February 03, 2006
Upcoming Shows
2/22/06 The Fiery Furnaces, Smith's Olde Bar - Tickets are $15. You can get them at Criminal Records, at Smith's Olde Bar, or via etix.
I would be there, except I already promised my sister I'd see INXS with her. (No, I did not watch the reality show. I'm a fan of the original lineup and I'm going grudgingly.) Dammit!
4/05/06 Death Cab for Cutie returns to the Tabernacle. They are co-headlining a tour with Franz Ferdinand at other shows, but not the Atlanta show. Boo!
6/16 - 6/18/06 Bonnaroo - RADIOHEAD!!! (Co-headlining with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) Along with a whole slew of others (Beck, Elvis Costello & the Imposters, Cat Power, My Morning Jacket, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Devendra Banhart, Seu Jorge, Steve Earle, Bonnie Raitt, Bright Eyes, Ben Folds, Gomez, etc.) But did you read me the first time? RADIOHEAD!!! Tickets go on sale 2/11.
February 07, 2006
Pride and Prejudice, Alliance Theatre
Going to see a staging of this with friends tonight. Should be fun.
Wishes sometimes come true
I brought healthy things to eat today. Turkey sandwich, yogurt, an apple, Sun Chips, and a fruit and grain bar. Lunch and some snacks if I felt like it. I longed wistfully for something sweet, something unhealthy.
One of the receptionists just walked past my door, eating a cookie. She alerted me to a whole giant tray of cookies and brownies just sitting out on the library's main counter.
I'm off for some coffee to go with my brownies. (Note the plural.)
February 08, 2006
Another chapter in the history of violence
CNN is currently running an article "Bush urges end to cartoon violence." I know what the headline means. I know that this is an extremely serious situation. Yet part of me thinks the title for this is funny. Funny in a bleak way, I guess.
I understand why these political cartoons would incite anger, but this tsunami of riots and mob violence across the Muslim world is a frightening response. Frightening - and childish.
It does not help their case in the eyes of the Western world to be seen as emotional, irrational, perhaps even savage and uncivilized. Their anger may be justified, but lashing out like this makes it difficult for non-Muslims to take their concerns seriously, except as forces to be contained, to be kept at bay. Which isn't much of a solution, either.
I find it hard to see the value in a religion that inspires people to wreak havoc in the world, to persuade others of the rightness of their beliefs, to force others to submit to their will, through violence and the fear of violence. Religious fundamentalism, no matter its origin, demands submission, refuses compromise, and denies the merit of anything that does not fit into its particular world view.
I do not say that all Muslims are like this, I know that isn't true. But when I read the news, it's hard not to believe otherwise.
New Album Presale: Hope for Agoldensummer
Hope for Agoldensummer is offering a presale of their next album, currently in the works. Those who pony up the $15 now will get a copy of the album once it's available, as well as a compilation of previously unreleased live and studio recordings.
Internet friends meme
If there is someone on your friends list or blogroll who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.
February 09, 2006
"Rise Up With Fists" - Jenny Lewis with the Watson TwinsWhat are you changing?
Who do you think you're changing?
You can't change things.
We're all stuck in our ways.
It's like trying to clean the ocean.
What do you think, you can drain it?
Well, it was poison and dry
long before you came.But you can wake up younger under the knife;
and you can wake up sounder if you get analyzed.
And I'd better wake up.
There but for the grace of god go I.It's hard to believe your prophets
when they're asking you to change things.
But with their suspect lives, we look the other way.
Are you really that pure, sir?
Thought I saw you in Vegas
It was not pretty, but she was
(not your wife)But she will wake up wealthy,
and you will wake up forty-five.
And she will wake up with baby.
There but for the grace of god go I.What am I fighting for?
The cops are at my front door.I can't escape that way,
the windows are in flames.
And what's that on your ankle?
You say they're not coming for you,
but house arrest is really just the same.
(Just the same)Like when you wake up behind the bar,
trying to remember where you are,
having crushed all the pretty things.
There but for the grace of god go I.But I still believe.
And I will rise up with fists.
And I will take what's mine.
(Mine, mine, mine)
There but for the grace of god go I.
There but for the grace of god go I.
There but for the grace of god go I.
There but for the grace of god go I.
Miss you, mrw.
February 12, 2006
Late night out
Lenny's. Total dive bar. A benefit for some biker co-op (as in ten-speed, not Harley). The draw for us - Hope for Agoldensummer. The band was last in the lineup, so it was a bit of a wait. I smell like a carton of cigarettes. A good show, although I could do without stupid little hipster girls yipping and yapping during the music.
I learned a joke tonight. Want to hear it?
Q: How many indie rockers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: [sneering] What, you don't know?
February 13, 2006
Counting the ways
Here's my Johari window. If you like, please pick five or six words that you think best describe me.
February 14, 2006
One heart, many moods
Passionate:
Rude:
Awww:
February 16, 2006
Snow Patrol, 3/15/06
Woo! Snow Patrol will be in Atlanta at The Loft. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10 am.
Definitely catching this show.
February 17, 2006
Lists of Four
Mingaling tagged me, and I've been overdue getting this out.
Four jobs I’ve had in my life
receptionist/general assistant
paralegal
library assistant
librarian!
Four movies I can watch over and over
Amelie
My Fair Lady
Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 mini-series)
Sense and Sensibility (the one with Alan Rickman)
Four places I have lived
New York City
Pembroke Pines, FL
Oxford, England
Atlanta, GA
Four TV shows I love to watch
Veronica Mars
Battlestar Galactica
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Blackadder
Four places I have been on vacation
London
Paris
San Francisco
Thailand
Four of my favourite dishes
pad thai
macaroni and cheese
spaghetti carbonara
the cheese grits at the Flying Biscuit
Four websites I visit daily
Google Reader
Craigslist
Blogdex or Blogsnow
APWBWGTTD
Four places I would rather be right now
New York City
England
Lost in a book
In bed
February 23, 2006
INXS, Atlanta Civic Center, 2/22/06
I didn't watch Rock Star: INXS. I haven't heard Switch, the new album. But I went to the show tonight at my sister's invitation.
It was great to see the band again - Kirk Pengilly, Tim Farriss, Jon Farriss, Andrew Farriss, Garry Gary Beers. The new guy, J.D. Fortune, was ok. Together they did a great, energetic show.
But my eyes looked for someone else. My ears kept trying to hear another voice. It hurt to hear "By My Side" and "Never Tear Us Apart" without Michael Hutchence.
My thoughts turn inward. I'm in college. I'm with my friends at the hangar at Lakewood Amphitheater. We're insanely happy, we literally cannot contain ourselves. Our limbs are jittery and every so often one of us just emits a delirious squeal. I remember the feeling of my ribs crushed against the stage barrier. Our voices grow hoarse from our screams. With the rest of the crowd we become a mass of hair and outstretched arms and breathlessness. This frenzy is only heightened in the presence of a magnetic, sinewy, graceful figure. He's a beautiful, dangerous, sexy man. I remember the sweep of his hair. He is so close that at one point my fingers brush his cheek. Our passion for the music, for the sound that can be felt in the breastbone, overwhelms us. The band and the audience, we become something greater as we lose ourselves in the music.
That feeling wasn't there for me tonight.
I wish the guys well. I hope they have a wonderful tour and find new fans.
Life goes on, but sometimes it really hurts to realize that.
February 24, 2006
Confirmed: Trader Joe's Coming to Atlanta
This is great news. In today's print edition of the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
Trader Joe's leases two stores, may open 12: The California-based specialty retailer's first Atlanta locations will be in Midtown and Sandy Springs
For those unfamiliar with Trader Joe's, it's like a smaller, more casual, neighborhood Whole Foods, except their prices are incredibly reasonable, or even slightly outrageous. For instance, they sell wines that have been nicknamed the Two Buck Chuck, because a bottle sells for $1.99 - and these are good table wines!
I've actually had conversations with people, salivating over rumors that Trader Joe's would come to Atlanta. So it's wonderful to find out that it's really happening.
February 27, 2006
More on Trader Joe's
From "Trader Joe's leases 2 stores, may open 12" (Lisa R. Schoolcraft, Atlanta Business Chronicle, 2/24/06 print ed.):
Trader Joe's Co. Inc., where shoppers can find such items as hormone-free chicken or blue cheese-stuffed olives, has signed on for 12,000-square-foot stores at Midtown Promenade shopping center, 931 Monroe Drive, and Sandy Springs Plaza, 6299 Roswell Road, according to several people close to the lease negotiations.
The California-based company also is negotiating leases on two other stores, in Buckhead and East Cobb, and may consider a total of 10 to 12 stores in metro Atlanta, those sources said.Trader Joe's spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki declined to confirm the leases, but said the company will enter the market by year end.
February 28, 2006
Staying Busy
Mr. Arkadin is having a arthroscopic surgery today (on his knee). I left work at noon and we drove up to the facility. He checked in, and almost immediately the nurse was there to get him prepped.
We decided it would be best for me to go back to work instead of spending hours in the waiting room. So I have work to keep me busy instead of worrying (too much). Things should be fine, but surgery is still surgery.