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We were originally going to go to this birthday thing yesterday but it ended up getting cancelled. So we just hung out at home and took it easy. Not a whole lot to report about it.

Pretty crazy night last night! I went up to B-Side pretty early, right after work to get the projector set up (I had borrowed Jacques's projector and screen...though the screen's been stored at my place anyway so does that even count as borrowing? I had grabbed the projector from him a few days ago 'cuz I figured it'd be good to get up there early to set up). It was good I got there early 'cuz the screen is huge and unwieldy, though it wasn't too bad to set up, but figuring out how to get the projector set up took a while: finding the position and what to prop it up on to get high enough and adjusting the keystone since I had to set it on a table off to the side. Anyway, while I'm doing all that boring stuff that I talked way too much about, Dead Voices on Air are setting up and soundchecking. So it was cool to get to see them soundcheck! They were also all super nice! (And it's not super surprising as Mark was very nice all the time talking to him leading up to the show.) As they were wrapping up and getting ready to go check out airbnb and eat before the show, Jacques showed up to set up and all. About this time I went back home to eat, myself (note the comma!), and pick up Mary Beth to take back up to the show. Also, Graham had asked for a ride so I picked him up on the way back too. We pulled into the parking lot right at the same time as Jay and Dan, so we all get in and Artificer sets up and stuff!

Okay! The show! Artificer was first and was incredible as always. Skipped the projector for this set as we did a test and given how much room there was left on the stage, they set up right in the corner in the path of the projector and, sure enough, it was blaring right into their eyes. But yeah, great set. Revenge Body was next and Jacques even had a new song! Great set as always too! Then it was Dead Voices on Air! They were incredible. They did new stuff and (as hinted at) even went back to do some Download songs! And the big surprise was they closed with a cover of "Convincing People"!! The contingent of Skinny Puppy-fan-friends was pretty strong at the show so they were all going nuts at the Download songs. Lloyd was really flipping out and getting into it and for the last third of it, got up and started dancing in front of the stage which caused a few other people to get up and dance! So some real energy from the audience and not just my typical nerdy-completely-devoid-of-energy silent and still enjoyment of a show! Before they played, Mark said that the two openers were some of the best he'd seen (with a I'm really serious and truly mean it addendum). As always, I was nervous about the crowd that would show up but it was pretty respectable. It was definitely not empty, though not full, the groups spread about seemed decent at least. But then I'm also worried with a more known band like DVOA if that'd be a disappointment to them but they seemed really into the experience. I mean, they are super nice and I'm sure wouldn't have voiced displeasure, but I think it tends to come through when people really do mean stuff like that.

Talked to a bunch of people there. Hit the merch table after a bit (a good sign that the merch table was crowded for a while after the show, a lot of it was people talking to the band members but it seemed almost everybody there picked up Mark's book). Nathan, the guitarist (and the one American in the group, based in Denver) talked to me a bit and was saying how Memphis and Denver scenes seem kinda similar and seemed pretty gushing about how awesome Memphis is. I think the openers made an impression of Quality and also they seemed to be impressed with the turnout. He said they'd just played Dallas and not a lot of people came out. I'm also sure that the energy that Lloyd singlehandedly brought did a lot to lift their moods! And he was talking to Jay and was like, so Mark is REALLY picky about the music his likes and touring and all you see a lot of openers and stuff, but he leaned over and tapped him and was like "this is REALLY good" when Artificer started playing. (It brings a tear to my eye!) Yeah, so I picked up a bunch of merch and got his book Explicit in Purpose by Mark Spybey and all the cds they had: Jochen Arbeit and Mark Spybey: The Camel Corps and Other Stories; Dead Voices on Air: Wass; Dead Voices on Air: Jamiel:Spybey; Dead Voices on Air: Silence, Melt and Mourn; Dead Voices on Air: Silence, Melt and Mourn: Residuum; Xqui and Dead Voices on Air: Pennine; and v/a: My People: a Tribute to Vince Wald. The Residuum thing is a limited edition tour cdr of outtakes from that album and they had only forty copies and they had only two left when I got it (made me feel like "close call!" when I'd waited for a bit to hit the merch!).

Then after the show during the denouement, I guess a bunch of weird kinda stuff happened! For one, the crowd at B-Side as the night moves on is pretty weird and on the obnoxious side but whatever. One thing is Kiefer's car had been towed during the show and he was kinda freaking out (understandably!). We were going to give him and his girlfriend a ride home but Jacques ended up leaving first and did it. I had a wait a bit to take down the giant screen while DVOA was tearing down so we were there a good bit. Then Nathan from DVOA was missing his hat so we were looking for it a bit and then they left. But shortly after they left Kevin found a hat. So I took it outside to try to catch them before they left but I'd missed them. While walking back inside, this woman that was at the show was yelling at me. I didn't catch at first what she said, I wasn't paying attention. But then she was like, yeah, keep walking away you pussy. And I'm just like, okay, I don't know what this drunk person is on about and I'm ignoring it. Went back in and then shortly after that realized I couldn't find my jacket. And I'm looking all over but can't find it and am getting a bit upset as that sinks in. Then I'm kinda like, did it have something to do with the woman who was yelling at me? I didn't realize my jacket was missing at that point. But we're finally leaving and go back out and walk past where she was, this picnic table out there behind the venue. She's not there anymore and just as we've already walked past my brain registers the fact, wait, I did see a jacket just laying on that picnic table. There are still some other guys around the table and I go back and ask if that's a jacket someone had lost. And then one of the guys was like, "yeah I told her to leave it, she came out and was all 'Look I found this jacket!' and was going to take it." Sure enough, my jacket! So I thanked them and was happy to have not lost my jacket after all! (And the Pac-Man knit hat that stays in its pocket.) Also, before they'd left, all the guys from DVOA were super nice and encouraging about what we're doing in Memphis so I was surprised and glad it all seems to have turned out well!

I've got stuff to do today so I was a little bummed about setting my alarm, having gotten in to bed late. But then I woke up all early anyway. Sometimes you just gotta roll with how the sleep comes! Also, sure I've forgotten to say some stuff but if I remember later then I'll jot it down later!

We did our TFM grocery run during the lunch break. Not a whole lot else for the rest of the day. I actually got to sleep early for once last night given that I needed to be somewhat fresh today...as I'll be going into the office in a little bit.

I got the first two (only two so far) issues of D-Generation magazine in the mail. Mykel Boyd had some copies to distribute as he's in the latest one. I had recently discovered there's a little something about Mike Honeycutt in the first one and had wanted my hands on it after that (it's a small thing but nice...and given the release date of that first one my guess is that it was probably added pretty last minute). They also both come with cds so I look forward to those as well. Mary Beth gathers scratch'n'sniff stickers from far and wide to send to people. She got some new ones in the mail and one of them is called "silent but deadly." I was morbidly (very morbidly) curious and the bad ones often don't smell as bad they seem they would, so I took a sniff to find out and jesus. Yeah, that one was pretty wretched. Its smell was how I feel. In other news, I found out I have to go into the office on Thursday. Don't love that, whatever. At night we did our grocery run. I don't know. I guess that's about it.

In the afternoon Mary Beth and I went to the Dixon. The new exhibit is really good. It's on lithograph prints from this French portfolio L'estampe originale in the late nineteenth century, though it had art from other countries as well. It covered a variety of styles, though my favorites tended to be from the Impressionists. Then in the local gallery it was works by Mary K. VanGieson and those were all really good. We wandered the garden a bit and saw Oliver inside the garden house by the window. He was taking a bath (Oliver is the Dixon's cat if you weren't aware!), so we at least got to see him! At night we went to Cocozza for some Italian food. And we ended the night watching a little Kids in the Hall. I think that about catches ya up.

After work, I met Mary Beth up at the Park and we hung out at the pond for a little bit, watching the massive amount of ducks hanging out. Then we went up to Crosstown at night to see General Labor do a live score to Nosferatu. It was great and fun and a good time and all...but there was one thing that made it difficult for me to concentrate. So we get there right at the time doors are supposed to "open" but the theater was already pretty full (they had pushed the time a half hour back from what their standard time has always been for the film series, so I think a lot of people assumed it was still the old time...in fact I heard people behind me saying something along the lines of "wait, it doesn't start until 7:30?"). Anyway, we get seats in one of the good rows but at the end, which is fine. But a little bit into it, maybe fifteen minutes (not counting the false starts) the couple that's sitting next to us just gets up and leaves during the movie/performance. As they're leaving there's another couple coming in and the guy points to the just-vacated seats and says something I'm sure along the lines of, "those seats are now available" thinking he's being nice and all. So these new people come and sit down there and the guy who sits next to me just reeks. It smells so bad. I'm trying to ignore it throughout the rest of the most of the movie but it wasn't good. At a few times a bit of nausea almost started to hit me, like, I edges just up to it but it didn't get quite so bad. I thought if it'd get any worse I'd have to get up and go out or maybe just go get a seat in the front row or something. Mary Beth said she could smell it too but wasn't sure where it'd come from but she wasn't right next to the person so she at least had a little bit of a buffer. I was trying to place what the smell actually was and couldn't, but Mary Beth said she recognized it as the smell of unwashed hair. Afterwards we went and hung out at Art Bar for a little bit. I kinda just had to run out of that theater as quickly as possible. I recovered, okay!

At night we went up to Crosstown Arts for this concert by a string quartet called Cypress Ensemble. The first piece they did was one of Beethoven's early string quartets. It started off with the first few bars a bit on the Mozart-bouncy side and I was thinking I probably wouldn't be into it as much as his later stuff, but then it quickly delved into an array of sounds that were very Beethoven-y. I ended up really loving it quite a lot. And then it was interesting to kind of note the sorts of themes and motifs that seem to run throughout much of his career. The second piece they did was a quintet (the string quartet plus piano) by Arthur Foote who they acknowledged most people hadn't heard of, but I guess is considered the first fully American (as in born and raised) serious composer. That piece was good too. One little anecdote is: we had said hi to Delara as we were getting checked in then we got our seats and then shortly thereafter I went back out to get some drinks. As I step back into the entry area I overhear Delara saying to the person she's with something along the lines of "...and they're very nice" and then she sees me and goes, I was just telling (X whose name I now forget but she had also played with the MSO this past weekend on the program with the Berlioz, she plays cello) about how nice you and your wife are. So that was unexpected and nice! I talked with them for a minute and then went and got the drinks and then the concert. And then afterwards we went over to Art Bar where we enjoyed some drinks and puff pastry that was very good. I think that's about it. My internet suddenly seems to have stopped working on this laptop right after I started this post so not sure if I'll be able to post it!! (At least without having to restart!) I did have to restart my darn computer!

In the afternoon Mary Beth and I went to the symphony. They did two pieces. First was a recent one called Philharmonia Fantastique by Mason Bates. It's synced with video and has kind of a Fantasia sort of thing going on. It's sort of for kids as an education thing about explaining the parts of the orchestra (though not explicitly, just through the sounds going on and the imagery in the video). There were also apparently some electroacoustic pre-recorded sounds, but I think they may have just been a few sound effects in the video, I didn't really notice anything particular along that line. The video kind of had a mid-century art but with modern updates feel. The music was good. Then the last part was Symphony Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. That was really good and pretty nuts to watch the orchestra play. There was a guest conductor and he seemed good. Anyway, it was a good time. Not a whole lot else. Though I realize I forgot to mention in my last post that I got a couple of cds in the mail on Saturday: The Corrupting Sea: Symphony of a Radical II and Transverse: It's Broken.

I finished reading Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon during my lunch break. It was good. I mean, far from his best, but not his least good. It starts off a bit slow and both the plotting and writing can be a little on the dull side in the first half of it, but about halfway through it picks up on both counts. So yeah, all in all a pretty good Pynchon. At night Mary Beth and I went to Elmwood Cemetery for a movie screening. It was Bram Stoker's Dracula. It was good we'd seen it pretty recently. They project the movie onto the roof of a building and, though steep, the roof is not perfectly vertical, of course. But also the color of the roof is a dark red so any scenes that aren't bright in color are hard to see. And of course this movie has a lot of dark and black-filled scenes so you're kinda mostly going on sound and memory. It was still a fun experience.

In the evening, Mary Beth and I went out to Paradiso to see a Met Opera performance. While we were out there, we stopped by Whole Foods first to pick up some of their chocolate syrup that I can eat! Then we saw Bellini's La Sonnambula. Was it "fitting" for the subject matter that, having been behind on sleep, I nodded off a couple times during the first act? I had gathered myself by the second act though! They had a nice set design and I liked the way the bed was suspended and lighted at the beginning of the second act.