Unhappy Observation for the Day

Exactly how much money did Mattel pump into Pixar, Disney and the new Toy Story movie?

What is the relationship?

Why is it EVERY FRICKIN' TIME I see a preview for Toy Story 3, there is focus on Barbie and Ken?

Taking it Personal

Remember a few months ago, I created a Square Enix Avatar?

Did you click? Do you remember little Zarnyx the Squeenix Avatar: Avenger of Nothing with Trusty Purple Sword and Red Demon Eyes?

No?

Already turned off from reading if you are not Beetchie and Bughie J.?

That's rather rude of you.

Let me just dust that dirt of my shoulder and continue with my upcoming tirade.

FFXIII Update

Really, Square Enix? A pre-order bonus of FFXIII comes with an excerpt from a full strategy guide?

Well don't I feel special and awesome.

I am disgusted.

Nerd Post: Complete With Non-Zombie Rage and a Dash of Fan-Service

I, for one, am very much looking forward to March.

No, it's not that Spring is upon us in a matter of weeks.  As I have stated before I do not like Spring for it reminds me that Summer is right around the corner.

It's that the first week and a half of March will bring with it Muse @ MSG, the release of Gorillaz' new album, and the release of Final Fantasy XIII.

I was really happy until last week and now I am less so.

Why?

For some reason, Square Enix thought it was okay to eff over the US Sony PS3 users.

Why, Sony?

Why would you ass-effery have the release of a Limited Edition bleck...argh..xbox..cough...meh FFXIII console and not release A THING special edition wise for the PS3?

W.
T.
F.

How many evil Microsoft dollars did they throw at you, Square?!?!

As a child of the Commodore 64 and Atari, I never had the 'fortune' of owning an SNES, NES or Sega.
The PS was the first 'console' owned by The HOchieS when that beautiful dirty grey little thing was released so many years ago.

Since then, I've been a Sony Girl and yes, I've dabbled in the arts of Nintendo too because you know, Link just screams 'luz me'.

I suppose this is a little of what Nintendo users felt when Final Fantasy VII was released for the PS.
Oh, so this is what a slap to the face feels like.

Ohhhh.

And might I say, "OW" while I'm at it?

As each day marches closer to March 9, I hope that Square will surprise me by dropping that awful "Enix" from their name, return "Soft" in its stead and with it, bring some dignity back to Sony when the PS ruled (although in Enix's defense, you guys may put out solid games that I've not played so I cannot be dismissive of you).

I cannot believe I bought an effin' PS3 JUST for this game only for it to be released 3 years after the fact and without two postcards as the UK version's getting.

I almost feel a boycott coming along especially since I have no towns to visit, with no bars to get sloshed in or play the piano, no houses to go into and steal elixirs from unsuspecting grandfathers and gil from wee ones.  Who am I supposed to make fun of now?!

It only hurts all the more after having finally finished Final Fantasy Tactics, after a personal fear of that game like no other for 12 years.

Now there was a game: an amazing story with so much deception and murder that those sprites shocked me with their 'stabby' behaviour, penchant for poison and heretic-branding rhetoric.

The music was nothing short of brilliant and the characters were many to keep track of but who cares? My little Zarnyx/Ramza was the cutest.

Although. he was a little, umm...too...defined in the ass for a sprite.

I'm certain those white pants didn't help the situation any either.

White pants never do.

They never do.

Necessary Rant

I'm actually too tired right now (and sick. Yes, again. I curse NIN nasties) to post the full rant on here because it is going to be long and hateful and I've already been ranting all day but the bottomline:

People effed up big time with the September 25th Giants Stadium U2 Show and there are a hell a lot of rightly-so angry fans in the world right now and The HOchieS are included.

Currently listening to: "Secret Door" by Arctic Monkeys. They effed us over too earlier this month. Hm. A trend? I hope not. New album though - I like it but like it even better live. It will all simmer over time as I learn the clever lyrics as they sure are to be. Loving "Secret Door" a lot though.

Update on 8/29/09: Honestly, better live. H1's right though...there's not much of an AM signature on half of these songs. Too many 'oo's. Too low key. Too much QOTSA? I still think it's a very decent album but where's the cleverness? The biting wit?

Matt's drumming isn't even shining through on this.

Torture

H1's right...being bitten by a mosquito under your foot is the pits.

Remind Me

Tomorrow, when I'm sobbing that I was not awake at 3 AM buying tickets for what will truly be the most legendary concert in MUSE's career with my very own unique pass code for a very limited pre-sale opportunity, that the logistics and cost of being at Teignmouth, Devon in the U.K. would prove too difficult an endeavour for me to undertake.

Please do not remind me that the concert is happening on the weekend of Labour Day, I wouldn't be missing any work that I couldn't make up one Saturday before the end of September, the round trip ticket could be only about 300 something dollars, a train ride from London would make me feel like I'm on a proper holiday complete with Famous Five moors and screws of salt for my boiled eggs and cucumber sandwiches, Devon is near the seaside and is the home to Devonshire Tea which is the home to the greatest thing on earth and that's clotted cream and scones for those of you who do not know (I didn't until I wiki'd) and that seeing my favourite band at a homecoming gig would be priceless.

"I hate pros and cons!", she said in her very best Grouchy Smurf impersonation.

::sigh::

Anticipation Has a Habit to Set You Up

For disappointment?

I'm having mixed feelings, I am.

For one, I'm still very pissed that H1 missed, no fault on her part, her chance to go see Arctic Monkeys (Oye, H1, it's no fault of mine either!).

More so, when TD5 and I got to the Highline Ballroom, the place was so incredibly tiny that it didn't matter where you stood - there'd be a clear shot of the stage!

Feeling rather hateful and wishing I had some chicken bones, TD5 and I did the next best thing we could do to calm nerves - go to the bar for some drinks.

I'd just like to point out that I drank almost every day TD5 and I went out. Who's the bad influence?!

Anyway, so in addition to feeling cranky that H1 and Beetchie were not in attendance, I was also very excited.

Yet, there was something off.

Was it the fact that I couldn't bear to sit through another horrible opener as Arctic Monkeys likes to pick 'em?

Was it the feeling that my nemesis was in the room somewhere?

Was it having to deal yet again, with the little biatch, obnoxious children that attend their shows? Did I have to get nasty with peeps...for a third time?

Or was it that I was just really nervous that I would hate the new songs?

The Arctic Monkeys at The Highline Ballroom on 08/03/2009 Set list:

1. Pretty Visitors
2. This House Is A Circus
3. Brianstorm
4. Still Take You Home
5. Da Frame 2R
6. Dangerous Animals
7. Crying Lightning
8. Fluorescent Adolescent
9. Cornerstone
10. The View From The Afternoon
11. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
12. Leave Before The Lights Come On
13. Potion Approaching
14. If You Were There, Beware
15. Red Right Hand (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover)
16. My Propeller
17. Only Ones Who Know
18. Do Me A Favour

Encore:

19. Secret Door
20. 505

Oh...that's what it was! The feeling I'd get when H1 blazed me for their playing "505"! I would not be able to handle the fury!

The Low-Lamps:

1. I have two evil nemeses now. The one that's standing in Suga'Face's way and has AT torn was there. I didn't see her, but I didn't need to. That bitch was there and I could sense it. It's okay though, he still looked at me. Twice.

2. "505". I can't believe those effs actually played it. We blame TD5. I was really sad this went down since H1 was not there and this is the one song she really wants to see them perform live.

3. The ugly merch. Really. I hope they release better t-shirts soon. That Matt Helders inspired hippy desert Native American theme is really horrid. Well, whatever. I can still rock it.

4. P. Effin' Diddy. Honestly. Sometimes I wish Matt would stop being friends with suspect people so that they stop showing up at my concerts. He and his entourage were annoying and the fact that Diddy Can't Dance makes for horrendous times. He did some version of the Running Man which is already a stupid ass move, to something he must have been hearing in his head because it certainly wasn't a beat kept by AM. During "Do Me a Favour". Ugh.

5. I did not see the Cookie very well. It's not really a bad thing though. He scares me, that Hooligan.

6. The new songs. Okay, so they're not really low-lamps. They sounded quite good and they are really good but I think it was the entire atmosphere half way through the set that had me feeling a little bit sad. AM started strong - all intense songs, all old songs, some of the new ones. But then, Arctic Monkeys changed. They toned out their concert vibe. They chilled out at the tail end.

When did they become such a super-serious, doom and gloom, "where's-the-fun?" kind of band?

They've matured. A lot. No longer are they the boys from Sheffield who are too shy to speak.

They're very confident now, which makes them better players and gives them better stage presence and it's not a horrible thing, but it's also not a very fun feeling either.

I didn't think they'd NOT change. How could they not? And I'm happy they're going off and creating different records because if it's one thing they can do, it's create a unique sound every time, but I guess I just need the time to let it sink in.

The bottom line is that it's all fun and games until some biatch comes around and "Yoko Ono"'s your band.

Yes, I went there.

I'm with you, rest of the band! You guys are still great! It's that ass who's the problem!

7. The almost complete absence of songs from the first album. WTF! No "Dancing Shoes"?! And they didn't even end with "A Certain Romance"! =(

The Highlights:

1. TD5 ACTUALLY finally agreed to come to a concert with me! All the way from Trinidad, he flew! That was a pleasant surprise but it just reminds me and angers up the blood that he's going to see MUSE at some no name Raymond James Stadium (eh? It has a name? but who knows it?) in FL. Psh.

2. That annoying rich, privileged Asian child was not there. Hooray!

3. Surprisingly, I was no where near obnoxious AM fans. In fact, I met some nice kids.

4. Okay. Can you people believe it? The opening act were actually...really good. Quite good. For a while, I was confused as to where I was. Their drummer was trying to channel Dave Grohl but there's nothing not cool about that. TD5 described them best when he called them "intense". Yes, Modey Lemon certainly were. Why didn't I buy one of their shirts instead?

5. Sound Problems. I don't know what's up with Arctic Monkeys but they're always plagued with sound problems. Their sound cut after the intro to "Pretty Visitors" for a long time, and then again later on. It was funny and they were good about it, as were the crowd. They made jokes. We laughed. And we were happy when they launched right back into it.

6. Alex's banter. So, he's talking a lot more now, and he's funny. He hit us with a few good memorable quotes:

"I've noticed some of you suspiciously singing along. So we have a new record coming out soon, it's called 'umbug. With a Hey-che."
And repeated the promotion of the album after the sound failed again.

At the end of "Leave Before The Lights Come On", he said "Thank you, I can walk to there by myself." to the bus stop.

7. Matt's banter with their number one roadie. I really need to go look his name up because it escapes me. But those two were having a blast while Matt was playing. It was cute. And Matt still managed to keep his beat even while distracted.

8. Nick! I don't care what H1 says, Nick O'MALLEY is a cutie and I like him. Nick O'Fatty he is not. You are wrong, H1!

9. The New songs. I don't think I'll be upset by the new album, which has me relieved that at least one of my bands won't completely fail me this music year. Already I had to suffer disappointment from Franz Ferdinand, U2 (big time!), The Streets (or was that late last year?), and some others I'm just not really remembering right now. It's also not looking too hot for MUSE right now, so I'm not holding my breath.

The new songs from AM are good. They're different. They're arranged oddly and I like them. I also like their cover of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' "Red Right Hand".

10. I managed to snap "decent" pictures...for once! of AM! It's amazing, really.

I don't know why the other two in Modey Lemon looked like metal men but the lead singer looked like a preppy.



The Cookie's in there some place



I could actually see Matt tear up the drums for "Brianstorm" this time! Except I was too busy jumping to look at him...maybe next time?



Nick O'MALLEY.



Such a clear shot for some chicken bones







My favourite thing of the evening



Currently listening to: "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Some Serious Hate Mail to AM

H1,

I had to leave a comment on Arctic Monkeys' website today for their, Ticketweb's and The Highline Ballroom's fuck up.

They finally released the fabled remaining ticktes for the NYC show today, without warning, and unfortunately I was not stuck to a computer at 11.30 AM today.

Today's the day I DIDN'T check the website when I went on after my initial 9 AM check until just half an hour ago.

While this isn't my fault, now I'm really pissed off more so than ever before because to THINK I could be going with you, TD5 and Beetchie.

The tickets were just dangling online for a solid 3 - 4 hours before they sold out because no one knew this shit was going down.

What a bunch of shit!

=(

Assed

It's not necessarily "Assed Out" in a sense but certainly, when The HOchieS & Co. (see how I made use of "& Co.", H1? You should be proud!) see U2 later this year, this is how it's going to be -

Being that U2 claims this is the 360 Tour, so that no matter where you sit in the stadium you won't be "Assed Out", I'm not too worried about our seating area for them.

But being that I don't really care too much since U2's new album sucks an ass, I'll consider myself "Assed Out" anyway.

When it comes time to see MUSE however, well...let's just say we'll be Assed.



Currently listening to: "What's This?" by Danny Elfman, from The Nightmare Before Christmas Original Soundtrack.

Assed Out

Thanks, NIN.

Thanks.

Well, I'm one step closer to saying that I never saw Nine Inch Nails live in the history of their career.

If not for Gen' Frien', I would be completely assed out but can someone explain to me how a show that is supposed to go on sale at 5 PM sells out 1 minute before 5?

I witnessed this shit myself and was one of the unlucky ones to NOT get a ticket.

Pen me in a waiting area only to deny me tickets after release, why don't you?!

Stinkin' Friggin' NIN!

Anyway, due to being 'mizzled', I have another shot at getting tickets to Terminal 5 which I now know is NOT in Brooklyn (please...don't judge).

I just really want to see the Horrors too.

Meh.

Anyways, wish me luck on 7/31/2009 even though I'm not getting my hopes up at all.

Memorable Reminders to buy tickets courtsey of Bughie J.:

Subject: Snit Ticken! Snit Ticken!

head like a toe!
cute as a mole!
i'd rather fly
than work at NASA control!

bow down and calm your nerves
you're gonna throw the grading curve
la la la la la la
la la la la la la

(kazoo solo)
(samples of a kid eating an ice cream cone)
(samples of vcr eating a Blue Velvet tape), etc. etc

II.

I'm the one with a bowl, i'm the one without a doughnut hole!
wish i had a turtle tale, funnying up nin songs for Ashoell!
gotta listen to your big time pig line bacon munch cruch yum
don't you think eating bacon's so much fun?
you know me, i don't share my bacon with anyone!

(reads a letter to Oscar Meyer complaining about thin bacon slices that burn on the griddle)

III. (Added 7/19/2009)

just when i had a nice scent
you took away all my deoderant
now all all that i'm smelling must be true
i guess i'm some kind of interesting mushroom?

but that's what i get
that's what i get
for sleeping in the dark,
damp basement

how could you sautee all this?
after you taught me how to make a nice ragu
i told you i might make a pizza pie
now i'm slipping on the olive oil you made me buy

but that's what i get
that's what i get
and then i fall
and now my pants are wet!

I expect more reminders on July 31st, Bughie J. of songs from The Downward Spiral.

Oh, and I hope you don't mind I published your work without your consent, just as I'm sure Trent R. wouldn't mind your playful bastardization of his work.

Currently listening to: "Mine" by Taproot.

Bleck

Quite possibly the worst thing I've seen was that new Bleach opening.

Why do they have my girl Rukia dancing and singing like an ass?! That's the kind of bullshit I expect from Orihime (and she did too), not Rukia!

I hate when I don't watch something for a while and then I'm forced to watch rubbish.

Happy Decemberween!!!!

Another year, another Decemberween. I'm dreading going over to H1's house because Diderick and The Cheat did no get to open their presents yet (oh yes, I managed to find something for them yesterday...phew) but now, we didn't get to drink and open pyos like we usually do on Decemberween Eve. Heh...

Merry Christmas to all! The pyo list will be updated later but first, thank you to all for the gifts and the well wishes!

In the meanwhile, welcome to the The HOchieS Christmas 2008 Blog Layout, where we go inside and do an extreme close up of someone's Christmas Tree. I don't think it's ours.

So Distraught!

If Kakashi Hatake is truly dead, I will stop reading and watching Naruto Shippuuden!

Eh

The Streets did something kind of cool and way crazy. Most of the new album's songs were up on their MySpace with a message that four were scattered on other bands'/artists' sites, prompting a 'treasure hunt'.

I wish I could call it that but I listened to the album and can't say that I'm overly thrilled. Some of the songs are okay, some of them are judgey and as an overall experience, Mike Skinner has totally changed - horribly, I think. Sure he's grown up some and that might be a good thing because it creates a different direction but it just sounds kind of whiney now.

His poor rapping is no longer covered up by wit and cleverness of the content and lyrics which was always forgiveable to me because that's what made it entertaining.

I liked less than half the album from what I heard on the first go but have no inclination to go back. I wrote down the ones I liked and will buy individual mp3s next week when "Everything is Borrowed" comes out.

I feel betrayed but I knew it was coming since the last album was mostly sucky.

Lame.

Camera Eye Crisis

I am so distraught right now.

Rush stole from a baby! They stole from me when I was one year old! I was born with Camera Eye so what the shart?! They wrote a song about it!

"The Camera Eye" by Rush

Grim-faced and forbidding,
Their faces closed tight,
An angular mass of new yorkers
Pacing in rhythm,
Race the oncoming night,
They chase through the streets of manhattan.
Headfirst humanity,
Pause at a light,
Then flow through the streets of the city.

They seem oblivious
To a soft spring rain,
Like an english rain
So light, yet endless
From a leaden sky.

The buildings are lost in the limitless rise.
My feet catch the pulse and the purposeful stride.

I feel the sense of possibilities,
I feel the wrench of hard realities.
The focus is sharp in the city.

Wide-angle watcher
On lifes ancient tales,
Steeped in the history of london.

Mist in the streets of westminster.
Wistful and weathered,
The pride still prevails,
Alive in the streets of the city.

Are they oblivious
To this quality?
A quality
Of light unique to
Every citys streets.

Pavements may teem with intense energy,
But the city is calm in this violent sea.

I demand royalties!

The Idiots at NME

At first I was excited to see that NME had a story about Mindless Self Indulgence's performance at Leeds Festival in the UK.
Then I saw what they labelled MSI. I got angry.

They decided to call them 'electro-emo'. EMO. Who the eff calls MSI Emo?! The only reason NME wrote about them was due to the fact that in typical MSI fashion, Jimmy threw insults at the crowd, themselves, and went ahead and tossed some at Oasis and Blur.

Just because LynZ is married to emo king Gerard Whiny Way, does not make MSI emo, you stupids.

Besides, are Emo people even capable of insulting anyone? Don't they all just sit around and cry?

That is what happens when idiots are allowed to write.

Another Bleach Goodie Escapes Us

First it was Kon roaming the streets of NYC and now this shart that angers up the blood!



The Japanese and their continued hate of me is really taking its toll omy my well-being.

Much Like the Whiney Bitch That Gerard Way Is...

...I'm writing this with all the emo I have. Which, despite Beetchie's claim of 93.2%, I've in fact only got about... none.
I'm not emo, you A.s!
But who else wouldn't be upset over the fact that I'm having a horrible media filled day - of old media news to boot?

1. xxxHolic: Kei has ended it's TV series run. What?! When did that shart happen? And why did I think it was going to 26 episodes?! Why hasn't anyone subbed the last two?! What's wrong with that one guy who subs them?! What? He thinks he's allowed to go on vacation and that I shouldn't be upset just because I can't speak or read the language?! Eff you guy!

2. Gerard Way...married to Lyn-Z?! WHAT?! It all makes sense now why MSI's off. They've been fighting the ill of Morningwood AND mcr! Why Lyn-Z? Was it necessary to go there? Really? He's...a dirty Jersey ass. Why would you degrade yourself? Whhhhyyyyy.

Memorable Conversation of Today:

Or 2: B. Why didn't I know that Gerard Way, my nemesis - lead singer of my chemical romance
Beetchie: ::chew, cud, chew, cud:: sup?
Or 2: got married to our girl, bad ass bassist, Lyn-Z
Beetchie: whhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt. WHY B., WHY! o_O!!!!
WHY DID YOU TELL ME THAT!
TT_TT
That shit isn't right!
Or 2: Because I can't suffer this trauma alone! Jesus!
Beetchie: NoooOOOOoooooOOOOoooooooo. B!
Or 2: I saw the speculation that he was last december but I didn't know he was even with her! Ugh
Beetchie: let me look this fool up. ....he looks like a douchey Billy Corgan
Or 2: But she's too full of awesome to marry some ugly talentless ass from NJ! NJ!
Beetchie: JERSEY! You can tell he smells like Jersey! Like a douchey taint!

Currently listening to: "Falling Jimmy" by Maximum The Hormone. Curse you random Itunes! I was cursing Jimmy Urine months ago, but now I need to curse LynZ. Maximum The Hormone needs to write a song about her.

Second-Rate Celebrities: A Penchant For Ruining Things

Whether it be a movie or a concert, 'celebrities' are just out to make things sucky when things shouldn't be.

Thursday night was going great - H1 got to leave work early, I left early and went to dinner at Sapporo (The 2008 HOchie HOtspot, 2006 was Pongsri) with Chrissy Lee. Good eats were enjoyed including tonkatsu and karubi yummies and then I took Chrissy down to Penn Station, all the while threatening him with the notion that he was going to go off on the LIRR to someplace he didn't want to be, namely on a plane back to Trinidad.

Instead, the surprise didn't quite go as I planned because I guess the MSG entrance I was at didn't have a large flashing sign indicating that R.E.M. was performing and that Chrissy Lee was actually going to a great concert. Still, I suppose a merch. stand will never let you down. It was not as grandiose as planned but he was still reaaaally excited when he found out. I was bombarded with about 22 or so "R.E.M.?!" questions with awe and disbelief bunched together with many "lies!".

I was excited too, and why wouldn't I be? That was the first concert for the year, surprisingly enough and not only would I get to see the guys of R.E.M. but The National and Modest Mouse were the openers.

So yeah, things were going well. We got there early but that's okay, we relaxed and Chrissy got to take all that is MSG from our fantastic-at-the-time seats Section 7, Row B, Seats 9 and 10 which is on the floor right behind the 'pit'.

With that said, let us just move right along to The Low-Lamps and the Highlights.

The Low-Lamps:

1. Julia Stiles and her 'friends'. She effed up movies and now she can add my R.E.M. concert to her list. Her presence there, right in front of me was distracting. Did concert security have any real reason to come check on her for every minute of the 16 minutes she was there? No! The only real celebs that night was R.E.M., so please! Ugh, and her friends were even worse. That short skirt one whose face was hideous, yeah...you really needed that short skirt to distract from the rest of you.

2. Our seats. Now, Section 7, Row B, Seats 9 and 10 are fantastic seats...in theory. There's a clear shot of the stage, it's fairly close and details need not be shown on a big screen to viewers in that section. So enjoy those seats while you can ie enjoy them during the opening acts because as SOOOOON as the headliner takes it, everyone and their effin' eff decides they need to walk back and forth behind the pit. Aren't you people supposed to be watching the show?! Trust me, you really didn't need the beer and why didn't you think to get it sooner?! Ugh. UGH! So instead of watching R.E.M., I got to watch a bunch of people walking in front of R.E.M. and my line of vision.

3. The National's performance of "Mistaken For Strangers". That is my favourite song by them (oh I've decided I like them well enough. They're cool and an easy listening experience) and they fuck it up. If I didn't hear anything else by them that night I'd be okay but I waited for 2 weeks to hear that shart and I got the lead singer singing without his trademark baritone. Really...I want to scream at them for being asses, or him rather. Thinking about it now, I probably should have because he may have heard me, I would have been kicked out and I would not have had to experience the assness that was Julia Stiles. I did myself an unkindness.

Also worth mentioning, the lead singer's stage persona sucks an ass. I swear the man was drunk and brain challenged, not that there's anyting wrong with being brain challenged but if you're putting the act on then yes, it's very wrong.



4. The crowd. O.M.G. As expected, of the thousands at MSG, I found a total of 7 people who were not white. Alright, okay, whatever. That's fine. I guess but the fact that they were not... aging well, and I had to wonder what rhythm they were hearing to put down the 'dances' they did. Yes, I can say that that was not a good look. At all.

5. The Pit. What pit? Not that I expected a pit, kind of understanding what crowd may have been in attendance (and were, much to my dismay) but it was still sad to see seats in a pit. SEATS. A seated pit! Lame. Just...lame.

6. My failed camera. Again. You'd swear from the pictures I was a million miles away but no, thanks to x3 Optical zoom, I got shart!!!!! I was much closer than it appears, honest.

7. My inability to get good shots of bassists. Sorry, Peter!

8. No H1. Yeah, this was the saddest part and should be first on this list. She couldn't come with and not that Chrissy Lee was not good company but it's always sad when H1 is not with.

The Highlights:

1. R.E.M. of course. They performed an excellent show as expected. The sound was great, the songs were great (even the ones I shamefully admit I did not know) and the stage set up was great. The guys rocked!!!



2. Michael Stipe. I've always loved that man and if ever there was a doubt as to why, all that has been erased. From Bush bashing to banter, to stage antics to the dancing! M.Stipe was amazing. And boy can he dance. He was great fun, the jokes were funny and he was fabulous.



3. Mike Mills. He performed a song, vocals and guitar work which was quite awesome and cute. Aww, love that little M.Mills. So cute!



4. Modest Mouse was awesome. I went in with no kind of expectations from them considering a DJ once described them in concert as "putting up a poster of the band on your wall, putting in their cd and listening to it while staring at the poster". Turns out, their latest album did not do them dirty, nor me. 2 drummers (you how I love not 1 but 2 drummers!) and The Smith's guitarist Johnny Marr will do that for you and will certainly assist in not sucking.



Note-worthy mention to Johnny Marr who rocked with Modest Mouse and then later on with R.E.M on their final 3 songs. Ooo, I love him now.



5. For all the 2 shits they pulled, The National were good. I was happy I saw them and their setlist was awesome save that damned Mr. November song I dislike but kind of have a better liking for now since they dedicated it to "Barack", as if Barack pitched marbles with them in school.



6. Did I mention a megaphone? Ah yes, Michael brought it out during Orange Crush and you know how I love me a megaphone especially a tossed one, though I'm not quite sure what happened to it after that song was done...



7. R.E.M.'s performance of "Let Me In" was very much awesome, even if all that mainly stood out other than the song was Michaels head. Har Har.



8. Surprising Chrissy Lee. He was happy. That counts for a lot.

The R.E.M. "Accelerate 2008 Tour" @ Madison Square Garden on 06/19/2008:

1. Living Well Is the Best Revenge
2. These Days
3. What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
4. Bad Day
5. Drive
6. Hollow Man
7. Ignoreland
8. Man-Sized Wreath
9. Leaving New York
10. Disturbance At The Heron House
11. Houston
12. Electrolite
13. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
14. Driver 8
15. Harborcoat
16. The One I Love
17. Until The Day Is Done
18. Let Me In
19. Horse To Water
20. Pretty Persuasion
21. Orange Crush
22. I'm Gonna DJ

Encore:

23. Supernatural Superserious
24. Losing My Religion
25. Begin The Begin
26. Fall On Me
27. Man On The Moon

The Modest Mouse 06/19/2008 @ Madison Square Garden Setlist:

Invisible
Dance Hall
Satin In A Coffin
Custom Concern
Fire It Up
Truckers Atlas
King Rat
Dashboard
Education (Jam ending)
The Good Times Are Killing Me

The National 06/19/2008 @ Madison Square Garden Setlist:

Start A War
Brainy
Baby We'll Be Fine
Slow Show
Mistaken For Strangers
Squalor Victoria
Secret Meeting
Apartment Story
Fake Empire
Mr. November

Memorable Conversation of Today 6/23/2008:

A convo. had in the kitchen at work this morning

Or 2: I like these marble cutting boards. Yeah, we need one of those.
H1: Yeah, they're cool. We should get one.
Or 2: You know, I have space in my bag...

Currently listening to: "Stay Don't Go" by Spoon. I wonder if H1 would object if I got tickets to see them...