thelilbearbeeny's Xanga

Bringing meat consumption to consciousness

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:58:40 GMT

I've had a lot of silly half-brained convictions in the past, but hopefully this recent re-hatched development of mine is more well thought out. Let me present some facts I've found.

"To produce 1 pound of feedlot beef requires about 2,400 gallons of water and 7 pounds of grain. Considering that the average American consumes 97 pounds of beef (and 273 pounds of meat in all) each year, even modest reductions in meat consumption in such a culture would substantially reduce the burden on our natural resources.

For the United States and other industrialized nations, lowered meat consumption would yield significant public health benefits, particularly a reduction in heart disease, several cancers, and other chronic diseases." [link]

"Globally, ruminant livestock produce about 80 million metric tons of methane annually, accounting for about 22% of global methane emissions from human-related activities." [link]

There's not much more to say other than that... the seemingly harmless and tasty burgers we chomp down are actually extremely wasteful and detrimental to ourselves and the world (and its inhabitants). I'm no expert on this subject, though; Maybe there's a positive side of the picture I'm not seeing here or maybe these facts are wrong and biased - please let me know if I'm misinformed (though there's probably plenty of other sad-looking statistics I didn't bother finding and adding to this note). With that said, this doesn't mean I fault anyone who's conscious of all these harms and still fully continues
with their meat eating habits. What they choose to eat and how much they value their food is their prerogative. I also enjoy eating meat and having variety in my diet as much as the next person, but I feel compelled to draw my own line somewhere. (Also adding vegetarian options into your palette [pun] adds a different kind of variety to your meals that you may have never experienced before anyway.)

If you're still interested, I read an article that I can't seem to dig up right now (sorry for the lack of professionalism). It said that some people somewhere did a study and found that after beef, pork was the next worst offender in terms of leaving a carbon footprint, and chicken was next in line. If I remember right, beef did far more damage than anything else. Going vegan and buying locally was the best way to go.

And then even based on my own ethical reasoning - I would never dream of slaughtering my dog and cat (or any elephant or bear) and eating them. Why then should I find it okay to eat any cow or pig or chicken? It's easy to skip the judgment when the killing is done far away and by someone else and by the time it gets to me it's just a hunk of meat. Also to many of us, animals just seem like stupid mindless beasts of the world, but now with all this research coming out we're learning this is not entirely the case (elephants). There are so many things we don't know about these creatures, and only recently in history have all the field researchers and science begun to scratch the surface of it. Again, I don't fault anyone for thinking differently; This is just my purely subjective thinking. Likewise, don't scream at me if you see me eating meat because it is hard to hold these convictions 100% to heart in every situation, but it would be good to always keep this information at least conscious in our minds when we make our dietary decisions (and imo, we should be conscious of the impact of every decision we make).

on a final and semi-related note, with the rest of the world industrializing and with america continuing with bad habits as the leader and example, we could be heading into dangerous places.

silence is the only failure.

I want a pet elephant

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:54:26 GMT

These guys are amazing. This is all from the wiki page but everything seemingly has a valid citation. I simply copy and pasted a lot of interesting text I picked out but every single paragraph is astounding. It is wiki, though, so go ahead and check out the page and see everything and its citations for yourself.

-
A wide variety of behaviors, including those associated with grief, learning, allomothering, mimicry, art, play, a sense of humor, altruism, use of tools, compassion, self-awareness, memory and possibly language all point to a highly intelligent species that are thought to be equal with cetaceans and primates.

Two members of the family were shot by poachers, who were subsequently chased off by the remaining elephants. Although one of the elephants died, the other, named Tina, remained standing but with knees beginning to give way. Two family members, Trista and Teresia (Tina’s mother) walked to either side of Tina and leaned in to hold her up. Alas, Tina was so weak she fell to the ground and died. However, Trista and Teresia did not give up but continually tried to lift her. They managed to get Tina into a sitting position, but her body was lifeless and fell to the ground again. As the other elephant family members became more intensely involved in the aid, they tried to put grass into Tina’s mouth. Teresia then put her tusks beneath Tina’s head and front quarters and proceeded to lift her. As she did so, her right tusk broke completely off, right up to the lip and nerve cavity. The elephants gave up trying to lift Tina but didn’t leave her; instead, they began to bury her in a shallow grave and throw leaves over her body. They stood over Tina for the night, and then began to leave in the morning. The last to leave was Teresia.

Elephants are thought to be highly altruistic animals that will even aid other species, including humans, in distress. In India, an elephant was helping locals lift logs by following a truck and placing the logs in pre-dug holes upon instruction from the mahout (elephant trainer). At a certain hole, the elephant refused to lower the log. The mahout came to investigate the hold up and noticed a dog sleeping in the hole. The elephant only lowered the log when the dog was gone.

A ranch herder was out on his own with camels when he came across a family of elephants. The matriarch charged at him and knocked him over with her trunk, breaking one of his legs. In the evening, when he didn’t return, a search party was sent in a truck to find him . When the party discovered him, he was being guarded by an elephant. The animal charged the truck, so they shot over her and scared her away. The herdsman later told them that when he couldn’t stand up, the elephant used her trunk to lift him under the shade of a tree. She guarded him for the day and would gently touch him with her trunk.

Elephants in Africa will self-medicate by chewing on the leaves of a tree from the Boraginaceae family, which induces labor. Kenyan humans also use this tree for the same purpose.

Elephants are the only other species other than humans and neanderthals known to have a ritual around death. They show a keen interest in the bones of their own kind (even unrelated elephants that have died long ago). They are often seen gently investigating the bones with their trunks and feet, and remaining very quiet. Sometimes elephants that are completely unrelated to the deceased will still visit their graves. When an elephant is hurt, other elephants (also even if they are unrelated) will aid them.

The entire family of a dead matriarch, including her young calf were all gently touching her body with their trunks and tried to lift her. The elephant herd were all rumbling loudly. The calf was observed to be weeping and made sounds that sounded like a scream but then the entire herd fell incredibly silent. They then began to throw leaves and dirt over the body and broke off tree branches to cover her. They spent the next 2 days quietly standing over her body. They sometimes had to leave to get water or food, but they would always return.

On many occasions, they have buried dead or sleeping humans or aided them when they were hurt.

Meredith also recalls an event told to her by George Adamson, a Kenyan Game Warden regarding an old Turkana woman who fell asleep under a tree after losing her way home. When she woke up, there was an elephant standing over her, gently touching her. She kept very still because she was very frightened. As other elephants arrived, they began to scream loudly and buried her under branches. She was found the next morning by the local herdsmen, unharmed.

Elephants have been seen sucking up water, holding their trunk high in the air, and then spraying the water like a fountain.

Kosik, an Indian elephant at Everland Amusement Park, South Korea surprised trainers when they thought there was a person in his enclosure but it was actually Kosik imitating Jong Gap Kim, his trainer. Kosik can make sounds imitating up to eight Korean words, including "sit", "no", "yes" and "lie down".

Elephants show a remarkable ability to use tools, despite having no hands. Instead, they use their trunk like an arm. Elephants have been observed digging holes to drink water and then ripping bark from a tree, chewing it into the shape of a ball, filling in the hole and covering over it with sand to avoid evaporation. The elephant later went back to this spot for a drink.

Elephants are able to spend a lot of time working on problems. They are able to radically change their behavior to face a new challenge, a hallmark of complex intelligence.

Koko worked out when his keepers needed a bit of ‘elephant help’ when they were transferring the females of the group to another zoo. When the keepers wanted to transfer a female, usually they would say her name, followed by the word 'transfer' (e.g. “Connie transfer"). Koko soon figured out what this meant. If the keepers asked an elephant to transfer and they didn’t budge, they would say “Koko, give me a hand”. When he heard this, Koko would help. Peachey firmly believes that after 27 years of working with elephants, they can understand semantics/syntax of some of the words they hear. This is something thought to be very rare in the animal kingdom.

On one particular day, there was a fire truck that came and parked outside her enclosure where a man had just had a heart attack. The lights on the truck were flashing red, white and yellow. When Ruby painted later on in the day, she chose those colours. She also showed a preference for particular colours that the keepers wore. (If you haven't seen elephants painting, see on youtube here.)

Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees (Tokyo 08)

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:19:45 GMT

Youtube is great now and the official footage for one of the Radiohead concerts in Saitama was finally put on the air. I managed to get it and put up one song so far onto Youtube in awesome quality. Here it is and more to come. I was in this giant sea of people somewhere . This performance blew me away along with the thousands of silent fans and all their clapping. If you visit the youtube page directly be sure to click "watch in HD" or just use this link.

radiohead - fake plastic trees

a green plastic watering can
for a fake chinese rubber plant
in fake plastic earth

that she bought from a rubber man
in a town full of rubber plants
to get rid of itself

it wears her out, it wears her out
it wears her out, it wears her out

she lives with a broken man
a cracked polystyrene man
who just crumbles and burns

he used to do surgery
on girls in the eighties
but gravity always wins

and it wears him out, it wears him out
it wears him out, it wears him out

she looks like the real thing
she tastes like the real thing
my fake plastic love

but i can't help the feeling
i could blow through the ceiling
if i just turn and run

and it wears me out, it wears me out
it wears me out, it wears me out

if i could be who you wanted
if i could be who you wanted
all the time, all the time

Happy Thanksgiving

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:46:07 GMT

Have a nice festive time, everybody. Some pictures for your enjoyment...

getting ready for shipment to Aruba

the parentheses are (Dark) and (My grandfathers Dies)

Japan 08: Six Nights of Radiohead. Oct 1-8

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:53:27 GMT

I've been struggling with how to put into words all the bits of Japan left lingering in my mind. Here is a product of that struggle. I tried to cut down the length, I promise.

Oct 1-2   - Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium

Night 1:

Songs I heard live for the first time: Dollars and Cents, Like Spinning Plates

Japan may be the best country in the world to see a concert in. Besides being a surreal experience for me, the crowd was so quiet and respectful it was as if we were listening to an orchestra peform. It was a huge contrast to the California shows, where obnoxious screaming and loud casual conversations are very common. Even in the middle of most songs, calm and sedating ones included, the California crowds would start cheering during quiet breaks in songs (like the breaks in Weird Fishes/Arpeggi and Nude). But at these Osaka shows the crowds were so quiet before and during songs that you could literally hear a coin drop in the entire gymnasium (or, put in another way, I could actually hear the band members talking on stage before a song). It allowed for such a chilling atmosphere - to hear the music resonate throughout thousands of captivated spectators. I think this concert is the reason I actually like Exit Music now. During the classic rock songs like The Bends and Paranoid Android though, the crowd did appropriately break a bit out of their silence shell.

Before Jigsaw
Thom: Ready...
Johnny: Hai!
Crowd laughs. Thom aims mic toward Johnny.
Thom: We're Japanese tourists.

Night 2:

Songs I heard live for the first time: Knives Out, Planet Telex, Fog

Thom throws an f-bomb into Bodysnatchers.

Before No Surprises
Crowd member: You rock!!
Thom: We rock but not on this next particular tune.

Sometime during show
Crowd member: Radiohead!!
Thom: Yes.

Beginning of 2nd encore
Thom forgets the lyrics to Cymbal Rush and runs off stage. Then he comes back on, plays the intro for 30 seconds, stops, and admits stalling. Then he plays Fog instead (I didn't know what song it was at the time).

Oct 4-5 -   Saitama Super Arena

Night 3:

Songs I heard live for the first time: Bangers and Mash.

The Tokyo crowd gets louder and rowdier than the Osaka crowd but they're still much more respectful than a California crowd.

This was the closest I had gotten to the stage so far. Before Radiohead took the stage, I was like, "This is awesome." Then they went on and everybody started pushing up and crowding and we just became a huge wave of people swaying and pushing (and some moshers). It was crazy and insane so I started inching my way out of the pack but all the shoving died down after the first few songs anyway. It was still a fun experience, but I think it's a bit dumb because at that point, the music loses a lot of its impact. It's just too distracting for me to have all these people rubbing against me and breathing down my neck and being all hot and drenched in sweat. So yea, when I was in that situation, the music was completely out of my focus.

Night 4:

Songs I heard live for the first time: Myxomatosis, My Iron Lung

Again, the crowd was insanely wild even though I was in the back section. But now in the back section, my view of the stage was completely blocked off so after awhile, I decided to just make my way toward the back and stay out of the giant swarm of people. Since I could barely see anything in my very obscured view, which included the back of a lot of people's heads, most of the time I just kept my eyes closed and focused entirely on listening. Wow - what a difference this made. The music felt so much more real and alive this way without the distractions. One of the highlights of the concerts was hearing Fake Plastic Trees this night. It was so... moving.

Oct 7-8   -   Tokyo International Forum Hall

Night 5:

Songs I heard live for the first time: I Might Be Wrong, Kid A (!), Blow Out, True Love Waits (on rhodes)

This night was just completely indescribable. I had a third row ticket in possibly one of the best venues and it was on Thom Yorke's 40th birthday. I was so close to them. I can still picture Thom Yorke's gaze into the crowd when the band came onto stage and opened with All I Need as people around shouted happy birthday.

So there were these random moments during the show where any given band member would start staring into my area of the crowd. Being as captivated as I was, I would generally try to stare back at them and it was strange because they would just keep staring for a long time. It felt like they were looking into my soul. I was spooked afterward.

They played Blow Out, a song I didn't know at the time and that they hadn't played in 11 years. I also had been waiting to hear Kid A at every show I went to and even got to hear True Love Waits.

People around me were shouting happy birthday at Thom throughout the whole show.

Thom forgot to sing a line during Idioteque. Then Ed, doing backup vocals, looked over and Thom gave an "oops, my bad" look.

Night 6:

Songs I heard live for the first time: In Limbo, Wolf at the Door, Bulletproof

So after experiencing what I did at the last show, I was completely bummed out because for this last night I had a row 14 seat. I think it turned out to be a good thing anyway. Since I wasn't distracted by any awesome view and already had the light show pretty much memorized by now, I once again focused on the music and mostly shut off my eyes. This might've ended up being the best night in terms of an audio experience.

At the end of The Gloaming, Johnny looped Thom singing "we haven't stopped."

During Paranoid Android, Colin brings out a camera and takes a picture of the crowd. It was during the quiet part (rain down...).

While filming Blow Out again for youtube, a security guard came over and gave me a hard shove.

Some afterthoughts:
I have a love/hate relationship for having a camera at the Radiohead shows and I'm not sure if I even want to bring one along the next time I go to one. I got a few pretty cool pictures, but for the most part it was just a distraction. Taking a picture completely takes away my focus from the music.

For whatever reasons, Radiohead decided to do the best set lists in Japan. Thom also has to say 'cool beans' at every show. Also, seats in a seated pit are a must-have if they're available.

From the first show in SF to the last show in Tokyo I feel like the way I listen to music changed a lot. I'm not sure how to describe it though really, but it's amazing.

More photos on Facebook.

Japan '08 - Day 0: Exposition (Sept 30)

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:37:08 GMT

Wow, I had no idea I was typing this much. I hope you like reading. It's been over a month since I left for Japan, and only now am I getting around to putting it into words. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on my first night so I will just post some pictures of Ben's place (where I would be staying for some nights). I actually took those pics on the day I left (and in the morning too).

For the entire night, I was busy packing and getting ready to go to Japan. I had left almost all of my packing undone until this last night (Sept. 29 locally) and I didn't really finish until it was time to go. I tried to take a short nap around 7 AM so I could at least get a little sleep but there was too much going on to fall asleep.

I would be away from home and overseas for 3 weeks, which seemed like an eternity. It was my first time going to Japan and I didn't know what to expect and didn't speak one bit of Japanese. I was also going to spend some of the beginning of the trip entirely alone, and even for most of the trip I wasn't sure what I would end up doing.

Anyway, eventually my dad took me to the airport for my 1:35 PM flight. I instantly passed out from the moment we got onto the freeway until we got to the airport. It was an amazing nap because I was so tired. It was like I was instantly teleported to the airport. I was too tired to really feel anything and it was kinda peaceful and zombie-like. So after I quickly checked in my luggage we went to go eat dim sum and then I was off to my flight after that. At dim sum there was this boy who walked by our table doing some little kiddish thing and it reminded me of the little kids at church.

Being at the airport gave me that cool airport feeling. There's something about how everybody is there traveling to and from all over the world and everybody's busy and walking to their destinations and getting their things done. You get to hear all these random conversations that people have and the PA system always comes on asking for someone and telling you that you can board and to make sure you don't leave your luggage unattended. Airports are cool and mysteriously like that (The Terminal?). Doing any kind of waiting at an airport kinda sucks though, but it's not too terrible if you plan things right.

Anyway again, The flight was scheduled to be around 11 hours and I think that was about right. At the beginning of the flight, I switched to the seat one row behind me after this guy with his daughter asked me if I would switch so they could sit together. The plane ride sucked because I felt really cramped but that was mostly my fault because for half of the time I had my pillow on my seat when I could've just kept it in the overhead storage all along. Also my backpack was overstuffed with things so it was hard to get things out to play with. I spent the time watching stuff on my laptop, playing DS, listening to music, and sleeping. I had a nice dream too. I sat next to this girl probably somewhere around my age who was transferring to Taipei after Narita. We barely talked on the flight but she did ask me some random questions like how long the flight was supposed to be. It's kinda awkward sitting next to a stranger on a plane, especially after seeing Fight Club. I feel like I'd want to start some small talk or that I'd be obligated to, but then it feels like it'd be a waste of time and then it'd be a bit sad when the flight was over because I'd start to establish some attachment to someone I'd never see again, so I don't do it.

So eventually we landed at Narita Airport around 4:30 PM and then I had to go through customs. I went into the line for international arrivals and then this elderly Japanese customs official fixing the line next to me asked me if I was Japanese (to make sure I was in the right line). I guess the hair really made me fit in.

Waiting in the customs line was a little boring but it wasn't too bad and I got through without any hassles. When I got out of all that, my brother was already there waiting for me. We picked up my rail pass and then we were off straight to his place. It was about 6:00 PM by then and it was already completely dark outside. It was also drizzling a little which was nice because I missed the rainy weather. It took about an hour on the trains to get back to my brother's place and we dropped off my luggage and went out again.

We were off on the train again and Ben took me to this sushi place and it was delicious. It was great sushi and there was a lot of variety and there was that whole ethnic feeling of eating sushi in Japan too. We sat right by the entrance and the whole place was kinda like a sushi boat place, with a bunch of sushi and other stuff floating by in front of you (on plates). We didn't get anything off the plates though. Instead, there are a couple of chefs inside the enclosure and you just yell out what you want and they make it for you. I think it's even less expensive compared to the States, especially since you don't tip at all.

So after that, we just walked around that area a bit. There were people all over the streets and lights everywhere, just as you'd imagine it to be like in Japan. We walked through what Ben said was the busiest intersection in Japan (in terms of pedestrians, and I'd go back to it a few times in the trip). We also walked down streets with plenty of recognizable brand name stores. There was this one store, I think Uniqlo, where I was looking in the window and the ground was sloped a little and I slipped while walking back down and landed hard on my butt (the ground was wet). There wasn't really anybody around but it was funny. I slipped a little later on a sewer grate too, but I didn't fall on that.

We went into a random arcade or two (and there are arcades/pachinko houses everywhere in Japan) and looked around. There were a lot of people playing crane games (UFO catchers) and they looked all high tech and everything which I thought was cool because you'd never see anything like that here. They also have all these random games and music games that we'll never get to see or play in the States. We did end up playing this one game that's for 3 players. Each player gets 3 buttons and the game goes through a whole bunch of mini games (like Mario Party) and you try to win each one against the other players or the CPU. It was great. I wish we had that in the States along with all the public transportation.

By now it was getting late so we finished the night by getting two apple pies at the McDonald's near Ben's home. They're a dollar each, but unlike in the States, they're fried in Japan (and apparently they were fried here many many years ago before my time). There will be much more McDonald's later on in my trip.

main living area of the place. it's hard to tell how small the whole place is by the picture but it is definitely small by our standards. and this is one of the very nicer places to be in Japan, I think. the next picture below is taken standing from the wall I'm facing in this picture, where all the laptops and screens are, so you can kinda get an idea of how small the area is.

the kitchen is to the left and the hallway on the right leads to the front door and there is a toilet and sink in a small room on the side. to the left in front of the kitchen is a door to the small bedroom. there's another bathroom in the bedroom with the shower, bath, sink, washing machine, but no toilet.

an update on those headphones: they were nice to use on the trip but when I got home and had a chance to put my full sized headphones back on, I realized the sound quality is much better on the full sized cans.

New Headphones - Live Wires

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:20:48 GMT

I feel a little silly everytime I write these long detailed entries because they're all on such a niche subject.

So occasionally I go over to the head-fi forums where all the audiophiles are and do some lurking to see what's new in the audio world and if there are any new developments in headphones. A couple months ago I read about a custom in-ear monitor that was as cheap as some of the high end universal fit monitors but still had many raves about its sound quality. Feeling disappointed in my Shure e500s but still wanting a better in-ear experience, I was instantly interested.

The process was a bit long and tedious, but even after a couple hours with them (I got them today) I already feel like it was worth it. First I had to find a local audiologist and set up an appointment to get impressions of my ears taken. When the appointment came around, I went to the office and I was told that my left ear had too much wax to get the impression taken. So I left and found that stuff you drip into your ear to soften the wax and spent a few days doing that and syringing and repeating over and over. Then I set up another appointment and this time my ear was fine (the audiologist was surprised at how fast I cleaned it out as well). It was a little strange getting the pink gunk stuck into my ear for a few minutes because I felt almost completely deaf during that time. When I was talking to her and answering her barely audible questions during the process I had no idea how loud I was projecting my voice. But anyway, it didn't take that long for it to be all done.

my ears in putty form

So then I packaged it up and sent them in with the order form to Castro Valley where the company is located. I shipped them on July 23 and it only took a day to get there. After they got them, they called me to confirm some details I wanted and told me I'd have them in 3.5 weeks. Great.

Then 3.5 weeks came and went so I gave them a call and the next day they sent me an e-mail on August 20 saying my Live Wires would ship out on August 29. Once again I waited and once again a handful of days passed after August 29 so I got worried and gave them another call. This time they told me they still hadn't received my headphones from the manufacturer but they assured me that they would be getting them on September 10 for sure (they said it seemed like everybody found out about Live Wires at the same time and they got inundated with orders so everything got delayed). So I had to wait some more and yesterday (September 15) they still weren't here yet, so today I gave them one more call. They gave me a tracking number and I punched it in and it said it was delivered so then all I had to do was wait for my mailman (who hadn't been coming till really late like 4:30 recently). But finally they came after 7 or 8 weeks when I was originally told 3.5 weeks. Including getting the ear impressions, the whole process took a few weeks longer than that.

the beauties (i got mine clear with a black back, but there are other color combinations available)

After I got them I plugged them into my computer and started playing some songs. I was also worried that the fit would be bad since I read some stories about that and people had to send their headphones back multiple times to get thickened and everything, but my fit seemed great and even almost too tight. My first impression was that the sound was just alright and that the bass was weak (though I thought the same thing about my running headphones). Still, it seemed awesome to have something that fit perfectly to my ears and that still sounded better than my e500s. Also the details still sounded great with the isolation (distinguishing two separate guitar arpeggios in the left and right channels).

Then I decided to try using the headphones with my IEM amp that I had bought awhile back and with my iMod (modified iPod). I had bought the amp awhile ago but it has mostly been sitting around collecting dust because with my e500s I couldn't hear a difference with it and it wasn't strong enough to power my full sized cans. Well, with the Live Wires this time there was immediately an obvious difference. The bass was kicking harder and everything about it just sounded better. Now I was actually impressed with the sound and loved listening to it but now I really want to hear what other amps sound like.

the full setup

I haven't listened to a wide range of music with them yet but I'll have plenty of time for that, especially on the long flight coming up. I'm a little disappointed that I finally realized that the onboard audio on my PC sucks as a source but at the same time I'm glad that now I know what everybody was talking about when they said the source makes a difference.

As far as sound quality, I still think my full sized AKGs sound better, but IEMs offer a level of isolation and intimacy that you can't get from cans, so they both have their strengths.

OK, well. I think that's it for now.

random picture of the day

Two Radiohead Shows and an Adventure

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:47:14 GMT

Cliff notes of the cliff notes for those who really don't care at all:
The Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (Chula Vista) and Santa Barbara Bowl shows were amazing. They put the SF show to shame.

Cliff notes/Foreword:
This adventure entails much spontaneity, emotion, music, and a miracle. It's kinda a long entry again. It's interesting seeing who ends up reading it entirely and who just skims through it, though. : ) Well, anyway. The beginning of this entry will be a general synopsis/overview while the rest will be the entire schedule of my trip. Pretty much in the last two days I took a road trip almost all the way down to Mexico and saw the last two North America Radiohead shows.

I'm not sure what brought this fresh into my mind but on Monday or Tuesday I remembered Radiohead was still going to be in socal finishing their North America tour. I remember when they first released their tour schedule I was already thinking about how I would be able to see the 4 socal shows along with the SF festival but I never did anything about it because I guess I didn't want to plan something so far in advance. In retrospect I should've just made a plan earlier though.

So I started looking on eBay and Craigslist on Tuesday night to see how feasible it would be to get tickets. As for transportation, it was all up to me if I was down to take the long drive all the way down. The last time I drove to San Diego and back I told myself I would never do the drive again because it was so long and boring and not worth it. I almost wanted to buy a plane ticket to go down this time but then I wouldn't have a car to get to the venues. I didn't realize how much driving there would be in the entire trip and it ended up being an insane amount.

But anyway, it wasn't hard to find a pair of tickets on eBay that I bought instantly and that's how it was decided I was going down for sure. As for the second show, at the time I wasn't sure if I could get ticket(s) yet but the entire trip would end up being unplanned and spontaneous anyway. They also played in socal earlier on Sunday and Monday. I wish I had gone to those but my spontaneity hadn't kicked in yet I guess.

For anybody who only saw Radiohead in SF, you guys really missed out. For me the shows were so much different I can't even really compare them. Besides all the technical problems, they did 25 song sets at both of the socal shows vs. 22 in SF. Also, the latter two shows constantly gave me these chills of excitement whereas the SF show didn't. I'm not sure how to describe it. I think there's a certain kind of chills for me that comes from concerts, though I don't have much experience with it. The first and last time it happened to me was when I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Acoustically, the Chula Vista show sounded the best, though the Santa Barbara Bowl wasn't far behind. It might be because I had a seat closer to the stage at Chula Vista, but the bass seemed stronger and as if it were actually pushing air around me.

Hm, what else. Amazingly, the crowds seem to get better and louder in smaller sizes. The 20k at Chula Vista definitely made more noise and sang along more than the 60k at SF, and then the 4,500 at Santa Barbara did even better. I could hear the crowd singing along loudly to Karma Police at SB. Maybe the "real" fan to venue size ratio gets larger as the venue gets smaller so that there's enough of them to make enough noise.

The entire trip was 46.5 hours and I guess I was driving for at least 21 of those hours and slept for 6 of them. So much for being green and biking and everything.

Day 1 - Wednesday, August 27

4:30 AM - 7:30 AM
Sleep in preparation of the trip. I tried to sleep earlier but it didn't work.

9:45 AM - 6:45 PM
Driving from norcal straight to the venue in Chula Vista. No heavy traffic until toward the end. One stop along the way for gas and In N Out.

7:30 PM - 11:05 PM
The show. The amphitheater was really nice with a capacity around 20k. One thing I noticed is that people in socal seem to look and dress better than people in norcal. People in general have more flair and style down there from what I saw (and in the past too at LA). I noticed the same thing after I came back from New York when I thought even Valley Fair looked scrubby. Anyway, I was wearing my SF Outside Lands t-shirt and noticed a few other people wearing it too. A lot of people were wearing various band shirts too. The place was crowded and already there was a lot of energy.

I could already feel that it was going to be a great show. The seats that I grabbed on eBay the night before were great. Nobody ever claimed the two seats to the right of me either, giving me a lot of free space. We had plenty of room in front of the seats to stand and a railing to rest on and we were elevated so we weren't blocked by anyone standing in front of us either.

Section 201, Row A, Seats 21-22

Before Radiohead came on, my friend said skateboard legend Tony Hawk was walking right in front of us so I looked over and thought I saw him walk away toward his seat but later on we disagreed on what kind of shirt he was wearing. The people sitting next to us were also talking about how they saw him.

Our seats and view - great stuff

Radiohead took the stage at 8:50 and played until 11:05.

Set list: (Stars denote the # of times hearing the song live)

1.   15 Step **

2.   Airbag **

3.   There There **
[Thom: Thanks everyone.]

4.   All I Need **
[Thom: Thanks.]

5.   Nude **

6.   Talk Show Host **

7.   Where I End and You Begin *
[Thom: Thank you very much.]

8.   Weird Fishes/Arpeggi **

9.   The Gloaming **
See Thom dance! Watch in HQ too. His dancing is definitely one of the highlights. Also a great song live and the video shows the awesome lights and screen too.

10.   Faust Arp *

11.   How To Disappear Completely *
[Thom: Thank you very much. We'd like the personally thank The Liars. They're my favorite band to hear live.]

12.   Reckoner **
[Thom: Thank you.]
[Thom: This one is called Optimistic.]

13.   Optimistic *
[Thom: (slightly inaudible) Wicked.]

14.   Jigsaw Falling Into Place **
[Thom: Thank you.]

15.   Pyramid Song **
Beautiful song that sent me extra chills when I heard it here. At SF it didn't do anything for me though.

16.   Climbing Up The Walls *

17.   Bodysnatchers **
RH leaves the stage at 10:20.

Encore 1:

18.   House of Cards *
[Thom: Thanks a lot.]

19.   You And Whose Army? **
Once again, Thom starts laughing while singing the part in the beginning. He and Johnny try to continue twice but Thom starts laughing again both times. They keep going on the third time. See it here.
[Thom: Thank you.] Thom bows before the audience.

20.   Just **
Thom drops an F-bomb into the lyrics (that isn't normally in the song). It was funny. I think the only song they perform that naturally has a swear in the lyrics is Talk Show Host. See it here (at 0:43). [i changed the locks three times now/f*** you still come reeling through the door]

21.   Paranoid Android **
Again, extra chills during the quiet part of the song that weren't there in SF. [Thom: Thank you everybody.]

22.   Street Spirit (fade out) *
RH leaves the stage again at 10:45.

Encore 2:
As the audience cheers for the second encore and the band comes back out - [Thom: Thank you.] Thom bows again.

23.   Videotape **
[Thom: Thank you.]

24.   Lucky *
[Thom: Cool Beans. Thank you everybody for coming.]

25.   Everything In Its Right Place **
Thom waves his hand in the air on beat, prompting the audience to clap along, then leaves the stage while the song continues - [Thom: Good night.] Thom bows twice.

11:05 PM - 3:30 AM
It took some time to get out of the venue and then we just chilled in the parking lot waiting for some of the cars to clear out. If you've ever been to Shoreline it was a bit like that. So I noticed some random guy walking around and he eventually came around my car and was standing around and slowly crept up closer and closer to us. Then he very awkwardly tried to break the ice by repeating the exact same question that my friend had just asked me, before I had a chance to answer it (I thought he was mocking). After the awkward introduction though I ended up having a casual conversation with him and he seemed like a cool guy. Apparently he was just walking around looking for people to meet since the cars were barely moving.

So we eventually left and drove about 30 minutes to La Jolla/UCSD where we stayed at my friend's place. My friend took us to a 24 hour burrito joint called Roberto's. Then at my friend's apartment I was trying to get tickets for the Santa Barbara bowl show on the next night. It's a tiny venue that only holds 4,500 so it was impossible to get seats. My eBay bid that I had placed in the morning got beat because I wasn't around a computer to check on it when it ended (I had a dutch bid on it, and I was a bit sheepish on it). Craigslist was also impossible to deal with because of all the demand for the tickets and having to pick up the tickets locally and even some fake listings. Also a lot of the postings sell tickets to the highest offers (and I hate making offers because you never know where you stand) and a lot of people never respond to your e-mails or take a long time to. It's just a mess.

Day 2 - Thursday, August 28

3:30 AM - 9:30 AM
There was nothing else on eBay and since it was so late nothing new was coming up on Craigslist so I gave up and went to sleep. I was a bit bummed though because now there was a good chance I may have made the huge trip just for the one show (but it still would've been well worth it anyway). Also at this point I started feeling a lot more sick after the concert. I think it started with a small sore throat a day or two ago and now I was coughing and hacking and my nose was running and my one of nostrils was always stuffed and I was a little chilly/feverish. So I had a little trouble falling asleep (it was hot too) but it wasn't a disaster.

When I woke up I started going through Craigslist again (eBay was still empty) and decided to put up my own "ticket needed" ad, even though there were a handful of want/need ads from other people already up. This is what I put up.

~
Need 1 or 2 Radiohead Santa Barbara Bowl Tickets - $200 (this seemed to be the market price on craigslist for a single ticket, so that's what I listed my offer as)

I took a 9 hour drive from San Jose yesterday to see the Chula Vista show and now need tickets for the Santa Barbara Show. Please let me know if you can help out. I will reply instantly.
~

About an hour and a half after I made the posting, a girl in San Luis Obispo actually e-mailed me and said she had an extra ticket. She wrote in the e-mail, "If you're that big a fan you should be able to go!" I couldn't believe it. Of course in the back of my mind all the way until I got into the show I was wondering if it was true or if I was getting scammed but it turned out to be real. It really is amazing because I almost certainly had no chance of getting a ticket through any other means.

12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
Lunch at Croutons. I ate an Albacore Tuna Flatini sandwich.

1:15 PM - 7:00 PM
Driving from La Jolla to Santa Barbara, including a gas stop, two minor detours for other purposes, and heavy LA traffic. Keep in mind that while I'm making this long drive I'm still pretty far from sure that I have an actual ticket and that I'll be able to get into the venue. The Liars got on stage at 6:30 PM so I got to the venue pretty late (7:15 - somewhat foolish of me to be so late considering all things, but I underestimated the LA traffic as well), but I was only concerned about seeing Radiohead anyway. I was still worried about my seller though since she got to the venue around 6:30 (she ended up being late too apparently) and I had to tell her I wouldn't be there until around 7:00 (and I had originally told her I'd get there around 6 - we were keeping each other updated via phone). It seemed like so many things could go wrong and it was already a godsend that I even got offered this ticket.

But of course, everything worked out perfectly in the end. I got patted down for security, went to the ticket check-in, and she was in there already waiting with her guy friend with my ticket in hand. She handed it over to me and I stood in line for it to get scanned. When I got in I handed her the money; then we had a short conversation while walking up and they left me alone so they could meet up with their friends. My seat wasn't with them and I didn't see them again for the rest of the night.

7:00 PM - 11:45 PM
It was a little bit strange being there all by myself and in such an unfamiliar place. I had never even been to Santa Barbara at all. But I knew I had to get used to it since I'll be alone at some shows in Japan too. Except at the show the demographics were like 95% white and in Japan it might be a bit different. It wasn't much more time until Radiohead was taking the stage so I wouldn't have to idle too much anyway. I went to the bathroom to freshen up and then went and found my seat.

In the bathroom some guy saw my shirt and said that he was there (sf outside lands). I was like, "oh, yea, it was pretty bad." Then he said, "oh the sound problems? it wasn't that bad. it was only for two songs. it was still a great show." I shrugged. Then there was also an older male usher in the bathroom who chimed in and said, "you didn't miss out much in those songs anyway." I'm not sure what he meant by that but it made me wonder if he personally knew the band. I think I'm the only one who gave a hoot about the screen problems too (including in stuff I've been reading online, nobody else complains about it).

the stage and its surroundings. i was pretty much in the very back of the venue too and still wasn't that far. my view ended up being a little bit obstructed though from people standing.

I went up to my seat and just waited quietly for the show to start. Strangely again, nobody ever came to take the seats on either side of me. I'm not sure when they came on stage but they ended at 10:00 PM. I'm guessing they had a curfew since they started earlier than on the day before.

Set list:

1.   Reckoner ***

It kinda sucks taking pictures because it diverts away so much of my focus from the actual music. So, I tried not to go all frenetic with my camera even though the visual show is amazing too. Gotta find some kind of compromise.

2.   Optimistic **
[Thom: Thank you. Good evening. What's up?]

3.   There There ***

4.   15 Step ***

5.   All I Need ***
[Thom: Thank you.]

6.   Nude ***
The venue had some insects/crickets around it, adding an eerie constant noise to the quiet parts of the song and some of the quieter songs in the rest of the set as well.

7.   Talk Show Host ***
[Thom: Cool beans.]

8.   Weird Fishes/Arpeggi ***

9.   The Gloaming ***
More of Thom dancing.

10.   Morning Bell *

11.   National Anthem **

12.   Faust Arp **
Johnny runs across the stage and hops into the acoustic guitar that his tech is holding out for him. He walks over to Thom and Thom strums Johnny's guitar. Then Johnny reaches over and strums Thom's guitar back. See it happen here.

13.   No Surprises *

14.   Jigsaw Falling Into Place ***
[Thom: Thank you.]

15.   The Bends *

i kept trying to expose a shot long enough to get the light effects overlapping each other but not so long that it turned the image into a giant blob. it kinda worked here.

16.   Karma Police **

17.   Bodysnatchers ***

Encore 1:
Thom comes back on by himself and bows. [Thom: Thank you everyone.] Thom plays some chords on the piano. [Thom: This one... if I remember it - This one is from The Eraser. It's called Cymbal Rush.]

18.   Cymbal Rush *
[Thom: Thank you very much.] The rest of the band comes back out to loud cheering, of course. [Thom: Thank you (x4).]

19.   House of Cards **
[Thom: Thank you (x2).]
[Thom: So this is for anybody who's had surgery. You're gonna be dead soon. It's all going south, brother.]

20.   Paranoid Android ***
[Thom: Thank you very much. Never mind about the surgery. Whatever you want to do.]

21.   Go Slowly *

22.   Everything In Its Right Place ***

Encore 2:

23.   Videotape ***
[Thom: Thank you. Thanks a lot. Thank you everybody. Everybody who's come to every every show on this tour. We've had a blast, generally. We'd also very much like to thank Liars for playing tonight. (Ed starts playing Lucky) K I'll shut up.] I was afraid Lucky would be their last song since it seemed like Thom was ending the show. It would've been two shows without Idioteque (and they've played it at virtually every show) but of course they do end up playing it as their closer.

24.   Lucky **

25.   Idioteque **
In the middle of the song, Thom gets the crowd going and then goes insane dancing. See it here starting around 2:21. [Thom: Thank you everybody. See you sometime. Good night.]

Around the time of the encores I was getting pretty tired in my feet and lower back just standing there. Plus I was getting a lot more sick and could really feel it by the end of the show. Unfortunately people higher up in the seats had come down and were standing on and around my spot on the bleacher-like seating so I couldn't even sit down at all (which I wanted to do when the band left for the encores).

Afterward, I hung around the entrance of the venue for a bit. I noticed an Escalade that stopped in the parking lot before leaving. The driver was wearing a nice suit so I thought the people inside must be somebody. Then I started hearing people around me say it was Mary Kate Olsen. (I found blogs saying she was also seen at the Hollywood show(s).) I guess I also saw her silhouette when her car passed by 5 feet in front of me (there were 4 people in the car and the front window was down). Some girl at the entrance started heckling her as they drove out saying things like, "Mary Kate, you suck. Just because you're rich doesn't mean you belong here." Then another girl walked by and said, "Mary Kate, I loved you in Full House!" but then the first girl said "Mary Kate, you sucked in full house!" I also read someone post somewhere that they saw Ryan Seacrest here too.

After that a group of people with posters and cameras and pens stayed around just waiting for the band to come out. Their four tour buses were right at the entrance of the venue. I stayed around and watched them for awhile and maybe hoped to see the band too but it was getting late. I figured the band wouldn't be out for a long time until they ate (I saw a pizza car) and got all their equipment packed and everything. Plus they probably don't care for these antics and the crowd was kinda weird anyway.

By this time my flu was probably at its peak. I was feeling feverish and I could barely talk. It was like I was losing my voice but not really and my vocal range narrowed down a lot to a different tone and it hurt to talk for a long time and it was kinda raspy and hard to get words out. It was kinda cool.

It was also a little strange walking around in that town to get back to my car. It was dark and late and I was all alone and had really no idea what my surroundings were like. I also didn't even know if I would be driving home that night or if I'd be staying the night somewhere and if I'd even be awake enough to drive back to LA. I even had a little trouble finding my car but I found it and looked for gas in my gps and was on my way back to LA.

streets of santa barbara

my car

11:45 PM - 1:05 AM
Driving from SB back to LA. Luckily I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be and I wasn't too far on the verge of falling asleep on the drive back.

1:55 AM - 8:20 AM
Before heading on our way home I took a drive to UCLA's campus where I used to live since we were only a minute away anyway. I think it's the first time I've been back there in 16 months. It's such a nice place - I've always really missed how nice of a place it was. Being there brought some strange feelings and refreshed some memories.

It took a relatively long time to get back home since I mostly drove the speed limit. I like avoiding tickets and seeing how high I can get my mpg. I hit 34.8 mpg in my civic in the second half of the drive home, which is nice. I was surprisingly not too dangerously tired on the way home either, even at the hour it was at and how little sleep I got in the past two nights and how I was sick. I had a cup of coffee before I left and one at a gas station too and I think it helped a bit.

Hello Japan?

i dont want to be your friend
i just want to be your lover
no matter how it ends
no matter how it starts

a beach day

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:19:33 GMT

Many years ago I was at the beach. The sun had just set and the sky was beginning to get dark. People were getting ready to go home. I stood by myself in the water in my shorts and a shirt looking out into the horizon. The waves slowly lapped around my legs. One of the girls came over to the shore.

"Beeny. Get out of the water. It's cold. You're going to get sick."
"No. I'm alright."

"Well, at least put on a sweater."
"Okay."

So I went and got my sweatshirt and went back to the water.
And I stood there.
And I stand here now.

SF Outside Lands, Friday - My Take

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:12:51 GMT

So on Friday afternoon I drove the six of us in my clunky minivan up to San Francisco where I was able to park at a family friend's house that was within walking distance of the park and festival. Good deal. But there seemed to be a lot of empty parking spaces anyway. The weather was typical for the city - all foggy and overcast and a little windy.

We got to the main festival grounds around 4 PM (gates had opened at 2:30, the first act on the main stage was at 5:00). We scouted around and saw whole crowds of people already set up on blankets around the areas right in front of the stage so we grabbed a spot behind the soundboard tent maybe 75 meters away from the stage. Then we spent the next hour walking around the polo field looking around but spending most of the time buying t-shirts. When the first act came on at 5 PM (Steel Pulse), more and more people were gathering around the main stage so I decided to stay put. It was the spot where I would stand for the next 5 hours.

The next 3 hours were some of the slowest hours of my life. A couple of us went out to get food (cold criss-cut garlic fries, lukewarm fish and chips, and lukewarm burgers) for all of us to eat around 6:45. That was good because I was starving already and I didn't want that feeling when Radiohead came on. Manu Chao played from 6:15 to around 7:19, going 4 minutes over when they were supposed to get off, which may or may not have contributed to some of the problems Radiohead had later.

So eventually 8 PM came around and Radiohead took the stage right on time. My feet were already in pain from standing around for so long and I was standing in a very tight spot around a lot of people (up to 60k were there?). Also, a bunch of people had suddenly filled into the fenced-off soundboard tent area, turning our great view into a much more obstructed one.

Though this was my first Radiohead show, I would guess that it was way below average by Radiohead standards. Their show was plagued with technical problems and they only did a 22 song set because of time constraints (I don't think I've seen a setlist this tour with less than 24 songs). In the end, I don't think it met my expectations (but maybe I've been watching too much YouTube and had too high of expectations). That's not to say, though, that it still wasn't great seeing and hearing them live.

        1.   15 Step
    Cool opening. But already, the screen on their stage was rapidly flickering on and off. This was a huge distraction for me [think fluorescent lighting] but most people probably didn't mind. Also their screen effects are a huge part of their show and very tightly coordinated with their music and lighting which made it more upsetting for me that it wasn't working that well. If I remember right, the screen would continue flickering for the next handful of songs and even went entirely out at times.

You can see how ugly the screen was in the last 10 seconds of this clip

        2.   Reckoner [clip]

        3.   Airbag
    This was pretty disastrous. About halfway through the song, the sound cut out entirely (except for their monitors) for maybe 30 seconds, followed by ooo's from the crowd and cheering for the band. The band kept playing through the song even with the sound out and eventually the sound came back in while they were finishing the song.

        4.   There There [clip]
   Screen was gone here too.

        5.   All I Need
    Once again, the sound cuts out halfway through the song (for over a minute!). I wasn't close enough to see, but I read Thom was visibly frustrated, stopped singing, and leaned against his mic stand. The crowd ooo's and cheers once again. Also it might be my imagination but I think the crowd tried to sing part of the song while the music was out. The sound came back eventually and the band finished the song. Miraculously, the screen seemed to work perfectly fine when the sound came back on. But that was shortlived because the flickering and turning off came back after a group of songs. It sucked when the flickering came back because for the rest of the show I was worried that their sound would cut out again.

    Sound is out from 0:54 to 2:02.

        6.   Nude [clip]

        7.   Talk Show Host
    Thom does some cool vocal work at the end I haven't seen in this song.

Clip I shot on my camera.

        8.   National Anthem

Amazing song - lights, radio, bass, guitar, everything. How the entire show should've been.

        9.   The Gloaming
    Pretty great set of songs.

        10.   Videotape

Other clip that I shot.

        11.   Weird Fishes/Arpeggi [clip]
    Stage was still working great here and great song live.

        12.   Idioteque
    Thom toward the beginning of the song: A bit faster, Johnny. If you watch the Glastonbury 2003 performance of this song Thom tried to get Johnny to speed up then too.

Some cool beat at the end.

        13.   Karma Police [clip]

        14.   Jigsaw Falling Into Place [clip]

        15.   Just [clip]

        16.   Exit Music (for a film) [clip]

        17.   Bodysnatchers [clip attached to exit music]

    Encore:
        18.   Pyramid Song [clip]

taken from this flickr. check it out for some sweet pics.

        19.   You And Whose Army?
    This song makes great use of their screen with Thom staring straight into the camera. Amazingly, the screen turned on at the beginning of the song but started flickering and went out completely when it did the cool split effect. Also, in the beginning of the song, Thom bursts out laughing and stops singing and jams the low notes on his piano. Then he plays some high notes and starts singing again and Johnny joins in shortly after. (I read someone say Thom started laughing because Johnny hit the wrong note.)

See around 1:06 the screen starts flickering again. Around 1:30 it does that cool effect and the screen dies after that.

        20.   Paranoid Android [clip, clip2]
    The screen was out entirely for this song which was a bummer, since this song probably makes best use of their screen and LEDs.

What it should've looked like.

        21.   Fake Plastic Trees [clip]
    Props to Silas for talking on his phone for the first minute of the quiet acoustic part of this beautiful song :) . Everybody around me was giving him awkward looks.

        22.   Everything In Its Right Place
    Their LEDs spell out "EVERYTHING", which is pretty cool. I was caught a little offguard because I didn't think they were done yet (even though they tend to close with this song).

The LEDs!

Other detractors:
    Besides anything else I mentioned, the medical staff decided to use the area over the railing right in front of us as a medical staging area. Occasionally someone was brought over to us requiring medical attention just 3 feet in front of me. There was one guy who couldn't even walk and had to be carried over and it looked pretty serious. A team of 4 medics in red shirts were all around trying to help him and after a few songs he was wheeled away on a wheelchair.

    Being on my feet for 3-5 hours also was pretty distracting. The bottom of my feet were killing me and after the show I could barely walk because everything was so tight. For me, it also takes away from the music when I'm packed and surrounded by so many people and some people occasionally try to get in closer and squeeze you even tighter. Then I was also constantly adjusting around and peering over shoulders to try to get a better view.

    I guess it's a bit hypocritical of me, but I'll also mention the crowd seemed a bit quiet for its size. Everybody around me was dead quiet in between songs and I don't remember hearing any noise coming from the huge festival crowd behind me either (and I think a good majority of it was behind me). The crowds right in front of the stage seemed to be doing a good job of making noise, though. I'm guessing the two sound outages were big mood killers too though.

Pros:
    The foggy SF night was a great backdrop for Radiohead. With some of their lighting, it seemed like the gray sky was turning green. The fog would also occasionally condense onto my face, as if it were raining. At the end of Bodysnatchers the fog was so visible it even looked like it was raining.

    People around me were relatively quiet during the actual songs which was good.

    It was pretty fun going to Sam Wo's afterward for food. I'm glad I could take you guys there.

    I'm also glad I'll have more chances to see them. Hopefully they sound even better indoors. And there are still so many songs I want to hear (Optimistic, Where I End and You Begin, Kid A, No Surprises...). Though I wasn't disappointed by any of the songs I heard tonight either.

Other thoughts:
    Their set is so great and relatively long that I felt like they could've played all night. It's a strange feeling - trying to enjoy something that you know will only last 2 hours (or 4 minutes, in the case of a single song). And unlike other good things, you're actually self conscious about this one ending. In retrospect, I feel like I should've tried to enjoy the show more, if that even makes sense, but I guess for me there were a lot of things stopping that from happening. If you thought this show was awesome, sorry for being a bit nitty about it. I still thought it was great too, but you'd have to agree with me that it could've been much better.

Other words by Thom:
Thom: Somebody pulled the cord.
Thom: We don't know what the f*** is going on. We're sorry. We didn't have much time to setup. Thanks for bearing with us.
Thom: We're having a lot of technical problems but ultimately it's all about the music.

and we all went to heaven in a little rowboat
there was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt