the dreams in which i'm dying are the best i've ever had
i think its 1 in 2,099,601
Saturday i just worked around the house and got a whole lot done. Jen and I went to dinner at the Tam O'Shanter in Los Feliz. Its one of the Lawry's restaurants in LA and IMHO all of the restaurants that Lawrys ever opened were unbelievable. I drive my the old California location, and i wish they'd open it back up to the public. Anyway, a great meal as always.
So today Jen and I finally started to look at the spa. We hadn't done anything to it yet, so we finally checked the pH level of the water. OMFG we've let it go. So we get max readings on all levels, and we have to dump in all kinds of chemicals to counteract everything. So we'll check it again next weekend and maybe jump in to relax.
Its a little bar a couple doors down from C&O on washington. Its in the last block before the beach. BUT THE BURGERS... they are unbelievable. So the three of us had lunch there and a few pints, but its defiantly being added to my list of lunch regular spots.
That being said... Jim sent me this link today and its one of the best sources of knowledge about what is going on with street artwork all over the world. Its going into the list of sites i check out daily.
We fooled with airplane tickets for about 5 minutes, and saw how much it was. It would also mean that we would have to stay in Oakland the night cause we couldn't get a flight out after the show. Nope. The we figured we'd get a rental car and have a nice ride up there. Well it turns out we just ended up driving Will's car all the way.
We headed out yesterday at about noon and figured we'd get there a hour or so before the show. We stopped for food and gas on the way so everything said and done it was 6 hours (5 hours driving). Will has the Night with Kevin Smith DVDs, and he had ripped the audio and put it on his ipod (now thats fuckin good fair use). The entire stand up runs for 4 hours, so that kept us entertained almost the entire way up there. I was dying laughing almost the entire time.
So we get to Oakland before the show and enter an almost empty parking lot. We wander over to will call and pick up our tickets, and we get in line to go through security. When we get to all the over-the-hill fat fucks that are hassling all the people going into the arena... we couldn't fuckin believe it. They were actually telling girls that they couldn't take belts into the arena that had studs on them. We saw a large number of girls standing next to a trash can with the look of "WTF are they serious?" on their faces. They were hassling another girl who had a top on with the full rope bondage weave over it. They told her she couldn't take the rope into the show. What a fuckin joke.
Once inside we sat down in front with a huge group of people. About 30 minutes into this we both had sore asses and fuckin gave up. We both knew damn well that we'd be back up at the front anyway when the show started. So we headed back to get something to drink and eat.
We hung out in the entrance tunnel for most of the opening acts. We pulled up some wall right in prime people-watching position and sat and talked for another hour. At this point i saw Aaron Silverman. He walked right in front of me, looked directly at me, and kept on moving. I feel like such an ass cause i seem to see him everywhere and i still have yet to say hi to him. (long story, but he used to date a girl i lived with back in college) So we hear Queens of the Stone Age wrapping up their set and we head out onto the floor. We easily walk up for beyond the place we had originally been sitting and get into the crowd as we wait for Trent to go on.
I notice some kid is behind us listening to everything Will and I are saying at this point. We're speculating about the position of the pit and which way to go when the lights go down. He looks a little surprised, and i finally turn around to him and say, just stay behind us and you can get to the barricade if you want. So we talk with the kid awhile and a couple other people around us. One lady in front of us was a spiral member but didn't go the meet and greet. She also had seen the show a couple times already this tour and was going back to the Santa Cruz show. So a couple more minutes and we find out "the Kid" had never been to a NIN show and he was all fucking excited. Lights go down, a little push for "Pinion", and then everybody starts moving around during "Love is not Enough". When "You Know What You Are" hits, its all fuckin over. Pit opens up clearly directly in front of us and we walk right on it and spend the rest of the show right there about 15 feet from stage.
Now pit etiquette is... somebody falls, you pick them up. somebody gets pushed really hard, you don't take it personal, Somebody gives you water in the pit... HOLD ON.. WTF? this is the NICEST PIT i have ever been in! People running around like fuckin crazy people one second and then patting each other on the back 2 seconds later and handing around cups of water. Talk about a FUCKING amazing crowd. Everybody was really into the show and everybody knew every line of every song. Well except for one girl IN THE PIT that knew NOTHING about NIN. She was talking to Will at one point and he had to actually tell her that NIN is really Trent Reznor plus a fucking incredible touring group.
So here's the set list from last night.
Pinion Love is Not Enough You Know What You Are Terrible Lie The Line Begins to Blur March of the Pigs Something I Can Never Have The Frail The Wretched Closer Burn Gave Up Eraser Right Where It Belongs Beside You in Time With Teeth Wish Only Deep Reptile Dead Souls Suck Hurt The Hand That Feeds Head Like a Hole
I can't say enough about the emotion Trent brings to the show. He's screaming lyrics one second and then during songs like "Something I Can Never Have" he sounds like he's crying between verses. The set list itself (that has been said many times before) is put together so that the energy of the show moves in waves. There is a huge build up to powerfully fast and aggressive songs where you'll get the shit beat out of yourself in the pit, and then it subsides and moves to slower and more emotional songs.
I've seen Trent on a number of tours and at a number of large and small venues. Overall i think this was the best of the shows i have ever seen. Well worth driving 722 miles round trip (about 10 hours of driving time).
So after the show Will and i head out of town and get on the road. We get gas and make it all the way to a Denny's at 3:14AM somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We get some grub and talk, ears still ringing. Back on the road. Will got me home before sunrise. I promptly pass out not thinking that i am going to get a phone call. I wake a couple hours later to the phone ringing in the distance. groggy i get out of bed and run around the house to find the phone. "Yes Jen, i'm alright. We're home and safe. I'm trying to sleep. Yes you can call me back later. bye"
...
why does my leg hurt so much? hmmm must have gotten hit harder than i thought. i was back asleep in 30 seconds.
So i finally dragged my ass out of bed by choice some time after 1. I immediately downloaded the GPS data that i had gotten from the drive. The map i've had has had a huge gap in the middle. Mostly there's LA driving, but there was a bit of SF driving when i met my brothers. So this drive now connect the LA and SF blobs. Almost a year of data now. (PDF link)
Which is most true?
I like to burn things.
I like peace.
i laughed for a second and realized that the tie breaker was between Lennon and Hendrix. Funny tie breaker though.
 | You scored as John Lennon.
Which Famous Dead musician are You? created with QuizFarm.com |
 | You scored as Jimi Hendrix.
Which Famous Dead musician are You? created with QuizFarm.com |
