very simple

Saw Sleater-Kinney last night at Webster Hall (with the same group of folks from work who went last year), and it was, again, pretty awesome.

This is, as they’ve announced, their final tour ever, as they are breaking up after the conclusion. The final concert is tomorrow night (although there are some rumors that they’re going to do one more “final” final sendoff in portland). I will say though, that concert venues originally constructed in 1886 are not the ideal place to be when it’s been well over 100 degrees without the humidity all day for at least two days. It was hot. and stanky. and I thought, at more than one point in the evening, that I was literally going to melt in a puddle onto the floor. Still, I’m glad I went (my head may have not been so happy this morning when I woke up, but, eh, what the hell).

Anyway, here’s what photos looked like when I took them:

Here’s what photos looked like when my friend Steve, who’s approximately an entire foot taller than me took them:

And for those of you who are interested in hearing what it sounded like…

Ok. Not so much a week, but more like some random stuff that has gone on since the last time I posted.

I got a really unpleasant bacterial infection and now I’m on Cipro. Yum. You know it’s good when they’re giving you the stuff that they give to Anthrax victims.

In the span of two weeks, they’ve filmed not one, but two John Lennon-related movies on my street. There’s the one that I think is this one, but only because I thought I saw a number of folks lip syncing. They were set up for three days straight, in their hippie-60s gear. Before I started rooting around the internet, I thought it was some weird Hair remake. Then there was the one that Yoko Ono tried to prevent from filming, because, you know, they’re doing a location shoot recreation of her husband’s murder right in front of the apartment where she still lives. Freaks. Plus, Jared Leto is way too cute to have gained a whole bunch of weight to play Chapman. That was yesterday. I suppose this is what I get for living near the Dakota.

Oh, and I have to go to Mexico tomorrow (today?). For work. Just for a few days. I keep telling myself that, and I’ve truly only packed for travel through wednesday, but with the sickness, and the tiredness, and the cipro dizziness, I’m not exactly psyched in any event. Even though it does mean warm weather. Mmmm. Warm weather when I’m taking crazy antibiotics that require me to stay out of the sun. But hey, while I’m gone, my dad’s going to hang the shelves that I finally ordered for above my desk. Thanks Dad!! So that’s exciting.

I’m normally not one to get caught up in the whole music nostalgia thing, and I like the Beatles just fine, but when I woke up this morning, NPR was broadcasting a pretty lengthy tribute to John Lennon, who was killed on this day, twenty-five years ago.

It was a little surreal – and it made me pretty sad, and I think in part it may have to do with the fact that my apartment is on the same block as the Dakota, and I now walk past the spot where it all happened on almost a daily basis (even crazier? That my stepmother, the prior resident of this apartment, had actually been living here for a good two years when it happened). There’s usually at least a few tourists out there, trying to get to the "spot" (since it’s actually inside the entryway to the courtyard, the doormen usually don’t let them past). This Saturday, there was a bigger crowd than usual, and the poor doormen were actually having a pretty rough time trying to keep the gawkers from climbing on the building pediments. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when I go outside today…

I have some memories of that day. I was only six years old, but my parents were devastated, and I remember watching the memorial services and crowds around the block (my block) on TV all day. I don’t think we left the house. I realize that living in New York, I live near history every day, but I’m normally not so conscious of being so close to it.

Anyway, I didn’t really have anything coherent to post on this subject – I just needed to get the thoughts out before I walked outside…

The reason I was actually up in my new ‘hood tonight was because I had tickets with friends to see Lucinda Williams at the Beacon Theater. Which was awesome, because she’s always awesome. This is the third summer in a row that we’ve seen her play (last year also at the Beacon and the summer before that in Central Park). I love her so much that I even bought her Live at the Fillmore CD when it came out, ignoring the fact that I already own the original albums with almost all of the songs already.

Tonight she actually played a bunch of new stuff (she tests out new songs on her audience), and for the most part it was pretty great. But the best part of the show? Was when she said that she had an old friend backstage that she was going to ask to come out and help her sing a song…

…and it was Elvis Costello. People in the audience kind of went nuts at that point. They were great together, and it was just such a great little surprise.

Went to the Sleater-Kinney show at the Roseland Ballroom last night, and it was pretty awesome. I hadn’t really heard them before and I now need to go out and buy their new album. Even though I have come to the realization that I’m just not tall enough to go to general admission shows anymore. Sure, back in my college days I was willing to push my way to the front of the stage, but these days, hanging near the back (or the middle) with my friends, I realize that I’m spending more time watching the backs of other people’s heads than the actual people on stage. One of the guys I was with accidentally stood in front of me for a few minutes, and then apologized, and I was like "Dude, the only thing that you’re blocking for me is actually the view of the back of the head of the guy standing directly in front of you."

A whole week without blogging, even though I had access to a computer? Crazy.

I got back to New York on Tuesday night, after spending a few days in Vail with my brother. My attempt at skiing was futile, as a swollen ankle from falling down some stairs in Spokane (I know, nice move, and at a client’s house too!), combined with swollen feet from flying generally, made the rental boots feel like tourniquets on my feet and after half a run I was seconds away from taking them off and walking down the mountain in my socks. So I went window shopping instead (hey, it’s almost like a sport!).

Wednesday night, I went to a Jayhawks concert with some folks from work, and the rest of the time I’ve been dealing with apartment-buying stuff – meeting with mortgage brokers and lawyers and stuff. Hopefully I’ll be a condo owner within the next two months (I don’t want to talk about it too much, because I might jinx it). Back to work on monday, after catching up on the news and stuff…

Anyway, just wanted to check in an let y’all know I hadn’t disappeared permanently. Work should calm down a tiny bit after I get back (February is always the craziest month around there) and I’ll be a bit more human…

This is fun: open up iTunes, hit shuffle, and list the top ten songs that appear:

So I’m thinking about finally giving in and upgrading my iPod. I still have my original 10gig one, which I bought almost two and a half years ago when they were first released. I’ve been increasingly jealous of the newer versions and their slickness (at least compared to my deck of cards sized one), but I couldn’t justify spending the money on what would have amounted to just an aesthetic upgrade, since the features were the same. But the new model actually has a few technical improvements that may push me over the edge. Including longer battery life (and my battery is finally starting to give out), and the ability to create playlists "on-the-go" (I always considered the lack of this feature to be the iPod’s biggest deficiency). Plus, it’s really cool looking.

I know I’ve been doing the political rant think pretty consistently lately, so I thought I’d post something fun before I went away for the weekend. The other day, It was reported on Gothamist that the Beastie Boys were going to “show up” at 53rd and Broadway in connection with their appearance on Letterman that night. Now, my office is at 53rd and 6th, so clearly it became imperative that several of my co-workers and I go hang out on the corner for an hour and half in the middle of our workday. We did apparently get a better shot than most, because we ran into someone who had seen the rehearsal, and alerted us to the fact that the best vantage point was actually the subway station at the previous corner, rather than near the theater doors. We spent a while watching them mill around setting up the shot. But hey, you can see it for yourself:

I’ve circled myself and my friends in green on the left. You can’t even see me, because I’m wearing black and kind of standing behind someone from that angle, but the super-tall guy is one of my friends – he’s pretty much the only reason I could even identify our little group.

Oh, and props to the Europa Cafe (that we’re standing in front of) for keeping us in diet coke and air conditioned splendor right next to their giant picture window for the hour or so that we were waiting for anything to happen.

I know – it’s my third entry of the day, which is quite a bit for me. I guess this is what happens when I finally get a day off (sort of – working from home counts as a day off, right?). I haven’t even begun to discuss current events – with Haiti and Spain in the past few weeks, it’s been a bit overwhelming. So overwhelming that I spent my day getting sucked in to the vh1 Bands Reunited marathon. Who knew that Berlin and Flock of Seagulls could be so compelling?

I also finally realized that after a number of false starts over the past few years, I’m actually going to keep this thing maintained. it’s been almost 8 months since I’ve been writing, and I really enjoy it. So today, I officially registered my site at dotmac.info, and have been somewhat deluged with new visitors. So to all of you, hello! This site is pretty random – I generally just write about the things that either interest or bother me, with little updates on my life here and there. There’s not too much of an overriding theme or purpose. as evidenced by this incredibly boring entry.

And the most depressing factoid that kept getting shoved down my throat by the TV today? That Prince has been around long enough to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I mean, Purple Rain wasn’t that long ago, was it? But the idea of a jam session with both Prince and ZZ Top is making me giggle like crazy.