In the Key of Ow
My morning routine changed today. I think I like the new version:
1) Wake up, slowly, a few minutes before the alarm. Don’t go back to sleep. Body will thank you for not cramming adrenaline into it so early.
2) Do morning e-mail and webcomic troll as usual to activate brain.
3) Once brain is functional enough, make and eat breakfast. Do not wait until you’re running out the door to shove breakfast down throat.
4) Shower, dress, and leave for work.
This works far better than previous routines. Let’s see if I can keep it up.
Last night, I went to see the Dresden Dolls at the Norva. They’re an extremely offbeat duo, but I was hooked on my first listening by their wild energy, odd humor, and musical skill. Amanda Palmer plays her keyboard like an insane person, hitting the keys with the flats of her fingers, rocking back and forth on her stool, tucking a knee under her chin, and yet delivering one of the most complex and precise performances I’ve ever heard. Translate that to drums, and you have Brian Viglione’s playing; on top of that, they seem to telepathically communicate during the show, improvising crazily and yet in sync. I had to go.
My body regrets that today. There’s little-to-no seating there, and my left knee can honestly barely support me today after 5.5 hours of standing. I am seriously considering bringing the forearm crutches to my next Norva show, to help hold me up. However, it was certainly worth it – they played my favorites, “Coin-Operated Boy” and “Girl Anachronism“, new material, and material they’re preparing for their next album. For a closer, they dragged audience members and the opening act to the stage to perform Led Zepplin’s “Immigrant Song” and then cleared everyone off for their cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”. You cannot understand how awesome that was without having been there 🙂
The oddest part: in my head, people are rated “real” by the amount with which I personally get to interact with them. For example. Bill Shatner is not especially real to me – I’ve only seen him on TV and movie screens. Leonard Nimoy is slightly more so, since I’ve been in the same room with him, but separated by a stage and a couple dozen yards. George Takei I’ve spoken to briefly, but Spice Williams and I have had a lengthy conversation.
Well, Amanda unexpectedly came down from the stage in the middle of one of her songs, and continued singing as she walked around the balcony and through the fans on the floor, passing within a yard of me several times. Suddenly, her ‘real’ quotient in my head jumped dramatically, and I was quite surprised. (I was proud of my fellow Virginians, who did not mob or crowd her, but let her move freely around and respected her performance. One lady, sadly, took the chance to grope her quite unsubtly, which rattled Amanda enough that she expressed her distress on her return to the keyboard. But it didn’t dampen the evening.)
I’m pleased with the way the week’s started. I even bumped into a White Plectrum fan on the way to the concert. (“I recognize the jacket – did you work with the filk singer? I love his stuff, I can’t believe you live around here!”) Now I am sending down more blessed ibuprofen to quiet this stupid knee.
Late Thoughts on a Passing Solstice
The first time I hear “Christmas Eve – Sarajevo 12/24” every year, my calm, measured exterior cracks and emotion pours out of me. I know I ought to specify which emotion, but it’s actually hard to decipher which one.
I have always liked “The Carol of the Bells,” and this specific version speaks to me of the ability of beauty and hope to survive even the most awful of circumstances. The music here is determined, defiant, even angry, as if facing entropy squarely and shouting “You Cannot Pass!”
For much of my life, I’ve been short on hope, and kept myself going on basic stubbornness. I’ve come to realize that the two have more in common than I thought, and that they’re both ways of standing up and saying to a rough universe, “I’m going to make my part of the world a better place… even knowing that you’ll probably make it difficult. I don’t care.”
Fine sentiment, in my book.
We’ve made it through the dark days again, and light and warmth are once more on their way. Happy Holidays, everyone!
Tweets for Today
- 09:19 Trans-Siberian Orchestra just amazed me last night. Rarely have I heard and seen such joy and passion in Xmas music. #
- 10:44 I just now really, really, really wanted to be snarky and unpleasant on a message board, and I restrained myself. I am proud. #
- 13:11 Chinese lunch saying goodbye to coworker. Program manager decided to treat everyone. Day is not sucking. #
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
Tweets for Today
- 09:02 @snidegrrl: great job acing that final – woo! #
- 09:03 Humid and warm this morning. Will be claening the apt. tonight, but got TSO tickets tomorrow! #
- 14:26 I am indoors. It is 75 degrees outside right now. Why am I indoors? #
- 17:46 Thought my concert tickets had gone missing. Just found them again. BIG sigh of relief. #
- 23:11 Just watched Science Channel video of people doing repairs on the Empire State Building’s spire. Vertigo- and nausea-inducing. #
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
Countless Screaming Argonauts
Thursday night, the Norva hosted They Might Be Giants for an evening. I’d wanted to go, but hadn’t gotten around to getting tickets and would probably have eventually blown it off; however, I got a phone call from Dwight offering me a spare ticket. I wasn’t going to turn down a free pass! We swung by on Tuesday and picked up a ticket for Starr, and looked forward to the evening.
When I arrived the night of the concert, I got a shiny green wristband to go with the “yes I’m over 21” wristbad. I learned that this band would get me upstairs into the VIP balcony seating, and VIP restrooms and bar/lounge. Swank! raininva and torn757 showed up for the concert, and I got to wave to them from the balcony before heading down to chat. (I said it a couple of times at the show, but I’ll repeat again that Rain’s really looking great. And I got to meet her boyfriend, which was cool.)
Starr finally got out of work, and arrived during the opening performance – a band from Ireland named Oppenheimer. She didn’t have a VIP pass, though! So I told her I’d stay downstairs and enjoy the show with her. The question turned out moot; Starr walked up to a bouncer, smiled sweetly, and made an impressive Fast Talk roll. Soon we were all upstairs for the rest of the evening.
The show itself was awesome. The band sounded incredible, and put on a goofy, geeky hilarious show. They played everything I’d hoped to hear, including “Mesopotamians”, “The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas”, “Particle Man”, and of course “Birdhouse” and “Istanbul”. (Did you know that one of the primary components of the Sun’s nuclear fusion is Advil?)
A bouncy, entertaining, endorphin-rush night. Hard to ask for better.
A VTSFFC Party, Day One
It turns out that a 5-hour drive in a Mini Cooper is a lot more comfortable than you’d think. In the front seat, anyway.
Dwight introduced me to a bunch of very good music. I’m going to have to look up some more material by the Dresden Dolls and the Supreme Beings of Leisure. The company was excellent and the scenery compelling (and the leaves haven’t even turned yet!)
We arrived in Blacksburg, picked up shrewlet, and wandered into Invisifest around 4, into a panel that tltrent was hosting. I was knocked over by my welcome; my VTSFFC family is one excellent bunch of folk, who really know how to make a guy feel like he’s where he belongs. I caught up with rattrap, nius, rainbowsaber, mephox, anterus, southernsinger, rubinpdf, Cathy, Ben, Jamie, and many other people. Around six, we had to shut down the panel, but we dragged most of the crowd to Macado’s, where Pat and I geeked out over Whovian matters while we waited for our food.
There was a brief attempt at handing Technicon 25 over to me, which I discuss a little more over in my lifestyle filter (if you want to be added to that and haven’t been, leave a comment here to that effect). Suffice it to say that their idea would have made for a quite memorable TCon, and that I turned down the kind offer. Rapidly. Possibly in nanoseconds 🙂
We went back to the ‘Fest for Keith’s White Plectrum concert, which was a small, laughter-filled performance. Keith paid me high compliments by telling the story of how “Red Pill” was written. For those who asked, the throwaway line which inspired “When They Shut Down The Fusion Plant (We’ll Pack Our Bags And Glow)” is found in Music From the Heart of Space, a Starfleet: Batron Eleven fanfic which includes elements of Doctor Who, Robotech: Macross, and Megazone 23. Despite that mashup, I’m still rather proud of the tale, which will always live on in some small manner thanks to Jerry’s twisted creative mind.
We had to leave shortly afterwards. I wish I’d had the energy to stay all night and party, but I have a wedding to attend tomorrow!
Radio Telescope Ga-Ga
I quote the Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait:
“Most people are surprised — I was when I first heard — that Brian May is actually a scientist. He had just started working on his PhD thesis when he got distracted by his guitar playing in some band or another. But he knew was gonna be a big man someday.”
His thesis is entitled Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud, and it seems he now has his degree. I only hope the “Flight of the Hawkmen” theme played as he accepted the honors.
This is just… excellent.
Getting It Started
Question: Are you, the reader, familiar with both the recording artists a) Shirley Bassey and b) “Pink”?
If you are a member of that exclusive club, you would only be punishing yourself by not clicking “play” on the associated video.
Otherwise, you may still enjoy it, but you will sadly be unable to perceive the true levels of awesome presented here.
