CONCERT SURVEY

What was your first concert?
Haha, the first KISS Reunion tour - 1996

What year was it and how old were you?
I was twelve.

Have you ever had to go to a concert with a parent, and were you embarrassed about it?
I've been to concerts with other people's parents, but they were usually parents who acted like their kids' "friends."

What other concerts have you been to?
Wow. I don't even know that I could remember them all.

What concerts do you want to see that you haven't?
I've actually been very lucky, and seen all of my favorite bands. Well, seeing Fiona would be good.

Have you seen any bands more than once? Who are they, and how many times?
Cursive - 6
Nine Inch Nails - 5
Mike Park, Darkest Hour, and, uh, another band - 4
Murder by Death - 2
A Perfect Circle - 2
KISS - 2
Creed (hah) - 2
Blood Brothers - 2
And probably more opening bands, etc, that I don't remember right now.

Have you ever met any bands, and if so, who?
Hmm. Funnily enough, I've not yet met Trent Reznor. I've been in the same room as the rest of the band, but I don't think I introduced myself or anything. Anyway: All of Cursive (that was fun), all of Murder by Death, I have a special fondness for the drummer from Darkest Hour - he dedicated a song to my boyfriend and me. Also the drummer from - that band whose name still escapes me. I've talked to a bunch other, but those are the ones that stick out. Oh, and at least a few people have been to my house when I was younger - I think a member of Great White, and one of Whitesnake.

Do you have an signed memorabilia from shows, and if so, what?
I don't really do that, no. I do have some signed photos from movie stars, but that's a whole different bulletin. Wait! I do have a hat signed from the bassist of Aerosmith, but my sister got that for me. And of course she owns tons of stuff signed by Ace Frehley.

Do you buy something (other than your ticket, of course) when you see shows?
Not big shows (the merch costs a ton) but when I was twelve I bought a KISS Army bandanna. And I've bought a few murder by death shirts, and at least one Cursive shirt, at a show.

What is the most you've ever paid for concert tickets, and who were they for?
Probably 50 bucks. For NIN, always. Oh, and I guess the Coachella tickets were 80 bucks, but considering the amount of bands, meh. ]

Have you ever won concert tickets, and if so, for what concert?
Not that I can recall. I've GIVEN out tickets on the air, though.

What is the best concert you've ever been to?
Hmmm. Second night of Cursive being in Orlando really sticks out there. Also the first time I saw NIN (in Lakeland, 2000). Oooh, and the whole Coachella experience was awesome.
Other shows: WTF does this mean?

What is the worst?
Hmmm. I would have to say the second time I saw Creed (they were but one band on a large bill).

How far is the furthest you've traveled to see a concert?
Probably Indio, California (from Florida). We were going to see Deftones /Dredg in Idaho, but they cancelled. And Philly is relatively far from Florida as well.

What is your favorite concert venue?
I love the Social, just because of how intimate it is.

Do you save your ticket stubs?
Yeah, but I've been worse at keeping it up over the years.

What is some random fact about you and your concert-going?
I've goten so used to seeing little indie bands that seeing an arena show last night really threw me off. Also, I reeally like first row, though last night was the first time I've tried it at an arena show.

What is your fondest concert memory? Wow. That's a hard one. Chez ETS was a ball, Tim coming up and hugging Greg after the Cursive show, Darkest Hour dedicating a song to Greg and me, I suppose being front row barrier last night will be up there, and the SOMETHING'S GONNA GET BROKEN moment...And of course I have a fondness for the first time I saw nin, for several reasons.

Do you have any concerts coming up? Just saw NIN last night. There's a concert coming up in November that I'm looking forward to, and then supposedly there's going to be another nin leg in January, but I think the "season" is winding down.

Under a tornado watch...and we all know how I love tornadoes!!1 LOLZ!!

test test test test

Summer Fun

I've returned from a Labor Day weekend in Pennsylvania, hanging out with, essentially, the admins of echoingthesound, plus the significant others, and meathead. Was quite fun and relaxing, and I got to ride a segway for the first time. I've got my fingers crossed that we might get visited by some or all of this crew come January (Florida is, after all, preferable to the Northeast in the winter).

Didn't get to go to Dragon*Con, as it conflicted with my PA plans, but Katie and Cara did, and they got to hang out with my sisters and Jim. I feel a bit pouty about that, but it makes me look forward to FX all the more.

And speaking of looking forward to things... I am already looking forward to Saturday. Last get-together was fun, and now there's poker chips.

I'm Hot, Sticky Sweet...

It's freaking hot. And there is no way I can make that less of an understatement.

Thursday night the AC was acting funny - it wouldn't turn on, no matter what temperature we set it at or switch we flicked. It would come on, eventually, if it felt like it, and then turn off again after about five minutes, for another hour or so. Still, with all the cold air pent up in the apartment, it was ok.

Yesterday morning it was still acting strangely, so we went to the front management office. However, since it was Friday, it was too late to get a maintenance guy, and the earliest we will get one is *sigh* Monday. And meanwhile, the cold air has run out, and as of 10:41 pm, it's somewhere between 80 and 85 degrees in here. And neither of the bedrooms have overhead fans.

We went to Target and bought a stand-up, swivel fan, as well as a little portable one. The boyfriend has fashioned a strange air conditioner out of the little fan and a box and some ice, which helps a bit, and the windows are open, which helps a bit more, but still, 80 degrees at night, man. I've been sticking my head in the freezer.

Sadness

I found out today that Katie's mother, Linda, has passed away, with a service this weekend. This isn't entirely unexpected, as she's been ill for some time, but it's a sad day nonetheless. Katie and her family are simply wonderful people - they even let me live with them for a few weeks - and I know there are so many of us who fiercely wish they could be spared this.

Buggin' Out

Well, Morm is lucky enough to get bats flying around inside her house; we get a flying cockroach.

I think my first encounter with a palmetto bug was the day I moved to Florida. Sure, I was only five years old, but I remember my sisters, parents and I walking into our new house - and Doug having to immediately kill what looked like, well, a huge flying roach.

And that's what they are, basically. They like living in mulch. And they can grow to be HUGE. So you can imagine our delight when one started flying around the apartment a half hour ago.

The boyfriend and I tried to move away from it, to get a good vantage point, but it kept, you know, flying. And it would fly into the overhead fan, and get batted, and soar in our direction, so we'd scramble away. Finally, he told me to go into the office/bathroom wing of the place, which we had sealed off by closing all the doors. I hid. I heard some cursing, and some thumps. And finally, it was over, and the day was saved.

Afterward, the boyfriend and I immediately started talking about mkaing sure we don't leave food out, etc. But while I did tonight's dinner dishes, I started thinking. Unlike cockroaches, palmetto bugs aren't as associated with filth. If you ever see them in a house, they've usually come from outdoors, flown in through a sliding door or something. We have only the front door, and it's sealed pretty tightly.

And then it hit me. Usually, if they're in a house they might have gotten in somehow from the garage. We don't have a garage - but the boyfriend's parents do. And they were cleaning out their garage this weekend, and we were helping. And his mom came across a box of mics and stuff from the garage band days. She asked him to go through the stuff, but he said it was all his (he was busy helping his father) - so she put the box directly into the back of his car. Didn't sort through it or anything. And it wasn't even a closed box - it was an open-top crate full of wires and electronics. And he picked up the box, and brought it into our apartment, and put it on the dining room table - the very place we first spotted the bug coming from like a bat out of hell.

I've just informed him of my suspicions. He is less than pleased. Understandably, cause there's no way I am going near that box.