Waaaaaaaaarped!

Oh. My. God. Warped was crazy, and fun, and hot, and just such a total freaking blast I can't believe it. I had SO MUCH FUN! So, I left A2 around 10:20 which was a little later than I'd wanted to get on the road and made good time till I got to the exit for Comerica Park. Then I sat in traffic for a good 30-45 minutes. The whole parking/plaza area in front of Comerica was blocked off for Warped and they had stages, non-profit booths and merch booths set up all over the place. It was so fucking hot I couldn't believe it (I'm pretty sure it hit the high 90s plus disgusting humidity) but I stuck it out. Ok, so who did I see??

First I saw Vaux on the Volcom stage which was a pretty small stage and there weren't too many people there to watch them which sucked because they're an awesome band. However, I was able to get up close and got some pretty good pics. I also got to talk to the lead singer, Quentin Smith, after their set for a few minutes which was pretty damn cool too.

After that I saw The Academy Is... on the Hurley Stage which was much bigger than the Volcom stage. There were tons of people at this set and I couldn't get too close to see, but they played some good stuff. I liked Vaux more though:)

Right before I saw The Audition on the SmartPunk Stage I caught a few mintues of Helmet on one of the main stages. I feel like I should know more Helmet but I am woefully uneducated about them:) Decent crowd for them! The Audition was pretty good, not the best of the day but I give the lead singer points for his enthusiasm despite how freaking hot it was.

Next was Armor For Sleep back at the Hurley Stage. I fucking loved them, they were awesome. Great stuff, good crowd and a crowd surfing contest:) As with The Academy Is..I wasn't able to get very close (and after a while standing in a crowd in 90+ weather can make you feel a bit squiffy) but I sure as hell could hear them. Go download their album! It rocks!

Then I took a little break and a tour of the merch booths that were set up all around the inside of the baseball stadium-dangerous on the wallet but great to get out of the sun for a bit.


After that I went to see The Sounds on the right main stage. OH MY GOD. They were AMAZING. So sweet! I got up close and got some great pics (if I do say so myself;) and absolutely loved their set. I think they may have been my very favorite of the whole day. They remind me a bit of Blondie and they definitely had a different sound from most of the other bands on Warped but I loved, loved, loved them. The lead singer looks a bit like Debbie Harry to me, but you decide. I also got to briefly meet the band at a signing and got my Warped program signed by most of them which was pretty fun too:)

Because I hadn't had enough yet, and there were still some awesome bands to see, I zipped over to Main Stage Left to catch Thursday who played a bunch of songs off their new album. They drew a big crowd so I really couldn't see a bloody thing, but it was ok:)

Finally, the last band I saw was Aiden on the Hurley stage. I was pretty exhausted at this point (it was 7pm and I'd been running around in the sun for seven hours by then) so I didn't even try to fight the crowd and plunked myself on a curb to the side of the stage. I actually didn't have that bad a view of things, and it was a lot more comfortable than diving into the MASS of people who wanted to see Aiden. They were definitely good, I love the song "Die Romantic" and need to check out more of their other stuff. The lead singer had his face painted very Crow-esque (the movie) but by the time their half hour set was over it looked like his face melted off (lol:).

After Aiden I headed home-totally, utterly, disgustingly filthy, sweaty and hot, but very pleased with the day over all. I am SO going again next year;) Amazingly, I didn't get totally scorched either, a little red and peely on my face and a teeny bit red on one shoulder, but my constant reapplication of SPF 30 paid off. I mean, for ME, being out in the sun for almost 8 hours and to NOT get completely fried is nothing short of amazing. Go me:)

Busy, busy week...I'm seeing The Editors on Thursday, Big City Rock (with October Fall & Drive By) on Friday and The Raconteurs on Saturday. The only problem is, I think I'm getting sick. Apparently my body has decided I've done far too much running around and has decided to shut down. I feel pretty crappy and all I want to do is go to sleep :( I feel like I've already been at work for 8 hours and it's only 10:40...it's gonna be a long day...

Whew, long post, I'm out. I'll do photos from Warped in a separate post since Blogger is wonky about text & pics together (or maybe I'm just inept at it).

~Sasha
Listening to: The Editors "Sparks"

Heavens is Heaven!

OMG...you MUST go check out Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio's) side project/band Heavens. They are fucking awesome! I can't wait for this album to come out...
Seriously, listen to it on their myspace page. Your ears will thank you.

f*&$@!**! Raccoons!

Bloody hell. Stupid raccoons kept me up again last night. At least they waited to start their attempts at scaling the wall until 2:30 am instead of 1:30...not much consolation though. I am so freaking tired I can't stand it and there isn't an easily accessible Starbucks or Espresso Royale to be found. Two weeks without a decent cup of coffee or tea and a complete lack of sleep.
I am so ready for this week to be over...ugh, ugh, ugh. How am I going to make it through today??

Raccoons, making your ears bleed and a few other quick updates

Word,
So, last night I was awoken not once but twice as these two rather fat raccoons tried to scale the wall outside my bedroom. Cheeky buggers didn't even run off when I turned the light on, banged on the glass in the window and made all sorts of weird noises in an attempt to startle them and get them to run away. Of course all this was going on at 1:30 and then 3:30 am...needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. Those damn raccoons kept scaling the wall, sliding down it, chattering, grunting, sighing and trying to get into this terracotta planter (why, I have no idea). Finally I got them to run off by talking to them, guess my conversation wasn't all that interesting to raccoons:) Anyways, it all resulted in me being exhausted this morning, hitting the snooze button (which I discovered, doesn't work on my travel alarm clock) and waking up 20 minutes before my class started. Now, mind you, Bath, where I'm staying, is 15 minutes from MSU, so I didn't exactly make it on time. In the end I was only 10 minutes late, but have since felt frazzled all day. Stupid raccoons, I blame them.

New review up on Static. Read it here. The album made me think I was going to bleed from the ears it was so bad. I was rather pleased though, my editor ran my piece as I wrote it and it didn't get toned down which was a bit surprising since I was pretty damn mean.

Psyched for Warped this weekend and I get to cover it for Revolt. Now, if I could only get my hands on a press pass...
I also have a second date with the guy from a couple of weeks ago. I am being forced to play pool. I suck at pool. If I survive this humiliation, it will be a miracle.

That's it for now, back to class...
~S

Oops, almost forgot. My review of Anterrabae's latest is up at Static here. They're a bit slower about getting reviews up. The album I'm reviewing for them right now (won't say who it is yet) is AWFUL. My god, I can't tell if I'm being horribly mean or just honest in my review so far. I may need to tone it down a bit. Good god it's bad though. Ugh. Makes my eardrums want to cut off all the oxygen to my brain.

I'm also going to get to cover Warped, The Raconteurs, The Editors and Drive By for Revolt. Woo hoo! Fun! Man, I LOVE writing for Revolt:)

Feature is up on Revolt

Ok, v. quick post...
My first feature is up on Revolt, go read it here. Woo hoo!

So far, my class is going pretty well, though I think all day for a week is gonna be a haul...I am getting to shoot a Nikon D-100 Digital SLR for the week, which is pretty damn fun and I'm learning a lot about Photoshop. I knew I only used a fraction of what the program was capable of, so this should be good.

Very, very psyched for the art fair. I can't wait to go!!
Right, class is starting back up, go read my feature and let me know what you think:)
Ciao,
Sasha

The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism...

Wow, what a weekend... So, the party went great if I do say so myself. I spent Friday after work doing all the Meijering (yes, it is a verb) and started baking the cake I had planned for the party. Saturday for the most part was a fast trip out to get a few last minute items and frantic cleaning. The highlight of all the preparation was getting a very unexpected phone call from my friend Lodina who was going to be able to come to the party after all. I haven't seen her in a year or two (she lives up in London, ON) and it was so, so exciting to get to see her!!

So, people started rolling in around 7, I managed not to give anyone food poisoning and I think generally everyone had a good time (I suppose it's a good sign if the party began at 7 and people hung around till about 3am...) I had a blast and even though I am exhausted today (um, yeah, lots to drink and going to bed at 4am after drunkenly washing mountains of dishes tends to have that result) it was so worth it. I am totally going to do the Pink is the New Party party in the fall. Watch your email for deets (you know who you are).



As always with these kinds of things, a few important highlights are necessary. 1) Most games are even more fun when you've been drinking. Scrabble is no exception. Best of all is when you say to hell with the rules on the box and make up your own. We played "band/frame name scrabble" and, let's say, the results were interesting if not found in the dictionary. Did you know you only get four points for "snot"? Here's how the board looked at the end...


Also of note were a few quotes, which we all know, I tend to write down when drunk/drinking. Some of the best of the evening were:

• Cute like the Cold War.
• I know about culture. I've offended most of them.
• This is the sort of common sense you don't normally think of.
• That's better than calling your toilet "the ring of fire."
• We didn't drink the Everclear that day, we used it to clean the room.
• The truth hurts like that last coffin nail.

We also got to try the tequila cream that Husband and Wife brought back from their jaunt to Mexico. What amused me most was Husband drinking his from a brandy snifter...well, that and the Hawaiian shirt with the snifter:)
Wife and I ended up drunkenly talking till about 3am after everyone else left and Husband fell asleep in a chair. I know I've said it before, but I am so happy and lucky that my sister in law and I get along so well! We're going to take a trip to the Art Fair at the end of the week and as much as the Art Fair is a huge pain in the ass, I can't help but love it! I missed it last year when I was in England, so I can't miss it this year. There was also some talk of taking a roadtrip out to Jersey which could be a hoot, so hopefully that will work out.







I'm also probably going to go up to London to see Lodina before the summer is over...she & her boyfriend are getting married in the fall so we'll definitely need a girls night of vino in excess before the big day! I love her fiancee though, he's so good for her and I'm so happy to see her happy after all that she's been through lately. I am so happy they came to the party! What an awesome, awesome surprise:) (aargh, I look like shit, oh well.)

So, the fun and games are over for the time being, tomorrow I start one of my week-long, all-day, every-day classes at MSU. I'm not terribly looking forward to it, I figure it'll be somewhat dull, but I get 3 credits done in a week, so I can't complain about that. I won't mind the two weeks off from work either (of course the only problem is, when I don't work, I don't get paid, but I think the time away from that place will be a good thing). No call from the guy I went out with this week which I'm pretty bummed about, but I'm just trying to focus on what amazing friends I have and maybe someday the right guy will fall into place for me.

I probably won't have much time to post this week, so till next weekend, have a good one and get psyched for the Art Fair! Woo hoo!
~S
Listening to Mass Romantic The New Pornographers

Living for the Weekend

Whew, almost the weekend. Thank god:) I'm throwing a smallish dinner party on Saturday (smallish because I apparently picked the single worst weekend all summer to try and get people in one place) but it should still be fun and I'm excited about it. Of course I still need to do all the shopping for it, but I'm figuring it didn't make any sense to buy stuff before today since I need lots of chicken and veg. So, see, my procrastination has its benefits! As far as priorities have gone, I spent more time working on my party playlist and getting my collection of alcohol and related accessories together than I have on actually cleaning or shopping, but good tunes and booze are def. important! A few selections (and recommendations) from the playlist (it is way too long to include the whole list, as always, I went totally overboard):

• "The Distance" Cake Fashion Nugget: an oldie but a goodie, and it always makes me think of my brother:)
• "Cubicle" Rinocerose Rinocerose: yeah that song from the iTunes ads on TV.
• "It's a Hit" We Are Scientists With Love and Squalor
• "A Certain Romance" The Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am
• "Heart of Glass" Blondie The Best of Blondie: a classic, how can you go wrong with a little Debbie Harry??
• "Hysteria" Muse Absolution: Brit alterna-rock with a splash of techno (very good for working out to too...)
• "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism" The New Pornographers Mass Romantic: no, this is not what I expect to happen to my guests at the party.
• "What to Do" Ok Go Ok Go: the best line might be "mediocre people do exceptional things all the time."
• "Lying Is the Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" Panic! At the Disco A Fever You Can't Sweat Out: yeah, P!ATD...guilty pleasure, what can I say?
• "The Dark of the Matinee" Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand: "Oh, I Love this track" (quick, Husband, name the movie).

Hung out with E for a bit last night drinking martinis and just having some girl talk which was fun. I went on a date on Wednesday night that went quite well, but b/c I'm interested, he probably won't ever call me. Grr, dating sucks at times, but who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Not too much else of excitement at the moment though I did go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean last weekend which was very fun. Mmm, Johnny Depp...sigh.

Well, I've got lots to do to get ready for my little shindig, two articles to do the final edit to and I suppose I ought to do some work since I'm AT work:) I'm out.

Listening to: Fall Out Boy From Under the Cork Tree

LOLOLOLOL!!

Oh. my. god. These are bloody ridiculous. Ben, it's all your fault.

The North Atlantic

Hey y'all:)
Check out my latest review of The North Atlantic's album Wires In the Walls at Revolt (of course!) Also, I'm going to be having my first feature article on Revolt in a week or two, all about The Distance, a sweet band out of Connecticut (weirdly enough, not all that far from where I was born...karma? kismet? one of those k-words??) I am LOVING the writing I'm getting to do, heh, now if I could just get paid for it, it would be perfect...

Go read Revolt! You know you've got nothing better to do;) You should also go get yourself the latest issue of Rolling Stone if for no other reason than Johnny Depp is on the cover. I'll admit, I was a little skeptical about the first Pirates of the Caribbean just because I'm not usually much a fan of pirate movies, but it just cracked me up. I cannot wait for the second Pirates!

I also just got the good news that I aced my Media Law class-woo hoo! Guess all my busting my butt on the dreaded group project was worth it in the long run. Sure, it wasn't fair that I did more than my "share" but at least I got the great grade to make it worth it. Too bad my slacker group members also got the good grade (at least on the project, who knows what they got on the exams) too... I'm still glad that the class is over though. Oh yeah, how was this for irony-I get home from my very last media law class and what's waiting for me in the mail? A jury duty questionnaire...I wonder if I'll get called?? I'm kinda curious about it, but with my luck I'll get called at a totally rotten time. Guess I'll just wait and see.

That's all for now. Enjoy the beautiful weather! Almost the weekend:)
Ciao,
~S
Listening to: "I Bet that You Look Good on the Dancefloor" Arctic Monkeys

More Adventures

I, unlike most of the state, am at work today:( The U of M never gives days off. Boo, hiss. Ok, yeah, I'm off tomorrow, but everyone I talk to is like 'oh, four-day-weekend this' and 'four-day-weekend that" so it makes me want a four day weekend too!) To add insult to injury, the air conditioning isn't working in our office. Not only is it a bit toasty, the worst part is that there is NO air circulation whatsoever and, being an office building, you can't open the windows. Sucky sucky. Ugh, two and a half hours to go.
If it doesn't rain, maybe E and I will hit top of the park tonight...

Well, interesting weekend. Before I get to that though, my first review for Static is up. Check it out here.

In other news, AMG is looking for pop music editors again (sheesh, if they'd just hired me back in the fall, this wouldn't be an issue;) so I'm trying again. At least this time I've got a bunch of recent clips to send them, which I didn't last time around. Fingers crossed...

Fairly uneventful weekend, except, wait, dying my hair FLAMING RED on Friday. Yeah, decided that I didn't have the personality to go with the color and dyed over it the next day. Actually, the second time around it came out more like I wanted-brownish with some bright red streaks in it. I believe my mom's reaction when she saw the full head o red hair was "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR HAIR!!!???" It was kinda funny, but I didn't totally disagree with her this time around. My dad called it a mistake, I prefer to call it an adventure;) heh, heh.

Had dinner with some friends in Livonia on Friday night but it was a fairly early night which was ok. Then I went and saw "The Devil Wears Prada" on Saturday and got a big kick out of it. Totally girly but it amused me greatly. Not much else of interest really.


Later,
~Sasha
PS-I will post pics of the hair, before and after, I just don't have them with me right now:)