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Yesterday, I decided that going to work was not in the cards, so instead I re-edited a few Velvet Undergound tracks for a VE/Nico compilation CD I’ve been working on. That’s all I had planned on doing, but Wolfa also ignored her responsibilities and stayed home as well. We spent most of the day together looking for an apartment that would better suit are needs (as well as our wallets). It was nice spending some time together–our schedules (her’s mostly as I don’t have much of a life) keep us from seeing much of each other.

And in case Wolfa is reading this:
No, I would not kick you out. That scenario would never come to pass, so I don’t know why you are worrying about it. If anything, I should be the one worrying. The one thing I wonder is if you and NCGuy have had any ideas regarding the Big “M” or if it’s just something you have toyed with in your own mind.

Okay, It’s been a while since I’ve updated… I just haven’t had an uniterurrupted stretch to gather my thoughts on the events of the past week.

First, let me recap the Donnas concert last Friday.

As I noted here (below) there was a problem that prevented my brother and I from getting into the Bluebird Theater until 10:00. The concert was sold out and there were quite a few people looking for tickets outside the doors (more than I would have expected anyway). After the locked-car ordeal, we retrieved our tickets and scurried to the event. Once inside, we made our way to the least crowded side of the theater, found a spot with a decent view of the stage and waited for the next band to start playing. The band, OK Go, was phenominal. Damian, the lead singer, has great stage presence; his energy and enthusiasm for the music becomes infectious. They were all very comfortable on stage, something which is more difficult in smaller venues such as the Bluebird. Damian interacted well with the audience and seemed to be just having a blast. The music was great. I think perhaps the being in the presence of the energy emoted by OK Go playing live helps you enjoy the music more than you would otherwise. I have not heard OK Go’s album, but from what comments I’ve read about it on the web, I don’t think it represents of what this band is like live. In case you are interested, you can buy OK Go’s self-titled album from Amazon.

As for the featured act, The Donnas, I was not so impressed.

They just seemed to be going through the motions and never really connected with the audience. I think they would have performed exactly the same if there was no audience at all. They played their pre-selected set and then left the stage. As much as I wanted to like The Donnas, it was almost painful to watch. Oh, well. OK Go’s earlier performance more than made up for this disappointment.

Next up, a recap of the Finch concert last Saturday.

My brother-in-law and I made it to the Ogden Theater at around 8:00. The crowd was decidedly younger than the Donnas’ crowd–which was to be expected. All ages shows at the Ogden are great for those of us who are over 21–the balcony is 21+ has a small bar, great views and even restrooms. The first few bands were not of note. However, The Movie Life rocked the house and whipped the crowd into a frenzy. At one point, they even had the crowd holding their flaming lighters in the air. It would be a tough act to follow, but Finch came through with flying colors. It was readily apparent that they were a cut above all others. Most of the songs from their last album were played along with a few older favorites. At the end, Finch had the crowd begging for more, myself included. All in all, the best concert to which I’ve ever been.

Last night turned out to be quite an adventure.

My brother and I left for the Donnas concert as planned. The show started at 9:00. We found a parking spot at around 9:05. No big deal, we were just slightly late for the opening act. So we get all set to head inside and… well… you know that feeling when something wrong is about to occur, and everything moves in slow motion? That’s what happens when you watch your car door close as you realize that you just locked your keys inside. That alone wouldn’t have been so bad, but the tickets were also in the car. The explanation? We had parked close enough that I figured I didn’t have to wear my coat inside–the problem was that both my keys and the tickets were in my coat pockets.

So here we were, 1 block from a concert to which we had tickets, but needed to break into a car to access. We asked a police officer for help, but he informed us they no longer assist in car lockout situations because of the liability. We tried calling a tow company, but it would be at least 3 hours before they could get to us. So we walked to a 7-11 and obtained a wire-hanger then proceded use it as a slim-jim. A half-hour later, I was ready to break the rear window with my pocket-knife, but instead my brother had the far-fetched idea of using one of the blades to try and jimmy the actual lock. I then picked an appropriate sized blade, stuck it into the lock, and 30 seconds later the door was open.

It was 10:00 and we were finally inside. We missed the opening act, but were just in time for OK GO.

A review of the entire concert (or at least the last 2 and a half hours of it) will follow in my next post. Right now, I’m off to see Finch at the Ogden Theater.

I seriously need to get more organized.

As I noted here last July, I was given a voucher for free airfare due to the overbooking of my flight. I had hoped to use that voucher to go to Chicago and maybe catch a Cubs game.

However, during the process of making plans, I was not able to locate that damned piece of paper. After many days of searching, I have concluded that it was most likely lost in the shuffle when I moved.

How depressing.

Combine that with the fact that I am “starving college student” broke, and you should be looking at one miserable bloke. However, I am surprisingly chipper.

It’s amazing how much better you feel once you’ve given up hope.

“Man’s unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.” — Sydney J. Harris