We got up Saturday, and around noon headed out for some cold weather Geocaching. The weather in and of itself was gorgeous. The big windstorm of the day prior had passed, and while the temp gauge read in the low 30s we were plenty warm on the two hikes we did. Found both caches, snared a cute little travel bug at one of them. Laughed at Doug when he didn't take our urgings not to drive up a road because we'd seen the gate was locked (he took it well) and had a dinner feast and birthday cake for me and totally enjoyed the fire, the dogs, the sunset, the day.
Sunday we went back at it again and did another geocache. The instructions stated that the walk was 1.2 miles, but Aaron knew better. There was a private fire road with summer houses down the end. He told us to simply drive down. We drove up to within 300 feet of the thing, snared it, and took a long and leisurely drive all around MDI. Bass Harbor, Southwest Harbor, downtown Pretty Marsh. It was a wonderful and relaxing day. We hit the road a little after 3 and were home in time for the 8:30 Patriots game. Very happy to have had the time to get away, and very happy to hang with our good friends and get the royal treatment.
We rented "Amelie" and on TV this weekend was "Pee Wee's Big Adventure." I highly recommend both. If you haven't seen Pee Wee's Big Adventure since 1985, rent it or watch for it on cable or something. It holds up. The sight gags, the physical humor, the bow tie. All hysterically funny. "Everyone I know has a big but. Let's talk about your big but." And Amelie was very funny, very clever. The photography and use of color and techology were stunning. It was a little "Ally McBeal" in some ways with the use of the technology to show what she's thinking/feeling at times, but for the most part this was one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Subtitled, so if you don't jive with that, get over it.
Pictures, of course:
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| Aaron and Geoff ham it up in the forest | Eeek! Monkey Reference! |
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| Top left: View from the cliffs at the Hunters Beach cache, gorgeous color in the water... the picture cannot capture it. Top right: All the hikers up the trail to the cliffs and me down below picturing Geoff slipping and falling to his death! Right: Bass harbor light. |  |
And now, for the guest blogger thing. I haven't done something like this for a long time, but I'm letting somoene else's opinion take over the space. Mostly because I think it's well thought out, and mostly because... It Is About BNL.
As I've done nothing but talk about the Hartford 2nd row concert experience to anyone who is willing to listen to me for two seconds or five minutes, my concert co-goer, C, has also been extremely stoked from having seen them. She was familiar with the band but nowhere near as obsessed as I am. We may be looking at a convert. But... her thoughts on the overall concert, where the band is today, and the nature of being a fan (which she asked me to write about from my perspective and I certainly did a couple entries back), and her own personal reflections on what she can and should do and give really impressed me. I've not edited her email to shorten it. Her thoughts in full deserve a place for all y'all to see them.
So. Without further adieu: C's thoughts...
So I have been thinking about the Hartford concert.
I have been wondering what the crowd looks like to the band from stage. I have been wondering what a band sees in their fans faces on concert night.
It's this whole fan issue with me again. It's fascinating to me. What is a fan? Someone who buys the cd? Goes to the concerts? Knows all the lyrics? Buys the t-shirt? Has all the b-sides? Dresses up, ala Kiss? Joins the fan club? Posts emails? Runs a website? Names a child after a band member? A song? Anybody named Brianna out there?
I wondered if BNL wanted the kinds of fans that come with intense popularity. The kind of fan that dances and yells to Steve while he's singing War on Drugs, the kind that come to a concert just to get stoned, or spends the whole concert standing in line for beer.
I decided that a real fan likes a band or an artist because it hits some personal chord. It explains why if the band is raw and vulgar, then a lot of the fans are too. If the band is talented and intelligent, then that's who they appeal to and who shows up at their concerts.
I looked into the band's faces closely that night and liked what I saw. I couldn't see any sign that they were weary or jaded singing even their most popular songs and it was so appealing. Maybe I don't know how famous they are in Canada, maybe they can't get coffee at Tim Horton's without being mobbed. Maybe they never make a move without a personal security guard. But I didn't see that kind of fear or elitism in their faces.
Whenever I have attended something excellent, I always want to and try to thank the performer(s). Concerts are generally the ultimate frustration that way. The experience of being that close to the stage moved me, it was a remarkable evening, so what is my response, I wondered?
I thought about it. I pulled up the websites and read a little, I didn't know their names before the concert. I read that Kevin had beaten cancer. I thought about that.
I thought about my life. I thought I could almost write lyrics to a song about it. That feeling doesn't happen often, which is how I know the concert reached me. Would everyone want my life? Would anybody want my life?
I thought about what makes people likeable, what the process is to determine if you like someone and what people see when they look at each other.
So, I decided to give blood. An odd response, but a big deal to me. I have a rare blood type and once they know where to find you, the hospitals never stop calling. I wanted to find a way to give as generously as I had been given to, both by the person that invited me to the show and the band that evening.
I read that BNL wants change, they want to be known for more than the funny songs, they want to be a sane voice in the madness. I think many artists are frustrated that they aren't known for what they consider their best work, Mozart, Charles Schultz, Arthur Conan Doyle, Louisa May Alcott, Van Gogh. It's probably the rule, rather than the exception.
The band should take heart, they are in such a fortunate position. Unlike a book or a piece of art they are given a different opportunity with music because most people buy the whole album so they have the chance to go deeper. It seems to me this band has it all, an album they are proud of, great fans who are listening and just enough commercial success to buy coffee without an armed escort.
Today the Boston Globe called the new Brittney Spears album "profoundly vacant". Now that's a bad review but one BNL never needs to fear receiving.
Thank you C. What a wonderful thought process here and indeed I doubt BNL will ever be deemed "profoundly vacant" the way Ms. Thang's new release is. But. Her release will sell billions more copies. And perhaps she's the type of person that BNL is singing about in my #6 "muttering" this week:
Don't call me a zero
I'm gonna be a hero
Like Phil Esposito or the Kennedys
I'll be incorporated
And I'll be imitated
And overrated, but that doesn't bother me
All the jaws will drop
And all the girls will scream
And there will be commotion when I show up on the scene
All that you will see is a celebrity (x2)
When I'm riding in my limo
I won't look out the window
Might make me homesick for humanity
There's nowhere that I can't go
And there's nobody I don't know
And there's an emptiness that's eating me
All the clocks will stop
And all the jeans will cream
It has always been my one and only dream
All that's left of me is my celebrity (x2)
Leave your heart
Lay down your art
You're here for the party
Smile and wave
Try to behave
Be happy that they've made you a celebrity
I could disappear into the great unknown
And it would wear my face as if it were its own
And all that you will see is a celebrity
All that's left of me is my celebrity
I will get in first and I will get in free
All that's left of me is my celebrity
Speaking of Celebrity... There's a band that deserves more. All About Buford will be performing for ME and my 37th birthday on Friday November 21st at the Crescent Dragon Cafe in down town Haverhill MA.
Well not really for ME per se. It just happens to coincide closely to my birthday and so I'm all ego and am pointing out that it's all about me me me.
The Crescent Dragon is right near the train station, so easy access coming up from the City or Portland Maine or wherever. They are filming a video, and want as many people in the house as possible. It shouldn't be a problem, because last time they were there the place was jam packed and overflowing.
It promises to be a phenomenal show. Perhaps not as insanely phenomenal as I thought BNL was, but they do put on a kick ass performance, and I've touted their vocal ability like mad in these pages lo these last two years. So get off your keister on Friday night and get thee hence to the show, damnit!
Just a note -- this one is a non-kid oriented show, so leave the shorties at home.
They do kid friendly and non-kid friendly (no kids are abused or hit, it's just a tad "blue" as they say in the industry... look at me, I'm so full of lingo!) shows, so this one happens to be specifically requested to be kidless and I'm happy to oblige.
So try and make it if you can. Haverhill is so easy to get to up 495 and 95. You have no excuses. Right then. More later.
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