Things I'm going to do...

Okay so if you read this (and you are not some creepy stalker) you are welcome to join me at the Avalon on Nov. 5 for a fun evening with Ludo (see Big @$$ blog). Tickets are $12 and it'll be well worth it. We'll actually get to see their faces. YAY! Jen... yes, I will get you, Thor, other Jen and Jane a ticket.

Also, before that Thriller is coming to Kingsbury Hall again. I'm going to keep the tradition alive and get a group together to see it. If you are interested then let me know tickets will be around $20-$25. I'm thinking Oct 25 at 7 PM so it's on a Saturday. I just love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday and this is just a perfect way to celebrate it with all of my friends and the classic horror characters like Jason Voorhees, Frankenstein's monster, and my favorite River of Blood Dance. (Insert evil laugh here).

Big @$$ Concert

So I'm a HUGE music fan. I like it loud and angry (as Angie always says). Well this weekend I was sun kissed as I sat at the USANA Amphitheater to witness the annual x-96 Big Ass Show. It's a great event even if you're not sure of the bands. Usually tickets are no more than $25 and you get to see at least 8 bands... sometimes more. Its just a fun, cheap way to see a lot of groups live with a huge crowd of insane people.

This year was the first time I have been in a couple of years and several co-workers were also at the event. We sat on the grass (I'm still not sure I like USANA over the Utah State Fairpark) and listened to some great live music and, of course, people watched. The people watching became a sport. Find the strangest clothing on a person and point it out the rest of the group. Jen's favorite, a small black top hat attached like a barrette to a gothic-ish girls head. My favorite was the crazy dancing dude wearing a cardboard sign telling the concertgoers to check out his band, Elizabethan Report, on the Live and Local Stage. His moves were sure to get a crowd for their show. One of the perks of people watching is that you notice the cute cops, especially the one with pink handcuffs - KINKY!

Some of the people watching turned to disgust when a pink tank top wearing women who was very inebriated decided to practically have sex on the lawn area with a short "Coyote Ugly" dude. The term "Get a Room" wouldn't even cover this public display of affection. YUCK!!

The hours of people watching did have a grand soundtrack featuring Innerpartysystem, Ludo, Mindless Self Indulgence and 10 Year to name some of my favorites. I still can't get "Shut Me Up" from Mindless Self Indulgence out of my head or Ludo's "Love Me Dead." I'm telling you I will be at their next appearance in SLC. I would recommend all my favorites (listed above) as they are great live acts. All in all it was a fun day to hear some tunes, hang out with friends and a turn a slightly reddish hue in the sun.

LUDO - "Love Me Dead"

Pirate Party Memories

So Friday was International Talk like a Pirate Day and my co-worker had her annual party on Saturday to commemorate the event. There was roast fowl, wenches, pirates, grog, and more importantly friends. Johnny Depp did make an appearance and even as a cardboard cutout he's still really cute.

I traveled to the festivities with Cindi and Jen. We drank (our non-alcoholic drinks), laughed, gazed at intoxicated co-workers, barely covered ladies who were showing off their 'favorable assets'. All in all the night was just fun.

I did wear a pirate hat but realized that for next year's party I need to invest in a corset and some serious wench gear. Maybe some pirate undies like I saw on some of the 'wenches' in attendance. Yes, I saw people's under things when they all mooned the camera for a picture of their matching underwear.

I'm whelmed

Like many, this fall I began the annoying quest to gain a B.S. degree at the University of Utah with a degree in Communication Technology. I've had two semesters under my belt and, along with an A.S. from SLCC I should be graduating soon, right?

Nope, wrong.

With my 40 hour a week work schedule (okay, I'm in school it's more like 36-38 hours), and my need to see movies, sleep, hang with friends and generally not let school run my life, I'm whelmed... and bordering on being overwhelmed. (brownie points to you if you catch the movie reference).

Some of the things that are making me whelmed are:

*working 1 pm to 8 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays - it's hard because all I do is school in the morning and working then going home to get some homework done before sleep.

*having an instructor who cannot tell me what I need to do for a paper - I really hate cryptic instructors. I have 4 analytical papers to turn in and I've received contradicting information (from the same person) on how to write such papers. I also have 2 process analysis papers (I have no idea what this is going to entail) and a group project...

*group project... need I say more. With an already full schedule these are the hardest for me to complete. I also have a group member who is hard to communicate with. Our project is to do research for a non-profit. This person has worked for this group before (YWCA) and continues to think that we all know everything that she does about the organization. It's really frustrating because when I point out my concerns I feel like the bitch in the group. I'm probably not as patient as I could be since our group meetings are around 12:30 (i.e., lunch time) and I'm usually starving. YAY!

*my pop culture class is the least of my worries as I get to watch TV for my homework... I loved Twin Peaks. It's really funny and would recommend it to anyone. Not overly David Lynch but enough of his quirkiness to be interesting. Plus I love Kyle MacLachlan. After watching this show, I think he's underrated as an actor. His take on his character Agent Cooper is wonderfully refreshing to watch. Plus there's a llama. anything is great if there's a llama. the only part of this class that is whelming me is the two assignments I have to do. I'm, again, stuck with an instructor that just says "it can be anything." Which can be the kiss of death because 'anything' refers to anything that the instructor deems appropriate for the assignment. I think I need to get my ESPN fix so I can read minds.

Well, now that I've vented via my blog I'm hoping I can stop acting like a Bee-otch to my friends, family, and co-workers. Well, I've got to go and write a paper...

Who knew about hulu

So one of the favorite things about my Pop Culture class is that I've discovered a new online TV/Movie source. If you like to stream TV and movies from your computer then you need to visit hulu.

This great site is filled with a random selection of TV shows and movies. I've watched Sliders (yes, it's a sci-fi show) and Finding Forrester (with Sean Connery). Everything under the sun is not available but what is might be that show you missed from 5 years ago, that movie you haven't seen since the theater, or season premieres from Prison Break (yay! for jen) and new series like Sons of Anarchy.

Check it out at www.hulu.com

NIN Rocked the E-Center

I witnessed one of the best performances last night. Nine Inch Nails performed at the E-Center in front of an excited crowd. Unfortunately, the E-Center switched to Ticketmaster and they didn't sale out the show... (Note: I really despise Ticketmaster because they overcharge and don't include parking. You could say I'm a fan of SmithsTix.)

Anyway, NIN came out and energized the crowd with songs like Terrible Lie and Closer. They took it down a notch and played some soothing instrumentals... okay, soothing for NIN. They played instrumentals (I think from their new album) and worked their way into "Piggy" from The Downward Spiral. They reignited the crowd with songs from With Teeth like "The Hand that Feeds" and "Only" then finished with "Head Like a Hole." NIN returned to the stage for an encore and this was the first time I heard Trent Reznor speak to the crowd. He thanked everyone for showing up and talked about their career going up and down but that they "weren't Kayne or Coldplay but they are cuter than Coldplay."

For almost two hours they played straight through without interruptions. It was amazing. Their sets gave entertaining graphics during the instrumental songs and they just hammered out one great performance after another. I've been a fan of the group since Pretty Hate Machine's "Head like a Hole" but never saw them live. Now I would recommend them to anyone. Okay maybe not my mom but my mom is pretty cool. I got listened to the Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson so much in high school that she could sing with the "Ahhh!" parts of the song.

Other highlights included...

*Overall Guy. He donned the overalls shirtless and with only one strap latched.
*Getting nosebleed tickets but then getting moved right next to the stage (due to the lack of ticket sales... stupid Ticketmaster).
*Dancing Dad sitting in front of us with his teenage sons while wearing his 90s shorts and I almost expected a fanny pack.
*Not being the the mosh pit with hairy, sweaty, shirtless dude.
*Trent Reznor - he's just so AWESOME!!! (And definitely better than Serj Tankian from System of a Down)

If you haven't had the pleasure of watching NIN live, below is a great clip from MTV of their VMA performance of "The Fragile."

NIN - "The Fragile"