Death Cab for Indy

Last night, Sarah, Mike, Ryan, Andy, and I went to the whitelies.tv lawn at White River State Park to see Death Cab for Cutie and Rogue Wave. We bought tickets at the 'door' avoiding paying a $10 convenience fee from ticketmaster.

Unfortunately, we missed most of Rogue Wave but what we heard was good...guess we could have seen them if we had bought our tickets online in advance...

Andy and I have both seen Death Cab at indoor venues before a couple of time (at the Paramount, where a very old-looking Eddie Vedder made a guest appearance and at the Showbox). This show definitely did not hold up to previous shows, though I am heavily biased against outdoors shows. Their set was decent, relying mainly on tracks from the new album and Transatlanticism. But the band was so far away, and there was so much grass and sunlight to distract from the music. I like my bands in a dark, cramped, preferably smoke-free box, where I can focus on the music. For an outdoor venue, White River State Park was fairly intimate, and they gave you lawn chairs as you entered, so you can't front on that. We had a good time, but it didn't feel like a rock show.

Plus, Andy and I were distracted by how fit and hip Ben Gibbard has gotten.
Check out Ben in 2004.
And then, him last night.

Is this what happens when you go from Barsuk to Atlantic? They certainly aren't the same guys who recorded in a sketchy looking house in our old 'hood. For fun, check out these pictures of Gibbard in high school and a young Gibbard singing. For more on last night's show, check here.

Legs

I saw the video for Legs on VH1 Classic today and thought I'd share the joy. I certainly wouldn't describe myself as a ZZ Top fan*, but I really enjoy this video. I think I am going to try out the pink frilly socks with hot pink high heels look.



*though I must admit they are recognizable. Plus, a friend described Andy's dad as that "ZZ Top looking dude" after seeing him at our wedding.

Two Unrelated Topics

First of all, after the last two weeks, I'd like to redact my "I missed thunderstorms" thinking. As the central part of the state keeps getting hammered with storms, much worse than any during my lifetime, perhaps I was a bit too eager on the t-storm front. Below is a picture taken of the inside of the Columbus East High School gymnasium. I cannot even comprehend the amount of damage that school has seen, and that is just one of hundreds of buildings in Columbus that are pretty much ruined.

On a lighter note, I caught this article from MSN about a team of 125 scientist stationed in Antarctica, where they are about to experience total darkness until the first sunrise on August 20th. And what was included in the last shipment they received before winter? 16,500 condoms, of course! Antarctic scientist sex does not sound very pretty, but sometimes you do, in fact, come across a hot scientist. If you are really lucky, you can even marry one. Until next time...

Mike Gravel Rocks

I caught this video on a pretty funny site called barelypolitical.com. It's worth checking out. Anyway, the ObamaGirl part of the video is just okay, but in the middle he raps and does the Souljah Boy dance, and it's pretty awesome. Check it!

Indy Rock Show

Thanks to a tip from Shawn, who was heavily involved in the Indianapolis music scene, Ryan, Mike, Andy, and I went to Birdy's to see Red Light Driver, Miranda Sound, and Loretta. The show was a cd release/farewell show for Loretta, who decided to call it quits after 9 years of playing indie rock in Indianapolis. It was fairly odd for us to see this band for the first time since it was their last time ever playing (allegedly).

Red Light Driver was fun; they had great energy and played music much to my liking. The consensus among the four of us was that we'd go see them again.

Miranda Sound (alternatively called Matilda Song by Mike much of the evening) did not impress. They were obviously talented, but I didn't dig them. They were not fun to listen to at all. We ended up standing outside in the rain for much of their set.

Described to us as "the Radiohead of Indianapolis," we were unsure what to expect from Loretta. Though we must admit that we didn't stay for too much of Loretta's set (we are old and lame), we were impressed. I am sorry that we will not get another chance to see them live (unless, as Andy overheard one of the Red Light Driver guys say to one of the Loretta guys, they get back together and play as "Reba"), but it's nice to know that high quality music exists in Indianapolis, even if Samsell broke up before we got here.

To summarize the evening, a la Mike, it was a shitty sandwich with good bread (I may be paraphrasing).

Owning the Plate

Just a quick post today for baseball fans. Apparently this umpire in a Georgia high school baseball game was making some questionable calls, so the pitcher and catcher decided to hit him with a pitch! The high school was later fined $1,000 for the action that was deemed intentional, and it does seem pretty intentional.



In other high school baseball news, there is an article in the Star today about Greensburg's own Alex Meyer, who is likely to be picked in the first round of the MLB draft. Unfortunately, people seem to think he's going to end up going to Kentucky.

Also, the Cubs finally had their 9-game winning streak broken last night by the San Diego Dads. However, they do still have the best record in baseball. Huzzah!

The Big Shabasko

As most Indiana people know, there was a pretty major thunderstorm / tornado that rolled through Indianapolis on Friday night. We lost power a little before midnight and didn't get it back until around noon the next day. For all of the 10,000 lightning strikes recorded in the area, Ramona didn't react to the thunder once, even when lightning downed half of a tree 1 block over from us.

I took the picture above around 1:00 A.M. It was such a constant stream of lightening that it was inevitable that I actually caught a little of it in a randomly snapped photo.

Note: As I write this I see that storms are knocking around the southern part of the state today. I have to confess...I missed thunderstorms while we lived in the PNW.