Bob Dylan!

I have been a bad blogger. Well, not bad so much as lazy, and I refuse to classify lazy as 'bad'. Really, it has just been a seriously boring past couple of weeks.

I am like ridiculously excited right now though, like omg-do-I-really-get-to-go? excited - because I am going to the Bob Dylan concert tomorrow.

Hello, Bob Dylan!! The king of song writing, one of my heroes - Bob Dylan. I get to see him live. In concert. In Berlin. Here, kick back and listen because these are the songs I hope I get to hear him perform live....

*Look for a post about the Spring soon - which arrrived TODAY in Berlin - people sitting outside in cafe's, the sun shining - its like the whole city just came out of hibernation and now gets to enjoy the beautiful sun for the next 7 months. Holy moly I love this city. Don't worry, I wil try try try my hardest to get you some pics this week!

Rise Against at Columbia Halle

Saturday night I got to see Rise Against for the second time. They put on a great show - they are pretty intense and really paced out their set so that the crowd didn't die of exhaustion. Pictures were a little tricky seeing as the entire room was one giant mosh pit, so there is just the one.

I did not like the venue very much at all. It was just a little too big, the acoustics were not good at all, the security staff were really mean, and the little narrow hallway/stairwell to the Garderobe (coat check) was horrible. Trying to retrieve your coat at the end of the show was a little scary. That being said, you have a decent view of the stage no matter where you stand and they keep the air flowing good so that it doesn't get too claustrophobic in the center of the crowd. Just try to avoid standing near the bar or you will constantly have people pushing past you.

Also, one of the problems with Rise Against is they have gotten so popular that you get all the idiots at their shows. Like very fat drunk dudes who like to take their shirts off and bulldoze through the crowd (and give Cory sweaty bear hugs).

Still though - I personally love Rise Against and they sound amazing live. They had an incredible energy at this show and didn't lose the crowd even when they did an acoustic set (have you ever seen an acoustic set at a punk show? me neither - but most of my favorite bands have done acoustic tracks. I would love to hear Bad Religion do an acoustic set)

Here have a listen....the second track is one of the acoustics they played at the show and it was pretty powerful live.

Alkaline Trio at The Lido

On Sunday night I got to go see one of my favorite bands live (this was our second time, we last saw them in Arizona about 4 years ago). Not just live, but at one of the best venues I have been to - The Lido in Kreuzberg. Conveniently, its just block away from me and Cory's work. Not that it mattered on a Sunday night, but anyway...the show was completely amazing. So much energy, such good stage presence...and an awesome crowd. We came away from from the show with lots of new friends.

Of course, when I got there my camera died immediately. Grrr. Luckily, quite a few people at the concert already uploaded videos but the quality isn't the greatest. No pictures up yet that I can find though. The second video was apparantly someone standing directly next to me. Check out the third video for a good listen if you don't know Alkaline Trio, because I personally find them to be quite excellent.

And if you live in Berlin or are interested in living in Berlin, here is more information on Lido.

Next weekend I get to see Rise Against for the second time - the first was 4 or 5 years ago at the Marquee Theater in Tempe - they opened for Bad Religion and it was the first I had heard them (I also moshed with Tim McIlrath, the lead singer later in that show -ooh Im so cool! It was one of the best concerts ever...) this time they are headlining and it will be at Columbia Halle. I am excited!

1969

That is the year my dad graduated from HS. I have always been kind of jealous. Hunter S. Thompson summed up that time in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas:

"We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark -- the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

Cat Stevens is echoing through our little flat right now. Before that, it was Grateful Dead. My wet Converse Chuck Taylor's are sitting by the door, and Cory's 1971 German Army Parka is hanging above them. We have spent the past week watching Godfather I & II (It really is as good as people say). Arguably one of the best Basketball teams in history is the 1971 Lakers (Wilt, The Logo, Elgin Baylor, an NBA title, and a win record that held for 25 years). As I have talked about numerous times, we recently parted with a much beloved 1973 Volkswagon Vanagon (which a delightful Swiss couple drove to Alaska). I think we may have been born in the wrong decade.

I have mentioned our Lovely Narrow room before - well we are finally starting to get our flat all put together and thought I would give you a little update. Cory plays the guitar so we decided to turn it into a little 1970 guitar heaven. It is starting to come together, here is a pic: (sorry for the grainy dark photos, I have no flash...Santa, are you listening??)

I love it! I think the little chandelier makes a big difference. We are probably still going to paint the walls and frame the posters, but at it looks good in the meantime.Those of you familiar with Cory's guitar collection may notice the absense of a certain electric guitar on the wall, this is because he likes to keep it sheathed when not being played.

Here is a zoom in on the posters, which are of 4 of our favorites (well, they ARE Cory's four favorites...)(non-interesting fact - our 'first dance' at our wedding was to Thank You by Led Zeppelin).


Sorry for the distortion, its a really tight space so I have to use a super wide angle. Anyhoo, from Top Left Clockwise: Led Zeppelin The Song Remains the Same movie poster; Jimi Hendrix live in Stuttgart, Germany January 15, 1969 concert poster; Grateful Dead and The Kinks free concert at Wesleyan University in 1970 (hello??! Why don't things like this happen in MY lifetime??); Pink Floyd The Wall movie poster.

Hopefully by the end of the weekend we will have our whole flat together (only took six months...). Of course, that all depends on the Ikea delivery man showing up. He is supposed to be here today between 3 PM and 10 PM (isn't that lovely?) and as I write it is 9:10 PM and still no delivery (**edit: it arrivede at exactly 9:52 PM yippee!).

Peace.

Rocked the Vote

It's in the mail...

Its 1992, Do you know where your kids are?

They might be at the Metallica concert. I know I was this weekend.

Ok, so, NO, I am not a metal fan. At all. But the other day at work, everyone started to get really excited because for some reason the Metallica tickets were only 10 Euros. And, they were playing at the newly-built arena just across the Spree river from the Studio. In fact, this was to be the arena's inaugural event. 10 Euros for a Friday night sounds like a bargain to me. So me, Cory and most of the rest of the company went and saw Metallica. In line some reporters tried to interview us, only to realize none of us were Metallica fans. That was pretty awesome.


As you can see from this picture, I was pretty ambivalent. And maybe in a little pain.


Cory, on the other hand...well, lets just say the 12 year old fanboy really came out in him. He played some mean air guitar.


But Mark (one of our coworkers and good friends) really summed it up. Heres a video:



Most of the stuff they played I had never heard and it was really terrible. When they started playing started playing some of the old stuff I recognize ...I have to admit I kinda felt like I was 12 again. Braces and all. I almost wish I had a picture of me with my bad hair and pasty white skin. (oh wait...see above!)

In fact, the concert brought back some serious middle school memories. Most of which involved Chris (KRISTOFFER!) and Robert and the mayhem and destruction we reigned upon Tananger (the suburb of Stavanger, Norway that I lived in). Chris introduced me to Metallica (as well as all of the good music I ever liked growing up). Robert introduced me to vandalism. Between those two boys, I have some pretty awesome memories of the early ninties.

All in all, the concert was actually incredibly lame. Those dudes are ooooollllld. Like, its really pathetic give it up already old. And they totally blew the big intro. And when they played One it sounded like a cover of themselves and was totally off tempo. And the sound was mixed really bad and you couldn't even hear the lead guitar and isn't that the point of metal? I don't really like concerts in big venues and I don't really like metal, and now I remember why.