winter house show

i ventured out of my house today to attend Alexa's winter house show. it felt amazing to drive the Comet, listen to some Jenny and Band of Horses and wear a coat and boots; all of my favorite things at once. her backyard was set up very cutely, i had some of the best guacamole ever made and got to watch Dan and Stanley (wearing a wizard hat) jam, and they were really good! it was so nice to actually have some fresh air within my lungs and to be around some pretty genuine people. the air was intensely crisp, like the breaths of crunchy leaves swirling all over (seriously, that's what i envisioned while i tucked my hands into my coat). the combination of fruit trees, palm trees and trees with fall leaves was intriguing, as were the variety of people attending at the time that i left. had i not been sick i would have stayed the whole time. man...i miss going to live shows. i miss the troubadour and the bowl, even Mai's. and i miss being healthy. and i miss having money. i miss writing my column, i miss editing my A&C section. but i'm adapting to life at home with parents pretty nicely. me and my dad have been watching the sopranos again. i guess you could say it's a different kind of bonding experience. i lovvvve mafia shiz. i remember that show, The Black Donnellys. i don't know what happened to it, but it was really good, and the oldest brother was really hot. but i never did get to see the finale. 

here's another weird dream i had: i was on a grassy hill next to a crowded auditorium. i saw a friend riding a horse while wearing a Daft Punk helmet. it fell off and he started to ride away but i was trying to have someone take a pic of him. so i put down the helmet next to my friend's cd and then a wave rolled over everything. but we were on a grassy hill...where did the wave come from? i wish i could look up Daft Punk helmets in my dream dictionary.

this pic is from way back when on the first day i got to drive the Comet to school, before the 3 accidents and subsequent repairs. gooood day. 

wo woah whoa

this has to be one of the coolest late night performances i've ever seen. it reminds me of chuck e. cheese (for obvious reasons)

Beirut

the most beautiful thing i've ever seen is a flying tambourine. 

never in my life have i been so in awe of a musician. Zach Condon's modest mastery of the french horn was inspiring, as were his tattoos of the same instrument. opening with Nantes, the band captivated the audience immediately, resulting in an abundance of applause that lasted minutes - the sound of clapping hands overpowering the music, causing the band to pause and smile. the show got better and better, easily surpassing any expectations i had preceding the performance. my favorite song was easily Forks and Knives. i felt like i was in a winter wonderland, though the month was may and the song has nothing to do with christmas. overall the experience was fantastical, but even with the two additional encores my want for more has not disappeared. 

photo courtesy of Samuel Kirszenbaum

i love l.a.

i went to see hot chip tonight at the mayan theater in l.a. and the experience was wild to put it mildly.

before i left i was approached by my mother about the incriminating photos in my camera - enough said.

driving on the way to the show i dropped my cell down the side of my seat and it took me 15 minutes to try and get it out, thoroughly irritating my knuckles.

got off the freeway to look for a sketchy liquor store to use my friend's friend's fake, found one, used it to buy andre's, and proceeded to drop my phone again, this time cracking the mirrored flip screen thing.

get back on the freeway and think we are lost because we didn't realize we were supposed to get on the 110 but luckily it was just coming up on our left. as this is happening i checked to see if the andre's was a cork or twist top, and when i twisted it the top flew into the back seat leaving the foaming bottle in my hands. 

once we reached the area in which the theater was located the roads were so ridiculously confusing that we almost began to panic, but then we saw the theater and automatically pulled into a parking lot, which led to us overpaying for parking. 

we then realized we needed cash, cups, and food so we talked the parking lot guy into letting us out but back in without having to pay again. 

we find a starbucks down the road but they said they didn't do cashback and were closing in half an hour! so we asked to buy food and they gave it to us for free since they were throwing it out anyway...yessssss. and they gave us cups. they also directed us to a bank of america.

we get lost trying to find the theater again but eventually do, the daylight now gone, and prepare ourselves to pre-party before the show. 

with the bass and volume at the optimum level we party in the car in the expensive parking lot, listening to some mickey here, some girl talk there, and some dj feli fel everywhere. plus some vampire weekend and snoop doggggggg.

after we finish way too much drank we stumble on over to will call, cigs in tow and meet a guy from london. 

we start talking about reality shows and he tells us we would be good on rock of love.........

we get into the venue, sit down in front of the stage and have the most beautiful alcohol induced heart to heart ever.

i go to have another cig and london guy is out there too, so he calls me over and we start talking about what we do, and he works for dancing with the stars. then we start talking about stds and the bachelor, because of course he knows a guy who works on that show.

when i meet up with my friend again, we stand in anticipation of hot chip setting foot on the stage, and a really hot guy stands next to me and uses my shoulder as an armrest, because i'm that short. we make friends with him and his friends and they save our spots while some of us go and have some more cigs (i talk like a man now). 

the show is amazing, though mostly new stuff was played.

we try to find a place to pee and get some water/food but every drive thru place that says "drive thru open" is actually closed. we go to a subway but there is a cockroach in the bathroom so we decided it was best to not get food there. we then drive through a taco bell but some homeless guy comes up to our open window begging for a taco so my friend panicked and drove fast to the closest mcdonalds, where more homeless men beg us to buy them burgers and start cleaning our windows. they were coming up from every direction. i thought it was funny. no worries though, the guys who worked at mcdonalds kept us safe.

the rest of the night was a peaceful drive home, and now i sleep with throbbing knees and much stronger calves.