Live Music Fiesta

For some reason after months of not really attending any shows regularly a bunch happened to occur all at once.  Of course, things were kicked off this Saturday past when

,

, and

and myself all had the extreme pleasure of seeing The Police at Fenway Park.  I was really excited about this show, but in the back of my head there was always this nagging fear that it would be a bunch of old guys who couldn’t quite play anymore pretending they were young again.  Beyond that, I generally avoid arena shows in favor of small clubs.  The odds of me seeing this band at a club are virtually nil, so I decided to make an exception to my rules…

As soon as they took the stage and kicked into Message in a Bottle, however, any fears were put right to bed.  They rocked so hard, it was such a great show, it has instantly jumped into the top 5 shows I have ever witnessed.  Their set list was great (I could have done without “Walking in Your Footsteps”, but you can’t please everyone), and hit just about every song I wanted to hear.  By the encore, I was thinking they were going to skip my favorite song, “Next to You”, but after the main encore they snuck back out on stage and kicked into it as their last song.  When they broke into it I probably jumped 3 feet out of pure excitement and adrenaline.  I actually for a split second considered trying to scalp tickets for Sunday’s show, but realized I’m not made of money.  =)

Last night I went out to Cambridge to see Negativland at the Middle East as part of their It’s All In Your Head FM tour..  It was also a great show, but in a completely different way.  The band was basically doing a live radio show from the stage, and if you’ve ever heard their Over the Edge radio show before, you know it can been a pretty crazy melange of samples, music, noise, and scripted weirdness.  They even handed out blindfolds at the ticket counter to enhance the “Radio Viewing” experience.  It was really enjoyable seeing these guys work, although by the 3rd hour of the show (as it approached midnight) I was getting pretty sleepy…

Tonight I’m returning to the Middle East and meeting up with a bunch of friends to see DJ Z-Trip.  His stuff can be real hit-or-miss for me, but his technical ability is simply astounding, so he at least possesses the chops to knock it out of the park.  I saw him a few years ago when he toured and it was a pretty enjoyable show, so hopefully he’ll pull it off again tonight.

The Girard Plague(tm)

Had a little get together for some various college friends this weekend in Hopatcong…   I’ve done this for the past few years, and everyone seems to enjoy it, especially when the weather is as gorgeous as it was this weekend past.  We just chilled out on the Party Barge, Regency Edition, swam, ate, and drank.  This party is always complicated because the boat really is the limiting factor, as it only seats 14 including the driver.  We were pretty much at capacity this year, which means I might seriously have to look into renting a second boat next year…  Which should make invitations less complicated but increase the planning required.

and

were among the attendees, and they came with a bit of a cold.  Unfortunately, I seem to have picked up that cold, and it is really kicking my ass (but I’m still glad they were able to come to the party)…   I’ve been out of work for the past two days, but I’m starting to come around…  I’m sure tomorrow I’ll be fighting off the congestion, and I probably won’t walk to work, but I’m starting to get a little stir-crazy in the house.

The couple buying the condo below us closed today, so it is our first evening with neighbors in two months.  I’ve gotten so used to having the run of the place, it will take a little getting used to.  They seem cool as hell, though, so I’m not anticipating any troubles…

Spain is creezy

Quickly on the hotel terminal.  Spain is awesome…  Pamplona and the wedding were out of hand.  San sebastien was awesome.. up to Bayonne, France tomorrow perhaps, then through some more of basque country, or something…  Someone´s waiting for this terminal, so bye.

The Movies I’ve Seen in 2007 (So far)…

I figured I’d issue a mid-point progress report…  Already at a ridiculous pace this year, already having seen as many videos half-way through the year as I saw throughout all of 2006.  I also think I might have missed adding a video or two to the list, but I can’t figure out what I missed..  The list is pretty much in the order I saw the pictures, and I tried to italicize films I had previously viewed.