Sasquatch!

So it's been almost a week (nix that, I started to write this post back then, but now it's already June!) since the Sasquatch! music festival over at the Gorge and I am just now getting to writing about it? Yeah, sounds like me. If I had to describe in one word what that festival was to me = nirvana (not the band). Not only did I get the opportunity to hear over twenty amazing bands, but it was extremely relaxing and I spent it with one of my best friends, Gwen. So here's the rundown of who/what we saw:

Saturday

First up was Fleet Foxes. I had never heard of these guys, but I generally enjoyed what I heard. They looked like a ragamuffin bunch complete with bushy beards and flannel shirts. Despite their lumberjack appearance, their music was very much steeped in Greatful Dead harmonies and acoustics. I'd like to get these guys' EP and am excited to see where they go in the future. Did I mention they are local?

Then we deviated from the main stage to go check out the comedy tent. I guess this was the first year they tried out comedy (and I have a sneaking suspicion it's due to the wildly growing success of the comedy venues at Bumbershoot). It was somewhat disappointing seeing as these performers came highly recommended. I don't actually remember names except for Tim Medows (one of my all time SNL heroes) because why remember names of crappy performers? Anywho, we only stayed there for like an hour and then ventured back to the main stage.

Beirut was next. Now, I had actually heard of these guys and even had one of their singles from iTunes free downloads they have every week. I didn't really remember them, but was excited to see them because I have heard so many good things about their music. And their music WAS good. It was a very interesting combination of instruments, trumpets, euphonium, violin, all added to the standard rock set up complete with guitars, bass and drum set. It sounded very fresh and heavily influenced by Europe (the name give you a hint?). I really enjoyed them and that probably has something to do with my extreme nerd-dom when it comes to any sort of wind instrument!

Still at the main stage, we saw Ozomatli and The New Pornographers. I wasn't especially impressed by either as you may be able to tell by my lumping of them both into this very short and insignificant paragraph.

M.I.A. next. I can't say I have heard of her before Sasquatch! but judging by the massive amount of people singing along, she's popular with some demographic. Her music is very dance oriented, with strong bass/techno beats. A lot of use of sound effects. The accompanying video was "trippy" to say the least. I especially enjoyed the song "Paper Planes" also one of her most popular. Her shining moment on stage though was definitely when she brought at least 100 audience members on stage to dance. It was quite a sight! I'm sure there was massive amounts of drug induced trance dancing going on, but we were far enough away to be unable to tell.

Then Modest Mouse. Of course I have heard of them, but have never really payed much attention to them. They were good, but not amazing. Gwen tells me they were a lot harder than they are on their album. I sorta liked the intensity they had on stage which leads me to believe that I might not like them so much on their record.

Last up was R.E.M. who I was wildly excited for but did not stay to watch. Why in the world did we leave? The answer is as follows:

1. It was POURING rain. Cold rain. Cold, wet, rain.
   
2. We had no jackets. Just what we wore earlier in the day.
3. The sound system SUCKED. It was so quiet, there was no point in staying

So we searched for the car that we couldn't remember where we parked it for about 20 min. Jumped in, blasted the heat and headed back to Sunland.

Sunday

Sunday started with a band called 65DaysOfStatic. Yes, all smashed together like that. These guys were really hardcore, which I don't usually like all that much, but they had some real interesting composition going on. I could tell these guys know music. They didn't sing really at all either which left more of an opportunity to actually hear their music which I enjoyed more than I expected upon first inspection.

Then The Blue Scholars. Little known fact, I am pretty into the hip-hop scene. Especially the local hip-hop of Seattle. The Blue Scholars are the best example of where Northwest hip-hop is going. They are fresh, innovative, and not to mention from UW. I have seen these guys a total of 3 times and they only get better. It's just two dudes, rapping about life in Seattle, going to school, and troubles they face. It's amazing stuff to say the least. Also, in their song "The Ave" they mention the street where I lived in Lander, cool huh? At least I think so...

We saw a number of other bands that day, The Cold War Kids, Tegan & Sara, The Presidents of the United States (local), Michael Franti & Spearhead. All good stuff, just not anything spectacular I need to let you know about.

Then Death Cab. HUGE crowd. Okay music. I like them and all, but I don't think they are that good on stage.

The best of the night, in my opinion, The Cure. These guys are beastly! They played straight for 2.5 hours! They just kept going. Their music is good, they are relatively fun to watch, and their guitarist just shreds it up there. Not to mention has creepy face painting that makes it so much better. It was definitely fun to watch, but man was I tired when we rolled into our campsite well past midnight.

Monday

Started with Matt Costa, but I'm not going to lie, I definitely fell asleep for most of his set, not because it was bad, it was quite good, but just because it was sunny and I was still tired.

Then The Hives. I have heard of them but haven't actually heard them. They are a band from Sweden and very good. They have a nice punk sound that reminds me of The Clash and The Ramones. I loved the lead singer, charismatic and funny. Good stuff.

Then Built to Spill. Never heard of them. Not bad, not great. Also slept for some of this one.

From then on it was pretty amazing, starting with Rodrigo Y Gabriella. Now, I have been a fan of these two for some time. I think I was introduced to them by Matt and Holly to begin with. Basically, it's these two siblings (at least that's what I thought) who just rock the acoustic guitar. Not only did they play good stuff from their album, but covered a other popular tunes as well. I especially loved their rendition of "Wish You Where Here" by Pink Floyd, partly because I actually know how to play it, but also because Rodrigo used a beer bottle to play slide for the solo. It was epic.

Then Flight of the Conchords. Also introduced to me by Matt and Holly. These guys are HILARIOUS! Unfortunately, I haven't seen much of the show, but I do have their first EP. So, I didn't know the words to most of their stuff, but it was still so funny! Some woman actually threw her bra on stage and there was a blow up doll crowd surfing! They were very very good.

Then was The Mars Volta. I had heard these guys are crazy, which they are. They are like some kind of thrash/progressive/jazz band. The lead singer is so energetic, throwing stuff around, actually chucking a symbol into the crowd. Their songs were long and interesting, but at times, a bit monotonous. Overall, very interesting to listen to.

Last and MOST AMAZING was The Flaming Lips. I have no idea how I have never heard of any of their stuff, but it is so good! I am pretty sure I have been converted into a life-long fan. I had also heard these guys' live shows are amazing, but they absolutely blew me away. First off, all the lights go out and a UFO is descending from the top of the stage and out comes the band members. Finally the lead, Wayne Coyne, comes out of the top enclosed in a giant plastic bubble! He then proceeds to jump on top of the crowd and surf the tops all the way back on to stage. It was the greatest thing I have ever seen. They continued with more theatrics and amazingness all though out. They had giant balloons, streamers, aliens, naked people, videos, astronauts, you name it. It was so amazing. I highly recommend going to one of their shows before they stop touring. It will change your life! I looked over and Gwen was actually in tears at one point. We both agree, that show immediately became the best we have ever been to, hands down.

So that's the run down of the Sasquatch! music festival. A lot went on there, a lot of interesting things to say the least. But for me, the best part was the music. Seeing these great artists play in such a beautiful surrounding, there is no other venue I love more. I can't wait for next year, hopefully some of you will join!

Busy? What gives you that impression?

This past weekend was crazy busy for me. I was booked solid from Friday until now, midday Sunday. Luckily I have little to do today and it's beautiful out (and not too hot).

Friday: An exhausting day, but fun none the less. Started by waking up too early (why on Earth I woke up two hours early is beyond even me). It was sort of nice to be able to lay in bed and just relax for a while. I finally got up and went to my one class (Geology 101). Basically my Professor discussed the extreme dangers of earthquakes, specifically the impending massive earthquake that is bound to happen in the PNW. Earthquakes fascinate me so yes, I am going to explain it:

So I assume you know something about plate tectonics. This is the principle that the Earth's crust is divided into different "plates" and they are constantly moving on top of the lithosphere (underlying material of the Earth's asthenosphere or crust). For example, where I live in Washington, the North American plate is touching the Juan de Fuca plate. The interaction between the plates is what causes seismic activity. In this particular case, the Juan de Fuca plate is moving East while the North American plate is moving West. Since the Juan de Fuca plate is an oceanic plate, it is denser, so it is subducted under the continental North American plate. This convergent plate margin is a cause of the smaller earthquakes that are not all that uncommon in the area. However, these two plates are presently locked and not moving past each other. This is a major cause of concern, because massive pressure is building up between these plates. The Washington coast is basically being pushed up as the pressure increases. When the pressure is released, it is likely to cause a massive earthquake, estimated to be around a 9 on the modern seismic scale. Just as a reference, the earthquake we had in 2001 was around a 7, so this earthquake will be over 400 times stronger than that one. Also, the huge movement of the coast line moving down will displace so much water, it is sure to cause a tsunami as well.

Yeah, so interesting stuff, but not what you'd call settling. Anyway, after class, my aunt Holly picked my up so I could watch my cousins. As always it was a pleasure! We built a fort (but referred to as a cottage by Enzo) and went to the park. After that, my uncle Matt drove me back to Seattle so I could go play in my softball game. Our team, the Mad Whackers, have made the playoffs. So far we have won two playoff games. I must say, we look pretty good out there! The next game is tomorrow, so cheer us on! After that dad picked me up and we grabbed some dinner. We went home and I met Elly and Jimmy at Shari's to hang out. Whew. Busy day.

Saturday: I met Cody at the Ft. Stelicoom golf course at 8:30. I knew Saturday was supposed to be hot, but is was way hot even that early in the morning. Ugh! Cody started out amazing (bogey on the first hole) but we both ended up sucking after that. It didn't matter though, we just love to golf regardless of how well we do, but I must say, it's more exciting when you kick butt. We did both double bogey on a three par. Not bad, at least for me! Then I went back home to get ready for a rehearsal for TCC Jazz Band. It was definitely getting hot outside, but the rehearsal was only about an hour and a half. Painless. There was a clinic, but I decided not to go and crashed on the couch for about an hour while watching Dirty Jobs. Oh how I love Mike Rowe! Then it was time to get ready for the concert. So just to mention, it was close to 90 degrees outside and I was dressed in all black for the concert. Ugh! Just that outfit was making me sweat, but once we got on stage and the lights were on us, I swear we all started to sweat like a prostitute in church. By the time we finished, we all must have sweat a gallon each. Mom took me to DQ for ice cream. I met Josh at his place to watch SNL. Got home around 1 ish.

Sunday: Woke up entirely too early for a Sunday so we could go walk in the Beat the Bridge race to cure Juvenile Diabetes. 5:40 to be exact. This was some feet considering I was up well past 1 am the night before. I threw on some clothes and hopped in the car with Janelle. We drove to Matt and Holly's. I was very tired. Very, very tired. We pick up Holly and began our search for breakfast. We were relatively unsuccessful. Panera was closed, much to Janelle's dismay and so was one of the Starbuck's we passed. Luckily we do live in the greater Seattle area and there was another Starbuck's across the street. Seeing as my new years resolution was to stop drinking espresso drinks, I got a hot chocolate, which did not do a thing to wake me up. During the ride to Seattle I dozed in the back of the car. We finally got there and we registered. We did the four mile walk (very enjoyable) and got our SWAG (according to Mr. Michael Scott, SWAG is "Stuff We All Get"). I was very happy about both the blue sparkly pencil and the balloon. Holly was very excited for some dorm breakfast, so we headed to my dorm to get some food at 1101 (the eating facility on south campus). I despise dorm food, so I had a bagel. It was an awesome morning, but once Janelle and Holly left to go home, I'm not going to lie, I went back to my room and fell asleep for a good hour or two. Woke up around 1:30 ish and found Indiana Jones on the TV and I couldn't pass up that opportunity to have that on in the background while I was on the computer. Now I'm writing. This blog. Because Sunday is not over. I don't have much left to do to day, except for maybe doing some homework, but it's not much. Reading. Easy.

And again, for my quote of the day (because we all know how much I love quotes):

"Today I am headed over to the job fair at Valley View High School to find some new interns. Get some fresh blood. Um, youthanize this place." --Michael Scott, from The Office

Why yes, I am fabulous, thanks for noticing

Tuesday. What can I say about a Tuesday? It's not a horrible Monday, trying to get re-acclimated to actually getting up and to class. And it's no Friday, the day I'm freed from the week day grind. It's just a Tuesday. The same old same old. I guess though, today was interesting...

My roomie (pictured left[I'm sure she'd be thrilled knowing I posted this picture of her]) and I have decided to conduct a sort of experiment this week. Every night we will be going to bed at or before midnight. This is quite the task considering "normal" for us is usually well into 2am. The catch is, we'll get up every morning at 7. Just for reference, Kimberly usually wakes up at 8, me at 9. Last night was the first day of our experiment and it went well without a hitch! I was awake, but decided to lie in bed and listen to some music. Kimberly actually got up and did some work around the dorm. We both felt great today and were more awake than normal. Perhaps we'll put this into practice longer than just this week. Who knows?

I finally had my featured writer day in English 111 (Composition in Short Fiction). I have been nervous for it ever since I found out about it, so for approximately 7 weeks. It went well though. I always seem to surprise myself when I reread my essays. For the better that is. The topic I chose to write on was a quotation from the short story "Schroedinger's Cat" that explored a sort of philosophical question not unlike the one about if a tree falls in the forest but nobody is around to hear, does it make a sound? Anyway, it was decent. I wrote about how science teaches us that seeing is believing and that the interpretation of our sensations dictates what we believe. Since the overlying theme in the whole story is about certainty, it was easy to tie this in. Any way, yeah, I was relatively proud of myself.

Lunch at the HUB (Husky Union Building for those non-UWers) with Kimberly.

Rehearsal with the TCC (Tacoma Community College for those non-Tacomans) Jazz Band tonight. Stevens, our director, really had us playing. I mean, I was feeling tired before the halfway mark. We ran through some songs for our gig tomorrow at Clover Park Community College (go figure) on top of the set list for our concert Saturday with John Moak. It was a killer. But I still managed to get through hitting high c's and d's on the way. You know me, never passing an opportunity to brag. It was a good night.

I leave you tonight with my favorite quote of the day, because we all know I am way too much of a quote whore to only have one favorite:

"Every fight is a food fight when you’re a cannibal."
-- Demetri Martin

Pranks? Oh no, that's just my Brenda Dickson impersonation

So what happens when you have three bundles of yarn, your roommate's boyfriend's keys and an hour and a half to wreak havoc? See picture to left. That's right, we covered the boys' room in yarn, strung from all places to all places. Yeah, we're that awesome. But this attack wasn't unwarranted, oh no. It started way back in the month of December...

My roommate, Kimberly, and I returned to our dorm after having lunch. We saw a medium sized cardboard box sitting outside our door. At first, we didn't really know what to make of it, wondering if someone had put it in front of our door instead of someone else's for whom it was intended for. But then, we saw it was actually addressed to us. The package was a bit on the conspicuous side, I mean, it was a cardboard box sitting outside our door, you don't see that everyday. So with caution, we picked it up and brought it inside. I sure didn't want to open it for fear it was filled with some sort of flesh-eating bacteria (of course that's what my mind goes to first). Kimberly opens it. Packing peanuts. Okay, well, that's lame. We dig through the mess. And by we I mean Kimberly because now I'm convinced there's a live snake going to poison me after I stick my hand in there. She finds a plastic container filled with tissues and gum. Okay, lamest thing ever. There was a note signed "From the Boys on Floor 5". We were definitely not buying that. We pretty much knew it was Chris and Mike (Mike is my other roommate, Brooke's boyfriend). So Kimberly and I go over there and confront them. And when I say the both of us, I mean Kimberly throws a handful of packing peanuts in their room while I hid on the other side of the wall. They play dumb. And furious. Finally, Mike caves and asks if we think Brooke will fall for it. We tell him yes, so we set it all back up for Brooke. Unbeknownst to Mike and Chris, we tell Brooke everything. We decide we are getting them back...

Our brilliant plan was set into motion. We got our hands on 200 balloons and stole Mike's keys while he was over in our room with Brooke. In the middle of the night, around 3 am or so Kimberly, Madeline (our friend from down the hall [she might as well be our fourth roommate]) and I meet in the study room. There, we blow up ALL of the balloons. We somehow forgot to figure out how we were going to transport 200 balloons from one side of the dorm to the other. We create a makeshift carrying case out of a sheet. Finally we get to the boys' room. As quiet as possible, we open the door. Mind you, Chris is still in the room, fast asleep. So as quickly and quietly as possible, we load their room with about 3/4 of the balloons and string toilet paper around the back of their room. We almost finished until Neil from across the hall decided he needed to shave at 4 in the morning! Seriously, who does that?!? Well, the noise woke Chris up and we dashed out and hid in the stair well. When we emerged, Chris had shut his door and taken Mike's key with him. Oh well, we still got him good and Mike hadn't seen it yet. We were definitely expecting some sort of retaliation...

Of course, the boys got us back. One weekend when Kimberly and I were away, Mike managed to get Brooke's keys away from her long enough to break in and throw massive amounts of glitter everywhere in our room. And I mean everywhere! I'm sure you all know glitter is the herpes of craft supplies. To this day, we are still not able to get it all out of our carpet.

Our retaliation? The yarn prank. It was beautiful. This time, instead of completing our mission while Chris was in the room, we waited until we knew he would be gone at a basketball game. We stole Mike's keys AGAIN the same exact way as before. We proceeded to string yarn everywhere in their room. It was amazing. In the process we didn't fail to take videos of our amazingness. Not sure if you've seen the Brenda Dickson spoof on Welcome to My Home on YouTube but we've been especially obsessed with it. We made a video of Kimberly being Brenda. It was awesome. We also decided this time we would wait inside the room to see Mike's reaction after he saw what we had done. His reaction is priceless! Then of course we waited for the prank in return, but boy were we let down.

To get back from us, all they did was steal my Dwight Bobble Head (which sadly I didn't notice was missing until two weeks later) and Kimberly's Mr. Potato Head nose. But yeah, lame, right? So we decided we were going to reignite the feud. Our plan is top secret, but I'll be sure to update you as soon as it happens!

In the mean time, enjoy these videos of our fabulous yarn prank!