10zlaine came to visit this weekend. ( my fun but exhausting weekend, seeing Chemlab, watching Doctor Who, and hanging out with fandom friends )

I am SOOOOOOOOOO glad to be home. Next time I get the idea to spend two days with my family, someone PLEASE stop me.

Lucifer missed me, but I think I missed him more.

I can finally relax and breathe, after spending two days tensed and awaiting the next parental insult/blow/attack/manipulation/martyr complex/accusation....


Anyway. But look! Chemlab is doing a radio interview tomorrow, Dec 28. And they're playing live at Albion on Friday, Dec 29.

Is anyone out there going to the Albion show? It's going to be really good. They played Albion at the beginning of the year and it was one of the best shows I've seen in my life.

And then Voltaire is playing the next night, Dec 30.

(10zlaine, why couldn't you come visit now!!??)

Chemlab is such a fun band to photograph.

My photos of the Chemlab show in DC are here.

In other news, jaydk and drujan came over after work on Thursday and we had a little pirate party. Watched the first film, ate lots of takeout and got drunk, then headed to the theater for the 12:01am premiere at the AMC 25 (most comfortable theater in the city).

It was good. So good, in fact, that we went to see it again Friday night at the Ziegfeld. So I've seen Pirates 2 twice in 24 hours. :)

It's amazing how shallow the mainstream reviews are. As if they assume the genre is inherently shallow, so they utterly refuse to see any depth in the film itself. Like willful blindness. I don't get it.

Meh, whatever. Maybe I'll write up my own review at some point. I'm sure I'll end up seeing it plenty more times. (drujan is at the theater now, but I bowed out of a third viewing in three days.)


Also, I really wanted to see Macbeth; it's Shakespeare in the Park and tomorrow is the last day. I went to get tickets on Friday, but the line was INSANE, and I didn't feel like getting up at 6am today. *sigh*

I'm going to see Chemlab in Washington DC on July 4.

I'm taking Amtrak down in the afternoon, getting there around 2:30pm. Anyone in the area want to hang out?

I'm taking the train home at 4am. May or may not go to work the next day, depending on how I feel. I've suddenly got a lot more free vacation days.

This does look really fun:

Freaks United 2006
$22 advance | $30 at the door
PLAYING LIVE
Chemlab - Iris - Informatik - Thou Shalt Not - Terrorfakt - Anders Manga + more!
DJing:
Ronan Harris (VNV Nation) - Martin Atkins (Pigface, Invisible Records) Hellraver (NYC) - Coppertop (Indianapolis, IN) Spider (Charlotte, NC) - Merc (NYC)
+ Alchemy residents and locals FEATURING LIVE PERFORMANCES BY:
Chemlab | Diary of Dreams | Iris | Informatik | Thou Shalt Not | Terrorfakt | Shiny Toy Guns | Anders Manga | Life Cried | Red This Ever
INCLUDING DJ SETS BY:
DJ Coppertop | Merc | Martin Atkins | Hellraver | Ronan Harris | DJ Spider
AND OUR RESIDENT DJS:
2501 | RasDNA | Shade | Dirty B | Jen Lasher
PLUS local favorites!
Vikki Wilson | The Blue Vampire | Hypofixx | Punk Steve
FOR YOUR CAPITALIST PLEASURE...
VENDING BY:
Strangeland Records - Dementia Clothing - Silver Dragon Studio - Dead Bat Designs
ARTISTS EXHIBITING
Kathryn Parker- Juan Monarez - Stunt Kid
MORE INFO

DURING THE DAY, ESCAPE UPSTAIRS...
where we'll be having a Movie Lounge playing the best in international horror films. Also stop by the Artist market where our local artists will be showing their work. Fight the oppression with air conditioning and CHEAP PITCHERS OF BEER ALL DAY! Make sure you stop by the patio and chow down on some grilled burgers and dogs (veggie too!) for as long as the sun is up, then watch the spectacular national fireworks display from the patio with the Capital Building as the backdrop, and generally cut shit up.

Chemlab! In San Francisco.

I was right there! Way cool.

( My trip to San Francisco, with photos )

Today is a wonderful day...

It's Lucifer's birthday!!!!

Eight years ago today, in the laundry room of my parents' house in New Jersey, Lucifer's mother Shadow (a beautiful, sweet black stray cat who I'd made friends with) gave birth to Lucifer and his three siblings. Lucifer was the second born (I have it on videotape) and his head got stuck coming out. We all thought he was going to die, but Shadow eventually pushed him out and started licking him, and finally he started making teeny little squeaking baby kitty noises that meant he was breathing.

And ever since then, he's been the greatest cat ever. Sweet, fun, adventurous, but most of all--cool. Being in Lucie's presence could calm anyone; he's just totally accepting and trusting and relaxed.

I gave him a pile of treats for breakfast. I'll have to find something fun at Petco to bring home to him tonight.

I took some photos of him the other day in the bathtub (trying to drink out of the faucet). I'll post those here later so you can all see how adorable he is. >:)

( Movie Meme )

Last night I was working until 8pm and talking to my former coworker Sarah about "relationships." Interesting conversation. Sarah's awesome.

Forgot to mention this: I watched two movies over the weekend, Velvet Goldmine and American Psycho.

( weird rant about Velvet Goldmine, American Psycho, Fight Club, and the emptiness of consumer culture )

PS: Excellent thread over at the Hydrogen Board imagining a Chemlab/Pig tour. *sigh* If only.

And I must say, I love it when the bands write their own slash fiction:

petegala (here): If you go into the men's room between sets, you might just find Raymond and Jared making out in a stall.

jared: and, in reference to Pete from the Cracknation board, Raymond and i would only be having sex in the bathroom if we could sandwich you. we've discussed it, and i call the south side of your street, honey.

And it goes from there.... ("The Brokeback Techrat tour anyone?" "BROKE-DICK METRONOME" "Rivetback Mountain" "Tesseract Fountain"....)

PPS: Did you guys watch the Daily Show last night? The Cheney thing actually didn't strike me as that funny when I first heard it, but when Jon got ahold of it, I thought I was going to die laughing.

PPPS: Celebrate International Quirkyalone Day. (Great link; check it out.)