Thursday, May 26, 2011

All aboard!

Okay, here’s the thing about holiday weekends. You start the planning:

I’ve got three whole days! I could do this! And I could do this! And THEN I could do something else. But wait, I’ve been waiting to do this. But if I do that then I have to do this. And then I could clean my entire house! And build a bird sanctuary in my backyard. And then we’ll have a cookout!

Yeah. Crazy train.

This is why everyone drags their pathetic behinds in to work on Tuesday looking like the last 3 minutes of a George Romero movie. Brains! More brains!

And that’s it really. It’s my brain that really needs to be taken care of this weekend. I need to sit my happy ass down for about 3 hours and do nothing but drink glass after glass of cool water. Until my brain starts to rehydrate, and not resemble a delicious golden raisin. So, I’m already on zombie shuffle, even before I go into holiday hyper-drive.

Sit. Peace. Be still.

But there’s just this one thing I’ve gotta do.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Girl's gotta dance

And while some people were scratching their heads and wondering if God’s watch was running slow (see previous post), I was off at the Richardson Wildflower show singing along to “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” with Better Than Ezra.

I was trying to figure out, and I think it’s about the 5th or 6th time I’ve seen them live. I’m not their biggest fan (that would probably be some ex-frat boy with his hat turned backwards and a pair of baggy cargo shorts way past their expiration date; fer reals, what is it with me and dude bands? I’ve gotta start listening to Adele or something). But if you’re on a road trip with me, BTE is guaranteed to get a spin in the CD player at some point. And I will burn your ears singing along at the top of my lungs to Cry In the Sun or A Lifetime.

But the live shows are something in addition. Probably because they’ve been together so long, the band is obviously just trying to amuse themselves by going off on tangents and side trips through the annals of pop music. It doesn’t hurt that they’re certified pop monsters that can riff credibly on R&B, hard rock, folk and 80s dance, etc., at the drop of a pick. Really, they’re probably, in addition to being themselves, one of the better tribute bands you’ll ever see. Don’t be surprised if you’re in the middle of Extra Ordinary and suddenly find yourself asking “Did somebody just get the Led out?”

And just on my own little tangent (because I totally get trying to keep oneself amused – I’m always doing it for the chuckles), if you’re at an outdoor venue that does allow smoking, if you can’t have some respect for your fellow concert goers and step out of the crowd for your nic fix, could you at least have some pity on the performers? Seriously, blowing a cloud in a singer’s face is just hella tacky. I’d say Kevin Griffin was pretty restrained for not going all Patti Lupone on somebody’s ass. Respect, people.

Yes, Armageddon It

Okay, well, in case you were wondering, the Rapture didn’t happen. You weren’t Left Behind. Slight miscalculation, and we’re on hold until October. Hey. I get slight miscalculations. There was a reason I was an English major and not a physicist. You misspell a word, no big deal. But if you’re just a little bit off in the calculation of a comet’s trajectory, then you just got Bruce Willis killed for nothing. Embarrassing.

But anyway. I kind of get it with the Rapture people. I mean, if you really believe that the world is coming to an end, and all people have to do is say “yes” to Jesus and they’ll be sitting pretty on May 24th, instead of burning in a fiery conflagration of hell on Earth – then it kind of would be a dick move to not tell the world about it. So, you put yourself out there. Say, “Hey, what up, party people? Get yourself right with God cause the fan gets hit on Saturday.” They risked looking a little dumb today (they would look less dumb if they hadn’t maxed out the charge plates, but whatever), but it was the nice thing to do to give us a heads up. They could have just kept quiet.

I’m not going to be the one to say “told ya so”. I’m just going to let them have their little re-calc to October 25. But I’m still going to be making plans for Halloween.

TIME: Quotes of the Day