|
|
Back to gerritt.net BEN FOLDS, GERRITT LISTENS May 1, 2004. 1:30 AM I just got home from my final college concert roadtrip, this one to Davidson, NC to see Ben Folds. Davidson is just north of Charlotte, about two and a half hours from here, and revolves mainly around the large Davidson College, a liberal arts and sciences school. In Davidson we found a surprising number of libraries, and lots of red brick buildings including a performing arts center shaped remarkably like NASA's huge vehicle assembly building. Ben Folds had an opening act, David Berkeley, who somehow managed to mention the name of a city or a place in all but one of his eight or so songs (Pennsylvania, Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, North Carolina, The Moon. . .). Mostly he mentioned places on the east part of this country, but it got to the point where we were listening to his lyrics just to catch where he was sending a shout-out to. He did have a mandolin and an upright bass player to accompany his acoustic guitar, and his songs were quick and to the point, so I liked him. After Ben took the stage, we forgot completely about having to wait through the opening act (the sign of a great performer). If you're interested in piano rock at all, then the solo Ben Folds act will knock you off your feet. His artistry, wit, and musical ability is unsurpassed. I enjoyed his show so much that I left wishing he'd played even more. He must have his pianos reinforced or something, too, because he spends a lot of his time pounding the keys, thrashing down on the pedals, kicking it to the beat, and even standing up on the closed lid to direct the audience in a chorus of one of his songs. It was like nothing I've ever seen, a very thrilling, large-crowd show but with a small-crowd feel, and some really well-written and well-performed music. There were a lot of cameras filming the show, so we're hoping maybe it'll be released as a DVD. That would be cool. HOW TO BECOME FAMOUS April 28, 2004. 11:43 PM There is a sore, sarcastic loser of a man who recently divorced and was stuck with his ex's wedding dress. For some reason he decided to get some money back for it by putting it on, taking pictures of himself in it, and using them to try and sell it on Ebay. The result is hilarity to its finest, and along with it, his 15 minutes of fame. The dress sold this evening for $3,850, well over twice what he paid for it. Its worth a read. This guy should start himself a web site. I'd read it. NTC IF I CARE April 26, 2004. 4:30 PM Dealing with a local internet provider can be a real pain. The company that owns my apartment had an exclusive company that sent internet and cable TV to all of their complexes under the name Triplecom. Then in February a big company called NTC, based out of Harrisonburg, VA, bought them out and their rights to offer cable and ethernet connections to everyone in our apartment complex. Our assumption at the time was that our services wouldn't change, our prices wouldn't change, and all would be normal. Then, somehow they decided to use my old permanent address from two years ago and send the bill there instead of to my apartment. I still have no idea why. Then on Friday they shut off our internet because we hadn't payed them yet, which is why its taken me so long to post an update. Of course, their office isn't open until 9 AM Monday, so I was unable to get in touch with them to find out why my internet wasn't working. BAH! It is back on now, however, after cutting them a check for the last two months plus a $25 re-connect fee. Highway robbery. SHOOTING STARSHIP April 20, 2004. 11:59 PM Wondering about the news lately? How about the one on Sunday night when the CEO of McDonald's restaurants died suddenly of nothing more ironic than a heart attack at age 60. Very sad, and yet I can't help but wonder if he ate there so much that it effected his health. And another news clip from yesterday announced that Blender, a music magazine, has released its own list of the 50 Worst Songs Ever. Topping the list is a fair vote for the worst song: Starship's "We Built This City On Rock n' Roll," from 1985. I'm sure I'll disagree with many songs on their list, but its great fun to read what everyone else thinks is awful. Also in the top ten: Ice, Ice, Baby. Who could resist putting that one on the list? Don't you just love a good summer thunderstorm? FINALE April 18, 2004. 11:52 PM It has been a wonderfully busy and rewarding weekend. After four years at Wesley I had the honor of hosting the 30th Anniversary Wesley Weekend Coffee House variety show on Saturday night. I had help from one of the alumni who had been an MC back in his day, and we had a great time joking around on stage and having fun with everyone. The only problem was by the time I made it to the show, I was just worn out and brain fried from having spent the previous eight hours in the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, the first step to becoming a professional engineer. Of the 180 of questions on the exam, I figure I was able to answer about half of them, which hopefully will mean I passed. My biggest motivation to pass it is just knowing that I won't have to do it again. This morning I woke to another early morning and I headed to church for the culmination of the 30th Anniversary celebration. Our Alumni Choir got on stage with the current student singers and we must have had 200 people milling around all trying to sing together. It was a great experience, and an exciting way to finish my college years as a Wesley Singer. The weather has been wonderful, so I spent a few hours today playing volleyball and at the batting cage. Now, I'm tired, but it's that most wonderful tired where you feel like you've accomplished something. Time to catch up on some much-needed sleep. A DRIVING RAIN April 14, 2004. 10:50 PM I spent the afternoon on Monday in Bethesda, scouring the area for possible apartments for next year. The day was cold and it rained cats and dogs for the whole afternoon. (And I stepped in a poodle!) Leaving at 3:00, I figured, would get me ahead of the Washington Beltway traffic that plagues the area on weekdays. However, driving River Road on my way to 495, I saw nothing but taillights for miles and miles on the southbound side. A quick change of heart, and a little bit of map reading, and I set out to find a better way across the Potomac and back down to Blacksburg, VA. The rain kept coming, and I found myself swooping down the hills of rural Montgomery County, MD headed northwest in a hope that this confusing mess of two-lane roads would lead me into Virginia. I navigated my way to US-15, one of only three ways to cross the Potomac between the capitol beltway and West Virginia. Of the other two ways, one is a ferry boat at White's Ferry, and the other is all the way up in Harper's Ferry (not a ferry, just a bridge). So after my initial worries that I would have to drive all the way back to Leesburg, I found a well traveled but barely paved Virginia farm road, which took me to VA route 7, my path to a traffic-free I-81. Overall travel time was an hour longer than my usual 4.5 hours, but considering the pile-up on the beltway and the way the traffic reports described I-66 in Vienna, I think I beat the curve. Tomorrow, in addition to being tax day for just about all of us, is FREE COOKIE DAY at Subway. Last year I went in, stood in line, and when sandwich girl asked what kind of sub I wanted, I replied: one free cookie please. And I left, no funds exchanged, and no sandwich purchased. Just a free cookie. And the day was mine. READY TO COME ABOUT April 12, 2004. 11:35 PM Correction from last time: 'Cincinnati Reds' is the short version of the Red Legs, not the Red Stockings. MY BAD. This weekend I spent driving around Maryland again, from Columbia to Baltimore, Severna Park to Bethesda. I even got out of my car in Fells Point and sailed down to Annapolis, only to be driven back to my car in Baltimore. The sailing was good, although not very consistent, and we made the trip mostly under sail due to an engine that likes to overheat for no particular reason. The rainy weather held back for the day, and after the sun broke through the clouds it was nice and breezy enough to push us down the bay. Today I spent driving around the Bethesda area looking for potential places to live for my first year of real life. Nothing jumped out at me, and I didn't like the area too much either. I've still got enough time to be picky, so I plan to check out some more potential areas before I start signing contracts and stuff. My main goal is to find a place in Maryland that is within 15-20 minutes of my job and not in a giant towering complex. You'd think that wouldn't be so hard. FROM WHEREFORE TRANSLATED ENGLISH WAS April 9, 2004. 12:50 AM I have to fill everyone in: A Red, as in a 'Cincinnati Red', is actually the short version of the Red Stockings, which the team used to wear with their uniforms. The first major league baseball team. Which, of course, leads to the conclusion that the Red Sox are big copycats. Thanks to Mel for overturning the truth. I've been bombarded lately with interesting idioms. An idiom is a phrase that can't really be translated but that means something to everyone who speaks the same language, so to speak. Yeah. For example, "that smells fishy," wouldn't mean "something is peculiar about this situation" to anyone who heard it literally translated into something other than English. Similarly, other languages' idioms would translate poorly into English. I've heard somewhere that the phrase "it smells as though a cat died in here" is roughly the Spanish translation for their idiom meaning the same thing as our "something smells fishy". There's one that I've heard twice recently, which I had never heard before: "like a bull in a china shop." Twice in one day, I got the pleasure of picturing a bull rampaging through a room full of plates. Say, has anyone ever been in a china shop? I've been in places that sell plates and ceramic ware, but never solely china. Do they even exist, or have the bulls all gotten to them? WHAT'S A 'RED' ANYWAY? April 6, 2004. 11:50 PM Congratulations to Tom and Otey who answered Sunday's trivia question correctly: the Cincinnati Reds are the other team that always plays an opening day home game. They get the home field advantage opening day to honor the fact that they were the first MLB team ever established. The other team that always gets the home opener is Baltimore, and they get it because of their proximity to Washington so that the President can throw the first pitch. So where was the President throwing his pitch on opening day this year? We found him in St. Louis, not sure why, but the O's got dissed this season. Thanks Dub-yah. In other sports news, the Wesley Intramural Softball Team won their men's game but barely lost their co-rec game in the final inning. I played, but couldn't produce on either offense or defense. Lots of fun, though, and I'm especially glad it wasn't bitterly cold like it was this weekend. Read about it in detail on TSPN. THE HOUR THAT DOUBLE COUNTS April 4, 2004. 11:50 PM Remember last October 24th when I said I liked daylight savings time because we get an extra hour when 2 AM becomes 1 AM? "The Hour That Doesn't Count" and such. This weekend, just like every year, reminds us of why daylight savings time is a stupid idea: "The Hour That Double Counts." Now, despite the wonderfully late sunset, we're stuck getting used to waking up feeling like its an hour earlier than we think. I think instead of adjusting our clocks based on the time of year that we should just have no clocks and only do things when we feel like it. I doubt if much would get done though. Also last October I talked about baseball, and the Yankees losing the World Series, and all. Tonight, baseball is back. The Orioles won their opening day game tonight, this year's first regular season game on US soil. (The Yankees played the Devil Rays in Japan last week.) They not only beat the Red Sox, but made them look flat-out pathetic, and I love it. Only two teams are ever guaranteed to have a home game as their season opener. The Orioles are first because they're the closest to Washington DC, and the president likes to throw the ceremonial first pitch there. Can you name the other team that always has a home game on opening day? SIGN ME UP April 2, 2004. 3:50 PM Can you believe its April? It still feels like January here. Did you play any impractical jokes yesterday? Did anyone believe you when you told them you were pregnant, or engaged, or worse? Did you believe anyone who picked yesterday as prime time to prove how gullible you are? Me neither. Personally I prefer May Day over April Fools Day, as I'm not much for pranks. What about you? Okay, you've spent two days feeling illiterate, so now here's what the symbols mean, according to the sign hanging next to them. From left to right, "People with the following conditions should not ride": 1) Expectant Mothers 2) Heart Conditions 3) Back, Neck, or Similar Physical Conditions 4) Medical Sensitivity to Strobe Lights 5) Medical Sensitivity to Smoke or Fog and my personal favorite, 6) Motion Sickness or Dizziness  In case you were curious, this sign was posted in front of the E.T. ride in the kid's play section of Universal, probably the slowest, smoothest ride in the whole park. |
