So, last night the wife and I saw Fiona Apple. She was fantabulous. I really have nothing more to say. She *belts* out her tunes and dances madly around the stage. She's also stunning. She played at the Charter One Pavilion, which is a really wonderful place literally *right* on the lake. It's open air, and there's a great view of the harbor and downtown. I heart the skyline.
She was co-headlining with Damien Rice. I didn't dig Damien Rice so much. I apologize in advance to any Damien Rice fans, but he reminded me of what, in high school, me and my friends would have called "wuss rock." Another term that I like is "adult contemporary just waiting to happen." I can't tell you exactly what wuss rock *is,* because some bands that one might think of as falling into that category (re: Jeff Buckley) clearly do *not.* It's like pornography - you just know wuss rock when you hear it.
It didn't help that Damien there used the distort pedal on like EVERY song. All his stuff sounded pretty much the same. Also, EVERY song was about how some chick broke up with him or how he made a mistake about breaking up with some chick. Which is fine. Lots of people sing about that. But if you're gonna sing about that, you should at least use a damn metaphor once in a while or do some solid storytelling, because the same "I'm so lonely, that was so wrong, I love you" bullshit lines over and over get *really* repetitive.
Oh, but David Garza opened the whole show - and he was all right. He played like 15 minutes, just him and a guitar. He started off a little rocky, but by the end, I was starting to dig it. Crazily, I remmeber when his CD came out in the late 90s. I was a little surprised that he was the opening act for a co-headlined tour of two artists that aren't exactly huge stars themselves. But so it goes - I suppose playing 20 minutes a night on a big tour is in no way a *bad* deal.
Today, they come and take my furniture away. We're giving it all to a local place, The Caring Closet, that helps folks stuck in poverty and homelessness. Come Sunday, we rent a car and travel to IKEA, to enjoy meatballs and a future of modular, Sweedish furniture! We'll be modern on a budget!
Saturday, we're going to the Ravinia with another couple, to check out some Gershwin. It's almost like we're cultured, interesting people this week.
OK, I need to eat, read, and stew over my dissertation.
Currently Listening:
Last Week's Top Artists:
Last Week's Top Tracks:
Overall Top Artists:
Overall Top Tracks


She was co-headlining with Damien Rice. I didn't dig Damien Rice so much. I apologize in advance to any Damien Rice fans, but he reminded me of what, in high school, me and my friends would have called "wuss rock." Another term that I like is "adult contemporary just waiting to happen." I can't tell you exactly what wuss rock *is,* because some bands that one might think of as falling into that category (re: Jeff Buckley) clearly do *not.* It's like pornography - you just know wuss rock when you hear it.
It didn't help that Damien there used the distort pedal on like EVERY song. All his stuff sounded pretty much the same. Also, EVERY song was about how some chick broke up with him or how he made a mistake about breaking up with some chick. Which is fine. Lots of people sing about that. But if you're gonna sing about that, you should at least use a damn metaphor once in a while or do some solid storytelling, because the same "I'm so lonely, that was so wrong, I love you" bullshit lines over and over get *really* repetitive.
Oh, but David Garza opened the whole show - and he was all right. He played like 15 minutes, just him and a guitar. He started off a little rocky, but by the end, I was starting to dig it. Crazily, I remmeber when his CD came out in the late 90s. I was a little surprised that he was the opening act for a co-headlined tour of two artists that aren't exactly huge stars themselves. But so it goes - I suppose playing 20 minutes a night on a big tour is in no way a *bad* deal.
Today, they come and take my furniture away. We're giving it all to a local place, The Caring Closet, that helps folks stuck in poverty and homelessness. Come Sunday, we rent a car and travel to IKEA, to enjoy meatballs and a future of modular, Sweedish furniture! We'll be modern on a budget!
Saturday, we're going to the Ravinia with another couple, to check out some Gershwin. It's almost like we're cultured, interesting people this week.
OK, I need to eat, read, and stew over my dissertation.
Currently Listening:

Last Week's Top Artists:

Last Week's Top Tracks:

Overall Top Artists:

Overall Top Tracks

VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
if you've got the time, you can read about the project here. there are a a few PDFs at the bottom you can view.
this [PDF] is similar to the DRC presentation, but was for the city council meeting.