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As of July 14, 2008, this journal will no longer be updated. See the post below for a link to my new journal. If you're really curious and still want to read my old bullshit, leave me a comment, and I'll add you.

My paid account expired, and I decided I wanted to start a new journal because there’s so much irrelevant baggage here from high school and in general.

ferrumaeternum

Add at your own risk. The entries I’ve posted so far are a taste of what’s to come. This time around, I don’t want to just focus on what’s going on in my life and I don’t want to water down or censor myself. I’m also going to try to update more often to avoid all those “too long; didn’t read” posts. I also know I’ve somehow turned into the world’s shittiest commenter over the past couple of years, so if you happen to add me, I’ll try to actually comment this time around. However, I want to let everyone know that I do read all your entries. I should also warn you that the Lord of the Rings nerd I’ve been since middle school has finally been unleashed. There will probably also be more geeky-ness about music, film, religion, astronomy (since I’ve always been interested in it and I’ll be studying it for a year), Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett which I honestly and vehemently swear has hardly anything to do with me being pagan, other literature, mythology, astrology, other various environmentalist/democratic/hippie crap (I’m also taking yoga next semester), and of course art.

I’ve actually posted the artwork I’ve done in college that doesn’t look like total shit here: Art Blog (Not Safe for Work). In the next couple days I’ll upload a couple 3-D pieces as well as stuff from my senior year of high school that hasn’t been shown before. And now that the whole Lithium Picnic/Suicide Girls/deviantART legal drama has been sorted out, I’m thinking about returning to deviantART and actually keeping up with updating it now that I’m habitually forced to produce new work. …Even though I have yet to actually draw anything this summer. More importantly, I’ve been messing around and creating things with Photoshop, which I will need to master in order to do well in my digital arts lab this fall. Anyway, if I do go back to deviantART, trust me, you'll hear about it.

Alright, I’m done rambling and whoring out myself, so go ahead and gleefully ignore me, lurk, and/or add my new blog 'cause it's going to be mostly public.

Saturday night I went to Summerfest with Catherine and my mom to see Blondie. We decided to get there a few hours early, so we ended up seeing most of The Old 97’s set as well. My tattoo artist is a big fan of theirs, and I’ve heard one or two of their songs, so I thought they’d be worth checking out. They would have been a little more exciting if they were more rockabilly and less indie. This further proves my theory that modern American indie is much more boring than European – especially British – indie rock. I believe they did a cover of “Owner of a Lonely Heart” (or at least randomly decided to play a couple bars of it) and that couldn’t even spice up their set list. My mother, who is one of the least critical people I know, also agreed that every song sounded the same. At least they were listen-able and the only halfway-decent band playing at the time. We tried wasting time beforehand at the marketplace, but most of the shops were sketchy handwriting analysis, fortune telling, henna tattoo, water bong and Grateful Dead t-shirt places, not to mention the Rhinestone Cowgirl.

We left 45 minutes into The Old 97’s set so we would be an hour early for Blondie in hopes of having a good seat. We ended up ten rows back and in the center, so I was actually able to take some good photos. I still don’t understand how that night John Mellencamp was booked for the Amphitheater while Blondie was on a side-stage. Although they’re quite old, they are by no means washed up and irrelevant. It was the 30th anniversary of Parallel Lines so they started by playing the entire album. After that they played several more hits. There was black and white striped background, Debbie Harry wore a striped dress, and their keyboardist was wearing striped pants in honor of the anniversary. Everyone looked very mod and amazing overall. I knew this performance would be good simply because Blondie are Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legends, but it really exceeded my expectations. Debbie Harry’s voice is still flawless; she’s still a total badass, throwing shoes, cursing and dancing around like a maniac at 63, and all the other musicians, original members and otherwise, sounded incredible. I was disappointed no one around me was dancing, singing along, or shouting. I know most of the people were middle-aged, but they were still younger than Harry, so there’s no excuse for just standing there, being annoyed that everyone jumped on the benches so they couldn’t see. The rest of the details can be seen in the photos, so I can stop raving for the time being. But in all seriousness, this concert is definitely in the top three of all time that I’ve seen.


( The rest of the photos + set list )

The next time I’ll be down there will be for another two legendary bands – The Police and Elvis Costello and the Impostors. I feel very fortunate that I’ll be able to see them on their last tour. Unfortunately, I have to work late on July 1st so I won’t be able to see pat mAcdonald and melaniejane nor Zappa Plays Zappa. The rest of the bands playing aren’t worth seeing in my opinion. Although Summerfest lasts for 11 days, it still doesn’t have anything on Coachella, Lollapalloza, or any of the European festivals. I wanted to see Rush, but I had to work and I’m not in any position to be shelling out a bunch of money for another arena show.

Everything else about the festival was typical, and I know a lot of it has to do with whoever’s headlining that night. There was a bunch of people from Illinois and Minnesota there (and unfortunately a lot of Illinois drivers on the road too). Lots of big, sweaty, sunburnt drunk white people with bad tattoos and hippie stoners. While we were waiting for Blondie, this nasty girl in front of me was shaking her ass to some awful ‘80s cover band and she ended up falling off the bench and landing right on said ass. Parking was a nightmare, and it took us half an hour to get out of the lot. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that next year’s line-up will be a bit better and more eclectic.

Wednesday evening I went down to Chicago with Robbie to see Maiden. His car wasn’t working the day before the show, and he said it would need a fuel pump, so instead of canceling on me and giving back my $65, he decided to go and buy a new car. (I told you this guy is nuts.) Then he shows up and doesn’t have directions or a clue where the venue is. I knew this would happen so I brought a map, but he decided not to follow the route I planned on MapQuest. I’m surprised he even got as far as he did, since I met up with him in the town next to his, since I was more familiar with it. During most of the ride, I was afraid we were going in the opposite direction and would end up somewhere in the middle of Illinois because he had no idea if we were even headed in the right direction. By some stroke of luck, we ended up at the tollbooth we were supposed to be at. The only problem was that he pulled up to an automatic one that only took change, and neither of us had any. I’m assuming the machine took a picture of his license plate, so now he’ll have a ticket for that. (He got one last week for a rolling stop.) Surprisingly, the rest of the trip went well and we arrived in time and at the cheapest parking lot across the street from the venue. Other than the fact we didn’t know where we were going, it was fun throwing that awful Sheila E cassette out the window and onto the sidewalk somewhere in McHenry and blasting Megadeth.

Since we actually got there early, we ended up getting snacks and walking around the venue several times. At first when they were searching me, I was horrified when the security guard found my camera in my purse. I’ve never had them find the hidden pocket inside, and when she did, I told her she could have my batteries so I couldn’t take any photos, but it turned out cameras were allowed! Other than the father who brought his two children sitting two rows in front of us, we were the youngest ones there. When we finally decided to go back to our seats to witness the horror that was Lauren Harris, this guy comes up the stairs behind us, totally drunk, going, “Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law! Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law!” At first I thought he was confused and thought this was a Judas Priest concert. Instead, he told us that we looked like we came out of a Priest video because we were wearing so much leather (and pleather). Even though we were out of place as far as our age went, at least we genuinely looked the part! And even though Robbie got us tickets a few weeks before the show, we still ended up between the center and right-hand corner of the balcony in the fifth row.

I don’t know who decided this, but Steve Harris’s daughter, Lauren Harris, opened for Maiden. I know her dad’s the bassist and all, but she was so out of place and it was obvious that her “career” only exists from riding on her father’s coattails like a drowning rat. She was probably worse than Ashlee Simpson. At least she wears shoes. Lauren came onstage wearing leather pants, a glittery flower halter top, and had bare feet. Her backup band consisted of a bunch of washed up ‘80s hair metal guys. Harris even plugged her MySpace page onstage. How pathetic is that? Luckily she didn’t play long, and when she announced it was her last song, she got the most applause.

Iron Maiden was even more amazing as expected. Some of the older fans even commented that this was their best show since ’83. I guess I picked a good time to see them. In fact, I just feel fortunate that I got to see them in my lifetime. They proved age really doesn’t matter and moved around that stage like anyone twice their age, if not even more. Especially Bruce! He was insane, and his voice is absolutely killer. The set list was also brilliant. The only song they didn’t play that I wanted to hear was “Flight of Icarus”. I also really liked that the stage imagery they used was circa the Powerslave era and a lot of it had hidden meaning, especially the backdrop with the Anubis statues. As expected, the pyrotechnics and the whole set-up in general were amazing. This was by far the best live performance I’ve seen from any band so far. I took hundreds of photos, but very few of those turned out due to how far I had to zoom in my camera. I’ll let the pictures speak for the rest of the concert details.


( Set List + 31 Photos )

I’ve outdone myself again! Not only was Wednesday night’s concert the best I’ve ever attended; it was also the best day of my life so far. My roommate Nicole and I went to Gigantour at The Rave, and she wanted to see Job for a Cowboy while I was dying to see Children of Bodom and also kind of wanted to see In Flames and Megadeth.

For those of you who don’t want to read all the minute details I need to document to preserve this wonderful memory, here’s the basic rundown of what happened:

- I met an awesome guy from Lake Geneva named Robbie who is potential boyfriend material, which is saying a lot because I’m kind of picky.
- Roope Latvala from C.O.B. and Stone walked behind me in the ballroom to get backstage, and Robbie chased after him and met him.
- The pit was really intense, but I stuck it out until after Bodom played. Robbie and I arranged to meet outside the doors after the show was over.
- We left after Children of Bodom played and stalked the buses in hopes of meeting some of the bands when they came out.
- Matt from High on Fire invited us on Job for a Cowboy’s bus, where we partied with him and all of JFAC for six hours. I only had a Jaegerbomb, but I was totally giddy and zoned out for half an hour before I could focus my eyes again. JFAC’s drummer was so nice and waited on me, mixing a drink and bringing me water while I sat on their couch. Nicole got totally wasted and reached groupie status with a certain member of JFAC.
- I met a guy from In Flames’ crew and another from C.O.B.’s crew because they are Germans and wanted to speak German with me.
- While I was talking to the Germans, Roope was behind me signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. I went on the bus to get my camera, and tried to chase Roope down, but he left and went back onto Bodom’s bus. There I met up with Robbie again.
- At midnight, JFAC’s manager got Janne Warman, the keyboardist from C.O.B. and Warmen, to come and hang out with me for an hour and a half. Nicole made me sit by him, and I was pretty much freaking out the entire time, but luckily I didn’t go into obsessive fan mode on him.
- Before they all had to leave for Omaha, Henkka and Jaska from C.O.B. came on the bus, and I got to meet them.
- Once we all got kicked off the bus, I finally met Roope in the parking lot.

There’s only one picture because I didn’t want to annoy any of the guys, so here’s Janne and I.


I’m not bummed out anymore that I didn’t buy a $275 meet and greet pass because I got so much more than that for free. I wish I would have been able to meet Alexi, but people from the other bands said that he doesn’t care too much about meeting his fans, which is really disappointing because he’s a huge musical inspiration for me.

( All the details + 24 photos )

Saturday night was the Reverend Horton Heat show, and it was by far the best concert I’ve ever attended. (Yes, even better than Morrissey.)

My mom decided that she wanted to see the Rev again at the last minute, so it was nice not having to drive down there, especially with what happened along the way. We hadn’t been driving along I-43 for long when we saw this black car swerving around and speeding in front of us to exit the freeway. I turned around, and they had hit the two cars behind us. I watched one woman spin around so she was going to opposite way, and when she tried to right herself, she ended up spinning in circles, repeatedly slamming into the median. By the time her car slowed down, it was totaled; the entire front end was compacted and her airbag didn’t deploy, but she was still able to drive further down to where she could finally pull over. As soon as she pulled over, the other guy who was hit from behind also pulled over and was running like mad away from his car that was smoking. It definitely smelled like burning fuel. We are so fortunate that we didn’t get hit; that guy had to have been drunk, and he barely made it around us.

We still arrived 45 minutes before the first band went on, and there were only four other people standing around. I immediately went up to the stage so I could be front and center while my mom sat up in the balcony. After a while, only a few more people showed up. The Rev’s manager came out and was talking to the guy next to me who had seen him the night before in Chicago. Apparently, Nashville Pussy had canceled, and he said it must have been something big because they never cancel. Lucky for me, I can’t stand that band, so I was glad I didn’t have to deal with that. Unfortunately, the band they got at the last minute to replace them wasn’t much better. I heard they were some local Milwaukee band, and I didn’t catch their name because their equipment was turned up so loud. All I could hear were really buzzy tones come from the mike and all the amps. Their bassist was decent, and they played a cover of T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy”, but those are the only positive things I can find about them. All the rest of their songs sounded the same, and it was obvious they were amateurs due to the fact they can’t recognize when the music is so loud you can barely make anything out because it totally shot your hearing.

Next was Backyard Tire Fire. They were okay, so I don’t have much to say about them. They sounded kind of alt-country, and at least their volume was under control so I was able to get some of my hearing back. During the last song, their vocalist/guitarist’s D-string broke with most of it hanging loose, and he kept swinging his guitar around, so I was a little scared of getting hit with it. I know part of it is because I’ve had some gnarly cuts in the past just from changing strings…

Reverend Horton Heat’s set list was even better than last time I saw them, and back then they were taking requests! This time, they did a “music through the ages” type of thing where they covered “Greensleeves”, Bill Haley’s “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” (Or so I think…I’m not a huge Bill Haley fan. Sue me.) Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” with Paul doing the vocals, Stray Cats’ “Rock This Town”, Nirvana’s “In Bloom”, and when Jim threatened to do Kelly Clarkson, thankfully they played “Bales of Cocaine” instead. There was some serious ownage on the Stray Cats cover. The Rev totally blew anything Brian Sezter did with that song out of the water. As before, they played for about two hours, so they covered a hell of a lot of material, and there’s no way I can remember the entire set list. Some highlights were: “400 Bucks”, “I Can’t Surf”, “Five-O Ford”, “The Baddest of the Bad”, “Galaxy 500”, “The Devil’s Chasing Me” where the Rev’s classic bass stand trick took place, “Jimbo Song” (as always), “Big Little Baby”, “Psychobilly Freakout”, “Big Red Rocket of Love”, and “It’s Martini Time”. I’m pretty sure “Indigo Friends” might have been in there some place. If I remember correctly, the opener was “Pride of San Jacinto”, but it may have been “Big Sky”. I was just so excited to be close enough to see the stitching on Jim Heath’s blazer and the fact that they were playing one of RHH songs I play all the time on guitar that I kind of freaked out. I know I had the biggest shit-eating grin on my face the whole time because Jim would break out into a smile after looking at me and wink. I also got several winks from Jimbo…apparently he likes it when you yell at him and throw up the horns. ;) It also helped that (from what I could tell) was the only girl in the front row, and one of the few who looked rockabilly that evening. Toward the end, Jim even tried to throw a pick directly to me, but he missed and it landed in front of the gate. The idiot skinhead behind me jumped over to get it and was promptly hauled away by security.

The only things that sucked were the circle and pushpits that broke out and people who decided to throw shit. Seriously, who does that at a rockabilly show!? My mom decided to come down to the floor for the encore, and now the outside of her entire upper arm is bruised. The other guy next to me also brought his three sons, one of which looked about seven. I also had this short girl behind me keep yanking me back to yell stuff at Jim, which did nothing but earn her an annoyed face from the Rev. I know I’m about 5’11’’ with my boots on, but it’s not my fault that you got there late and can’t see. I also got hit in the head and arm with a cup of vodka, and someone threw ice onstage at Jimbo, and Jimbo was just like, “Bring it!”

I know there was a lot of fangirling here, but I’ve never been front and center at a concert before and Jim Heath is one of my guitar heroes, and to have him acknowledge me while he was onstage is a big deal to me.

( 35 Photos )

On Thursday, I saw one of the best live performances yet, even though they only got through four or five songs. This concert was during my music class, and I couldn’t afford to skip since I missed the last performance (which was by Fly Neurotic, whose recorded music on MySpace blew, so I knew they’d be just as terrible, if not worse, live) and already skipped that class in general enough as it is. Seriously, pat mAcdonald fucking owned. I had heard of him before, since he writes songs for many popular musicians and was in Timbuk3 who were famous for “The Future’s so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”, but I’d never bothered to check out his solo music. He played with cellist, back-up singer, and tambourine player melaniejane, who is also a TA in the music department, who was equally amazing. She rocked that cello like Apocalyptica. Their whole performance reminded me of Murder by Death, but with more energy, soul, and darkness. pat’s vocals are similar to Michael Stipe’s, but less grating, and his guitar playing is a mixture of alternative, garage, and blues styles. He also played harmonica, a custom-made guitar out of a cigar box with a mixture of bass and guitar strings, and stomped on this bass drum pedal thing I’ve never seen before. One thing he played that I recognized was a cover of PJ Harvey’s “Working”. After looking him up on YouTube, I noticed his setlist also included “Whiskey Bottle” and “Reset Me Lord”. He also has an album of Depeche Mode covers, unfortunately, none of which he played while I was there. (There was another performance at 2:00, but I couldn’t attend since I had a mandatory sculpture critique at the same time.) I was lucky enough to be in the second row for this, and I could have met him afterward and bought one of his records, but I stupidly forgot my camera when I was using it the same morning to photograph my wood sculpture. I also happened to forget my wallet, which put me in a bad mood, so I just left.

( pat mAcdonald covering PJ Harvey )

This reminds me: another sculpture of mine was chosen by three people in charge of the art department to be shown at the Union Gallery. I chose not to attend to the reception, since I was not happy that I was unable to choose which piece of art I submitted, and I feel the piece that was chosen does not represent me as an artist. It’s forced, since I had to create something out of cardboard that captured the energy of the word ‘bold’, and was created for my 3-D Concepts class which I hate. I do find it aesthetically pleasing, but it’s just not really “me”. I’m posting a couple pictures of it anyway, since this is my first time showing at a real gallery in the biggest city in the state when I’ve previously only had work shown in my hometown’s library.

( 2 )

Tomorrow (technically tonight) is the Reverend Horton Heat show, which I know will be amazing. I’ll also be posting something on that, since I feel the need to document the details of every concert I attend in case I forget.

Sunday night was the best five hours of my life.

The show last night was amazing.

I cannot get over how beautiful the Riverside Theater was. Everything was so Victorian and elegant. It was nice to actually be able to breathe at a show without all the cigarette smoke.

Blood On The Wall was the opening band and they completely sucked. Their singer/guitarist looked like the dad on Grounded for Life, but thought he was Black Francis from the Pixies. Their singer/bassist tried to sing like Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth. Both vocalists couldn't sing or scream in tune. Their drummer was okay, but he totally reminded me of the guy from Blow with the bucket hat and the huge bong. I never would have guessed they were from Brooklyn; they looked and sounded like all the crap from around here.

Needless to say, things had to go uphill from there. I saw a very familiar face coming down the aisle during intermission. At first I wasn't sure it was him because he looked so...tame, but sure enough -- it was Paul! I still can't believe he was there. Last time I checked, he only listened to street punk and Queen. Fortunately, I was able to briefly chat with him, but he is pretty much friends with everyone, so yeah... I also noticed that the guy behind me was wearing a Bauhaus shirt. There were a lot of interesting people there, even though 90% of the audience was hipsters. One guy was dressed up like Axl Rose.

The only really negative aspect of the whole night was this older guy with a Slayer shirt who sat by us. He was totally wasted and asked if we wanted drugs. When the opportune moment came, we moved down a few seats and when he noticed, he also moved down. I would have got security, but in order to get them, we would had to have passed in front of that guy.

I wish I would have brought my camera. All the venue's I've been to around here are really strict about stuff like that, so I just assumed that taking photos was forbidden. We had the perfect seats, since we got there early. We were in the center and eye-level with the stage. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were phenomenal. Karen O. is such a great performer. I can't believe her vocals held up all the way through the end. She is a total powerhouse; I wish I had half of her energy and charisma. I think they did a good mixture of new and old material. They all looked great and the lights were just amazing. Mmm...Nick Zinner. It's just wrong to be that attractive. It's like someone threw Nick Cave in a time machine and turned it back 20 years, gave him a better haircut and wardrobe, and taught him how to play guitar. In between songs, the drunk guy kept going, "This is rock 'n roll. This. Is. Rock. 'N. Rolllll!" Yeah. Basically, they were the best band I've ever seen live. I just wish there were more alternative bands out these days that are actually creative and original.

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