Alex Vernon.com

Since I am leaving Seattle soon I want to pack in as much fun as possible before I go. So to start off the festivities I’m going to a show each night for the next five days.

Monday Ulrich Schnauss (getting my shoe gaze on)

Tuesday Truckasaurus (8-Bit love)

Wednesday Broomdust Blues Band (not enough Blues in Seattle)

Thursday Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes (Dirty South New Orleans Funk)

Friday Creeping Time, Ockham’s Razor (Bluesgrass and Irish Folk action)

Saturday The Bad Things (Gypsy Rock for the win)

Reggae, women, free beer, Dunhills, Rachel = kick ass night!

You tell me what this says. Well looking at it again I think I might be able to make it out (hangover is starting to wear off). The important thing is I have my Dinosaur Jr. ticket. Their new album Beyond kicks some serious ass, you can listen to most of it on their Myspace page. Check out Pick Me Up, six minutes and thirty-two of pure audio bliss. Then get yo ass to Sonic Boom (if in Seattle) or Criminal (in ATL) and pick up a copy. Trust me you will be thanking me, unless you’re into Britney Spears and the like. If you are there’s still hope, maybe Dinosaur can turn you to the Darkside.

Art openings at Roq La Rue and BLVD, The Hands at the Croc and pinball at Shorty’s. Maybe last call at The Hat. Should be fun…

Just got a ticket to see The Flaming Lips in Tampa. I’ll be visiting some good friends and I have friends coming down from Atlanta and Connecticut as well. I have one confirmation so far hopefully the rest can go too.

Hells Yeah!

The past few days I was feeling a little down. Not having a job and the weather was getting to me. Because of this I almost didn’t go to see Steel Pulse last night at the Showbox. None of my friends here like reggae and I didn’t feel like going downtown. I had a ticket already and I love Steel Pulse so I decided to brave it. Lets just say it was a good thing I did. This is the third time I have seen them but the first real concert. The previous times were at On the Bricks and Voodoo Fest so they played shortened sets. This show was absolutely incredible, a great vibe from most of the crowd and a “Happiness Ninja” helped me enjoy the show even more. It was the first time in a long while that I actually sang along and danced (sort of). When they played Your House the whole crowd was into it and singing. Just awesome energy that only comes along in one of about ten shows that I see. Everything is all right in the world now and the sun is shining today, thankfully I got off my ass last night.

Feeling Irie

Edit: About thirty minutes after I posted this, the clouds moved in and it started pouring with a sleet/snow mixture.  Oh well, it was sunny for awhile.

As I mentioned in I’m lost I really need to start creating things. Plus I need to occupy myself so I don’t go crazy, especially since I don’t have a steady job yet. So to accomplish this or at least start on the path I have signed up for a Photography class at PCNW. I have taken some photo classes before (check out The Showcase School if you’re in Atlanta) but have never learned black and white. I’ve been shooting digital for some time now and this would be a nice change. Learning how to develop my own prints will be a lot of fun as well. I have also signed up for Spanish lessons. I have been wanting to learn Spanish and Japanese for some time, I’m starting with Spanish though since I figure it will be easier plus it’s more useful as well. Then in March I’m taking some Go lessons. Go is another thing I’ve wanted to learn for years and I’ve bought books but never had the discipline to teach myself. Taking a class and having people to play against should help me a lot. Finally I also purchased a guitar. A Simon & Patrick Woodland Spruce for the curious. BTW the picture does not do it justice, it is beautiful. Playing guitar is also something (start broken record track) I’ve wanted to do for years. One of my roommates plays and I also have some self study material. I almost signed up for lessons however I thought better of it because three classes a week then four in March might but too much strain on my assaulted brain. I will probably take some lessons after my photo and Spanish classes though. So there we have it, music language and art I also want to start sitting (Zen) and take Aikido again to round things out. Aikido is going to wait a little while though or at least until I can see how I handle my schedule. As I’ve said before I’m tired of thinking about things and not following through. I have decided (sorry Dubya) to stop fucking around and get some things done. Now to see if I have the discipline to measure up.

I came across this rating while look at Ziggy Stardust">The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust.

BUYER BEWARE, January 19, 2006
Reviewer:Zak Wylde - See all my reviews
BUYER BEWARE

If you have been told that thisalbum is glam rock than like me you have been duped. There are no good glam songs to be found here…just some weird concept album that doen’t rock in the slightest. Good glam acts like Poison or Cinderella knew what it was all about…Hot soloing, greatlyrics about GIRLS and having fun. You will not find that here. For a good glam album I recommend “Open Up and Say Ah” by Poison.

Recently while at a Green Day concert I was introduced to a new phenomenon. Instead of holding up lighters during ballads and such the kids hold up their cellphones. I’m not sure how long this has been going on, considering that most shows I go to are 21 and up, I’m sure I’m late to the party. Needles to say this made me feel old, in defiance I held up my trusty titanium Zippo (which I subsequently lost) next to the Nokias and Motorolas. My protest was short lived however, the AC was cranked up so high in Phillips Arena the flame started burning my hand. I couldn’t bring myself to hoist my phone above my head so I finished the song in darkness with a tinge of sadness in my heart. (ok I’m bullshitting, no sadness) The show itself was great, high energy and lots of explosions. They cut beer sales off really early though. It was also fun to watch all the kids go silent when they played their older songs. The highlight of the show for me was when they did a cover of Operation Ivy’s Knowledge. They ended up bringing some kids on the stage to play it. Seemed planted but was still pretty cool.

I put a couple of new galleries on my business site. Check ‘em out.

Twelfth Planet at 10 High

http://alexvernonphotography.com/gallery/10High

Brother Henry at Red Light Cafe

http://alexvernonphotography.com/gallery/BrotherHenry