It’s hardly conscious; more often than not, I’ll be totally preoccupied or busy doing something when a song will come on, and I get this very vivid picture of some other time.

Last night, I was sitting here listening to music and playing a video game (thanks, Slickdeals!  Free is better than $20!), when I decided to listen to Barenaked Ladies Are Me.  I was totally focused on the game, but when the first track came on, it felt like last October.  (Ok, maybe the air conditioning being on had something to do with that, but still!) 
I didn’t even think about it; I just got this vivid picture feeling of waking up at 1am and putting that CD in as I got ready to head into work for my 3am shift. 
As rough as that month was, it was still a nice memory.  I guess it’s easy for anything in the past to be “the good old days.”

Anyway, that happens to me fairly frequently, so I just thought I’d share. 

That’s why I didn’t kill myself to get tickets to the DC show this past week.

I don’t how I missed hearing about it, but, in addition to DC, Arcade Fire was playing Philly on Saturday.  I’m usually aware of things like this months in advance, but I didn’t find out until mid-week.
And again, based largely on the disappointmend I had in DC two years ago, I almost didn’t go.

That would have been a mistake.

This was one of the best shows I had ever seen!

I felt kind of bad; I spent less than two hours with my grandmom on Saturday before I left the hospital and walked 3 blocks to the PATCO train to Philly.

From there I grabbed the Market-Frankford El to the 69th Street Terminal at the end of the line in Upper Darby.

I had never used the El before but, like pretty much all public transit in this area, they get the big picture right and the details all wrong. 
As much as I love public transportation, it seems that, in and around Philly, they do everything possible to make riding it as unpleasant as possible.  But that’s a post for a different day.

Regardless, the train dropped me off right in front of the Tower Theatre.
Which is good, because Upper Darby isn’t a place to screw around.

(Despite my gripes about the train, I’d encourage people to take it to the Tower, since I know there were some break-ins in the parking lot during the show).

This show had sold out several months ago, and I didn’t have a ticket.
But this detail had never stopped me before and, sure enough, I was able to find my way inside.

Whenever I have extra tickets for something, I try to help out my fellow fans–I’ve given tickets away, and I’ve never charged more than face value.
I’m not sure if it’s karma or what, I’ve pretty much always been able to find the same type of deal when I am on the buying end.

The first guy I found wanted $75 for a seat; “thanks, but no thanks.”
A few minutes later, right at 8pm and just as the opening act was coming on, I found a couple of kids selling orchestra (lower-level) seats for $40.  That was my target price, so I was happy to get it.

I was even happier when, after I got inside, the guy sitting next to me traded me for a seat even closer to the stage.

I had never been to the Tower Theater before, and it’s an interesting place.
I believe it seats about 3500, but I thought it felt larger.  I think this is probably because the balconies don’t wrap around to the sides, and they don’t overhang the lower level by much.  I took a quick glimpse up from the very top, and it was very high up.

The Tower Theatre has all of the cool touches that you’d expect of a historic, depression-era theatre/movie palace (marquee, nice upholstery, ornate mouldings, etc), but it seems to have been re-fitted in a couple of areas.  The seats must be new (it is FAR more comfortable than most theatres from that era), and there are a few paintings that seem to set the mood for the rock shows that it mostly hosts these days.

The opening act was The National, whom I had never heard of before.  They were very good, and they seemed to have brought a fair amount of their own fans–kind of surprising considering how quickly this show sold out.

The Arcade Fire came on at 9:20, and immediately started rocking.  And the crowd immediately got into it!

And immediately after the first song, they invited us to leave our seats and crowd up front!

(I was REALLY glad that the band had us crowd up front, but I couldn’t help but wonder why they were playing theaters, and even churches, on this tour if they want that kind of atmosphere.)

Regardless, the crowd was INTO IT!
I think I spent almost as much time during the show looking around in awe at the crowd as I did watching the concert!

It was just a great experience.

The setlist:

1. Black Mirror (Immediately put to rest my fears that some of the newer, darker songs would dull the concert.)
2. No Cars Go (Awesome!)
3. Laika (Coming into this right after No Cars Go had everyone rockin’!)
4. Haiti (I don’t even like this song, but tonight, it was great!)
5. Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
6. Neon Bible (Seriously, it’s amazing how fun they made such dark subject matter.)
7. Windowsill
8. Well and the Lighthouse (They played much more off Neon Bible than Funeral).
9. Ocean of Noise
10. (Antichrist Television Blues)
11. Power Out
12. Rebellion (Lies)
————-
13. Keep the Car Running (Good encores)
14. Intervention (I could have done without the guy who tore up a Bible, but aside from that, a great song)

The one-two punch of Power Out, segueing right into Rebellion (Lies) was absolutely INSANE. 

Maybe it was because I didn’t have any expectations (after a disappointment the last time I saw them, and without knowing for sure that I was going until I was there, I didn’t have the opportunity to get excited or even hope for any songs), but this show just blew me away. 
Mostly, though, I think it was the energy from on stage and in the audience that made it what it was.

People always use the word “cathartic” to describe AF shows.  It didn’t occur to me until today, but I really did feel better after the show.  Maybe there’s something to that.

Check out this YouTube link of No Cars Go and Laika.

Anyone want to head up to NYC this week to catch them again?

After a month of going back-and-forth with my old job about the possibility of working for them once a week in DC, I finally got a definitive “no.”

On the bright side, they told me that they’d be willing to take me back part- or full-time.  So, hopefully that offer stays on the table for a more days/weeks/months/years/decades, until I’m finally able to return to work regularly.  All jobs have their ups and downs, but overall, I really enjoyed the work I got to do there, I appreciated the opportunities I was given, I believed in my work, and I liked my coworkers and work environment.  I hope to return there someday.

But for now, one day a week just isn’t enough for them.  C’est la vie, je pense.

In the meantime, I’ve been sending out inquiries left and right about the possibility of doing some freelance writing.  I bet I’ve sent out at least 10 in the past week alone.  I’ve had a few bites, which I wouldn’t be surprised to hear back from again, but nothing solid yet.

I think having a solid background in TV news makes me look more appealing as a possible freelance writer than some guy off the street who just wants to write.  BUT even then, I’m still a good ways behind people with published clips, even if they were only in student publications.

If you’re interested in a freelance writer/editor, garybutterworth@usa.net is all you need to know!

For now, I’m just gonna keep on trying.
It’s depressing as hell now, but things have always found a way of working out for me. 

(Yes, I really am that optimistic).

Arcade Fire: Official Band of the Blogosphere!

In better news, the new Arcade Fire CD came out on Tuesday!

Yes, I know it’s the download age, but there’s still something about going out on a Tuesday and getting a new CD on the day it comes out!

The CD is very good. 
(Despite the “Delux Edition” not being worth the extra $4).

The new album, Neon Bible, is at least as dark as Funeral but far more fatalistic. It’s a little spooky, actually.  Especially the album artwork.
Being an optimistic guy and a non-critical listener, I find it much easier to get into upbeat music, which Funeral strangely was.

So, while I’m not playing Neon Bible over and over and over and over and over and over and over like I did with Funeral, it’s still very good. 

Keep the Car Running is the highlight for me, but the new version of No Cars Go is great, and there are a few more standouts, as well.

But this review is far better than anything I could ever hope to write.  Or this one from the DO at SU.

Currently Listening Neon Bible By Arcade Fire Keep the Car Running see related

–30–

I’ve got it!

It’s called Xxtralarge by ABN!  Although I was partially wrong; it’s mostly not in English.  (Looks like Dutch to me).

It came to me in the shower.  Why is it that you always get your best ideas in the bathroom?  And why is it that I was using moisturizing soap?  I HATE moisturizing soap!
It’s not particularly a good song, nor is it particularly memorable, but I am glad I remembered it, since it was bugging me.

In other news, what is up with this weather?!  WAY too warm for Christmas.

Case in point: sometime around 1999, I heard some obscure English song by some obscure Eastern-European rock group that, if I remember correctly, was unintentionally funny.  Somehow, I found the mp3. 

Well, that mp3 vanished long ago and, for some reason, tonight that song came to mind.  Sort of.  I can’t really remember any details.  I’ve already typed everything I remember about it.  I think either the band or the song had a letter X in it.  Maybe 2 ‘x’es.

Any ideas what it could be?  I know I have some readers in the Ukraine (hi!  I don’t know who you are, but hi!)…any help?

I know, it sounds impossible, doesn’t it?  Well, I’ve come through better than this before.  When I was in 5th grade in 1993, I was in the car with my mom, and there was a song on the radio.  In the chorus, there was one line, “it’s all the same!” that, for reasons I can’t explain, stuck with me for years.  Every once in a while, I’d google and have no luck.  BUT!  Eventually I managed to track it down: “Close Your Eyes” by Edward Bear.  It’s not a favorite song by any means, but finding it put my mind at ease.  I’d really like to find this song that I can’t think of right now.

Anyway, I think everyone knows that I went to Dustin’s wedding in May.  A little less than two months after that, I went to New York City for work.  I spent a weekend there filming pieces on Times Square, Pakistani entrepreneurs, and (the main reason we went), the West Indies Cricket Team!  I enjoyed the match, even though we had to leave early, and it was a thrill getting to run the camera for an interview with Brian Lara.  (Some people say Brian Lara is the Michael Jordan of cricket.  I say Michael Jordan is the Brian Lara of basketball.  Best player since Bart King.)

NYC was my first ever business trip, and it was a lot of fun.  Fortunately, the good times kept rolling over the summer, because just a month later, I got to go to London on the company dime! 

I worked on a bunch of stories there, the highlight of which was an interview with deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (who was incredibly fascinated by my camera). 

(The second highlight was a soccer game.  It was a fun ending to the trip, but it was frustrating to be in a new place and have almost no time to explore.  I thought about calling out sick and hanging around an extra day to explore, but I didn’t think that would be very professional.  I certainly made the right decision; if I had hung around, I would have been flying back the day the bomb plot was foiled!)

Those work trips were really productive, and a lot of fun, too.  I wish I had the opportunity to shoot more, because it seems that I improve quite a bit after each shoot.  Of course, I still have room for improvement.

Part of me felt a little shortchanged by not getting to sightsee in London.  Ironically, going away made me want a vacation even more!  So a couple of weeks ago I went to Montreal.

To see Maczde Carpate: 

I found it a little odd that they played the whole concert without shirts on, but I met them afterwards and they were really nice guys.  They were surprised that I came so far just to see them, but they were cool about it.  They signed the new CD for me, which is really good.  The new Barenaked Ladies CD (see the last post, below), is also very good.   

The next afternoon I rented a car and went to a QMJHL game in Drummondville, where I had a bad experience.  But let’s not dwell on that.

So now I’m back home and off to virtual Afghanistan. 

You probably know that I’ve been working on an Urdu-language TV show to Pakistan for a little over a year now.  Well, next week they’re launching two new shows to Afghanistan: one in Dari, the other in Pashto.  And they want me to help out for the first four weeks.  The catch: it’s shown live in Afghanistan, so we work 4am-12noon; it moves up an hour once the time changes.

They say four weeks; it better be four weeks.  Of course, I wouldn’t be shocked if they ask me to stay longer, and I guess there’s always the chance that it’ll not work out, but I’m planning on working 4am-noon for the next four weeks.  I might try to keep my current job in Urdu at the same time; we’ll see how long I can swing that for.  I’m still young, right?  So I can do a month of 16 hours days, right?

Anyway, you might not see me for a while.  So that’s where I’ll be: Virtual Afghanistan.

The MC mp3s I’ve heard so far are awesome.  Believe it or not, I haven’t really heard any of the new BNL.  I feel kinda bad about that; I’m usually really up-to-date with stuff like that, but most of the pre-release stuff is floating around now on iTunes, which I don’t use.

New albums also mean new tours!  BNL hasn’t announced anything yet, but Maczde Carpate has a Québec tour!
Unfortunately, it ends about one week before QMJHL season starts, but I’m hoping they add some more dates so that their shows and the hockey schedule would overlap.  Imagine that…flying internationally to watch a band that no one has ever heard of play in some dive bar, AND get to see some 17 year olds play hockey on the same trip.  That’s about as awesome as it gets for me.  lol.
Anyone wanna come up to the True North with me?

In other news, while I’m on the subject of travelling, here’s something I figured out:

Washington, DC to Philadelphia, PA
Cheapest bus roundtrip: $28.00
Most expensive bus roundtrip: $50.00

Cheapest train roundtrip: $80.00
Most expensive train roundtrip: $370.00

Typical flight: $354-803

Is there any wonder I take the bus?
(Take the bus home, not to see Maczde.  I think my days of overnight international bus travel are behind me.)

For You
Pinch Me
Improv…no real theme
It’s All Been Done
Improv about MRIs and Thanksgiving
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Hanukkah Blessings
Brian Wilson
Improv about Towels at the Meyerhoff (they’re striped!)
Alternative Girlfriend
Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank
New song, first time played, “Then one day I was not alone.”
Green Christmas
Feliz Navidad
One Week (I think this segued into a holiday song.  I think it was, “I have a little dreidle”)
I’ll Be That Girl
Elf’s Lament
Sell, Sell, Sell
Too Little, Too Late
Old Apartment
If I Had A Million Dollars
Silent Night
————————————-
Jingle Bells
Break Your Heart
=========================
Some Fantastic

No “Do They Know It’s Christmas”!!!  

Excellent weekend. Normally, just sauerkraut would make me happy. Normally, a great away message (or, in this case, 2) will make me happy. Normally, coming to realization that I live on the same street as the White House would make me happy. This weekend featured all three, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface. Excellent weekend.

A HUGE “Thank You” to everyone who sent me birthday greetings, electronic or otherwise. I really appreciate it!

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/ir/undergraduate/profiles.asp
Apparently Syracuse’s IR program isn’t all it’s cracked up to be if they have to resort to profiling me as a example of an alum. Seriously, whiskey-tango-foxtrot? And it’s not only me among a bunch of people. It’s just me! Quoi?

I had something else to say, but I forgot.

Oh, I remember–congrats to Dan Dean for getting into his #1 grad school!

Oh, and another thing–one of my favorite bands, Maczde Carpate, is thinking about doing a few Canadian shows this summer. Since they’re from France, that probably means Montreal. Anyone up for a road trip to Montreal? I figure I should start soliciting early.

Remember how good my blog was in January? I think I milked myself dry. Fortunately, I don’t care!

Current Mood: V. Good.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Happily, I’ve been busy.

I’ve failed as a blogger. I didn’t post a review of the Arcade Fire show after the concert. Fortunately (little known fact:), exactly 100% of the the people at the concert had blogs, so it’s been reviewed to death. If you’re curious as to what other people thought about the show, I recommend you go digging around the archives of DCist and surf from there. But, better late than never, I guess I’ll give a short recap:

I decided that I’d give my extra ticket to the pottery guy, but then he backed out so I fairly randomly chose Krista, the alley girl. (David later asked for my ticket again, but I had already given it out and I felt bad, but he found another one, so that part of the saga does have a happy ending). I met up with Krista and she was one of the happiest people I had ever met (waiter to her after the concert, before asking if we were married, “You seem like I really happy person. I wish I was happy more often.”). So then we watched the concert, which I really enjoyed, but not nearly as much as everyone else. The band was great, but the crowd kind of sucked and that took a lot out of it for me. The lead singer even called us out on it at one point. He said we needed to get louder. When he said that, me and maybe 3 other people cheered. When I’m in the top 5% of the most enthusiastic people at something, you know the crowd sucks. I don’t know, maybe it’s just that this was an older crowd they were more mellow. Maybe DC crowds are always mellow. Or maybe indie hipster shows are just mellow. So maybe I had unrealistic expectations. But considering that the show sold out before it was even announced, I don’t think so. Anyway, I’m whining. It really was a good show, just not like I had hoped. (The opening act, Final Fantasy, a solo violin project, was also very good, by the way.)

My Writing class continues to grow, but the trend of doubling has ended. This disappointed me because I was really hoping to have 16,384 people in my class on the last day. lol! It’s good times. I know have the Vietnamese girl, the French guy, a guy from Cote d’Ivoire, a pair of girls from Eritrea, and a girl from Liberia. That’s enough to have an actual class, which I’m figuring out how to do.

No comment on the Eagles. I’m from Philly, therefore I deal.

This was a terribly entry. My bad.

Current Mood: Eye-strained.