Aging

Every once in a while something happens to remind me that I'm not as young as I used to be. It might be a conversation with some young whippersnapper who has never heard of The A-Team.

Or it might be meeting someone who thinks Green Day was the first punk band.

Today, however, it's the fact that after playing basketball yesterday (for the first time in a long time) I can barely lift my right arm above my head. My trapezius feels like it has a flaming golf ball embedded in it. My feet hurt, too.

That's right about where it hurts - only on the opposite side. This sucks.

Hotel Cafe

Well, Andrew, Eric and I had a memorable night.

We decided to go to the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood to catch Tom Morello, utterly oblivious to the fact that KROQ 106.7 FM had been talking about the show to all of LA county all day long. And the venue holds about 250-300 bodies max. We arrived a few minutes before 8:00 (the alleged time that the doors were to open) and found a line that stretched most of the way around the block. Long story short: we were about 10-20 spots away from getting in. We spent 4 hours in an alley in Hollywood, which was way more fun than it sounds like because Tom's a cool guy and he came out three times to play a song for us and I got to shake his hand the last time (!!!).

And he also made a bunch of his friends come out to entertain us too so we got to hear "Take My Picture" from Rick Patrick (singer for Filter) and then Mike Einziger (lead guitarist for Incubus) came out and played a couple of times with different folks.

I think the highlight of the night was Ben Harper's alley mini-set of two songs with his Innocent Criminals on percussion. It was pretty sweet. Especially when he played "Burn One Down" and roughly 75% of my fellow alleyfolk burnt one down. At least that's what it smelled like out there. A little later I got to shake his hand after getting a picture of Andrew with him. Playing it cool, I said "Thanks for doing what you do," and he said "Thanks for listening." Luckily I was able to maintain control of my bodily functions since I was still stuck in the alley with no access to basic sanitation equipment, but I was pretty excited. He was really cool - he stayed around for about a half hour signing autographs and talking to his fans.

So anyway, I got some great pics with my phone but can't figure out how to email them to myself. I think I need a 12-year-old to show me how.

UPDATE:

Thanks to Andrew for scouring youtube to find some footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwvAtlKI66o

We're visible for about the first 20-30 seconds.

Reflections on computerlessness

Update:

I've officially been mathematically eliminated from contention in our pool. Darcy can still win, though. Go Kansas and UCLA!

Well, our computer is in the shop (needs a new motherboard, apparently; and God bless Dell's warranty program whereby one can extend a warranty that has been lapsed for an entire year...) so I write from the Fuller library 4th floor computer lab.

In this age of information it's pretty crippling to not have round-the-clock access to the internet. I'm used to being able to check scores, read movie reviews, and search wikipedia for information on the life and works of Goethe on a whim in the middle of the night. Now I'm forced to go to the internet rather than having the internet come to me. I feel like I've been transported back to 1996 (but with slightly less acne). And in case anyone has forgotten, 1996 sucked. Nicholas Cage had just won an Oscar. Nicholas Cage! I swear by the Beard of Zeus, if Nick Cage ever wins another Oscar I don't want to be alive to see it. The music scene was only a little less depressing - Hootie and the Blowfish and Mariah Carey were powerful forces to be reckoned with. The only saving grace was that we were all collectively and joyfully oblivious to the perfect storm just over the horizon that would become the pop tart/boy band craze in a few years. That and Coolio had just released "Gangsta's Paradise." Yep, that "Gangsta's Paradise."

Godspeed, Dell service technicians - I can't take 1996 much longer.