Dumbek's Random Stuff

I got to skip out of work all week to go to RedHat training. I'm now a RedHat Certified Technician, which doesn't really mean I know much of anything. But, hopefully, it will mean that I actually get a decent raise this year. I'm very close to the top of my pay-range as it is. Doing a really good job is no longer enough to guarantee much of a raise. I need to start coming at them with new things (like training and certifications) to convince them that it's worth paying me more. I'm getting worried that I'm pricing myself out of a job.

I haven't decided to go for the RHCE yet. That's probably a little more valuable, but still pretty meaningless. Certifications are generally just resume stuffers. They can even backfire on you at times. I know that when I see someone with a long list of certifications, I just assume they're good at taking tests and that's about it.

Got the new Donnas CD today. A present from my BF. awww.... Pumpkin carving tonight. Halloween party Saturday. I'm going as Joey Ramone. BF is going as Kurt Cobain. Should be fun. He looks cute as hell in his blonde wig. haha.

R.E.M. week starts on Monday.

Worst....Show.....Ever.

I'm 90% sure Elton was wearing an earring shaped like a penis.

Kind of bummed about John Peel, so just the facts about last weekend.

BF was out of town at the NASCAR race in Martinsville. Stayed in Friday.

Saturday - Death Cab For Cutie/Pretty Girls Make Graves. Death Cab was awesome. I was surprised that they seemed really tight as a band. For some reason I expected them to sound a little thin...maybe just respectable backup music for Gibbard's lyrics. But they really had it together and I came away thinking that they were a really good band. I was duly impressed. PGMG were also quite impressive. I went into their set completely cold, knowing absolutely nothing by them. I'm a sucker for chicks that rock and they did not disappoint. I'd go see them again in a heartbeat. By the end of the night, I purchased 2 Death Cab EPs and the PGMG CD in a slightly drunken buying binge. Not the first time that's happened. It certainly won't be the last. I was hoping to catch a bit of Morel's set over at Velvet, but it was way too late by the time DCFC were done. Instead, I headed to The Eagle for about an hour before heading home.

Sunday - Laid around on my lazy ass all day, then headed to BlogJam at DC9. That was pretty interesting. A little bit of everything: sex, politics, music, death, etc. 2 of the speakers didn't show up, which I think meant there were more out-of-town bloggers that local folks. (I haven't bothered counting, so I could be wrong about that.) Fun night, even though I didn't stay for Blowoff, since it was a school night.

Damn. John Peel died last night of a heart attack. One of the few people in the history of popular radio that actually deserved any respect. Looks like I'll be pulling out my Undertones cd tomorrow, so I can hear "Teenage Kicks". I don't quite share John's opinion that it's the greatest song ever made, but it's a damn near perfect pop song. There's a nice little tribute to John on The Undertones website.

Speaking of The Undertones, one of my college roommates looked exactly like the guy on the left in this picture. Even he agrees it's an uncanny likeness.

RIP, John.

Ashlee Simpson got caught lip-syncing on Saturday Night Live last night. She came out for her second song, only to find out the sound guys queued up the wrong track. The band looked a little confused, but awkwardly tried to play along. But it all fell apart when the audio track started singing and Ashlee just stood there. She then started jumping around like an idiot.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Then she came out at the end of the show and claimed that her band started playing the wrong song. She seemed to forget about the vocal track that she wasn't singing along with. I wonder who she's gonna blame for that one.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Oh look - There's a video here.

She's also supposed to be singing "live" (ahem) at some Radio Music awards show tonight. That should be interesting.

It's been a few days since The Libertines show. Rather than write a review, I'll just point you to this person's review. I feel pretty much the same. I missed Radio 4. I hear it was no great loss.

Laurie Anderson was last night at Lisner. The last time I saw her was just a few days after 9/11. That was pretty weird. Everyone was still very edgy. Very nervous, upset and scared. But her show couldn't really be changed on such short notice, so it was a mix of talking, songs, violin, stories and jokes. Almost jovial, in front of a dazed crowd who probably had a hard time focusing on much of anything.

Last night was pretty much the opposite. Her show was very solemn. Very few funny stories. No songs. The only music was the ambient stuff playing behind her when she talked and electric violin solos that were generally ominous as hell. The only thing I recognized being even remotely from her past work was the line "Hello excuse me. Can you tell me where I am?", which popped up a couple of times. Lots of tales about space, time and, of course, NYC and 9/11.

My seat was smack-dab front row center. Row A Seat 101. It was actually a little unnerving being so close for a show like this. It's not like she wanders around and chats up the crowd. She spent most of the show standing about 12 feet in front of me - looking straight at me when she was talking. Kind of cool being close enough to make real eye contact, but after a few seconds if started to freak me out. I had to keep averting my eyes.

Anyway - Very nice show. She never disappoints.

Apparently, my jukebox selections are so predictable, this guy was not only able to determine I was in the building, but he was able to track me down. Pretty impressive, considering the only contact we've had are the few comments in each others blogs. As a result, I stayed out way too late, I have a slight headache and I'm gonna be dragging at work this morning. Well worth it though. Nice to meet ya.

Busy week. Libertines. Laurie Anderson. Death Cab. Blog Jam. More on those later. Off to work now.

The Libertines are going to be hanging out at DC9 after the 9:30 show tomorrow night. Check DC9's page for details.

Jon Stewart calls Carlson Tucker a dick.

Watch the video here.

I should have qualified yesterday's post by saying the only thing that would keep us away from the WSC show would be illness...or a NASCAR race. It seems tonight we ended up with a little of both. The BF came down with what I refer to as the "NASCAR Flu". Everything was going fine until he realized there was a race on that he wanted to watch tonight. Suddenly, he's saying things like "They're just playing acoustic tonight, right?" and "I guess I could just tape it, but our VCR sucks."

hmmm.....I had a feeling something was up when I left for the gym this morning. When I got back, he mentioned that he wasn't feeling well - that his stomach was bothering him. He didn't think he felt good enough to go to the show, but he kept insisting that I go. Of course, I 'm not going to leave him home sick by himself, so I stay home to make sure he's ok.

He watched the race for a while, his driver wrecks and goes a lap down. "Well, it's over for him." Suddenly, he's like "So what time does the band start? I think I feel better now. Do you still want to go?" By this point I'm in sweats...curled up on the couch...dozin' in and out of sleep. That time has passed, so I say no and we stay home.

I'm not saying he wasn't really sick, but this used to happen a lot when he didn't want to go visit my folks with me. He'd be too sick to go, but he would suddenly feel a lot better a few hours later and proceed about his day as normal, now that he didn't have to go with me. Not that I blame him for that one. My family loves him, but they can be a bit trying at times - haha. But it's been pretty obvious that this has happened before. Even though he hasn't done it in a while.

I'm probably just disappointed because we stayed in last night too. I had a few bands I wanted to see, but we didn't go out. I didn't really mind because I knew we were going out tonight and I was really looking forward to this one. Oh well. I'm sure they'll all be back around in the near future. It's not like I don't have any other shows coming up soon.

Most importantly, I'm glad he's feeling better.

We gotta get a TiVo.

It's been a great week for shows. Started off with the "Vote For Change" finale on Monday. PJ Harvey Wednesday and Mission Of Burma last night.

PJ Harvey put on a good show. It was the first time I'd seen her. I was duly impressed, but the guys I was there with said it seemed like she was a little off. It looked like she was having problems with her ear monitor or something (whatever is controlled by that thing on her back). Maybe that was the cause. I couldn't tell though. She put on a fine show as far as I'm concerned. It was an early show at the club. Doors at 6:00. Show at 7:00. She actually came on at 7:20. I have mixed feelings about these early shows. It sucks having to jet home from work, change clothes, skip dinner and run downtown. On the other hand, it's very nice to be home before 10:00 on a weeknight. Can't have it both ways, I guess.

Last night was Mission Of Burma w/The Channels opening. I was gonna go late and skip The Channels, but the I read on AllMusic that J. Robbins was in the band. I decided to get off my lazy ass and check them out. They had their ups and downs, but overall I liked them. I'm trying to break the habit of buying CDs of every band I see, so I didn't pick up their EP. But I know myself to well...I'll probably have it before the end of the month.

Mission Of Burma was absolutely incredible. 2 sets of pure guitar frenzy. I was totally blown away. I saw the first reunion show at 9:30 a year or so ago and thought they were pretty good, but I wasn't prepared for last night. Wow. It's a shame the Black Cat was only half-full. The folks who were there got a terrific show. As I bought my ticket I saw Jenny Toomey's name on the guest list. Not knowing what she looks like, I spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out which person she was. There was an Ian MacKaye sighting as well.

I'm not sure what we're doing tonight. I think I've used up all of my "I need to see a show" points with the BF, which sucks, because I wanted to see Clinic. I've heard great things about their live show. hmmm....Maybe I could at least convince him to go to DC9 and catch Cartel/Exit Clov. We may know a few people heading to that one. I may have better luck getting him to that show.

Tomorrow it's Olivia and Marty from WSC at DC9. That one's a definite. BF loves WSC. That's the one show he'd probably end up dragging ME to, if I said I didn't want to go. Like that would ever happen....

The MCI show was a great time, as expected.

Mellencamp put out a great set. Unfortunately, the place was maybe 1/3-full at the time. Very underrated performer. Springsteen and REM put on similar, but much shorter sets than the Philly show I saw a week ago. They were still the best acts of the night.

Highlights:

Eddie Vedder singing Begin The Begin with REM.
Stipe with Bruce on Because The Night.
Bruce on Man On The Moon.
Pearl Jam w/ Tim Robbins (yes, the actor) covering X's New World ("It was better before, before they voted for what's-his-name...")

Unexpected highlight: The Dixie Chicks w/ JT on Sweet Baby James. That was just beautiful.
Unexpected lowlight: Jackson Brown, Bonnie Raitt and Keb Mo. 3 great talents. One incredibly boring set.

The time just flew by. There was very little downtime. There was a rotating stage, so the next band was setting up while the current band was playing.

Eddie Vedder is looking hotter than ever. Bruce too. *slurp*

Great night. Glad I didn't pay a fortune for tickets though. Our seats weren't great, but the view was fine. Can't wait to see a recording of the show.

I think I'm too old for Taint. Too crowded. Too dark. Too smoky. And while the music was 100-times better than the normal homo bars, I was still a little disappointed. I could deal with a little less of the boom-boom-boom-boom songs. What's the point of a Franz Ferdinand remix? Their stuff is the best dance music around. That remix sucked the life out of it.

Still, it's good to see a new crowd of people. Lots of eye candy. Most people looked like they were having a blast. How can you not have fun when the guy next to you is dancing with a tie on his head?

BF was a trooper though. I could tell he didn't wanna go. He didn't want to stand in line. He didn't like the music. But he went for me. Ain't that sweet? I think his favorite part was watching the movie.

I want to like it. I really want to like it. But the new R.E.M. disc "Around The Sun" just bores me to tears. Where are the guitars? Where's the excitement? Where are the hooks? Why does it have to drag so much? The lead track (and first single) "Leaving New York" is decent enough, but it seems like every track gets slower and more depressing as it goes on.

I admit I haven't sat down and totally examined the lyrics, nor have I listened to it with headphones to discover all the layered intricacies of their production. But I shouldn't really have to try that hard to like it. I remember the days when R.E.M.'s music would jump out of the stereo and I would spontaneuosly start jumping around the room, dancing and singing along. Their last 3 albums are now rarely played at all, except when our parents come visit. It's something nice and pleasant to put on in the background, without distubring anyone. That's probably the best thing I can say about the new disc. It's pleasant. Get a few drinks in me and I'll even start complaining about the packaging and the title.

The thing that kills me is that they can still bring it live. They're still a fantastic rock and roll band when they want to be. They put on a great live show that can bring down the house. I'll even admit that the live versions of the songs from the last 2 albums are pretty damn good. I'm holding out hope that the same is true for the songs off the new disc. I'm not holding my breath though.

Still - I can't recommend them enough in a live setting. Go see them when you get a chance. They're playing at MCI tomorrow night and at D.A.R. on November 1. That's the night before the election. That could make for a fun show.

You can stream "Around The Sun" at myspace.com.

Now playing: R.E.M. 4-24-82 @ Merlyn's - Madison, WI. Excuse me while I go jump around my living room.

It never fails. Even for the biggest shows I inevitably end up with extra tickets.

I have an extra pair for the Vote For Change Finale in DC on Monday. If anyone wants them, let me know. Be warned that they're behind the stage. I'll let 'em go cheap though.

Saw "Burn To Shine" last night at The Warehouse. Nice movie. Go see it if you get a chance. Nice performances by Q And Not U, Ted Leo, The Evens, Weird War, Garland of Hours, French Toast and a couple of others. Brendan Canty was there to talk about the movie a little and how it was made. They've done a similar project in Chicago, featuring Wilco and Tortoise among others. I should have stuck around afterwards and asked Brendan if it was ever going to be available to purchase. I think he implied that it would be, but I'm not sure. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Speaking of Q And Not U, they have a new record out. Go buy it.

Thanks to Bob and everyone involved in putting that little shindig together. The BF and I had a fantastic time. Sandra had the longest set of the night. I was pleasantly surprised at how much she rocked. "Janie's Got A Gun"..."Kiss Me Deadly"... She was really good.

However - she hadn't quite prepared us for Avenue D - the 2-woman rap tour de force. Slutty brides with their t*ts hanging out, screaming and jumping all over the place. ummmm - Wow.

JC Mitchell did a couple of songs accompanied by Bob Mould on 12-string. I think he said the first song was a Neutral Milk Hotel tune. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Purty Mouth was fun. "Jackson" was great. I'll never hear the "snowball" line the same way again.

Morel was very good. I generally don't like dance music, but there's something about seeing an actual band perform it makes all the difference in the world. It's a shame Rollins forgot his name and had to run offstage and ask someone what it was.

Henry Rollins was a great host (except for the Morel screwup). Very sexy with the greying hair. mmmmmm....

The highlight, of course, was Bob Mould. He was backed by 2 guys - Brendan Canty (of Fugazi/Rites of Spring fame) and someone who I'm not familiar with. They kicked everyone's ass. He played 3 songs - one I didn't recognize, "See A Little Light" and "Makes No Sense At All". Wow. I've gotten so used to seeing Bob all over town that I forgot what a friggin' rock star he is. "Makes No Sense At All" was worth the ticket price alone. Even my BF was blown away at how good it was. I can't wait to go see him at The Birchmere in December.

My only minor complaint about the whole night is that I wish the sets could have been longer.

We stayed for a few minutes after the show was over and I told the BF I was ready to go. He said "No - You're not leaving until you meet Rollins." So we hung out and eventually got to talk to Henry for a bit. That was pretty cool. We talked a bit about Y&T and one of the records he recently released on his label. We didn't hang out too long. From reading a few of his books, he seems to hate the whole meet-and-greet kind of thing, so I didn't want to bother him too much.

Also talked to Bob for a few minutes. Thanked him for putting the show together. Told him his set was great. Talked about his blog a bit. He was quite busy making the rounds, so he didn't hang too long.

Went to The Eagle afterwards. They changed the jukebox. It either has a billion mp3's on it now, or it's connected to the internet and can download just about any song you'd want to hear. Over 100 Husker Du songs to choose from. Tons of Dead too. Zero Black Flag though. hrmph.

Great night. A little groggy today, but well worth it. And yes, I drank the vodka. :-)

I hope Bob's ok.

-------
We just received the following word from RatDog's management:

>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 6, 2004
>
> RatDog must regretfully announce the postponement of the
>Bob Weir and RatDog tour scheduled to begin tomorrow, October 7th,
>in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
> Since January, Bob Weir has worked continuously on music
>dates for RatDog and The Dead, promotional work for his
>career retrospective album, and a number of nonprofit appearances.
> It was all simply too much, and he's reached a point of
>complete physical exhaustion. He anticipates returning to
>performing in early spring 2005.
> No one regrets more than he the postponement of these
>shows, but he and his management concluded that his long-term
>health was a greater priority. That and his desire to give his fans
>only the best possible performance outweighed the difficulties
>of rescheduling the tour.

Warehouse Theater

Tonight - 10/5 - FREE

READING & FILM - Galaxie 500's Damon Krukowski

DAMON KRUKOWSKI (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi) reads from his new book, TheMemory Theater Burned. Damon Krukowski is the co-founder and editor of Exact Change, a Surrealist press located in Boston. A founding member of Galaxie 500, he currently records with Naomi Yang as Damon and Naomi. He will read from his book of prose poetry, "The Memory Theater Burned." In these lines, Damon Krukowski often attempts to state the obvious. But truth is elusive, and Krukowski's poems also bear the record of the difficulties he encountered in its pursuit.
Co-sponsored by Olsson©'s Books and Records
Plus, excerpts from DON'T LET OUR YOUTH GO TO WASTE Galaxie 500: 1987 - 1991
DON'T LET OUR YOUTH GO TO WASTE is a comprehensive visual document spanning the history of GALAXIE 500. A compendium of all their music videos, a TVappearance, and an archive of over 40 songs performed live.


Tomorrow - 10/6 - 8:00pm - $5

Films that Rock! "Burn to Shine" & "Lovitt Transmissions"

Burn to Shine is a film that takes place on one day in a house that no longer exists. Filmmakers Brendan Canty and Christoph Green used the house to film Q and Not U, Medications, Garland of Hours, French Toast, Ted Leo,Weird War, The Evens, and Bob Mould playing their music live in the living room. Very simple and beautiful.

Lovitt Transmissions: Volume One DVD is Lovitt's first foray into documenting the label's history from a visual and sonic perspective.Composed of interviews, live performances, and tour footage captured from1994 to 2003 by friends, fans, bands, and a professional production team, the DVD tells the story of one of the east coast's most influential, community-based record labels.

Bought WedRock tickets last night before The Killers/Ambulance show. After much debate, I opted for the VIP tickets. Expensive, but here's my rationalization:

I'm not politically active at all any more. I vote, but I don't call my Congressmen, I don't volunteer anywhere, I don't even fill out those form letters you basically just sign your name to and return. I'm not proud of that fact, but it's the truth. So I figured the least I can do is give money. If the concert itself is $40, paying $100 for VIP tickets is like giving a $60 donation to a worthy cause. (Actually, I guess it's $120 for the both of us.) I can afford that. Call it lazy activism. Call it me trying to buy my way out of some guilt. Whatever. It's going to be a good night for a good cause. And I probably won't even drink the free vodka.

Apparently, my going for the VIP tickets upped my ticket karma a little, as I discovered that they released a handful of tickets for the Vote For Change finale in DC this morning! I got tickets! WOOHOO! Yeah, they're behind the stage. Yeah, they're upper level. But at least I'm in! After the great night in Philly, we're really looking forward to this one. I just hope they're not obstructed view seats. hmm.... now the week of paranoia about that starts to settle in. Ha. Who cares.

Killers/Ambulance last night. Ambulance Ltd. was terrific. I can't wait to see them headline somewhere, so they can play for more than 30 minutes. Still - It was a great 30 minutes.

Stuck around for The Killers. Didn't really care for the music much. Was that "Indie Rock" song sarcastic or serious? I'm not sure. Either way, it didn't do it for me. They put on a good show though. The singer is cute as hell and had a pretty good presence. The drummer was rockin' like nobody's business. Great show, but I think I made the right choice by not buying the CD.

More importantly, I ran into my all-time favorite DC hottie last night. There's this guy J---- we used to run into at Nation and occasionally at the Green Lantern. Physically perfect. Military boy. Nice as can be. Absolute total stud. Probably the closest thing I've had to a real "crush". (Not counting my BF. That's not a crush - that's love.) Anyway - I hadn't seen him in years. I pretty much stopped in my tracks when I saw him. Still looking as hot as ever. I think he's pretty closeted and he was with a group of friends, so I didn't say anything. Good to see he's still around though. woof!

Stayed in last night. Bad Homo!

Killers/Ambulance, Ltd. tonight. What do you guys think of The Killers? I've heard mixed things about them. I guess I'll find out tonight. I was gonna stop by Taint, but it looks like it's next week.

I'll Probably pickup WedRock tickets while I'm at 9:30. Still debating the VIP thing though. It's a good cause, but it's a lot of money. Plus, I'm still holding out hope for the "Vote For Change" finale, which isn't cheap. We'll see.

Penn State lost to Minnesota last night. Looks like they held their own though, which seems to be all we can hope for these days. 16-7 isn't that bad against a ranked team. I need to get a TiVo so I can find highlights a little easier.

May actually head to the gym today. What a novel concept.

Went to the "Vote For Change" show in Philly last night. Springsteen, R.E.M., Bright Eyes and John Fogerty. Great show. I went primarily to see R.E.M., but I'll go see Springsteen any day. Missed Bright Eyes. Fogerty sat in w/ the E Street Band, but didn't play a full set.

Got to Philly a little early. Went to Woody's for a few quick ones. Man that place has changed. It used to be packed with young guys. Yesterday it was pretty empty and the guys there had at least 10 years on me.

Highlights of the show included Bruce singing a few verses of "Man On The Moon" with R.E.M., then Michael returning the favor during Bruce's set by singing a verse or two of "Because The Night". Fogerty played Centerfield, Fortunate Son (how appropriate), Proud Mary...hmmm - maybe something else - I forget. The encore was the all-star jam thing with everyone onstage singing "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?" and Patti Smith's "People Have The Power". Everyone looked like they were having a blast. Watching Mike Mills jump around behind Bruce during "Born To Run" was classic.

Man... Springsteen can work a crowd into a frenzy. Philly is a huge Springsteen town. The last time I saw him in DC didn't come close to this one.

Yahoo has a few decent photos, including this one.

Came home right after the show. That sucked. I used to drive from DC -> Philly -> DC 2-3 times in one week, when I was following The Dead around. No more. I'm too old for that. I've been dragging all day.

I really wanna go to the finale at MCI. People were selling lots of tickets for under face value last night. I hope something works out for me for that one.

No sure what we're doing tonight. Maybe a disco nap and some Chinese food will help me decide.