Exiled in Sovereign City

A big shout out to Mona... Happy Birthday to my older sister.

tee hee

posted by Pat @ 12:01:00 PM 0 comments   

Wish the world away.

Ah yes. I'm going to see American Music Club tomorrow night at the Old Town School of Folk Music (in my cozy neighborhood of Lincoln Square). I'm actually going to see their show twice. Tickets to the early and late show. This is mainly because I couldn't decide on seats in the front row of the balcony or one of the tables in front of the stage. Such weighty decisions; so i just got tickets for both shows.

The band as a whole broke up around '94 or so, and I never managed to see them perform. There was an excursion in 93 when John & I packed into his parents mini-van and drove down to Reckless Records to meet the band at an in-store appearance. If I'm not mistaken this trip involved us driving down, parking the car, and wandering around Lakeview, Wicker Park & Bucktown. Hopping on random busses. Buying posters (some that I still haven't framed) and records and whatnot.

It's pretty safe to say that both John & I have abstract concepts of time, so we made it to Reckless as things were winding down and I think all that was in the store was us, the band, and the people working in the shop. John had some records from Jamie* to get signed, and apparently Mark Eitzel and Vudi were impressed that she had vynyls of the earlier albums - I think to the extent that they didn't even have copies. I myself had just started hearing AMC through osmosis from John, so I wasn't all that familiar with their work and was kind of milling about admiring Mark Eitzel's fedora. So few people wear hats; then or now, so that was a treat.

They were playing lounge ax that night, and I'm fairly certain that it was a 21+ deal. We listened to their Everclear CD that John bought at reckless on the way home, and I was hooked. I think the song Crabwalk really hooked me (Hello Amsterdam and Wish the World Away from San Francisco album also totally grabbed me.) So shortly after that show the band imploded.

They'd been together for about 10 years at that point, could never get a real recording break, and just couldn't carry on. The songs are so incredibly fragile. Made up of a beautiful combination of Eitzel's gut wrenching lyrics, his voice always seems on the point of collapse in a way that just emotes the whole song in a way that Eddie Vedder dreams of. The instrumentation is always challenging, but reflective of the songs.

Anyhow, for the last few years, Eitzel has been touring on his own, making albums. I've seen his shows a number of times in Chicago, and they've always been incredibly enjoyable. After one show at the Double Door, he was doing signings of two discs he totally made on his own. I have some knack of not being able to talk to people in these sorts of situations. He complimented my hat (i think it was a straw fedora) and I just kind of grumbled, took my CDs and slouched out. Did I just do that? Apparently. What I decry as social ineptitude most people attribute to aloofness. I'm not sure which I'd rather be.

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to tomorrows shows, because I'm finally going to be able to see what I missed way back in '93 when I really didn't know any better.

"It's not funny but it's a joke"
- Wish the World Away

* Regarding Jamie: Remind me to tell you sometime about the French Teacher that I never had.

posted by Pat @ 11:57:00 AM 0 comments   

I'm incredibly overdue. If you didn't know, I have a somewhat skewed relationship in regards to the perception of time. What seems like hours to some is only minutes to me. Or like this afternoon, what seems like should only be hours is stretching on for days. i want to go home.

Anyhow, since returning from lala-land, work got turned up a notch with all the virus craziness (which is relatively new for us; being in the insulated world of Lotus Notes, many of the viruses don't really affect us). Plus, we're entering value-added, results-based, Return-on-Investment, can-we-charge-that-back? land, so everything is always balls-to-the-wall, i-need-that-yesterday, low-touch, customer focused service. . If I have to hear the phrase "Work hard; Play hard" I think i'm going to wretch.

So it's not all that bad. There've been some cool things going on lately. For one, the vacation was utterly pfaboux. The weather could've been better, but it was a welcome change. I got to Vegas for a couple days to hang with Mom and Ashley and Mikey. That was a nice treat. Doctor Who convention was great. I think the most memorable moment for me was telling India Fisher (who appears in the currently running Big Finish Audio Series) that she's great and that a bunch of us thought she looks like Eddie Izard. Erm. Not in a bad way. In a really good way. She has similar mannerisms, and speech style, it actually makes her pretty fun to listen to. I did a search on pictures of both actors, and strangely, it's not as apparent. But the mannerisms! It's true. Anyhow, I have pictures yes. Mostly of the LA environs, (i've come to realize, there's not lots to photograph at conventions; sure people in costumes, and stars and stuff; but I think I actually prefer experiencing it to snapping pictures all day).

Since being back, have been pretty busy as well. Went to an elegant charity event for Friends. I bid on a men's spa day in the silent auction. I figure I could endure pampering for charity; unfortunately, I was sniped at the last minute, and lost.

Hmm What else? Ohmygosh. Just saw Big Fish last night. After seeing the previews and commercials I'd been wanting to see it for a while. It did not disappoint. I don't really want to give too much away, so I'll just say I haven't been that affected by a movie or play or anything in a long time. I get home last night, and just call my sister and tell her she has to go out and see it before it leaves theatres.

I'm incredibly behind on sending people emails, making phone calls, and sending out, er, my christmas cards (by a couple years). I'm thinking I'm going to try and catch up this weekend. Anyone wanna lay odds on how much I get done?

posted by Pat @ 2:48:00 PM 0 comments