April 30, 2004
The Pixies?!? In concert!?!
So..., sometime back during Winter quarter, I think probably within the first half of it, I heard that the Pixies were coming to Davis on their reunion tour. Hearing that, I decided I wanted to go to the concert. So the day tickets were sold, I chanced to ask Spencer whether Tommy and Mark had gotten tickets. I had intended to go grab some later that day, or perhaps later in the week. Turns out they sold out in the first 30-45 minutes or so, not surprisingly in retrospect. Hopes having been crushed, I began to plot ways of sneaking in. Those fell through though, and our (Tommy, Spencer, Mark, and myself) options began to dwindle.
So finally the day of the concert came and we figured we'd just go over and hang out in front of the hall for a bit, maybe see if we could hear them playing from outside. I considered maybe bring my Engineering 17 homework to work on while I listened. So I called up Tommy seeing what the plans were. He told me to drop by his house around 7-ish, so I left my own house around 6:30, and went to Safeway. I deposited a buncha checks, and withdrew $140, entertaining the possibility I might be able to score a ticket or two. I went by Tommy's, he decided he would drive since he actually had gas, and I would have had to drop by a gas station. We swung by and picked up Mark from his place, and then called Spencer to tell him to meet us there. Tommy parked near the farmer's market and we walked over to the MU.
When we got there, I saw Spence sitting at a table, and he pretty much jumped up and started running at us. He told us there were two guys selling tickets for $40 apiece. One guy had two tickets, and the other had one. Sadly enough, there were four of us there, so if we did that we'd have to screw one person. So we sat there and pondered, while there were others walking around also asking for tickets. If we wanted to go at all, we'd have to make a decision soon, and maybe draw straws.
As it turned out, another guy came up to us asking if we were looking for tickets. We said we were, and he asked us to name a price. I said $40 thinking to myself that since others were charging that much, it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask him for that amount. He said $40 was a bit low and suggested that $50 was a more reasonable price, but we pointed at the other guy selling tickets and said he was letting them go for $40 apiece. The first guy looked at us kinda funny, then asked his friend to go over and ask how much the other guy was selling for. His friend confirmed, and so he said something like, "honest college students", and agreed to sell for $40 apiece. Mindblowing huh?
So I gave Spence $60 of the $140, he ran off to the ATM to get another $20, and I went to find that other guy and buy his two tickets. We chatted a little bit until Spence got back, bought the last two tickets, and walked into Freeborn entirely awestruck.
We got in around 7:20-ish, and the concert wasn't starting 'til 8, so we found some friends and sat down, shooting the breeze and whatnot. Openers started at 8; they were some band called Quitters. Truth be told, they were not technically bad, although there was one bit where the lead singer held the microphone in a funny way.
Imagine if you were going to stab yourself in the heart with a knife that you are holding in front of your face. Not like an inch away from your face, but kinda out there, not too far either. He was holding the mike kinda like that, with the head pointing downwards-ish. A bit odd, a bit weird, but even with that, and the fact that their sound wasn't very impressive, I still think that the audience was a bit harsh on them. I mean, fuck, how often is it that people really care jack shit about the openers at all? Have there really been openers where the people were like, "Holy shit fool, that was awesome!", I think not.
In any case, they played for mebbe 30 min, the guy tried cracking a few jokes between songs, but truthfully they were pretty bad. They got off at 8:30, and so everyone was left waiting for the Pixies to come onstage.
During this period, Spence, Mark, and John (a friend), went off to get some air. When they came back, Spence was missing. Apparently he wasn't feeling so well, and nearly collapsed as he was walking away. Luckily, some guy caught him before he hit the ground, and he decided to chill out there for a bit and see if he felt any better.
After 30 minutes of checking the bass 6 times, the mike 8 times, and in general testing everything way much, the Pixies finally came on stage. Frank was a bit bigger than he used to be, the guitarist a little more bald than he was, the drummer had glasses, but the bassist hadn't changed much at all. They started off with a song I didn't know. I wish I'd listened to more of them prior to the concert, rather than listening to Doolittle God knows how many times. The songs I do remember, in approximate order were:
Bone Machine
Wave of Mutilation (they actually messed up, they started, screwed up, talked about it for a minute "I don't think we've ever actually messed up that song", then played it again)
Dead
Debaser (everyone was yelling during this song, it was awesome)
Tame
Number 13 Baby
Gouge Away
Hey (probably one of my favorite songs, they did it so fucking well)
Here Comes Your Man (My next favorite song, Frank is the most awesome vocalist, and with Kim, blah, I was totally floored by how well this sounded in concert)
Where Is My Mind
This Monkey's Gone to Heaven
(There are a lot of missing songs I didn't know, and the ones listed aren't even in the right order I don't think)
They encored with three songs I didn't know at all. I was sad that they didn't play "La La Love You", but "Hey" and "Here Comes Your Man" made the concert for me. I am not complaining at all. My legs are tired, my body aches, my ears are shot, but my soul is happy, and that is what matters.
So finally the day of the concert came and we figured we'd just go over and hang out in front of the hall for a bit, maybe see if we could hear them playing from outside. I considered maybe bring my Engineering 17 homework to work on while I listened. So I called up Tommy seeing what the plans were. He told me to drop by his house around 7-ish, so I left my own house around 6:30, and went to Safeway. I deposited a buncha checks, and withdrew $140, entertaining the possibility I might be able to score a ticket or two. I went by Tommy's, he decided he would drive since he actually had gas, and I would have had to drop by a gas station. We swung by and picked up Mark from his place, and then called Spencer to tell him to meet us there. Tommy parked near the farmer's market and we walked over to the MU.
When we got there, I saw Spence sitting at a table, and he pretty much jumped up and started running at us. He told us there were two guys selling tickets for $40 apiece. One guy had two tickets, and the other had one. Sadly enough, there were four of us there, so if we did that we'd have to screw one person. So we sat there and pondered, while there were others walking around also asking for tickets. If we wanted to go at all, we'd have to make a decision soon, and maybe draw straws.
As it turned out, another guy came up to us asking if we were looking for tickets. We said we were, and he asked us to name a price. I said $40 thinking to myself that since others were charging that much, it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask him for that amount. He said $40 was a bit low and suggested that $50 was a more reasonable price, but we pointed at the other guy selling tickets and said he was letting them go for $40 apiece. The first guy looked at us kinda funny, then asked his friend to go over and ask how much the other guy was selling for. His friend confirmed, and so he said something like, "honest college students", and agreed to sell for $40 apiece. Mindblowing huh?
So I gave Spence $60 of the $140, he ran off to the ATM to get another $20, and I went to find that other guy and buy his two tickets. We chatted a little bit until Spence got back, bought the last two tickets, and walked into Freeborn entirely awestruck.
We got in around 7:20-ish, and the concert wasn't starting 'til 8, so we found some friends and sat down, shooting the breeze and whatnot. Openers started at 8; they were some band called Quitters. Truth be told, they were not technically bad, although there was one bit where the lead singer held the microphone in a funny way.
Imagine if you were going to stab yourself in the heart with a knife that you are holding in front of your face. Not like an inch away from your face, but kinda out there, not too far either. He was holding the mike kinda like that, with the head pointing downwards-ish. A bit odd, a bit weird, but even with that, and the fact that their sound wasn't very impressive, I still think that the audience was a bit harsh on them. I mean, fuck, how often is it that people really care jack shit about the openers at all? Have there really been openers where the people were like, "Holy shit fool, that was awesome!", I think not.
In any case, they played for mebbe 30 min, the guy tried cracking a few jokes between songs, but truthfully they were pretty bad. They got off at 8:30, and so everyone was left waiting for the Pixies to come onstage.
During this period, Spence, Mark, and John (a friend), went off to get some air. When they came back, Spence was missing. Apparently he wasn't feeling so well, and nearly collapsed as he was walking away. Luckily, some guy caught him before he hit the ground, and he decided to chill out there for a bit and see if he felt any better.
After 30 minutes of checking the bass 6 times, the mike 8 times, and in general testing everything way much, the Pixies finally came on stage. Frank was a bit bigger than he used to be, the guitarist a little more bald than he was, the drummer had glasses, but the bassist hadn't changed much at all. They started off with a song I didn't know. I wish I'd listened to more of them prior to the concert, rather than listening to Doolittle God knows how many times. The songs I do remember, in approximate order were:
Bone Machine
Wave of Mutilation (they actually messed up, they started, screwed up, talked about it for a minute "I don't think we've ever actually messed up that song", then played it again)
Dead
Debaser (everyone was yelling during this song, it was awesome)
Tame
Number 13 Baby
Gouge Away
Hey (probably one of my favorite songs, they did it so fucking well)
Here Comes Your Man (My next favorite song, Frank is the most awesome vocalist, and with Kim, blah, I was totally floored by how well this sounded in concert)
Where Is My Mind
This Monkey's Gone to Heaven
(There are a lot of missing songs I didn't know, and the ones listed aren't even in the right order I don't think)
They encored with three songs I didn't know at all. I was sad that they didn't play "La La Love You", but "Hey" and "Here Comes Your Man" made the concert for me. I am not complaining at all. My legs are tired, my body aches, my ears are shot, but my soul is happy, and that is what matters.
April 02, 2004
Love
Talking to mother
I'm a loner, brother seeks affection
I got attention, brother wants it
My mother is not angry at me for getting into a non-prestigious college, she's angry with me because she feels I haven't tried my hardest to get into the position I'm currently in. supposing my brother ended up only getting into UCD or CSUS, she would not be disappointed, because he tried his hardest to get there.
My mother and I aren't so different when it comes down to it. The more I hear from her, the more I learn of just how pragmatic and rational she is when it comes to making any sort of decision.
People within their lifetime begin to make a ranking of what is most important to them. For some, they wish to live comfortably, for others, they wish to accumulate as much wealth as possible. For others even, they wish only to help others, et cetera and so on. People will forsake other such rewards and situations in order to pursue their highest-most goal. In the case of my mother and many other mothers, they see the futures of their own children as the most important goal of all.
Mark got into Yale, Stanford, Harvard, full ride to UCLA, among other things. I would wager that his most important goal at this point in his life was to make his parents proud. He wanted so badly to be accepted by his parents, much as my own brother does now. He was willing to put aside his own desires, nay, let his desires and goals become the desires and goals of his own parents in order to make proud those he felt closest to.
My mother talked to me about Diana, my girlfriend. She mentioned that she actually did not dislike Diana at all, and really was rather fond of her in some sense. She felt Diana was cute, and apparently exhibited a 'good upbringing', at least I think that's the impression she was trying to convey. Apparently she feels that this is one thing she has taught me and my brother very well. Respect, manners, simple courtesy; a way to put others before yourself and to realize that a minor inconvenience or effort spent on your part for the sake of another is time well spent.
I take quite a bit of pride in this thing I call individuality. I like to think I'm a fairly unique kinda guy with an odd belief-set that was formed through careful analysis of my own beliefs and careful readings of the philosophies of others. I've also never been one to really enjoy this idea that arbitrary grades will determine how much I have learned and where I will continue to learn. I explained to my mom that probably one of the higher priorities of my life is simply to learn about the world in general. She understood what I meant, understood why it was that I would feel that way, but when it came down to it, she knew just as much as I did that I signed up to play by the rules of the system when I decided I would go to college. Regardless of my own ideals, the system is as it is and I can either attempt to change it, or I can play by their rules and do my best. Supposing I'm really cracked up to be all that I think and everyone else thinks I am, I can kick the system's ass, right?
Supposedly, my grandma always thought I was the smartest of her four grandchildren. What does that mean though? Oldest cousin on that side of the family is currently going to Stanford and working with either IBM or Intel, I can't remember. His younger brother, one year my junior, is studying off at some nice college in California, I can't remember which. UCLA or better I think, probably a private college. My brother's in 9th grade, and I think the worst grade he's ever gotten on a report card has been an A-. So why would my grandma say I'm the smartest of the 4?
My brother is going to the state Future Problem Solving meet sometime toward the end of this month in Burbank. He apparently very much wants my mother to go, though my mother is reluctant to do so since she only recently came back from LA and doesn't much feel up to making the trip again. I can imagine that he would feel quite bitter about this since I went to the Academic Decathlon state meets twice and she went to the awards ceremony both times I think. I feel really bad for him because I really did get all the attention from mom and dad.
My mother went to pretty much each one of my "open house" things in Junior high. My brother pretty much had to beg her to go to his. So she went to one fairly recently. On the way home my brother asked her, "So mom, what did my teachers say?" My mom responded that pretty much all of his teachers liked him as a student, thought he was a great kid, very nice during class, and his bio teacher said something along the lines of "he's a really, really nice kid, he's a good one." My brother then asked my mom, "mom? Did you know I was a good kid? Do you think I'm good?"
I'm a loner, brother seeks affection
I got attention, brother wants it
My mother is not angry at me for getting into a non-prestigious college, she's angry with me because she feels I haven't tried my hardest to get into the position I'm currently in. supposing my brother ended up only getting into UCD or CSUS, she would not be disappointed, because he tried his hardest to get there.
My mother and I aren't so different when it comes down to it. The more I hear from her, the more I learn of just how pragmatic and rational she is when it comes to making any sort of decision.
People within their lifetime begin to make a ranking of what is most important to them. For some, they wish to live comfortably, for others, they wish to accumulate as much wealth as possible. For others even, they wish only to help others, et cetera and so on. People will forsake other such rewards and situations in order to pursue their highest-most goal. In the case of my mother and many other mothers, they see the futures of their own children as the most important goal of all.
Mark got into Yale, Stanford, Harvard, full ride to UCLA, among other things. I would wager that his most important goal at this point in his life was to make his parents proud. He wanted so badly to be accepted by his parents, much as my own brother does now. He was willing to put aside his own desires, nay, let his desires and goals become the desires and goals of his own parents in order to make proud those he felt closest to.
My mother talked to me about Diana, my girlfriend. She mentioned that she actually did not dislike Diana at all, and really was rather fond of her in some sense. She felt Diana was cute, and apparently exhibited a 'good upbringing', at least I think that's the impression she was trying to convey. Apparently she feels that this is one thing she has taught me and my brother very well. Respect, manners, simple courtesy; a way to put others before yourself and to realize that a minor inconvenience or effort spent on your part for the sake of another is time well spent.
I take quite a bit of pride in this thing I call individuality. I like to think I'm a fairly unique kinda guy with an odd belief-set that was formed through careful analysis of my own beliefs and careful readings of the philosophies of others. I've also never been one to really enjoy this idea that arbitrary grades will determine how much I have learned and where I will continue to learn. I explained to my mom that probably one of the higher priorities of my life is simply to learn about the world in general. She understood what I meant, understood why it was that I would feel that way, but when it came down to it, she knew just as much as I did that I signed up to play by the rules of the system when I decided I would go to college. Regardless of my own ideals, the system is as it is and I can either attempt to change it, or I can play by their rules and do my best. Supposing I'm really cracked up to be all that I think and everyone else thinks I am, I can kick the system's ass, right?
Supposedly, my grandma always thought I was the smartest of her four grandchildren. What does that mean though? Oldest cousin on that side of the family is currently going to Stanford and working with either IBM or Intel, I can't remember. His younger brother, one year my junior, is studying off at some nice college in California, I can't remember which. UCLA or better I think, probably a private college. My brother's in 9th grade, and I think the worst grade he's ever gotten on a report card has been an A-. So why would my grandma say I'm the smartest of the 4?
My brother is going to the state Future Problem Solving meet sometime toward the end of this month in Burbank. He apparently very much wants my mother to go, though my mother is reluctant to do so since she only recently came back from LA and doesn't much feel up to making the trip again. I can imagine that he would feel quite bitter about this since I went to the Academic Decathlon state meets twice and she went to the awards ceremony both times I think. I feel really bad for him because I really did get all the attention from mom and dad.
My mother went to pretty much each one of my "open house" things in Junior high. My brother pretty much had to beg her to go to his. So she went to one fairly recently. On the way home my brother asked her, "So mom, what did my teachers say?" My mom responded that pretty much all of his teachers liked him as a student, thought he was a great kid, very nice during class, and his bio teacher said something along the lines of "he's a really, really nice kid, he's a good one." My brother then asked my mom, "mom? Did you know I was a good kid? Do you think I'm good?"
