Although my lover lives in a place that I can’t live…I kind of find I like a life this lonely...

Before I even begin this post, let me explain my last post. Sometimes I like to write about nothing. I hope you enjoyed it.

Friday 4.14.06:
I was in New York City via Teaneck NJ this weekend for what would prove to be a fantastic concert experience. I left D.C. and again had a lovely train ride up to the city, where rain awaited me. Yetta found an awesome parking space and we hung around 34th street and Hammerstein Ballroom where Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand were scheduled to make an appearance later in the evening. We met up with Yetta’s stepsister Jen, drinking in Starbucks and shooting the shit. Yetta and Jen are both obsessed with pop culture, and I was amazed by their bizarre knowledge. We then met up with the wonderful Robyn who had many stories of her own to tell. I won’t embarrass her here, needless to say the woman is experiencing many cool things for the first time this year…hopefully traveling to distant lands, and falling in love…with those places. Robyn your charm continues to amuse me. But more importantly, I pray that you receive all that your heart desires.

We chatted for a while and then headed over to Hammerstein where Robyn hooked us up with tickets that were waiting for us at the will call window. At first we stood at the back of this ginormous line that stretched almost around the block. I think when we saw this line we all began to panic, because the tickets were GA and we knew that all these people would be staking out spots near the stage. We managed to skip ahead in the line because of the will call situation (which I only felt mildly bad about, but I got over it quickly) and were thoroughly inspected by the bouncers there. That was not pleasant. Yetta stuck her camera down the front of her pants and I was pretty worried, because that could have been a potentially awful situation…I hid my camera in my sunglasses case. After the lovely pat down, we went in and were told that our tickets hadn’t arrived yet. But after few minutes we got our tickets and they had these little red stars on them. We were wondering what they were, when the lady that scanned our tickets told us that we had some kind of special seating in the first level mezzanine. After some finagling on Yetta’s part, we were seated in the front row of the balcony, which frankly kicked ass because I’m short and can’t see over tall peeps. We had a perfect view, but it posed a bit of a problem for me because I was planning to tape a few of the songs. I didn’t want to stick out and have my camera confiscated. But it was pretty clear that once the show started cameras weren’t an issue. In the massive sea of people below us, camera lights sparkled like starlight.

The Cribs hit the stage at 7:30 and at first they were really cool. For the first song. And then it seemed to head downhill. Yetta and I agreed that their drummer took some classes from the Paul Thompson school of badass drumming. I swear Robyn feel asleep at one point, or many points, during the night. (I hope you got all your papers done!). Death Cab for Cutie took the stage at 8:20 and their stage set was awesome. It was lined with white silhouetted trees, and framed by two houses. Do you remember that scene in “Inventing the Abbotts” when Joaquin showed Liv Tyler the stage design in the auditorium at their college? It had a silhouette of a barn, a ladder, and a old pickup truck, and it was all very spare and beautiful. Anyway, that’s what the DCFC stage reminded me of. Just lovely. And I absolutely loved their portion of the show, which included Soul Meets Body and What Sarah Said (my favorite), but the best part of the show was the last song, Transatlanticism, which just soared beyond anything I ever expected from this band. It was very Sigur Ros like, and I made sure to tell Yetta that all of Sigur Ros’ live songs have that epic feeling to them. There were a lot of DCFC fans in the audience, and the band got great energy from the crowd, though I happened to be beside the two non-DCFC-lovers in the room..Yetta..Robyn...humph. I thought the band just jammed and rocked it with their Seattle-selves. I’m so happy that I got to see them live, and they really give us all hope towards being rock stars someday, because they’re kind of unconventional rock stars, in that they look very status quo and normal. I can’t wait until they come around again, although I have a feeling that I might be alone in that endeavor.

At 9:55 Franz Ferdinand took the stage and I swear the heat in the room raised about twenty degrees. The band came out in darkness and then literally assaulted the audience with “This Boy.” People were going crazy. In the balcony no one was standing, partially because it’s weird to stand in the balcony, and if you’re in the front row like we were, you try not to be rude to the people behind. But a few songs into the set, Alex saw all of us in the balcony and challenged us to get up and dance. It was at that point that Yetta could no longer contain herself. She officially freaked out and scared me a little bit by jumping like a maniac. I felt absolutely compelled to record “40ft.”, my favorite song from their first album, and incidentally, my phone’s ringtone.

40ft.

Take Me Out

They completely obliterated the song and I couldn’t help displaying my little girl glee. Everything else melted into a gigantic blur of disco hysteria. The lights were flashing, the band was packing heat, and it all spilled over into one of the best encores I’ve ever seen: “Outsiders” followed by “This Fire.” Oh my God. Hell, it deserves another one. Oh my God. Watch the full length spectacle below.

Outsiders

This Fire

You know what I love about Franz Ferdinand? Everything. Alex’s showmanship, Nick’s superfantastich tight guitar playing, Bob’s unassuming but groovadelic basslines, and Paul’s floppy but spastic, out of this universe drumming, which is officially criminal. And Alex probably wore the most outrageous striped pants any self-respecting European could ever hope to get away with. For Alex, those pants weren’t even a second thought, and he didn’t give us any reason to doubt them. At the end of “This Fire” Alex jumped onto the right stack and held his guitar high over his head. It was the sign that Franz Ferdinand had conquered New York City and it marked complete triumph. The only band that I would even dare to consider more fun than Franz is the Flaming Lips, because Wayne and Company take the word ‘spectacle’ to another level entirely. Even though we weren’t front and center, I think this show topped the MSG one in terms of energy and sound. If you’ve ever been to Hammerstein Ballroom, then you know that the ceiling extends 75 feet high. One would think the sound would get lost, but it wasn’t lost on me. Every band I’ve seen there (Doves, Keane, Franz) has sounded awesome. And in each case I was in a different part of the venue. Yetta said that there were moments where everyone else disappeared, and she felt that the band played just for her. I didn’t quite have that experience this time, but I did when I saw Muse, and so I appreciated her sentiment. I thought Yetta might pass out from the excitement. I thought Robyn was going to fall asleep standing up. But even Robyn couldn’t resist the urge to engage in the Franz. Yeah, you were clapping, I know you were! After the show was over, we made our way downstairs so that I could buy a DCFC shirt, and a vinyl version of “You could have it so much better” because it was my hope to get it signed by the whole band. We then said goodbye to Robyn and sent her on her way back to a night filled with paper-writing anxiety.

Yetta and I then began the second part of the long night ahead. We walked through the parking lot next to Hammerstein towards the back entrance of the venue. We saw a group of about 30 fans waiting outside the stage entrance which was a good thing because it meant that the band hadn’t left yet. Yetta and I made it our mission to meet Nick and Alex since we didn’t get to the last time. We met a really fun family from Staten Island, where the concert going was a family affair. We waited and waited and watched as the road crew packed the enormous amount of equipment into several big rigs. The whole operation was like a well-oiled machine working to haul the circus to the next town.


After about half and hour, Bob and Andrew Knowles (Paul’s drum tech and drummer for the Fiery Furnaces) came out to say hello. Bob apparently had a stunningly beautiful girlfriend with him, but I honestly didn't notice. Yetta couldn't stop talking about how beautiful she was, but it went right into the periphery. I just couldn't get over how we snagged a photo with Bob, because he seemed eager to get away for some snogging with said girlfriend. He always has this deer in headlights pose that I find charming. Look at how pale he is next to me. And this isn't even my tanned look.

Andy was such a fun guy and very sweet. I told him "I love that you play everything!" (Because he's always bouncing around from instrument to instrument and steals the show with his grand "Outsiders" drum entrance). He responded by saying, "It's all just about greed really..." Yeah, new crush on Andy. I don't know how he splits his time between Franz detail and Fiery Furnaces duty, but I guess I'm going to have to check out a Fiery Furnaces show the next time they tour.


About 30 minutes after that, Paul and Nick came out to greet the group. Nick was an absolute sweetheart, and he was very calm and quiet with everyone. During the show, he was wearing a very spiffy western style shirt, that we later found out was bought in Tuscon Arizona. Just some random information brought to you by the letter F and...the other letter F.



Paul was just himself, which is kind of this combination of awkward and incredibly cool. He originally went to his bus to put his stuff away and when he arrived again he had a rather large and unopened milk carton in his hands. I guess I was expecting a Guinness or something, but no, just milk. Oh how I long for the days when I wasn't lactose intolerant. I used to drink milk like it was water, which I guess is what he was about to do. The whole thing was just funny for some reason. Yetta actually told him that he reminded her of "Animal" from the muppets. But she prefaced it with "I mean this in the best way possible..." which made my embarrassment meter actually rise about ten notches. I just feel like sometimes, some things should be kept inside our heads. Even if I totally agree with the fact that he is very "Animal"-like and plays the drums like a calculated madman. Anyway, I told him that his drumming made me feel insane. He's one of the few drummers that inspires me to be a drummer. All the guys signed my LP, thanks to Yetta pushing it in their faces. Thanks for that Yetta. Let's face it, if you hadn't done it, it wouldn't have gotten done, because I would have hidden in a corner, never to be seen again.

Anyway, up until this point there wasn't any sign of the Death Cab guys, but it could have been because they went first, and they probably went back to the bus to rest. But then Yetta spotted the bassist, Nick Harmer, the crazy guy in the middle of the stage who is a true headbanger. He was extremely chill and nice. I love Death Cab, I really do, and I never thought I'd give into that pressure. But it seems like they aren't a big deal hype-wise anymore, and maybe that's why I think they're incredible.

Another 30 minutes or so passed and all the waiting fans decided to pack it in at relatively the same time. Yet again, Yetta and I found ourselves alone in stalkersville. Technically, we weren't alone, all the road crew were still there loading the trucks, and we just watched them. By this time, it was probably about 1:30-2 am. We made a pact that we wouldn't leave until the backstage doors were shut and locked. Still no sign of Alex. We saw the rest of the Franz guys get onto one of five tour buses parked along the street, and they weren't leaving, so we figured that Alex hadn't come out yet. At about 2:30 Yetta saw Nick again, talking to some people across the street, so she decided to ask him where Alex was. Because Yetta can just do that. I, on the other hand, didn't move a muscle, and I actually took a seat on a nearby chair. I watched as she moved in slowly, attacking from behind. And then they started chatting it up. She motioned to me, through big waves of her arms, for me to join them, and so I did, reluctantly. Nick was wearing a jean jacket, which looked quite darling on his small frame. He was really drunk, but not ugly and stumbly drunk, just slurred in speech and slightly ADD. Yetta told him that Alex continued to elude us, and I think she said that he was our Everest or Moby Dick or something. Nick told us that he didn't know where Alex was exactly, but that he had gone out to "dinner with a friend." Which was probably code for "making out with Eleanor." Which is hot.

Yetta kept saying "We never get to see Alex" and then I took it upon myself to rub Nick's arm and say "But we have Nick and he's awesome!" He laughed. It was my really cheap way of copping a feel. Yeah, I admit it. In this regard, I have no shame. I have rubbed many a musician...on the arm. He has the prettiest pair of blue eyes and they were irresistable, even if he was drunk. He couldn't have been any nicer. So we talked with him for a while, and I asked him what the view was like from the stage. "Can you really see far out into the audience?" And he said that he can see the first few rows of people, but not so much beyond that. Then I asked if he feeds off the people in the audience, and he said "What do you think? Of course!" I then informed him that unlike himself, I was not a fabuloso rock star, and could not truly imagine what his perspective was like. He said that he always finds 5 or 6 people in the audience, and bounces off of them. This has most definitely been substantiated by Nathan's recent Franz post. He then told us that he couldn't promise anything, but suggested that we wait a little longer for Alex, since they were scheduled to leave soon to head off to Canada. Yetta told him that she thought they were some of the nicest musicians she has ever met, just really chill and laid back. I quickly said, "Yeah, but onstage you're completely possessed and insane." I saw Nick's wife approaching out of the corner of my eye, and automatically knew that our cool little conversation would be coming to an end. Man, she did not look pleased. The exact word I would use to describe her would be "annoyed." But I can't understand why. It was only the two of us talking to him and it's not like we were being skanky. I don't even know how to fake being skanky. I'm so boring like that, though I can't speak for Yetta on that issue. Just kidding! haha. Ah, I make myself laugh.

So Nick left us with hugs and kisses. No wait...no kisses. Damn. Just hugs. But it was pretty cool to talk with him for so long. So Yetta and I just stood right beside the bus, along the sidewalk, in this kind of dark and creepy section of the street, tired, and hoping that we wouldn't have to wait too much longer, though I definitely could have if I had to.

At about 2:50 Yetta and I were shooting the shit about The Edge when I noticed this couple waaaay in the distance, down the street, on the corner of 35th and 8th ave. Let me paint this most awesome picture for you, because that's what I like to do:

There was a slight mist in the air, leftover from the rain earlier in the day. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm, especially so early in the morning. A single street light hung over that corner, and I could see a very stylish looking couple in each other's arms. The woman was wearing a large collared creamish rain jacket, reminding me of a Jackie Kennedy style. The man was a bit taller then she was, wearing a dark cropped jacket, with broad shoulders, and a round head. They were clearly saying goodbye to each other, as they exchanged many hugs, and the guy kissed the girl's neck, in that "I want to smell you one last time" way. I leaned towards Yetta in that moment and actually said, "Oh my God is that Alex? Whoa that's hot. Wouldn't it be so amazing if that was like, Alex and Eleanor and he was like, saying goodbye to her, and then like, just walked down the street towards us?" It was a very private moment that we just happened to spy on, shamelessly. Suddenly the couple parted ways, the woman walked along 8th Ave, and the man crossed the street and began walking down 35th Street in our direction. It was Alex, and Yetta and I stopped breathing for a minute. I distinctly remember saying, "Oh shit, I think that's him" and Yetta saying, "Oh my God, he's coming and he's wearing the pants!" in her high pitched, squeeky voice. He was several yards away, and we just watched him walk alone down the street, no one else around. No fans, no band members, no crew, no other person but Alex, lost in thought. It was so hot. And as I watched him, I honestly couldn't help but be reminded of James Dean - he had that sexy brooding quality. It was seriously like watching a film. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had to rub my eyes with my fists and make that "er-eh er-eh" wiping sound. I even whispered to Yetta, "Oh my god, it's like a movie. He looks like he's in a movie." We both just stared at him while he made his way down the block. At the last second, I retreated behind Yetta because I was scared to death, of what, I don't know. I guess I always imagine that they'll be pissed or something. But we waited there until almost 3am, and if that doesn't show devotion, I don't know what does. I think he was a little confused as to who we were, but he figured it out pretty quickly, and was so amazingly nice, and lucid, I might add. Yetta was completely overcome and I was just standing there with a stupid grin on my face.

She said a whole bunch of things that I can't remember, but they had to do with being possessed by their music, having it get into her bones and making her dance. I just couldn't believe that I was talking to the man who had, four hours earlier, conquered New York. We told him that we saw the MSG Theatre show in the fall and that we had such an amazing time there as well. But he told us that this Hammerstein Show was their best New York show yet, and we quickly agreed. We asked him if we could take pics, and then I asked him to sign my LP really large across the front, which he did. We thanked him profusely for talking to us so early in the morning, and then Yetta asked him for a hug, and then I again, rode her coattails and got a Kapranos hug for myself. I told him good luck with the rest of the tour and he said that he thinks it will be a great rest of the tour. He walked towards the bus while we headed in the opposite direction. It took all the energy we could muster to remain calm. I managed to turn around and look at Alex one last time, and was surprised to find that he had turned around and had a little grin on his face. I shit you not. I immediately got embarrassed and turned back around to find Yetta on the brink of happy tears. And said, "Are you crying?" and then I laughed. Because I had done the same thing when I met Magnet, who I incidentially, had another dream about last night. I keep replaying that image on my mind, of Alex walking down the street, just a dude wearing striped pants. It was very iconic. So Friday was fun. C, I wish you had been there, twas my only regret.

The rest of the weekend was spent chillin' like a villain at Yetta's house, where she made a fantastic Matzo ball soup for Passover. I've never had it before and it was very good. I think I ate enough Matzah this weekend to officially convert me into a Jew. I'm not kidding. I totally finished off the olive spread with the Matzah. At one point it was all slightly compulsive. We rented the film "A History of Violence" with Viggo Mortensen and it was really good, if not slightly deprived of an ending I could deal with. We flipped our lids at not one, but both of the sex scenes which definitely rival the Monster's Ball action, imo. We also spent the weekend shopping, talking, and laughing. We visited Yetta's mom on Sunday and had a nice time sitting outside and soaking in the beautiful sunlight. Thank you Yetta for another spectacular weekend!

In other news, that is probably much more important than any of this stuff, my advisor found a replacement committee member for me. This was great news and I was so relieved. Things are moving forward, slowly but surely.

Hello to all my friends that were/are celebrating holidays. Buddhists don't really have holidays, we just kind of try to remain neutral on everything so that the other days of the year don't feel bad about themselves. Not that I've ever stuck to that. I get fireworks on my birthday, so I learned from a pretty early age that the day of my birth was a fucking special thing.... ;0)

haha. Cheers!

The new Keane single is yummy chocolate.

Listening to: Franz Ferdinand, Matt Nathanson, Snow Patrol, Keane, KT Tunstall, Arctic Monkeys, Spoon

Watching: Family Guy, PrisonBreak, 24, Alias!