Thursday, August 28, 2008

in this world for you

It's football season, which means it's time once again for fantasy football games. As usual, we have pick'em games to join. So do it.

College Pick'em: League #1650 password bearcats

Pro Pick'em: League #3371 password bengals

NFL Survival Football: League #957 password cincy08

College Pick'em starts in just two days and the NFL games start next week, so don't delay!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

old enough to repay but young enough to sell


Libertarian Presidential Candidate Bob Barr was on The Colbert Report yesterday. It was a decent interview; not a lot of substance, but that seems to be how a lot of Colbert's interviews go. But hopefully Barr will reap the benefits of the "Colbert Bump".

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

no more time to waste





More photos from Daufuskie Island.

not a single thing here i can recognize

NIN have already announced a fall leg to their North American summer tour (which is separated by a short jaunt to Central and South Americas). They'll be hitting this area in mid-November; the closest date is Columbus on November 17th, but the presale already started an hour ago, so that makes that show less likely (that's also Jess' birthday, but I was given the green light for the concert because she has class all day). So it might be better to either hit the Fort Wayne show the next night (Nov. 18th), which would be about four hours each way. Or maybe people would rather go to the Grand Rapids on Nov. 15th, which is a Saturday, so we could either take our time with the six-hour drive back or get a hotel and not have a crappy day at work the next day (since that would be a Sunday). Or maybe no one else but me really has any interest in seeing them again so soon...

If people want to go to the Columbus show they'll have to let me know very soon. Plus, I don't have the funds to buy tickets at the moment, so someone else would need to pay for those tickets. Please let me know soon if you're interested so I can make plans.

NIN Lights in the Sky 2008 Tour Dates.

Directions to Fort Wayne.

Directions to Grand Rapids.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

really all that there ever was?

More pictures and video from the concert; the videos aren't mine--I took them from Youtube.

Vessel

Ghosts 5

Head Like a Hole

Echoplex

God Given

In This Twilight




Piggy


Wish


The Big Come Down


Only


Reptile


God Given

Saturday, August 23, 2008

nothing can stop me now

I headed up to Cleveland with a few people yesterday to see Nine Inch Nails at Quicken Loans Arena for the first of two shows I'll be seeing this tour. Jon and I had general admission floor tickets, and we started with decent spots dead center in the middle, and about thirty feet from the rail. The opener--a local named Nicholas Megalis--started around 7:15, and NIN started playing around 8:30 (which was a welcome surprise, I was expecting them to start around 9).

NIN always puts on a great light show, and this one was the best I've seen yet. I was glad I took my camera; surprisingly I got some decent pictures and managed to avoid having my camera destroyed.
I tried getting a picture during every song, but it just wasn't possible during ones like "March of the Pigs" and "Gave Up". I wasn't willing to risk having my camera broken while being shoved around.

Musically the band was tight and energetic. Trent Reznor was fantastic as always--though his reported throat problems were evident a couple times--while Josh Freese and Robin Fincke were especially amazing. There wasn't a dull song in the whole two hours of the show. Even staples like "Wish" and "Terrible Lie" were fantastic. They ended up playing mostly songs from The Slip and Year Zero, which sounded great, with a handful of older classics thrown in. I was really glad they incorporated a mini Ghosts set. It was great getting a couple less popular Downward Spiral songs like "Piggy"--which had a different feel from the album version--and "Reptile". Jon and I managed to slip to within ten feet of the front of the stage during "Wish". I'd have to say my own highlights were "Head Down," "Vessel," "Terrible Lie," "Echoplex," "Reptile," and "God Given". Oh, and Freese's drum solo on "Piggy". This also had to be the best engineered concert I've ever been to. The sound mixing was perfect; no overpowering bass, no ear-splitting highs, no vocals being drowned out by the music. At times it sounded like an actual live album mixed by an engineer in the studio. My hat goes off to the stage and sound crew.

Fantastic show by the best band out there right now. Can't wait till the Lexington show. Hopefully Trent's strained voice will hold up.


999,999
1,000,000
Letting You

Discipline

March of the Pigs

Head Down

The Frail

Closer

Gave Up

Warning

Vessel

Ghosts 5

Ghosts 25

Ghosts 19

Piggy (Ghosts version)

The Greater Good

Pinion

Wish

Terrible Lie

Survivalism

The Big Come Down

Ghosts 31

Only

Head Like a Hole


(encore)
Echoplex
Reptile

God Given

Hurt

In This Twilight


Head Down

The Warning

Ghosts 25

The Greater Good

Terrible Lie

Echoplex

In This Twilight

All of my NIN pictures can be found here.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

an illusion caused by the world spinning round




Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.

take their passage into night

I apologize for the lack of updates, which is the result of both a lot going on and my (failing) continual effort to limit my computer usage for the sake of my arm.

There have been some big changes lately. First off, I sold my Canon Powershot S3 IS camera, and bought a new Sony A200 DSLR. I only have the standard 18-55mm kit lens but I hope to get Sony's 55-200mm lens soon.

The bigger and better news is that I finally have a new job. Starting Monday I will be a new claims processor for Great American Insurance. It may end up being boring, but the pay is nice and it gets me out of Circuit City. The real test will be how my wrist and arm fair being in front of the computer for eight hours a day.

I just got back from Daufuskie Island in South Carolina with Jess and her family. The island was beautiful and we had great weather most of the time. It was great to get out of Cincinnati for a few days.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

a siren singing you to shipwreck

"If you're looking for Kid Rock you're in the wrong place." - Thom Yorke

Robby and I traveled to Indianapolis Sunday night to see Radiohead at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. We had lawn tickets, but still had a good view of the stage since the Verizon amphitheater is laid out much better than Riverbend here in Cincinnati.

I'll keep this brief; but the band was fantastic. Awesome light show, great set list. The band played for slightly over two hours, blowing through all of In Rainbows, along with a good peppering of songs from Hail to the Thief, Amnesiac, Kid A, and OK Computer. While there wasn't a bad song among them, I'd say my personal highlights included "How To Disappear Completely," "Idioteque," "There There," and all three cuts from OK Computer.

I have to again mention how cool the stage setup was. With the exception of my second Nine Inch Nails show--which was at this same venue, coincidently enough--I haven't seen a better light show. Check out these awesome pictures from Keith Klenowski to get a good idea of what I mean (although even they don't do it justice).

It was an awesome show, and I wouldn't hesitate to see Radiohead again.


01. 15 Step
02. Bodysnatchers
03. There There
04. All I Need
05. Pyramid Song
06. Nude
07. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
08. The Gloaming
09. Climbing Up The Walls
10. Faust Arp
11. Videotape
12. Morning Bell
13. Idioteque
14. Reckoner
15. Everything in its Right Place
16. Just
17. How To Disappear Completely

Encore 1
18. You and Whose Army?
19. Bangers and Mash
20. Exit Music (For A Film)
21. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
22. Karma Police

Encore 2
23. House of Cards
24. The National Anthem
25. Street Spirit


That ends the first of my three big concerts in August. Next up: Nine Inch Nails in Cleveland on August 22...