On September 20, 2008...me and Jaison Stefaniak (of Dragon Girl Noriko) had the privilege of attending The Cruxshadows concert (as part of the Immortal tour) at Reggie's Rock Club in Chicago. Overall, it was an incredible show.
The concert was put together by Demons and Darlings out of Chicago for their Gothtober Fest, and I have to tell you that they were incredibly on the ball. They did a great job with everything.
As for the bands?
The opening acts were I, Scintilla, and Ayria. The two opening acts did 45-50 minutes apiece, and were definitely on top of their game. I'd previously been unaware of either one of them, and they left me stunned with just how good they both were. I, Scintilla are based out of Chicago, and gave a stunning show to a home town crowd, and have a new album coming out in October of 2008. The Ayria set was composed of largely new material from their just released album "Hearts and Bullets", and kicked major ass.
Buy their stuff...I command it.
And The Cruxshadows were absolutely incredible. I'd been wanting to see them for years, and they most certainly did not disappoint. Their show lasted just over two hours, and for the first hour of it, it was nothing but music. After the first hour, Rogue took a slight pause to say hello to everyone, and talk to the crowd for a little bit...and then they were right back into it. They opened with Immortal...and for the encore they did "Monsters", "Tears" (my favorite song off of Wishfire) and conluded with "Marilyn, My Bitterness"
Highlights of the evening? God, there were so many...seeing Jessica Lackey and Sarah Kilgore of The Cruxshadows dancing to Ayria's "Analog Trash" stands out :). Getting to meet Ayria's Jennifer Parkin (who hails from my favorite city in the Western Hemisphere, Toronto), who is an awesome lady BTW, is another; as was talking Guitar Hero and Rock Band with Johanna Moresco outside before the concert started.
Rogue linking arms and dancing with the crowd during "Deception" will be something I will always remember, not to mention him singing from on top of the bar at one point. And the encore, which concluded with about half the audience onstage with the band by the time it ended.
And of course Rogue announcing that "Immortal" had just debuted at #2 on Billboards Dance Chart, and #6 on the Hot 100, beating out Madonna. I remember one member of the crowd yelling something about how they were better than Madonna....and Rogue replied that "I think she has bragging rights on us though, (pauses and holds one finger up in the air), but not this week (and smiled)"
Just an incredible night all around. I would have posted this earlier, but Youtube finally has some footage from the concert that me and Jai were at which I have linked to below. Enjoy!
(no subject)
Nov. 20th, 2007 10:09 amNothing gets accomplished.
EVAR.
I'm listening to phone conversations, people drifting past, a few funky ring tones. My desktop computer is currently monitoring Outlook, and more importantly playing through Pink Floyd's "The Division Bell"
I'm still hearing the occasional whirring sounds of power drills from out in the shop, but even they sound like their hearts aren't in it.
Just remember:
At this very moment, millions of people are having sex right now...
None of them are you.
(no subject)
Sep. 7th, 2007 01:05 amBecause I can't forget
Back and forth through my mind
Behind a cigarette"
Tired...very very tired right now. Having trouble lifting my glass of soda right now, even.
Had a meeting with a local consulting firm about some stuff today, hopefully things could be promising in the future...Don't know how everything is going to shake out with it, though. My mind is more than a little bit fried out right now.
Current job is pounding me into the ground, and I've discovered that large quantities of cutting oil/machine coolant works on me like poison ivy does on most people.
Not sleeping real well lately, either. My dreams lately have been a little too Lovecraftian around the edges to real comfortable. Even during waking hours, things are a little hallucinatory.
One panel left to do and Fridays comic is done...added another couple of comics to the revamps. They have been going slower than I have liked because of my schedule and such. Hopefully things wil soon resolve themselves in my favor.
***
It looks like my mind just came back on line...maybe it is the half a two liter of cherry coke I have just got done slamming...or it could be "Rocco" by Death in Vegas at damn near full volume on my iPod (still 4G and looking to stay that way for a little while longer at least.) I think this energy may be temporary, but I am gonna ride it while it lasts.
Some other random thoughts...
- The official theme song for Requiem is "Just Another Day" by Oingo Boingo. Listen to it, you'll get it real quick.
- I am still missing my old Dell Axim PDA, though now it looks like Apple, of all people, put together an affordable replacement for me :)
- Thinking about doing another revamp preview and commentary here soon...probably gonna be University Commons and the revamped intro for Julia Wells.
- Need to find the rules for quoting songs in fictional works. Like, if I have to pay a royalty rate or any of that kind of thing. Plus proper citing rules.
- If the local mosquito population doesn't begin to calm the fuck down here soon, I am going to choose the nuclear option.
...England prevails.
(no subject)
Aug. 22nd, 2007 12:49 amSpent three fucking hours on one panel for the revamped comics that kept crashing on me over and over in the same damn spot. Had to do some major tweaking of things to get it fixed, too. I managed it.
New job starts Monday as well....things are mellow over here...taking a little bit of time off from doing much of anything...being solitary and relaxed for the most part. The Mighty Misfit is better after her health scare of a little while back. However, she has developed a deep seated resentment of having her jaws pried open in order to be given her medication. On this, I can't blame her in the least.
My fingers are also pleased to report that Missy's teeth are still as sharp as they ever were.
Still keeping my fingers crossed on a number of other things as well. If things work out like I hope, I will have attained one of the things that I have wanted my entire life. More on that to come...
(no subject)
Aug. 6th, 2007 09:01 pmShe's being medicated and treated and is safely back at home. If she was a human, she'd probably be looking at hip replacement surgery...as it is she's on anti-inflammatories and is being babied even as we speak.
Hopefully, she will be getting back to her irascible self quite soon.
The worst part is when she gets hurt, her mood and attitude totally changes. Her mental state was so off, that combined with the lack of mobility on her right side the Vets thought she might possibly have suffered a stroke.
However, the worst case turned out better than I thought. Sometimes you do get lucky.
Thoughts over music...
Jul. 8th, 2007 02:46 amSeven hours straight on a computer working, a two hour break, and then another run at the finish line. Tomorrows comic is done, the Renderosity strip is almost nailed, and I have learned things.
One thing I have learned was how to control my temper as I listened to a global warming denialist recite the republican doctrine according to that inbred, oxycontin snorting fucktard Limbaugh in my local hangout/drinking establishment.
Three cheers for temper control, I guess.
Oh, and according to this dick, Nixon was a good president.
And a few other observations...
1. Has anybody out there but me noticed that singer Macy Gray sings like a female Fraggle with a really bad cold?
(oh, and in case you don't know what a Fraggle is... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraggle_Rock http://www.fragglerocker.com/
2. It's all about connection, and the things money can't buy...(
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
3. I'm currently taking the new version of Fireworks for a test drive, and I have to say that it makes me a very, happy panda. They actually improved it (which I didn't think was possible)
4. Obsidian canyons have recently been springing to mind lately as something I might visit in the digital art side of things.
5. I am still working on the Requiem Tarot deck...I'm still hung up with The Hermit right now. Yes, I am beating my head against the wall. I know what I need to complete it, I just don't have it yet.
6. With the recent work on Microholography and the development of 500GB's of storage on a DVD there may finally come a day when I can back up my Poser directory and comic art files on one disk. Of course, this also means that a couple people I know will soon be making the ultimate mix DVD's ;)
7. I have had Tracy Chapmans "Baby, Can I Hold You Tonight?" as my mental soundtrack for the last month or so. Great song, and the memories from it are enough to almost kill me at times.
I'm still around...
May. 3rd, 2007 01:19 amThings have been quiet for the most part the last few weeks or so. I've been spending most of my last few weeks dealing with Plasma and Oxygas cutting machines long distance. Most of what has been running through my head lately is the same type of scattered observations that make up my internal monologue.
- I've got Connecticut the week after next...if it wasn't for business...I would be hard pressed to come up with a reason to go there in the first place.
- I have come to the conclusion that I like bluetooth cellphone headsets. Especially when you don't notice them at first, and you assume that what you are seeing is some lunatic talking out loud to the voices in their brain. It seems to me to be an accurate portrayal of the world :)
- If DAZ would make a human realistic figure that was a low on resource use as Aiko 3, I would be a very happy panda. V4 sure as hell ain't it...it definitely uses a lot of horses....I'm definitely apprehensive of what this is going to mean for the upcoming Micheal upgrade.
- I don't watch all that much in the way of televison...but I have definitely become enthralled with "The Wire".
- I am cursing the gods over the fact that Coca Cola discontinued Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper is a decent substitute...but BCVC was my favorite soda of all time. When I am in an experimental mood, I think I may try to put together my own. When I get it done, I will post the recipe :)
- The one fashion weakness I have is for wristwatches...and I must admit that I absolutely lust after the Tag Heuer Carrera. Absolutely flawless workmanship from what I have seen. It's just a pity it costs so damn much.
- And furthermore I curse everyone who was in favor of making my section of Indiana go to Eastern Daylight Time. We are 90 fucking miles from Chicago, we do not need to be on the same time as New York City.
- I'm trying to get over the fact that Requiem is coming up on it's 1000th comic. In retrospect, it kinda blows my mind a bit, looking at all the different pieces of software I have went through so far in the making of this nihilistic epic ;)
- I am noting with a great deal of sadness that my local area is slowly running out of abandoned buildings to explore. Urban renewal has taken most of the cool ones away.
- The techie side of me is mourning the discontinuation of the Dell Axim PDA line. Probably the best thing to come out of Dell too...a great value for the money. The thing is it's all about the smart phone now. Despite the fact that they are underpowered on the CPU side and you can't check your notes and contact list while you are talking to someone...or the fact that not everybody wants or needs a cellphone....Still ebay has a number of them in good shape still available...and there is an interesting one at HP that looks good too...It may be time for me to step up to something like a Treo eventually. The idea of broadband conectivity with an actual usable pda type platform is very appealing to me.
- Does anybody do a smartphone that has an 802.11b connnection in it?
Oh, and crab stuffed baked potato from the Madison Oyster Bar is one of the things that makes life worth living :)
I may be heading out to Connecticut here soon as well for more job training here soon. Things are going exceptionally well on that front at any rate...I just hope that when I get out there, it is warmer than it is here.
That was weird....
Mar. 31st, 2007 12:24 amAfter five minutes had passed we declared it a draw and both, politely, went on our merry way. Oh course, you know you're standing still when the racoon gets within twenty feet of you before he notices you are there.
The weekend is finally here though...and I think I am finally going to go see 300 this weekend. :)
Lotta work, lotta art, lotta music going in the background lately. I've been spending my time rediscovering a lot of music I had forgotten about over the years, watching my cat play, and thinking.
Maybe too much thinking :)
Renderosity did a feature on all of us cartoonists for the two year anniversary of the comic page. I've also gotten a number of friendly comments about the Star article as well.
As for me...I've come out the other side. Now I just gotta figure out what came with me, and what stayed behind.
(no subject)
Mar. 5th, 2007 09:39 pmIt's dark in Ohio right now...I'm up on the northwest side of the city, watching the traffic on the Interstate below. Right now it's comics and the Carusobot on CSI Miami assaulting my consciousness.
Also got my first piece of fan mail from a gentleman in Beijing today. It's nice to hear that we aren't being blocked by the Great Firewall of China.
Changes come whether we like it or not, and it seems like everyone I know is in some kind of flux right now. I'm glad as hell for a bunch of them...it's nice to see some people finally figuring out what they want to do with things. It's like seeing them finally figure out what that deep sense of dissatisfaction that has been fucking with them for years is. Congratulations on the impending nuptuals as well R.H., I'm just flat out amazed that a lady actually managed to tie you down with out using superglue and bungie cord.
Other changes have just blown my mind...the last of the surviving grand uncles on my dad's side of the family has just made his 100th birthday, one of the Swedish family members is undergoing cancer treatment, I've seen fires and floods, and exploding air hoses in the last few days. And to top it all off, our smirking chimp of a president lied to us yet again.
Me and the Mighty Misfit are still here though, and still writing as well. There is a lot to go on a number of projects...and a number of things that need to get squared away on a number of fronts. BUt we are still kicking it though, that I can guarantee.
At any rate, all the best to everyone...and keep out of the dark places, you could be eaten by a grue.
Three comics knocked out this evening....
Need nicotine, soda and sleep in that order.
And I need nurses...uninhibited, pretty, nurses...
Or maybe I just need some fucking sleep.
Good night all.
PS: Since I actually have a days worth of buffer up right now...I am not going to do the smart thing and try to build on it. Nope, tomorrow is going to be free form art day. Which means that you people out there should get something cool to look at tomorrow.
And now sleep.