Author Archives: 9

Epic

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“Epic” is a word that gets thrown around a lot. All sorts of things are “epic.” Most of them aren’t. The Cure show I saw on Friday, November 25 was epic. It probably wasn’t, but I can’t really think of a better word for it.

They played three albums straight through, live: THREE IMAGINARY BOYS (1979), SEVENTEEN SECONDS (1980) and FAITH (1981). There were three encores.

It was at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, which is possibly the best place I’ve ever been to see a band play live. The sound was absolutely flawless. Sometimes when you go to a live show the sound is a little weird — the instruments are too loud or the vocals are too soft or everything sounds muddy, like you’re listening through the wall instead of sitting in the same place. There wasn’t any of that.

The official Beacon website says this: Known for its flawless acoustics, the Beacon has been a favored New York City stop for top acts since the Roaring Twenties. Remarkably, the original sound-system still provides near-perfect acoustics today. Yes. Yes it does.

Robert Smith was weirdly chatty. I’ve seen The Cure before and he’s usually managed a little “Hello, $CityName!” and the occasional “Thank you” (which mostly just comes out sounding like “Q”) after songs. But there he was, chatting away, making jokes, and obviously enjoying himself. It was weird. But nice.

The show was a sell-out and from where I was sitting there didn’t seem to be an empty seat anywhere. There was a pretty broad spread of ages, too — kids who probably hadn’t even been thought of when Faith was released, and people who were probably already adults when Three Imaginary Boys was recorded. Tickets were hard to get, too, so everyone was there because they actually wanted to be there (okay, maybe there were a few kids who were there because a parent really wanted them to see The Cure, or a few parents who weren’t going to let their kid go see some weird, old band, and possibly some disinterested significant others who couldn’t say no, because you get them at every concert, no matter who’s playing). There were no “Bros” or Hipsters who were there just because they were bored on a Friday night. It really wasn’t that kind of a show.

I don’t normally like going to concerts because the crowds are often obnoxious and the sound is usually crap. Often I’m bored after the first 30 minutes no matter how much I love the band — and it’s never because of the band, it’s because of the crowds and the sound and the standing around. By the time this show was over I was amazed that it was almost midnight (how could it be over already?!) and my eyes were burning because I kept forgetting to blink.

The fog machine got a workout and the sound of birds twittering before the show started got annoying pretty fast, but overall it was just absolutely amazing. I have never been to a show like this before. I doubt I’ll get the chance again (Unless The Cure manages to go back to The Beacon Theatre).

At the end of the show Robert Smith said “I’ll see you next year.” Everyone’s taking this to mean they’ll be doing it again.

That’d be nice.

Fire

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So far, I have one complaint about the Kindle Fire: the power button is on the bottom, right about where my fingers rest if I’m holding it to read a book. Fortunately if I turn it upside-down the text rights itself.

Spotify works like a charm. It’s much better than it was on the iPod Touch (It’s still better on the Droid). Hulu works incredibly well — better than it does on my Droid. The larger viewing screen helps, too.

I haven’t really done much else with it yet, other than read books. Because that’s really what I wanted it for, anyhow.

Hold Your Fire

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Guys.. I don’t know… do I get a Kindle Fire (which is more than I need and probably does a lot of things I don’t want) because it’s new and will probably become “the standard” pretty fast, or do I get a regular ol’ “I just want to read a damn book” Kindle.

If you follow the links you’ll see the regular Kindle is the most expensive, with the 3G and Keyboard. I don’t really want a touch screen. I like the “tap a button to turn the page” thing. Saves the screen and makes it a lot easier to read while I’m doing other things (like eating or knitting, or watching TV). It’s such a close call in price that I keep thinking “why not just spend the extra few bucks and get the Fire? But … touchscreen.

See, I get the whole tablet thing. I actually do want a table. But the thing is, the Kindle Fire isn’t really a tablet. Not completely. Not yet. It’s really just an eReader on steroids. And I live in the 21st century. If I want to listen to music while I read I have an iPod and a Droid phone. I have CDs, mp3s, Spotify, and LastFM. I am totally soniced up!

But if I get the regular Kindle, by this time next year will I find myself with two obsolete Kindles? Because I have a First Gen that I adore and works perfectly but is no longer supported and a lot of the new Kindle features aren’t available for it. My greatest fear is that one day the battery will die and I won’t be able to get a replacement for it (I actually have a spare stashed away for just such an emergency). So really I don’t even need a new Kindle. Bertie has occasional hiccups (usually caused by me not charging him completely) but is perfectly good and loyal and still works. Except it is largely unsupported now.

I thought about getting a Kindle Fire for Kitti — he watches videos and reads magazines and would probably get more use out of a high color thing — but he says he doesn’t really want one. He’s not into the whole ebook/ezine thing. Which also means that there would be no justification in getting a Fire for me and letting Kitti have the current Kindle (Bertie).

I don’t know. I feel like I should do the sensible, practical, money-saving thing and not get any new Kindle of any description. But I don’t want to be left behind when the technology changes.

Also, the Fire is pretty.

I got a broken wing

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Shoulder: still hurts. Saw doctor. Said “It hurts when I do this.” He said “Oh.” Sense of humour is not strong in that one.

Anyhow. I have a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon for a cortisone injection.

… in December….

Like, a month from now.

For what will probably be a 15 minute visit where I tell the guy “it hurts when I do this” (and then he’ll say “So don’t do that.” because dude, if an orthopedic surgeon doesn’t know that joke then this world is more hopeless than I thought.)

So I ask you, dear viewing public (all four of you), what do I do if between now and then the pain gets unbearable? Can I go to the ER or an Urgent Care place and beg for help, complete with documentation that yes, it’s a real problem and I’m waiting to see someone so they’ll know I’m not a junkie looking for a fix? Or do I do my usual thing of just complaining loudly and often and working through the pain? Or (possibly the best option): see the urgent care guy while complaining loudly and often and annoying Kitti.

Because honestly, it hurts a lot. It’s no longer a “it hurts when I do this” thing, it’s a “it hurts all the time and it hurts more if I do this.” Most of the time it’s an 8 out of 10. Sometimes I forget how much it can hurt and I use my arm like a normal human being and then it’s a 10 out of 10. If I’m not really careful when I’m asleep (think about how difficult that is) we’re talking a 12 or a 13 of pain. I’m tired because I’m not sleeping well because the pain wakes me up. I’m tired because I spend the entire day hurting. I’m starting to stress out my other arm because I’m over-using it.

And for the first time in my life I hate having manual car windows and seatbelts because reaching back to get the belt hurts like hell and winding down the window is uncomfortable.

Surprise! Trip!

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Despite the fact that Kitti is now officially one of the Unemployed, we’ve made the informed decision to go to New York City over Thanksgiving weekend to see The Cure. Because when we’re old it will be a lot more important to say “remember that time we went to New York to see The Cure?” than it will be to say “gosh, I’m sure glad we have that extra something hundred bucks in the savings account”.

Because what is a savings account for if not doing completely impractical, spontaneous things?

Let’s face it: we’re not getting any younger. Robert Smith certainly isn’t. And the fact that we got tickets at all is pretty impressive. We’re going.

Attention, would-be robbers. Still have a roommate and a dog, so…. don’t even think about it.

It is not actually quite real yet. Kitti won’t be sure of it until we actually have the tickets in our hands. I’m fretting about the hotel. It’ll all work out. We’ve got this weird sort of luck.

Oh, Bollocks.

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I was checking out some true crime books on Amazon and noticed a disturbing trend in the reviews…. there are a lot of people out there who rated books lower than they might have because of the use of British slang and terminology.

“The language was a little too British for me so I took off a star because not everyone knows that kind of British slang… but oh well.”

and

“Have now finished reading this book. Interesting cases. Only thing I don’t care about is the British vocabulary. As we in U S say on Elm Street, for example, this book says in Elm Street. Causes me to lose some concentration.”

Really? Really?! I do understand that some local slang is hard to follow. I’m a devout Anglophile and pretty much live on BBCAmerica and even I get confused by some terms (especially ones that are specific to a region or an age group) but then again I have the same problem with some American English slang. And generally, it’s not that hard to pick up from context. It also doesn’t take that long to look it up (later or at that moment (yes, that does take you further out of the reading, but only for a few moments and that must be better than sitting there frustrated, right?)), so when you encounter it again you don’t lose any time.

One does wonder how they manage with the cop lingo that occasionally turns up in the books. I’m also willing to bet the people who left these reviews (and the others like them) don’t read much science fiction and fantasy.

I bought one of the books that had such a review. It’ll be interesting to see how “hard” it is to understand.