October 30, 2005

Halloween Means Big Hair


24 hours later,

the makeup has been washed away,

the costume has been taken off,

but my hair is still the size of Texas.

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Something Creepy in the Cathedral

A full moon inside Saint John the Divine . . .


where spectral cellists perform mournful melodies . . .


and ghosts swoop above our heads . . .


means that Halloween has come to NYC!
(Photos from the Halloween Extravaganza and Procession of the Ghouls at Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.)

Organizers screened Phantom of the Opera (1925, starring Lon Chaney), which I find more entertaining than last year's film. My only disappointment: no one ran down the aisle screaming, "This is blasphemy! Jesus wouldn't approve!" Guess the screamer from last year's extravaganza is a Lon Chaney fan.

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October 25, 2005

How Slope Grandmas Get High

While walking down 6th Avenue in Park Slope tonight, I saw a 60-ish woman pushing a shopping cart with one hand and holding onto a young child with the other hand. As I approached her, she stopped, let go of the cart and child, and started rolling a joint.

Too funny.

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October 23, 2005

The One Night I Leave the City

...Madonna makes an appearance at MisShapes! I heart Madonna.

Of course this would happen on one of the few nights I venture into Queens and the craptastic weather makes me crash out there. At least I was well fed. Ate some very lean peking duck at the Tung Shing House. Still believe that Maple Garden serves the tastiest peking duck in NYC. MG's duck is slightly fattier -- don't fear fat! -- and pricier, but the service is a helluva lot better and tourist-free, unlike it's sister restaurant downtown.

Back to Madonna...I just finished viewing I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (dir: Jonas Åkerlund of 23478 music videos and Spun -- that was a trippy film). That doc makes me want to go on tour with her (or see her in concert). Now. Her new track makes me want to go out and dance. Now.

Will settle for dancing around my apartment to "Hung Up" this Sunday evening.

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October 20, 2005

The Last Sunny Day

Party-poopers are predicting rain this weekend.

No!

Well, at least it's supposed to stop raining by the time I start my new job. That's something. Feh.

Listening to:
Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky (my favorite song. ever.)

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October 19, 2005

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Photo by Roboppy

a concert report!

A certain someone has demanded a full report of Monday's Franz Ferdinand concert at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden. The 48 hour delay has made memories of that night a bit fuzzy, but I will try.

Arrived at the venue a bit early and made an immediate detour to the merch booth (overpriced), bathroom (very large) and bar (there are 2). Saw a couple walk by drinking their beer from a straw. Bizarre... After purchasing our $7 beer (we declined the straw), we headed to our seats. N.B. to the underaged: no one at the venue checked IDs. At least no one checked my ID. Maybe I looked 21+ for once...

The last time, which I set foot in MSG, was when I was 12 and saw the circus there. A few people at the concert looked like they belonged in the circus -- a mohawked woman, a teen who looked like she was ready to hit MisShapes. Ok, that circus comment was a bit cruel. The audience was rather mixed: students wearing striped shirts, conservative-looking 30-somethings, families. Who knew 10 year olds and grandmas rocked out to Franz? Even spotted a woman from my studio art classes in high school. All I remember about her was that she was an ass-kisser who produced pretty, "safe" work (no risk-taking artiste here). Don't remember anything else about her. Don't even remember her name.

Getting back on track...Cut Copy was the first opening act. Haven't heard much of their music beforehand, but I liked their set -- really frantic, lots of hair-flinging and high energy from 3 skinny Australian guys. The venue was maybe 1/6 full at this time.

TV on the Radio was the second opener (and a blogger, too). Have heard quite a bit of their music beforehand, but sadly didn't love their set. They weren't horrible, but their set didn't grab me. When I go to a Franz concert, I want to dance! TVOTR does not inspire me to dance, sway perhaps, but not become a complete dance whore. I zoned out midway through their set. The venue was almost at capacity by the time they finished.

And then the lights came down, Franz came out and the smell of weed wafted through the air (suspect the J. Crew-clad couple behind us of lighting up). Alex and Nick wore matching outfits.

A band that shops together...gets a bulk discount.

Set kicked off with "Jacqueline" which elicited a "wooo!" from the crowd, and ended with "This Fire", which elicited more "woos!" Played the usual hits, and new tracks like "Do You Want To," "This Boy." All the slow songs, like "Eleanor Put You Boots Back On," were omitted. Shame, but could see that those songs would have put a damper on the dance-happy vibe. They sounded great. People danced (or jigged, in the case of one male superfan). I left happy.

Unfortunately I didn't attempt to crash the afterparty at Tribeca Grand because I was just too tired, and I had to get up in 7 hours for work. Yes, I am getting old.

(I claim 0% credit for these photos. Didn't bring my camera. Thank the intellectual property gods for Fair Use and Creative Commons.)

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October 16, 2005

Rapturous

Last night I caught The Rapture at Fixed. First time seeing The Rapture live. Knowing that the venue would be crawling with hipsters and fashionistas, I took this opportunity to wear my jolie laide silver sequin heels. The shoes are so tacky, I love them!

Back to the main subject...The Rapture rocked and so did the crowd. None of the usual I'm-too-cool-to-dance-so-I-will-only-stare bs. People actually moved more than 2 muscles to the music. Must be something funky in the alcohol.

The band played some oldies and debuted some new tracks, which the dance-happy crowd ate up. Some photos (as you can tell, I was jammed against the front/left side of the stage.):





(Sandra -- thanks for the camera loan! Didn't use it for the walk, but it came in handy.)

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October 15, 2005

It's Officially the 16th in Brussels, so...

Gelukkige Verjaardag, Coreen!

You're officially a crone now.

I kid!

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October 13, 2005

Harry Potter - Draco Dance-Off

Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Danceteam

Brilliant!

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Rain Rain Go Away

It's been raining here all week.

All. Bloody. Week.

Am getting tired of wearing my rain boots, stylin' though they may be. Am getting tired of doing the purse, umbrella, shopping bag, coffee cup juggle while walking down the sidewalk. Am tired of listening to Interpol, which is the only band I can listen to repeatedly when the weather is complete crap (their music appeals to my dark gray weather mood).

Need a few more days of this:

Sun-dazed at Coney Island
Minus the garbage cans.

Listening to:
Interpol - any and every track ever released

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October 10, 2005

Cardisexy

The previous post reminds me of the new word which Christina and I made up during the Marit Bergman gig last month.

Cardisexy - adjective describing the attractiveness of men wearing cardigans.


Photo shows the man who inspired the word. He is not looking so good here, but his exuberance and passion playing the tambourine and dancing around while wearing the cardigan made him adorable. Found his attractiveness odd since I usually connect men + cardigans = Mr. Rogers (not hot, not hot at all).

So far he is the only man I've found cardisexy.

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Photographic Proof of Why I Have Lost 34% of My Hearing

Set a goal last summer to see as many shows as time (and my wallet) allows. Been a bit lazy about posting my photos from the past few month's worth of concerts, but better late than never, eh? Here are some of my favorites:

Electric Six, Bowery Ballroom


Peelander-Z, Bowery Ballroom


Sahara Hotnights, Mercury Lounge


Marit Bergman, Mercury Lounge


Morningwood, Siren Fest, Coney Island


Diamond Nights, Siren Fest, Coney Island

View the entire set of photos here.

Looking at some of them makes me cringe a bit. The soft focus, sloppy composition reminds me how far I've fallen since my photography-obssessed college years. Need to re-train my eye and sharpen my technique. Well, practice makes perfect. Perhaps I'll lug my old 10 lb. Nikon manual camera to the next show and start shooting on b&w film again. Think that these new-fangled digital cameras encourage my bad shooting habits.

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October 08, 2005

Off With the Hair!

Yesterday Julie cut off 6 inches of my hair. I haven't had a haircut this short since the summer when I interned with all the wannabe political powerbrokers in DC (thought that short hair would send the message, "Take me seriously, dammit!"). That was also the summer when I learned that short styles requires more prep time in the morning. As someone who likes to spend max 30 seconds styling their hair, I vowed never to get it cut that short again.

I changed my mind. Needed to try something new and dying it Elmo red (college experiment!) was not an option. So many years and various long hairstyles later, I have a new short 'do.

Obligatory Cheesy Headshot So Mom Won't Freak Out
(I was just joking about shaving it all off!)

The era of short hair has begun.

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October 06, 2005

Code! Orange!

What a way to end a workday! NYC is at code orange! Avoid the subways! Walk 9 miles home from your office! Curl up under your bed with your blankie!

All that flashed through my brain for a few seconds when a co-worker alerted me to this newsflash around 6pm.

Then I took a deep breath.

Took the subway home.

Cooked dinner.

Watched some escapist television.

Made a note to (finally) prep a go bag.

Listening to:
LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk is Playing at My House (Marshall's ringtone for Sydney!)

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October 04, 2005

Important Email from Mom

My mom is not a big fan of email. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw her message in my inbox. Did she a) write that she misses me, her favorite daughter? b) dash off a quick reminder to eat more vegetables and get some more sleep? c) forward details about a Les Copains sample sale near her office?
From: Mom
To: Awreye
Date: Oct 4, 2005 2:29 PM
Subject: Re:Poopy

There is a web site: www.poopreport.com

comedy site tell you everything about poop

Mom
d) None of the above.

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