed one and started reading. It was good, so I started reading it out loud to Daniel. Of course I kept reading myself when he wasn’t around. So I finished the book before Daniel had barely heard any of it. I’d forgotten what happens in it, and it’s very disturbing. And it doesn’t have a nice, neat, wrapped-up-cleanly ending, so you’re left not knowing exactly what happened to the little girl in it. There is enough information that you can sort of piece together your own theory on it, though.
The book is called Ghost Girl. The girl in it has been severely abused, sexually. I’m almost to the point in my reading to Daniel where that becomes obvious, and I’m wondering if I should just stop reading it. He’ll want me to continue but after I do I know he’ll be upset and complain about how horrible it is. He’s already been complaining about it being depressing, but he keeps wanting me to keep reading. Mostly I think because I rub his back as I do. But he doesn’t even know what he’s in store for.
Although it’s not that much worse than what they have on Law & Order: SVU. I have a hard time with that show. How did children being raped turn into entertainment?
I saw a kid on a bmx bike riding to school the other day. Looked like he was about 13. He was riding with no hands on the bars. In one hand, he had a sandwich that he was eating. In the other, he had a cell phone that he was dialing.
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I did a search for recent Converge setlists and came across a metal web forum. Here’s a screen shot of the thread, with a few notes I’ve added:
The band is Graves at Sea, one of my favorite doom metal bands. Unfortunately, they broke up recently. I’m hoping that the band members will go on to form more brilliant doom metal bands. Sort of like how when Kyuss broke up they spawned a wealth of great music.
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Nathaniel asked me how come I don’t dress like a rocker. I probably should’ve said something like, “Because I don’t need to wear my coolness on my sleeve,” or something equally obnoxious and stupid. But instead I was honest and said, “Because I’m too poor and too fat.”
Actually, if I could afford to dress any way I wanted to, I’d look like a hippy. I am a closet granola type.
Last night I took Nathaniel and his friend to see Converge, Red Chord, Baroness and Genghis Tron in Pomona. As we left the show, I said to the boys, “I want to marry that band.”
It’s 2pm the next day and I’m still hyped up from the show.
We got there about 6 and got a good spot towards the front of the line. Doors opened at 6:30, and we got a good spot against the stage. Definitely not center stage, though, I knew we wouldn’t want to be there when the moshing started. There was a barrier a few feet in front of the stage, which gave the securiy guys plenty of room to catch crowd surfers rolling towards the stage.
The line up for this show was a good one. Diverse enough to make it interesting, and every band was enjoyable.
Genghis Tron are pretty aptly named. At times they sounded really brutal, and other times they sounded like sci fi techno. All in the same song. They had a cool light show. A guy playing keyboards, a guitarist, and a singer with a keyboard and a laptop. The singer was really intense. He wore a tshirt that said something like “Love each other” over and over again. I enjoyed their set, they were fun to check out, but I think I like their concept more than I do their actual music. Still, I can’t think of any other bands trying to do what they do, and I applaud their creativity.
Unfortunately, when I went to get some video of their light show, I realized I hadn’t charged my camera batteries properly and they were dead. I didn’t have back ups on me, either. (I knew I’d regret l lending my extra batteries to the kids’ videogame controllers.) So no pictures for the rest of the night, except a few of Converge.
Here’s the video of Genghis Tron:
Baroness were good. Two guitarists, one of whom sings, a bassist, and a drummer—and I thought they were all really good musicians. There were definite moments of greatness. There were also some moments when I found myself a little bored. But mostly I was busy trying to watch them play, trying to figure out if the guitars were in synch or playing different parts, watching the bassist—they all really ripped, I thought. Couldn’t hear the vocals too well from where I was, though.
Red Chord played third. I think I knew their name and that was it. I was a little surprised they were playing after Baroness, I thought Baroness was pretty popular, but after Red Chord’s set I understood. They’re a hardcore band. During their set a huge mosh circle formed. I mean, a big circular area cleared on the floor behind us. Mainly because a handful of people were doing that windmill style thrashing, with the kick spins, that is so popular at hardcore and metal shows these days. Made me feel rather old—and very nervous. I was only a couple feet away from those guys, and often only one person was in between me and them, and it made it hard to concentrate on the band. Too worried about getting pummeled! So that was kind of intense.
I tend to get annoyed when bands ask the audience to show some energy. You don’t inspire an energetic response by telling people to be energetic. You inspire it by making them feel energetic. And the singer for the Red Chord kept telling people to get in the mosh pit. But he didn’t really do it in an annoying fashion, so it didn’t bother me too much. The band all seemed to be nice guys who didn’t take themselves too seriously (my biggest pet peeve in any situation).
Honestly, after the first three bands I was pretty stoked on the show. It was a good line up. I’m used to having to sit through a lot of crappy opening bands, and these guys were all good, and so diverse it made the show interesting. There were definitely fans of all the bands there, different people calling out for songs during each band’s set.
But Converge were on an entirely different level.
After Red Chord played, I asked my son and his friend if they were ok staying where we were at—they were closer to center stage than I was. They said yeah. I warned them the moshing would only get worse, and told my son if it got bad I might head up to the balcony area, or try to switch places with someone further off to the side. But you know, as soon as Converge came on, I didn’t care how close I was to getting punched or kicked. (It helped that a lot more people crowded up behind me, creating more of a cushion between me and the moshers.)
The guitarist came out first and began playing one of the songs from their latest album, No Heroes, that I most wanted them to play—”Plagues.” It opens with a crunching, chomping guitar lick. I tell the kids it’s my Pacman song. I make a chomping motion with my hand whenever I hear it. When I told my husband later they played the chomping song, he knew exactly which one I meant. The intro with just the guitar went on for quite awhile, building the anticipation for the rest of the band to come out and join in. By the time they did I was bouncing up and down with happiness. I don’t know why Converge fills me with joy, but they do.
The crowd went nuts. People were crowd surfing on the people mashed up against the stage, but there really wasn’t much room for them to move around (not enough people in that spot), so they’d get hauled off the crowd quickly by the security guys in between the barrier and the stage and sent back around and into the crowd. We saw the same girl go by I swear about five times.
I was surprised by how many girls were there. Not a ton, but still more than I was expecting. There were a few different girls crowd surfing.
The singer would jump down from the stage onto the barrier, throwing the mic out into the crowd for whoever caught it to sing into. I couldn’t see very well when he’d get down there, because my son was blocking my view (he’s 6 feet tall—but I was glad to have him there as a barrier from the crowd surfers). I didn’t get mashed very badly, but my son and his friend did. But when you’re 18 you enjoy it more than when you’re 38. :) At one point in a break between songs the singer apologized for the barrier, saying he hated that crap, and someone in the crowd yelled that it was his birthday and he wanted to head walk. The singer said, “I guess that’s your right as an American. I don’t know if dudes want to get stepped on because it’s your birthday, though.”
The drummer was fun to watch. He spent most of the night with a look of complete glee on his face. My son said every time he hit a drum, he’d smile, and that about sums it up.
The singer was grateful for those of us who showed up. He said he knew there were a ton of shows going on in the area that weekend. (Murderfest in LA.) He even mentioned a few bands that he thought the crowd would have enjoyed that were playing at the same time they were. He also said they’d been touring for 3 weeks, 21 days with only one day off. You wouldn’t have guessed it—they sure didn’t seem tired or worn out. But they didn’t do an encore. I was severely disappointed they didn’t do “You Fail Me.” And I’m kicking myself now for not catching them play the Knitting Factory in LA the night before. (I wanted to see both shows but decided I’d take it easy, lack of sleep kills me.)
They played a good setlist:
Plagues
No Heroes
Thaw
My Great Devastator/Bitter and Then Some
Eagles Become Vultures
The Broken Vow
Drop Out
Heartless
First Light
Last Light
Locust Reign
Sacrifice
Downpour
Versus
Heartache
Hellbound
Concubine
The singer introduced most of the songs, except for the ones that had no pause in between, like “My Great Devastator,” a song from their split with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, which went right into “Bitter and Then Some.” “Eagles Become Vultures” was introduced as being about “Lack of will, lack of heart, the lack of passion in this world.” “Locust Reign” was introduced as being “about living your life, instead of letting others live it for you.”
Biggest disappointment? No encore, and no “You Fail Me,” which has to be my favorite Converge song. The singer introduced “Concubine” as their last and explained they wouldn’t be doing an encore. As soon as it was finished he asked the sound guy to put the house music on. Then he got down on the barrier and started talking to people. I would have loved to shake his hand and tell him I was the Mormon housewife who sent him a fan email, but we left instead.
It’s a documentary about a guy who tries to beat the world record Donkey Kong score. I’d heard it was good, but I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was. It’s funny—while you’re completely laughing at how seriously these gamers take it, you’re also totally wrapped up in what the outcome is going to be.
I’m the type of person who keeps an eye on the clock while watching a movie. Half an hour into it, I thought, they’ve already shown this guy beat the record, what else can there be? Oh man. The drama! The intensity! We were literally on the edge of our seats. (I’m also the type of person who gets uncomfortable sitting on a couch for too long.) The last hour is awesome.
And if you enjoy spotting autism, it’s all over this thing.
