Well, this time of the year has finally arrived. In 24 hours, I will be in sunny southern California, ready to embark on my yearly trek into the desert to take in every single aspect (eh, close) of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. The set times are now up for everyone to take a look at and get delighted/pissed/annoyed/WTF about. I have yet to take any of the times in, but that's one of the things I'll examine on my evening flight into LAX tomorrow. I try to organize these things, knowing that everything will probably be thrown out the window once I get on the grounds. So whatevs.
Basically, enjoy the playoff hockey this week and I'll enjoy what So-Cal has to offer. First is a 2+ hour drive from LAX to Indio where I'll relax in my private condo (for a nite, that is). Then I'll pick up some friends in Palm Springs on Thursday, take in the surroundings. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are occupied by this. And my Monday will be spent in Los Angeles, a city I haven't been to in over 10 years. I'll actually attend the Diamondbacks/Dodgers game that nite, too! It's definitely looking like an action-packed weekend and it's a sure thing that updates are in the future once I return... next Tuesday. Although an immediate update might not happen as I'm attending that evening's show of the Arcade Fire, live in Atlanta.
Why do I do this to myself?!
Time to get packing...
Showing posts with label OMG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OMG. Show all posts
2007/04/24
2007/03/04
Calm b4 the storm?
So, after weeks of being absent from a few things (mainly updates, but whatevs), it's time to announce that's all because of any and all kind of energy in favor of a new job. I definitely would've loved to do the typical updates (I still haven't said a word about our Raleigh trip), but I couldn't because of everything else going on. Unfortunately, the only downside of this job is losing my weekends and Monday and Friday nights. Everything else is open for discussion, though, and that's definitely exciting. I think I should rename the blog in favor of updates based on this alone. Eh, whatever. But yeah, congrats to me for pulling it off. Updates will be far and few between during the weekends, but hopefully I can compensate by making up for it during my time off.
Up on the agenda for the next few weeks:
03/06 - Tuesday - Panthers vs. Thrash
03/08 - Thursday - Habs vs. Thrash
03/09 - Friday - The Thermals @ Drunken Unicorn
03/13 - Tuesday - Explosions in the Sky @ Lenny's
03/14 - Wednesday - Band of Horses @ EARL
03/19 - Monday - Lily Allen @ The Loft
04/03 - Tuesday - Sean Lennon @ Smith's Olde Bar
And then, the biggie:
05/01 - Tuesday - The Arcade Fire @ Atlanta Civic Center
Raleigh pics are on the Flickr account. I swear that more is coming on this trip! Hopefully I won't forget any of it!
I want to hit up as much as I can on the weekends before I disappear for a while from weekend activity. So if anyone has any ideas/suggestions as to happenings for the next couple of weekends, point me in the right direction!
2007/02/04
OMG WTF LOLZ LMAO - Yeah, they're all applicable
This past Christmas, I got the ultimate gift of Sirius satellite radio for my car. I've wanted satellite radio for as long as I can remember it being around, which has definitely been a few years. I immediately set it up the next day and I couldn't believe I had this feature in my car now. What was unfortunate, though, was that my FM reception was very poor. I could pick up Sirius stations as long as my hand was on the player (which is an S50, BTW). Once I took my right hand off of the unit, I would lose all reception and glaring static would take over, causing much aggravation with the situation.
There HAD to be a better way to work this thing.
What was most shocking, though, was that my iPod works the same way as the S50 does - wirelessly. I have a Monster iCarPlay adapter in my car and it works flawlessly 95% of the time, and the other 5% it's tolerable (much better than the iTrip that I've seen and heard about). So for my wireless Sirius device to not work so well, but my Monster cable to be quite the opposite was really weird. At that point, I started looking into various adapters to make my terrestrial radio work better with the satellite radio.
I came across two different products, both suggested by Sirius. The one I went with was the FM Direct Adapter (Model #FMDA25), made by Sirius. After looking around at both websites and local retailers, I couldn't find this product for less than $30. If I did find it, I still knew NOTHING about installing this kind of thing, so that meant more money forked over because of installation fees and other crap. I was told installation could take an hour to all day long. I was also told that installation could be as much as $40, making the entire thing about $70. Considering I got this for Christmas, it was hard to justify spending that much "maintenance" money on something that I got for free. But whatever. I still got it for free. Ehh... loopholes!
Regardless, I finally stumbled onto crutchfield.com, a company that I've heard about before. I've seen their catalogues and I've heard their commercials on radio and maybe even on television. They're all about helping people with their electronic needs, for both car and home. So I tried them out and, what-do-you-know, the adapter was only $20. After all other charges (which was just shipping), my total still ran less than $30. I already had one-up on the local outlets that sold the same product. The only bad-side of using Crutchfield is that the product was on backorder. I ordered it on the 14th and received it about a week ago. I was actually told it would be in by the 12th of February, so the early arrival was nice.
Remember how I mentioned that I had zero knowledge of anything having to do with car maintenance or electronics? I still don't, but this is another amazing thing about Crutchfield. When you order something like this for your car, you fill out a few forms about what kind of car your drive (or the car that you're working on) so that they can include MasterSheet Instructions. Basically, these are diagrams with step-by-step directions on how to disassemble your car for this particular part. The best part about this feature of their website is that it is ENTIRELY FREE. So not only did I get the product I wanted for cheaper, I also had instructions for removing my car stereo and doing the job, completely free of charge.
My main concern after this was how long installation would take. Of course, it sounds so easy on paper, but there are always curve-balls thrown into the mix to make things, eh, interesting. Once I started working on my car, installation was a snap and was done in less than 10 minutes.
Even after I typed that, I had to stare at the screen because I still didn't believe myself there.
Cheaper prices for the same product + free installation directions + retarded easy installation = Crutchfield is amazing!
And that's the moral of the story, kids. If you ever want to install anything in your car in terms of electronics, visit Crutchfield and they will hook you up. I still cannot believe how easy all of this was.
The best thing of all - my satellite radio reception is perfect... a 100% improvement over how it was about a half an hour ago, when I first started the installation.
website: crutchfield.com
FM Direct Adapter: FMDA25
There HAD to be a better way to work this thing.
What was most shocking, though, was that my iPod works the same way as the S50 does - wirelessly. I have a Monster iCarPlay adapter in my car and it works flawlessly 95% of the time, and the other 5% it's tolerable (much better than the iTrip that I've seen and heard about). So for my wireless Sirius device to not work so well, but my Monster cable to be quite the opposite was really weird. At that point, I started looking into various adapters to make my terrestrial radio work better with the satellite radio.
I came across two different products, both suggested by Sirius. The one I went with was the FM Direct Adapter (Model #FMDA25), made by Sirius. After looking around at both websites and local retailers, I couldn't find this product for less than $30. If I did find it, I still knew NOTHING about installing this kind of thing, so that meant more money forked over because of installation fees and other crap. I was told installation could take an hour to all day long. I was also told that installation could be as much as $40, making the entire thing about $70. Considering I got this for Christmas, it was hard to justify spending that much "maintenance" money on something that I got for free. But whatever. I still got it for free. Ehh... loopholes!
Regardless, I finally stumbled onto crutchfield.com, a company that I've heard about before. I've seen their catalogues and I've heard their commercials on radio and maybe even on television. They're all about helping people with their electronic needs, for both car and home. So I tried them out and, what-do-you-know, the adapter was only $20. After all other charges (which was just shipping), my total still ran less than $30. I already had one-up on the local outlets that sold the same product. The only bad-side of using Crutchfield is that the product was on backorder. I ordered it on the 14th and received it about a week ago. I was actually told it would be in by the 12th of February, so the early arrival was nice.
Remember how I mentioned that I had zero knowledge of anything having to do with car maintenance or electronics? I still don't, but this is another amazing thing about Crutchfield. When you order something like this for your car, you fill out a few forms about what kind of car your drive (or the car that you're working on) so that they can include MasterSheet Instructions. Basically, these are diagrams with step-by-step directions on how to disassemble your car for this particular part. The best part about this feature of their website is that it is ENTIRELY FREE. So not only did I get the product I wanted for cheaper, I also had instructions for removing my car stereo and doing the job, completely free of charge.
My main concern after this was how long installation would take. Of course, it sounds so easy on paper, but there are always curve-balls thrown into the mix to make things, eh, interesting. Once I started working on my car, installation was a snap and was done in less than 10 minutes.
Even after I typed that, I had to stare at the screen because I still didn't believe myself there.
Cheaper prices for the same product + free installation directions + retarded easy installation = Crutchfield is amazing!
And that's the moral of the story, kids. If you ever want to install anything in your car in terms of electronics, visit Crutchfield and they will hook you up. I still cannot believe how easy all of this was.
The best thing of all - my satellite radio reception is perfect... a 100% improvement over how it was about a half an hour ago, when I first started the installation.
website: crutchfield.com
FM Direct Adapter: FMDA25
2007/02/02
Arcade Fire Sets Churches Across the UK Ablaze!
I just can't turn away from anything related to the Arcade Fire. Whether they are taking the collective bathroom break, or making a new record, or singing outside of churches - I will never be able to deny this band.
Speaking of the latter in that series, the Arcade Fire is currently on tour of the UK, playing the randomest of venues across the island nation - churches. While this trend is continuing across the seas in Montreal and New York in the coming weeks, let's hope that another trend of this tour manifests itself. After playing sets that probably last an hour or a little more, the band members take to the church steps for the encore.
Uh, yeah. You know, like the outside of churches... and how they all have steps into them? Those steps are the next stage for the band's performances.
Maybe it's an attempt to get to the fans who weren't as close as they could've been at the actual show (you know, with seats and a proper stage, etc.). Maybe it's an attempt to connect to new fans and be as intimate as possible by literally playing in a crowd. Or maybe they are just passionate about what they do and what they represent to their fans. Who knows, but whatever their motives are, I think it's just the coolest thing around.
I mean, the Arcade Fire aren't the world's most important band (yet), but to reach out and be cavaliers with their fans is pretty unreal. I've always heard stories about bands "returning to their roots" by playing dive bars or doing record signings or something - but THIS, this isn't even a retread of their past. This is something that everyone who was a part of it will remember it for quite a while. It's not every day that you have the opportunity to actually stand next to your favorite band (literally!) while they play for you and the few hundred (if that many!) that surround you.
To get a glimpse of what the Arcade Fire are doing across the UK, check out their encore from their gig at the Porchester Hall in London just last night:
And if you can tolerate Regine's wimpers, take a look at this vid from the 29th of January after the Arcade Fire performed at St. John's Church, also in London:
Speaking of the latter in that series, the Arcade Fire is currently on tour of the UK, playing the randomest of venues across the island nation - churches. While this trend is continuing across the seas in Montreal and New York in the coming weeks, let's hope that another trend of this tour manifests itself. After playing sets that probably last an hour or a little more, the band members take to the church steps for the encore.
Uh, yeah. You know, like the outside of churches... and how they all have steps into them? Those steps are the next stage for the band's performances.
Maybe it's an attempt to get to the fans who weren't as close as they could've been at the actual show (you know, with seats and a proper stage, etc.). Maybe it's an attempt to connect to new fans and be as intimate as possible by literally playing in a crowd. Or maybe they are just passionate about what they do and what they represent to their fans. Who knows, but whatever their motives are, I think it's just the coolest thing around.
I mean, the Arcade Fire aren't the world's most important band (yet), but to reach out and be cavaliers with their fans is pretty unreal. I've always heard stories about bands "returning to their roots" by playing dive bars or doing record signings or something - but THIS, this isn't even a retread of their past. This is something that everyone who was a part of it will remember it for quite a while. It's not every day that you have the opportunity to actually stand next to your favorite band (literally!) while they play for you and the few hundred (if that many!) that surround you.
To get a glimpse of what the Arcade Fire are doing across the UK, check out their encore from their gig at the Porchester Hall in London just last night:
And if you can tolerate Regine's wimpers, take a look at this vid from the 29th of January after the Arcade Fire performed at St. John's Church, also in London:
Oh yeah, here's a quickie...
And I can't believe I let this one slide for as long as I did, but I'm actually on the Thrashers website, all because of blog night! Check out the linkage here.
Of all the bloggers that partcipated and the entries that were made about the evening, a selection from your's truly was the leading quote for the rest of the blogs. Pretty neat, I say!
Of all the bloggers that partcipated and the entries that were made about the evening, a selection from your's truly was the leading quote for the rest of the blogs. Pretty neat, I say!
2007/01/28
Recap: Blog Night @ Philips
Maybe it was fate... destiny... or really just poor goaltending from D.P. Who knows - but on the Thrashers' inaugural bloggers night, the Thrashers set the tone early (like, "six minutes" early, too), made Rick DiPietro believe he was swiss cheese, and led to a few glares directed towards me from other bloggers in the press box. I don't really think I need to clarify that.
I could do an entire narrative-style post about how the night progressed, but I won't do that. Seems more personal and, eh, livejournal than what I think should be represented. I mean, what I was a part of on Friday night was pretty amazing.
Aiming to be more progressive with their audience (primarily their internet audience), the Atlanta Thrashers opened their press box to anyone with an Atlanta-area blog - to see what it's like to be a member of the press, to tell the story of the experience, to just spread the word that there's a pretty damned good hockey team in town and to look at how some of their most important fans are treated. I'm sure that there are teams around the league that open their doors to bloggers/outsiders as much as the Thrashers did the other evening (the Capitals instantly come to mind). But to have this kind of respect and responsibility bestowed upon a few faceless bloggers is pretty damned trustworthy and forward-thinking. We were handed personalized press passes (with access to nearly everywhere, at any time, although I didn't take advantage of the latter), massive amounts of literature about the game/players/stats from around the league, and given a seat on the ninth floor of Philips Arena to watch the game.
I don't have a laptop, so I initially felt awkward being a blogger, but unable to immediately represent myself at the game. So I sweet-talked the ladyfriend and used her's for the evening. Turns out that I actually felt more awkward WITH it because I couldn't pay attention to the game. To actually devote a few minutes of typing during a fast-paced hockey game was a little more difficult that I thought and, in the end, it wasn't the way I wanted to go about the evening. It was pretty neat to be at the game, have any kind of information at your side (by way of all of the papers that were dished out), and check out instant updates online of what was happening. For example, when Hossa went down in the second in anticipation of an injury, minutes later it was brought to my attention that news of it made it to the NHL wires that Hossa was out indefinitely. This was probably no more than five minutes later after the incident. That's something I would've missed if I were watching the game on TV or anywhere else. With the internet, it's pretty ridiculous how fast things develop... and unravel. I mean, the same article that was very quick to report that Hossa was out is now reporting that he did go down, but came back to score the fourth Thrashers goal of the night (link).
It was also great to have the chance of being a member of the press. I really felt like wearing a press hat, but I'm assuming that wouldn't have gone over too well. It was weird enough wearing a jersey or trying to NOT cheer/yell/etc. or be "just a fan" in the press area. Other than those aspects of it, it's basically a dream job for me. To have that kind of positioning during the game, the kind of freedom around the arena, and just write... especially about something I'm fairly passionate about (ha!)... I couldn't think of anything there that's negative. So to say that my experience on Friday was anything short of amazing would be a complete lie. I had a ton of fun doing something that maybe I'll do again, maybe not (only of that opportunity never arises).
I wish that the bloggers could've either talked some more or that there was an opportunity made to talk about what they represent online and how they feel about the position they were in on Friday (i.e. bloggers with press credentials?). That would've been nice, but then again, we're not talking college classes here... we're only talking about hockey games.
But as a whole, it was pretty awesome Friday and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I took a few pics of stuff that happened that evening, and the album is found on my flickr site. Take a look and see what I saw!
2007/01/22
OFFICIAL: Coachella 2007 Lineup!
I wish I could pin down an official press release from Goldenvoice, but it seems that I cannot. Not like you need one anyway...
As was mentioned last night, some leaks occurred and it eventually led to the inevitable, which happened probably around 11AM on the east coast. While I did have a good dose of rumors from the past few months about who was gonna be where during the last weekend of April, I still had no idea who would actually decide to make an appearance at Coachella this year. I hoped for the Lily Allen rumors, the Explosions in the Sky rumors, the Air rumors, and so on. While they seemed legit, I remained skeptical. Fortunately for me, all skepticism came to an end this morning... or afternoon, when I really found out about it.
This lineup is incredible. I mean, Bjork is making her first US appearance in a few years, as is Jarvis Cocker (uh, nine years?!)... and a full-on Rage Against the Machine reunion...?! This doesn't even take into account the fact that The Jesus and Mary Chain, Crowded House, and Travis are coming out of retirement or extremely extended hiatuses (?). And let's not forget about the soon-to-be triumphant returns of Air and the Arcade Fire to the polo fields.
I mean, I could keep going on and one about this lineup. I really could. There are huge things to talk about and discuss until both parties in the discussion completely pass out from tongue fatigue. Let's see - do I start with an appearance from the Comedians of Comedy, or a DJ Shadow set, or how much pot Willie Nelson is going to smoke, or how hot Lily Allen is going to look with a dress and Chucks on, etc. Let's face it, gang, this will be talked about for a loooooong time.
And to know that additions will be made. Of course, everyone remembers how three additions to the bill last year basically determined the festival - with those additions being Madonna, Massive Attack, and Daft Punk. We all know that Goldenvoice has something else up their sleeves. In time, we'll find out and more pieces of the puzzle will be revealed. But as of right now, this lineup could go down as the best yet in the name of Coachella. Sure, Radiohead/Pixies/etc. in '04 was pretty damned good... but I don't think that holds a candle to this year's variety. And we're still missing suitable big names for the Sahara/dance-themed tent for at least two nights.
There are months ahead of us, kids. One of these days I'll get to posting my wishlist, who I hope will avoid conflict, what kind of expectations I have for certain artists, and how I plan on things panning out. For right now, however, I have to keep things to a minimum because, hard to believe, this is not a Coachella-only blog!
The true passion arises...
As was mentioned last night, some leaks occurred and it eventually led to the inevitable, which happened probably around 11AM on the east coast. While I did have a good dose of rumors from the past few months about who was gonna be where during the last weekend of April, I still had no idea who would actually decide to make an appearance at Coachella this year. I hoped for the Lily Allen rumors, the Explosions in the Sky rumors, the Air rumors, and so on. While they seemed legit, I remained skeptical. Fortunately for me, all skepticism came to an end this morning... or afternoon, when I really found out about it.
This lineup is incredible. I mean, Bjork is making her first US appearance in a few years, as is Jarvis Cocker (uh, nine years?!)... and a full-on Rage Against the Machine reunion...?! This doesn't even take into account the fact that The Jesus and Mary Chain, Crowded House, and Travis are coming out of retirement or extremely extended hiatuses (?). And let's not forget about the soon-to-be triumphant returns of Air and the Arcade Fire to the polo fields.
I mean, I could keep going on and one about this lineup. I really could. There are huge things to talk about and discuss until both parties in the discussion completely pass out from tongue fatigue. Let's see - do I start with an appearance from the Comedians of Comedy, or a DJ Shadow set, or how much pot Willie Nelson is going to smoke, or how hot Lily Allen is going to look with a dress and Chucks on, etc. Let's face it, gang, this will be talked about for a loooooong time.
And to know that additions will be made. Of course, everyone remembers how three additions to the bill last year basically determined the festival - with those additions being Madonna, Massive Attack, and Daft Punk. We all know that Goldenvoice has something else up their sleeves. In time, we'll find out and more pieces of the puzzle will be revealed. But as of right now, this lineup could go down as the best yet in the name of Coachella. Sure, Radiohead/Pixies/etc. in '04 was pretty damned good... but I don't think that holds a candle to this year's variety. And we're still missing suitable big names for the Sahara/dance-themed tent for at least two nights.
There are months ahead of us, kids. One of these days I'll get to posting my wishlist, who I hope will avoid conflict, what kind of expectations I have for certain artists, and how I plan on things panning out. For right now, however, I have to keep things to a minimum because, hard to believe, this is not a Coachella-only blog!
The true passion arises...
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